A method of reducing surface-scattered noise includes receiving seismic data associated with a marine region, where the marine region includes an ocean bottom, a first zone including water above the ocean bottom, and a second zone including earth subsurface layers below the ocean bottom, and the received seismic data includes signals reflected from the earth subsurface layers and surface-scattered noise reflected from the ocean bottom and an ocean surface; determining a water velocity for the first zone; determining bathymetric values of the ocean bottom; based on the determined water velocity and the bathymetric values, determining a velocity model for the marine region; based on the determined velocity model and wavelet functions of seismic source signals, calculating the surface-scattered noise by solving a wave equation; and determining the signals reflected from the earth subsurface layers by subtracting the calculated surface-scattered noise from the received seismic data.

Marine seismic exploration can be used to estimate properties of earth subsurface layers under an ocean bottom and predict potential oil or gas locations for exploration activities. For example, a marine seismic vessel can carry a seismic energy source, such as an air gun or a water gun, to generate acoustic signals or waves that propagate into the ocean water and the earth subsurface layers. The acoustic signals can be reflected by the earth subsurface layers, for example, by seismic reflectors at the interfaces between the subsurface layers. The seismic energy source can generate acoustic signals at different locations as the vessel moves along. The reflected signals can be recorded by an array of receivers, called hydrophones, that are attached to lines towed by the seismic vessel. The recorded signals, also called seismic data, are processed to estimate the properties of the subsurface layers.


A vehicular lamp includes a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged such that light-emitting surfaces of the light-emitting elements face toward a front of the vehicular lamp; and a projection lens having a plurality of projection regions that face the respective light-emitting elements, and project light source images of the respective light-emitting elements facing the projection regions, to the front of the vehicular lamp. A lamp rear surface of the projection lens has protruding portions provided in the respective projection regions, the protruding portions protruding toward the respective light-emitting elements facing the protruding portions. A lamp front surface of the projection lens is flatter than the lamp rear surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicular lamp, and particularly to a vehicular lamp used in a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 4675874 discloses a vehicular lamp that includes a plurality of light-emitting elements, and a plurality of projection lenses that correspond to the respective light-emitting elements. In the vehicular lamp, each of the projection lenses is constituted by an aspherical lens that has a protruding front surface and a flat rear surface. The projection lenses are arranged at intervals in a matrix.
In general, it is required to reduce an installation space for the vehicular lamp in the vehicle. Accordingly, it is required to reduce the size of the vehicular lamp. The inventor thoroughly studied about the vehicular lamp including the plurality of light-emitting elements, and as a result, found that the size of the vehicular lamp in the related art can be further reduced.


In a system for thermal cracking gaseous feedstocks, the system including a gas cracker for producing an effluent comprising olefins, at least one transfer line exchanger for the recovery of process energy from the effluent and a water quench tower system, a process for extending the range of system feedstocks to include liquid feedstocks that yield tar is provided. The process includes the steps of injecting a first quench fluid downstream of a primary transfer line exchanger to quench the process effluent comprising olefins, separating in a first separation vessel a cracked product and a first byproduct stream comprising tar from the quenched effluent, directing the separated cracked product to a water quench tower system and quenching the separated cracked product with a second quench fluid to produce a cracked gas effluent for recovery and a second byproduct stream comprising tar. An apparatus for carrying out such process is also provided.

Steam cracking, also referred to as pyrolysis, has long been used to crack various hydrocarbon feedstocks into olefins, preferably light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, and butenes. Conventional steam cracking utilizes a pyrolysis furnace that has two main sections: a convection section and a radiant section. The hydrocarbon feedstock typically enters the convection section of the furnace as a liquid (except for light feedstocks which enter as a vapor) wherein it is typically heated and vaporized by indirect contact with hot flue gas from the radiant section and by direct contact with steam. The vaporized feedstock and steam mixture is then introduced into the radiant section where the cracking takes place. The resulting products comprising olefins leave the pyrolysis furnace for further downstream processing, including quenching.
Pyrolysis involves heating the feedstock sufficiently to cause thermal decomposition of the larger molecules. The pyrolysis process, however, produces some molecules that tend to combine to form high molecular weight materials known as tar. Tar is a high-boiling point, viscous, reactive material that can foul equipment under certain conditions. In general, feedstocks containing higher boiling materials tend to produce greater quantities of tar.
Olefin gas cracker systems are normally designed to crack ethane, propane and on occasion butane, but typically lack the flexibility to crack heavier feedstocks, such as liquids particularly those feedstocks that produce tar in amounts greater than one percent. As gas feeds tend to produce little tar, primary, secondary, and even tertiary transfer line exchangers (TLEs) are utilized to recover energy through the generation of high pressure and medium pressure steam, as the furnace effluent cools from the furnace outlet to the quench tower inlet. TLE fouling on the process side is very limited with gas feeds, since the tar yields are very low.
The process gas is normally then fed to a quench tower wherein the process gas is further cooled by direct contact with quench water. Typically, the bottoms of the quench tower feed a quench drum, which functions as a three-phase separator, with a light hydrocarbon phase that floats on water and tar, which sinks in water, as the bottom phase. Even in the case of cracking ethane feed, the tar yield is high enough to cause the water leaving the quench drum to contain enough light tar, which has a specific gravity close to that of water, to cause downstream fouling of the quench circuit. This can result in the fouling of downstream heat exchangers and water stripping towers, which, when fouled, must be taken offline for cleaning.
Conventional steam cracking systems have been effective for cracking high-quality feedstocks which contain a large fraction of light volatile hydrocarbons, such as gas oil and naphtha. However, steam cracking economics sometimes favor cracking lower cost feedstocks containing resids such as, by way of non-limiting examples, atmospheric residue, e.g., atmospheric pipe still bottoms and crude oil. Crude oil and atmospheric residue often contain high molecular weight, non-volatile components with boiling points in excess of 590° C. (1100° F.). The non-volatile components of these feedstocks lay down as coke in the convection section of conventional pyrolysis furnaces. Only very low levels of non-volatile components can be tolerated in the convection section downstream of the point where the lighter components have fully vaporized.
Additionally, during transport, some naphthas or other lighter liquids are contaminated with heavy crude oil containing non-volatile components. Conventional pyrolysis furnaces do not have the flexibility to process residues, crudes, or many residue or crude contaminated gas oils or naphthas which comprise non-volatile components.
As indicated, in most commercial naphtha crackers, cooling of the effluent from the cracking furnace is normally achieved using a system of transfer line heat exchangers, a primary fractionator and a water quench tower or indirect condenser. The steam generated in transfer line exchangers can be used to drive large steam turbines which power the major compressors used elsewhere in the ethylene production unit. To obtain high energy-efficiency and power production in the steam turbines, it is necessary to superheat the steam produced in the transfer line exchangers.
Cracking heavier feeds, such as kerosenes and gas oils, may produce large amounts of tar, which can lead to rapid coking in the radiant section of the furnace as well as fouling in the transfer line exchangers preferred in lighter liquid cracking service, often requiring costly shutdowns for cleaning. Furthermore, if a quench liquid such as water is used, the heavy oils and tars may form stable emulsions that make it difficult to dispose of excess quench water in an environmentally acceptable manner.
As indicated above, one technique used to further quench the effluent produced by steam cracking and remove the resulting heavy oils and tars employs a water quench tower in which the condensables are removed at near ambient conditions. Such a water quench technique has proven acceptable when cracking light gases, primarily ethane, although the quench water still may have significant amounts of hydrocarbons present, which serve to foul the water quench circuit. An alternative and more complex technique utilizes an oil quench with fractionation to remove the heavier tars, followed by a water quench to remove other condensables and complete the cooling. This technique is most practical for naphtha or heavy oil crackers which produce from about 1.0 wt. % tar to greater than about 30 wt. % tar.
Neither of these techniques is, however, entirely optimum for use in steam crackers that crack liquefied petroleum gases, light naphthas, and ethane that produce relatively little heavy oil and tar. One issue with these feedstocks stems from the fact that some of the heavy oils and tars produced when the pyrolysis effluent of these feedstocks is quenched have approximately the same density as water and can form stable oil/water emulsions. Emulsion formation can render water quench operations ineffective, causing dilution steam generators to foul, and make disposal of excess quench water in an environmentally acceptable manner difficult. Moreover, this further complicates the disposal of heavy oil and tar.
Alternatively, a primary fractionator would prevent the formation of oil/water emulsions by removing the heavy oils and tars in the primary oil quench stage. Such a system could, however, be more costly to construct and operate than a simple water quench system. Additionally, the primary fractionator system may not generate sufficient heavy oil to allow it to replenish its own quench oil, some of which must be continuously removed to dispose of accumulated tars. As such, operation of a primary fractionator under these conditions would require the added expense of an external supply of quench oil. Furthermore, logistical difficulties are presented if the cracker is not located adjacent to a facility capable of providing quench oil and removing spent oil.
Steam crackers designed to operate on gaseous feedstocks, while limited in feedstock flexibility, require significantly lower investment when compared to liquid feed crackers designed for naphtha and/or heavy feedstocks that produce higher amounts of tar and byproducts. However, as may be appreciated, when the price of natural gas is high relative to crude, gas cracking tends to be disadvantaged when compared with the cracking of virgin crudes and/or condensates, or the distilled liquid products from those feeds. (e.g., naphtha, kerosene, field natural gasoline, etc). In such an economic environment, it would be desirable to extend the range of useful feedstocks to include liquid feedstocks that yield higher levels of tar. Therefore, there is a need for an improved method of quenching effluent and removing the resulting heavy oils and tars.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Controlling tar by quenching cracked effluent from a liquid fed gas cracker


Benzoxazole fluorescent sensor compounds and related ratiometric imaging methods for zinc metal ion.

Zinc is an essential element in both enzymatic and biological systems, and is physiologically the second most abundant transition metal. The inorganic physiology of intracellular zinc is poorly understood but of emerging importance in understanding a variety of human disorders and disease states. Histochemical studies of mammalian tissues including the prostate, the insulin secreting beta cells of pancreatic islets, and the dentate neurons of the hippocampus reveal patterns of Zn(II) accumulation that are disrupted in some types of prostatic cancer, diabetes and neurodegerative disorders respectively. The function of zinc in these tissues or even within compartments of single cell organisms such as S. cerevease remains controversial.
In order to investigate the functions of such spectroscopically silent metal ions (e.g., Ca2+ and Zn+2) in biological systems, fluorescent sensor molecules that respond to a specific metal ion in the excitation or emission spectrum have shown to be useful tools. Several kinds of fluorescence probes for Zn2+ that can be used under physiological condition have been reported to date, most of these utilize "on-off" fluorescent signaling system, in which fluorescence intensity increases lineally upon increasing Zn2+ concentration. In these cases, however, the determination of the accurate Zn2+ concentration in the cells should be impossible because the fluorescence intensity depends on many factors such as the cell thickness, incubation time, illumination intensity, dye concentration, and the photobleach of dye itself.
Confocal fluorescence microscopy has proved to be a central tool in understanding calcium biology and has the potential to resolve these issues in zinc biology. On the other hand, two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence microscopy provides significant advantages over standard laser confocal approaches by providing deeper sectioning, less phototoxicity and selective excitation of a smaller focal volume (i.e., femptoliter), thus decreasing background fluorescence. Such advances in instrumentation could be applied to the study of zinc physiology but would require the parallel development of new zinc-specific chemical probes that operate within cells.
Ratiometric probes that exhibit a large shift in the excitation and/or emission spectrum upon binding with the cation can minimize experimental error as the fluorescence intensity ratio between the apo form and the Zn2+-bound form is dependent on only free Zn2+ concentration. Recently, two ratiometric probes for Zn2+ have been reported; however, as excitation probes, two different excitation wavelengths are needed for ratiometric cell imaging. As a result, this technique is not suitable for a confocal laser microscopy.
Such development has been an ongoing concern in the art. Protein-based zinc probes are useful in a variety of physiological experiments, but cannot be used without microinjection into each cell. Several benzofuran-based and coumazin probes have been used but only for excitation ratio imaging of a zinc loaded cell. Others in the art used 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) as a fluorophore, which exhibits dual emission, utilizing ESIPT (Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer); however, intracellular analysis/imaging was not described. The search continues for a class of emission ratiometric probes for intracellular zinc, especially those with utility in two-photon fluorescence microscopy of mammalian cells.

Zinc-chelating ratiometric fluorescent probes and related methods


Embodiments of the invention recite a method, apparatus and system for conveying cartridge notification. In one embodiment, a permanently encoded pattern of location information embedded on a printed medium is recognized using an electronic interactive device. Note that the encoded pattern identifies an application. A determination can be made as to whether the electronic interactive device has access to the application based on its memory and the memory of an attached cartridge. In response to the electronic interactive device not having access to the application, it is determined based on a cartridge lookup table of which cartridge includes the application. A message can be conveyed regarding the cartridge to the user. The cartridge lookup table may be populated with information regarding the application contents of various cartridges in response to these cartridges being inserted into the interactive device.

In the last twenty years, the use of personal computing devices, such as desktop computer systems, laptop computer systems, handheld computers systems, and tablet computer systems, has grown tremendously. These personal computing devices provide users with a broad range of interactive applications, business utilities, communication abilities, and entertainment possibilities.
Current personal computing devices provide access to these interactive applications via a user interface. Typical computing devices have on-screen graphical interfaces that present information to a user using a display device, such as a monitor or display screen, and receive information from a user using an input device, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a joystick, or a stylus.
Even more so than computing systems, the use of pen and paper is ubiquitous among literate societies. While graphical user interfaces of current computing devices provide for effective interaction with many computing applications, typical on-screen graphical user interfaces have difficulty mimicking the common use of a pen or pencil and paper. For example, desktop and laptop computer systems typically do not have a pen-like interface. Moreover, input into a computer is shown on an electronic display, and is not tangible and accessible like information written on paper or a physical surface.
Finally, images and writings drawn with a pen-like interface on a paper surface have convenience, permanence, and tangibility, but do not allow for easy reuse of the paper surface once it has been utilized with the pen-like interface.

Method, apparatus and system for conveying cartridge notification


A low dielectric film forming material contains siloxane resin and polycarbosilane dissolved in solvent. By using this solution, a low dielectric film is formed which contains siloxane resin and polycarbosilane bonded to the siloxane resin. Material of a low dielectric film is provided which is suitable for inter-level insulating film material. A semiconductor device is also provided which has a low dielectric constant film and high reliability.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to low dielectric constant film materials, and to low dielectric constant films and semiconductor devices using such materials.
b) Description of the Related Art
Higher integration and higher speed of semiconductor integrated circuits are desired. A signal transmission speed in a semiconductor integrated circuit is restricted by wiring resistance and parasitic capacitance between wiring lines. Wiring resistance and parasitic capacitance are increasing as the wiring width and pitch are becoming narrow because of higher integration of semiconductor integrated circuits. Although parasitic capacitance can be reduced by thinning wiring lines, wiring resistance increases and the reduced capacitance does not contribute to improving the signal transmission speed. In order to increase the signal transmission speed, it is effective to make an inter-level insulating film have a low dielectric constant.
Conventionally, an inter-level insulating film is made of non-organic material such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxyfluoride (SiOF) and phosphosilicate glass (PSG), or organic polymer such as polyimide. A relative dielectric constant of a silicon dioxide film formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is about 4. A relative dielectric constant of a SiOF film is about 3.3 to 3.5 which is lower than that of silicon dioxide. However, since SiOF has a high moisture absorption rate, a SiOF film is likely to absorb moisture and raise its relative dielectric constant.
As low dielectric constant materials, attention has been paid to siloxane resin having Si—H bonds, porous siloxane resin or the like.
As siloxane resin is washed with alkaline solution, SiOH having a high moisture absorption rate is produced because of hydrolysis. Therefore, siloxane resin washed with alkaline solution raises its relative dielectric constant. Apart from this, an organic polymer film has as low a glass transition temperature as about 200 to 350° C. and a high thermal expansion coefficient. Damages to wiring layers are therefore large.

Low dielectric constant film material, film and semiconductor device using such material


An improved method for dry milling calcined kaolin clays involves use of an effective amount of an ammonium polyacrylate dry grinding aid which is applied to a calcined kaolin clay product prior to dry milling. This improves flowability of the product through the mill, resulting in an increase in the grinding efficiency and, therefore, an increase in the production rate of the mill. The final product displays an increase in Hercules high shear viscosity, and therefore, an increase in the rheology in very high solids aqueous slurries, which is particularly useful in the coating of paper and paperboard products.

In the course of manufacturing paper and similar products, including paperboard and the like, it is well known to incorporate quantities of inorganic materials into the fibrous web in order to improve the quality of the resulting product. A number of inorganic materials have long been known to be effective for these purposes, such as titanium dioxide, which can be incorporated into the paper in the form of anatase or rutile. Titanium dioxide, however, is among the most expensive of known fillers. Accordingly, in recent years, considerable efforts have been made to develop satisfactory replacements for titanium dioxide.
Among the materials which have found acceptance as paper fillers are substantially anhydrous kaolin clays. Materials of this type are generally prepared by partially or fully calcining a crude kaolin clay, which may have been initially subjected to beneficiation steps in order to remove certain impurities, e.g. for the purpose of improving brightness in the ultimate product.
An "hydrous" kaolin generally means that the kaolin has not been subjected to calcination, or more specifically, it has not been heated to temperatures above about 450.degree. C.
The term "anhydrous" generally refers to a kaolin clay which has been subjected to calcination, which means being subjected to heating of 450.degree. C. or higher for a period which eliminates the hydroxyl groups thereby destroying the crystalline structure of the kaolinite. A "fully calcined" kaolin refers to kaolins which have been heated above the 980.degree. C. exotherm, as opposed to having been rendered merely a "metakaolin". Reference may be had in the foregoing connection to Proctor U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,836 and to Fanselow et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,823, which disclosures are representative of portions of the prior art pertinent to fully calcined kaolins.
"Calcined" kaolin refers to an anhydrous kaolin clay such as the ALPHATEX.RTM. product of the assignee of the present invention. This product is a substantially anhydrous white kaolin clay pigment, which has unusual efficacy as a filler in paper sheets and similar paper products. This pigment also has application as a coating pigment for paper and as a pigment in paints and other filled systems. It generally consists of aggregates of anhydrous kaolin clay particles, and exhibits exceptionally high light-scatter and opacifying characteristics when incorporated as a filler in paper.
The ALPHATEX.RTM. product is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,948 to A. D. McConnell et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,956 to W. H. Dunaway et al., both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Calcined kaolin clay products, such as the ALPHATEX.RTM. product are often handled, shipped, and/or utilized (e.g. when coating papers) as aqueous slurries, i.e. the calcined kaolin clay is slurried in water to form a slurry, e.g. of approximately 40% to 60% solids content, more or less. The more viscous the product, generally, the more difficult it is to handle and to use. In the past, this has proven to be a problem, particularly where the solids content of the slurry exceeds about 50%, by weight.
For hydrous clays, the general problem of reducing clay viscosity has commonly involved chemical control by additives or elimination of a species tending to cause viscosity problems. Viscosity control in a calcined clay slurry often involves some type of milling which may be wet or dry, or comminution of the calcined material.
Wet milling involves exposing a fluid suspension of slurry of calcined kaolin clay to a grinding media, whereby incremental additions of the calcined kaolin clay are added and the milling is continued until the viscosity of the slurry is reduced. This process may have energy inputs of 200 hp-hr/ton, and is very difficult from an engineering viewpoint, requiring very complex and sophisticated controls.
Dry grinding of calcined kaolins is taught in the present assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,593,860 and 4,693,427, wherein the calcined kaolin clay is frictionally worked or milled by a media in the mill which is at least +5 mesh to decrease its clay-water viscosity and adhesiveness. The work inputs in the prior art may be from about 5 to about 40 hp-hr/ton of dry clay. The process of the prior art improves the handling characteristics for the treated clay with respect to bulk material handling systems, but an improved coating pigment would still be desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,228 discloses the use of fully neutralized acid acrylic polymers as wet grinding aids for aqueous suspensions of coarse mineral materials, such as calcium carbonates. Monovalent and polyvalent neutralizing agents are used to prepare these wet grinding aids. This reference does not disclose or suggest the use of dry mill grinding aids for calcined kaolin. It also does not disclose or suggest the use of ammonium polyacrylates as dry grinding aids.
In common paper coating applications, the pigment properties often sought include high gloss, good printability, good opacity, and high brightness. Where calcined kaolins are used, manufacturers generally prefer to utilize a paper coating composition (the "coating color") which desirably incorporates from 15 to 20 parts per hundred by weight of the calcined kaolin in place of the more expensive pigments such as titanium dioxide. The coating color should include about 60 to 63% by weight of the total solids in order to be most effective. With the prior art calcined pigments, all of these requirements could not be readily achieved. In particular, in order to achieve calcined kaolin having 60 to 63% solids coating color, it is generally required by a customer to be able to use or handle the kaolin pigment at its equivalent of 60% solids, which is the percent weight of the solids (i.e. clays) in the liquid of the slurry. That is, the overall requirement is that the kaolin pigment have good rheological properties as at least a 60% solids aqueous slurry and also provide fully acceptable opacity, gloss, brightness, and printability when coated. The pigments of the prior art, while capable of being formed into such high solids slurries, tend to have very high dilitancy, and thus, poor rheological properties. In an effort to allow the prior art calcined pigments to be used, lower solids can be employed, but this tends to leave excess water in the coating color, with resultant running during coating.
A further property of the prior art calcined pigments that has diminished their value as coating pigments arises from the very porous, highly aggregated nature of their component structures. While these properties foster high opacity, i.e. good light scattering, they have a detrimental effect on gloss when the pigment is used in coating.
In order to overcome some of the shortcomings of the prior art calcined pigments, a method for improving the rheology of a calcined kaolin clay product is taught in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,956. The resultant product is commercially available as DELTATEX.RTM. from ECC International Inc., which is the same assignee as that of the ALPHATEX.RTM. product and of the present invention. The DELTATEX.RTM. product is a calcined kaolin coating pigment, which displays good rheology in very high solids aqueous slurries, such as 59%, thereby facilitating its use in coating and in the preparation of coating colors, and which provides high gloss, high brightness, and good opacity and printability characteristics in the paper upon which it is applied.
It is known in the art to add ammonium polyacrylate as a dispersant to neutralize the charges on the surface of the clay particles during blunging. Proper dispersion is necessary during wet processing in order to separate the clay stacks so as to optimize liberation of the impurities trapped between the clay particles in the kaolin clay slurry. This is also necessary in order to achieve a rheology suitable for further processing, i.e. pumping or storing the kaolin clay slurry in tanks.
Being that the DELTATEX.RTM. product is a very desirable commercial commodity for use as a pigment for paper and paperboard coating applications, it is most advantageous to be able to increase the production rate of this product. One of the drawbacks to increasing production rates is believed to exist in the dry grinding process through the media mill. It is hypothesized that the static electricity in the dry media mill due to the dry, fine particles of the calcined clay powder oftentimes lessens the degree of flowability of the powder through the mill, thereby causing clogging and/or plugging of the mill, or causing the clay to stick to the media balls used in the mill and/or to the sides of the mill, resulting in downtime of the mill.

Dry grinding aid for dry milling a calcined kaolin clay and a related method


Techniques are disclosed for forming semiconductor structures including resistors between gates on self-aligned gate edge architecture. A semiconductor structure includes a first semiconductor fin extending in a first direction, and a second semiconductor fin adjacent to the first semiconductor fin, extending in the first direction. A first gate structure is disposed proximal to a first end of the first semiconductor fin and over the first semiconductor fin in a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, and a second gate structure is disposed proximal to a second end of the first semiconductor fin and over the first semiconductor fin in the second direction. A first structure comprising isolation material is centered between the first and second semiconductor fins. A second structure comprising resistive material is disposed in the first structure, the second structure extending at least between the first gate structure and the second gate structure.

For the past several decades, the scaling of features in integrated circuits has been a driving force behind an ever-growing semiconductor industry. Scaling to smaller and smaller features enables increased densities of functional units on the limited real estate of semiconductor chips. For example, shrinking transistor size allows for the incorporation of an increased number of memory or logic devices on a chip, leading to the fabrication of products with increased capacity. The drive for ever-more capacity, however, is not without issue. The necessity to optimize the performance of each device becomes increasingly significant.
Increased performance of circuit devices including transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, and other passive and active electronic devices formed on a semiconductor substrate is typically a major factor considered during design, manufacture, and operation of those devices. Precision resistors are a fundamental component of integrated circuit structures, such as system-on-chip (SoC) technology. For instance, such resistors enable high speed analog circuitry (e.g., CSI/SERDES) and scaled input/output (IO) architecture due to characteristics such as low variation in resistivity and near-zero temperature coefficients. In particular, the resistivity of the precision resistor does not change significantly over a range of operating temperatures of the device. As aggressive device scaling continues, there are a number of non-trivial issues that arise.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures may be represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. As will be appreciated, the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale or intended to limit the present disclosure to the specific configurations shown. For instance, while some figures generally indicate straight lines, right angles, and smooth surfaces, an actual implementation of a transistor structure may have less than perfect straight lines, right angles, and some features may have surface topology or otherwise be non-smooth, given real world limitations of the processing equipment and techniques used. In short, the figures are provided merely to show example structures. Numerous variations, configurations, and other embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed discussion.

Resistor between gates in self-aligned gate edge architecture


A biopsy apparatus for obtaining tissue samples includes a housing, an elongated member slidably and rotatably mounted in the housing and a blade having a stem portion pivotally mounted on the elongated member and moving transversely relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated member between a stowed position and a deployed position. A method of sampling tissue includes the steps of providing the biopsy apparatus, inserting the elongated member into a tissue mass, deploying the blade, severing a tissue sample from the tissue mass by proximally retracting and rotating the elongated member, removing the elongated member from the tissue mass and extracting the tissue sample from a patient.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for the biopsy of tissue specimens and, more particularly to a percutaneous biopsy cutting blade and method.
2. Background of Related Art
It is often necessary to sample tissue in order to diagnose and treat patients with cancerous tumors, pre-malignant conditions and other diseases or disorders. Typically, in the case of suspected cancerous tissue, when the physician establishes by means of procedures such as palpation, x-ray or ultrasound imaging that suspicious conditions exist, a biopsy is performed to determine whether the cells are cancerous. Biopsy may be done by an open or percutaneous technique. Open biopsy removes the entire mass (excisional biopsy) or a part of the mass (incisional biopsy). Percutaneous biopsy on the other hand is usually done with a needle-like instrument and may be either a fine needle aspiration (FNA) or a core biopsy. In FNA biopsy, individual cells or clusters of cells are obtained for cytologic examination and may be prepared such as in a Papanicolaou smear. In core biopsy, as the term suggests, a core or fragment of tissue is obtained for histologic examination which may be done via frozen section or paraffin section.
The type of biopsy utilized depends in large part on the circumstances present with respect to the patient and no single procedure is ideal for all cases. Core biopsy, however, is extremely useful in a number of conditions and is being used more frequently.
Intact tissue from the organ or lesion is required by medical personnel in order to arrive at a definitive diagnosis regarding the patient's condition. The tissue extracted must be indicative of the organ or lesion as a whole. In the past, to obtain tissue from organs or lesions within the body, surgery had to be performed in order to locate, identify and remove the tissue. With present technology, medical imaging equipment such as x-rays, fluoroscopy, computer tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, may be used. These technologies make it possible to identify small abnormalities even deep within the body. However, definitive tissue characterization still requires obtaining adequate tissue samples to characterize the histology of the organ or lesion.
In the example of breast cancers, mammography can identify non-palpable (not perceptible by touch) breast abnormalities earlier than they can be diagnosed by physical examination. Most non-palpable breast abnormalities are benign but some are malignant. When breast cancer is diagnosed before it becomes palpable, breast cancer mortality can be reduced. It is still difficult to determine if pre-palpable breast abnormalities are malignant, as some benign lesions have mammographic features which mimic malignant lesions and some malignant lesions have mammographic features which mimic benign lesions. Thus, mammography has its limitations. To reach a definitive diagnosis, tissue from within the breast must be removed and examined under a microscope.
With the introduction of stereotactic and ultrasound guided percutaneous breast biopsies, an alternative to open surgical breast biopsy became an option. These guidance systems have become more accurate and easier to use than when they were first introduced. Biopsy guns were introduced for use in conjunction with these guidance systems. The biopsy guns were limited because placement of the gun had to be done very accurately because only one small core could be obtained per insertion at any one location. To sample the lesion thoroughly, many separate insertions of the instrument had to be made.
Many biopsy procedures would benefit from larger tissue samples being taken, for example, tissue samples as large as 10 mm across. Many of the previously developed devices required multiple punctures into the breast or organ in order to obtain the necessary samples. This practice is both tedious and time consuming.
One further solution to obtain a larger tissue sample is to utilize a device capable of taking multiple tissue samples with a single insertion of an instrument. An example of such a device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,533 to Chin et al. which describes a technique for extracting multiple samples with a single insertion of the biopsy device. Generally, such biopsy instruments extract a sample of tissue from a tissue mass by either drawing a tissue sample into a hollow needle via an external vacuum source or by severing and containing a tissue sample within a notch formed on a stylet. Typical of such devices utilizing an external vacuum source are U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,011 issued to Cailouette and U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,052 issued to Terwiliger. These designs are usually limited in the size of the sample extracted to the outside diameter of the needle or tube in which the tissue sample is to be carried.
It would be advantageous to provide only a small opening in the skin of the breast, but be able to obtain large biopsy samples. Therefore, a need exists for a percutaneous biopsy apparatus and method which can extract a biopsy sample larger than the skin opening in the patient through which it must be drawn.


A network device includes processing circuitry and a plurality of ports. The ports connect to a communication network. The processing circuitry is configured to receive, via an input port, data packets and probe packets that are addressed to a common output port, to store the data packets in a first queue and the probe packets in a second queue, both the first queue and the second queue are served by the output port, to produce telemetry data indicative of a state of the network device, based on a processing path that the data packets traverse within the network device, to schedule transmission of the data packets from the first queue at a first priority, and schedule transmission of the probe packets from the second queue at a second priority higher than the first priority, and to modify the scheduled probe packets so as to carry the telemetry data.

In in-band telemetry, network devices report their states in packets traversing along a network path.
Methods for in-band telemetry are known in the art. For example, a paper by Yuliang Li et al., entitled "HPCC: High Precision Congestion Control," SIGCOMM '19: Proceedings of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication, August 2019, Pages 44-58, describes a High Precision Congestion Control (HPCC) method, that leverages in-network telemetry (INT) to obtain precise link load information and controls traffic precisely.
HPCC is also described in a draft specification by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), entitled "HPCC++: Enhanced High Precision Congestion Control, draft-pan-tsvwg-hpccplus-01," Jul. 29, 2020.
In a paper entitled "Swift: Delay is Simple and Effective for Congestion Control in the Datacenter," SIGCOMM '20: Proceedings of the Annual conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication on the applications, technologies, architectures, and protocols for computer communication, July 2020, Pages 514-528, Gautam Kumar et al. report on experiences with Swift congestion control in Google datacenters. Swift targets an end-to-end delay by using Increase Multiplicative-Decrease (AIMD) control, with pacing under extreme congestion.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,938,722 describes an in-band telemetry congestion notification system that includes a source device that generates and transmits packets. Each of a plurality of switch devices receives each of the packets, provides in-band telemetry information in each of the packets, and transmits each of the packets to a destination device. When the destination device receives a first subset of the packets, it uses the in-band telemetry information included in each of the first subset of the packets to determine a telemetry information baseline. Subsequently to determining the telemetry information baseline, when the destination device receives a second subset of the packet, it uses the in-band telemetry information included in each of the second subset of the packets to determine a departure from the telemetry information baseline that indicates congestion and, in response, generates a congestion notification and transmits the congestion notification via the plurality of switch devices to the source device.

Low-latency delivery of in-band telemetry data


A radiographic image reading method includes: scanning a photostimulable phosphor plate with excitation light by a scanning section such that a relative relationship between an average area S2 of column crystals of a photostimulable phosphor and an average area S1 of a beam of the excitation light emitted from a light source is S1≧10×S2, the photostimulable phosphor plate comprising: a support; and a photostimulable phosphor layer comprising the column crystals of the photostimulable phosphor formed on a surface of the support, wherein radiation energy is stored in the photostimulable phosphor layer; and detecting photostimulated light by a detector, which is emitted from the photostimulable phosphor layer by the scanning with the excitation light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic image reading method and a radiographic image reading apparatus used in an input system of a medical radiographic image.
2. Description of Related Art
In the medical field, a radiographic image such as X-ray is often used for diagnosing diseases. Hitherto a method of using so-called radiography that a phosphor layer (phosphor screen) is irradiated with radiation passing through a specimen to generate visible light with which a film using silver halide is irradiated in the same way as taking a normal photograph and development is performed after forming a latent image, has been generally used as a method for forming a radiographic image.
In recent years, a method that radiation passing through a specimen is absorbed by a photostimulable phosphor of a photostimulable phosphor plate, subsequently radiation energy stored in the photostimulable phosphor by absorption is emitted as photostimulated light by exciting the photostimulable phosphor by, for example, light or thermal energy and the photostimulated light is detected for imaging, has been proposed as a method for forming a radiographic image without using a film coated with silver halide. Here, the photostimulable phosphor plate is a form of a radiographic image conversion panel.
A radiographic image conversion panel represented by such a photostimulable phosphor plate is desired to have high sensitivity for radiation as much as possible and give an image with good image qualities (sharpness, graininess and the like). Hitherto study for supersensitization and improvement of image qualities of a radiographic image conversion panel has been progressed.
For example, JP Tokukaihei-5-150100A discloses a radiographic image conversion panel comprising a photostimulable phosphor layer formed on a support wherein a light transmittance (Tth) in the thickness direction and a light transmittance (Tfl) in the plane direction have a relationship of 0<Tfl/Tth≦0.7.
Owing to such a structure of a radiographic image conversion panel, photostimulable excitation light incoming to the radiographic image conversion panel at a certain angle penetrates deeply in the thickness direction and spread of the light in the plane direction is suppressed and thus the sharpness is improved.
JP Tokukaihei-6-230198A discloses a radiographic image conversion panel wherein a photostimulable phosphor layer comprising a column crystal and a surface of the photostimulable phosphor layer comprising tops of the column crystal is planarized.
Owing to such a structure of a radiographic image conversion panel, there is less unevenness in the surface of the photostimulable phosphor layer. Therefore scattering of photostimulable excitation light is suppressed and thus the sharpness of an image is improved.
JP Tokukai-2002-131493A discloses a radiographic image conversion panel comprising a phosphor sheet comprising a reflection layer, an excitation light absorbing layer A that absorbs excitation light and a photostimulable phosphor layer are laminated on a support in this order and a protect film protecting the sheet and comprising an excitation light absorbing layer B. This panel is configured so that each excitation light absorbing layer has less absorbance at a peak wavelength in photostimulated luminescence than in incident light (excitation light).
Owing to such a structure of a radiographic image conversion panel, deterioration of sharpness resulting from excitation laser light can be prevented by making absorbance of photostimulated luminescence at the luminescence peak wavelength less than absorbance of excitation light at the peak wavelength. Thereby, the sensitivity for radiation is improved and an image with excellent sharpness can be obtained.
However, the method for manufacturing a radiographic image conversion panel described in JP Tokukaihei-5-150100A requires the step in which a material that has a different optical refractive index or transmittance from the photostimulable phosphor is formed in the thickness direction like a wall in order to make the ratio of the light transmittance (Tth) in the thickness direction and the light transmittance (Tfl) in the plane direction 0<Tfl/Tth≦0.7.
For the purpose of planarization of the surface of a photostimulable phosphor layer, the method for manufacturing a radiographic image conversion panel described in JP Tokukaihei-6-230198A requires the step for a forming continuous membrane in which, in formation of a column crystal by a vapor phase deposition method, the column crystal is grown to a predetermined height and subsequently a vapor phase deposition condition is changed to a condition in which a continuous membrane is formed, and further the vapor phase deposition of the column crystal is continued.
For the purpose of providing difference between absorbance of excitation light in the photostimulable phosphor layer and absorbance of excitation light in the protect film, the method for manufacturing a radiographic image conversion panel described in JP Tokukai-2002-131493A requires the step in which an excitation light absorbing layer is provided for the protect film and meanwhile an excitation light absorbing layer that has no direct relation with photostimulated luminance is formed between the support and the photostimulable phosphor layer also.
As above, for the purpose of improving sensitivity for radiation and obtaining an image with excellent sharpness, any one of the above-described method for manufacturing a radiographic image conversion panel requires the step of processing the photostimulable phosphor layer or providing the photostimulable phosphor layer with the wall, the membrane, or the layer that has no direct relation with photostimulated luminance. Accordingly, there is a problem that a material and manufacturing technique for forming such a membrane or layer are required and a manufacturing step become complex.

Radiographic image reading method and radiographic image reading apparatus


The present invention is directed to an improvement for a fill valve (22) for an aerosol container (10, 30) to provide better sealing capability. The fill valve is made using a flashless injection molding process in which both the mold cavity and molding material are heated to elevated temperatures to significantly improve cross-linking which occurs during the molding process. A backside (22a) of the fill valve now has a recessed portion (56) to facilitate ejection of the valve from a mold so leak paths are not created due to the forces applied to the valve during its extraction from the mold. The recessed portion reduces the amount of material required to make the fill valve and makes the fill valve flexible to aid in providing a good seal against leakage of a propellant from the container after filling.

This invention relates to aerosol dispensing containers incorporating a bag holding a product to be dispensed and a propellant chamber formed between the bag and container sidewall, and more particularly, to an improved grommet or fill valve (sometimes also referred to as an umbrella valve or seal valve) by which a propellant is introduced into the container and retained therein until all the product in the container is dispensed. Alternately, the container may employ a piston on one side of which is the product to be dispensed and on the other side of which is the propellant chamber. Again, the improved fill valve allows a propellant to be introduced into the chamber and retained therein until all the product is dispensed.
Certain types of aerosol containers include a collapsible bag or pouch disposed within the container. The bag or pouch is filled with a fluent material dispensed by the container. A propellant chamber is formed between the bag and container sidewall. At the base of the container, on a domed bottom surface thereof, an opening is formed and a fill valve is seated in this opening. During manufacture, after the bag or pouch is seated in the container and a dispensing valve attached to the top of the container, a propellant is injected into the container. For a 7 ounce container, 10-12 grams of a propellant such as butane is injected. To inject the propellant, the fill valve is unseated so propellant can flow into the chamber around the valve. The fill valve has a stem which fits through the opening, an inner sealing element formed on one end of the stem, and a "bowtie" section formed on the outer end of the stem. Opposed longitudinally extending grooves extend from the bowtie section along the side of the stem. During filling, a nozzle presses against the bowtie section of the valve and pushes the valve a sufficient distance inwardly that the butane can flow through the grooves into the chamber. In addition, pressure of the butane causes the valve to flex upwardly to create a larger opening for the gas to enter the container. When the nozzle is withdrawn, the pressure in the chamber now forces the inner sealing element of the fill valve against the inner surface of the container bottom, sealing the container. An example of this type of aerosol container is shown in co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,595.
A second type container utilizes a piston disposed in the container with the product to be dispensed being on an outlet valve side of the piston, and the other side of the piston partially forming a propellant chamber in which the butane is injected. The propellant is introduced into the container through a fill valve fitted in the base of the container in the same manner as described above.
Many of the bag-in-can modalities and all piston cans require a bottom gassing, after which the entry hole in the can base for the injection of the gas must be hermetically plugged. A variety of grommets have been developed. Those include U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,979 by Mietz et al. (Hereinafter "Mietz"). Mietz discloses a basic umbrella-shaped grommet used for a pressurized dispensing container. The grommet includes umbrella sealing means located within the container, shoulder means located outside of the container, and stem means joining the umbrella sealing means and the shoulder means. U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,362 by Scheindel (Hereinafter "Scheindel"). Scheindel also discloses a grommet for a pressurized dispensing container. The grommet is characterized by a resilient neck portion which is extended during the injection of propellant so that a passageway for the propellant is formed around the neck. After the charging is completed, the neck contracts creating a tight sealing between the grommet and the container bottom. The grommet may be thermoset molded using buna-N or neoprene or other known material. The grommet may be injection molded.
There are number of problems with the currently used grommets, however, both with respect to their design and manufacture. Although a number of attempts have been made, existing types of grommets do not properly seal, allowing propellant to leak out of the container subsequent to filling. Propellant leakage dramatically reduces the usefulness of a container to dispense product, and if enough propellant leaks out, the result is a "dead" container. A "dead" container is one on which, when the outlet valve is actuated, little or no product is dispensed. It will be understood that there is usually a significant time between when a container is filled and it is used. During this period when the container is being packaged, shipped, warehoused, sits on a shelf in a store, and finally purchased, any loss of propellant, however small, will affect the final usefulness of the can. It has been estimated that even a small leak can result in the loss of as much as 1 gm. of propellant a year.
Other, related problems occur during manufacture of the fill valve. Heretofore, fill valves have been made using a compression molding process which has been found to result in poor sealing because of poor cross-linking of the molded material during the manufacturing process, and compression setting. Cross-linking is the formation of chemical links between molecular chains in polymers. Compression set is a property of grommets that adversely affects their sealing capability. The result has been that even if a fill valve properly seals after filling; over time, propellant can still escape from the container because of poor compression set.
In addition to these factors, another factor causing poor sealing is the cryogenic process used to remove flash produced on a grommet during compression molding. After the molding process is completed, the fill valves are frozen and any extraneous material (the flash) is knocked or broken off the part. However, the freezing process can result in large and/or microscopic cracks being created in the grommet and these cracks become leakage paths for propellant to escape from the container.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that release of the propellant to the atmosphere adds to our environmental problems, regardless of how the propellant escapes. In addition, one "band aid" fix to loss of propellant is to inject more propellant into the container during filling than is otherwise needed, so even if some propellant escapes there is still sufficient propellant that product is adequately dispensed from the container. Further, manufacturers, fillers, or suppliers of the containers often have to replace "dead" containers adding to their warranty costs.
Another problem with previous fill valves has been that molded into each fill valve is indicia identifying the particular mold and mold cavity in which the fill valve is formed. This, of course, is to assist in trouble shooting if valves are found to be defective. Currently, this indicia is in the form of raised alphanumeric characters on one surface of the fill valve. It has been found that after manufacture, when the fill valves are placed on a conveyor which moves them to a container assembly station, the raised characters often cause the valves to not move smoothly along the conveyor, but rather more haphazardly. This can require additional manpower to insure that the fill valves do properly get to the assembly station and are properly oriented for insertion into the bottom of a container.

Grommet or fill valve for an aerosol container


Disclosed are foil coil structures and methods for winding the same for stators in electrodynamic machines, as well as electrodynamic machines that implement such coil structures. In one embodiment, a foil coil structure is configured for implementation with a field pole member having pole faces that confront, for example, conical magnets.

While traditional structures for electrodynamic machines, such as axial motors and generators, are functional, they have several drawbacks in their implementation. Generally, conventional stators do not provide for optimal structures for generating ampere-turn ("AT") flux. For example, traditional stators use coils typically consisting of wires having circular cross-sections, each wire individually wrapped around a component of the stator without regard to other components. It would be desirable to provide improved techniques and structures that minimize one or more of the drawbacks associated with axial motors and generators.

Foil coil structures and methods for winding the same for axial-based electrodynamic machines


Disclosed is a reed valve which uses a simple electromechanical actuator to apply a force that overcomes pressure force and opens the valve. The valve is closed by pressure and the elastic restoring force of the reed. Two of the disclosed valves in a back-to-back connection accommodate bi-directional flow. The disclosed valve is especially suited for application as a pulsed expansion valve for refrigerators and heat pumps.

Electromechanical valves are used in large numbers in a wide variety of fluid and gas flow control applications. Desirable properties for such valves are;
low leakage, PA1 fast response time, PA1 low power consumption, PA1 long life, PA1 low cost, PA1 ability to open with high pressure difference across the valve.
The most common type of prior art electromechanical valve is actuated by a solenoid. Solenoid actuated valves have a definitely limited life, may use significant power, are slow to respond except in small sizes, and require special design if they are to be capable of opening with high pressure difference across the valve. The present invention does not have these shortcomings; it uses little power, responds quickly, opens easily with high pressure difference across the valve, is inexpensive, and is believed to have practically unlimited life. These attributes make it suitable for general application, but particularly suitable as a pulsed expansion valve for refrigeration and air conditioning (U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,819). A pulsed expansion valve must function reliably for years, be very inexpensive, be capable of opening with a pressure difference of at least 300 psi, have fast response to actuating voltage, and have very low leakage. No prior art electromechanical valve has all these properties. For this reason, among others, pulsed expansion valves are not in common use despite their energy saving advantages. The present invention therefore meets a hitherto unmet condition for a practical pulsed expansion valve.


A method of making a nozzle chip includes a step of reduction-projection-exposing a photosensitive resin material to exposure light through a mask by using a reduction-projection-exposure apparatus, the mask having a light-transmitting pattern formed thereon; and a step of forming an ejection orifice pattern corresponding to the light-transmitting pattern on the photosensitive resin material by performing a developing operation. The exposure light in the step of reduction-projection-exposing is passed through a correction mechanism before the exposure light reaches the photosensitive resin material, the correction mechanism being configured to suppress an inclination of a chief ray due to off-axis telecentricity that occurs in the reduction-projection-exposure apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making a nozzle chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
A nozzle chip is used in a liquid ejection head that ejects a liquid from ejection orifices. Examples of a liquid ejection head include an ink jet recording head that performs recording by ejecting an ink toward a recording medium such as a sheet of paper. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-166492 describes a method of making a nozzle chip of an ink jet recording head.
The method of making a nozzle chip described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-166492 will be briefly described. First, an element substrate, which includes energy generating elements that generate energy for ejecting a liquid from ejection orifices, is prepared. Next, a positive photosensitive resin layer including an optical absorption agent is formed on the element substrate. Then, the positive photosensitive resin layer is exposed to light by photolithography, and thereby a pattern having the shapes of flow paths is formed. Next, a negative photosensitive resin layer, which will serve as an ejection orifice forming member, is formed so as to cover the pattern, the negative photosensitive resin layer is exposed to i-line light (wavelength 365 nm) through an exposure mask having a predetermined light transmitting pattern, and an ejection orifice row is formed by performing a developing operation. Lastly, by removing the pattern through the ejection orifices, flow paths having predetermined shapes are formed in the ejection orifice forming member.


The device method of holding a mouth of a bag. The mouth of a bag is drawn through the inside of a hoop, and then is folded around the outside of the hoop. The open edge of the mouth of the bag is positioned below the outside of the hoop. An elastic O-ring is then stretched around the portion of the bag end which overlies the hoop. The O-ring is positioned on the hoop beneath a shelf and is stretched around a lug on a sloping support to hold the bag securely. Triangular openings allow finger insertion to remove the band.

The bag mouth holder of the present invention has a five to eight inch hoop mounted on a sloping holder which is attached to a vertical wall plate. The hoop has a wide upper portion and a narrow lower portion with an intermediate step. The angled support has a notch or a vertically extending lug. The mouth of the bag is inserted upward through the hoop and turned outward and downward around the outside of the hoop. A stretchable band is inserted over the bag end and under the step on the hoop and over the lug or notch in the support. The step prevents the band from sliding upward on the hoop, and the notch or lug holds the band upward so that it does not slide downward off the hoop. The notch or lug provides two generally triangular areas in which the band is spaced outward from the support and hoop so that fingers may be inserted in the band to lift the band off the notch or lug and hoop to remove and replace the bag.
These and further and other objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure, which includes the above and ongoing written specification, with the claims and the drawings.

Bag mouth holder for bottle and can bagger and method


An optical communications card is provided that has multiple parallel optical communications modules mounted on one or both sides of the card. A plurality of the optical communications cards can be edge-mounted and/or mid-plane mounted in an optical communications system such that the cards are electrically connected to a motherboard PCB. Because the spacing, or pitch, between the edge-mounted or mid-plane mounted cards can be very small, the cards can be mounted with very high density to provide the optical communications system with very high bandwidth.

A parallel optical communications module is a module having multiple transmit (TX) channels, multiple receive (RX) channels, or both. A parallel optical transceiver module is an optical communications module that has multiple TX channels and multiple RX channels in TX and RX portions, respectively, of the transceiver module. The TX portion comprises components for transmitting data in the form of modulated optical signals over multiple optical waveguides, which are typically optical fibers. The TX portion includes a laser driver circuit and a plurality of laser diodes. The laser driver circuit outputs electrical signals to the laser diodes to modulate them. When the laser diodes are modulated, they output optical signals that have power levels corresponding to logic 1s and logic 0s. An optics system of the transceiver module focuses the optical signals produced by the laser diodes into the ends of respective transmit optical fibers held within a connector that mates with the transceiver module.
Typically, the TX portion also includes a plurality of monitor photodiodes that monitor the output power levels of the respective laser diodes and produce respective electrical feedback signals that are fed back to the transceiver controller. The transceiver controller processes the feedback signal to obtain respective average output power levels for the respective laser diodes. The transceiver controller outputs control signals to the laser driver circuit that cause it to adjust the modulation and/or bias current signals output to the respective laser diodes such that the average output power levels of the laser diodes are maintained at relatively constant levels.
The RX portion includes a plurality of receive photodiodes that receive incoming optical signals output from the ends of respective receive optical fibers held in the connector. The optics system of the transceiver module focuses the light that is output from the ends of the receive optical fibers onto the respective receive photodiodes. The receive photodiodes convert the incoming optical signals into electrical analog signals. An electrical detection circuit, such as a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), receives the electrical signals produced by the receive photodiodes and outputs corresponding amplified electrical signals, which are processed in the RX portion to recover the data.
There is an ever-increasing demand in the optical communications industry for parallel optical communications systems that are capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving ever-increasing amounts of data. To accomplish this, it is known to combine multiple parallel optical transceiver modules of the type described above to produce a parallel optical communications system that has a higher bandwidth than the individual parallel optical transceiver modules. A variety of parallel optical transceiver modules are used in such systems for this purpose. For example, one known parallel optical transceiver module of the type described above includes a multi-fiber connector module known in the industry as the MTP® connector module. The MTP connector module plugs into a receptacle that is secured to a front panel of a rack of the optical communications system. The MTP connector module receives a duplex fiber ribbon cable having a total of 4, 8, 12, 24, or 48 optical fibers. Typically, half of the fibers of the ribbon cable are transmit fibers and the other half are receive fibers, although all of the fibers may be either transmit or receive fibers in cases where the module is being used as either a transmitter or a receiver, but not both. When the MTP connector module is plugged into the receptacle, electrical contacts of the connector module are electrically connected with electrical contacts of a printed circuit board (PCB) of the transceiver module. The laser diodes and the photodiodes are integrated circuits (ICs) that are mounted on the PCB. A laser driver IC and a transceiver controller IC are typically also mounted on the PCB, although the transceiver controller IC is sometimes mounted on a separate IC, known as the motherboard IC of the optical communications system.
It is known that multiple transceiver modules of the type that use the MTP connector module can be arranged in an array to provide an optical communications system that has an overall bandwidth that is generally equal to the sum of the bandwidths of the individual transceiver modules. One of the problems associated with such an array arises from the fact that the MTP connector modules are "edge-mounted," i.e., plugged into receptacles formed in the front panel of the rack of the optical communications system. Because the modules are edge-mounted, there must be sufficient space on the front panel to accommodate the receptacles and the respective MTP connector modules. Because space on the front panel is limited, the ability to increase bandwidth by increasing the size of the array is also limited.
An alternative to edge-mounting parallel optical transceiver modules is to mid-plane mount parallel optical transceiver modules. A mid-plane mounting configuration is one in which the modules are mounted in the plane of the motherboard PCB. One known parallel optical transceiver module that is mid-plane mounted is known in the industry as the Snap 12 transceiver module. The Snap 12 transceiver module comprises a 12-channel TX module and a 12-channel RX module. Each module has an array of 100 input/output (I/O) pins that plugs into a 100-pin ball grid array (BGA), known as a Meg-array. The Meg-array is, in turn, secured to the host PCB motherboard. The Snap 12 system is typically mounted in a box, which is connected to multiple electrical cables, which, in turn, are connected to multiple router ICs. In order to increase the total bandwidth of an optical communications system that uses multiple mid-plane mounted Snap 12 transceiver modules, multiple boxes may be used. The boxes are typically mounted in racks. The racks needed to accommodate a large number of boxes and the cables needed to interconnect the boxes to the router ICs consume a large amount of space and generate a large amount of heat. The space consumption and heat generation problems must be dealt with in order to make the system operate properly. Consequently, a system that is constructed of multiple boxes in order to achieve an increased bandwidth is generally very expensive.
Other mid-plane mounting solutions exist or have been proposed for mounting multiple parallel optical transceiver modules on a motherboard PCB. One of the problems associated with the existing or proposed mid-plane mounting solutions is that there are limitations on the mounting density of the modules on the motherboard PCB. Each module consumes spatial area, or footprint, on the surface of the motherboard PCB and the modules must be spaced apart from adjacent modules on the motherboard PCB by some minimum spacing, or pitch. Because there is a finite spatial surface area on the motherboard PCB for mounting the modules, the mounting density of the modules is limited, which limits the overall bandwidth of the system.
Accordingly, a need exists for an optical communications system having a mounting configuration in which parallel optical transceiver modules are capable of being mounted with very high density on the motherboard PCB. Increasing the mounting density of the modules increases the amount of data that can be simultaneously transmitted from and received in the optical communications system.

Optical communications card, an optical communications system, and methods and apparatuses for providing high-density mounting of optical communications cards

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An improved image sensor wherein a first micro-lens array comprised of one or more micro-lenses is positioned over a cavity such that incoming light is focused on the photo sensors of the image sensor. The first micro-lens array may collimate and focus incoming light onto the photo sensors of the image sensor, or may collimate incoming light and direct it to a second micro-lens array which then focuses the light onto the photo sensors. A method of fabricating the improved image sensor is also provided wherein the cavity and first micro-lens array are formed by use of a sacrificial material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to micro-lenses for imager devices and to methods for producing the same.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Image sensing devices (i.e., image sensors) are known that employ light detecting elements (e.g., photo sensors) for use in various applications such as in semiconductor devices. Such image sensors may be formed using a variety of fabrication techniques. Currently, two commonly fabricated image sensors are CMOS image sensors and charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors. Each generally includes an array of pixels containing the photo sensors. The image sensors typically use photo sensors in the form of photogates, phototransistors or photodiodes.
When an image is focused on the imager array, light corresponding to the image is directed to the pixels, including the photo sensors. It is known in the art to use an imager array of pixels having a micro-lens array that includes a convex micro-lens for each pixel. Each micro-lens may be used to direct incoming light through a circuitry region of the corresponding pixel to the photo sensor region, thereby increasing the amount of light reaching the photo sensor and thereby increasing the fill factor of the pixels. Each photo sensor is located at a suitable depth in the image sensor such that light, when collimated and focused by a corresponding micro-lens of a given focal length, is directed onto the photo sensor. Examples of other uses of micro-lens arrays include intensifying illuminating light from pixels of a non-luminescent display device (such as a liquid crystal display device) to increase the brightness of the display, forming an image to be printed in a liquid crystal or light emitting diode printer, and providing focusing for coupling a luminescent device or a receptive device to an optical fiber.
Typically, each pixel in the imager array produces a signal corresponding to the intensity of light impinging on the photo sensor associated with that pixel. The magnitude of the signal produced is approximately proportional to the amount of light impinging on the photo sensor. The signals may be used, for example, to display a corresponding image on a monitor or to otherwise provide information about the optical image.
As semiconductor devices and the corresponding image sensors are made smaller, the micro-lens arrays must be made smaller as well. As each micro-lens is made smaller, the focal length of the micro-lens is reduced. This reduced focal length causes light to be focused at a reduced depth in the image sensor device. Typically, in prior art devices, the depth of the photo sensors is reduced in the substrate to correspond to the reduced focal length of the micro-lenses. Decreasing the photo sensor's depth in the substrate, however, requires manufacturing changes, and results in additional effort, expense and time in processing.
Known fabrication methods for micro-lenses use patterning and reflow techniques that are typically used to produce convex micro-lenses. These fabrication techniques are difficult to tailor to produce micro-lenses that direct light to a particular focal point when the micro-lens size and geometry (and resultant focal length) change.
Additionally, in known image sensors, a large amount of light incident on the image sensor device is not directed to the photo sensor due to the geometry of the micro-lens array. In particular, light incident on the space between individual micro-lenses (the lens-lens space) remains uncaptured by the micro-lens, and never impacts the photo sensor. It is difficult to produce image sensor micro-lenses with improved light capture using known patterning and micro-lens reflow processes.
Further, in known image sensors, a passivation layer such as a silicon nitride passivation layer separates the color filters from the photo sensors. This passivation layer causes undesirable reflection in the optical path to the photo sensors.
Accordingly, there is a desire and need for an image sensor having micro-lenses formed to focus light onto the photo sensors of the image sensor such that the depth of the photo sensors does not have to be decreased even when the image sensor device, including its photo sensors and micro-lenses, decreases in size.
There is also a need for an improved method of fabricating an image sensor micro-lens of desired geometry and focal length. Furthermore, there is a need for an image sensor including micro-lenses having improved light capture. Moreover, there is a need for an image sensor and method having reduced reflection in the current stack of the image sensor.

Micro-lens configuration for small lens focusing in digital imaging devices


A method and apparatus for managing texture mapping data in a computer graphics system, the computer graphics system including a host computer, primitive rendering hardware and a primitive data path extending between the host computer and the primitive rendering hardware. The host computer passes primitives to be rendered by the system to the primitive rendering hardware over the primitive data path. The host computer has a main memory that stores texture mapping data corresponding to the primitives to be rendered. The primitive rendering hardware includes a local texture memory that locally stores the texture mapping data corresponding to at least one of the primitives to be rendered. When a primitive passed to the primitive rendering hardware is to be rendered, a determination is made as to whether its corresponding texture mapping data is in the local texture memory. When the texture mapping data corresponding to the primitive to be rendered is in the local texture memory, the primitive is rendered using its corresponding texture mapping data from the local texture memory. When the texture mapping data corresponding to the primitive to be rendered is not in the local texture memory, the texture mapping data corresponding to the primitive to be rendered is downloaded from the host computer main memory to the primitive rendering hardware, and the primitive is rendered using its corresponding texture mapping data downloaded from the main memory. The local texture memory may be implemented as a cache.

Computer graphics systems commonly are used for displaying graphical representations of objects on a two dimensional display screen. Current computer graphics systems can provide highly detailed representations and are used in a variety of applications.
In typical computer graphics systems, an object to be represented on the display screen is broken down into a plurality of graphics primitives. Primitives are basic components of a graphics picture and may include points, lines, vectors and polygons, such as triangles. Typically, a hardware/software scheme is implemented to render, or draw, on the two-dimensional display screen, the graphics primitives that represent the view of one or more objects being represented on the screen.
Typically, the primitives that define the three-dimensional object to be rendered are provided from a host computer, which defines each primitive in terms of primitive data. For example, when the primitive is a triangle, the host computer may define the primitive in terms of the x,y,z coordinates of its vertices, as well as the R,G,B color values of each vertex. Rendering hardware interpolates the primitive data to compute the display screen pixels that are turned on to represent each primitive, and the R,G,B values for each pixel.
Early graphics systems failed to display images in a sufficiently realistic manner to represent or model complex three-dimensional objects. The images displayed by such systems exhibited extremely smooth surfaces absent textures, bumps, scratches, shadows and other surface details present in the object being modeled.
As a result, methods were developed to display images with improved surface detail. Texture mapping is one such method that involves mapping a source image, referred to as a texture, onto a surface of a three-dimensional object, and thereafter mapping the textured three-dimensional object to the two-dimensional graphics display screen to display the resulting image. Surface detail attributes commonly texture mapped include color, specular reflection, vector perturbation, specularity, transparency, shadows, surface irregularities and grading.
Texture mapping involves applying one or more point elements (texels) of a texture to each point element (pixel) of the displayed portion of the object to which the texture is being mapped. Texture mapping hardware is conventionally provided with information indicating the manner in which the texels in a texture map correspond to the pixels on the display screen that represent the object. Each texel in a texture map is defined by S and T coordinates which identify its location in the two-dimensional texture map. For each pixel, the corresponding texel or texels that map to it are accessed from the texture map, and incorporated into the final R,G,B values generated for the pixel to represent the textured object on the display screen.
It should be understood that each pixel in an object primitive may not map in one-to-one correspondence with a single texel in the texture map for every view of the object. For example, the closer the object is to the view port represented on the display screen, the larger the object will appear. As the object appears larger on the display screen, the representation of the texture becomes more detailed. Thus, when the object consumes a fairly large portion of the display screen, a large number of pixels is used to represent the object on the display screen, and each pixel that represents the object may map in one-to-one correspondence with a single texel in the texture map, or a single texel may map to multiple pixels. However, when the object takes up a relatively small portion of the display screen, a much smaller number of pixels is used to represent the object, resulting in the texture being represented with less detail, so that each pixel may map to multiple texels. Each pixel may also map to multiple texels when a texture is mapped to a small portion of an object. Resultant texel data is calculated for each pixel that maps to more than one texel, and typically represents an average of the texels that map to that pixel.
Texture mapping hardware systems typically include a local memory that stores data representing a texture associated with the object being rendered. As discussed above, a pixel may map to multiple texels. If it were necessary for the texture mapping hardware to read a large number of texels that map to a pixel from the local memory to generate an average value, then a large number of memory reads and the averaging of many texel values would be required, which would be time consuming and would degrade system performance.
To overcome this problem, a scheme has been developed that involves the creation of a series of MIP (multum in parvo-many things in a small place) maps for each texture, and storing the MIP maps of the texture associated with the object being rendered in the local memory of the texture mapping hardware. A MIP map for a texture includes a base map that corresponds directly to the texture map, as well as a series of filtered maps, wherein each successive map is reduced in size by a factor of two in each of the two texture map dimensions. An illustrative example of a set of MIP maps is shown in FIG. 1. The MIP (multum in parvo-many things in a small place) maps include a base map 100 that is eight-by-eight texels in size, as well as a series of maps 102, 104 and 108 that are respectively four-by-four texels, two-by-two texels, and one texel in size.
The four-by-four map 102 is generated by box filtering (decimating) the base map 100, such that each texel in the map 102 corresponds to an average of four texels in the base map 100. For example, the texel 110 in map 102 equals the average of the texels 112-115 in map 100, and texels 118 and 120 in map 102 respectively equal the averages of texels 121-124 and 125-128 in map 100. The two-by-two map 104 is similarly generated by box filtering map 102, such that texel 130 in map 104 equals the average of texels 110 and 118-120 in map 102. The single texel in map 108 is generated by averaging the four texels in map 104.
Conventional graphics systems generally download, from the main memory of the host computer to the local memory of the texture mapping hardware, the complete series of MIP maps for any texture that is to be used with the primitives to be rendered on the display screen. Thus, the texture mapping hardware can access texture data from any of the series of MIP maps. The determination of which map to access to provide the texel data for any particular pixel is based upon the number of texels to which the pixel maps. For example, if the pixel maps in one-to-one correspondence with a single texel in the texture map, then the base map 100 is accessed. However, if the pixel maps to four, sixteen or sixty-four texels, then the maps 102, 104 and 108 are respectively accessed because those maps respectively store texel data representing an average of four, sixteen and sixty-four texels in the texture map.
A pixel may not map directly to any one texel in the selected map, and may fall between two or more texels. Some graphics systems employ bi-linear interpolation to accurately produce texel data when this occurs. If a pixel maps into a MIP map between two or more texel entries, then the resulting texel data used is a weighted average of the closest texel entries. Thus, the texel data corresponding to any pixel can be the weighted average of as many as four texel entries in a single map. For example, if a pixel maps to a location in map 102 indicated at 132, the resulting texel data mapping to that pixel would be the weighted average of the texels 110 and 118-120.
Pixels may also not map directly into any one of the maps in the series of MIP maps, and may fall between two maps. For example, a pixel may map to a number of texels in the texture map that is greater than one but less than four. Some graphics systems address this situation by interpolating between the two closest MIP maps to achieve the resultant texel data. For the example above wherein a pixel maps to greater than one but less than four texels in the texture map, the texel data provided by maps 100 and 102 would be interpolated to achieve the resultant texel data for the pixel. When combined with the above-described interpolation of multiple texel entries in a single map, this scheme is known as tri-linear interpolation, and can lead to resultant texel data for any one pixel being generated as a weighted average of as many as eight texels, i.e., the four closest texels in each of the two closest maps.
As discussed above, conventional texture mapping systems download the entire series of MIP maps for any texture associated with primitives to be rendered by the system, even if some of the MIP maps will not be accessed. The downloading of MIP maps that will not be accessed, as well as portions of accessed maps that are not used, is a waste of the system's resources and reduces its bandwidth.
Furthermore, some texture mapping systems are pipelined so that various operations are performed simultaneously on different object primitives. However, a series of MIP maps for a texture can be large. Most systems employ a local memory that is capable of storing only one such large series of MIP maps at a time. Thus, when there is a switch in the texture used in rendering primitives, the system must download a new series of MIP maps. Typically, the data path used to load the new texture data into the local memory in the texture mapping hardware passes through the system's primitive rendering pipeline. Therefore, when a new texture is to be mapped, the primitive rendering pipeline must be allowed to empty out before the new series of MIP maps can be downloaded. Once the series of MIP maps is downloaded, the pipeline must again be filled. The necessity of flushing the primitive rendering pipeline each time a new texture is required reduces the system's bandwidth.

System for managing texture mapping data in a computer graphics system


A non-volatile memory device includes a fin body protruded from a semiconductor substrate. The fin body has first and second side surfaces opposite to each other. An inner dielectric layer pattern is formed on an upper surface, and the first and second side surfaces of the fin body. A floating gate electrode is formed on the inner dielectric layer pattern. The floating gate electrode has an uneven upper surface. An outer dielectric layer is formed on the floating gate electrode. A control gate electrode is formed on the outer dielectric layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to non-volatile memory devices and methods of manufacturing the same. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a non-volatile memory device having a fin body and methods of manufacturing the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, semiconductor devices are classified into volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices. An example of a volatile memory device includes a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device. Examples of non-volatile memory devices include a read only memory (ROM) device, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) device, etc. An example of an EEPROM device includes a flash memory device.
A conventional planar flash memory device includes source/drain regions and a channel region formed on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer, a first dielectric layer formed on the semiconductor substrate, a floating gate electrode formed on the first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer formed on the floating gate electrode, and a control gate electrode formed on the second dielectric layer.
Recently, as flash memory devices have been highly integrated, a flash memory device having a fin body in which an active region is formed has been widely developed. Examples of fin-type flash memory devices are disclosed in U.S. patent application Publication Nos. 2003-151077, 2003-178670 and 2003-42531.
On the other hand, the operation voltage of the flash memory device may be determined in accordance with a first capacitance C1 between the channel region and the floating gate electrode, and a second capacitance C2 between the floating gate electrode and the control gate electrode. The coupling ratio Cr of the flash memory device is the ratio between the operation voltage Vg applied to the control gate electrode and the voltage Vf induced in the floating gate electrode. The coupling ratio may be represented by the following formula:Cr=Vf/Vg=C2/(C1+C2)
Since the first dielectric layer in the fin-type flash memory device is formed on an upper surface and side surfaces of the fin body that is protruded from the semiconductor substrate, the first dielectric layer in the fin-type flash memory device has an area broader than that of the first dielectric layer in the planar flash memory device. Thus, the first capacitance between the channel region formed in the fin body and the floating gate electrode is increased so that the coupling ratio is decreased. This may cause an increase in the operation voltage of the fin-type flash memory device.
Further, because the floating gate electrode in the fin-type flash memory device encloses the first dielectric layer on the fin body, a process align margin between the floating gate electrode and the fin body may not be sufficiently guaranteed.

Non-volatile memory device and method of manufacturing the same


Provided are an electronic device and operating method, which includes a first operation, performed when the electronic device is not connected to an external output device, including displaying a first screen including a plurality of icons representing a plurality of application programs in a first format, and a second operation, performed when the electronic device is inserted into an external docking device for connecting to the external output device, including rendering a second screen including a plurality of icons displayed in the second format while the external docking device is connected to a wired local area network (LAN), and providing data associated with the second screen using the connector, and connecting the electronic device to the wired LAN through the connector using a first media access control address shared with the external device on the wired LAN.

With the development of mobile communication technology, an electronic device performs various data communication functions as well as voice call functions. The electronic device provides various services through various applications. The electronic device provides a multimedia service, for example, a music service, a video service, or a digital broadcast service, or a call, wireless Internet, short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), and the like which are network-based communication services. And, as the electronic device evolves from a simple communication medium to a device capable of various functions such as communication, distribution, the Internet, or payment, it has been used throughout the social, cultural, financial, or distribution industries.
As the electronic device is inserted into a docking device, it operates in a usage environment similar to that of a general personal computer. That is, the electronic device uses a wired network through a docking device. For example, the electronic device uses a service provided by an external device through the wired network.

Electronic device and operating method therefor


A laminated solar module has two spatially-separated electrical terminals with a simple cabling of a plurality of such solar modules to one another. The solar modules are weather proof. A respective housing is located at each electrical terminal. A protective diode is integrated in at least one housing as a normally-non-conducting diode bridging solar cells that are arranged in the solar module and connected in series.

1. Field of the Invention
The pertinent invention relates to a laminated solar module having two spatially-separated electrical terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A laminated solar module is a solar generator whose solar cells with appertaining electrical terminals and connecting lines are embedded in a composite composed of a carrier or rear side covering, elastic hot-melt adhesive foils, and a glass panel. A glass panel, sheet metal, a foil or the like may be used as the carrier or rear side covering. Hardened glass panes may be used as glass panels, these making it possible to achieve a reduction in the thickness of the generator and in its weight. The solar cells and hot-melt adhesive foils are placed between the carrier and the glass panel. The hot-melt adhesive foils are placed between the carrier and the glass panel. The hot-melt adhesive foils and the solar cells are fused to the carrier and the glass panel by a thermal vacuum process to form a composite. After they melt, the hot-melt adhesive foils form practically a single layer. Flint glass may also be used as the glass material, having practically no absorption in the range of light for which solar cells are particularly sensitive. A transparent foil can also be employed instead of the glass panel.