A method for differential phase evaluation of M-ary communication data is employed in which the data consists of N sequential symbols r1 . . . rN, each having one of M transmitted phases. Selected sequences of N−1 elements that represent possible sequences of phase differentials are evaluated using multiple-symbol differential detection. Using r1 as the reference for each phase differential estimate, sN−1 phase differential sequences are selected in the form (P2i, P3i, . . . , PNi) for i=1 to s for evaluating said symbol set, where s is predetermined and 1<s<M. Each set of s phase differential estimate values are chosen based on being the closest in value to the actual transmitted phase differential value. These s phase differential estimates can be determined mathematically as those which produce the maximum results using conventional differential detection.

Conventionally, communication receivers use two types of MPSK modulated signal detection: coherent detection and differential detection. In coherent detection, a carrier phase reference is detected at the receiver, against which subsequent symbol phases are compared to estimate the actual information phase. Differential detection processes the difference between the received phases of two consecutive symbols to determine the actual phase. The reference phase is the phase of the first of the two consecutive symbols, against which the difference is taken. Although differential detection eliminates the need for carrier phase reference processing in the receiver, it requires a higher signal-to-noise ratio at a given symbol error rate.
Differential detection in an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel is preferred over coherent detection when simplicity of implementation and robustness take precedence over receiver sensitivity performance. Differential detection is also preferred when it is difficult to generate a coherent demodulation reference signal. For differential detection of multiple-phase shift keying (MPSK) modulation, the input phase information is differentially encoded at the transmitter, then demodulation is implemented by comparing the received phase between consecutive symbol intervals. Therefore, for proper operation, the received carrier reference phase should be constant over at least two symbol intervals.
Multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) uses more than two consecutive symbols and can provide better error rate performance than conventional differential detection (DD) using only two consecutive symbols. As in the case of DD, MSDD requires that the received carrier reference phase be constant over the consecutive symbol intervals used in the process.
Detailed discussions of MSDD and Multiple Symbol Detection (MSD) are found in, "Multiple-Symbol Differential Detection of MPSK" (Divsalar et al., IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, Vol. 38, No. 3, Mar. 1990) and "Multiple-Symbol Detection for Orthogonal Modulation in CDMA System" (Li et al., IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 50, No. 1, January 2001).
Conventional MPSK MSDD is explained in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2 below. FIG. 1 shows an AWGN communication channel 101 with an MPSK signal sequence r that comprises N consecutive symbols r1 . . . rN received by receiver 110. Symbol rk represents the kth component of the N length sequence r, where 1≦k≦N. The value for rk is a vector represented by Equation (1):
                              r          k                =                                                                              2                                                        E                    S                                                                    T                  S                                                                                ⅇ                                                jϕ                  k                                +                                  jθ                  k                                                              +                      n            k                                              Eq        .                                                    (          1          )                    having symbol energy Es, symbol interval Ts and transmitted phase φk where j=√{square root over (−1)}. Value nk is a sample taken from a stationary complex white Gaussian noise process with zero mean. Value θk is an arbitrary random channel phase shift introduced by the channel and is assumed to be uniformly distributed in the interval (−π, π). Although channel phase shift θk is unknown, differential detection conventionally operates assuming θk is constant across the interval of observed symbols r1 to rN. For differential MPSK (DMPSK), phase information is differentially encoded at the transmitter, and transmitted phase φk is represented by:φk=φk-1+Δφk  Eq. (2)where Δφk is the transmitted information phase differential corresponding to the kth transmission interval that takes on one of M uniformly distributed values within the set Ω={2 πm/M, m=0, 1, . . . , M−1}around the unit circle, as in a Gray mapping scheme. For example, for QPSK, M=4 and Δφk=0, π/2, π, or 3π/2 for each k from 1 to N.
It is assumed for simplicity that arbitrary phase value θk is constant (θk=θ) over the N-length of the observed sequence.
At the receiver, optimum detection using multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) is achieved by selecting an estimated sequence of phase differentials {d{circumflex over (φ)}1, d{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , d{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} which maximizes the following decision statistic:
                    η        =                              max                                          d                                                                                ϕ                    ^                                    1                                            ,                              d                                                                                ϕ                    ^                                    2                                            ,                                                d                                                                                ϕ                      ^                                                              N                      -                      1                                                                      ∈                Ω                                                                                                                                r                  1                                +                                                      ∑                                          m                      =                      2                                        N                                                                                r                      m                                                                                ⅇ                                                                        -                          j                                                                                d                                                                                ϕ                            ^                                                                                m                            -                            1                                                                                                        2                                              Eq        .                                                    (          3          )
By Equation (3), the received signal is observed over N symbol time intervals while simultaneously selecting the optimum estimated phase sequence {d{circumflex over (φ)}1, d{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , d{circumflex over (φ)}N−1}. The maximized vector sum of the N-length signal sequence rk, provides the maximum-likelihood detection, where estimated phase differential d{circumflex over (φ)}m is the difference between estimated phase {circumflex over (φ)}m+1 and the estimate of the first phase {circumflex over (φ)}1.d{circumflex over (φ)}m={circumflex over (φ)}m+1−{circumflex over (φ)}1.  Eq. (4)The estimate of transmitted information phase sequence {Δ{circumflex over (φ)}1, Δ{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , Δ{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} is obtained from the estimated phase sequence {d{circumflex over (φ)}1, d{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , d{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} using Equation (5).
                              d                                                                                ϕ              ^                        m                          =                              ∑                          k              =              1                        m                                          Δ                                                                                ϕ                ^                            k                                                          Eq        .                                                    (          5          )                    Value Δ{circumflex over (φ)}k is an estimate of transmitted phase differential Δφk. Since d{circumflex over (φ)}k (1≦k≦N−1) takes on one of M uniformly distributed Ω values {2 πm/M, m=0, 1, . . . , M−1}, the conventional MSDD detection searches all possible phase differential sequences and there are MN−1 such phases. The error rate performance improves by increasing the observed sequence length N, which preferably is selected to be N=4 or N=5. As an example, for 16PSK modulation with N=5, the number of phase differential sequences to search is 164=65536. As evident by this considerably large number of sequences, simplicity in the search sequence is sacrificed in order to achieve a desirable error rate performance.
FIG. 2 shows the process flow diagram for algorithm 200, which performs conventional MSDD. It begins with step 201 where N consecutive symbols rk for k=1 to N is observed. Next, the possible sets of phase differential sequences {d{circumflex over (φ)}1, d{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , d{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} where each d{circumflex over (φ)}k, for k=1 to N−1, is one from the set of M uniformly distributed phase values in the set Ω={2 πm/M, m=0, 1, . . . , M−1}. There are MN−1 possible sets. FIG. 5 shows an example of an array of such sets, where N=4 and M=4, which illustrates the 44-1=64 possible sets of phase differential sequences. In step 203, each possible phase sequence is attempted in the expression
                                    r          1                +                              ∑                          m              =              2                        N                                                        r              m                                                  ⅇ                                                -                  j                                                                                d                                                                                ϕ                    ^                                                        m                    -                    1                                                                                        2    ,giving a total of MN−1 values. Next, in step 204, the maximum value is found for step 203, which indicates the best estimate phase differential sequence. Finally, in step 205, the final information phase sequence {Δ{circumflex over (φ)}1, Δ{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , Δ{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} is estimated from {d{circumflex over (φ)}1, d{circumflex over (φ)}2, . . . , d{circumflex over (φ)}N−1} using Equation (5) and the information bits are obtained from Gray de-mapping between phase and bits.
Although MSDD provides much better error performance than conventional DD (symbol-by-symbol), MSDD complexity is significantly greater. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method and system for MSDD with less complexity.

Algorithm for multiple-symbol differential detection


The present invention is directed to a modular heat dissipating device that consists of a plurality of sheet and beam members which are connected together by heat pipes. The sheet or support fin member is constructed by folding a piece of heat conducting material which is then mounted on a beam member. There are individual compliant interfaces built into the fin members such that a good thermal contact can be ensured with the heat generating semiconductor devices. The modular heat dissipating devices can be stacked up to gain higher cooling capacity or spread around to cover multiple chips on a printed-wiring board.

The heat dissipating device which is usually known as the heat sink is commonly used to cool semiconductor chips. However, in usual constructions, such heatsinks have a hard base portion which produces a difficult to cover situation when there are multiple chips, multiple shapes and multiple mountings that in turn may be on a common carrier which may have a variation of spacing, heights and planarity.
There is, therefore, a need to have a heat dissipating interface device that is easy to manufacture while providing a compliant interface between the heat generating device and the transfer to the ambient dissipation device or heat sink. The having of a compliant interface takes on greater importance when the heat dissipation device is shared by several semiconductor devices on a common carrier such as a printed-wiring board.
The advantages of this invention are to provide a low thermal resistance between the heat generating devices and the common heat dissipating device or heat sink through the compliant interface and as the art progresses, it would be of advantage for any heat dissipating device to be modular with it's cooling capacity extendable by stacking and spreading.
There has been some progress in the art. In the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin publication, Vol. 34, No. 4A, September 1991, titled "Stacked, Thin Film Heat Sink", describes a method of making a heat sink using thin plates stacked together. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,609, titled "Structure Computer Central Processing Unit Heat dissipater", there is described a heat dissipater comprising of a fan, an upper cover, a heat sink assembly, and a lower cover, wherein the heat sink assembly is composed of numerous metal heat sink elements that are interlock-assembled together front to back in a flush arrangement.

Heat dissipation interface for semiconductor chip structures

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device 200 while reducing silicon loss. In one aspect, the process includes removing a photoresist layer 270 from a semiconductor substrate 235 adjacent a gate 240 and cleaning the semiconductor substrate with a wet clean solution. The removing step includes subjecting the photoresist layer 270 to a plasma ash. The plasma ash removes at least a portion of a crust 275 formed on the photoresist layer 270 but leaves a substantial portion of the photoresist layer 270. The photoresist layer 270 is subjected to a wet etch subsequent to the plasma ash that removes a substantial portion of the photoresist layer 270.

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, photoresist masks are typically employed to protect areas which are not to be treated in a particular processing step, such as etching or implantation. After the processing step is completed, the photoresist is removed, and the next step in the manufacturing process is performed. This is particularly the case for the formation of lightly doped drain (LDD) regions and source/drain regions adjacent a transistor gate. For a given device, it may be necessary to apply and remove photoresist many times during various implant steps, and it is important that after each implant all of the photoresist is completely removed and the wafer surface is cleaned to avoid contamination and defects.
Currently, photoresist is most commonly stripped or "ashed" in plasma reactors which employ an RF discharge to produce oxygen radicals which combine with the hydrocarbons of the photoresist to produce water and carbon dioxide in gaseous form, which makes for easy disposal. Because of the presence of oxygen in a highly charged environment, these plasma processes are highly oxidizing with respect to the silicon surface. After the ash step is complete, the silicon substrate is cleaned with a wet clean step to remove any remaining particle residues.
The area on the semiconductor surface that is of rising concern is the area adjacent the transistor gates. Typically, the regions adjacent the gates can undergo several ash and clean steps following dopant implantation steps. When silicon is exposed to the oxidizing environment of these conventional ashing processes, a portion of the silicon adjacent the gate, and particularly in the LDD region, is oxidized. The ashing process is conducted for a period of time and at energy levels sufficient to remove the photoresist. It is during this exposure time that the silicon adjacent the gate structures is oxidized. Because of the amount of energy and time associated with such conventional ashing steps and the number of times the ashing steps are conducted, the silicon oxidation can achieve a significant thickness, which consumes a relatively substantial amount of silicon. As the areas adjacent the gates are subjected to clean steps, a portion of the oxidized silicon is removed. After repeating these steps several times, a significant portion of the original silicon substrate is removed to form recesses adjacent the gate. In fact, silicon loss can range from about 5 nm to about 7 nm.
In the past, the lightly doped implant regions were much larger and deeper due to the overall device size, and due to these larger sizes, silicon loss in the LDD regions was not of great concern. However, as devices have shrunk below the submicron range, implants have become much shallower, and in some cases, more lightly doped. As such, any loss of silicon in the LDD regions can lead to dopant loss, Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) degradation, channel pinch-out, and can generally have a significant negative impact on device performance.
Therefore what is needed in the art is a photoresist removal and clean process that avoids these disadvantages.

Silicon recess improvement through improved post implant resist removal and cleans


Membrane protein expression can be predicted using statistical frameworks to provide an enhanced subset of sequences, out of an initial larger set of potentially expressing sequences, by using features derived from sequences and a model parameterized through a dataset of known expression levels. Also, membrane protein experimentation protocols can be designed using the statistical frameworks in concert known outcomes to identify which laboratory conditions are most likely to produce successful results.

Prediction of protein expression from sequence information has been the focus of research as the ability to know whether a certain sequence can express impacts many applications in various fields such as biological and medical research, where such expression is often performed in a controlled environment.
However, the biological processes presiding expression of sequences in a biological environment are complex and not completely understood (and might never be), which affect the ability to efficiently and accurately predict whether and to what extent and/or yield a certain sequence will express in a certain environment.
Accordingly, protein expression can, of course, be tested experimentally within a protein, protein family, or a set of targets. However, achievement of efficient and/or high yield prediction methods remains challenging.

Methods and systems for predicting membrane protein expression based on sequence-level information


An electrochemical sensor with an ion-selective membrane that comprises a crosslinked alkyl methacrylate homopolymer or copolymer of two or more alkyl methacrylates

Glass electrodes with a solid-state glass membrane are the standard sensors for pH measurements. However, glass membranes have intrinsic disadvantages. Many types of glass membranes contain lead as a critical component and the removal of lead takes significant engineering resources and poses increased risks for glass cracking. The manufacture of glass electrodes requires extensive glass blowing expertise and is expensive. In addition, the fragility of glass is challenging in application areas such as food processing and implantable or wearable sensing.
Current glass electrodes require an internal fill solution to function, which limits their use in applications where small form factors are required. Protein adsorption onto the pH sensitive glass bulb results in fouling which requires frequent cleaning and maintenance. Glass electrodes are also difficult to miniaturize due to the high resistivity of glass.
Polymeric membranes are an alternative to solve some of the aforementioned challenges. Plasticized PVC membranes have become the conventional type of polymeric membrane Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) with a wide range of pH ionophores developed successfully. These ionophores have functional groups that can be protonated such as in the case of amine and pyridine derivatives. However, the plasticizers used in a PVC-based membrane can leach out over time. This gradual loss of plasticizer not only undermines the functionality and selectivity of the selective membrane but can also cause inflammatory reactions, making plasticized polymers undesirable for use in areas such as long-term monitoring, the food and pharmaceutical industry, and implantable and wearable sensing applications.

Abstract: 1. with a covalently attached electrically neutral or electrically charged ionophore that is selective for a target cation or anion, or

Abstract: 2. with a covalently attached cationic or anionic ionic site, or

Abstract: 3. with a covalently attached cationic or anionic ionic site and covalently attached electrically neutral or electrically charged ionophore.


A method of wastewater treatment comprises: providing waste water to a vessel within a solar collector; and superheating the waste water under pressure within the vessel using solar energy of the solar collector, thereby to provide oxidation conditions from said solar energy to oxidize organic matter. The water may then be passed to a flash chamber to vaporize and leave behind a brine with dissolved salts.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a method and apparatus for wastewater treatment, and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to such a method and apparatus for treatment of industrial waste water containing high levels of organic pollutants and salts.
Industrial wastewater treatment has used various technologies over the years.
The vast majority of treatment plants are based on biological processes, aerobic or an-aerobic or a combination of the two, and this is generally sufficient for domestic waste.
Recently MBR, membrane biological reactors, have entered the market, combining ultra-fine filtration with biological activity.
When dealing with wastewater containing high concentrations of organic matter or wastewater containing more than 3% salts, levels typical of industrial waste, then biological processes are not effective enough and other technologies have to be considered.
Such technologies include low and high pressure oxidation, super critical water oxidation etc.
Such technologies come under the heading of advanced oxidation processes AOP.
The common factor in all these advanced technologies is the need for energy input which renders the processes expensive and in most cases even prohibitively so.
In the events of wastewater containing both high concentrations of organics and salt, two difficult problems have to be solved.
The first is the destruction of the organics in the wastewater, and the second is the separation of salts from the water or distillation, to produce water that contains no harmful or hazardous organics and no salts, so the water can be reused or discharged safely to the environment. The present application addresses ways to carry out AOP, that is both to separate out the salts and to destroy the organic compounds, without incurring an excessive energy cost, either in environmental or economic terms.

Wastewater treatment apparatus and method


An ink set and method for ink-jet printing using the same are disclosed, the ink set comprising inks comprising an aqueous vehicle and a colorant, the ink set comprising at least two mutually reactive inks, the at least two mutually reactive inks comprising a first and a second ink; and an ink non-reactive with the at least two mutually reactive inks. The present ink set utilizes the advantages of reactive inks while allowing flexibility in the design of the inks and the architecture of the ink-jet printing systems in which they are used.

Ink-jet printing is a non-impact printing process in which droplets of ink are deposited on a print medium in a particular order to form alphanumeric characters, area-fills, and other patterns thereon. Low cost and high quality of the hardcopy output, combined with relatively noise-free operation, have made ink-jet printers a popular alternative to other types of printers used with computers.
The non-impact printing process of ink-jet printing involves the ejection of fine droplets of ink onto a print medium such as paper, transparency film, or textiles in response to electrical signals generated by a microprocessor. There are two basic means currently available for achieving ink droplet ejection in ink-jet printing: thermally and piezoelectrically. In thermal ink-jet printing, the energy for drop ejection is generated by electrically heated resistor elements, which heat up rapidly in response to electrical signals from a microprocessor to create a vapor bubble, resulting in the expulsion of ink through nozzles associated with the resistor elements. In piezoelectric ink-jet printing, the ink droplets are ejected due to the vibrations of piezoelectric crystals, again, in response to electrical signals generated by the microprocessor.
In thermal ink-jet printing, an ink-jet image is formed when a precise pattern of dots is ejected from a drop generating device known as a "printhead" onto a printing medium. The typical ink-jet printhead has an array of precisely formed nozzles (or ejector portions) attached to a thermal ink-jet printhead substrate, such as silicon, nickel, or polyimide, or a combination thereof. The substrate incorporates an array of firing chambers or drop ejector portions that receive liquid ink (colorants dissolved or dispersed in a solvent) through fluid communication with one or more ink reservoir. Each firing chamber has a thin-film resistor, known as a "firing resistor," located opposite the nozzle so ink can collect between the firing resistor and the nozzle. The printhead is mounted on a carriage that travels along the width of the printer (otherwise the "scan axis").
Commercially-available thermal ink-jet printers, such as DeskJet.RTM. printers available from Hewlett-Packard Company, use inks of differing hues, namely, magenta, yellow, and cyan, and optionally black. The particular set of colorants, e.g., dyes, used to make the inks is called a "primary dye set." A spectrum of colors, e.g., secondary colors, can be generated using different combinations of the primary dye set.
One category of ink-jet printers utilizes disposable printheads in which the ink reservoirs are on-board the carriage, thus the term on-board or on-axis. The reservoirs can be formed integrally with the printhead portions or they can be detachably connected thereto.
Another category of ink-jet printers employs ink reservoirs that are not located on the carriage, thus the term off-board or off-axis. In one case, the reservoir intermittently replenishes the printhead with ink when the printhead travels to a stationary reservoir periodically for replenishment. Another type makes use of a replaceable ink reservoir connected to the printhead by a fluid conduit. The printhead is replenished with ink through this fluid conduit.
The reservoirs may be individually (separate from other reservoirs) replaceable or the reservoirs can be formed as one integral reservoir portion, to be replaced as a unit.
Different printhead/ink reservoir configurations address different customer needs. For example, on-board designs provide for ease of use. Printers using the off-board designs provide for less interruptions during printing jobs which require larger ink volumes, such as large format printing.
In general, a successful ink set for color ink-jet printing should have the following properties: good crusting resistance, good stability, the proper viscosity, the proper surface tension, good color-to-color bleed alleviation, rapid dry time, no negative reaction with the vehicle, consumer-safety, and low strike-through. When placed into a thermal ink-jet system, the ink set should also be kogation-resistant. Furthermore, the successful ink set should be robust enough to provide flexibility in the design and configuration of the ink-jet print cartridge.
Regardless of whether an ink is dye-based or pigment-based, ink-jet inks commonly face the challenge of color-to-color or black-to-color bleed control. The term "bleed", as used herein, is defined to be the invasion of one color into another, once the ink is deposited on the print medium, as evidenced by a ragged border therebetween. Bleed occurs as colors mix both on the surface of the paper substrate as well as within the substrate itself. The occurrence of bleed is especially problematic between a black ink and an adjacently-printed color ink because it is all the more visible. Hence, to achieve good print quality, bleed should be substantially reduced or eliminated such that borders between colors are clean and free from the invasion of one color into the other.
One approach used for controlling bleed between the printed images, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,383, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Preventing Color Bleed in a Multi-Ink Printing System," filed by Shields et al., and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference, is to employ a precipitating agent (e.g., a multi-valent metal salt) in one ink, and a colorant, preferably in the form of an organic dye having at least one and preferably two or more carboxyl and/or carboxylate groups, in another ink, preferably the black ink. When the inks are printed on the printing medium adjacent one another, the ink containing the precipitating agent brings about the precipitation of the colorant with the carboxyl/carboxylate group, thereby preventing the migration of the colorant in the other ink, thereby reducing bleed between the two adjacently printed areas.
Another method of reducing bleed between ink-jet inks involves the use of pH-sensitive dyes as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,045 entitled "Bleed Alleviation Using pH-sensitive Dyes/Inks," filed by Shields et al, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, and incorporated herein by reference. It disclosed therein that an ink having a pH-sensitive dye, the "pH-sensitive ink," would be prevented from bleeding into an adjacent ink having an appropriate pH, the "target ink". More particularly, migration of the ink having the pH-sensitive dye is prevented by rendering the dye insoluble on the page by contact with the adjacent ink having the appropriate pH. Thus, bleed is reduced or eliminated by using both the "pH-sensitive" ink as well as the "target" ink. Typically, since the invasion of a black dye into a color ink is more problematic than vice versa because of its greater visibility, the black ink would employ the pH-sensitive dye and the pH of the color ink would be controlled in the practice of the invention, such that the black ink would be prevented from bleeding into the color ink. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,045 requires a pH differential of about 4 (or even 5) units to completely control bleed.
U.S. application Ser. No. 08/567974, entitled "Bleed Alleviation in Ink-Jet Inks using Organic Acids," filed by Adamic et al. on Dec. 6, 1995, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,143 (entitled "Bleed Alleviation in Ink-jet Inks Using Acids Containing a Basic Functional Group," filed by Looman and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention), both incorporated herein by reference, further disclose methods for controlling bleed by forcing the precipitation of a pH-sensitive dye in one ink (the pH-sensitive ink) on the print medium by contacting the pH-sensitive dye with a second ink (the target ink) having an appropriate pH (either higher or lower than the first ink). Upon contact on the print medium, the pH-sensitive dye of the first ink becomes insoluble, thus bleeding less. U.S. application Ser. No. 08/567974 discloses the use of organic acids to reduce the pH differential required to effect precipitation of a pH-sensitive dye colorant as compared to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,045, described above. U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,143 employs the use of an organic acid having no basic functional groups and a pH adjusting organic compound containing both acidic and basic functional groups, specifically, at least one acidic functional group and at least one basic functional group, where the number of basic functional groups is the same as or greater than the number of acidic functional groups. The presence of the organic acid in the ink-jet ink composition reduces the pH differential required to render insoluble the pH-sensitive colorant of a second encroaching ink-jet ink composition, as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/567974 above. The presence of the dual-function pH adjusting compound further increases the concentration of an acid functional group in the ink-jet ink composition while also increasing the pH of the ink-jet ink composition to acceptable levels. Therefore, the dual-function pH adjusting compound augments the bleed alleviation achieved by an organic acid alone according to the mechanism disclosed in Ser. No. 08/567974.
In order to prevent the occurrence of bleed between the primary (e.g., cyan, magenta, and yellow) and secondary colors (e.g., red, blue, and green) with black, all the three primary colors are designed to be reactive with the black ink according to reaction mechanisms such as those described above (multi-valent metal salt, pH-sensitive dye.
The above solutions, although of merit, do not maximize flexibility in the design of the inks and printing systems in which they are used. For example, using reactive ink systems may lead to unwanted mixing of the reactive inks, hence contributing to reliability problems in the printing system, particularly in compact printhead arrangements or compact ink delivery arrangements.
Therefore, a need exists for a reactive ink set that can utilize the advantages of reactive inks while allowing flexibility in the design of the inks and the architecture of the ink-jet printing systems in which they are used.


A reactor has a casing composed of a magnesia-based refractory, and a bottom plate composed of an MgO-graphite mixed refractory is disposed on a bottom part of this casing. A graphite crucible is provided at a bottom of the reactor, and the graphite crucible and the reactor are joined together by a magnesia cylinder. Iron ore powder, coal powder, and other such raw materials supplied into the reactor are irradiated with microwaves from microwave oscillators and are heated. The iron ore is reduced, and the resulting molten pig iron flows out through a hole into a crucible, and then is poured out of the crucible through another hole into a ladle. It is thereby possible to manufacture molten pig iron with high energy efficiency, instead of using blast-furnace iron-making.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iron-making furnace for obtaining pig iron from iron ore, and particularly relates to a microwave iron-making furnace in which a raw material containing iron ore and coal is heated and melted by microwaves, and the iron ore is reduced to carbon to obtain pig iron.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the steel industry, melted pig iron is usually obtained through blast-furnace iron-making. Specifically, pellets made from iron ore, which is an iron oxide (ferric oxide or ferrous oxide etc.), coke or the like as a carbon source, which is a reducer, and limestone; are loaded into the top of a blast furnace (smelting furnace), hot air (air) is blown in through the tuyere at the bottom of the blast furnace, and an upward flow of hot air is formed in the blast furnace. The falling pellets are heated by the hot air, and the iron ore is reduced by a reaction between the iron ore and the coke. The reduced iron is melted to obtain melted pig iron, which accumulates at the bottom of the blast furnace. After a certain amount of pig iron has accumulated, the pig iron at the bottom of the furnace is taken out through a tapping hole in the bottom of the furnace, and the pig iron flows through a runner channel to be accommodated in a ladle (for example, Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. H11-229007).
However, conventional blast-furnace iron making has had problems in that reducing and melting iron ore requires six hours or more at a temperature of about 1600° C., which is not energy-efficient.
Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. H6-116616 discloses a method for manufacturing an iron powder by using microwaves to heat and reduce iron oxide. In this method for manufacturing an iron powder, iron ore, mill scale, or another such iron oxide that has been crushed; a microwave high-dielectric-constant material as a carbon source whose primary component is coke, char, activated carbon, powdered carbon, or another form of carbon; and calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, sodium carbonate, or another carbonate are mixed together. This mixture is irradiated with microwaves to internally heat the carbon source to a temperature in excess of 900° C., and the mixture reacts with the CO2 gas produced by pyrolysis of the carbonate in the mixture to produce CO gas. The iron oxide is reduced by this CO gas to produce an iron powder.
However, the method for manufacturing an iron powder by using microwaves as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. H6-116616 is a method in which iron ore or another iron oxide, coke or another carbon source, and a carbonate are mixed and heated by microwaves, the carbon source is internally heated to a temperature in excess of 900° C., CO gas is produced by a reaction between the carbon source and the CO2 gas resolved from the carbonate in the mixture, and the ion oxide is reduced by this CO gas, but the iron ore, the coke, and the like are not melted. Therefore, with this method, it is only possible to merely manufacture an iron powder, and large amounts of molten pig iron cannot be manufactured efficiently.

Inter-University Research Institute Corporation National Institutes of Natural Sciences


A method for posting and responding to a query is provided for enabling a first user to input the query to a system, converting the query to a hyperlink, adding the hyperlink to an interactive ticker for response, and enabling a second user to select a query from the ticker and respond to the first user by at least one of e-mail, instant message, and message board post.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an interactive streaming ticker. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a streaming ticker of hyperlinks input by a user where the hyperlinks represent a query to be answered by other users of the system.
2. Background Information
A wealth of information on almost every imaginable topic is now available through the Global Information Network or Internet. In most instances, if an internet user desires to find information he or she will go to a search engine, input search criteria, and receive a list of matching results for further investigation. Users may also post a query on a message board targeted to a specific area about which the user is interested. For example, a user who has a query about a certain type of vehicle may find a website of car enthusiasts for that particular vehicle and post a query to be answered by other users who frequent the site. While these and other information gathering techniques provide valuable results, often they require the user to wade through many irrelevant web pages and/or responses before finding one that satisfactorily provides the desired information. In addition, a user may have to wait days or even weeks to receive an answer when using a message board type system.
It would be desirable to have in place on the Internet a system for better connecting people with queries to people who may be able to answer those queries, possibly even with a real-time response.


An object of the present invention is to provide a display unit and a power save controller capable of reducing the power consumption in a power save mode. There are provided a power supply section 110 which supplies power to a display unit 100 connected to a computer main unit 200 to display images, a display section 120 which performs image display on the basis of an image signal, a power save control section 130 which controls, on the basis of a sync signal, an energization mode in which the power supply section 110 is in an on state and a power save mode in which the power supply section 110 is in an off state, and a power save termination determination circuit 140 which is driven by auxiliary power for peripheral devices supplied from the computer main unit 200, which substitutes as the power save control section 130 to make a determination on the basis of the sync signal as to whether or not a return from the power save mode to the energization mode should be made, and returns at least the power save control section 130 to the on state in the case of determining that a return to the energization mode should be made, and which has a power consumption lower than that of the power save control section 130.

In display units connected to computer main units to display images, conventionally, a display unit designed to save power in such a manner that the display units enters a power save mode of a low power consumption if the computer is not used in a predetermined time period after turning on of the power to the display unit has been put to practical use.
However, conventional display units consume power of typically 3 to 5 W even in a power save mode.
The tendency is now increasing on a worldwide scale to reduce the power consumption of display units in a power save mode to 1 W or less from the viewpoint of environmental protection and resource conservation. However, it is presently difficult to reduce the power consumption to such a level, for a reason described below.
In present display units, a microcomputer having the important functions that display optimum on-screen images, e.g., the function of controlling display parameters and the function of detecting a screen adjustment function button input signal is used. A power save control circuit constituted mainly of this microcomputer performs control in a power save mode.
Therefore, supply of power to the save control circuit constituted mainly of the microcomputer is also required in the power save mode. Presently, for this reason, consumption of power of 3 to 5 W at the minimum cannot be avoided.
In view of the above-described circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a display unit having a reduced power consumption in a power save mode and a power save controller for use with the display unit.


A trenched MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) with a guard ring and a channel stop, including: a substrate including an epi layer region on the top thereof; a plurality of source and body regions formed in the epi layer; a metal layer including a plurality of metal layer regions which are connected to respective source and body, and gate regions forming metal connections of the MOSFET; a plurality of metal contact plugs connected to respective metal layer regions; a plurality of gate structure filled with polysilicon to form a plurality of trenched gates on top of epi layer; an insulating layer deposited on the epi layer formed underneath the metal layer with a plurality of metal contact holes therein for contacting respective source and body regions; a guard ring wrapping around the metal layer corresponding to the gate region at the termination; and a channel stop which is a heavier N-type doping region aside the guard ring at the termination; Wherein the contact plugs connecting to the top metal layer are corresponding to the source and the body regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trenched MOSFET structure with a guard ring and a channel stop and a method for manufacturing thereof, and more particularly to a structure of a trenched MOSFET which solves current leakage, and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. The Prior Arts
In the structure of a trench Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) or vertical transistor, the gate of the transistor is formed in a trench on top of a substrate and the source/drain regions are formed on both sides of the gate. This type of vertical transistor allows high current to pass through and channel to be turned on/off at a low voltage.
Referring to FIG. 1, a cross-sectional diagram of the structure of a trenched MOSFET is shown. An N-type doping epitaxial region 105 is provided on a N+ substrate 100. A plurality of trenches 106 and a trench 107 are formed on the N-type doping epitaxial region 105 that having lower doping concentration than the substrate 100, and the trench 107 is wider and deeper than the trenches 106. The surface of trenches 106 and the trench 107 which are covered a gate oxide layer 110 thereon are filled with a polysilicon layer to form a plurality of trenched gates 115 and a wide trenched contact gate 116 respectively. A plurality of P-type doping regions 120 are formed on both sides of the trenched gates 115, and a P-type doping regions 120a is formed on the other side from the P-type doping regions 120 of the wide trenched contact gate 116. A plurality of N+ doping regions 125 are formed in the P-type doping regions 120, and the N+ doping regions 125 are used as the source regions of the MOSFET structure. A metal layer 160 is formed on the top of the MOSFET structure and is formed as the source metal, the gate runner, and the field plate metal of the MOSFET. An insulating layer 130 is formed under the metal layer 160 for insulating from the trenched gates 115 and the wide trenched gate 116, and the contact plugs 137 are formed in the P-type doping regions 120 and the wide trenched gate 116 for gate contact. The contact plugs 137 been the metal connections of the MOSFET structure respectively contact the doped polysilicon at the bottoms of the trenches 106 and the trench 107 without shorting to the P-type doping regions 120 and are penetrated through the insulating layer 130 to contact with the metal layer 160. A plurality of P+ heavily-doped regions 121 are formed at the bottoms of the trenched gates 115. The MOSFET structure of the prior arts also has a P-type guard ring 170 which is formed aside the P-type doping regions 120a underneath the field plate metal of the metal layer 160 of the MOSFET to increase breakdown voltage in termination. However, the structure in FIG. 1 has low breakdown voltage occurring on trench bottom of the wide trenched gate 116 as result of wider trench which has deeper trench depth than the trench depth in active area. The trench depth is deeper when the trench width is wider because more open area allows more etching gas goes into trench during dry etching silicon process. When reverse bias between drain and gate/source increases, avalanche will first occur on the trench bottom of the contacted trenched gate 116 because it has deeper trenched gate.
As said above, the avalanche early occurs near trench contacted gate due to deeper trench than trench gate in active area as result of bigger CD of trench contacted gate than the trench gate in active area. The trench contacted gate is wider than trench gate in active to allow enough space for trench gate contact without shortage source area. BV instability in termination due to high epi resistivity easily causing net positive charge at interface between dielectric and silicon layer induced by negative charge in dielectric layer. A leakage path 190 is formed as shown in FIG. 1 below.
The present invention provides a new structure of trenched MOSFET structure with a guard ring wrapped around the contacted trenched gate which improves the lack of the prior art.

Trenched MOSFET with guard ring and channel stop


A connection apparatus includes a back plate, a circuit board having two first connectors and two second connectors, and two connection lines. Each of the two connection lines includes a first signal transmission line and a second signal transmission line. A third connector is formed on the first signal transmission line. Two first bent portions extend from the first signal transmission line. A fourth connector is formed on each of the two first bent portions. A fifth connector is formed on the second signal transmission line. Two second bent portions extend from the second signal transmission line. A sixth connector is formed on each of the two second bent portions. The fourth connector is inserted into each of the two first connectors. The sixth connector is inserted into each of the two second connectors. Each of the third connector and the fifth connector is electrically connected to the back plate.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a connection apparatus for an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Server computers include a plurality of cables to electrically connect peripheral devices with external devices. The plurality of cables interact with each other in the server computers, which may affect heat dissipation in the server computers.
Therefore, there is a need for improvement in the art.

Connection apparatus for electronic device

ShenZhen Goldsun Network Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd.


The disclosed system implements techniques to secure communications for injecting a workload (e.g., a container) into a virtual network hosted by a cloud-based platform. Based on a delegation instruction received from a tenant, a virtual network of the tenant can connect to and execute a workload via a virtual machine that is part of a virtual network that belongs to a resource provider. To secure calls and authorize access to the tenant's virtual network, authentication information provided with a call from the virtual network of the resource provider may need to match authorization information made available via a publication service of the cloud-based platform. Additionally or alternatively, an identifier of a NIC used to make a call may need to correspond to a registered name of the resource provider for the call to be authorized. These checks provide increased security by preventing unauthorized calls to the tenant's virtual network.

Cloud-based platforms (e.g., AMAZON WEB SERVICES, MICROSOFT AZURE, etc.) enable tenants (e.g., customers) to use or consume resources (e.g., services) provided by resource providers in their virtual networks. A tenant typically interacts with a top-level control plane application programming interface to implement the resource provisioning. As a result of this interaction, the existing infrastructure of a cloud-based platform requires the resource provider to create a virtual machine that is configured to execute a workload (e.g., a container) inside a tenant's virtual network. As an alternative, the resource provider can coordinate with the tenant to create a secure communication tunnel to execute the workload in the tenant's virtual network. These ways of provisioning resources places a burden on the resource provider and/or the tenant.
It is with respect to these and other technical challenges that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Securing an injection of a workload into a virtual network hosted by a cloud-based platform


A tape drive system for use with a removable tape cartridge. The tape drive comprises a slidable tray that moves the tape cartridge into a load position within the disk drive and into an eject position out of the disk drive. The tray is adapted to accept one of three cartridge types each type having a different physical size. When a selected cartridge is inserted into the tray and the tray is loaded into the drive, the entire cartridge is automatically moved into the drive enclosure. After the cartridge is moved into the drive, a door attached to the tray closes behind the cartridge such that no portion of the cartridge protrudes from the drive.

This invention relates to cartridge based data storage systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a cartridge based tape storage system that accepts a variety of cartridges having different physical dimensions.
Cartridge based tape and disk data storage devices have been in use in the computer industry for several decades. Primarily, the cartridge based tape storage devices have been used as sequential access devices, whereby new files are added to the tape by appending them to the last file stored on the tape. During that time, a number of tape cartridge styles emerged. One popular cartridge style is based on a design that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,255 (Von Behren). That design employs two rotatable reels that are fixed within a rectangular housing. A length of tape is wound around the reels along a predetermined tape path, which extends along a front peripheral edge of the cartridge and across a tape access opening. A drive belt extends around drive belt rollers and contacts a portion of the tape on each reel to move the tape back and forth between the reels and across the tape access opening. A drive puck, positioned near the inside front of the cartridge, contacts a drive roller, which provides a mechanism to move the drive belt.
Tape cartridges and tape drives have become an increasingly important feature in computer systems. The popularity of tape cartridges is driven in part by the large storage capacities and low cost of storage they provide. In general, the storage capacity of a particular tape cartridge is dictated by a variety of factors including the length of tape, the width of the tape, the materials used to produce the tape and the recording density of the tape. Even with the cost and capacity advantages offered by tape storage solutions, the tape drive has primarily found use in computer systems as a back-up device, in which duplicates of files that were originally stored to a random access storage device, such as a hard disk drive, are stored for sequential access on a tape cartridge.
As with most popular computer devices, tape drives and cartridges evolved around industry standards. However, while standards can provide advantages such as compatibility they also bring design constraints. In particular, standards can impose constraints on the available design options used to increase storage capacity. For example, an early tape cartridge design standardized around a 51/4 inch form factor with a quarter inch tape width. As a result, storage capacity became constrained by the tape width and the length of tape that could fit within the 51/4 standard cartridge. Thus, other methods, such as improved recording densities, were needed to increase storage capacity.
All of the tape cartridges adhering to the original 51/4 inch standard had a number of physical characteristics in common to allow a particular tape to inter-operate among tape drives made by different manufacturers. For example, a tape access opening must be located in a particular location on the front of the tape cartridge to allow the read-write head to gain access to the tape. Additionally, the tapes employ an elastic belt that is wound around the tape spools to provide the tape movement, and a drive puck is provided to translate drive power to the belt. Accordingly, the puck must be in a standard fixed location to receive rotational power from standard drives.
As techniques were developed for increasing the recording density, the storage capacity of a given cartridge could be increased. Ultimately, recording densities continued to increased and a demand arose for a more convenient form factor, resulting in a new tape cartridge and drive standard. The new standard evolved around a smaller, 31/2 inch form factor. As with the earlier 51/4 standard, the 31/2 inch form factor required predefined head access opening locations and so on.
Even after the 31/2 inch form factor became the form factor of choice for many computer users, the need for increased capacity continued to develop. In response to the increasing demands for capacity in a 31/2 inch form factor, manufacturers developed a variety of cartridge geometries that adhered to the key compatibility aspects of the 31/2 inch cartridge, such as head access location, but which provided additional tape capacity within a given cartridge. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,543,992 (Hu et al.) and 5,543,992 (Anderson et al.) each describe some of the more popular developments that have been used to increase the tape capacity of 31/2 inch tape cartridges.
The Hu patent discloses a tape cartridge that increases tape length by increasing the interior volume of the tape cartridge and consequently the amount of space available for tape storage. Hu discloses a tape cartridge with a width and a tape interface that conform to the standard 31/2 inch form factor tape cartridges. However, the length of the Hu cartridge is more than twice the length of an original 31/2 inch tape cartridge. As a result, the Hu cartridge can contain up to four time the amount of tape as a conventional 31/2 inch cartridge. A tape cartridge of this general form factor is manufactured by Gigatek Memory Systems, Carlsbad, Calif. A competing tape with a similar form factor is available under the TR-3 Extra brand name and is manufactured by Verbatim Corporation. For clarity, cartridges of this type will be referred to herein as extended mini-catridges.
The tape cartridge design disclosed in the Anderson patent takes a somewhat different approach from the Hu approach to expanding the amount of available tape within the tape cartridge. Anderson keeps the front portion of the cartridge width substantially the same as a standard 31/2 inch mini cartridge and maintains the general tape interface configuration. However, the Anderson cartridge provides for both a wider and longer cartridge, though not as long as the extended mini-cartridge. By keeping the tape interface portion of the Anderson cartridge substantially the same as a standard 31/2 inch mini-cartridge, tape drives can be produced that are capable of reading both the standard 31/2 inch mini cartridge and the Anderson mini cartridge. A cartridge of this type is sold commercially under the TRAVAN.TM. brand name and is produced by 3M corporation. Notably, tape drives designed to accept the TRAVAN.TM. cartridges are also capable of accepting a standard 31/2 inch mini cartridge and, in many cases, can also accept an extended mini-cartridge.
The Anderson tape system provides for a tape drive that accepts cartridges that have two different widths. Purportedly providing a structure that supports two different width sizes, the Anderson tape drive accepts different cartridges so long as the cartridges have head access openings and drive pucks in predefined locations. Accordingly, such a drive is commercially available that accepts TRAVAN.TM. style cartridges as well as other narrow 31/2 inch mini-cartridges. However, a tape drive designed to read only standard (narrow) 31/2 inch mini-cartridges is generally not capable of accepting a TRAVAN.TM. cartridge because of the TRAVAN.TM. cartridge width. But because the extended min-cartridge keeps the width of the mini-cartridge consistent with the width of a standard cartridge, a tape drive capable of reading a standard mini-cartridge would likely be able to accept an extended mini-cartridge as well.
In recent years, the TRAVAN.TM. style cartridge has become a very popular tape cartridge form factor. Accordingly, many of the commercially available tape drives are capable of accepting any of the three cartridge formats (i.e., standard 31/2 inch mini cartridge, TRAVAN.TM. style mini cartridge and extended mini-cartridge). Cartridges according to the extended mini-cartridge form factor are generally capable of containing the most tape.
Although currently available tape drives, including drives incorporating the Anderson design, may accept a variety of tape cartridge form factors, they still have several significant drawbacks. For example, when used in connection with the extended mini-cartridge, the current tape drives present what has been referred to as the "tongue". That is, the extended mini-cartridge protrudes from the front of the tape drive. The tongue is not only unsightly, but is also undesirable for functional reasons. For example, when installed in a computer bay, an extended mini-cartridge may require several extra inches of clearance space. Unfortunately, this drawback of currently available tape drives has hindered the use of extended mini-cartridges and, consequently, the availability of higher storage capacities.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved tape drive that offers advantages over the prior art. The present invention provides such a tape drive.

Tray loading cartridge tape drive for different sized cartridges


A sending computing system sends a number of network packets to a receiving computing system over a specific network connection. The sending computing system monitors at least partially uncorrelated network events to extract a soft timer that schedules transmissions based on the uncorrelated network events such as feedback events (e.g., acknowledgment messages) when sending the packets using TCP. Since potentially even all of the network connections are used, the events are less correlated from the sending of packets over the specific connection. The extracted timer is then used to pace the packets being sent out over the specific connection. The packets being sent out may be marked in a way as to regulate the frequency of occurrence of the uncorrelated network events being monitored.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications technology, and more specifically, to mechanisms for pacing the transmission of network packets using a soft timer that is generated from at least partially uncorrelated network events.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Computing technology has transformed the way we work and play. Modem computer networking technologies and infrastructures allow for different applications and users to communicate data electronically even over vast distances relatively quickly using readily-available computing systems. Such computing systems may include, for example, desktop computers, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), digital telephones, or the like.
Currently, computing systems are so interconnected that one computing system is literally capable of communicating with any one of many millions of other computing systems spread throughout the globe. This is useful as we are now able to communicate more readily. In its most general form, communication between computing systems involves the formation of an electronic message. That electronic message is then broken down into smaller fragments. These fragments along with any appropriate header information are called "packets".
The various packets of the electronic message are transmitted from a sending computing system to a receiving computing system. In order to properly route the packets, there are a number of intermediary computing systems that logically reside between the sending computing system and the receiving computing system. Typically, such intermediary computing systems receive and route packet transmissions coming from a large number of different computing systems.
In order to have the high scalability required to deal with the reception of packet transmissions from different computing systems, the intermediary computing system may have a queue, in which the packet is placed until the intermediary computing system can properly process the packet. The size of the queue is typically sufficient to handle some fluctuations in the packet receive rate. If there is a short-term period in which the packets are received faster than the intermediary computing system is capable of processing them, then the queue will fill more. On the other hand, if the packets are processed at a faster rate than there are received, the queue will empty more.
In suitable intermediary computing systems, the intermediary computing system is capable of processing the incoming requests at at least the average rate at which the packets are received. Accordingly, the queue tends towards being empty rather than being filled. This is because if the queue is filled, then packets may be dropped, thereby frustrating the purpose of the queue itself.
Even in suitable intermediary computing systems that are designed to process at a greater rate than the average packet receive rate, the queue may become overfilled in certain situations in which the packets arrive in a burst. This can happen in some feedback-oriented transmission protocols in which a sending computing system sends one or more packets in a burst, then waits for an acknowledgement from the receiving computing system before sending out more packets in a burst. The intensity of the phenomenon of packets arriving in bursts is often referred to herein as "burstiness".
It is important to limit burstiness in the global Internet. To accomplish this in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the protocol most commonly used for data transfer over networks such as the Internet, the sending computing system typically sends two packets in a burst, and then waits for an acknowledgement message from the receiving computing system before sending out two more packets in a burst. However, this is an expensive method of limiting burstiness, since every acknowledgement packet sent by the receiver consumes resources on every intermediary computing system as well as the sending computing system. While it is important to limit burstiness on intermediary computing systems, it is also advantageous to reduce the number of packets emitted by the receiving computing system.
Having the receiver wait for more than two packets before emitting an acknowledgement packet has practical difficulties (it increases response time for short messages). An unconventional technology called Sender Moderated Acknowledgements allows the sender to indicate dynamically to the receiver which data packets it should acknowledge. Both of these methods increase the burstiness of packets on that particular connection.
One way to reduce the burstiness-of packet transmission is to pace the timing of the packets so that there is sufficient time between the sending of one packet and the sending of the next thereby stabilizing the packet transmission rate. Timing issues are typically controlled by a timer implemented in software within an operating system. Such timers typically operate on a scale of 10milliseconds or so. In fast networks that support one GigaBit Per Second (Gbps) transmission rates, this timing simply does not have sufficient granularity to pace packets. Even in the future, if faster timers were to become available, network transmission rates may go up as well. Accordingly, timer-based pacing of packet transmission is typically not considered a feasible option.
Accordingly, what would be advantageous are mechanisms for pacing the transmission of packets even though the operating system timer does not support fine enough clock increments to support such pacing.

Pacing network packet transmission using at least partially uncorrelated network events


Before executing a speech recognition, a composite acoustic model adapted to noise is generated by composition of a noise adaptive representative acoustic model generated by noise-adaptation of each representative acoustic model and difference models stored in advance in a storing section, respectively. Then, the noise and speaker adaptive acoustic model is generated by executing speaker-adaptation to the composite acoustic model with the feature vector series of uttered speech. The renewal difference model is generated by the difference between the noise and speaker adaptive acoustic model and the noise adaptive representative acoustic model, to replace the difference model stored in the storing section therewith. The speech recognition is performed by comparing the feature vector series of the uttered speech to be recognized with the composite acoustic model adapted to noise and speaker generated by the composition of the noise adaptive representative acoustic model and the renewal difference model.

The present invention relates to a speech recognition apparatus and a speech recognition method for an adaptation to both noise and speaker.
The main problems in automatic speech recognition exits in a background noise added to the speech to be recognized, and individual variation caused by phonetic organs or utterance habits of an individual speaker.
In order to achieve a robust speech recognition capable of coping with these problems, the speech recognition methods called an HMM (Hidden Markov Model) composition or also called a PMC (Parallel Model Combination) method have been studied (for example, see pages 553-556 of IEEE ICASSP 1998 "Improved Robustness for Speech Recognition Under Noisy Conditions Using Correlated Parallel Model Combination").
At the pre-processing stage before performing a real speech recognition, the HMM composition method or the PMC method generates noise adaptive acoustic models (noise adaptive acoustic HMMs) as noise adaptive composite acoustic models by the composition of standard initial acoustic models (initial acoustic HMMs) and noise models (speaker's environmental noise HMM) generated from the background noise.
In real speech recognition stages, each likelihood of noise adaptive acoustic models having been generated in a pre-processing is compared with feature vector series, which are obtained from a cepstrum transformation of the uttered speech including the additive background noise, to output the noise adaptive acoustic model with the maximum likelihood as a result of speech recognition.
Technologies for speaker adaptation have been also studied diversely, and for example, a MAP estimation method or a MLLR method for renewing the mean vector and the covariance matrix of a model are known.
A conventional speech recognition, however, has a problem of requiring a large amount of processing for performing noise-adaptation of all initial acoustic models in order to obtain noise adaptive acoustic models (noise adaptive acoustic HMMs) to be compared with the feature vector series.
The required large amount of processing, which can not be accepted to keep high processing speed, hinders increasing the number of initial acoustic models. Thus, the lack of initial acoustic models obstructs the improvement of a recognition performance. It should be noted that it is possible to improve the efficiency of an environmental noise adaptation technology by using a clustering technique. However, it is hard to directly adapt well-known speaker adaptation technologies such as the MLLR method or the MAP estimation method to this environmental noise adaptation technology, that is, the coexistence of both noise and speaker adaptation technologies have been a subject to be solved.

Apparatus and method for speech recognition


A ferrule-based fiber optic connectors having a ferrule retraction balancing characteristic for preserving optical performance are disclosed. The fiber optic connector comprises a connector assembly, a connector sleeve assembly and a balancing resilient member. The connector assembly comprises a ferrule and a resilient member for biasing the ferrule forward and the connector sleeve assembly comprises a housing and a ferrule sleeve, where the connector assembly is at least partially disposed in the passageway of the housing and the ferrule of the connector assembly is at least partially disposed in the ferrule sleeve. The balancing resilient member biases the housing to a forward position with a the biasing resilient member having a predetermined resilient force that is greater than the friction force required for displacement of the ferrule within the ferrule sleeve.

The disclosure is directed to fiber optic connectors having a translatable ferrule with one or more optical fibers along with cable assemblies using the fiber optic connectors. More specifically, the disclosure is directed to ferrule-based fiber optic connectors having a balanced ferrule retraction characteristic for preserving optical performance.
Optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications, including but not limited to broadband voice, video, and data transmission. As bandwidth demands increase optical fiber is migrating toward subscribers in outdoor communication networks such as in fiber to the premises applications such as FTTx and the like. To address this need for making optical connections in communication networks for the outside the plant environment hardened fiber optic connectors were developed. One of the most commercially successful hardened fiber optic connectors is the OptiTap® male plug connector sold by Corning Cable Systems, LLC of Hickory, N.C., such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,090,406 and 7,113,679 (the '406 and '679 patents) and incorporated herein by reference. The Optitap® connector is a hardened male plug connector for terminating a cable that is configured for optical connection using a receptacle. As used herein, the term "hardened" describes a connector or receptacle port intended for making an environmentally sealed optical connection suitable for outdoor use, and the term "non-hardened" describes a connector or receptacle port that is not intended for making an environmentally sealed optical connection such as a SC connector.
FIGS. 1A-1C are prior art depictions showing various stages of mating of a preconnectorized cable 10 having a plug connector 5 such as an OptiTap® connector with a receptacle 30. Receptacle 30 mates plug connector 5 with a standard SC connector (i.e., a non-hardened connector) at a second end (not visible in these views) using an adapter sleeve for aligning ferrules when mating plug connector 5 with the a non-hardened connector. Protection of the non-hardened connector side of the receptacle is typically accomplished by mounting the receptacle 30 through a wall of an enclosure or the like so that the non-hardened end of the receptacle is disposed inside the enclosure for environmental protection of the non-hardened connector. As shown by FIGS. 1A-1C, the other end end of the receptacle 30 is accessible for receiving the plug connector 5 at the wall of the enclosure. Other applications may mount the receptacle 30 inside an enclosure on a bracket or the like.
Receptacle 30 allows an optical connection between the hardened connector such as the OptiTap® male plug connector with a non-hardened connector such as the SC connector at nodes in the optical network that typically transition from an outdoor space to an indoor space. FIG. 2 depicts an exploded view of receptacle 30, which is described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,014. As depicted, receptacle 30 includes a receptacle housing 12 and an adapter sleeve 18 disposed therein. The receptacle 30 receives a non-hardened connector at a second end 16 as represented by the arrow pointing to the left Adapter sleeve 18 is biased toward a first end 14 of the receptacle 30 that receives the connector 5 using springs 38. This biasing of the adapter sleeve 18 toward the first end 14 that receives the plug connector 5 is used for maintaining physical ferrule-to-ferrule contact between the plug connector and the SC connector to increase the "float" between the mating ferrules. When mated, the ferrule of the plug connector 5 is not latched to the adapter sleeve and springs 38 of receptacle 30 are used for increasing the "float" between the mating ferrules of the plug connector and the non-hardened connector and is used because.
Network operators often desire to optically connect a first hardened connector to another hardened connector in a space that requires a rugged connection point, which receptacle 30 is incapable of accomplishing. Consequently, there exists an unresolved need for fiber optic connectors that can mate directly with to another hardened connector in a quick and reliable manner while providing a ruggedized solution that preserves optical performance.

Ferrule-based fiber optic connectors with ferrule retraction balancing


An automatic dead zone time optimization system in a primary-side regulation flyback power supply continuous conduction mode (CCM), including a closed loop formed by a control system, including a single output digital to analog converter (DAC) midpoint sampling module, a digital control module, a current detection module, a dead zone time calculation module and a pulse-width modulation (PWM) driving module, and a controlled synchronous rectification primary-side regulation flyback converter. A primary-side current is sampled using a DAC Sampling mechanism to calculate a secondary-side average current, so as to obtain a primary-side average current and a secondary-side average current, in the case of CCM. A secondary-side current is input into the dead zone time calculation module to obtain a reasonable dead zone time; and the PWM driving module is jointly controlled by a primary-side regulation loop and the obtained dead zone time.

The statements herein provide only background information related to the present disclosure, and do not necessarily constitute exemplary techniques.
Power supply is an indispensable part of every single electronic device. The performance of the power supply is directly related to the technical specifications of the electronic device and whether the electronic device can work safely and reliably, and the current mainstream application is a switch mode power supply. A switch mode power supply, also known as a switching converter, is a power supply that uses modern power electronics technology to make the output voltage constant by adjusting the conduction ratio of switching devices.
Since a flyback converter has a dual-function of a transformer and an inductor, the flyback converter does not require an output filter inductor, which is especially important to reduce the volume and the costs. Therefore, the topology of the flyback converter is widely applied.
In a conventional flyback switching converter, a diode rectification method is used, as shown in FIG. 1. For the application of high-power power supply systems, the loss on rectifier diodes has become a bottleneck for improving system efficiency. To this end, a synchronous rectification structure having higher efficiency is provided.
The synchronous rectification is a new technology for replacing a rectifier diode with a metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) having an extremely low on-resistance, which is generally applied to scenarios with low voltages and high current. For the purpose of improving efficiency and reducing losses, the use of the synchronous rectification technology has become necessary means. A synchronous rectifier has a lower on-resistance and less forward voltage drop, resulting in low rectification losses and meeting current design requirements.
A synchronous-rectification structure is shown in FIG. 2. Gates of a primary-side switching transistor SW and a secondary-side rectifier SR are driven by two voltages having opposite timings, that is, when the switching transistor SW is turned on, the rectifier SR is turned off, and when the switching transistor SW is turned off, the rectifier SR is turned on. When the switching transistor SW is turned on and the rectifier SR is turned off, the input voltage Vin linearly increases the current through the inductor L, and the inductor begins to store energy. When the rectifier SR is turned on and the switching transistor SW is turned off, the energy stored in the primary-side inductor is coupled to the secondary side through the transformer to supply power to the load and the output capacitor.
In order to avoid the breakdown phenomenon caused by a simultaneous turning-on of the primary-side switching transistor and the secondary-side switching transistor during the switching between the primary-side and secondary-side switches of the flyback converter, it must ensure that a deadtime is interposed between the primary-side and secondary-side switching transistors. That is, the secondary-side switching transistor can be turned on only after the primary-side switching transistor is turned off; the primary-side switching transistor can be turned on only after the secondary-side switching transistor is turned off
According to whether the secondary-side current Is drops to 0 when the primary-side switching transistor is turned on next time, the operating state of the flyback converter can be divided into a Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM) and a Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM). When the primary-side switching transistor is off and before the secondary-side rectifier is turned on, the CCM and the DCM have a conduction loss of a parasitic diode. When the secondary-side rectifier is off and before the primary-side switching transistor is turned on, the CCM increases the loss due to the parasitic diode and the reverse recovery of the diode. In the DCM, since the secondary-side current Is has dropped to 0 before the secondary-side rectifier is turned off, the losses of the parasitic diode and the reverse recovery of the diode are not present. Therefore, the efficiency of the CCM is lower than the efficiency of the DCM under the same conditions.
At the same power level, the peak current in the DCM is 2 to 3 times than the peak current in the CCM. Moreover, the DCM will generate a large output voltage spike at the instant that the output synchronous rectifier is turned off, thereby requiring a large LC filter, which may cause serious radio frequency interference (RFI) problems. Furthermore, oscillations may occur when the operating state is changed from the DCM to the CCM, thereby causing the circuit unstable. Therefore, under certain situations (such as having smaller peak current), the CCM can function better.
The main problem of the current flyback switching power supply having the synchronous-rectification in the CCM is that during the deadtime between the turn-off of the secondary-side rectifier and the turn-on of the primary-side switching transistor, there are serious conduction loss of the parasitic diode and loss of the reverse recovery of the diode. In view of the problem, the present disclosure provides a corresponding optimization solution.

Deadtime automatic-optimization system for flyback power supply having primary-side feedback in CCM, control system and method for flyback power supply having primary-side feedback in CCM


Systems and methods are disclosed that enable one or more work machines to control operations of one or more remote work machines. In one embodiment, the systems and methods perform a process including determining a first type of first work machine performing first operations in a work environment and determining a second type of second work machine performing second operations in the work environment. Based on the first and second type of the first and second work machines, a selected second operation that the first work machine can control is determined. Subsequently, the first work machine may adjust the selected second operation while the first work machine performs the first operations.

An important feature in modern work machines (e.g., fixed and mobile commercial machines, such as construction machines, fixed engine systems, marine-based machines, etc.) is the on-board network and associated machine control modules. An on-board network includes many different modules connected to various types of communication links. These links may be proprietary and non-proprietary, such as manufacturer-based data links and communication paths based on known industry standards (e.g., J1939, RS232, RP 1210, RS-422, RS-485, MODBUS, CAN, etc.). The modules may monitor and/or control one or more components and/or operations of the work machine. The control modules may also receive data from and transmit data to external systems.
Current conventional systems may provide an operating unit that issues commands to a remote construction machine. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,524 ("the '524 patent"), which discloses a remote control apparatus for a construction machine in which steering control is performed by hydraulically controlling the steering clutches and the steering brakes.
The apparatus includes a remote operating unit for generating a first steering command for turning on or off the steering clutches of the construction machine, and a second steering command for turning on or off the steering brakes of the construction machine. A control unit provided in the construction machine performs a control process that releases the steering clutches while the first steering command is activated. Further, when both the first and second steering commands are activated, hydraulic pressure of the steering brakes is gradually changed from a releasing side to a braking side.
Although the system described in the '524 patent allows for the remote operation of the steering clutches and steering brakes through multiple steering commands, the '524 patent does not disclose selectively defining machine operations that may be remotely controlled from another work machine.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain disclosed embodiments may solve one or more of the problems set forth above.

System and method for remotely controlling machine operations using mapping information


Techniques for spare storage pool management are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for spare storage pool management comprising receiving spare storage configuration information for a storage drive pool comprising a plurality of storage drives, maintaining spare storage mapping information to spare storage within the storage drive pool based at least in part on the spare storage configuration information, monitoring spare storage within the storage drive pool for detecting block failures within the storage drive pool, detecting a failure of a block in a first storage drive of the plurality of storage drives, and updating the spare storage mapping information associated with the failed block in the first storage drive to map to a spare block in a second storage drive of the plurality of storage drives.

Storage drives wear out over time. For example, both flash memory cells in a solid-state drive (SSD) and spinning disk sectors in a mechanical hard disk drive (HDD) can degrade or otherwise become unusable over time. The average time it takes for a storage drive to wear out to the point of failure is called the Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF). Techniques to extend the useful life of a drive increase its MTBF.
Spinning disk sectors and flash memory cells degrade or become unusable in a relatively unpredictable manner. The failure of one sector or cell does not necessarily imply the same for others. For example, magnetic sectors from spinning disks may be written to or read from many times without a given limit, and, without warning, may fail to process a write or read properly. In the case of flash memory, cells wear out on average after a given number of write "cycles," in addition to other unpredictable and sudden failures.
To compensate for these failures, storage drive manufactures can overprovision the storage drive with spare groups of sectors or cells called blocks. Instead of counting the spare blocks toward the stated capacity of the storage drive, the storage drive reserves the spare blocks to increase its MTBF. In the case of memory that wears out over time such as flash memory, the spare blocks may also be used for wear leveling. Wear leveling spreads write commands to the storage drive more evenly across all of its blocks to increase the time it would take for any one block to fail. As blocks do fail, the spare blocks may be used to replace the failed blocks. The bigger the pool of spare blocks, the longer a storage drive is likely to function according to its MTBF. Due to the unpredictable nature of these failures, individual storage drives deplete their pools of spare blocks at different times, even if the drives are all part of the same storage pool, e.g., Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). Any drive failure in a storage pool poses the risk of potential data loss. Even in redundant or parity-based storage pools, any drive failure in a storage pool poses a potential data loss risk due to a reduction of fault tolerance until the drive is replaced in the pool.
In view of the foregoing, it may be understood that there may be significant problems and shortcomings associated with conventional technologies for managing spare blocks in a storage drive pool.


For improving the keeping qualities of certain food products, especially sliced meat products, it is suggested that the food products immediately after they have been packed are subjected to a heat treatment by means of microwave energy, so that they are maintained at a temperature in the interval 50.degree.-80.degree. C., preferably 50.degree.-70.degree. C., during a time period of 5-60 seconds. The food products (12) are moved by means of an endless belt (9) in a path across an elongated wave guide (15, 21) which has at least one slot (19; 22, 23) extending across the whole food products movement path.

The background of the invention is that is has proved possible by means of a relatively moderate heat treatment substantially to improve the keeping qualities of the kind of food products which are not deep frozen or sterilized but are maintained in a fresh state until prepared for consumption. Such food products are for instance sliced meat products, such as sausage, ham, etc. One reason for the fact that improved keeping qualities can be achieved particularly in connection with sliced food products is assumed to be that a small amount of bacteria often may be added in connection with the slicing operation and the subsequent packing, which puts a limit to the keeping qualities of the food products. It has been shown that the effect of these bacteria may be reduced substantially if the food products are subjected to a relatively moderate heat treatment immediately after the slicing operation. The invention thus aims at enabling in a rapid and simple way improvement of the keeping qualities of for instance such food products.
Apparatus has previously been known for rapid heat treatment of packed food products by means of microwave energy. However, known apparatus of this kind, as a rule, have a relatively complicated construction and often include sophisticated equipment for accomplishing an even heat treatment effect in the packed products.
Thus, US-A-3.809.844, US-A-3.809.845 and US-A-3.814.889 describe plants in which food products are subjected to an accurately controlled heat treatment before they are heated by means of microwave energy and, moreover, are cooled during the microwave heating by means of a surrounding fluid in order not to get too high a surface temperature.
EP-A1-0.287.760 describes a plant in which packed food products are placed at accurately determined intervals on an endless belt, on which they are moved intermittently and subjected to microwave heating in different heat treatment zones. Microwave applicators arranged at the heat treatment zones are formed in a particular way with regard to the shape of the food products and are arranged to be moved towards and away from the food products during the microwave heating, when the endless belt keeps the food products stationary in the heat treatment zones.
EP-A1-0.351.491 describes an apparatus in which packed food products are placed in several parallel rows on an endless belt and are moved by the belt under a number of microwave applicators, each one of which is arranged for heat treatment of the food products in only one of the rows. The food products have to be placed very accurately on the endless belt to be subjected to the intended heat treatment under the microwave applicators. At least one of the microwave applicators for each row of food products has the shape of an elongated wave guide extending along the movement path of the food products and has several slots distributed along said movement path, through which the microwaves may radiate and hit the passing food products.
None of the above described known plants are, in practice, suitable for resolving the particular problem to which the present invention is directed. The known plants are either too complicated and expensive or are imperfect from a functional point of view.
An object of the present invention is, thus, to provide a method and a plant for rapidly performing a relatively moderate heat treatment of relatively thin separate food products for improvement of their keeping qualities. It is important that the heat treatment be performed simply and cheaply, i.e. a plant for the performing of the heat treatment should be inexpensive and be very easy to use. For instance it should be simple to feed the food products into the plant. Furthermore, the plant should be usable without costly reconstruction for heat treatment of food products having somewhat different shape and size.

Method and plant for improving keeping qualities of food products