Jobs are scheduled in a cluster comprising multiple computing nodes. The scheduling of jobs includes defining rules for constructing virtual sub-clusters of the multiple computing nodes. The multiple nodes in the cluster can be placed into multiple virtual sub-clusters based on the rules, wherein one computing node can only be included in one virtual sub-cluster. A job is received and dispatched to a selected virtual sub-cluster. At least one computer node is scheduled for the dispatched job in the selected virtual sub-cluster. Further, the job is dispatched to the selected virtual sub-cluster based on characteristics of the job and/or characteristics of virtual sub-clusters.

A computer cluster, referred to cluster for short, is a type of computer system which completes computing jobs by means of multiple collaborative computers (also known as computing resources such as software and/or hardware resources) which are connected together. These computing resources in a same management domain have a unified management policy and provide services to users as a whole. A single computer in a cluster system is usually called a node or a computing node.
The cluster system has many advantages. For example, the cluster system, when working in a load-balance manner, can achieve a higher efficiency through performing a same work by multiple computers. The cluster system may also work in a master/slave server manner. Once a master server fails, a slave server can provide services to users in substitute of the master server, thereby exhibiting a high fault-tolerance.
Corresponding computing resources should be allocated to a computing job to be implemented, since the cluster system comprises a great many of computing resources. The process is referred as job scheduling in a cluster environment. The job scheduling is actually a process for mapping jobs to corresponding resources for execution based on characteristics of the jobs and resources according to scheduling policies
In brief, the computing jobs are requesting resources and utilizing them. Traditional computing jobs are mainly related to high performance computing applications such as weather forecast, landform analysis and other similar large-scale science issues. Along with the pervasions of computer techniques in various fields, computations are increasingly demanded in some new fields such as on-line gaming, banking business, EDA designs and so on.
The computing jobs in such new fields are dramatically different from those in traditional academic institution. For example, traditional computing jobs mainly comprise a small number of jobs which are time-consuming and computing-intensive. Such jobs are essentially of same type (either serial or parallel). The computing jobs in the new fields are relatively complicated and have different requirements. They often′ comprise a large number of light-weighted jobs of which the types vary all the time, for example, the types can cover serial/parallel, real time/non-real time and so on.
Furthermore, the rapid development of computer techniques makes computing resource environments more complicated and the scale of a cluster larger. As an example, there may be millions of computing nodes in a cluster. The development of semiconductor techniques reduces the cost of hardware, which leads to a huge number of computing resources; for example, the numbers of CPUs, memories, IO devices and the like are increased significantly than before. Moreover, topology structures of computing resources develop from the original flat structure to complicated structures with layers, dimensions and etc. Additionally, the types of computer hardware and software increase steadily. In terms of hardware, servers for example include IBM x series, p series, BlueGene and etc. As to software, operation systems for instance include AIX, Linux, and Windows and etc.
FIG. 1 shows a typical scheduling approach employed in a single cluster scheduling system. As shown in FIG. 1, a job 101 in a job queue requests resources from a scheduler. A workload manager 102 in the scheduler walks through computing nodes 103 in computing resources to select a node set to be allocated to run the job. Then, the workload manager 102 will arranges the job 101 to run in the selected node set.
It can be seen from the above-mentioned scheduling approach that it is necessary to traverse many of nodes before identifying the one to allocate a job to when the job requests resources. This may be effective for a cluster system with a few of computing nodes. However, the scheduling efficiency is reduced markedly in a cluster scheduling system with a large number of computing nodes. Further, for some real time jobs (such as online gaming, banking business and the like), it is unacceptable to acquire the optimal solution with such a long time delay.
Additionally, as mentioned above, new types of computer hardware and software are continually developed. With current techniques, it is possible to produce large-scale computing nodes such as BlueGene or large Symmetric Multiple processing (SMP) computing node with 64 or even 128 CPUs, as well as low cost computing nodes such as blade servers.
Different types of computing nodes have different typical applicable situations and scheduling policies. As an example, a single node from large-scale computing nodes (such as Power server with 64 CPUs) has powerful computing, storage, and fault-tolerance capabilities and so forth. Moreover, it has plenty of various additional features such as Simultaneous Multiple Threads (SMT), affinity and the like. Therefore, in theory, large scale computing nodes can be shared by multiple medium and small-scale computing applications (for example, circuitry simulations, banking transaction processing and the like). Furthermore, such nodes are generally, expensive, and their scheduling policies particularly emphasize refinements in order to increase resource utilization, such as Backfill scheduling policy.
A single node from low cost computing nodes has relative inadequate computing, storage, fault-tolerance and other capabilities, as well as a small number of additional features. However, there are a great many such computing nodes due to the low cost, and their respective scheduling policies, such as round robin, tend to be unrefined.
In actual running, different applications have different requirements for resources, and even the same application may have different requirements in different execution phases. For example, a complete process of weather forecast application generally comprises pre-processing on raw data, calculating and some data post-processing. In the data pre-processing phase, the requirement for resources usually concentrates on IO performances. In the computing phase, the requirement for resources focuses on computing performances.
In view of the above factors, there may be different types of computing nodes in the same cluster. For instance, many actual clusters may be composed of multiple types of computing nodes, including those that are proficient at computing or IO performances, as well as the nodes with balanced performances.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scheduling jobs in a cluster by constructing multiple subclusters based on entry and exit rules

International Business Machines Corporation


An installation for rolling a metal strip includes a rolling mill through which the strip is rolled as it passes continuously, rolling agents brought into contact with rolls of the rolling mill and with the strip, a strip drawing unit positioned at the outlet of the rolling mill, and a decontamination module with at least one degreaser positioned between the outlet of the rolling mill and the drawing unit so as to remove residual rolling agents from the strip at the outlet from the rolling mill. A strip accumulator is positioned at the outlet of at least part of the drawing unit, particularly so as to keep the speed of travel of the strip at the outlet of the accumulator below a maximum threshold. A paper-strip insertion module is positioned downstream of the outlet from the strip accumulator.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an installation and a method for rolling a metal strip. The installation includes a rolling mill in which the strip is rolled in continuous movement, rolling agents brought into contact with rolls of the rolling mill and with the strip, a strip traction unit positioned at the output of the rolling mill, and a decontamination module with at least one degreasing means positioned between the output of the rolling mill and the traction unit so as to remove residual agents from the strip at the output of the rolling mill.
Installations for rolling metal strip, in particular cold rolling, that are able to roll strips made primarily of stainless steel, require the use of a high-capacity rolling mill (>400,000 tons per year) such as a tandem mill. Rolling is carried out continuously (i.e. the strip is in continuous movement) to limit the costly loss of time and material caused by inserting and releasing the strip, as required in a non-continuous rolling mill. Upstream of the rolling mill, the use of a welder makes it possible to join successive strip tails and heads together in an uncoiling section provided by at least one uncoiler. Downstream of the rolling mill or at least at the end of a complete rolling line, it is ultimately necessary to separate these strips to wind them onto different coils using at least one coiler.
The surface condition of the strip is a critical element in strip quality throughout the rolling line, on account of which frequent visual inspections are often required.
Rolling installations such as tandem rolling installations (designed for carbon- and stainless-steel strips) are preferably fitted with dual coilers, positioned at the downstream outlet of the rolling mill and downstream of shears used to cut the strip, preferably on the fly, and separate same to form separate strips which are then coiled alternately onto two mandrels, exerting a suitable degree of traction on the strip upstream of the coiling in consideration of the conditions required for good coiling, good coil performance once off the coiler mandrel and subsequent uncoiling stresses on the multi-operation lines downstream of the rolling operation. The strip traction required for coiling is usually different from that required for rolling. The strip traction related to rolling is usually greater or much greater than the strip traction required for coiling. During cutting and transfer of the head of a strip to the related coiler, traction is usually only provided or permitted using a traction unit such as a pinch roll able to establish less traction than the strip traction required at the rolling-mill output for good rolling conditions, which may result in a disturbance in the strip thickness and generation of a final product that is out of tolerance and therefore downgraded and often unusable, which is very costly in particular in the case of stainless steel production. Equally, the strip rolling speed at the output of the rolling mill has to be reduced during operations downstream of the output of the rolling mill, in particular when cutting the strip (shearing, start of coiling on a mandrel, insertion of paper strip between coil windings when producing stainless steel, inspection, etc.), which results in a significant loss of productivity and impacts quality factors relating to the rolling method, which leads to faults in the thickness and flatness of the strip after rolling and in general all well-known quality issues caused by transient states relating to speed variations and/or low speeds. In the field of stainless steel strips, inserting a paper sheet or film between the windings of the resulting coils requires a very low transfer/insertion speed, for example around 30 to 60 m/min and/or the use of complex and costly machinery to insert this sheet on the fly at a speed of for example 60 to 100 m/min.
This speed reduction results in a loss of rolling productivity and an increase in rolling stress, which may negatively impact the parameters of the rolled product outputted.
A rolling installation belonging to Nisshin Steel Company Limited (publication GB1313577) has been described, disclosing a tandem rolling mill for continuous production of stainless steel strip. The tandem rolling mill is provided with successive rolling stands (20 high) that require longer, non-automated roll change times, as well as "double pinch" bridle rolls upstream and downstream of the rolling mill which may cause surface, thickness or flatness defects on the strip. This installation is however a good starting example for the present invention, inasmuch as it describes a rolling installation for a metal strip comprising at least:                a rolling mill in which the strip is rolled in continuous movement,        a strip traction unit positioned at the output of the rolling mill.
It should be noted that the present invention also takes into account lubrication and cooling means inside the rolling mill (on the rolling mill rolls and therefore on the strip) in order to guarantee a predetermined coiling, compression and sliding ratio of the strip between the rolls beneath the strip contact arc on the rolling rolls. This makes it possible to obtain a lubrication/cooling rate that is usable for rolling in the rolling mill, firstly to cool the rolled strip and secondly to achieve, under good conditions and under rolling stresses, a desirable ratio between the coiling, compression and sliding of the strip moving through the rolling mill.
At the output of the rolling mill, the surface of the strip retains residual rolling agents such as traces of oil and other strip and roll liquid spray elements used in the rolling process, as well as grease from miscellaneous possible sources. The presence of oil or other greasy substances on the strip makes it difficult to exert significant traction stresses on the strip coming out of the rolling mill for good rolling conditions. Since traction is generated by a traction unit at the output of the rolling mill, such as bridle rolls and/or pinch rolls, these traction elements are necessarily coated with oil, other greasy substances or other residues, which definitively reduces the friction ratio and adherence required to exert traction on the strip. Furthermore, slipping causes and facilitates lateral deviations of the strip along the route of same up to the coiler (for example in an accumulator at the output of the rolling mill and/or on the coiler), which reduces productivity. In this case, means are required to prevent and correct these strip position deviations which result in a real loss of control of the strip movement characteristics, such as loss of traction, accumulation and/or coiling precision, in particular on the fields of the coils. Oil, other greasy substances and other residues remaining on the surface of the strip coming out of the rolling mill are also contaminants, affecting the final cleanliness of the strip, adversely affecting the end quality of same and adversely affecting the mechanical and clean conservation properties of the paper strip required for strip coiling in the specific case of stainless strips to be coiled.

Installation and method for rolling a metal strip


Bis(diallylamino) silanes of the formula ##STR1## where R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are lower alkyl or phenyl groups are copolymerized with lower olefins and desilylated to exhibit amine functionality; they are receptive to dyes.

In European Patent Publication 0423438, Sivak et al propose the use of protected diallyl amine monomers for copolymerization with ethylene, propylene, and other lower alpha-olefins having up to 8 carbon atoms. Protection of the otherwise vulnerable amine group is provided by a silyl group having relatively bulky substituents, such as lower alkyl or phenyl groups. Diallyl amines are proposed and several examples are given of silyl-protected diallyl amines. However, bis-diallyl amines are not contemplated.


A puncture or gripper cylinder is provided with at least one puncture strip that is provided with gripper pins or point needles. These pins are extendable from the cylinder to puncture and to grip a signature. At least one deflector is carried on the puncture cylinder and is extendable and retractable with respect to a surface of the cylinder. The deflector, when it is extended at least temporarily shields the signature from subsequent pins.

In the course of operating a folding apparatus, the front or leading end sections of signatures are speared or impaled on the spur needles of a spur strip which is carried by a spur cylinder or a puncture cylinder. The speared, impaled or spurred signatures are drawn by the rotating spur cylinder through a transfer gap which is formed by the spur cylinder and by a cooperating folding jaw cylinder which has been placed against the spur cylinder. In the transfer gap, a signature is grasped by the folding jaws of the folding jaw cylinder. At the same time, the spur strip is pivoted into its recessed position and in this way releases the signature. Upon its release from the spur strip, the front portion of the released signature slides across a shell face of the spur cylinder opposite to the direction of rotation of the spur cylinder. In the course of this, the danger arises that this signature front portion, as it passes over following spur needles of a further or, depending on the circumference of the spur cylinder, the same spur strip, on which a second signature has been speared, will be damaged by them. The danger of damage to the signature is particularly great in connection with delta folding production. In this case, approximately two-thirds of a portion of the signature is located in front of the folding blade, and one third of a portion of the signature is located behind the folding blade.
A spur cylinder with additional grippers, which act on the leading edge of the signature, is known from DE 43 40 585 C2. Since, in that device, the spur needles are retracted after the additional grippers have made contact, the danger of damage being done to the removed signature by subsequent spur needles does not occur.
DE 100 18 775 A1, DE 21 26 610 A1 and DE 20 25 347 A1 all disclose strippers for use in lifting signatures off the spur needles. A protective function is not provided by these devices, since these strippers act from below the speared signature.
EP 0 019 202 A1 discloses a spur cylinder with spur coverings. No detailed information regarding possible positions or movements of these spur coverings is provided.

Puncture cylinder provided with at least one puncture strip


A thin-film magnetic head comprising an inductive element including at least: a lower magnetic pole; a write gap layer; and an upper magnetic pole opposed to the lower magnetic pole through the write gap layer, a width WP2 in a track-width direction at a facing-to-magnetic-medium top end of the upper magnetic pole being larger than a width WP1 in the track-width direction at a facing-to-magnetic-medium top end of the lower magnetic pole, and a distance FPDP2 between the top end of the upper magnetic pole and a flare point of the upper magnetic pole being smaller than a distance FPDP1 between the top end of the lower magnetic pole and a flare point of the lower magnetic pole, is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film magnetic head with an inductive element, a head gimbal assembly (HGA) with the thin-film magnetic head, a head arm assembly (HAA) with the HGA, a magnetic disk drive apparatus with the HGA, and a manufacturing method of the thin-film magnetic head.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an inductive write head element of a thin film magnetic head, a lower magnetic pole and an upper magnetic pole are usually formed so that their shapes viewed through from their stacked-surface side are almost equal to each other. That is to say, the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole are formed so that widths at their top ends facing a magnetic medium (widths in the track-width direction) are equal to each other. Here, "top" means an extremity facing the magnetic medium in the direction perpendicular to the air bearing surface (ABS).
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-036234A filed by the present assignee, a magnetic head in which the top end widths of the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole are equal to each other, a magnetic head in which the top end width of the lower magnetic pole is larger than that of the upper magnetic pole, and a magnetic head in which the top end width of the upper magnetic pole is larger than that of the lower magnetic pole are described. However, in the publication, only the magnetic head in which the top end width of the upper magnetic pole is larger than that of the lower magnetic pole in order to decrease fringing fields generated from the side portion of the upper magnetic pole is claimed.
In the case where the top end widths of the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole are equal to each other as a conventional magnetic head, when the magnetic head is skewed with respect to a recorded track on the magnetic medium, an edge of the lower magnetic pole, which is adjacent to a write gap layer, is run off toward an adjacent track, and is at a risk of erasing some signals on the adjacent track. The risk becomes much higher due to the narrower track width according to heightened recording density.
This influence to the adjacent track when skewed becomes somewhat smaller by making the top end width of the upper magnetic pole larger than that of the lower magnetic pole, however, not small enough.

Thin-film magnetic head, head gimbal assembly with thin-film magnetic head, head arm assembly with head gimbal assembly, magnetic disk drive apparatus with head gimbal assembly and manufacturing method of thin-film magnetic head


A vise has a fixed jaw mounted stationarily relative to a vise body. A movable jaw is supported on side rails that have upper way surfaces. A jaw nut that exerts a downward force on the movable jaw operated to move the movable jaw along the way surfaces. Resilient member is provided between the under side of the movable jaw and at least one of the way surfaces to space the movable jaw slightly from the way surfaces until the movable jaw engages a workpiece, at which time the resilient material compresses and provides a positive hold down force on the workpiece.

The present invention relates to a workholding vise which is of the type that provides a hold down force through an angled connection from a vise nut onto the movable jaw of the vise, and which is made so that it will be spaced slightly from the support or way surface supporting the movable jaw on the bed of the vise when it is not loaded, and when loaded will exert a positive force through the movable jaw onto a workpiece being clamped against the fixed jaw.
Precision machine vises that are made to provide a hold down force onto a workpiece are sold by Kurt Manufacturing Company, Inc. under the trademark ANGLOCK.
The vise jaw nut provides an angled force on the vise jaw through a part spherical insert that permits jaw self aligning, as well as exerting a downward force on the jaw. An early patent showing this concept is U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,638.
These vises have had a wide acceptance in the trade, and the present invention is to improve the initial hold down force on a workpiece tending to urge the workpiece against the guideway forming a workpiece support surface on the vise bed.


A tapping device (1) for beverage, including a cooling device and a tapping rod (8) with a tapping cock (14), the tapping rod including a first (50) and a second (52) channel, which channels are in fluid communication with each other adjacent the tapping cock (14), while at least during use a tapping line (48) extends through the second channel, which tapping line is coupled at one end with a container (6) for beverage and at the other end can cooperate with the tapping cock.

This known tapping device comprises a refrigerator having therein a number of containers for beverage. Placed on the refrigerator is a hollow tapping rod, through which extends a tapping line. This tapping line is coupled with the back of a conventional tapping cock mounted on the tapping rod, so that beverage can be forced from the container to the tapping cock, for instance under the influence of CO2 gas introduced into the container. The hollow tapping rod is in open communication with the inner space of the refrigerator, so that in principle relatively cold air can flow from the refrigerator into the tapping rod and can envelop the tapping line therein. During use, this leads to cooling of the tapping line and beverage flowing therethrough.
This known tapping device has as a disadvantage that the air in the tapping rod will substantially not move. In fact, the cooled air will be warmed in the tapping rod and, as a result, be forced further upwards in the tapping rod, since the warmer air is relatively light with respect to the cold air present in the refrigerator. In the tapping rod, adjacent the tapping cock, a relatively small opening is provided, through which a part of the air can escape. This improves the air movement in the tapping rod, but entails the drawback that in the surroundings of the tapping cock an undesired, relatively cold air stream will arise, precisely in the direction of the tapping cock and the person operating this tapping cock, while moreover relatively much energy will be lost, since the escaped, relatively cool air in the refrigerator will be replaced by relatively warm air drawn in from the surroundings, which will have to be cooled from, for instance, room temperature to a temperature of, for instance, about 4 to 6 degrees Celsius.
The object of the invention is to provide a tapping device of the kind described in the preamble, wherein the disadvantages mentioned are avoided, while maintaining the advantages thereof. To that end, a tapping device according to the invention is characterized by the features set forth herein.

Tapping device and container therefor, and method for the manufacture thereof


Typical electrical impedance tomography (“EIT”) systems apply current to a body under test and measure the induced voltages on the surface and then through an inverse process, reconstruct an approximation to the electrical conductivity in the interior. The EIT system described herein employs a new approach to evaluating the interior electrical conductivity by using a virtual short that allows both current and voltages to be measured at various locations on the body under test. The architecture of this system is described, distinguishability of embedded conductive anomalies is evaluated, typical error sources associated with a virtual short measurement is discussed in the context of electrical impedance tomography, and a new imaging system is discussed.

Electrical impedance tomography ("EIT") is an imaging modality that evaluates the conductivity within the interior of objects using resistance measurements obtained from electrodes/sensors on that object's outer surface. In the typical measurement, currents are injected into the object through electrodes placed on the surface of the object, with voltages measured at other electrodes. Considerable effort has been invested in determining current distributions that will provide best clarity in viewing and conductivity profile within the object. Input currents are defined at each electrode, voltages are measured at each electrode, and then the conductivity profile of the object is reconstructed. This reconstruction process is an inverse problem that is considerably more difficult than many other imaging modalities such as x-ray computed tomography because the current paths in an EIT measurement are able to greatly adjust themselves to an object's interior conductive profile. Another problem with conventional EIT measurement is that large changes at localized sections in the object's interior will produce only small changes in measured voltages at the exterior. In this regard, a challenging task for EIT is to reconstruct the internal impedance profile given low level, noisy voltage measurements. Conventional aspects of EIT are discussed in "Electrical Impedance Tomography," IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, November 2001, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Systems such as adaptive current tomography ("ACT") have been developed to provide an impedance image for a body. In ACT, electrodes are placed on the exterior of a body and currents are then applied simultaneously to each electrode. Electrode voltages are then measured to generate the data required to perform an image reconstruction. These electrodes may be placed in a single plane or in several layers. A third generation ACT system (which is denoted as ACT3) uses 32 electrodes, and the applied currents are 28.8 kHz sinusoids, resulting in a system that can measure both lossy and reactive components of the impedance. This ACT instrument is real-time and is capable of producing about 20 images per second. The ACT3 system has some shortcomings. For example, it is difficult to: (1) accurately discern impedance anomalies in the interior of an object; (2) accurately evaluate the impedance values of these anomalies; and (3) spatially resolve the anomaly in an accurate manner.
Numerous algorithms have been proposed to use electrical measurements derived from EIT to reconstruct an object's conductivity profile. A typical approach for determining the conductivity profile within an object is to model the object as a resistive network. The discrete resistors within this network are treated as unknowns. The resistance value of each of the discrete resistors is determined by minimizing the least squares error in the voltage measurements at each electrode.
The measure or degree with which a measurement system can detect an impedance anomaly is referred to as distinguishability. Measurement systems with greater distinguishability should generally provide improved image data for an observed body. Generally an algorithm or measurement process that has more distinguishability will provide more superior conductive profile reconstruction. Thus, high distinguishability is a desirable trait in EIT systems.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have an EIT system that addresses the above shortcomings of conventional measurement techniques. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Electrical impedance tomography using a virtual short measurement technique


The invention relates to novel compounds containing uretdione groups, to a process for preparing them by dimerizing aliphatic and/or cycloaliphatic isocyanates containing exclusively secondary and/or tertiary isocyanate groups and also to the use of uretdione polyisocyanates obtainable by this process from diisocyanates containing exclusively secondary and/or tertiary isocyanate groups as a starting component for polyurethane polymers, in particular as an isocyanate component in the preparation of uretdione powder coating crosslinkers.

The preparation of polyisocyanates with uretdione structure by catalytic dimerization and optionally simultaneous trimerization of monomeric aliphatic or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates is known. A comprehensive overview of the industrially relevant dimerization processes of the prior art and of the catalysts and catalyst systems employed therein is in J. prakt. Chem. 336 (1994) 185–200.
Among the lightfast uretdione polyisocyanates there is great interest in the linear dimers, i.e. isocyanurate-group-free dimers, of cycloaliphatic diisocyanates in particular. These constitute preferred starting compounds in the preparation of blocking-agent-free polyurethane (PU) powder coating crosslinkers (e.g. EP-A 45 996, EP-A 639 598 or EP-A 669 353).
Whereas for the linear catalytic dimerization of aliphatic and/or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates containing at least one primarily attached ("primary") isocyanate group, such as 1,6-diisocyanatohexane (HDI) or 1-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanatomethylcyclohexane (isophorone diisocyanate; IPDI), a variety of processes exist (e.g. EP-A 45 995, EP-A 317 744, EP-A 735 027 and EP-A 896 973), some of which are also employed on the industrial scale in the preparation of powder coating crosslinkers, there have to date been no disclosures of isocyanurate-group-free uretdione polyisocyanates formed from aliphatic and/or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates containing exclusively secondary and/or tertiary isocyanate groups. The activity of the customary dimerization catalysts with respect to such diisocyanates is either zero or so low that it is impossible to use them even in very high catalyst concentrations to prepare the corresponding dimers in anything other than a vanishingly small yield, if at all.
Although some of the cited publications on the catalytic dimerization of isocyanates, for example in EP-A 178 520, DE-A 34 20 114, EP-A 317 744 or EP-A 896 973, have mentioned, inter alia, diisocyanates such as 2,4′- and/or 4,4′-diisocyanatodicyclohexylmethane, 1,3- and/or 1,4-diisocyanatocyclohexane, 1,3-diisocyanatocyclobutane or 1,3-diisocyanato-2(4)-methylcyclohexane as possible starting compounds, there has never been any specific description of uretdione polyisocyanates formed from cycloaliphatic diisocyanates containing no primary isocyanate groups, owing to the lack of activity of the dimerization catalysts known to date.
It was therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel process for preparing uretdione polyisocyanates from aliphatic and/or cycloaliphatic diisocyanates containing exclusively secondary and/or tertiary isocyanate groups which produces, using highly reactive and selective catalysts, products, ideally linear and preferably free of isocyanurate groups, such as are required as starting components for uretdione powder coating crosslinkers.


In order to obtain a low cost washing clothes case capable of washing a delicate clothes stored therein without damage and with sufficiently removing dirt from the clothes, the washing clothes case is for storing laundry therein on washing by a clothes washing machine. The washing clothes case comprises a container made of hard plastics and having at least one opening portion capable of opening and closing, a floating member attached on one of an outer surface and an inner surface of the container, and a plurality of water holes formed on a region of the container at which the floating member is not attached.

The present invention relates to a washing clothes case for storing a laundry therein on washing the laundry labeled a hand washing or a weak water flow in treatment, without damaging a shape and a fabric material of the laundry in case of washing the laundry in a strong water flow by a clothes washing machine.
Such a conventional art will be described hereinafter.
In washing, easy-care instructions are labeled on laundry. The laundry, which is possible to do water washing, is grouped into one of "hand-washing", "weak water flow", and "strong water flow". Inasmuch as a clothes washing machine cannot be usually used in the laundry labeled hand-washing instruction, you can not be bothered to do a hand-washing. It is uneasy to do a hand washing without damage a shape and a fabric material of the laundry. In addition, the laundry labeled a weak water flow instruction is washed in a manner of drifting in washing water in a few minutes by a weak water flow function of the clothes washing machine. It is difficult to remove dirt from clothes and the clothes may get out of shape on dehydration in some fabric materials. Although fabric clothes such as wool and silk increase which are possible to be washed with water, a washing fashion is still defined to the hand washing or the weak water flow. As a result, there are troubles in which the number of washing increases on the basis of classification and which dissatisfaction remains in removing dirt from clothes.
Inasmuch as the laundry rubs by a whisking operation in washing of strong water flow and snag and twist occur in the laundry, damage occurs in the clothes and the clothes get out of shape. In order to prevent the clothes from getting out of shape, the washing net is used on washing. Inasmuch as the washing net is shaped into a net shaped bag, the laundry put in the washing net is only collected in the bags and receives a mechanical force and the water flow in operation similar to other laundry which is not put in the washing net. Therefore, it is difficult to avoid the laundry from damage in case of washing the laundry labeled the hand washing or the weak water flow, under the strong water flow by using the washing net, although the washing, which prevents the clothes from getting out of shape, is effective in weak water flow.
The present applicant had invented the invention described in the patent publication 1, in order to dissolve the above-mentioned problems. The clothes washing case described in the patent publication 1 is composed of a lower cover portion, an upper cover portion, and a connecting hardware. The lower cover portion has a gradual U-character shaped shallow bowl shape which is directed upwardly. The upper cover portion has a gradual inversed U-character shaped shallow bowl shape which is directed downwardly. The connecting hardware is for use in connecting the lower cover portion with the upper cover portion with the lower cover portion and the upper cover portion being possible to open and close. Each of the lower cover portion and the upper cover portion has two-layer structure which has an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer is a net body which is made of hard lightweight plastic. The outer layer is made of a stock absorbing material having elasticity. The outer layer is dotted with water holes. In case where the laundry is stored in the above-mentioned washing clothes case, it is possible to wash delicate clothes by the clothes washing machine without damage, without separating the delicate clothes from other clothes.
Patent Publication 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 3,111,275
However, the washing clothes case described in patent publication 1 has some troubles which are described hereinafter. Inasmuch as each of the lower cover portion and the upper cover portion has two-layer structure and one of layers is shaped into a net body made of hard lightweight plastic and a plurality of water holes are formed on another one of layers, the washing clothes case is expensive on manufacture and manufacturing process becomes complex.


A method and apparatus for generating customized layout and presentation data.

SMIL is a layout and presentation language used on mobile phones that allows display of media. A set of media items can be played together. This is similar to a slide on a presentation or a slideshow. Each "par" SMIL tag specifies that the media are grouped and displayed or played in parallel. There are certain constraints or rules, because of receiving device limitations, that specify which types of media items can be placed on the same "slide." Media Content type tags may for example include (a) text, (b) image, (c) audio, and (d) video.
The following is an example of a SMIL presentation layout under the "head" tag. The media is given under the "body" tags along with how long to display them e.g. dur="5s" means to display for 5 seconds. This example has 2 "par" tags which can be thought of as 2 slides that are played in order. The first slide has text, an image, and an audio data. The second slide has only 1 image.
<smil>   <layout>   <root-layout width="40" height="40"/>    <region id="REGION_1" left="0%"    top="0%" height="67%" width="100%" fit="meet"/>    <region id="REGION_2" left="0%"    top="67%" height="33%" width="100%" fit="meet"/>  </layout>      <par dur="5s">    <text src="smiltextpartfilename0.txt" type="text/plain"    region="REGION_2"/>        <audio src="smil_vn_1093446932.amr"/>  </par>  <par dur="5s">       </par> </smil>
In general, the SMIL presentation layout is generated by the handset sending the data, or by a content provider.

Method and apparatus to customize layout and presentation


Techniques, systems, and products for analyzing sparse indicators and sensor data and generating communications are disclosed. The sensors may be associated with or incorporated into devices that may automatically relay sensor data for use in analyses and communication generation.

Computational resources have become less expensive, and processing capabilities have become more sophisticated. In addition, sensors have proliferated, making sensor data more commonly available. Accordingly, the number and size of data sets has been exponentially increasing. It is therefore important to decide how to effectively and efficiently process these data sets. One approach is to use reference data sets and to selectively concentrate on how individual data sets differ from one or more reference data sets. By detecting these differences, a more compact representation of a data set is reached.

Communication generation using sparse indicators and sensor data


A method for reducing interference at a terminal of a wireless cellular network is described. The terminal experiences interference from a plurality of interfering nodes in the wireless cellular network. The method includes selecting the precoders of the interfering nodes such that the sum of distances between the interference projector matrices for the terminal is minimized.

The present invention relates to the field of wireless cellular networks, more specifically to an approach for reducing interference of a terminal of such a wireless cellular network using interference alignment via minimizing projector distances of interfering subspaces.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a wireless cellular network comprising K cells, each cell including a respective base station BS serving one or more terminals or user equipment UE in the cell. FIG. 1 is a schematic representation and only one user equipment UE is shown in each cell, however, it is noted that a base station BS of a cell may serve a plurality of user equipment UE, like mobile phones. In FIG. 1 an exemplary case of a downlink transmission in a multi-cell MIMO/CoMP system (MIMO=Multiple Input Multiple Output; CoMP=Coordinated Multi-Point) is shown. The base stations BSs employ joint precoding to reduce/cancel inter-cell interference for the users UE, especially for cell-edge users UE1 to UEK as depicted in FIG. 1. Each base station provides for a direct link to the user equipment it serves, as is indicated by the solid line arrow. In addition, especially cell-edge users experience interference from other base stations as indicated by the dotted arrows in FIG. 1. For example, in cell 2 user or user equipment UE2 is located close to an edge of the cell, thereby also experiencing interference from the base station BS1 and the base station BSK in cells 1 and K, respectively. The base stations of the network or at least a number of the base stations are connected via a backhaul network having a central node CN.
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the channels or links between the respective base stations BSs and the user equipment UEs, wherein the direct links and the interfering links together with the associated channel matrices H are shown. Each base station uses a precoder F1 to FK, wherein by means of joint precoding, the inter-cell interference, especially for cell-edge users may be reduced or even canceled. At the user equipments, respective receive filters G1 to GK are used. For obtaining the reduction or cancelation of the inter-cell interference the precoders F1 to FK need to be designed such that the rate of the edge-users is maximized. Designing the precoders and the receive filters separately, in general, leads to a suboptimal solution and consequently to low user rates. Further, there are no easy analytical solutions due to the complexity of the problem. In known technology, some approaches for maximizing user rates in a wireless network are described by K. Gomadam, V. R. Cadambe and S. A. Jafar, "Approaching the Capacity of Wireless Networks through Distributed Interference Alignment", in IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM), 2008. Two algorithms for maximizing user rates are described, the so-called interference leakage algorithm and the so-called Max-SINR algorithm. The goal of the interference leakage algorithm is to minimize interference power at the receivers which is obtained by a joint design of the precoding and receive matrices. While the performance obtained is good, i.e. the data rates obtained are good, the computational complexity is high and it is necessitated to have knowledge about the interfering links at the base stations. The Max-SINR algorithm has the goal to maximize the signal-to-interference-ratio at the receivers. Also, in this algorithm the precoding and receiving matrices are jointly designed. The performance, i.e. the obtainable data rates, is better when compared to the interference leakage algorithm, however, the computational complexity is higher and global channel knowledge needs to be available at the base stations, i.e. knowledge about the interfering links and the direct links.
Thus, with conventional approaches it is necessitated to design precoders and receive filters jointly which is a mathematically complex problem and, in addition, the receive filters need to be re-calculated every time the precoders change. Further, the obtained receive filters may have a complex structure (which is hard to calculate), and which cannot be employed in real scenarios/standards where MMSE or IRC filters (MMSE=minimum mean-square-error; IRC=interference-rejection-combining) are used. In the following, further details of the above described conventional approaches will be given.
When transmitters and receivers have multiple antennas, interference alignment (IA) approaches may be used. Interference alignment is based on the idea that unintended interference at each receiver can be forced to lie in only a subspace of the received signal; thus leaving another interference-free subspace which can be used for intended signal transmission. For example, if a receiver has two antennas, the unintended interference can be forced to lie in a one-dimensional subspace, leaving another subspace (also a one-dimensional subspace) to be interference-free. Interference alignment may be of specific interest when the antenna configuration of the system (the number of transmit and receive antennas) does not allow for a zero-forcing precoder design in accordance with which interference is pre-canceled at the transmitter side. In such a case IA offers an attractive alternative by first aligning the interference at each receiver by proper precoding at the transmitter side and then applying zero-forcing receive filters in order to cancel it.
In the following description, a system model will be considered having a K-user MIMO interference channel (IC) with K≧3 and where a user denotes a transmitter/receiver pair. This corresponds to K cells with K cell-edge users which are served using the same resource blocks; thus, each cell-edge user experiences interference from K−1 cells. Each transmitter is equipped with M antennas while each receiver is equipped with N antennas. A receiver desires to receive 1≦d<min(N, M) data symbols (streams). Prior to transmission, the data symbols sk˜NJ (O, Id) εCd are precoded at a transmitter k by the linear precoder FkεCM×d, are sent over the direct channel HkkεCN×M, and are received by receiver k. Each transmitter k has a transmit power constraint E[∥Fksk∥22]=tr(FkHFk)=Etx,l. At the receiver k the obtained signal is perturbed by noise nk˜NC(O,Cnk)εCN in addition to unintended interference coming from other transmitters l≠k. A receive filter GkεCN×d is employed to reduce or cancel the interference and/or maximize the achievable rate. The estimates of the data symbols received at the receiver k via the direct channel from transmitter k are given as follows:
                                          s            ^                    k                =                              G            k            H                                          (                                                            H                  kk                                                                  F                  k                                                                  s                  k                                            +                                                ∑                                                            l                      =                      1                                        ,                                          l                      ≠                      k                                                        K                                                                                H                    kl                                                                          F                    l                                                                          s                    l                                                              +                              n                k                                      )                                              (        1        )            where HklεC N×M denotes the channel between the receiver k and the transmitter l. Conventionally, it is assumed that rank (Hkl)=min(N, M), ∀k, l. In the present case, this constraint is relaxed to (Hkl)≧d.
The total achievable rate of all users R is given by:
      R    =                  ∑                  k          =          1                K                                                    R        k              ,where Rk is the achievable rate of user k. Equation (1) may be rewritten as follows:
                                                        s              ^                        k                    =                                                                      H                  ^                                k                                                          s                k                                      +                                          ∑                                                      l                    =                    1                                    ,                                      l                    ≠                    k                                                  K                                                                                H                    ^                                                        int                    ,                    l                                                                                s                  l                                                      +                                          G                k                H                                                          n                k                                                    ,                            (        2        )            where Ĥk=GkHHkkFk and Ĥint,l=GkHHklFl denote the effective direct channel between the k-th transmitter/receiver pair and the effective interfering channel between the transmitter l and receiver k, respectively. Rk can then be written as follows:
                              R          k                =                              log            2                                          det                                      (                                                I                  d                                +                                                                            H                      ^                                        k                                                                                H                          ^                                                k                        H                                                                                (                                                                                ∑                                                                                l                                  =                                  1                                                                ,                                                                  l                                  ≠                                  k                                                                                K                                                                                H                                  ^                                                                                int                                  ,                                  l                                                                                H                                  ^                                                                                int                                  ,                                  k                                                                H                                                                                +                                                                                G                              k                              H                                                                                C                                                              n                                k                                                                                G                              k                                                                                )                                                                                -                      1                                                                                )                                                          (        3        )
In order to achieve interference alignment (IA) the following two conditions has to hold:GkHHklFl=0, ∀l≠k rank(GkHHkkFk)=d.   (4)
The first condition simply states that interference from all unintended transmitters should be suppressed, while the second one states that the design of the precoders and the receive filters needs to ensure the existence of an effective interference-free channel between the k-th transmitter/receiver pair where d data symbols (streams) can be simultaneously communicated.
The above-mentioned two conventional methods/algorithms for maximizing user rates in a wireless network will now be described in further detail. Both methods are based on the concept of network reciprocity, a concept which holds for Time Division Duplex (TDD) based systems. Due to the reciprocity, the signaling dimensions along which a receiving node sees the least interference from transmit signals are also the same dimensions along which the node will cause the least interference to other nodes in the reciprocal network where the roles of transmitters and receivers are switched. Moreover, the concept of reciprocity implies that the channel between the receiver l and the transmitter k in the reciprocal network Hlkr is related to the channel between the receiver k and the transmitter l in the original network as follows:Hlkr=HklH   (5)
Additionally, when defining Fkr and Gkr to be the precoding and receive filters of user k in the reciprocal network. The IA conditions can be written as follows:Glr,HHlkrFkr=0, ∀k≠l rank(Gkr,HHkkrFkr)=d.   (6)
As can be seen, when setting Fkr=Gk and Gkr=Fk, equation (6) becomes equivalent to equation (4) which tells that the alignment is reciprocal. Thus, alignment in the reciprocal networks can be achieved if it can be achieved in the original network, and interference alignment in the reciprocal network can be achieved by choosing the precoding and receive filters of the reciprocal network to be the receive and precoding filters of the original network.
In accordance with this interference alignment method the signals are not separated in space; rather, at each step of the algorithm, it is tried to minimize the interference leakage (power) at each receiver such that the first condition of equation (4) is fulfilled when the algorithm converges. If interference power is zero, then interference coming from undesired transmitters is implicitly aligned to a smaller dimension. The interference leakage Ik of receiver k in the original network due to all transmitters l≠k is defined as:
                                          I            k                    =                      tr                                      [                                                G                  k                  H                                                                  Q                  k                                                                  G                  k                                            ]                                      ,                                          where                            (        7        )                                          Q          k                =                              ∑                                          l                =                1                            ,                              l                ≠                k                                      K                                                                                E                                  tx                  ,                  l                                            d                                                  H              kl                                                  F              l                                                  F              l              H                                                  H              kl              H                                                          (        8        )            is the interference covariance matrix of receiver k. For given precoders, the columns of the receive filter that minimizes Ik are the eigenvectors corresponding to the d smallest eigenvalues of Qk, that is:Gk:,l=vl(Qk),   (9)
where vl(Qk) is the eigenvector corresponding to the l-th smallest eigenvalue of Qk and Gk:,l is the l-th column of Gk. In the reciprocal network, the interference leakage Ikr is defined as follows:
                                                        I              k              r                        =                          tr                                            [                                                      G                    k                                          r                      ,                      H                                                                                Q                    k                    r                                                                          G                    k                    r                                                  ]                                              ,                                                    where                                                                                Q            k            r                    =                                                    ∑                                                      l                    =                    1                                    ,                                      l                    ≠                    k                                                  K                                                                                E                                          tx                      ,                      l                                                        d                                                                  H                  kl                  r                                                                  F                  l                  r                                                                  F                  l                                      r                    ,                    H                                                                                H                  kl                                      r                    ,                    H                                                                        =                                          ∑                                                      l                    =                    1                                    ,                                      l                    ≠                    k                                                  K                                                                                E                                          tx                      ,                      l                                                        d                                                                  H                  lk                  H                                                                  G                  l                                                                  G                  l                  H                                                                  H                  lk                                                                                (        10        )            is the interference covariance matrix of receiver k. Similarly, the columns of the receive filter that minimizes Ikr are the eigenvectors corresponding to the d smallest eigenvalues of Qkr.
The algorithm alternates between the original and reciprocal networks. Within each network the receivers update their receive filters such that the interference leakage is minimized. Arbitrary initial orthonormal precoders may be chosen as a starting point, and details of the algorithm for interference alignment via minimizing interference leakage are depicted in FIG. 3.
For implementing this algorithm, the channel state information (CSI) between receivers and undesired transmitters need to be available (i.e., the quantities Hkl, ∀k, ∀l≠k). The CSI of the direct links is not needed. To achieve IA, an alternating optimization over both the precoding and receive filters is performed; with the precoders fixed, the receive filters are updated, and vice versa. An implementation of the algorithm in a distributed fashion can be realized as follows:
(1) To update the receive filters, the precoders are exchanged between the transmitters and channel matrices of the original network are used in the optimization process.
(2) To update the precoders, the receive filters are exchanged between the transmitters and the channel matrices of the reciprocal network are used in the optimization process.
For this approach it is assumed that the transmitters are responsible for calculating the receive filters which will be signaled to the receivers after the algorithm converges.
The second algorithm, the Max-SINR algorithm, aims at directly maximizing the Signal-to-Interference-Noise (SINR) ratio of each desired transmitted stream. When compared to the first algorithm, which tries to perfectly align interference in a lower dimensional subspace, the Max-SINR algorithm tries to maximize the desired signal power within the desired signal space. The SINR of the j-the stream of the k-the receiver in the original network is defined as follows:
                              SINR                      k            ,            j                          =                                                            G                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                    ,                    H                                                                                H                kk                                                          F                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                                                                                F                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                    ,                    H                                                                                H                kk                H                                                          G                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                                                                                G                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                    ,                    H                                                                                B                                  k                  ,                  j                                                                          G                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                                                                                E                              tx                ,                k                                      d                                              (        11        )            where Fk:,j is the j-th column of Fk and Bk,j is the interference plus noise covariance matrix of the j-th stream of the k-th receiver:
                              B                      k            ,            j                          =                                            ∑                              l                =                1                            K                                                                                E                                      tx                    ,                    l                                                  d                                                                            ∑                                      u                    =                    1                                    d                                                                                H                    kl                                                                          F                    l                                          :                                              ,                        u                                                                                F                    l                                          :                                              ,                        u                        ,                        H                                                                                H                    kl                    H                                                                                -                                                    E                                  tx                  ,                  k                                            d                                                  H              kk                                                  F              k                              :                                  ,                  j                                                                                F              k                              :                                  ,                  j                  ,                  H                                                                                H              kk              H                                +                      C                          n              k                                                          (        12        )
With this definition, the unit vector Gk:,j that maximizes SINRk,j is given by:
                              G          k                      :                          ,              j                                      =                                                            B                                  k                  ,                  j                                                  -                  1                                                                          H                kk                                                          F                k                                  :                                      ,                    j                                                                                                                                      B                                          k                      ,                      j                                                              -                      1                                                                                H                    kk                                                                          F                    k                                          :                                              ,                        j                                                                                                            2                                .                                    (        13        )
A similar analysis is done in the reciprocal network; for brevity, it is skipped and the Max-SINR algorithm is shown in further detail in FIG. 4.
This algorithm necessitates global channel knowledge to be implemented, i.e., every transmitter should know the CSI of both the direct links and the interfering links. When compared to the first algorithm, this is a big signaling overhead. For example, for a system of K=3 transmitter/receiver pairs, this constitutes a 50% additional overhead (9 channels need to be communicated from the receivers to the transmitters in total instead of 6 channels in the first algorithm). This algorithm can be implemented in a distributed fashion where the precoders and receive filters are iteratively exchanged between the transmitters, similar to the first algorithm. Similar to the first algorithm, an alternating optimization over both the precoding and receive filters may be performed.
The above description shows that the conventional approaches are disadvantageous because the precoders and receive filters are jointly designed resulting in the necessity to solve mathematically complex problems and, further, receive filters need to be re-calculated every time a precoder changes. Further, the receive filters will have a complex structure which is hard to calculate so that they cannot easily be used in real scenarios/standards.

Method for reducing interference at a terminal of a wireless cellular network, wireless cellular network, node and central node of a wireless network


A graphene-reinforced alloy composite material and a preparation method thereof are disclosed. The method includes preparing a porous graphene colloid, smelting a first-part alloy, pouring it into the porous graphene colloid to be formed, subjecting the formed product to a hot extrusion, and pulverizing into a powder I; smelting a second-part alloy into an alloy melt II, adding a high-purity silicon powder therein, mixing by stirring, and atomizing to obtain a powder II; mixing the powder I and the powder II, to obtain a pretreated alloy powder; placing the pretreated alloy powder in a high-purity ark, transferring the high-purity ark to a high-temperature tubular furnace, subjecting the pretreated alloy powder to a redox treatment, and introducing methane and hydrogen to grow graphene, to obtain a coated alloy powder; subjecting the coated alloy powder to a pre-compressing molding and sintering, to obtain the graphene-reinforced alloy composite material.

Alloy materials (such as aluminum alloys, copper alloys, and magnesium alloys) have the advantages of desirable electrical and thermal conductivity and easy to be formed, and are widely used in many fields. With the development of modern science and technology, traditional alloy materials could no longer meet the performance requirements of practical uses, especially the increasingly high strength requirements.
Graphene is a two-dimensional nano-material constituted of carbon atoms. Due to its unique two-dimensional honeycomb crystal structure and extremely-high bonding strength, graphene is currently known as the hardest material with the highest specific strength in the world. Graphene has a Young's modulus of about 1,100 GPa and a breaking strength of about 130 GPa, which are 6 times and 60 times than those of the best ultra-high-strength steels. Thus, graphene is regarded as an ideal filler for composite materials.
However, the bonding force between graphene and a metal matrix is weak, and graphene is prone to agglomerate in the metal matrix. Expected excellent performance could not be obtained by directly adding graphene to the alloy materials.
At present, there are two main methods to improve the bonding force between metal and graphene. One method is to plate a metal particle such as nickel, copper, and silver on the surface of graphene. However, this method mostly involves electroplating or electroless plating, which is complicated, and involves using a toxic and harmful chemical more or less, thereby being not conducive to environmental protection and safety. The other method is to introduce a functional group to the surface of graphene for surface modification. However, this method changes the surface structure of graphene, which would weaken the performance of graphene.
CN109234658B discloses a method for preparing a graphene-reinforced aluminum alloy composite material. In this method, a graphene composite powder was prepared first, then a prefabricated plate was prepared, and a friction stirring was conducted. However, during the friction stirring, the edges of the graphene would be damaged, thereby adversely affecting the mechanical properties of the resulting composite material.

Graphene-reinforced alloy composite material and preparation method thereof

Beijing Feilixin Information Security Technology Co., Ltd.


A system and method of determining the copy protection features of a program, and notifying a potential user of the program of these features, is provided. The copy protection features of the program first are analyzed. On the basis of this analysis, a message such as “this program cannot be recorded with IEEE1394, optical digital audio” is displayed to the user. By displaying such a message, the user can easily recognize that copy protection is applied to the program and that, for example, the program can be recorded (picture-recorded) in an analog style but cannot be digitally recorded. Accordingly, the user is easily made aware of the copy protection features of the program before using or purchasing the program.

The present invention relates to an information processing device and method, and a recording medium, and particularly to an information processing device and method and a recording medium which are suitably applied to a device for providing users with copy-protected data.
Recently, digital broadcasts for distributing video data and audio data as digital data have become popular. A reception device for receiving digital broadcasts is equipped with plural output terminals so that it can connect to various devices. For example, it is equipped with a digital terminal for outputting received digital data to another device, a terminal to which an IEEE1394 cable is connected, a terminal to which an optical cable is connected, etc., and also it is equipped with an analog terminal for outputting received data to an analog-only supporting device.
Three types of digital data are distributed, such as video data and audio data for television receivers, audio data for radio receivers and programs for personal computers or game machines.
Even if the digital data distributed by the digital broadcast are temporarily stored in a recording medium and copied into another recording medium many times, the image quality and the sound quality of the digital data do not deteriorate, and thus plural copies can be created. Such a situation is unfavorable from the viewpoint of copyrights, and thus distributed digital data are subjected to a method of preventing such illegal copies (copy protect).
As described above, there are three types of digital data (contents) to be distributed, and a reception device for receiving digital data is equipped with plural terminals. The copy protect operation is varied in accordance with the types of these contents and the outputting terminals.
FIGS. 1 to 3 include tables showing the copy protect in accordance with the three content types.
FIG. 1 shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for television receivers, FIG. 2 shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for devices for receiving digital audio services such as radio receivers, and FIG. 3 shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for devices for receiving data services of programs, etc., such as personal computers.
As shown in the tables of FIGS. 1 to 3, the specification on the copy protect is given so as to meet the type of content and the output destination. Of course, the user may become frustrated even when the user is directly supplied the information on the copy protect. However, when no information on the copy protect is supplied, the user may nevertheless be unable to record pictures because the copy protect is applied thereto although the user wants to record the pictures. There may occur a situation, therefore, in which the user cannot watch/listen to the pictures although the user paid to watch/listen to them.

Information processing device and method, and recording medium


An output circuit comprises an output transistor, a reference oscillator, a variable frequency oscillator, and a control circuit. The reference oscillator produces a first signal of a reference frequency according to the ideal ON resistance of the output transistor. The variable frequency oscillator generates a second signal capable of varying the oscillation frequency. The phase comparator compares the phase of a first signal from the reference oscillator with that of a second signal from the variable frequency oscillator and then controls the oscillation frequency of the variable frequency oscillator so that these two phases may coincide with each other. The control circuit controls the output transistor so that the current driving capability may be kept constant according to the output of the phase comparator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an output circuit used in a semiconductor device with many pins, such as a memory device or an arithmetic unit, and more particularly to a high-speed output circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Output circuits of this type are required not only to have a high bus driving capability for high speed operation, but also to suppress noises arising from the simultaneous operation of many output circuits.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional output circuit. The output circuit is composed of a p-channel MOS transistor 11 for producing a high-level signal and an n-channel MOS transistor 12 for producing a low-level signal. Specifically, the gate of MOS transistor 11 is supplied with a first control signal S1. The MOS transistor 11 has its source connected to the power supply V.sub.DD, and its drain connected to both the output terminal 13 and the drain of MOS transistor 12. The MOS transistor 12, whose source is connected to the ground, has its gate supplied with a second control signal S2.
The current driving capability of the conventional output circuit is dependent on the power supply voltage and temperature. The impedance of the signal transmission system is not power voltage- or temperature-dependent, but is constant. An ON-resistance is set to the MOS transistor of the output circuit so as to be able to match with the impedance of the signal transmission system when the power supply voltage and temperature are at standard levels. Under conditions of high power supply voltages or low temperatures, the current driving capability of the output circuit increases to lower the ON resistance of the MOS transistor. As a result, the ON resistance cannot match with the impedance of the signal output system, increasing the number of occurrence of noise. Under conditions of low power supply voltages or high temperatures, however, the current driving capability decreases seriously. Thus, it is difficult to reconcile a high bus driving capability with low noise.
To meet both incompatible requirements, a high bus driving capability and low noise, the conventional output circuit is designed to have such a current driving capability as avoids the faulty operation under high-driving conditions liable to a lot of noises, that is, at high power supply voltages or low temperatures. With this design, however, there arises a problem that it operates slower under low-driving conditions, that is, at low power supply voltages or high temperatures.

High speed output circuit having current driving capability which is independent of temperature and power supply voltage


A compact, foldable holding device for holding a bow or other weapon from a tree. A telescoping bracket member allows for convenient adjustment of the holding position. The holding device does not scar the tree and provides convenient storage of the bow or other weapon while waiting for game to approach. Moreover, the holding device allows for quick and easy movement of the bow or other weapon to an aiming position.

Hunters often wait long periods of time for game to approach. In many cases, the hunter waits lip in a tree using a tree stand. If the hunter has no device to hold their bow (or gun, etc.) during these long waits, the hunter is greatly inconvenienced, and in some cases, the ability of the hunter to successfully shoot the game when it does finally approach is impaired. In this regard, when a hunter is using a tree stand, there is limited storage space, and only a narrow range of motion is possible. Accordingly, the hunter has few storage options while waiting for game to approach. Without the use of a holding device, the hunter must keep the bow across his lap, which can be very uncomfortable and inconvenient. In this respect, the hunter cannot easily move around to eat and drink. Moreover, keeping the bow across the hunter's lap substantially increases the time needed to aim the weapon when game finally does approach. In addition, since the process of moving the bow to an aiming position requires a significant amount of motion, the hunter may inadvertently alert the game of the hunter's presence, thus losing an opportunity to shoot the game.
The prior art has provided few Solutions to the foregoing problems. The simplest solution has been to insert a long screw into the tree and hang the bow from the screw. This solution has several drawbacks. First, the screw does not allow the bow to be positioned in a manner which is convenient for quickly moving the bow to an aiming position. Furthermore, a long screw may not provide sufficient support for the bow, causing the bow to fall from the tree. Moreover, the screw will scar the tree, which is prohibited in some jurisdictions.
A second prior art solution to the foregoing problems has been to provide an L-bracket with a screw portion for screwing the L-bracket into a tree. While this device may provide better support for the bow, it does not place the bow in a position that allows the bow to he quickly placed in an aiming position. Moreover, the portion of the L-bracket extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tree is not adjustable. This device also scars the tree.
Yet another solution to the foregoing problems has been to mount a holding device to the tree stand itself. This device receives the bottom of the blow. However, since this holding device must be mounted to the base of the tree stand, it does not allow for adjustable height. Therefore, the bow will be in an inconvenient position for quick movement to the aiming position. This type of holding device may also require a large range of motion in order for the hunter to reach the bow and aim it. Moreover, this type of holding device can only be used if a tree stand is being used. Therefore, such a holding device cannot be used if a hunter wishes to position himself on the ground at the base of a tree.
The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks of prior art devices and provides a holding device which is compact, portable, provides a large range of holding positions, and which is convenient to use.


Surgical instrument which has a main part (10) with a shaft (12) and a fixed handle part (14), on which a moveable handle part (20) is supported pivotably. The pivotable handle part (20) engages through a slit (18) of the main part (10) and is linked to a slider (16). The slider (16) is guided axially shifted on the shaft (12) so that it cannot be removed. At the proximal end of the work stroke the slider (16) can be removed from the guide and shaft. Spring tongue (50) arranged on the pivotable handle part (20) comes against the main part (10) when the handle parts (14, 20) are spread apart and prevents the slider (16) from entering the cleaning position in which it is released from the shaft (12). The spring tongue (50) can be pressed against the moveable handle part (20) in order to enter the slit (18) of the main part and to release the locking.

Such surgical instruments are used for various surgical interventions, in which case contact parts designed according to the purpose of application are formed on the distal end of the shaft and on the distal end of the slider. These contact parts can be, for example, parts of a punch, for removing tissue, bones, and cartilage from the human body. By spreading apart the handle parts, the contact parts are separated from one another in the axial direction, so that the instrument is open for the intervention. By pressing the handle parts together against the spring force, the contact parts are made to contact in order to separate the tissue or similar lying between them.
The shaft and slider lie against each other with sliding surfaces and are engaged with each other with guides. After use in surgery, the surgical instruments must be cleaned and sterilized in order to avoid transmission of infections, diseases or similar in subsequent interventions. In addition, this cleaning also helps in maintaining the function and quality of the instrument. In order to be able to thoroughly clean and sterilize the sliding surfaces and guides, it is necessary to be able to separate the slider from the shaft. For this purpose, the slider is moved in the proximal direction into the cleaning position, in which the guides are disengaged so that the slider and shaft can be lifted up and separated. In order that the slider cannot be moved unintentionally into the cleaning position during the use of the instrument and thus become separated from the shaft, a locking member is provided which, in a locking position, prevents movement of the slider beyond the proximal end of its working stroke, into the cleaning position. The locking member can be moved from the locking position into a release position in which the locking member permits movement of the slider into its cleaning position.


The present disclosure is directed to a highly dilutable chemical mechanical polishing concentrate comprising an abrasive, an acid, a stabilizer, and water with a point-of-use pH ranging from 2.2-3.5 for planarizing current and next generation semiconductor integrated circuit FEOL/BEOL substrates.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an aqueous slurry for use in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of semiconductor substrates. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an aqueous slurry that is particularly useful for polishing multiple substrates present in complex advanced node structures such as, but not limited to, tetra-ethyl ortho-silicate (TEOS) or similar, interlayer dielectrics, silicon nitride (SixNy), silicon carbide (SiC), polysilicon, high k materials, metals, alloys, and co-formed materials thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor industry there is a continual drive to reduce the size of integrated circuits, in order to increase the density of active components. In order to achieve higher component density, current research is directed towards utilizing innovative substrate materials and planarization schemes. The problem that arises is that present polishing compositions are incapable of achieving the planarity requirements critical for maximal circuit performance.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,506, to Prince et al. and shown in FIG. 1, in the formation of a transistor, an interlayer dielectric is deposited over the device structure, which has a polysilicon gate. This dielectric layer is planarized via CMP until the polysilicon gate is exposed. In the process of FIG. 1, the polysilicon gate is exposed by adequate CMP removal of the dielectric layer, etch stop layer, hardmask, and part of the spacers. In conventional integration schemes, a two step process is required. A CMP composition such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,759,917 and 6,027,554 could be used to remove the dielectric layer, but it would have minimal impact on the etch stop layer. A second composition as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,984,588 and 7,217,989 would then be utilized to remove the etch stop layer. Furthermore, should the device structure displayed in FIG. 1 follow a metal gate integration scheme, the polysilicon gate would be removed and replaced by a metal gate such as aluminum. The aluminum deposition would require yet another planarization step, and a third composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,211 relates to silicon carbide (SiC) integration schemes. FIG. 2 shows a typical scheme associated with 3D system level integration where multiple layers are interconnected using through-silicon-vias (TSV). In the case of 3D system level devices, a very thin layer of SiC serves as a stop layer in the back end of the line (BEOL) processes. While common CMP chemistries (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,211) can achieve relatively high silica to silicon carbide (50:1) selectivity, and can be utilized for SiC barrier schemes, they are not readily applicable to 3D system level device integration, because the SiC polish rate is relatively high, regardless of the selectivity value.
Thus, there is a need for a CMP slurry for enabling the use of innovative substrate materials and planarization schemes, and to enhance the capability of current and previous integration schemes to improve FEOL and/or BEOL CMP. Current slurries are only useful for particular applications, requiring the use of many different kinds of slurries, which adds significantly to the cost of the related processes, because requires users to stock many different slurries.

Composition for advanced node front-and-back-end of line chemical mechanical polishing


In a laser annealing process: a bandlike area of a nonmonocrystalline semiconductor film is scanned and irradiated with continuous-wave laser light so as to produced fused regions in the first to third sections of the bandlike area as follows, where the third section contains a portion required to have higher crystallinity than other portions of the bandlike area. First, a first fused region having a substantially uniform width is formed in the first section. Then, at least a portion of the first fused region which is last fused is solidified, and thereafter at least a subportion of the solidified portion having a smaller width than the first fused region is re-fused. Subsequently, a second fused region having a stepwise or continuously increasing width is produced in the second section, and then a third fused region substantially uniformly having the increased width is produced in the third section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser annealing process and a laser annealing system which irradiate a nonmonocrystalline semiconductor film with laser light so as to increase crystallinity of the nonmonocrystalline semiconductor film. In addition, the present invention also relates to a semiconductor film produced by use of the above laser annealing process or laser annealing system. Further, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device and an electro-optic device using the above semiconductor film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, the active-matrix type driving systems are widely used in the electro-optic devices such as the electroluminescence (EL) devices and the liquid crystal (display) devices in which an image is displayed by dot-by-dot driving. In the active-matrix type driving systems, a great number of pixel electrodes arrayed in a matrix are driven through switching devices such as the thin-film transistors (TFTs) arranged in correspondence with the pixel electrodes.
In the active layers of the TFTs, amorphous or polycrystalline semiconductor films (normally silicon films) are widely used. In order to increase the characteristics of the TFT elements, it is desirable that the semiconductor films realizing the active layers exhibit high crystallinity, and it is particularly desirable that the semiconductor films realizing the active layers are monocrystalline.
In the manufacture of the TFTs, typically, an amorphous semiconductor film is formed, and laser annealing of the amorphous semiconductor film is performed for increasing the crystallinity of the film and transforming the semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film. In the laser annealing, the semiconductor film is annealed by irradiating the semiconductor film with laser light. However, according to the conventional laser annealing techniques in which the entire surface of an amorphous semiconductor film is uniformly annealed, the increase in the crystallinity is limited, and it is difficult to transform the amorphous semiconductor film into a monocrystal.
In the electroluminescence (EL) devices, the liquid crystal devices, and the like, a great number of TFTs are formed in a predetermined pattern on a single substrate. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the manufacturing efficiency, it is desirable that the crystallinity of the areas in which the TFT elements are to be formed are selectively increased, and it is particularly desirable that the areas in which the TFT elements are to be formed are selectively transformed into monocrystals. However, when a grain boundary exists in an area in which a TFT element is formed, the characteristics of the TFT element deteriorate. Therefore, in order to achieve superior element characteristics and element uniformity, it is desirable that the positions of the areas the crystallinity of which is to be increased can be controlled.
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-228160, an insulation film having recessed regions is formed, and than an amorphous semiconductor film having a thickness greater than the depth of the recessed regions is formed on the insulation film. Thereafter, the amorphous semiconductor film is transformed into a polycrystalline semiconductor film by heat treatment, and laser annealing of the polycrystalline semiconductor film is performed. In particular, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-228160 reports that portions of the polycrystalline semiconductor film formed in the recessed regions behave as nuclei of crystal growth, so that the recessed regions and their vicinities can be selectively and substantially completely transformed into monocrystals.
In addition, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8(1996)-139331, an amorphous semiconductor film is irradiated with first excimer laser having a first irradiation energy density so as to control the number of generated crystal nuclei, and thereafter the amorphous semiconductor film is further irradiated with second excimer laser having a second irradiation energy density greater than the first irradiation energy density so as to promote crystal growth from the crystal nuclei and transform the amorphous semiconductor film into a polycrystalline semiconductor film.
However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-228160 includes complicated process steps for forming the insulation film having recessed regions, and is therefore disadvantageous from the viewpoint of the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing efficiency. On the other hand, the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8 (1996)-139331 enables growth of large-size crystals. Nevertheless, this technique cannot control the positions in which the large crystals grow, since, according to this technique, the entire surface of the amorphous semiconductor film is uniformly processed.

Process and system for laser annealing and laser-annealed semiconductor film