A beverage container insulator apparatus having a base member, a receptacle member with a generally tubular interior, and a foam member extending around an exterior surface of the receptacle member. A sleeve extends around an exterior of the foam member. The sleeve is formed of a transparent material. The base member has a generally flat surface forming a base of the insulator apparatus and an upwardly extending inner ring member having a connector thereon for receiving the receptacle member. A plurality of clip members extend resiliently into the tubular interior for releasably retaining the beverage container therein.

Various types of container holders have long been popular for glasses and cans, particularly where the object being held is a cold drink. Oftentimes, these "coaster" type devices are provided with some type of insulation so as to help keep the container being held cool. Another advantage of using this type of device is that the person drinking from the container does not have to touch the container which, because of the warm air striking the cool container, will cause moisture to condense and run down the sides.
An additional problem with conventional koozies is that they are very difficult to imprint with advertising information. It is often quite difficult to make the printing apparatus which can print along the surface of a cylindrical container. In any event, even when such a printing device is developed, it cannot easily process large numbers of holders simply because of the shape of the holder. The tubular configuration of the beverage can holder also has a relatively high manufacturing expense since the closed tubular shape must be molded with the foam material.
It is a common problem with conventional beverage can holder designs that it is quite difficult to remove the can from the interior of the holder. Often, the interior cavity of the holder fits flush against the outer surface of the can. A vacuum or friction is created between the surface of the holder and the surface of the can. This makes release of the can very difficult. It is usually necessary to squeeze the holder or to bend the can so as to create a proper release of the can from the holder.
In the past, various U.S. patents have issued on various types of beverage can holders. U.S. Pat. No. 2,201,779, issued on May 21, 1940, to H. Lathrop describes an ornamental covering for containers. This ornamental covering has a cover element which is detachably secured, by a snap, around the exterior surface of the container. A covering element, formed like a hat, is designed so as to extend around the cylindrical diameter of the body covering. A top surface extends over the top of the container. The body covering is connected in overlapping relationship by the use of the snaps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,453, issued on Feb. 8, 1983, to T. E. Branscum describes a container holder that includes a cylindrical support for receiving the container. The cylindrical support is made of an insulating material, such as rigid foam. The top of the support is provided with an opening which is eccentric relative to the center of the support. A pivotal cap is received on the support and has an opening which overlies the first opening. When the openings are aligned, a container may be inserted into the support. The openings are large enough to accommodate beverage cans or other containers of different sizes. After the container is inserted, the cap is pivoted so as to cause the container to be gripped between the edges of the opening at the top of the support and the edges of the opening in the pivotal cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,422, issued on May 17, 1983, to Gordon et al. teaches an insulated holder for a beverage that has a ring around the edge of the can and a vacuum release. A flexible member sealingly engages the side walls of the beverage container at the other end of the compartment so as to form an airtight, sealed space within the compartment and to provide effective insulation to the beverage container. A valve is provided on the holder wall so as to permit the easy insertion and removal of a beverage container from the holder compartment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,239, issued on Jul. 21, 1987, to Manns et al. describes an insulated container for cans that has a ring at the top so as to keep the can from touching the sides. An airspace is formed between the insulation material and the sides of the can. An annular sealing member of resilient cellular material has a radial dimension which is substantially greater than the radial dimension of the annular recess.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,023, issued on Jan. 19, 1988, to M. J. Jeff describes a combined insulated mug and beverage can holder that includes a one-piece flexible ring-shaped retainer with an annular groove that mounts on the upper rim of an insulated mug. The annular groove on the retainer has an outside lip that has a slightly inward bias and is of a slightly smaller diameter than the outside of the flared portion of the mug that it is fastened to. When the retainer is fitted to the mug's upper rim, the insulated mug functions as an insulated holder of a beverage can and when the retainer is not fitted to the upper rim, the mug can function as a normal drinking vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,577, issued on Oct. 10, 1989, to J. L. Smith teaches a beverage can holder having a lid which is hingedly connected to the side of the holder body. The lid has a configuration which fits over the exterior surface of the can.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,025, issued on Dec. 8, 1992, to I-Hong Guo describes a beverage can holder body that is capable of assembly. The body has a plurality of buttons that can be fastened together to form the body of the beverage can holder. The base of the holder is attached by fastening the snaps to the buttons on the body.
British Patent No. 2,235,523 teaches an insulation container for a beverage can which has a slot down the side. This container does not have a hole on the bottom. Information or promotional material may be placed on the outer layer of the container. A zipper is provided so as to permit inspection of the bottle and access to the container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage container insulator apparatus which allows for easy insertion and release of the beverage container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a beverage container insulator apparatus which allows advertising and image information to be easily included on the exterior of the apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage container insulator apparatus which effectively insulates the container received within the apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beverage container insulator apparatus that is easy to assemble, easy to use, easy to manufacture, and easy to display.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.


The present invention relates to a resin guardrail consisting of a resin composition containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and fixed to a vertical post (P) and, more particularly, relates to a resin guardrail having improved durability and impact resistance, the resin guardrail being produced through extrusion molding of the resin composition containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and made by mixing 1 to 10 parts by weight of microcapsules containing acrylic acid (CH2=CHCOOH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lithium nitrate trihydrate (LiNO33H2O), and acrylonitrile (CH2CHCN), based on 100 parts by weight of resin mixture containing the PVC compound and the ABS compound mixed at a weight ratio of 50:50 to 90:10.

Generally, guardrails are road facilities installed along roadsides to indicate road boundaries and to prevent a vehicle from running off the road. Such a guardrail needs to have high impact strength to prevent the vehicle from running off the road when the vehicle crashes into the guardrail, while simultaneously requiring a property of absorbing the impact applied to the vehicle and the guardrail. This requirement is particularly concerned with the protection of drivers and occupants.
In general, a guardrail is a pressed metal plate in a continuously curved form, and is continuously disposed and fixed to a rail post properly arranged along the roadside. Meanwhile, the guardrail made of metal has high strength but low impact absorption effect, which may threaten driver's safety when a vehicle crashes into the guardrail. Also, the metal guardrail tends to be easily contaminated with dirt, discolored, rusted, and deteriorated in visibility, so there is a problem in that a periodic painting work is required and the metal guardrail itself needs to be replaced after a certain time period.
To solve this problem, the applicant of the present invention has developed and installed a resin guardrail made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material. Due to the properties of PVC, the impact absorption effect is greater than that of metal material, and thus the safety is improved. Moreover, since the painting work thereof is more convenient than on metal material, there is an effect of realizing various colors and improving night visibility by using photoluminescent paint. In addition, the present invention is light in weight and excellent in workability, and when adding an ultraviolet shielding agent in the molding process, it is possible to reduce bleaching or discoloration, thereby greatly improving the service life of the guardrail itself.
In order to improve the durability and impact absorption performance of such a resin guardrail, in the related art, such as Korean Patent Nos. 10-0466411, 10-0897583, 10-1312933, and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-109080, etc., the resin guardrail is provided by forming an air layer therein and connecting each layer by a linear rib or honeycomb rib of roughly a "dash (-)" shape, a "V" shape, or a "W" shape. This alteration in structure is expected to improve the impact absorption effect compared with that of the plate-type guardrail with the simple structure.


A rescue system includes a wearable article, such as a wristband, which includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a radio frequency (RF) beacon, and a power supply. One or more RFID readers (collectively, an RF network) are located on a vessel, the RFID readers being configured to communicate with the RFID tag. Should the RF network detect a passenger overboard event, a modular rocket system is deployed. The modular rocket system comprises a guidance module, the guidance module including a guidance system for guiding the modular rocket system toward a target. A flight control module is removably attached to the guidance module, said flight control module including a plurality of airfoils. A flotation module is removably attached to the flight control module, said flotation module including a flotation device. A rocket motor module removably attached to the flotation module, said rocket motor module including a rocket motor configured to propel the modular rocket system.

The present disclosure relates to a safety wearable article, preferably a wristband, and rescue system employing the same for persons travelling on a boat and, in particular, to a system and method of detecting a passenger overboard event and deploying a rescue device to a person who has fallen overboard. While the present development will be described herein primarily by way of reference to a system adapted for use on a cruise ship or similar vessel, it will be recognized that the present development is also amenable to all manner of marine vessels, including military vessels, war ships, cargo vessels, oil tankers, ferry boats, yachts, etc.
On occasion, persons travelling on a cruise ship or other vessel can fall overboard (referred to herein as a "passenger overboard" or "man overboard" event), whether accidentally or otherwise. Because witnesses are not always present to report a passenger overboard event, a number of systems have been proposed to detect passenger overboard events, including RFID systems, optical systems, and camera-based imaging systems. The common practice when a man overboard event occurs is to turn the vessel around and attempt to locate the person in the water. However, even in cases where a passenger overboard event can be detected with minimal delay, the vessel continues to travel away from the overboard person for period of time. Even if the point at which a man overboard event occurs is precisely known, movement of the water due to waves, the wake of the vessel, and currents can sweep the passenger a distance away from the point at which the man overboard event occurred. In this manner, both movement of the ship and movement of the water can serve to create a relatively large distance between the overboard passenger and the vessel in a relatively short period of time, thereby decreasing the chances of executing a successful search and rescue operation.
The present development provides a wearable band and associated rescue system which automatically detects a passenger overboard event and automatically dispatches a rescue device to the overboard passenger using a guided rocket system.

Modular rocket rescue system and passenger safety wearable band


A method of protecting a microcomputer system against manipulation of data stored in a storage assembly of the microcomputer system, particularly for protecting a program stored in the storage assembly, is described. In the method, the data is stored in marked or encrypted form in the storage assembly with the aid of an asymmetrical encryption method. In order to minimize the misuse of private keys which fall into the hands of unauthorized persons, a smart card protected by a personal identification number, on which the private key and an encryption algorithm for the asymmetrical encryption method are stored, is used for marking or encrypting the data.

Various methods are used to prevent unauthorized manipulation of a control program stored in a control device of a motor vehicle or data stored from this program. The control program controls or regulates specific functions in the motor vehicle, for example an internal combustion engine, a driving dynamics regulator, a stop control system (SCS), or an electronic steering system (steer-by-wire). A defect and/or a change in the mode of operation of the controlled or regulated unit of the motor vehicle may occur due to a manipulation of the control program. Therefore, manipulation of the control program or the data is to be prevented as much as possible, but the manipulation is at least to be detectable afterwards, so that the cause of a defect of a controlled or regulated unit may be established or so that warranty claims may be pursued correctly.
In spite of the danger of manipulation of the control program or the data by unauthorized persons, it is usually not advisable to prevent access to the storage assembly of the control device completely. In order to, for example, perform reprogramming of the control device, it must be possible for an authorized user group to access the storage assembly. Specifically, it may be necessary from time to time to store a new version of a control program or new parameters or limiting values in the control device in order to, for example, remove errors in the software or to take new legal requirements into account.
Control devices can be protected against manipulation of the control program by asymmetrically encrypting the data in which the control program and the data are stored in a storage assembly of the control device. The asymmetrical encryption method is also referred to as a public key encryption method and is used by BMW AG, whose main office is in Munich, Germany, and by Siemens AG, whose main offices are in Munich and Berlin, Germany, for encrypting or marking a control program stored in a control device of a motor vehicle and/or of data stored therein.
In the conventional asymmetric encryption method, a hash value is formed from the control program and/or the data to be marked with the aid of a hash function. A hash value is a type of check-sum of fixed length having special properties which are a function of the hash function used. The hash value is encrypted with the aid of a private key, which is not freely accessible. The encrypted hash value is referred to as a signature. The signature is appended to the program and/or the data to be marked and is transmitted to the motor vehicle control device together with them and stored there in the storage assembly.
In the control device, the signature is decrypted with the aid of a freely accessible public key. In this way, the decrypted hash value is obtained. In addition, with the aid of the same hash function which was also used in the course of encryption to obtain the hash value, an additional hash value is determined from the control program and/or data received. Subsequently, it is checked whether the decrypted hash value is identical to the additional hash value. If this is the case, the execution of the control program transmitted and/or the use of the data transmitted is enabled. Otherwise, the execution of the control program and/or the use of the data is blocked.
A problem of the conventional method lies in the management of the private key. This key is available to multiple persons at a control device developer or a motor vehicle developer, each user being assigned his own private key. If a private key—for whatever reason—falls into the hands of unauthorized persons, they may misuse the private key for reprogramming a whole series of control devices of the same type, without the control device manufacturer or the motor vehicle manufacturer being capable of preventing this and without the manipulation of the control program and/or the data by unauthorized persons being capable of being recognized afterward. In the conventional method, a compromised private key may not be detected as such and, if necessary, blocked.

Method of protecting a microcomputer system against manipulation of data stored in a storage assembly of the microcomputer system


A closed loop frequency control system for maintaining accurate linearity in the transmitted signal (60) in a linear frequency modulated (LFM) chirped laser radar system. A correction signal (50), derived from an output pulse monitor is summed with the modulation waveform (18) to correct non-linearities in real time.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to linear frequency modulated (LFM) laser radar systems and, more particularly, to a frequency modulation control system for LFM laser radar which utilizes a closed loop feedback signal to maintain accurate linearity in the frequency modulation of the transmitted signal.
2. Discussion
Laser radar systems which employ an intensely focused beam of light to detect the presence, position and motion of objects, have been used in numerous applications, especially in the radar communications and measurement fields. Militarily, these systems have been implemented in conjunction with cruise missile and tactical fighter technology wherein laser radar has provided functions such as obstacle avoidance and terrain following. These laser radar systems enable sophisticated target homing capabilities for accurately guiding a missile or plane toward a target by using a distinguishing feature of that target.
Linear frequency modulated (LFM) "chirped" laser radar has proven to be particularly useful in these applications. A "chirped" laser radar system typically includes a continuous wave (CW) transmitter which emits laser light at a pre-selected center frequency. This emitted light is frequency modulated into linear "chirps" by passing it through an electro-optical device disposed within the cavity of the transmitter. A voltage versus time signal applied to this electro-optic device, typically an electro-optical crystal, creates a laser beam signal which varies in frequency with respect to time.
The exact shape of the modulated waveform can be varied in order to optimize trade-offs in efficiency, complexity and performance. A bi-directional type of waveform, as shown in FIG. 1, is often used to minimize range/doppler ambiguity in the system as well as to maximize the ambiguous range. To create this waveform, the radio frequency of each transmitted pulse is both increased and decreased at a constant rate within the length of the pulse. The frequency variation is preferably linear and the frequency versus time characteristic of the signal is often a trapezoid pattern as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1. Each chirp in this type of waveform includes an "up chirp" component wherein frequency is increasing and a "down chirp" component wherein frequency decreases.
A transmitted chirped signal is directed toward a target and then reflected back therefrom, creating a return signal or "echo" associated with the target. The time taken by the transmitted signal to reach the target and then return causes the return signal to be displaced in time with respect to the transmitted signal. This is shown graphically in FIG. 1 wherein the solid line represents the transmitted signal Tx and the dashed line shows a corresponding return signal Rx. The instantaneous frequency difference between these signals can be used to "demodulate" the return signal in order to obtain information about the target.
To obtain both long range detection capabilities as well as fine resolution, the laser radar system typically utilizes a relatively long coded pulse as the transmitted signal and then takes advantage of pulse compression of the return signal to obtain a narrower pulse. This enables achievement of the increased detection ability of a long pulse radar system while also retaining the range resolution capability of a narrow pulse system. Transmission of long pulses also permits a more efficient use of the average power capability of the radar without generating high peak power signals.
Pulse compression allows the transmission of modulated pulses of sufficient width to provide the average power necessary to illuminate targets, at a reasonable level of peak power. The received echoes are compressed by decoding their modulation to obtain the range accuracy and resolution equivalent to that of a short pulse. This is accomplished by increasing the transmitted signal bandwidth by modulating the frequency of the carrier within the transmitted pulse.
Methods of pulse compression are essentially matched filtering schemes in which the transmitted pulses are coded and the received pulses are passed through a filter whose time-frequency characteristic is the conjugate (opposite) of the coding. This function is usually performed within the signal processor used to process the received echo. The matched filter, usually a Sound Acoustic Wave (SAW) matched filter, introduces into the signal a time lag that is inversely proportional to frequency. The SAW filter, within its operating range, has a delay versus frequency characteristic which is matched to the frequency versus time characteristic of the return (and, therefore, also the transmitted) signal.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a filter for compressing an up chirp has a signal transit time which decreases linearly with increasing frequency, at exactly the same rate as the frequency of the echo increases. The trailing portions of an up chirp echo, being of a progressively higher frequency, take less time to pass through the compression filter than the leading portions, thereby causing successive portions to bunch together and become compressed. When a pulse has been compressed by the filter, its amplitude is much greater and its width much less than when it entered. While the output echo may be only a fraction of the width of the received echo, it can have many times the peak power.
In order to ensure an accurate compression process, the frequency variations of the transmitted signal must be properly matched to the time-frequency characteristic of the filter, each preferably being precisely linear and having a constant slope. Non-linearities introduced into the transmitted signal may cause large sidelobes on either side of the compressed pulse which can make the system unreliable as an obscured second target detection sensor. Also, the compressed pulse width may become significantly larger than the capability of the SAW matched filter. This results in a decreased ability to measure range and reduces the ability to resolve multiple targets. Finally, non-linearity also causes reduced efficiency of integration which results in a lower signal to noise ratio.
A graphic illustration of such a non-linearity occurring in the up chirp component of the transmitted beam Tx(up) is shown in FIG. 1. The same type of non-linearity could also occur in an analogous fashion to the down chirp component TX(dn) but this is not shown in FIG. 1 for purposes of clarity. Such a non-linearity occurs where, for any given time segment, the frequency change in the transmitted signal is not constantly linear. This can also be thought of as an error in slope or a deviation from the desired linear slope of the ramped up or down chirp. If allowed to occur, this non-linearity is reflected back in the return signal Rx thereby causing the above-mentioned problems in the pulse compression process.
Constant increases in demand for longer operating ranges in LFM radar systems have been dramatically increasing the linearity requirements of the LFM modulated waveform. However, perfect linearity in the transmitted signal is difficult to achieve. This is mainly due to inherent limitations in the electro-optical crystal and its high voltage driver. Such high linearity requirements have proven impossible to achieve with conventional open loop laser radar systems. In these conventional open loop systems, a two percent linear slope error allows the system to be functional but not without problems. While various closed loop frequency control methods have been provided for other types of radars to help increase transmitted signal linearity in these systems, none have as yet been effectively applied to laser based radar systems, in particular LFM chirped laser radar.
There is therefore a need for a chirped LFM laser radar system which provides sufficient linearity to produce longer operating ranges than achievable with current systems.

Linear frequency modulation control for FM laser radar


A seat slider device may include: a lower rail attachable to a body of a vehicle; an upper rail attachable to a seat and slidably engaging with the lower rail; at least one roller provided in the upper rail and pressed against the lower rail or the body of the vehicle; and an actuator configured to rotate the at least one roller.

A seat slider device that moves (slides) a seat by an actuator is known. The seat slider device is provided with a long-lengthened lower rail attached to a body of a vehicle and an upper rail engaged with the lower rail. The seat is attached to the upper rail. A seat slider device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-210113 places a lead screw inside a lower rail. Further, an upper rail is provided with a screw nut into which the lead screw is screwed, and an actuator and a worm gear for rotating the screw nut. When the screw nut is rotated by the actuator and the worm gear, the upper rail (that is, a seat) moves together with the screw nut.
A seat slider device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-020665 is provided with ball bearings contacting a floor of a vehicle body and a plurality of actuators for rotating the ball bearings in two orthogonal directions. Since the ball bearings are rotated in the two directions, the seat slider device is enabled to freely move two-dimensionally on a surface of the floor of the vehicle body.


Infrared detectors whose detecting part consists of a layer of pyroelectric material deposited on a semiconductive substrate are disclosed. The object is to facilitate the polarization of the layer of pyroelectric material after it is deposited on the semiconductive substrate. The detector of the invention includes a semiconductive substrate (15) carrying a layer of pyroelectric material (11) in which are defined zones, each corresponding to a pixel (P1 to P9). Each pyroelectric zone is defined by an electrode known as lower electrode (EI 1 to EI 9), in contact with a face of pyroelectric layer (11) oriented toward substrate (15). According to a characteristic of the invention, a diode known as polarization diode (DP) is formed in substrate (15) for each pixel (P1 to P9). The polarization diode is connected to lower electrode (EI 1 to EI 9) to make possible the passage of a current between substrate (15) and the lower electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to infrared, in particular matrix, detectors, of the type produced according to a monolithic structure with pyroelectric materials.
2. Discussion of the Background
In infrared imagery, it is usual to use pyroelectric material to produce the detecting structure itself, and to add this detecting structure to a charge transfer multiplexer or in abbreviated form CCD ("Charge Coupled Device").
The CCD multiplexer is produced on a semiconductive substrate, separate from the detecting structure, with a base of pyroelectric materials, so that the infrared detecting unit constitutes a hybrid structure.
Such infrared detecting units are described in patent document GB 2 200 246 and in the article "Ambient temperature solid state pyroelectric IR imaging arrays" of N. BUTLER, J. McCLELLAND and S. IWASA, published in SPIE vol. 930, Infrared Detectors and Arrays, 1988, pages 151 to 163.
These infrared detecting units are generally surface units making it possible to produce an image comprising a plurality of elementary points placed in lines and in columns. These elementary points, also called pixels, correspond to a given element or given zone of the pyroelectric material.
Generally, a layer of material absorbing the infrared radiation is in contact with the pyroelectric elements. The thermal energy produced by the dissipation of the infrared radiation is sent to the pyroelectric elements, which produce electric charges which are thus proportional to the intensity of the radiation to which the corresponding pixel has been subjected.
The reading of the amounts of charges called "signal charges" produced by each of the pixels, during an exposure phase of the detector, is performed with a read circuit to which all the various amounts of signal charges (or equivalent values) are transferred successively with the CCD multiplexer.
FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates the manner by which the transfer of charges to a read circuit in a standard infrared detecting unit is performed. The detecting unit comprises a detecting surface formed by n pyroelectric zones Zl to Zn (n being equal to 16 in the example) placed in lines L1 to L4 and in columns C1 to C4. The detecting surface is associated with a CCD type multiplexer comprising as many shift registers called column registers as there are columns C1 to C4. Each column register R1 to R4 comprises as many stages ET1 to ET4 as there are lines L1 to L4 so that stage of a column register corresponds to each pyroelectric zone Zl to Zn or pixel. Each pyroelectric zone Zl to Zn is connected to the corresponding stage of a column register with an acquisition and charge transfer circuit, called intermediate transfer circuit CTl to CTn. The function of each intermediate transfer stage is to collect the signal charge (or an amount of charges proportional to this signal charge), and to transfer it in stage ET1 to ET4 of corresponding column register R1 to R4.
There therefore exist as many intermediate circuits CTl to Ctn as there are pyroelectric zones.
According to a usual operation, the signal charges produced at the level of each pyroelectric zone Zl to Zn (or a corresponding value) are transferred in the input stage of the intermediate transfer circuit, by which they are then transferred to corresponding reading stage ET1 to ET4 of register R1 to R4. This transfer of charges is performed in a first direction represented by an arrow 4. Since all the signal charges are charged in stage ET1 to ET4 of a column register R1 to R4, these column registers are actuated to transfer these charges in the direction shown by arrow 5, to a reading stage EL1 to EL4 of another shift register called read register RL.
Each column C1 to C4, i.e., each column register, corresponds to a reading stage EL1 to EL4 of read register RL. Thus, for example, the first transfer step of the column registers has the effect, in reading stages EL1 to EL4, of charging the charges originating respectively in pyroelectric zones Z13, Z14, Z15, Z16.
When all these charges are contained in read register RL, the latter, in turn, is actuated to transfer these charges into a read circuit CL, which performs the reading one after the other, and delivers, for each of these charges, an output signal, generally in the form of a voltage proportional to the value of each of the charge amounts. This operation is repeated until the charges produced in the pixels of first line L1 are in turn transferred, in parallel, into read register RL, then transferred by the latter into read circuit CL.
Such infrared detecting units with hybrid structure are relatively difficult to produce, and as a result have a very high cost, in particular because of difficulties linked to the assembly of the detecting structure with the semiconductive structure. Thus, for example, in some cases, the pyroelectric zones consist of as many separate elements as there are elementary image points or pixels. Further, these pyroelectric elements are to be carried by the semiconductive substrate, on which is formed the CCD multiplexer, by contacts that are electrically conductive but thermally insulating. The use of such connecting contacts is necessary to prevent the thermal energy produced in the absorbent surface of the infrared radiation from being sent to the semiconductive substrate, which would have the effect of degrading the operating characteristics of the CCD multiplexer.
Another embodiment is described in the article of M. OKUYAMA et al., "PYROELECTRIC IR-CCD IMAGE SENSOR," published in Ferroelectrics, 1989, vol. 91, pages 127-139. This document describes an infrared detector in which a detecting structure with a base of pyroelectric material is added to the CCD multiplexer, i.e., to the semiconductive substrate, by a dielectric layer which assures the thermal insulation.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view with a partial section. This FIGURE reproduces a FIGURE of the document cited above, showing the detecting structure with a base of pyroelectric material, connected to a semiconductive substrate by a dielectric coupling layer; the latter producing a thermal insulation between the substrate and the detecting structure.
In FIG. 2, semiconductive substrate SS carries a series of electrodes which constitutes an intermediate transfer circuit such as those mentioned with reference to FIG. 1. In a similar manner to that already explained with reference to FIG. 1, from an injection electrode referenced 50, the charges are transferred in the direction of transfer shown by arrow 4, in the direction of a column register stage (with four phases) represented by four electrodes referenced 51. As in the example of FIG. 1, direction of transfer 4 is parallel to the pixel lines: i.e., the series of electrodes shown in FIG. 2 relates to a single pixel, but in fact, such series of electrodes repeat to the left and to the right, and also in depth in the direction of the columns, to form a complete detector. The amount of charges transferred to stage 51 of the column register is controlled at the level referenced 52, which constitutes the input stage. These charges are then to be transferred in the direction shown by arrow 5, to be charged in a read register stage (not visible in FIG. 2) similar to that described with reference to FIG. 1.
Semiconductive substrate SS, and the series of electrodes that is repeated in the direction of the lines, and also at a right angle to the latter in the direction of the columns, constitute the CCD multiplexer part, on which detecting structure SD is peaced.
The detecting structure comprises a layer of pyroelectric material MP, itself covered by a layer AI intended to absorb the infrared radiation. In this embodiment, the pyroelectric zones or pixels are embodied by metal electrodes (not shown in FIG. 2) formed on the layer of pyroelectric material, on the side of the semiconductive substrate. The detecting structure is not in contact with the electrodes of the CCD multiplexer, from which it is insulated electrically and thermally by a layer of a dielectric coupling material MC and by an insulating layer of SiO.sub.2 ; coupling layer MC being in contact with the pyroelectric material and the insulating layer being in contact with electrodes It should be noted that the coupling between the detecting structure and the CCD multiplexer is made more significant at the level of input stage 52, by the fact that the insulating SiO.sub.2 layer is interrupted at the level of this input stage to leave room for dielectric coupling layer MC.
Such an embodiment exhibits an advancement, in particular in that it does not require using contacts that are electrically conductive and thermally insulating between the semiconductive substrate and each pyroelectric zone corresponding to a pixel. However, although advantageous, this embodiment still exhibits drawbacks attached to hybrid type structures, because, actually, the CCD multiplexer, on the one hand, and the detecting structure, on the other hand, are produced separately.
A much more striking improvement of the infrared detectors with a base of pyroelectric material results from using pyroelectric materials having low thermal conductivities k, for example, less than 1 W/m.K. Such a use of pyroelectric materials with low thermal conductivities is described in a French patent application no. 89 08799, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,816. This document indicates that it is possible to use polymers (for which generally k is less than 0.2 W/m.K) such as:
--polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF),
--polyvinylidene fluoride - trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE),
--polyvinylidene fluoride - vinyl acetate (PVDF-VAc),
--polyvinylidene cyanide - vinylidene fluoride (PVDCN - VDF).
It is generally possible to use composite materials (for which k is less than 1 W/m.K) such as mineral charge compounds of great thermal conductivity mixed in a polymer matrix of low thermal conductivity. For example, 60% by weight of PZT in polyimide gives a coefficient k of about 0.9 W/m.K.
The advantage of such a pyroelectric material with low thermal conductivity resides in that it can constitute the detecting surface by an approximately uniform layer able to be produced or deposited on the semiconductive substrate already carrying the CCD multiplexer. In fact, the pyroelectric layer is produced on electrodes whose surface and position approximately define the surface and the position of a pyroelectric zone corresponding to a pixel.
Each of these electrodes, called "lower electrode" in the description below, thus constitutes one of the plates of a pyroelectric capacitor to which each pixel or pyroelectric zone can be compared; the other plate of the pyroelectric capacitor can be constituted on the other face of the pyroelectric layer, for example, by an electrically conductive layer forming an electrode called upper electrode and which is common to all the pyroelectric zones.
Infrared detecting units with a base of pyroelectric material are thus produced having a monolithic structure, and whose production is then considerably simplified.
Relative to the hybrid structure shown in FIG. 2, such a monolithic infrared detector can comprise the same semiconductive substrate and a similar series of electrodes to constitute a CCD multiplexer similar to the one in FIG. 2. On the other hand, the layer of pyroelectric material with low thermal conductivity, although produced or deposited on the CCD multiplexer, can appear in a manner similar to that of the pyroelectric layer of FIG. 2; except for the fact that while, as in the hybrid type embodiment, the layer of pyroelectric material rests on the semiconductive substrate by a dielectric coupling layer MC, while in the case of the monolithic structure, coupling layer MC is replaced by an electrically conductive layer intended to form the lower electrode mentioned above.
However, in the case of the monolithic infrared detector having a layer of pyroelectric material with low thermal conductivity, since this layer is produced directly on the semiconductive substrate, it is necessary to subject it to a so-called "polarization" operation, intended to produce the crystalline orientation. This polarization consists in applying, between the two electrodes of each pyroelectric capacitor or pyroelectric zone, an electric voltage having a suitable polarity and an amplitude which can reach, for example, 1000 volts per 10 micrometers of thickness of the pyroelectric material.
The polarization of the pyroelectric material, within the framework of a monolithic infrared detector, exhibits the drawback of not being very simple to produce, because it requires gaining access to all the lower electrodes of all the pyroelectric capacitors. For this purpose, it is possible, for example, with standard microlithography techniques, to connect all the lower electrodes to one another and to an outer electrode, then to apply the polarization voltage between this outer electrode and the upper electrode mentioned above; then, next by the microlithography techniques, to eliminate the connections between all these lower electrodes to make possible the normal operation of all the pyroelectric capacitors.
This solution is certainly achievable, but it is long, delicate, and consequently costly.
Another problem attached to the infrared monolithic type detector lies in the fact that, relative to other pyroelectric materials, for the same thermal energy, the amount of electric charges produced by the pyroelectric materials with low thermal conductivity is clearly smaller, and as a result does not make it possible to obtain as good a thermal resolution.

Monolithic infrared detector with pyroelectric material

Thomson Composants Militaires et Spatiaux


A method and system sorts manufactured integrated circuit devices by evaluating performance characteristics of the manufactured integrated circuit devices. All of the integrated circuit devices are manufactured using an identical design, and differences in the performance characteristics among the integrated circuit devices occurs because of variations including manufacturing line variations. The integrated circuit devices are sorted into groups according to the performance characteristics and are utilized in different computing devices depending upon individual performance requirements of the computing devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of sorting identically manufactured devices according to the different performance characteristics of the manufactured devices into groups using customer specifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ability to manufacture large quantities of devices simultaneously improves manufacturing efficiency, thereby lowering the cost per unit of item produced. When manufacturing integrated circuit devices, it is often possible to manufacture large numbers of integrated circuit chips on a single wafer. While all the chips on a wafer may be manufactured from the same design, various processing differences can cause the devices to operate differently. These manufacturing differences can depend upon the position of the chip on the wafer and can vary between different wafers that are processed at different times (different batches) or are processed in different manufacturing lines. Therefore, even though a single design is utilized to manufacture multiple integrated circuit devices, these devices can have somewhat different performance characteristics. Conventionally, these devices were determined to be defective or nondefective depending upon how greatly the difference in performance characteristics deviated from what was expected from the single design used to make the devices.
In addition, conventional systems generally use a unique design for each different set of customer requirements. Therefore, integrated circuit devices that are to be used in one type of device will have one design and integrated circuit devices that are used in a different type of device that has different operating characteristics will use a different design. Thus, the conventional systems require a separate design for each different set of operating characteristics. The process of designing, testing, setting up manufacturing systems, etc. for each different design is expensive and time-consuming.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Allocating manufactured devices according to customer specifications

International Business Machines Corporation


A system and method for rapidly displaying text in a graphical user interface or other application. An initialization module accepts character set descriptions and generates executable code for drawing characters in the character set. Common sub-expression elimination is selectively employed to reduce the size of the executable code by replacing pixel-drawing functions with higher-level primitive drawing functions. Anti-aliasing text-drawing executable code is selectively generated. A display module displays text on a screen by calling the functions defined in the executable code generated by the initialization module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the display of text in a graphical user interface, and more particularly, to a system and method for rapidly displaying text in a graphical user interface.
2. Description of Background Art
In many applications it is useful rapidly to render large amounts of text on a display screen. Such applications include, for example, graphical user interfaces wherein the user navigates through a simulated three-dimensional environment. The environment is typically filled with objects and surfaces, often including explanatory text which accompanies or appears to be written on such objects and surfaces. As the user navigates through the environment, the text may move, and change size, orientation, or appearance. In order to maintain the illusion of real-time movement and navigation, it is important that all objects in the three-dimensional environment be rendered quickly to react to the user's movement. Thus, any on-screen text must be able to be displayed quickly at various sizes and orientations while preserving its essential characteristics.
There are many well-known techniques for displaying text on a screen. One such technique involves storage of a bitmap for each character in a character set for a particular font (where a font is defined as a particular typeface, size, and style, such as, for example, 12-point bold Palatino). In such systems, individual characters are displayed on the screen by accessing the bitmap for each desired letter, and turning on or off individual pixels on the screen according to the bitmap. A disadvantage of such a technique is that it requires storing and loading a distinct set of bitmaps for each font, which consumes system resources and can slow down the display of text, particularly if a large number of different fonts are used. In addition, an interpretation engine must usually be provided to read the bitmaps, process them, and render them onto the screen; this process may take a considerable amount of time when a large quantity of text is to be displayed. Display may be even slower if bitmaps must be individually loaded from data storage as needed.
Other known techniques involve defining each character using a type description language such as TrueType.RTM., which describes the character in terms of its component parts, such as for example, a collection of Bezier curves. Such languages permit the shapes of the letters to be preserved when scaled at various sizes, so that a single representation of each letter can be stored in lieu of multiple representations for different sizes. Although such techniques permit text to be described in a relatively small amount of storage space, they still require an interpretation engine to convert the type descriptions into an on-screen representation for display, particularly when rendering is to be performed by modestly-powered conventional personal computers. Such limitations make type description languages unusable for displaying large amounts of text quickly enough for applications such as moving three-dimensional environments.
What is needed is a system and method of displaying text on a screen that permits large amounts of text to be rendered relatively quickly without consuming an excessive amount of system resources.

System and method for rapidly displaying text in a graphical user interface


A method for evaluating a spatial query comprises receiving a spatial query defining a query window including a void, identifying an interior circle for the query window, wherein the interior circle includes a void, and processing the spatial query by either (1) modifying the at least one interior circle to exclude the void, and using the modified interior circle to evaluate the spatial query by checking whether a data MBR is inside the modified interior circle and when it does, including the data item in the query result set, or (2) by checking whether a data MBR is inside the interior circle and when it does, checking whether the data MBR intersects the MBRs of any of the voids, and including the data item in the query result set when there is no intersection.

Information in databases may be organized according to any number of techniques. Examples of the many database indexes include the quadtree, the B-tree, and the R-tree. Different database index structures may be more suitable for particular types of data. For example, some database index structures, such as B+trees, may not be suited multi-dimensional data.
The R-tree is an object hierarchy that is applicable to arbitrary spatial objects that is formed by aggregating minimum bounding boxes for the spatial objects and storing the aggregates in a tree structure. The aggregation is based, in part, on proximity of the objects or bounding boxes. Each node in the tree represents a region in the space. Its children represent (possibly overlapping) subregions. The child regions do not need to cover the entire parent region. While the R-tree is designed primarily for storing region objects, it can be adapted to points by defining points as "degenerate" rectangles where all vertices are identical.
The number of objects or bounding boxes that are aggregated in each node is permitted to range between mM/2) and M, thereby leading to use of the prefix (m,M) to characterize a particular R-tree and mirroring the effect of a B-tree. The root node in an R-tree has at least two entries unless it is a leaf node, in which case it has just one entry corresponding to the bounding box of an object. The tree is height-balanced (with maximum height log r).
An R-tree can be constructed in either a dynamic or a static manner. Dynamic methods build the R-tree as the objects are encountered, while static methods wait until all the objects have been input before building the tree. The results of the static methods are usually characterized as being packed since knowing all of the data in advance permits each R-tree node to be filled to its capacity.
There are two principal methods of determining how to fill each R-tree node. The most natural method is to take the space occupied by the objects into account when deciding which ones to aggregate. An alternative is to order the objects prior to performing the aggregation. However, in this case, once an order has been established, there is not really a choice as to which objects (or bounding boxes) are being aggregated. One order preserves the order in which the objects were initially encountered. That is, the objects in aggregate i have been encountered before those in aggregate i+l.
According to one method, insertion of a region object R occurs as follows. Starting at root, children that completely contain R are identified. If no child completely contains R, one of the children is chosen and expanded so that it does contain R. If several children contain R, one is chosen and the process proceeds to the next child.
The above containment search is repeated with children of the current node. Once a leaf node is reached, R is inserted if there is room. If no room exists in the leaf, it is replaced by two leaves. Existing objects are partitioned between two leaves and parent. If no room exists in the parent, change propagates upward.
One difference between static and dynamic methods is that static methods rebuild the entire R-tree as each new object is added. In contrast, dynamic methods add the new objects to the existing R-tree. Dynamic methods differ in the techniques used to split an overflowing node during insertion.
There are two types of dynamic methods. The first type has the goal of minimizing coverage and overlap. These goals are at times contradictory and thus heuristics are often used. The second type makes use of the ordering applied to the objects (actually their bounding boxes). They are termed nonpacked. In this case, the result is equivalent to a B+-tree and all update algorithms are B+-tree algorithms. These update algorithms do not make use of the spatial extent of the bounding boxes to determine how to split a node. Thus, the goals of minimizing overlap or coverage are not part of the node splitting process although this does not preclude these methods from having good behavior with respect to these goals.
Static methods differ on the basis of the method used to order the objects. The dynamic methods that are not based on an ordering, that is, reduction of coverage and overlap, range from being quite simple, for example, exhaustive search, to being fairly complicated, for example, R*-tree. Some methods just split the overflowing node, while others, that is, the R*-tree, try to reinsert some of the objects and nodes from the overflowing nodes thereby striving for better overall behavior (e.g., reduction in coverage and overlap).
In general, the goal of splitting techniques is to minimize coverage and overlap. These goals are at times contradictory and, thus, heuristics are often used. Below are listed a few node splitting algorithms that range from being quite simple, for example, exhaustive search, to being fairly complicated, for example, R*-tree. Some methods split the overflowing node, while others try to reinsert some of the objects and nodes from the overflowing nodes, thereby striving for better overall behavior, for example, reduction in coverage and overlap.
A number of different node splitting algorithms may be tried, including:                I. Dynamic Methods Based on Minimizing Coverage and/or Overlap        1. Exhaustive search        2. Quadratic method        3. Linear method        4. R*-tree        5. Ang/Tan method        II. Dynamic Methods Based on an Ordering (Nonpacked)        1. Hilbert nonpacked        2. Morton nonpacked        III. Static Methods Based on an Ordering        1. Packed        2. Hilbert packed        3. Morton packed        4. VAM split R-tree        5. Top-down-greedy split (TGS) R-tree
Methods I and II are useful for insertion, while method III is typically used for "bulk" creation, that is, creation of indices on a given set of objects.
A spatial or geographic database can include data concerning locations of features in space or on a surface. For example, a geographical database can include data concerning the location of various objects in a region. Along these lines, a geographic database can include mathematical representations of counties, cities, homes, apartment buildings, parks, businesses, subway stations, and other features. The location information could be in the form of latitude and longitude data or other data that defines position.
Once a database including this information is created it is typically desired to access and utilize the information. One way that the information in the databases is utilized involves determining the relative positions of particular locations. Along these lines, a person might want to find certain types of businesses in a zip code region. At times, it may be desirable to generally determine whether objects in a database have overlapping locations and, if so, the extent of the overlap.
Analyses such as those described above of data in spatial and/or geographic databases can present a number of problems. To determine relationships among data in a database can overtax memory and computing power, take an unacceptable period of time or cost an unacceptable amount of money. This is especially true with data in geographic databases.
For example, one problem concerning trying to determine whether objects have overlapping locations can involve actually comparing the outlines of the objects to see if any interactions exist. However, carrying out a point-by-point comparison of two geometries typically requires quite a long time, in many cases, on the order of hours.
Solutions to this problem have been described for two dimensional data, in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/886,487, and for three dimensional data, in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/397,530. However, a problem arises when the query window contains one or more holes, that is, areas that are to be excluded from the query, but which lie wholly or partially within areas that are to be included within the query. The prior solutions do not work well when the query window contains holes. A need arises for a technique by which spatial queries can be more quickly and efficiently processed when the query window has holes.

Pruning of spatial queries on geodetic data when query window has holes


An automatic equalizer includes an adaptive matched filter connected in front of a decision feedback equalizer of a conventional design. The adaptive matched filter has an A/D converter for sampling and quantizing an analog baseband signal into a digital signal, which is applied to a transversal filter. The transversal filter is supplied with tap coefficients adaptively controlled by a control signal generator which makes automatic adjustments to symmetrize the impulse response of a transmission path depending on the status of fading. The automatic equalizer can sufficiently equalize the fading in the range .rho.>1 in which the reflected wave is stronger than the direct wave, which fading cannot be adequately equalized only by the conventional decision feedback equalizer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic equalizer, and more particularly to a fully-digital-type automatic equalizer for use on the reception side of a digital radio communication system with multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (multilevel QAM) or polarphase modulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, digital radio communications systems have employed, on the reception side thereof, the equalizer with transversal filters for preventing the circuit quality from being deteriorated by frequency selective fading produced in propagation paths. Equalizers with greater equalizing capabilities include the decision feedback equalizer.
One conventional fully-digital-type 5-tap decision feedback equalizer is shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. An analog baseband signal applied from a demodulator (not shown) to input terminal 1 is supplied to gain adjusting circuit 11. Gain adjusting circuit 11 compresses the signal with a compression ratio of 1/K (K >1 or K=1) so that the level of the signal will not exceed the predetermined range of the input signal level of A/D converter 12 connected thereto even when the signal waveform is distorted due to fading in the propagation path. A/D converter 12 samples and quantizes the analog output signal from gain adjusting circuit 11 with clock signal CLK.sub.1 of sampling frequency f.sub.c supplied from terminal 2 and supplies N-bit digital signal train S.sub.1 to decision feedback transversal filter 101.
In decision feedback transversal filter 101, digital signal S.sub.1 is applied to first multiplier 25 and first delay circuit 21. First delay circuit 21 applies a delayed output signal to second multiplier 26 and second delay circuit 22. Second delay circuit 22 applies a delayed output signal to third multiplier 27. Decision circuit 14 applies an output signal to third delay circuit 23 whose delayed output signal is supplied to fourth multiplier 28 and fourth delay circuit 24. Fourth delay circuit 24 applies a delayed output signal to fifth multiplier 29. Multipliers 25, 26, 27 and delay circuits 21, 22 jointly constitute a circuit that is referred to as pre-equalizer 201, and multipliers 28, 29 and delay circuits 23, 24 jointly make up a circuit that is referred to as post-equalizer 202.
Each of delay circuits 21 through 24 comprises a flip-flop or the like and delays the supplied signal by one bit. In multipliers 25 through 29, each of the supplied input signals is multiplied by tap coefficients C.sub.-2, C.sub.-1, C.sub.0, C.sub.1, C.sub.2, respectively, supplied from control signal generator 102. The resultant products are supplied as multiplier output signals m.sub.-2, m.sub.-1, m.sub.0, m.sub.1, m.sub.2 to adder 13. Adder 13 digitally adds supplied multiplier output signals m.sub.-2, m.sub.-1, m.sub.0, m.sub.1, m.sub.2 and outputs equalized signal S.sub.1A, from which intersymbol interference due to fading contained in original signal S.sub.1 is removed, to post-processing circuit 15 and decision circuit 14. Decision circuit 14 determines an ideal signal level closest to the level of the supplied binary signal, and outputs a signal of the determined signal level as decision signal S.sub.1B. As a result, since post-equalizer 202 is supplied with decision signal S.sub.1B from which waveform distortion due to fading or the like has been removed, intersymbol interference that can be removed by post-equalizer 202 is completely equalized unless the tap coefficients supplied to multiplier 28, 29 are accurate and the multiplier output signals are saturated. Post-processing circuit 15 is used to restore the original signal, which has been compressed to 1/K by gain adjusting circuit 11, back to the original level, and outputs a signal with the properly corrected level from terminal 3.
Operation of decision circuit 14 and post-processing circuit 15 will be described in specific detail with reference to FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings. It is assumed that the input signal applied to the terminal 1 is a 4-valued signal which is a baseband signal modulated according to 16-valued quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM). The ideal values of the 4-valued signal have levels indicated by white dots A, B, C, D (FIG. 2) as the input signal applied to A/D converter 12, white dots A. B, C, D corresponding to 2-bit information signals (00), (01), (10), (11), respectively, each composed of the first and second bits when the compression ratio is 1. Third or greater bits of the output signal from A/D converter 12 are an error signal indicating a deviation from the ideal values. If compression ratio 1/K is 1/2, then dots A, B, C, D are reduced in amplitude to half, and compressed to respective black dots A.sub.1, B.sub.1, C.sub.1, D.sub.1. The ideal values of dots A.sub.1, B.sub.1, C.sub.1, D.sub.1 are represented by 3-bit signals (010), (011), (100), (101), respectively. Then, fourth or greater bits of the output signal from A/D converter 12 are an error signal indicating a deviation from the ideal values. Inasmuch as equalized output signal S.sub.1A from decision feedback transversal filter 101 contains thermal noise and intersymbol interference that cannot be removed, the error signal varies at random. Therefore, if first- through Nth-bit signals were fed back directly to post-equalizer 202, the signal could not be appropriately equalized since the input signals to post-equalizer 202 contain errors. To solve the above problem, decision circuit 14 uniquely determines the first through third bits to be any one of four ideal values 010, 011, 100, 101 and also determines the fourth and greater bits to be fixed value 100.about.0(.about. indicates all 0) according to the output signal of the decision circuit shown in FIG. 2 when digital signal S.sub.1A is inputted, thereby producing decision signal S.sub.1B. If N =5, then when digital signal S.sub.1A =10011 is inputted, decision signal S.sub.1B =10010 is produced, and when digital signal S.sub.1A =11100 is inputted, decision signal S.sub.1B =10110 is produced. To double the 1/2-compressed signal into the original signal, post-processing circuit 15 converts the supplied signal according to the output signal from the post-processing circuit shown in FIG. 2, thereby producing 3-bit signals of path 1, path 2 and path 3. For example, when digital signal S.sub.1A =10011 is inputted, post-processing circuit 15 produces output signal D=101, and when digital signal S.sub.1A =11100 is inputted, post-processing circuit 15 produces output signal D= 111. Paths 1, 2 are information bits, and path 3 is an error bit indicating the polarity of the error signal. Tap coefficients C.sub.-2, C.sub.-1, C.sub.0, C.sub.1, C.sub.2 are obtained from control signal generator 102 which operates exclusive-OR calculations between polarity signal d (path 1) indicative of the polarity of the received signal and error signal e (path 3), averages the result over time and outputs the averaged output. The principles of generating the tap coefficients are described in detail, for example, in Chapter 11 of "Digital Signal Processing" edited and published by the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineering, 1975 in Japan
FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings illustrates an instance of two-ray fading to which the two-ray fading equalizing characteristic of the above conventional decision feedback equalizer is applied. Curve S shown in FIG. 3 is also referred to as a signature curve. The graph of FIG. 3 has a horizontal axis representing notch position fd which indicates the shift of the fading notch frequency from the center of the spectrum of a desired signal, the shift being normalized by the clock frequency, and a vertical axis representing amplitude ratios .rho. which indicate amplitudes of the reflected wave (delayed wave) normalized by amplitudes of the principal wave. Notch depth Dn is expressed by Dn=-20 log (1-.rho.)dB. Using notch position fd and amplitude ratio .rho. as parameters, curve S is plotted by interconnecting points fd and .rho. where error ratio P=1.times.10.sup.-4. Error ratio P is greater than 10.sup.-4 in the area that is surrounded by curve S in FIG. 3 Therefore, it can be understood that the smaller the area surrounded by curve S, the greater the ability of the equalizer. In the range 0<.rho.<1, since the interference wave is delayed with respect to the principal wave, intersymbol interference is removed by the post-equalizer. In the range of .rho.>1, intersymbol interference is removed by the pre-equalizer 201 as the delayed wave becomes the principal wave. In the decision feedback equalizer, the input signal applied to the post-equalizer is an equalized decision signal and its value is substantially the same as the ideal value. Therefore, the signal is equalized substantially completely in the range 0<.rho.<1 in FIG. 3. In the range .rho.>1, inasmuch as intersymbol interference is not removed from the input signal applied to the pre-equalizer, the equalizing ability is lower than in the range 0<.rho.<1. The input level, the tap coefficients, and the output level of the multipliers in the pre- and post-equalizers have values ranging from notch position -1 to notch position +1.
With the conventional decision feedback equalizer described above, since the improving capability is not good in the range .rho.>1 in which the delayed wave is more intensive than the principal wave, as indicated by signature curve S in FIG. 3, the outage probability is not effectively improved in a digital microwave communications system in which the conditions .rho.<1 and .rho.>1 occur with substantially equal probability.


A system and method for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet. Generally, with reference to the structure of the system, the system utilizes a memory and a processor. The processor is instructed by the memory to perform the steps of: searching a memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with the Internet protocol packet, the memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein at least one of said rows comprises a destination Internet protocol address having at least one universal bit, wherein universal bits are bits that accept any value, use of said universal bits ensuring that said step of searching said memory for said destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet results in said memory always having said destination Internet protocol address therein; utilizing said weight factor to select, from the series, a row matching the destination Internet protocol address; reading a destination media access control address column from the selected row; discarding said Internet protocol packet if a value of the destination media access control address is zero; and adding the media access control address to the Internet protocol packet as the destination of the packet, if the destination media access control address is not equal to zero.

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) has evolved into an efficient real-time, multimedia communication session tool wherein users can pick up any one of nearly one billion telephones and dial any one of nearly one billion endpoints. Several developments have enabled this automated network, such as numbering plans, distributed electronic switching and routing, and networked signaling systems.
Similar to the manner in which the PSTN is based on a hierarchy, the Internet is based on an Internet protocol (IP). Multimedia packets are routed or forwarded from one link to the next (i.e., from a source of a data flow to a destination of the data flow). Each multimedia packet comprises an IP address, which, in Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4), for example, has 32 bits. Each IP address also has a certain number of bits dedicated to a network portion and a certain number of bits dedicated to a host portion.
IP routers are used to transmit a multimedia packet from one network (or link) and place the packet onto another network (or link). Tables are located within IP routers, wherein the tables contain information or criteria used to determine a best way to route the multimedia packet. An example of this information may be the state of network links and programmed distance indications. By using intelligent devices on both sides of a network domain, it is possible to allocate a temporary address to route a multimedia packet through a network and restore the original address on the far side of the network when the packet leaves the network. This is the basis for many current virtual private network (VPN) products and is understood in the art.
To ensure that the network elements (e.g., switches in the telephone network, routers in the data network) can perform their associated tasks, it helps for the network elements to know the status of adjacent communication links and available routes; signaling systems are used to provide this information. In telephone networks, signaling systems used are either signaling system number 7 (SS7) or are equivalent to SS7. An SS7 network is separate from a voice network, and is used for the purpose of switching data messages pertaining to the business of connecting telephone calls and maintaining the signaling network. In addition, the SS7 digital signaling standard is utilized to interface the PSTN to the IP world. As is known by those skilled in the art, SS7 utilizes a message structure wherein messages travel from one network entity to another, independent of the actual voice and data to which they pertain. This message structure utilizes an envelope, referred to as a packet, for traversing messages.
During transmission of a multimedia packet to a destination, network elements may change source and/or destination addresses for the multimedia packet. Unfortunately, the process of determining and changing source and destination addresses within multimedia packets is time consuming, thereby inhibiting high-speed multimedia packet transmission.

System and method for determining a destination for an internet protocol packet


An apparatus and method analyze overlay deviation in alignment between a first mark and a second mark that are formed on a substrate. In particular, a relationship between changes in overlay deviation values and changes in focus position of the substrate for a plurality of sets of the first and second marks that are provided on the substrate is calculated, and then an output is provided from which a user can determine whether the substrate suffers from wafer-induced-shift. Preferably, the output is a vector-map showing the relationship between changes in overlay deviation values and changes in focus position of the substrate for the plurality of sets of marks.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical inspection of semiconductor substrates during the production of semiconductor devices. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for detecting the overlay deviation between two patterned layers on a semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
One of the most critical process control techniques used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits is the measurement of overlay accuracy between patterned layers, i.e., the measurement of how accurately a patterned layer aligns with respect to another patterned layer located (directly or indirectly) above or below that layer.
Overlay measurement typically is performed on a patterned resist layer prior to etching that layer. If a substrate contains layers that are out of alignment, then the substrate should be reworked (i.e., the photoresist layer(s) are stripped) and returned to the photolithography process to be exposed again at a corrected alignment. Typically, the overlay error is measured, and then the results of the measurement are fed back into the control system that controls the alignment of layers.
Measurement patterns, formed in each of the patterned layers, are used to measure the overlay deviation. The most commonly used measurement patterns are squares, generally referred to as "bar-in-bar" marks, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2A. An outer bar mark 51 is printed on a process layer (lower layer) with side-to-side dimensions of approximately 30 micrometers, and an inner bar mark 52 is printed on a photoresist layer (upper layer) with a side-to-side dimension of approximately 15 micrometers. The outer bar mark 51 and the inner bar mark 52 are detected by a microscope system having a CCD camera, for example.
The overlay deviation of the photoresist layer in terms of the process layer is a positional deviation between the outer bar mark 51 and the inner bar mark 52. Hereafter, the overlay deviation will be referred to as an "overlay-offset." FIG. 2B illustrates a CCD output signal waveform taken along the line 53 shown in FIG. 2A. A signal 54L, a signal 54R, a signal 55L and a signal 55R correspond to the signals emitted from points 51L, 51R, 52L and 52R, respectively. A median point 54C is calculated from the signals 54L and 54R. Similarly, a median point 55C is calculated from the signals 55L and 55R. The overlay-offset in the X-direction is determined by calculating the difference between the median point 54C and the median point 55C. This same method is used to determine the overlay-offset in the Y-direction. A zero overlay-offset at all alignment marks on the substrate (the substrate can be, for example, a silicon wafer, a glass or quartz substrate, or a substrate made from semiconductor materials other than silicon) means that the photoresist layer is exactly aligned with the (underlying) process layer. In this case, the substrate is forwarded to the next manufacturing process without any reworking being done.
However, even if the measured overlay-offset is 0, a displacement error between the two layers may exist. Generally, there are two reasons for this (unmeasured) displacement error. The two reasons are tool induced shift (TIS) and wafer induced shift (WIS), to be explained below.
Tool induced shift is an error in the measurement which is caused by the tool which performs the measurement. The tool includes the CCD, the optical system of the tool (which includes the illumination system for illuminating the substrate and the detection system optics by which the image of the substrate is observed by the CCD), and software that is used to control the system. TIS can be caused, for example, when the illumination light is not telecentric or when an optical axis of the illumination system and/or of the detection optical system is not exactly perpendicular to the substrate. TIS can be calculated by the following equation (1):TIS=(M(0)+M(180))/2  Equation (1)in which M(0) is the overlay-offset calculated at a 0° orientation of the alignment mark, and M(180) is the overlay-offset calculated when the substrate is rotated by 180° (known as the 180° orientation of the alignment mark). In FIG. 2A, the sheet surface is defined as an X-Y plane, and an axis perpendicular to the sheet is defined as the Z-axis. The overlay-offset is measured at θ=0° orientation of the substrate, and then the substrate (including the bar-in-bar mark) is rotated by θ=180° about the Z-axis so that overlay-offset at θ=180° can be measured. Thus, M(0) and M(180) can be measured in order to determine TIS. In order to minimize the displacement error, TIS should be compensated. An overall TIS corrected value (referred to as TCV (TIS corrected value)) is used as an overlay-offset value for an evaluation of the alignment. The following equation (2) shows how TCV is calculated:TCV=M(0)−TIS=(M(0)−M(180))/2  Equation (2)
Wafer induced shift (i.e., errors in the measurement results due to wafer induced shift) occurs due to characteristics of the patterned layers formed on the substrate. One cause of WIS is an asymmetric (non-uniform) processing that is performed on the film layers formed on the substrate. For example, if a step that removes or polishes part of a layer from the substrate, or if a step that deposits a layer onto the substrate, is not performed uniformly over the entire substrate, it may cause WIS. For example, certain layers are made very thin by performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process on that layer in order to remove a part of the thickness of the layer. This CMP process typically is performed using a rotating disk that is contacted with the uppermost layer on the substrate in order to remove part of that layer. Since the speed of the disk at its outer perimeter is higher than the speed of the disk near its center, different effects can be caused on the substrate layer near the outer perimeter of the disk compared to the inner (center) portion of the disk. For example, the directions of throughholes can become tilted (in the direction in which the disk rotates) as one progresses from the center of the substrate toward the outer perimeter thereof. In addition, during deposition, typically a source of the deposited material is located above the substrate at the location of the central axis of the substrate. The vaporized particles to be deposited on the substrate are emitted from this point source, and can become deposited unequally between the center and outer perimeter of the substrate. These asymmetric processing steps can cause WIS errors in the measurements made during the overlay measurement process. WIS should be compensated for as well as TIS. However, WIS compensation is very difficult and therefore is not done very frequently, as described below.
Typically substrates are processed in batches (also called "lots") corresponding to the number of substrates that can be held in a cassette. A typical cassette capacity is 25 substrates. Overlay inspection typically is performed on three wafers from each lot. Thus, if a lot includes 25 substrates, the overlay inspection (including TIS evaluation) is conducted on, for example, the first, tenth and twentieth substrates of the lot. However, in order to measure WIS, a process referred to as after etching inspection (AEI) is performed. AEI is time consuming and involves viewing the substrate using, for example, a scanning electron microscope (SEM). AEI, however, damages the circuitry formed on the substrate, such that the measured substrate must be reworked. AEI is not a regular procedure, and therefore typically is conducted once per day or once per week or once per month. It is not practical to perform AEI on each lot of substrates.
Thus, WIS is not regularly evaluated. Solving issues related to WIS is more important than ever because, with increasingly smaller circuit patterns, process control technologies (such as overlay accuracy) become more and more critical. The required precision specification for overlay machines is about 2.5 nm for 70 nm technology node. Currently, the precision of overlay measurement, which defines measurement repeatability, is 1 nm or less for the actual process substrate. The precision performance is sufficient for the current overlay specification requirements. On the other hand, the accuracy performance, i.e., how close the measurement is to a true overlay-offset without WIS compensation, is still over 5–10 nm. Therefore, it is desirable to measure WIS and compensate WIS values for the measured overlay-offset values, in order to improve. Thus, as noted above, WIS is periodically measured and compensated for. It would, however, be desirable to evaluate WIS more frequently without requiring frequent performance of AEI.

Method and apparatus for measuring optical overlay deviation


Apparatus, methods, systems, and computer program products for flexible frame structure in control information delivery are provided. An exemplary embodiment provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive, at a first device, a sub-frame comprising at least one symbol transmitted over a network from a network node, wherein the at least one symbol comprising control information to the first device, and transmit, from the first device, scheduled data towards the network node based on the control information.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Certain abbreviations that may be found in the description and/or in the Figures are herewith defined as follows:
5G: 5th generation mobile networks
BLER: Block error rate
CP Cyclic Prefix
DCI: Downlink control information
DTX Discontinuous transmission
FDD: Frequency division duplex
HARQ: Hybrid automatic repeat request
LTE: Long-term evolution
MCS: Modulation and coding scheme
PDCCH: Physical downlink control channel
sTTI: Short transmission time interval
TDD: Time division duplex
TTI: Transmission time interval
UE: User equipment
URLLC: Ultra-reliable low-latency communications
The fifth generation (5G) of wireless systems will accommodate a wide range of services. The considered services have different requirements, such as high data rate, low-power consumption, extended coverage, ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive connectivity. URLLC is a new service which enables emerging new applications from various verticals, like industrial automations, autonomous driving, vehicular safety, e-health services. 3GPP targets include providing the connectivity with reliability corresponding to block error rate (BLER) of 10−5 and up to 1 ms U-Plane latency in the future networks. The service should be available ubiquitously and almost all the time.
Realizing the URLLC over the wireless channels requires providing high level of reliabilities for the channels carrying data and/or control information. The example embodiments of the invention provide a flexible frame structure to ensure high reliabilities including missed control signal detection in order to support communications technologies including URLLC.

Flexible frame structure to support fast control information delivery


An exercise apparatus for providing multi-directional training to the body of a user is disclosed. The exercise apparatus allows the user to exercise the mid-section, hips, legs, ankles and connective tissues enjoining all the muscles in these areas. The exercise apparatus comprises a main frame, a foot platform (preferably two) and means for attaching the foot platforms to the main frame. The exercise apparatus is designed to be free standing or to be mounted onto other supporting structures. The apparatus has multiple interchangeable parts, attachments and accessories for allowing several types of exercises.

The human body moves in multi-planar directions and incorporates multitude of muscles all working in combination simultaneously in almost all aspects of life. Strength, mobility, flexibility, cardio-conditioning, balance, muscle awareness and coordination are all important during daily life particularly in the area of sports conditioning and movement but also in normal human activities found in everyday life like loading groceries into a car, walking the dog on a slippery sidewalk in the snow, raking leaves, etc. Existing exercise devices do not allow the user to train all these aspects simultaneously even though we live in a world that requires such skills.
Existing swing training fitness devices are designed to simulate the walking patterns of user. They are limited in their functionality and are usually fixed in a single use design. They swing forward and backward in an arced path, with the user standing on two pedals attached to two solid bars with a pivot point at about waist height and usually with the other end of each bar above the pivot point for the user to hold onto. As the user swings each leg alternatively forward and backward they stimulate a walking pattern. Such a device can be used for a cardio exercise but it provides very limited strength to the user. Exercises particularly in the mid-section, hips, legs, ankles and the connective tissues enjoining all of muscles in these areas are not provided by the existing fitness devices. Further, the training and coordination of the lower body in conjunction with the upper body is not served by these products.

Multi-directional body swing, turn and twist trainer with interchangeable and adjustable attachments


The invention relates to detecting a narrowband signals from received signals. According to the different aspects of the invention, a sample set is first formed from received signals, whereby elements of the sample set represent their absolute values, and a lower reference value and an upper reference value are determined. Then adjacent samples exceeding the lower reference value are grouped in the same cluster. The purpose of the clustering is to group signals possibly originating from the same source together. Then, if at least one of these clustered samples exceeds also the upper reference value, it is most probable that the cluster is caused by a narrowband signal. The order of the determination steps can be varied according to the different aspects of the invention.

As wireless communication becomes increasingly common, more new frequency ranges are needed for different wireless systems. In a particular area, several of the following systems and frequency ranges may be operated simultaneously: EGSM 900 (880 to 960 MHz), GSM 1800 (1710 to 1880 MHz), GSM 1900 (1850 to 1990 MHz), WCDMA 2000 (1920 to 2170 MHz), US-GSM 850 (824 to 894 MHz), US-WCDMA 1900 (1850 to 1990 MHz) and US-WCDMA 1700/2100 (Tx 1710 to 1770 MHz, Rx 2110 to 2170 MHz). Moreover, different wireless local area network systems, like IEEE 802.11 and 802.16, and the wireless Bluetooth system are operating within the so-called unlicensed frequency range of 2400 to 2483.5 MHz. Furthermore, GPS satellite positioning system, having the frequency range of 1227/1575 MHz, is operating on a frequency range close to those used in other wireless systems.
In wireless transmission, both intra-system signals and intersystem signals, as well as noise, may interfere with the reception. Consequently, the quality of the received signals may be affected by quick interference due to various factors, such as multipath propagation, fading of transmitted signals, shadowing, near-far effect and co-channel interference. The interfering signals disturb the signal-processing methods used in telecommunications systems, due to which estimating the power or the bandwidth of a received signal, for instance, may be unsuccessful.
As different wireless systems, particularly those operating within the unlicensed frequency range, are becoming more commonly used, the receiver control necessitates, not only detection of interfering signals, but also estimation of the bandwidth, as well as the frequencies, of unknown narrowband signals for different purposes. When a signal is considered interference, the knowledge of that may be used to aid the interference excision, e.g., the transform selective interference suppression algorithm (TSISA). It may also be desirable to detect if a narrowband signal is present within a wideband signal, e.g., in systems with overlapping frequency ranges.
A commonly known method of frequency estimation of unknown narrowband signals, typically used in radar systems, is based on thresholding the radar signals with hysteresis. A drawback of the method is that the threshold setting is based on the noise present in the system. However, the estimation of noise increases the complexity of the algorithm and the estimation of noise may even be an impossible task in severe interference environment.
The forward consecutive mean excision (FCME) algorithm has been proposed earlier as an interference excision algorithm. Filtering the disturbing interference is often a prerequisite for the receivers to be able to operate at a sufficient accuracy. For instance in FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) band-stop filters used in receivers it is important to find the suitable threshold value level, because the performance of the band-stop filter depends to a great extent on the correct threshold level setting.
The FCME algorithm is "blind" in the sense that it does not need to know the noise level in advance. The efficient FCME algorithm sets an excision threshold iteratively based on a threshold parameter. The threshold given by the FCME algorithm separates the set of samples into two sets. The samples below the threshold are caused by the noise and possibly by a spread spectrum signal. The samples above the threshold are caused by different interference impulses and signals and unknown narrowband signals. Some embodiments of the FCME algorithm are given in patent application PCT/F103/00536.
Although the FCME algorithm can efficiently detect interfering signal samples above the given threshold, it can locate narrowband signals only very approximately. Frequency components caused by the noise can exceed the threshold and cause false signals to be detected. In the noisy data, the signal can also be broken due to the possible destructive addition of the noise and the signal. The result is that the definition of the bandwidth and the frequencies of the signal may fail.