An integrated manifold, muffler, and catalyst device for an engine uses perforated ducts surrounded by a resonator volume. Exhaust flow is routed from the exhaust ports by the ducts to a close coupled catalyst. The combination of the perforated ducts with the resonator volume and close coupled catalyst reduces exhaust flow restriction while at the same time increasing catalyst performance and reducing noise emissions.

Integrated muffler, manifold, and catalyst devices for vehicles having an internal combustion engine are desirable because of the decreased space and weight requirements and the associated cost benefits. They accomplish the goal of reducing emissions, suppressing noise, and directing exhaust flow in a single package. Conventional systems use a cavity for creating a manifold for interfacing to the exhaust ports, a single expansion chamber for expanding the exhaust gas, a concentrating volume for converging the flow into a laminar flow catalyst, and a second concentrating volume for further converging the flow. The single expansion chamber reduces low frequency noise, while the effect of the convergent regions and laminar flow catalyst reduce high frequency noise. Having the catalyst in close proximity to the exhaust ports decrease the heat energy lost from the exhaust gas, thereby decreasing catalyst temperature light-off times and increasing emission control. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,483.
The inventors herein have recognized numerous disadvantages with the above approaches. One disadvantage is that the exhaust flow restriction created by the combined manifold, muffler, and catalyst is less than optimal due to the sudden expansion experienced by the exhaust gas when entering the expansion chamber, thereby causing available engine horsepower to decrease from optimal. Another disadvantage is that the large resonator, or expansion, volume needed to suppress low frequency noise increases thermal mass, thereby increasing catalyst light-off time despite the close coupled location of the catalyst. An increase in catalyst light-off time is unsatisfactory because of the corresponding decreased emissions reduction.

Integrated manifold, muffler, and catalyst device


A liquid crystal display has a gate line structure for serving as a storage electrode and a black matrix and performing a repair function. In the liquid crystal display, a gate dummy pattern is formed in such a manner to be extended in the vertical direction from the gate line and to overlap with the data line and the pixel electrode. The gate dummy pattern branches from the gate line, overlaps the edge of a pixel, serves a storage electrode and a black matrix, and permits repair upon breakage of a data line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display with a gate line structure that can serve as a storage electrode and a black matrix and perform a repair function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) controls a light transmissivity using an electric field to display a picture. To this end, the LCD includes a liquid crystal panel having liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix type, and a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel is provided with pixel electrodes for applying an electric field to each liquid crystal cell, and a reference electrode, that is, a common electrode. Typically, the pixel electrodes are provided on a lower substrate for each liquid crystal cell, whereas the common electrode is integrally formed on the entire surface of an upper substrate. Each of the pixel electrodes is connected, via source and drain terminals of a thin film transistor (TFT) used as a switching device, to any one of data lines. A gate terminal of each TFT is connected to any one of gate lines for applying a pixel voltage signal to pixel electrodes for one line.
FIG. 1 shows a thin film transistor substrate for a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD). The LCD includes thin film transistors 6 positioned at intersections between data lines 2 and gate lines 4, and pixel electrodes 14 connected to drain electrodes 12 of the thin film transistors 6. The thin film transistor 6 is provided at an intersection between the data line 2 and the gate line 4. The thin film transistor 6 has a gate electrode 10 connected to the gate line 4, a source electrode 8 connected to the data line 2, and a drain electrode 12 connected, via a first contact hole 16, to the pixel electrode 14.
The thin film transistor 6 further includes a semiconductor layer (not shown) for providing a conductive channel between the source electrode 8 and the drain electrode 12 by a gate voltage applied to the gate electrode 10. The thin film transistor 6 responds to a gate signal from the gate line 4 to selectively apply a data signal from the data line 2 to the pixel electrode 14. The pixel electrode 14 is positioned at a cell area divided by the data line 2 and the gate line 4, and is made from an indium tin oxide (ITO) material having high light-transmissivity. The pixel electrode 14 generates a potential difference from a common transparent electrode (not shown) provided at an upper glass substrate by a data signal applied via the first contact hole 16. By virtue of this potential difference, a liquid crystal positioned between the thin film transistor substrate and the upper substrate is rotated according to its dielectric anisotropic property and a light applied, via the pixel electrode 14, from a light source is transmitted into the upper glass substrate.
A storage capacitor 18 provided between the pixel electrode 14 and the gate line 4 at the previous stage plays a role in preventing voltage variation in the pixel electrode 14 by charging a voltage in a period at which a gate high voltage is applied to the previous-stage gate line 4 and discharging the charged voltage in a period at which a data signal is applied to the pixel electrode 14. Since, as stated, the storage capacitor 18 aims at maintaining a stable pixel voltage, it must have a high capacitance value. To this end, the storage capacitor 18 has a structure as shown in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2, the storage capacitor 18 is defined by a storage electrode 20 electrically connected, via a second contact hole 22 formed in a protective film 28, to the pixel electrode 14 and a gate electrode 4 having on a gate insulating layer 26 therebetween. The storage electrode 20 is formed on the gate insulating layer 26 upon formation of the data line 2 and the source/drain electrodes 8 and 12. As a liquid crystal panel goes into a larger dimension, the capacitance value of the storage capacitor 18 must be increased. However, the above-mentioned LCD structure is limited in its ability to enlarge the capacitance of the storage capacitor 18.
The protective film 28 of the thin film transistor substrate is usually made from an inorganic material having a dielectric constant such SiNx or SiOx. The pixel electrode 14 and the data line 2 having such an inorganic protective film therebetween maintain a certain horizontal distance d (e.g., 3 to 5 μm), as shown in FIG. 3, so as to minimize any coupling effect caused by a parasitic capacitor. In this case, in order to shut off light leaking through the space between the data line 2 and the pixel electrode 14, a black matrix formed on the upper substrate has a width sufficient to cover a portion of the pixel electrode 14 positioned at each side of the data line 2. As a result, the aperture ratio of the liquid crystal cell is inevitably reduced.

Liquid crystal display with particular gate dummy patterns to facilitate repair


An ink container shell for an ink jet cartridge has an ink chamber provided with an optical ink detection device in the form of a single or multi-segment prism having interface surfaces for reflecting light in a scan plane from a first to a second exterior area relative to the container shell when an ink level in the chamber recedes to a given level. The multi-segment prism provides for scanning a cartridge in different scanning planes. Either a single prism or the multi-segment prism can be separate from the cartridge and interengaged therewith by a snap-fit.

It is of course known to provide ink cartridges for printers with arrangements for optically detecting the level of ink in a chamber or chambers of an ink cartridge. Generally, the optical system includes an optical ink detecting section, such as a prism, in an ink chamber of a cartridge and which is immersed in the ink when the latter is in the chamber above a certain level, and the ink level is read by a light emitting optical unit comprising a light emission device and a photo receptor outside the cartridge. The interface of the optical detecting section extends transverse to the plane of scanning as defined by the light path between the emitter and receptor. If, for example, the scanning takes place in a printer, and the cartridge moves transverse to the direction between the front and rear ends thereof, the plane of the light path between the emitter and receptor is likewise transverse to the direction between the front and rear ends of the cartridge, whereby the light enters the detecting section and reflects off the interface thereof to the receptor. The amount of light which is reflected to the receptor is indicative of the level of ink in the chamber. Such level detecting arrangements are shown, for example, in patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,929 to Hara and U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,136 to Watanabe, et al.
It will be appreciated of course that at least the portion of the cartridge in which the level detector is disposed of light transmitting material, and that the light used for determining the ink level can either be visible light or infrared. Ink level detectors such as prisms provided in ink cartridges for use in a single printhead printer are in a single plane of alignment with the plane of the light path of the light emitting optical unit. At the same time, a printer with multiple printheads can have black and color ink cartridges in different scanning or alignment planes. Accordingly, two different ink cartridge configurations are required for use in single and multiple printhead printers. Furthermore, optical prisms provided in cartridges heretofore available are formed integral with the bottom wall of the cartridge and, accordingly, limit the versatility with respect to the plastic materials which can be used for constructing the cartridges.

Optical ink level detecting arrangements for ink cartridges


A dual-mode image sensor with a signal-separating CFA includes a substrate including a plurality of photodiode regions and a plurality of tall spectral filters having a uniform first height and for transmitting a first electromagnetic wavelength range. Each of the tall spectral filters is disposed on the substrate and aligned with a respective photodiode region. The image sensor also includes a plurality of short spectral filters for transmitting one or more spectral bands within a second electromagnetic wavelength range. Each of the short spectral filters is disposed on the substrate and aligned with a respective photodiode region. The image sensor also includes a plurality of single-layer blocking filters for blocking the first electromagnetic wavelength range. Each single-layer blocking filter is disposed on a respective short spectral filter. Each single-layer blocking filter and its respective short spectral filter have a combined height substantially equal to the first height.

Dual-mode VIS-IR complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors combine color and near-IR imaging capabilities into a single sensor. Using a dual-mode image sensor is more economical and space-efficient than using two single-mode sensors to independently capture color and IR images. Applications of VIS-IR image sensors include gesture recognition, depth analysis, iris detection and eye tracking.
A conventional color image sensor includes a pixel array, wherein each pixel includes a microlens to focus light on it and a spectral filter embedded beneath the pixel's microlens. The spectral filter is designed to transmit a specified range or ranges of visible electromagnetic radiation to its associated underlying pixel. For example, visible spectral filters based on primary colors have pass bands corresponding to the red, green, or blue (RGB) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible spectral filters based on secondary colors have pass bands corresponding to combinations of primary colors, resulting in filters that transmit either cyan, magenta, or yellow (CMY) light. Since the transmission spectrum of a pixel's spectral filter distinguishes it from its neighboring pixels, a pixel is referred to by its filter type, for example, a "red pixel" includes a red filter. Herein, the transmission of a pixel refers to the transmission spectrum of its spectral filter.
FIG. 1 shows representative transmission spectra of visible and IR spectral filters used in CMOS image sensors. Transmission spectra 145, 155, and 165 have peak transmission in the blue, green, and red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, respectively. Accordingly, transmission spectra 145, 155, and 165 are representative of the spectral sensitivity of blue, green, and red pixels, respectively, of both conventional color image sensors and VIS-IR image sensors.
Herein the terms "IR light," "IR electromagnetic radiation," and "IR wavelengths" refer to electromagnetic energy at wavelengths between λ≈0.75 μm and λ≈1.1 μm. The upper limit of λ≈1.1 μm corresponds to the band gap energy of the silicon in CMOS image sensors. Similarly, the terms "visible light," "visible electromagnetic radiation," and "visible wavelengths" refer to electromagnetic energy at wavelengths between 0.40 μm and 0.75 μm.
Visible spectral filters used in CMOS image sensors also transmit IR wavelengths, which results in image distortion known as "IR contamination." For example, absent green light incident on a pixel with a "perfect" green filter (non-zero transmission for green light only), the pixel produces no photocurrent beyond its dark current. However, a typical green filter associated with a green pixel has a transmission spectrum similar to transmission spectrum 155, FIG. 1. Within the visible spectrum, transmission spectrum 155 has a peak transmission near λ≈550 nm, corresponding to green light. Since the transmission spectrum 155 exceeds 80% above λ≈800 nm, the green pixel will produce a photocurrent in response to incident IR light, which results in IR contamination. To prevent such distortion, the conventional color image sensor also includes a single continuous IR-cut filter, or IR-blocking filter, disposed across the entire pixel array.
VIS-IR image sensors include both visible spectral filters and IR spectral filters—the latter having a transmission spectrum similar to transmission spectrum 191. Since devices employing VIS-IR image sensors depend on detecting IR wavelengths, a single continuous IR-cut filter covering the entire pixel array cannot be used in VIS-IR sensors as they are for color image sensors. Since transmission spectra 145, 155, and 165 have significant transmission in the IR region, removing IR contamination requires pixel-level filtering: where an IR-cut filter operates only on color pixels while not impeding IR light from reaching IR pixels.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a representative prior-art VIS-IR image sensor 200 with reduced IR contamination. FIG. 2 is adapted from Kawada et al, IEEE Conf. on Sensors, 2009. Image sensor 200 includes a blue pixel 204, a green pixel 205, a red pixel 206, and an IR pixel 211. Pixels 204, 205, and 206 include visible spectral filters 245, 255, and 265, respectively, and each of visible spectral filters 245, 255, and 265 is disposed on an IR-cut filter 291. In Kawada et al, IR-cut filter 291 is a multilayer stack of SiO2 and TiO2 thin films, and is not included in a transparent region 295 of an IR pixel 211.
One method for fabricating image sensor 200 requires masking IR pixels 211 when forming IR-cut filter 291 within color pixels 204, 205, and 206. An alternative method of fabricating image sensor 200 involves forming IR-cut filter 291 within all pixels 245, 255, 265, and 211 (visible and IR), and then removing regions of IR-cut filter 291 above the photodiode regions of IR pixels 211 using, for example, a photolithographic patterning process. However, as pixel dimensions become smaller the processes involved with photolithographic patterning become more challenging.

Dual-mode image sensor with a signal-separating color filter array, and method for same


A new and distinct variety of Mandevilla characterized by large red flowers and shiny, dark evergreen leaves.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct hybrid of Mandevilla that originated from self-pollination of Mandevilla.times.`Alice Du Pont`. Mandevilla.times.`Alice du Pont` is a hybrid from a cross of [M. splendens.times.(unknown species)].times.M. splendens according to Bailey (see references). Pollinations were made by the inventor in a greenhouse at Gem Ornamentals Inc. in Tavares, Fla. in 1989. This new variety was selected for further evaluation because it had bright red flower color. The new variety has been reproduced by asexual propagation (cuttings). Each of the progeny, produced by asexual reproduction, exhibits identical characteristics to the original mother plant, establishing this hybrid as asexually reproducible and true to type.
This new variety is unlike any Mandevilla commercially available nor like any of those described by Graf or Bailey (see references) as evidenced by the following unique combinations of characteristics.
1. Red flowers--large funnelform to trumpet-shaped red flowers, darkening within 1-2 days after anthesis and remaining on the plant an additional 3-4 days.
2. Oblong-elliptic shaped, leathery, shiny dark green and evergreen leaves.
3. Corolla lobes irregularly obovate with acentric apex and minutely undulate margin.


Disclosed is an optical head, which comprises a semiconductor laser, a collimator lens for converting a beam emitted from the semiconductor laser light into parallel beam, a lens frame holding the collimator lens, a beam shaping prism for shaping the parallel beam passing through the collimator lens from an elliptic section into a circular section, an objective lens for converging the parallel beam passing through the beam shaping device on an optical recording medium formed with a track, and a photodetector for detecting a reflected light or transmitted light from an optical disk. The collimator lens is adhesively fixed to the lens frame at two positions opposed to one another along a radial direction corresponding to the minor axis direction of the cross section of the incoming parallel beam into the beam shaping prism. The optical head can suppress the displacement of detected-light spots in an photodetector caused by the displacement of an optical axis due to change in ambient temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording medium drive for optically recording, reproducing or erasing information onto or from an optical recording medium, such as an optical disk or an optical card. In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement of an optical head capable of reducing an optical-axis displacement due to the temperature change in an optical component, such as lens, or a housing thereof.
2. Related Art
An optical memory technology using an optical disk with pit patterns is increasingly applied to high-density high-capacity recording mediums, such as digital audio disks, videodisks, document file disks and data files. In the optical memory technology, information is recorded/reproduced onto/from the optical disk through a finely narrowed light beam with a high degree of accuracy and reliability. These recording/reproducing operations are entirely dependent on an associated optical system, and therefore it is critical to reduce the variation in characteristics of the optical system, particularly, due to temperature change.
An optical head is constructed by mounting various optical components, such as a light source, a photodetector, a half mirror and lenses, on a given frame. These optical components are required to be accurately mounted in their correct positions without causing the displacement in optical axis and focal position.
There have been known a lens holding structure for an optical pickup apparatus as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 5-323166 and 10-334472. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a lens holding structure disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-334472 comprises an approximately columnar lens frame 124 for holding a collimator lens 113. The lens frame 124 is formed with a hollow portion to provide an optical path having an optical axis O aligned with the central axis of the lens frame 124.
As shown in FIG. 10B, the hollow portion of the lens frame 124 has one open end formed into a reverse-tapered larger-diameter shape allowing a semiconductor laser to be attached thereto, and the other open end formed into a larger-diameter shape with a short tubular inner peripheral surface 124a. The collimator lens 113 is received and held in the hollow portion while being surrounded by the inner peripheral surface 124a.
The inner peripheral surface 124a has a radius slightly greater than that of the outer peripheral surface 113a of the collimator lens 113 to form a space 125 over the entire circumference between the inner peripheral surface 124a and the outer peripheral surface 113a.
The inner surface of the lens frame 124 is formed with a projecting surface 124b having a ring shape arranged rotationally symmetrically with respect to the optical axis O. In an operation of holding the collimator lens 113 within the lens frame 124, an adhesive 116 is applied onto the projecting surface 124b, and one 113b of the lens surfaces of the collimator lens 113 is brought into contact with the projecting surface 124b and fixedly held by the adhesive 116, so that the collimator lens 113 is positioned in the optical axis direction.
While the radius of the ring-shaped projecting surface 124b may be set to extend up to the inner peripheral surface 124a of the lens frame 124, it is preferably set to be less than the radius of the outer peripheral surface 113a of the collimator lens 113 so as to prevent the adhesive 116 from running over between the inner peripheral surface 124a of the lens frame 124 and the outer peripheral surface 113a of the collimator lens 113. In addition, even if the collimator lens 113 is eccentrically fixed, the holding state between the lens surface 113b and the projecting surface 124b can be stably maintained substantially without adverse affect therefrom.
The space 125 formed over the entire circumference between the inner peripheral surface 124a of the lens frame 124 and the outer peripheral surface 113a of the collimator lens 113 can effectively prevent the thermal deformation of the lens frame 124 due to the change of ambient temperature from affecting directly on the outer peripheral surface 113a of the collimator lens 113. If the lens frame 124 is designed to assure a larger volume in the space 125, an effect of suppressing the eccentricity between the collimator lens 113 and the lens frame 124 will be reduced. Thus, in this case, it is required to use a modified bonding method capable of maintaining the effect.
While the thermal deformation of the lens frame 124 due to the change of ambient temperature is likely to affect on the collimator lens 113 through the adhesive 116, a force of the thermal deformation of the lens frame 124 acting to move the collimator lens 113 in the radial direction can be expected to be dispersed in all directions and cancelled by the bonding structure where the collimator lens 113 is bonded to the ring-shaped projecting surface 124b of the lens frame 124 through the adhesive 116 applied to the ring-shaped projecting surface 124b. More specifically, the bonded surface of the collimator lens 113 fixed to the lens frame 124 is arranged rotationally symmetrically with respect to the optical axis O because it is bonded to the ring-shaped surface 124b through the adhesive 116. Thus, when the lens frame 124 is thermally expanded due to the change of ambient temperature, the bonded surface of the collimator lens 113 receives forces of the thermal expansion of the lens frame 124 acting outward in all directions. That is, the respective regions of the bonded surface located symmetrically with respect to the optical axis O receive the forces acting thereon at substantially the same strength in the opposite directions. Therefore, the forces can be mutually cancelled.
The optical head is required to assure an adequate operation under the wide circumstance from a high temperature to a low temperature. In particular, there is a strong need for an excellent temperature characteristic in which a light to be detected is not affected by an optical-axis displacement arising from the relative displacement between a laser light source and the collimator lens 113. Specifically, if the relative displacement between a laser-emitting point and the collimator lens 113 is caused by the expansion of the collimator lens 113, the lens frame 124 holding the collimator lens 113, and/or an outer frame for holding the lens frame 124, due to the change of atmospheric temperature, a resulting optical-axis displacement will be likely to cause the displacement of a detected-light spot in a detector. Therefore, it is desired to provide an optical head capable of achieving an excellent temperature characteristic even under unstable atmospheric temperature.
While the optical pickup apparatus disclosed in the above patent publications is intended to form the adhesively fixed portion into a ring shape so as to eliminate adverse affects from thermal expansion/contraction, the direction of the optical-axis displacement due to thermal expansion/contraction is practically varied by the variation in the applied amount of the adhesive 116 and/or the variation in the bonded position, and the adverse affects from thermal expansion/contraction cannot be adequately absorbed.
In addition, the adhesive 116 in direct contact with the lens surface 113b of the collimator lens 113 causes stains in the lens 113. Furthermore, the relatively large space formed between the lens frame 124 and the collimator lens 113 causes the increase in size of the apparatus, and the complicated shape of the holder leads to increased cost and essentially requires to perform an adjustment operation with higher accuracy.

Optical head and optical recording medium drive

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing trace records. A set of traces is generated for a set of processors. A trace is generated in the set of traces for each processor within the set of processors. A record of the frequency change is stored in the set of traces in response to a frequency change in a processor within the set of processors. Trace records are combined in the set of traces using the record of the frequency change to determine a correct order for the records.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for processing data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for creating and ordering trace records.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to reduce heat and power consumption, a data processing system may change the frequency of one or more processors. Alternatively, different processors in the same data processing system may have different fixed frequencies. The dynamic frequency changes may be caused by a variety of reasons. For example, a detection of overheating or excessive power consumption may cause a reduction in frequency in one or more processors. Additionally, a desire to reduce power consumption in a portable data processing system, such as a laptop, is another reason for changing frequencies based on usage. Other conditions also may cause changes in processor frequencies. For example, changes in processor frequencies may be based upon information about an application. For example, having knowledge that an application has a large number of cache misses may cause a lowering of processor frequency to reduce power since the overall performance may only be minimally affected due to the waiting for those cache misses.
This frequency change in processors during the operation of a data processing system increases difficulty in tracing events. Typically, separate processor buffers are used to record trace events. A trace record contains information or data about an event that occurs during a trace. The trace records stored in a buffer are referred to as a trace. The performance of a data processing system is identified through using a software performance tool, trace facility, or trace system. One known software performance tool is a trace tool. A trace tool may be used for more than one technique to provide trace information that indicated execution flows for an executing program. A trace may contain data about the execution of code. For example, a trace may contain trace records about events generated during the execution of the code. A trace may include information, such as, a process identifier, a thread identifier, and a program counter. Information in a trace may vary depending on a particular profile or analysis that is to be performed. A record is a unit of information relating to an event. For some applications, the correct ordering of the trace records are critical to the understanding of the item being analyzed. This ordering is especially important for understanding the exact flow of events, such as, may be necessary for problem determination. One way to achieve ordering is by using time stamps.
The ordering of trace records using time stamps is made difficult when frequencies of processors change. Typically, these time stamps and ordering of records are based on cycle information that is generated based on the frequency of a processor.
Thus, if the frequency of a processor changes, the time stamp typically assigned to the trace record may become inaccurate with respect to other trace records generated when the frequency of the processor was at a previous, different frequency with respect to trace records generated for other processors. This inaccuracy does not cause problems with respect to the order of trace records within a trace or a particular processor. The problem occurs when trace records are merged from different traces from different processors. With the variances in frequencies, an incorrect ordering of trace records from different traces may occur when these records are merged for analysis. Further, if different processors have different frequencies, the use of cycles to identify the times during which different states occur also may become misleading.

Method and apparatus for adaptive tracing with different processor frequencies

International Business Machines Corporation


A vehicle includes a human-machine interface (HMI) device, configured to interact with a user; a wireless transceiver; and a controller, configured to responsive to the wireless transceiver detecting a signal strength of a wireless transmission at a predefined frequency exceeding a predefined threshold, output a message via the HMI device to ask a user to switch off a wireless device associated with the user, and responsive to continuing to detect the signal strength of the wireless transmission exceeding the threshold, output an alert, via the HMI device, to inform the user of a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication failure and record an identity of the wireless transmission and a location of the vehicle.

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology has becoming increasingly popular in the automobile industry. Data may be exchanged between vehicles and roadside infrastructure using the V2X technology. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11p standard and The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard both include designated Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) band to carry the V2X communication. The ITS band is a licensed band of 5.9 GHz (5.855-5.925 GHz) which overlaps with the frequency of one or more unlicensed bands. For instance, ITS band partially overlaps with Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII)-4 band ranging from 5.850-5.925 GHz designated by IEEE 802.11 ac standard.

Vehicle Wi-Fi access point detection and mitigation


The present invention provides a resin composition comprising a thermoplastic resin comprising a constituting unit (A) derived from a compound represented by the following general formula (1), wherein                the resin composition comprises an ultraviolet absorber in an amount of 2,000 ppm to 40,000 ppm:

In recent years, electronic devices such as digital cameras, smart phones and tablets have become popular, and molded bodies equipped into such electronic devices, such as optical lenses, have progressed, in terms of miniaturization and weight saving. In general, a thermoplastic resin, such as a polycarbonate resin consisting of bisphenol A (BPA-PC), has been widely used as a transparent material for optical use. However, such a polycarbonate resin such as BPA-PC has been problematic in terms of large birefringence.
Under such circumstances, a resin comprising, as a raw material monomer, a dihydroxy compound having a fluorene skeleton, such as biscresol fluorene or bisphenoxyethanol fluorene, has been developed as a resin having small birefringence (Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2). Moreover, a resin comprising, as a raw material monomer, a dihydroxy compound having a binaphthalene skeleton has been developed as a material having a high refractive index and low birefringence (Patent Literature 3).
In general, for the purpose of cutting ultraviolet rays, an ultraviolet cutting layer or an ultraviolet cutting filter is equipped into an optical lens unit, or the lens is coated with a resin comprising an ultraviolet absorber (Patent Literatures 4 to 6).
However, taking into consideration the miniaturization or weight saving of an electronic device, and further, the cost reduction thereof, it is desired not to attach such an ultraviolet cutting layer or an ultraviolet cutting filter to the optical lens unit. In addition, the method of coating a lens with a resin comprising an ultraviolet absorber tends to deteriorate the properties of the lens, and the processing performed on plastic lenses, which are produced in large quantities by injection molding, is not appropriate even in terms of costs.
In contrast to these methods, there may also be a case where an ultraviolet absorber is kneaded into a resin itself (Patent Literature 7). However, as a result of studies conducted by the present inventors, it was revealed that when additives such as an ultraviolet absorber are added to a resin, the strength of the obtained molded body tends to be decreased. In particular, with the thinning of electronic devices, components to be equipped into the devices, such as optical lenses, are required to have ultraviolet-absorbing ability and a high bending strength property, as well as conventional optical properties, and thus, it is desired to develop a resin composition achieving all of these performances.

Thermoplastic resin composition and molded article thereof


A cast oil pan is connected between en engine crankcase and a lower end portion of a transmission bellhousing. Oil pan side walls each incorporate an integrally cast truss extending between an end flange of the oil pan and adjacent portions of an upper flange to stiffen the connection of the engine crankcase with the transmission bellhousing. Each truss includes a horizontal rail, a plurality of bolt columns extending between the horizontal rail and the upper flange adjacent corresponding bolt openings. Diagonal ribs extend from the oil pan flange generally toward the peripheral end flange. Oil pan bolts at the truss locations pass through the horizontal rail and the oil pan upper flange adjacent the bolt columns so that bolt clamping forces are carried through the bolt columns. The heads of the bolts are positioned below the horizontal rail accessible by power tools for securing and removing the bolts.

In an automotive powertrain, a stiff junction between an engine block and a connected transmission bellhousing would benefit from a straight vertical wall, such as a "shear wall", on the sides of the connecting engine oil pan. The need for tool access, however, tends to move the wall surrounding the oil pan bolts inward. To do this, while maximizing oil volume, requires moving the wall outward between the bolts. The result is an accordion shaped or corrugated sidewall that is easily bent, compromising the pan's contribution to powertrain bending stiffness. An improved oil pan is desired having increased structural stiffness in areas adjoining the transmission bellhousing and adjacent portions of the engine block oil pan flange

Powertrain assembly and integral truss oil pan therefor


Techniques for comparing documents may be provided. For example, a comparison between layouts of the documents may be performed. The comparison may include segmenting the documents into blocks, where an arrangement of blocks of a document represents a layout of the document. Once segmented, similarity metrics, such as distances, between blocks of one document and blocks of the other document may be computed. The similarity metrics may be used to match the blocks between the documents. Further, the similarity metrics between the matched blocks may be added to determine an overall similarity metric between the documents. This overall similarity metric may indicate how similar the documents may be.

Document similarity is a topic that has been studied extensively for decades in the field of information retrieval and for data engineering. Document similarity techniques commonly involve comparing a pair of documents to determine how related the two may be. The similarity of documents has been determined based on the similarity of text and images or other content and based on the similarity of the layouts of the documents.
Comparing layouts typically allows determining that two documents are similar regardless of how the content may or may not match. Determining how similar the layouts of documents are to one another has various applications. For example, phone bills issued to a subscriber from a same company generally have a same layout but differ in content from one month to the next. Although a content similarity analysis can result in a finding of dissimilarity, a layout similarity can identify that two phone bills are related. As such, if the subscriber is more interested in finding whether two documents are phone bills rather than whether the phone bills are for the same month, the layout similarity analysis may provide a good solution.
Further, a layout similarity analysis can be performed using a low-level representation or a high-level representation of the compared documents. An example of the former representation includes comparing bit maps of the documents. Although easy to compute, this type of representation does not capture the inherent layouts of the documents and, thus, can be inaccurate. An example of the latter representation includes partitioning the documents into portions of M rows and N columns (M and N being integers) and comparing equivalent portions, such as the top-left portion of one document to the top-left portion of another document. The comparison involves assessing an amount of pixel area in each of the portions (e.g., total amount of text, image, etc. in the top-left portions). However, this type of representation can also lead to inaccurate results. For example, although two phone bills may have a similar layout, the pixel area within each portion may change from one month to the next (e.g., if the top-left corner represents a list of calls made in a month, that list can be blank—no calls—in one month and can be full—a large volume of calls—in the next month). In another example, two magazine pages may have a similar layout but an image may be found in the top-left corner in one magazine and in the top-right corner in the other magazine. In both examples, a layout analysis using a high-level representation can incorrectly result in a dissimilarity finding.

Robust method to find layout similarity between two documents


An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a rotational shaft having a worm, wherein a worm portion has a small bending amount. According to the method of the invention, a worm portion is formed at a worm forming portion by a rolling process with rolling dies, and a small diameter portion is formed at least at one axial end of the worm forming portion, wherein a diameter of the small diameter portion is smaller than a diameter of a bottom of a worm tooth to be formed at the worm forming portion, so that surplus material portion of the worm forming portion can flow toward the small diameter portion.

A rotational shaft having a worm is manufactured by a rolling process with rolling dies. Namely, a rod material is pressed by and between a pair of rolling dies, and the rolling dies are moved relative to and in parallel to each other, so that the rod material is rotated between the rolling dies, to finally form the worm on an outer surface of the rod material.
It is, however, known in the art that a bending portion is likely formed at an end of the worm portion (a charged-up portion of a worm tooth (an incomplete worm tooth)), or the worm shaft is likely bent, due to a large bending moment to be generated at an end portion of the rolling dies during the rolling process.
When the worm shaft having such a bending portion is used in a product, for example, for an electric rotating machine, it may cause abnormal vibrations or noises with its rotation.
Accordingly, an adjusting process is generally necessary to adjust such a bending of the worm shaft after the rolling process. And therefore, a manufacturing process is inevitably long and a higher manufacturing cost is unavoidable.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-145242 discloses a method of manufacturing a worm shaft, in which an adjusting portion is formed next to a worm portion. The worm portion is formed by a rolling process with a pair of rolling dies, and the adjusting portion is reformed by another pair of reforming dies arranged next to the rolling dies, so that a possible bending of the worm shaft is reformed to become a straight shaft by the reforming dies at the same time during which the worm portion is formed by the rolling dies.
During the rolling process, a surplus material, which is surplus material for forming worm teeth, is likely to flow toward axial ends of the worm shaft. If such surplus material were not escaped from a worm forming portion to the axial ends of the worm shaft, it may cause a stress at the worm portion to finally result in the bending of the worm portion.
In the above mentioned technology disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Publication, the possible bending of the worm shaft is reformed by the reforming dies. It does not, however, suggest a method of manufacturing a worm shaft, without such an additional adjusting process, having a small bending at the worm portion, in view of flowing (escaping) the surplus material to the axial ends of the worm portion during the rolling process.


The present disclosure provides a CMOS transistor and a method for fabricating the same, a display panel and a display device. The method includes: forming a first gate electrode, a second gate electrode, a first active layer, a second active layer, a first source electrode, a second source electrode, a first drain electrode and a second drain electrode on a base substrate; and injecting first dopant ions into the first active layer and injecting second dopant ions into the second active layer by a doping process, wherein a concentration of the first dopant ions is smaller than that of the second dopant ions, the first active layer is an n-type active layer, and the second active layer is a p-type active layer.

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (referred to as CMOS) consists of positive channel metal oxide semiconductor (referred to as PMOS) and negative channel metal oxide semiconductor (referred to as NMOS). CMOS has a characteristic of low power consumption and is widely used in integrated circuits.
A bottom gate type thin film transistor formed by six mask patterning processes in the prior art comprises a switching thin film transistor and a driving thin film transistor formed simultaneously on a base substrate, the switching thin film transistor comprises a gate electrode, a gate insulation layer, an active layer, an etch stop layer, source and drain electrodes, a passivation layer, a first channel and a pixel electrode, and the driving thin film transistor comprises a gate electrode, a passivation layer, a second channel and a pixel electrode, so that a jump layer connection between the switching thin film transistor and the driving thin film transistor is implemented, but such a structure may increase power consumption when applied to a display panel.

CMOS transistor and method for fabricating the same, display panel and display device


Load testing an online game server environment using a web-based interface includes: configuring a load test with configuration parameters including client behavior parameters and server parameters, wherein the client behavior parameters provide settings for various behaviors such as cheating and aggressiveness, and wherein the server parameters provide a setup for server states and messages; building and deploying simulation client and game server binaries; scheduling and running the load test; and collecting test data output from the load test. Keywords include load test automation, load test service, load test resource management.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to load testing, and more specifically, to load testing an online game server environment using a web-based interface.
2. Background
Load testing products exist to show how a particular application or server performs in a real-world scenario. These load testing products have various types of tests that can be performed to assess system performance, such as tests that determine at what point the system slows down dramatically. However, these load testing products are very work intensive, cumbersome, and require multiple resources to complete a single load test and analyze results.

Load testing online game server environment using web-based interface

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.


Methods, software products and systems are provided for automated high throughout gene characterization. In one exemplary embodiment, HMM models are used to characterize genes. Biological sequences are classified according to their hit with different HMM models using a curve analysis.

The present invention relates to bioinformatics and biological computing. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provides methods, systems and computer software for annotating biological sequences.
In recent years, the growth of the genomic databases has been explosive. With the recent completion of the human genome and the upcoming mouse genome, this growth is likely to continue. This explosion of data has highlighted the need for accurate, high-throughput methods for gene characterization.

Computer software for automated annotation of biological sequences


A device with speakers can include a cable unit with a connection plug connectable to a portable media unit. The cable can provide an audio signal from the portable media unit to a speaker of the device. The cable be attached to the portable media unit. A removable module for housing the plug and cable is also provided.

Portable music units such as MP3 players and other digital and/or analog music players have become quite popular in recent years. Some portable music players use a hard disk or flash memory to store music files, such as MP3s. Such portable music players use these music files to create an audio signal. The audio signal created by the portable music unit is typically sent to an output such as, for example, a headphone jack on the portable music unit. Headphones or an external speaker can be plugged into the audio output jack so that the user can listen to the music. Some portable music units also have proprietary connections for use in transferring music files and signals as well as providing power to the portable music unit.

Device with speaker and retractable cable unit


The use of therapeutically effective amounts of rifaxmin and of pharmaceutical compositions containing it in the treatment of the diarrhoeal symptomatology in case of cryptosporidiosis in patients suffering from severe forms of immunodepression, for instance patients suffering from AIDS or malignant neoplasias, or subjected to transplantations or treated with chemotherapeutic or immunosuppressive agents is the object of the present invention.

The Cryptosporidium parvum is a protozoan responsible for an oro-fecal transmitted zoonosis which until about 20 years ago was of sole veterinary interest.
Following the recent coming of the immune deficiency syndromes, mainly from HIV infections, and the increase of the treatments which cause immnunodepression in patients suffering from malignant neoplasias or submitted to organs' transplantation, an increasing diffusion of diarrhoeal events with long duration, sometimes many weeks, and of severe seriousness has occurred as reported by Meisel J. L. et al., Gastroenterology, 70, 1156-1160, (1976) and by Current W. L. and Garcia L. S., Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 4, 325-358, (1991).
Epidemiological studies carried out by Laughon B. E. et al., Gastroenterology, 94, 984-993, (1988) and by Colbunders R. et al., Am. J. Gastroenterol., 82, 859-864, (1987) on patients suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) showed that the frequency of the diarrhoea from cryptosporidiosis reaches the 10-15% of the patients suffering from AIDS in the United States to raise until 30-50% of the same persons in the developing countries.
The mechanism that causes the diarrhoeal infection is not well known; Bonnin A. and Camerlynck P., Encycl. Med. Chir. (Paris-France), Maladies Infectieuses, 8, 501-10, (1992) think toxins cholera-like that directly act on the adenylate-cyclase system of the intestinal epithelium or a secondary alteration of the villi, responsible of the passing of undigested disaccharides through the large intestine with subsequent osmotic diarrhoea, are responsible for the unleashing of the severe diarrhoeal symptomatology in patients suffering from AIDS.
The infection from Cryptosporidium parvum, after a period of incubation of about a week, in the patients suffering from AIDS appears in the shape of an aqueous profuse diarrhoea joined to strong abdominal pains, vomit, fever, cephalea and asthenia. This severe diarrhoeal form lasts for several weeks and causes severe hydroelectrolitic unbalances, dehydratation, malnutrition, renal insufficiency and, sometimes, bronchopulmonary complications in the organism already strongly weakened.
Petersen C., Clin. Infect. Dis., 15, 903-909, (1992) and Goodgame R. W. et al., J. Infect. Dis, 167, 704-709, (1993) showed a close relationship between the degree of seriousness and duration of this kind of diarrhoeal form and the degree of immunodepression: the spontaneous remission of the diarrhoeal events is observed within a month from the beginning in the patients suffering from AIDS in whom the CD4 values are yet more than 200 mm.sup.3, while the diarrhoeal pathology becomes chronic together with frequent appearance of complications in the more severe cases of immunodepression, with CD4 values lower than 100 mm.sup.3.
At present a well-established therapy of the diarrhoea from cryptosporidiosis linked to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) does not exist yet even if some authors reported partial results with some types of drugs. Portnoy D. et al., Ann. Intern. Med., 101, 202-204, (1984) and Connolly G. M. et al., Gut, 29, 593-597, (1988) reported initial positive results with the spiramycin, results that have not been subsequently confirmed by Wittenberg D. F. et al., J. Infect. Dis., 159, 131-132, (1989).
White A. C. Jr. et al., J. Infect. Dis., 170, 419-424, (1994) and Walmsley S. et al., Program and abstracts: IX Intemational Conference on AIDS/IV STD World Congress (Berlin). London: Wellcome Foundation, (1993) reported significant clinical and parasitologic improvements with a treatment based on an administration of 2 g a day of paramomicin for two or more weeks, but any parasitologic eradication has not been obtained as showed in the 58% of recidivations.
Finally Vargas S. L. et al., J. Pediatr., 123, 154-156, (1993) and Dunne M. W., Program and abstracts: IX International Conference on AIDS/IV STD World Congress (Berlin). London: Wellcome Foundation, (1993) showed initial effectiveness proofs by using high doses of azitromycin.

Use of rifaximin and of pharmaceutical compositions containing it in the treatment of the diarrhoea from cryptosporidiosis


The present invention relates to specific, novel tantalum and niobium compounds which can serve as starting materials for the preparation of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) precursors.

Ta— and Ta—N-based mixed system layers for use in Si microelectronics are currently being produced by plasma-based deposition processes (physical vapour deposition, PVD). With regard to the extreme demands for ever more highly integrated circuits, for example conformal layer deposition on structured surfaces, PVD processes are increasingly meeting the limits of practical achievability. For these applications, chemical vapour depositions (CVDs) down to atom layer-specific deposition with a special CVD process, known as atomic layer deposition (ALD), are increasingly being used. For these CVD processes, corresponding chemical starting materials of the individual elements for the particular desired layers must of course be available.
At the present time, for the CVD Ta-based layer structures, predominantly halides are being used, for example TaCl5, TaBr5; see WO 2000065123 A1, A. E. Kaloyeros et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 146 (1999), p. 170-176, or K. Hieber, Thin Solid Films 24 (1974), p. 157-164. This is afflicted with various disadvantages. One is that halogen radicals are in many cases undesired for the formation of complex layer structures owing to their etching/corrosive properties, and another is that the tantalum halides have disadvantages as a result of their low volatility and the difficulty of processing them, being high-melting solids. Simple tantalum(V) amides, for example Ta(N(CH3)2)5, are likewise proposed; see, for example, Fix et al., Chem. Mater., 5 (1993), p. 614-619. With the simple amides, it is, however, usually possible to establish only particular decomposition ratios of Ta to N, which complicate exact control of the individual element concentrations in the layers. In many cases, Ta—V nitride films form (see, for example, Fix et al.: Ta3N5) and not the desired electrically conductive Ta(III) nitride layers (TaN). In addition, the films produced with these starting materials very often exhibit high, undesired concentrations of carbon. Tsai et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 67(8), (1995); p. 1128-1130 therefore proposed t-BuN═Ta(NEt2)3 in TaN-CVD at 600° C. Owing to its relatively low volatility, this compound requires a high plant temperature and is therefore not very compatible with the typical production processes of integrated circuits. Other, similar tantalum amide imides have also been proposed; see, for example, Chiu et al., J. Mat. Sci. Lett. 11 (1992), p. 96-98, but these produced high carbon contents in the tantalum nitride layers without any further reactive gas. Recently, further tantalum nitride precursors have been proposed, for example by Bleau et al., Polyhedron 24(3), (2005), p. 463-468, which, owing to their complexity and complicated preparation, have disadvantages from the outset, or specific cyclopentadienyl compounds which either lead inevitably to TaSiN (not tantalum nitride) or require an additional nitrogen source not specified in detail (Kamepalli et al., US Pat. Appl. Publ. 2004142555 A1, Prior. Jan. 16, 2003, ATMI, Inc.). U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,484 (Kojundo Chemicals Laboratory Co., Ltd., Japan) proposes a suitable specific tantalum amide imide, but the synthesis proposed is difficult and poorly reproducible. R. Fischer et al. describe, in Dalton Trans. 2006, 121-128, mixed hydrazido-amido/imido complexes of tantalum, hafnium and zirconium and their suitability in CVD, but without any statement with regard to the Ta:N ratio in the resulting deposition product. J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans. 1990, 1087-1091 describes a trichlorobis(trimethylhydrazido complex), but there is no indication to its use in CVD.
These statements apply essentially or mutatis mutandis also to the analogous niobium compounds and the corresponding CVD chemistry.


In a multiplex transmission method, refresh transmission operations at a predetermined period, and event transmission operations are time-divisionally performed in a multiplex transmission mode, and a predetermined non-transmission time is set before start of each refresh transmission operation. When another transmission operation is performed within the non-transmission time, a communication is performed, while the predetermined period of the refresh transmission operations is properly permitted to be delayed to assure the non-transmission time for such a communication state.

The present invention relates to a multiplex transmission method used in, e.g., a vehicle and, more particularly, to a distributed control type multiplex transmission method, wherein each communication node performs a refresh transmission operation during a corresponding transmission period, and has a clock to manage its own transmission timing based on the clock.
In recent vehicles, the number of electronic devices equipped in a vehicle is considerably increased along with the development of electronic control, and this results in an increase in the number of wiring lines for connecting the electronic devices, and a complicated wiring structure. In order to solve these problems, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 61-224634, a multiplex transmission method has been examined, and is beginning to be put into practical applications. In this method, signal transmission operations among a plurality of electronic devices are performed in a multiplex transmission mode, i.e., communication nodes of the plurality of electronic devices are connected to a common transmission path, and signal transmission operations among the communication nodes are performed in the multiplex transmission mode.
As a multiplex transmission method of this type, the following time-divisional distributed control type multiplex control method is known. More specifically, each communication node performs a so-called refresh transmission operation, i.e., transmits a signal for informing its own information at every predetermined transmission period, and transmits its own information at every predetermined period regardless of a change in its own information, thus assuring reliability of data. At the same time, each communication node performs a so-called event transmission operation for, when its own information changes, immediately informing the changed information, as needed. Each communication node has its own clock, and manages its own transmission timing based on the clock.
As described above, in the distributed control system wherein each communication node has its own clock, and independently manages its own transmission timing according to the clock, a control program is relatively simple, and a communication node can be easily added.
However, the refresh transmission operation of the above-mentioned distributed control system suffers from the following problem. That is, the refresh transmission interval is decreased due to an error among clocks of the communication nodes, and signals are crowded on a transmission path, resulting in an increase in traffic amount. As a result, a transmission disabled or delayed state occurs due to signal collision.
More specifically, in the refresh transmission mode, a predetermined time interval is initially set between refresh transmission timings of the communication nodes, and each communication node repeats the refresh transmission operations at the predetermined transmission period on the basis of its own clock.
In this case, if the clock is perfectly precise, the time interval can always be assured, and no problem is posed. However, each clock has limited precision, and suffers from a time measurement error. For this reason, the refresh transmission timings approach very close to each other, or refresh transmission signals collide against each other several hours after the multiplex transmission operation is started.
When the refresh transmission timings approach each other, and the traffic amount is increased, not only refresh transmission signals collide against each other to cause a transmission disabled or delayed state, but also when an event transmission operation must be performed when the traffic amount is increased, the event transmission operation also suffers from a transmission disabled or delayed state due to collision.
Furthermore, when an event transmission operation is performed immediately before a refresh transmission operation, the interval between the event and refresh transmission operations is decreased, and the traffic amount is increased, thus causing a transmission disabled or delayed state of another event transmission.


A toilet ventilation system comprising a seat mounted atop a typical toilet bowl and pivoting about a seat swivel mount, the seat with vacuum intake holes disposed on the lower side, the intake holes communicating with a vacuum canal within the seat; the vacuum canal terminating in a flexible vacuum outlet of the seat, the vacuum outlet communicating with a vacuum hose connected to a conical vacuum pump with integral electric motor, a check valve atop the pump, the pump installed in the toilet base cavity, the check valve connecting to exhaust exiting via sewer pipe below the toilet.

Bathroom, and specifically toilet ventilation has been pursued over the years with a variety of designs and techniques, with typically similar approaches. Ventilation of a bathroom space is most efficiently affected by venting at the source of the odors. Therefore, ceiling vents and ceiling fans are inherently flawed. Not only must an immediate toilet area itself be ventilated, it must be done so forcefully, with powered forced air. Additionally, venting the toilet itself is most efficiently done by venting the exact area of odor, namely the seat area. Typical problems have involved the design of the seat itself and more specifically the ventilation holes and their size, orientation and placement. Other problems have been faced in the forced ventilation device, its design, location, switching, and noise level. Further problematic areas have been the pathway of vented gasses and the gas's final environment.
What is needed is a ventilated seat that is properly designed for the most efficient forced air ventilation of odors, switching that activates the ventilation only when needed, and venting the gasses to the most effective environment for removal. And, gasses should not have an opportunity to return to the toilet environment. Additionally, a proper toilet ventilation system should be as unobtrusive as is possible. Most important, the toilet ventilation system should be applicable to existing toilets with the least possible number of changes and parts additions to the toilets. The present invention solves these problems and concerns.


A semiconductor device comprising: a first light shielded region including a first semiconductor element, the first light shielded region being defined by a first light shielding wall provided in the periphery thereof; a second light shielded region including a second semiconductor element, the second light shielded region being defined by a second light shielding wall provided in the periphery thereof and being provided in a position adjacent to the first light shielded region; a first opening provided in the first light shielding wall; a second opening provided in the second light shielding wall and positioned facing to the first opening; a first wiring layer coupled with the first semiconductor element and brought out to the outside of the first light shielded region from the first opening; a second wiring layer coupled with the second semiconductor element and brought out to the outside of the second light shielded region from the second opening; and a light shielding film provided at least above a region sandwiched between the first light shielded region and the second light shielded region.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices including semiconductor elements whose characteristics may vary by receiving light.
2. Related Art
Semiconductor elements whose characteristics may vary by receiving light include MOS transistors, nonvolatile memories having a floating gate electrode and the like. Such semiconductor elements may receive light when mounted particularly with a COG mounting method, such as a bear chip, and as a result, in case of MOS transistors the on/off characteristics may vary, and also in case of nonvolatile memories electrons injected into the floating gate electrode may escape therefrom. In order to prevent such characteristic variations of the semiconductor elements, a light shielding layer for preventing light from being radiated is provided above regions in which such devices are provided.
JP-A-2003-124363 is an example of related art.
As one of the light shielding techniques, a technique disclosed in the example can be listed. In the related art example, there are provided an effective region of a memory cell array and a light shielding region as to enclose the outside thereof, and the light shielding region includes a via layer and a contact layer provided in different levels. Thus, this is a technique for arranging these via layer and contact layer in a staggered form to thereby suppress the intrusion of light from the lateral and diagonal directions.
However, in order to reduce the intrusion of light from the lateral and diagonal directions, even if the light shielding region is provided as to enclose the effective region of the memory cell array, there is a need or the like to extend the wirings such as signal lines to the outside of the light shielding region from the effective region of the memory cell array. For this reason, the periphery of the effective region of the memory cell array may not be enclosed completely with the via layer and the contact layer arranged in a staggered form.

Semiconductor device including light shieled structures


This mask case is a mask case for accommodating a reticle formed with a pattern to be transferred to a substrate, in which one outer wall face of the mask case is formed with first and second depressions and the form of the first depression is one of conical and triangular pyramidal forms, whereas the second depression has a V-groove form.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photomask case, a transporting apparatus, and a transporting method; and, in particular, to a photomask case used when making a semiconductor, a liquid crystal display device, or the like in a photolithography process, and a transporting apparatus and method for transporting this photomask case.
2. Related Background Art
In a lithography process (process of forming a resist image of a mask pattern onto a substrate) for making a semiconductor device and the like, there is used a projection exposure apparatus (stepper or the like) for exposing, by way of a projection optical system, a reticle pattern as a photomask (hereinafter referred to as mask) onto a substrate (or a wafer or the like) coated with a photoresist.
There has been proposed an automatic transportation system which automatically transports this mask in a state accommodated in a photomask case (hereinafter referred to as mask case) successively through various processing apparatus such as a cleaning apparatus for the mask, a dust inspecting apparatus, a pellicle mounting apparatus, an exposure apparatus, and the like. According to this automatic transportation system, when a mask case is to be transported between various apparatus, the mask having completed its processing within a processing apparatus is accommodated in the mask case and is transported by a transporting section of this processing apparatus to a mask delivery site in the processing apparatus and is placed there.
The mask case placed at the delivery site of the processing apparatus is transported by an external transporting apparatus to a delivery site of another processing apparatus and is placed there. The mask case placed at the delivery site of this processing apparatus is adapted to be transported by a transporting section of the processing apparatus to a predetermined processing site.
When the mask case is transported between various processing apparatus, positional deviations at the time of delivering the mask case become problematic. Unless the transporting section of a processing apparatus places a mask case at the delivery site of this processing apparatus with a certain degree of accuracy, the external transporting apparatus cannot hold this mask case, so that an error will occur in the system, thereby making the subsequent processing impossible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mask case, transporting apparatus, and transporting method which can accurately achieve positioning when transporting the mask case. Namely, a predetermined part of the mask case is provided with a positioning depression into which a support pin projecting from an installation site is inserted, whereby accurate positioning is effected. If positioning depressions of the mask case are arranged such that their deepest portion is disposed on the outer side of the mask case than is a support member for supporting a mask, then it is possible to reduce the total height of a plurality of mask cases when they are stacked.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered as limiting the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Photomask case, transporting apparatus, and transporting method


The system provides a control and management solution for linked gaming machines in a progressive game environment. The system can track multiple meters so that multiple progressive jackpots can be maintained for each game and/or for multiple participating business entities sharing in game revenue. Correspondingly, multiple progressive display meters can be controlled for each game machine. The system is scalable from near area progressive systems to wide area progressive systems. In the event that communication is lost with in a wide area progressive environment, one or more game machines may automatically switch to near area progressive behavior until communication is restored. The system is independent of currency and denomination limitations by employing and converting currency as units instead of particular denominations. Game machine population and participation can be remotely managed, updated, and changed from a central management location.

1. Field
This system relates to progressive gaming machines, and more particularly, to multi-area progressive gaming systems.
2. Background Description
Many gaming machines have a specific payout table that associates fixed payout amounts (in coins or credits) with specific combinations. By contrast, a progressive gaming machine is a machine having at least one possible payout that increases over time based on one or more factors and is awarded when a certain combination is achieved on the gaming machine. Such a payout is referred to as a "progressive payout". One example of a factor that can increase the progressive payout is the number of all coins deposited in the gaming machine ("coin in"). The progressive payout may then be some percentage of coin in. Sometimes progressive gaming machines are located in a bank of machines with all machines in the bank playing for the progressive payout. In such cases, the first machine in the bank to achieve the associated winning combination wins the progressive payout. Often, the current value of the progressive jackpot is displayed on a display above the machine. The value of the progressive jackpot is kept in a running counter referred to as a "meter".
In other cases, certain progressive gaming machines may be located anywhere in a gaming establishment and not physically adjacent to each other. In other cases, the progressive gaming machines may be part of a progressive gaming system located in different gaming establishments across a state or other region. Such systems are referred to as "area progressive gaming systems". The progressive payout in such area progressive gaming systems may be tied to the coin in of all of the machines in the system, regardless of where they are physically located in a gaming establishment, state, or region. Such a system requires a method for coordinating and auditing each gaming machine.


A curing composition comprising (1) a fluorine-containing curing monomer containing a fluorinated alkyl group having not less than 6 carbon atoms, (2) a fluorine-containing curing monomer containing a fluorinated alkyl group having not more than 5 carbon atoms, and (3) a polyfunctional curing monomer, the weight ratio of said fluorine-containing curing monomer (1) to said fluorine-containing curing monomer (2) ranging from 75/25 to 99/1. The composition is coated on an optical fiber base and cured by active energy rays to provide a core/clad optical fiber excellent in transparency, mechanical strength, environmental resistance, and optical characteristics.

Plastic-clad optical fibers comprising quartz, silica, glass, etc. as a core and plastics as a cladding (hereinafter abbreviated as PCF) are relatively cheap, excellent in light transmission, and easy to have an increased numerical aperture and are therefore used as optical fibers for short-to-medium distance communication or light guides.
While silicone resins have conventionally been used as cladding materials, fluorine-containing resins having high hardness have recently been proposed and practically used as cladding materials from the standpoint of easy handling and environmental resistance as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,209 and 4,707,076, JP-A-63-40104, JP-A-63-43104, JP-A-63-208805, JP-A-63-208806, JP-A-63-208807,JP-A-63-249112, EP 257863, and EP 333464 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") In particular, EP 257863 discloses an active energy ray-curing cladding material mainly comprising fluorinated acrylates and an optical fiber using the composition as a cladding material, in which the curable cladding material comprises a fluorine-containing curing monomer containing a fluorinated alkyl group having not less than 6 carbon atoms, a fluorine-containing curing monomer containing a fluorinated alkyl group having not more than 5 carbon atoms, and a polyfunctional curing monomer with a weight ratio of the former fluorine-containing curing monomer to the latter fluorine-containing curing monomer being 68/32.
However, having poor compatibility or homogeneity at room temperature, the above-described curable cladding material, when coated as such at room temperature, provides optical fibers having seriously deteriorated optical characteristics such as light transmission properties. Besides, the formed cladding has poor adhesion to the core and easily peels off, causing reduction of environmental resistance or tensile strength of the optical fiber, eventually making the optical fiber useless. Where the cladding material is heated for coating so as to have improved compatibility or homogeneity, the heating temperature must be strictly controlled to prevent eccentricity, etc., which accordingly requires a complicated drawing apparatus and deteriorates workability. Further, where the cladding resin is rendered transparent at room temperature, the resulting cladding layer would have reduced mechanical strength and an increased refractive index and fail to maintain a desired numerical aperture.
Therefore, under the present situation, there is no cladding material which exhibits satisfactory transparency at room temperature, has a low refractive index and excellent workability, and exhibits excellent transparency and dynamic strength after curing to thereby provide an optical fiber having sufficient dynamic strength, optical characteristics, and environmental resistance, e.g., heat- and humidity-resistance.


A semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate having first type conductivity and including an active region and a device isolation film, a doping layer having second type conductivity and buried in a bottom part of the semiconductor substrate of the active region, a recess formed in the semiconductor substrate, a gate electrode provided in the recess.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a semiconductor device and a method for forming the same, and more particularly to a semiconductor device having a buried gate and a method for forming the same.
If the area occupied by unit cell is reduced, the number of unit cells per wafer increases, thereby improving productivity. Several methods for reducing the area of unit cell have been proposed. One method is to replace a conventional planar gate having a horizontal channel region with a recess gate. In the recess gate structure, a recess is formed in a substrate and a channel region is formed along a curved surface of the recess and a gate is formed in the recess. Furthermore, a buried gate has been studied which can reduce parasitic capacitance of a bit line by burying the entire gate within the recess.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional semiconductor device having a buried gate. Referring to FIG. 1, device isolation film 20 defining an active region 17 is formed in a semiconductor substrate 10, and a sidewall oxide film 15 is formed at a sidewall of the device isolation film 20.
A mask pattern 18 defining a buried gate is formed over the semiconductor substrate 10, and an etching process is performed using the mask pattern 18 as an etch mask, resulting in formation of a recess 27 in the semiconductor substrate 10.
A buried gate is formed to be buried in the recess 27. The buried gate includes: a recess 27 having a predetermined depth which is formed in the active region 17 or the device isolation film 20; a gate insulation film 35 formed with a thin thickness over the recess 27; and a gate conductive film 40 buried in the bottom of the recess 27 and having the gate insulation film 35. A sealing film 45 is formed over the gate conductive film 35, such that individual buried gates are isolated from each other. Junction regions 30 are formed in the active region 17 located at both sides of the buried gate, respectively.
If data "1" is stored in a cell of the above-mentioned semiconductor device, a leakage current occurs in the cell. Specifically, Gate Induced Drain Leakage (GIDL) and junction leakage occur as shown in FIG. 1. The leakage currents flow out through an external body electrode after passing through a P-well region of the active region 17. If a voltage (Vbody) of the body electrode is set to a low absolute value, leakage current decreases and retention characteristics improve.
However, GIDL, junction leakage, and an off leakage of a transistor may coexist in a cell. In this case, if the body electrode has a low voltage, retention characteristics of the cell having both GIDL and junction leakage may improve. However, the off leakage further increases in a cell in which the off leakage of the transistor occurs, resulting in deterioration of retention characteristics.

Semiconductor device and method for forming the same


Bicycle light systems and methods operate to project multicolor lighting patterns on the front and/or rear of the torso of a bicycle rider. Multicolor light schemes provide increased visibility, accentuate the rider's form, and provide the rider with an enjoyable and thrilling riding experience. Low light intensity configurations effectively operate to light the rider's body while not shining excessive amounts of light other riders. Light housing configurations prevent unwanted light from reaching the rider's eyes, and limit the illumination patterns to desired locations on the rider's torso.

Bicycle lights are useful safety devices that operate to illuminate the roadway so that the bicycle rider can better see the path in front of them. Bicycle lights also enhance the visibility of the bicycle and rider so that others traveling on the roadway can easily see the bicycle and rider. Although a variety of bicycle lights are currently available, there is an ongoing need for improved bicycle light systems and methods. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to at least some of these outstanding needs.


A method for forming a MEMS device is disclosed, where a final release step is performed just prior to a wafer bonding step to protect the MEMS device from contamination, physical contact, or other deleterious external events. Without additional changes to the MEMS structure between release and wafer bonding and singulation, except for an optional stiction treatment, the MEMS device is best protected and overall process flow is improved. The method is applicable to the production of any MEMS device and is particularly beneficial in the making of fragile micromirrors.

A wide variety of micro-electromechanical devices (MEMS) are known, including accelerometers, DC relay and RF switches, optical cross connects and optical switches, microlenses, reflectors and beam splitters, filters, oscillators and antenna system components, variable capacitors and inductors, switched banks of filters, resonant comb-drives and resonant beams, and micromirror arrays for direct view and projection displays. Though the processes for making the various MEMS devices may vary, they all share the need for high throughput manufacturing (e.g. forming multiple MEMS devices on a single substrate without damage to the microstructures formed on the substrate).
The present invention is in the field of MEMS, and in particular in the field of methods for making micro electromechanical devices on a wafer. The subject matter of the present invention is related to manufacturing of multiple MEMS devices on a wafer, releasing the MEMS structures by removing a sacrificial material, bonding the wafer to another wafer, singulating the wafer assembly, and packaging each wafer assembly portion with one or more MEMS devices thereon, without damaging the MEMS microstructures thereon. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for making a MEMS device where a final release step is performed just prior to a wafer bonding step to protect the MEMS device from contamination, physical contact, or other deleterious external events. A getter or molecular scavenger can be applied to one or both of the wafers before bonding, as can a stiction reducing agent. Except for coating of the MEMS structures to reduce stiction, it is preferred (though not required) that the MEMS structures are not altered physically or chemically (including depositing additional layers or cleaning) between release and wafer bonding.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,049 to Hornbeck, silicon wafers are processed to form an array of deflectable beams, then the wafers are diced into chips, followed by further processing of the individual chips. This process has disadvantages, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,559 to Gale et al. Once the mirror is formed by etching the sacrificial material to form an air gap between the deflectable beam and a lower electrode, the device is very fragile. The device cannot be exposed to liquids during wafer cleanup steps, without destroying the mirror. "Therefore, the devices must be cut and the dicing debris washed away before etching the sacrificial layer away from the mirror. This requires that the cleaning and etching steps, and any following steps, including testing be performed on the individual chips instead of a wafer." To address this problem, Gale et al. propose using a vacuum fixture with a plurality of headspaces above the mirrors to prevent contact with the mirrors. The headspaces are evacuated through vacuum ports and the backside of the wafer is ground down to partially sawn kerfs in order to separate the devices. Then the separated devices and the vacuum fixture are washed to remove any debris from the separation operation. The devices with mirrors exposed are finally ready for packaging.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,744 to Mignardi et al., it is likewise desired to avoid damaging the mirror elements when cutting the wafer into individual dies. In Mignardi et al., a partial saw or scribe is performed on the wafer after optionally putting a removable protective coating over the entire wafer to further limit debris from the partial saw or scribe from settling on the mirrors. Then, the protective coating if used and the debris from the partial saw is removed in a post-saw cleaning. Typically the sacrificial layer is then removed, and additional processes may also take place to cover or protect various surfaces of the device that were not exposed previous to removing the sacrificial layer. Last, in order to separate the wafer into individual devices, tape is aligned and applied to the wafer, covering the partially sawed areas. The wafer is broken and the tape is treated with UV light to weaken it and then is peeled away. The individual devices with exposed mirrors must then be carefully picked and placed off of the saw frame and packaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,046 to Kaeriyama et al., discloses partially fabricating a micromirror structure on a semiconductor wafer, followed by coating the wafer with a protective layer. Then, streets are sawed in the wafer (defining the individual dies), which is followed by cleaning the wafer with a solution of an alkyl glycol and HF. Further processing includes acoustically vibrating the wafer in deionized water. Finally the mirrors are released and the wafer broken along the streets.

Methods for depositing, releasing and packaging micro-electromechanical devices on wafer substrates


A gaming system comprises a plurality of gaming machines configured to conduct one or more games and a management computing device communicatively coupled to the gaming machines. The management computing device receives indication of a gaming session initiating at a first gaming machine of the gaming machines, identifies one or more gaming machines associated with the first gaming machine from the gaming machines, transmits a disable command to the one or more associated gaming machines that prevents the one or more gaming machines from initiating gaming sessions, and in response to determining that the gaming session at the first gaming machine has concluded, transmits an enable command to the one or more associated gaming machines that enables the one or more gaming machines to initiate gaming sessions.

Gaming environments, such as casinos, typically include a plurality of gaming machines, tables, and other devices to give players visiting the gaming environment a choice of a plurality of games to play. The gaming devices may be organized within the gaming environment in an efficient manner to facilitate a relatively larger number of gaming devices to be deployed while maintaining walkways for players. For example, gaming machines having similar hardware and/or conducting the same game may be positioned together in 'banks' such that the gaming machines are substantially adjacent to each other within the bank of machines.
However, this cluster of gaming machines may also cause players to be positioned proximate to each other. At least some players (and governmental or regulatory bodies) may have concerns regarding positioning two or more potential strangers together closely, particularly in view of any potential health concerns (e.g., a contagious virus). Moreover, the concerns may also extend to the sanitization of gaming machines. That is, as one player ends a gaming session at a gaming machine, the gaming machine may then be immediately available for a second player to initiate a gaming session, which may result in the second player being exposed to the same surfaces of the gaming machine as the first player. Although gaming machines may be sanitized at regular intervals (e.g., every day or every half-day), these regular intervals may not be sufficient to protect players between these intervals.
As a result, a gaming operator may elect to incorporate 'social distancing' into the operation of its gaming environment. Social distancing may include both limiting how close players (and other people) are to each other as well as limiting contact with shared surfaces (e.g., button panels on gaming machines) until sanitization can occur. The organization of gaming environments present several challenges in meeting social distancing standards. For example, gaming machines may be too close to each other. Removing and/or relocating gaming machines may be labor intensive (particularly if the guidelines for social distancing change over time) and may cause additional social distancing problems if people simply fill the voids left by the removed or relocated gaming machines. In another example, as mentioned above, sanitization at regular intervals may not meet the demand for a particular gaming device. Increasing the number of staff that patrols and monitors the gaming devices to sanitize gaming devices may be beneficial, but the increase in staff may still not be able to reach each and every machine between gaming sessions.
Accordingly, systems and methods are needed for dynamic social distance monitoring of gaming environments with limited (if any) modification to the current layout of the gaming environments.

Gaming systems and methods for adaptive social distancing


A universal power converter comprises a body and a circuit module. The circuit module includes a power converter circuit; the power converter circuit being a power supply and charging circuit of a power supply; and a voltage adjusting circuit; the voltage adjusting circuit including a main controller; the main controller being installed with a plurality of output ports; each output port being serially connected to a respective transistor and a specific resistor value; each resistor value representing a specific output voltage which is feedback to the power converter circuit; the main controller serving for automatically opening or closing a selected voltage and for driving the signals from the data display screen and the actuating switch.

Power converters are connected to an AC or a DC power source for supplying power to an electronic device for a longer time or for supplying power to batteries in the electronic device. However, specifications of the power converters are dependent on the manufacturers so that it is often that different power converters are not compatible. Thereby, the user must carry a dedicated power converter as the electronic device is used outdoors.
Referring to FIG. 4, a prior art is disclosed to improve the inconvenience in the prior art. In that, a connector A is coupled between a power converter and an external device. The resistors or pins B (PIN) are embedded into the connector A. The output voltage of the power converter is changed by changing the resistor. The resistor can be a plug-in type which can be inserted into the connector. Thereby, the user is unnecessary to carry a plurality of power converters.
However, the prior art way has the following disadvantages. In the current commercial notebook, there are at least six voltages are used, which are 15V, 16V, 18V, 19V, 20V, 24V. If it is desired to configure the connectors to present these voltage values, costs in design and development are increased. Moreover, the user must store many resistors so as to make an inconvenience to the users. Furthermore, the adjustment of the resistor values cannot present immediately. This will cause that the device cannot be used or even the device is destroyed.


When authorized, a user of a computing device, such as a smart phone, may place a communication using an originating number that is different from the number assigned to the computing device. An IMS application server that handles requests for the computing device associated with the originating number is notified when the telephone number assigned to the computing device is used by a different computing device. The notification to the IMS application server might include, but is not limited to device information, location information, and the like. After being notified of the communications terminated by other computing devices that are associated with the device number, accurate call records may be provided regarding the communications involving the originating number.

A computing device, such as a wireless phone, that is capable of terminating (e.g., receiving or originating) phone calls and other communications is typically associated with a particular phone number. The computing device can originate phone calls whose calling number is the particular phone number or may receive communications at the particular phone number. In some cases, a person may carry multiple computing devices in order to have the use of different phone numbers. Not only is this cumbersome for the user, but wasteful because the user has to acquire multiple computing devices.

Conveying device information to application server servicing computing device associated with a communication