A spindle motor includes: a stator yoke having a circular cylinder shape; a rotor magnet disposed opposite to the stator yoke with an air gap therebetween; a sheet-like coil disposed at a surface of the stator yoke opposing the rotor magnet; and a bearing structure, wherein the sheet-like coil includes a plurality of individual coils having a spiral-shape and arrayed in a circumferential direction, and a pattern made of a same material as the individual coils and disposed between two adjacent individual coils.

Conventionally, a slot type spindle motor, in which a yoke (stator yoke) provided with salient poles is used in a stator and which has excellent magnetic efficiency, is generally employed in magnetic disk apparatuses. However, with increasing magnetic recording density, the slot type spindle motor tends to suffer from cogging which is generated by the presence of the salient poles and which causes an undesirable vibration. To prevent such a cogging, a slotless spindle motor is disclosed in which a sheet-like coil is fixedly attached at the outer circumferential surface of a stator yoke which is free from salient poles (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-27720).
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a slotless spindle motor 71 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-27720. The spindle motor 71 is a so-called radial gap type motor and includes a back yoke (stator yoke) 73 which is made of a magnetic material and formed into a circular cylinder, a coil sheet (sheet-like coil) 74 which is tightly fixed to the outer cylindrical surface (outer circumferential surface) of the back yoke 73, a magnet (rotor magnet) 75 which is formed into a circular cylinder and magnetized with a plurality of magnetic poles arranged in the circumferential direction, and a yoke (hub) 76 which retains the magnet 75 and at the same time functions as a turntable. The back yoke 73 and the magnet 75 are disposed concentrically to a rotary shaft 77 and a bearing 78, wherein a predetermined space (gap) is maintained between the back yoke 73 and the magnet 75.
The coil sheet 74 is structured such that a copper foil is formed by an etching or transferring method on a thin base film made of a soft and flexible material, for example, polyester or polyimide whereby a plurality of planar coils are built on the thin base film, and that a thin cover film is formed over the coils to prevent peeling-off and short circuit.
Since the coil sheet 74 is disposed in the magnetic field formed by the magnet 75 and the back yoke 73, when current is caused to flow in the planar coils formed in the coil sheet 74, an electromagnetic force is generated to act on each of the planar coils by Fleming's left-hand rule in the rotation direction. Due to the reaction of the electromagnetic force acting on each planar coil, the magnet 75 and the yoke 76 are rotated, wherein the magnetic field is uniformly distributed because the back yoke 73 has an even outer circumferential surface (no salient poles). Consequently, the motor is adapted to rotate smoothly without cogging.
In the slotless spindle motor 71 with the coil sheet 74, however, it is hard to enhance the magnetic density in the space between the coil sheet 74 and the magnet 75 compared with in the slot type spindle motor. Therefore it is hard to increase torque in the slotless spindle motor 71. To overcome the above problem with the slotless spindle motor 71, the number of coil turns must be increased to achieve an increased torque. However, in a typical sheet coil which is made such that a single-layered coil is formed on a flexible substrate by printing or etching, it is hard to increase the number of coil turns, which means it is difficult to achieve a high-density conductor circuit with coil having a high wiring occupation ratio.
With respect to the foregoing, for example, an FP coil (fine pattern coil by Asahi Kasei Electronics Co., Ltd.) is known, which is a sheet coil adapted to realize a high aspect-ratio electric conductor (thick film conductor) as well as a short distance between adjacent coil turns of the conductor and therefore achieves a high-density multi-layered thick film conductor circuit. Further, a motor to use the FP coil as planar coils is proposed for achieving a high torque (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-222425).
FIGS. 14A and 14B show a motor 91 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-222425, wherein FIG. 14A is an axial cross sectional view of the motor 91 and FIG. 14B is a plan view of a planar coil. The motor 91 is a so-called axial gap type motor and includes a yoke base plate 92 made of a metal plate and the like, a thick film fine pattern coil 93 fixed on the yoke base plate 92, and a magnet 97 rotatably disposed to oppose the thick film fine pattern coil 93.
The thick film fine pattern coil 93 includes a plurality of triangular coil conductors 94 disposed equiangularly on the same plane with a predetermined interval, a plurality of terminals 95 and a plurality of wiring lines 96 connecting between the coil conductors 94 and the terminals 95. The thick film conductors have a cross section of a substantially rectangular shape with a height of 150-320 μm, wherein a minimum cyclic pitch between adjacent conductor turns ranges from 100 to 200 μm.
However, it turns out that when such a thick film fine pattern coil is used in a radial gap type spindle motor which is expected to generate a larger torque than the above described axial gap type spindle motor, there occurs a problem that when the strip-shaped thick film fine pattern coil, which includes a plurality of rectangular individual coils arrayed in a straight line, is bound around the outer cylindrical circumference of a back yoke, the thick film fine pattern coil does not make a tight contact with the entire circumferential surface of the back yoke thus resulting in unintentionally and undesirably generating gaps partly therebetween. This is because the thick film fine pattern coil, when rolled up, undergoes an inhomogeneous deformation, for example, may be bent between every adjacent individual coils thus failing to be rolled up in a good shape entirely with a uniform curvature. If the whole surface of the thick film fine pattern coil is not brought into a tight contact with the back yoke, it is hard to narrow an air gap between the back yoke and the magnet, and therefore a magnetic flux density enhancement which is supposed to result from narrowing of the air gap is inhibited. Also, torque ripple is generated, and consequently it is very hard to achieve a stabilized rotation performance.
Also, depending on the degree of deformation, the thick film fine pattern coil is possibly cracked at portions each located between two adjacent individual coils, in which case the thick film conductor may be broken or rusted. Further, gas or dust may leak from the cracked portions.
The problem that the thick film fine pattern coil, when rolled up, is deformed and eventually cracked at the portions between two adjacent individual coils as described above is attributed to the difference in stiffness between the metal material (thick film conductor), such as copper, for forming the individual coils and the resin material (insulation layer between conductors) present between the adjacent individual coils.
On the other hand, the thick film fine pattern coil entirely has relatively large stiffness, so that when the thick film fine pattern coil is rolled up to sit tightly on the outer cylindrical surface of the back yoke (especially if its diameter is small), both ends of the thick film fine pattern coil are possibly caused to spring back. Consequently, the thick film fine pattern coil may be peeled off from the back yoke.


An integrated image-input type display unit employs a conventional liquid crystal display panel and is capable of optically writing an original image directly at a high resolution into liquid crystal display panel and electrically reading the image. This unit has an image input/output device comprising a liquid crystal cell which contains light-sensitive molecules. The light-sensitive molecules are capable of changing their structure to a first molecular structure when being irradiated with light of a first wavelength range and to a second molecular structure when being irradiated with light of a second wavelength range, and are further capable of changing their alignment in accordance with the structural change of the light-sensitive molecules.

There have been image-input type display units which can serve both as an image input terminal and an image display each by combining a liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel with a two-dimensional image sensor and which are, for example, disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications No. 4-282609 (TOKKAI HEI) and No. 6-186585 (TOKKAI HEI). The display unit described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (TOKKAI HEI) No. 4-282609 comprises a color liquid-crystal display panel, a two-dimensional image sensor mounted on the reverse surface of the color LCD-panel and a light-source. When an original placed on the top surface of the color LCD-panel is illuminated by light emitted from the light source trough the LCD-panel, light reflected from the original through again the LCD-panel is received by the image sensor for reading an image of the original.
The display unit disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (TOKKAI HEI) No. 6-186585 is composed of a LCD panel, an image sensor composed of a photo-diodes formed at grid points of a non-display portion of the LCD-panel and a light-source. This display unit in a similar way as described above reads an image of an original placed on a top surface of the color LCD-panel by illuminating with light emitted from the light source through the panel and by receiving light reflected from the original by a photo-diode.
In the above-mentioned device, the image sensor is formed on another surface than a surface of the color LCD panel where a liquid-crystal driving electrode or a TFT (thin film transistor). In other words, elements different in function are merely laid on each other.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (TOKKAI HEI) No. 4-251824 discloses another display unit wherein a LCD panel and an image sensor are combined with each other more effectively.
This device is constructed of an upper substrate with a non-linear resistive element formed thereon, a lower substrate, liquid-crystals held between the upper substrate and the lower substrate, a polarizer stuck to a top surface of the upper substrate, a polarizer stuck to a bottom surface of the lower substrate, a light-source for a back light and a light-guide plate for leading the light from the light source into the liquid-crystal layer.
The non-linear resistive element sandwiched between a pixel electrode and a signal electrode is in contact with the signal electrode. The lower substrate has a scanning electrode through which it is in contact with the liquid crystal.
The above-mentioned device construction is the same as that of a two-terminal matrix type LCD panel which is represented by a MIM (metal-insulator-metal) diode excepting the former adopting non-linear resistive elements having light-sensitivity.
The optical writing operation of the device is as follows:
The liquid crystal is put into a transparent state and a desired voltage is applied across the pixel electrode and the scanning electrode, then an original is illuminated. Light reflected from the original falls on non-linear resistive elements, those of which received light reflected from white portions of the original reduce its resistance, causing reduction of an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal molecules which in this case are aligned parallel to the substrates. As light is absorbed by black parts of the original, no light falls on corresponding non-linear resistive elements which have no change in its resistance and therefore keep the liquid crystals as be aligned perpendicular to the substrates. Thus, an image of the original is written directly into the liquid crystal display panel by light.
The electrical image-reading method is as follows:
The non-linear resistive elements are classified into resistive components and capacitive components, which are connected in parallel to each other. The liquid crystals are also classified into resistive components and capacitive components, which are connected in parallel to each other. The non-linear resistive elements are connected in series to the liquid crystals. When reflected light rays from the original image fall on non-linear resistive elements and liquid crystals, resistive components of the resistive elements and capacitive components of the liquid crystals decrease. With a voltage being applied across the pixel electrodes and scanning electrodes, current flowing illuminated pixels may differ in value from current flowing not-illuminated pixels. The written image can be read by detecting differential currents of pixels.
As described above, both the prior art display units provided with an image input facility, which are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications No. 4-282609 (TOKKAI HEI) and No. 6-186585 (TOKKAI HEI), are manufactured each by merely laminating an image sensor on a liquid-crystal display panel. Each device is complicated in structure because of forming a LCD layer (display electrodes) and an image inputting sensor layer (image-inputting electrodes) on different surfaces.
To read an original image and display it on a LCD panel, each device has to convert the optical image into electrical signals through processes of reading the original image by the image sensor, converting electrical signals of the read image into electrical signals for display, displaying the image by electrical signals on the display panel. The device may have errors in the processes resulting in lowering the displayed image quality.
An image displayed on the LCD panel can be restricted in its resolution by either lower one of resolution powers of the image sensor and the LCD panel.
On the other hand, the conventional device with an image input facility, which described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (TOKKAI HEI) No. 4-251824, is constructed on the base of a two-terminal element matrix type LCD panel. This can not be adapted to a TFT-type LCD panel or a simple matrix type LCD panel.
Non-linear resistive elements used for displaying and inputting an original image can not transmit light, so an increase of an area of these elements may darken the display image whilst a decrease of an area of the elements decreases a light-receiving surface area, causing a problem not to obtain large signals of high signal to noise ratio.
The device can optically write an original image into the LCD panel to directly display the image thereon. However, the resolution of the displayed image is restricted by the density of the non-linear resistive elements. In other words, it is limited to the resolution of the LCD panel.
The discrete arrangement of the small-surface non-linear resistive elements may cause a decreased density of input image sampling resulting in increasing an error of the image signal.

Integrated image-input type display unit


A method of handling a message comprises receiving a message comprising content such as keywords, receiving a selection of one or more recipients for the message, identifying that at least one recipient is unfamiliar with a portion of the message, and notifying the composer of the message of the portion.

One or more embodiments disclosed within this specification relate to message handling.
Electronic communication technologies such as email and instant messaging allow users to communicate quickly and efficiently over long distances. Asynchronous communication methods such as email allow a sender to compose a message and send that message to one or more recipients. The recipients will then each access that message when it is convenient for them to do so. Synchronous communication methods such as instant messaging allow multiple users to communicate at the same time. When a message is created in an instant messaging client and then sent, it is immediately available to the other users who are participating in the instant messaging session. These communication techniques also allow messages to distribute a wide range of additional electronic media such as text files, pictures and so on.
One problem with such communication techniques, especially when large numbers of recipients are specified for a message, is that the sender of the message can easily over-estimate the knowledge of the recipients. In the modern business world much communication, particularly electronic communication, includes jargon, acronyms and company-specific designations such as project names, which can be difficult to understand for any recipient who is not familiar with the term being used. The sender of a message has no way of knowing whether all of the recipients of a message understand all of the content of the message, or that all of the recipients are at the same level of knowledge with respect to the subject matter being discussed in the message. This can lead to confusion on the part of one or more of the recipients, who are often reluctant to reveal that they do not understand a term being used in a message, either through reasons of embarrassment or through a desire not to break the flow of the communication stream.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the known art.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A shaft collar and shaft coupling assemblies adapted for use in the food-processing and similar industries. The assemblies include a shaft collar or shaft coupling disposed within an associated multi-element shroud. The shroud provides a cover overlying the collar or coupling, eliminating exposed features that can trap food particles, thereby effecting a high level of cleanliness of food-processing equipment upon which the collar or coupling is secured, while retaining many of the advantages of a conventional collar or coupling.

The invention relates to the field of food-processing and similar industries, and more particularly relates to devices for securing to a shaft of a machine.
The food processing industry and other similar industries, require equipment and systems which often include components which are coupled to a shaft. Typically, many of those components are secured to a shaft, or two shafts are coupled to each other, by way of a conventional shaft collar or shaft coupling. Shaft collars and shaft couplings in such equipment and systems, have been particular elements affording locations for accumulating debris, as well has harboring contaminants and breeding grounds for bacteria, as well as other harmful organisms.
Particularly with respect to food processing, it is important that equipment and systems the amenable to periodic thorough cleaning and decontamination, and also be operative in an environment in which contaminants, bacteria and other harmful organisms are absent, or at least controlled to acceptable levels. Government regulation and requirements on food safety are directed to the design and performance of equipment and systems in this field.
However, despite increased government regulation and requirements on food safety in the past few decades, no shaft collars or shaft couplings are currently available for use on food processing equipment and systems, which are designed to adequately meet the food industry's unique set of requirements. The prior art "solution", albeit sub-optimal and inadequate, is the use of common collar designs produced in specialized materials—specifically FDA/USDA-approved polymers, such as acetal resin, and stainless steel alloys, typically of the 316 formulation. The main purpose for using these materials is their ability to resist the corrosion that can be caused by the chemicals used in a conventional washdown process.
The mechanical design of conventional collars, and their interface with the rotating shafts upon which they are mounted, simply does not address, except in a very general fashion, minimization of the possibility of particle entrapment and the resulting potential for bacterial growth in and around the collar.
In conventional practice, end users looking to minimize the potential of bacteria growth often settle for the disadvantages of a set screw-type collar (due to the reduced number of physical features) and seal the set screw in place with a silicon RTV or similar material once the collar is secured to a shaft. Such a configuration greatly hampers the user's ability to later adjust the collar. Moreover, it is well known that with the use of set screw collars, the shaft to which the collar is affixed is easily damaged by the set screw. In addition, the holding power of a set screw collar is considerably less than that of other types of comparable-sized collars, such as clamp collars. As a consequence of such issues with set screw collars, many users have also eliminated the set screw features completely from their design, instead relying on a press fit between the shaft and collar to maintain positioning.
Regardless of the type of collar or coupling, the prior art collars and couplings used in the food industry have a large number of exposed physical features which pose a high risk for collecting food particles and the subsequent potential for the growth of harmful bacteria that feed on the stray food particles lodged in those physical features. As a consequence, designers of food processing equipment have gone to great lengths to reduce and/or eliminate physical features of the machinery that present the possibility for food entrapment, often cordoning off as much of the overall machine as possible behind shielding in order to minimize the number of components that can possibly come into contact with the food product. Components located outside such shielding, which often include shafts and associated collars and couplings secured thereto, are subject to the strict government safety equipment regulations. Machine components within the contact area, must be cleaned frequently and thoroughly, with great expense of both labor and machine down-time, else the operator runs the risk of hefty consequences from a failed inspection by a regulatory agency. The conventional collars and couplings which are commonly used as guides, stops and couplings in such machines, often account for a significant amount of the cleaning time due to the numerous small crevices created by the screw features and clamping cuts.
Conventional modifications made to collars and couplings to decrease the likelihood of food entrapment and consequent bacteria growth, come with great sacrifices in performance characteristics. The method previously described for the use of set screw collars not only introduces the negative aspects of set screw collars (i.e., damage to shafts, lower holding power than clamp styles), but also severely inhibits the user's ability to adjust or remove the collar. While press-fit collars generally have few or no entrapment areas besides the collar/shaft or coupling/shaft interface, their holding power for both axial and radial loads are significantly lower than conventional clamp-type shaft collars and shaft couplings, and rapid or precise position adjustments are not feasible.
Improved shaft collars and shaft couplings are needed for application in equipment and systems used in the food processing and related industries, to provide improved food safety as well as more efficient operation.

Shaft collar and shaft coupling assemblies


An organic EL device comprising organic compound layers, at least one of which has a skeleton represented by formula (I):

An organic EL device comprises a thin film containing a fluorescent organic compound interleaved between an electron injecting electrode (cathode) and a hole injecting electrode (anode), and emits light making use of light emissions (fluorescence and phosphorescence) upon deactivation of excitons which are generated by injecting electrons and holes in the thin film for their recombination.
Features of the organic EL device are that surface light emission of high luminance of the order of hundreds candelas/m2 to scores of thousands of candelas/m2 is achievable at a low voltage of up to 10 V, and blue to red light emissions are achievable by selecting the type of fluorescent material.
On the other hand, problems with the organic EL device are that its light emission life is short, and its storage robustness and reliability are low for the following reasons.
(1) Physical Changes of Organic Compound
An inhomogeneous organic thin film interface caused as by the growth of crystal domains is responsible for a drop of the ability of the device to inject holes, short-circuiting, and dielectric breakdown. Especially when a low-molecular compound having a molecular weight of 500 or less is used, crystal grains manifest themselves and grow greatly, resulting in a strikingly reduced film property. When an organic thin film interface with ITO or the like is roughened, too, crystal grains manifest themselves and grow greatly, resulting in a light emission efficiency drop and current leakage which eventually lead to non-emission. This is also a leading cause of local non-emitting spots, i.e., dark spots.
(2) Oxidation and Delamination of Electron Injecting Electrode
To facilitate injection of electrons, for instance, Na, K, Li, Mg, Ca, and Al has so far used as a metal having a low work function. However, when these metals react with atmospheric moisture or oxygen or the organic layer peels off the electron injecting electrode, it is impossible to inject holes. Especially when a high-molecular compound is formed into film as by spin coating, solvent residues after film formation, moisture and decomposed products accelerate the oxidation reaction of the electrode, and causes the delamination of the electrode, resulting in local non-emitting spots.
(3) Low Light Emission Efficiency and Generation of Much Heat
The generation of heat is unavoidable because a current is passed through the organic compound and so the organic compound must be placed in a high field strength. The heat then gives rise to the melting, crystallization, and thermal decomposition of the organic compound, resulting in a deterioration and breakdown of the device.
(4) Photochemical, and Electrochemical Changes of Organic Compound Layer
Upon passing a current through the organic material, the organic material degrades, resulting in defects such as current or exciton traps. These defects in turn cause a deterioration of the device such as a driving voltage increase or a luminance drop.
Practical light emitting devices are used in various environments. Especially when such a device is used in high-temperature environments, the quality of display images drops or the device breaks down because of the crystallization or physical change of the organic compound or the rearrangement, i.e., migration, dispersion, etc. of the organic molecules.
A hole or electron injecting electrode interface that is an interface between an organic material and an inorganic material, especially the hole injecting electrode interface has a great influence on the film property of the organic material layer during film formation. In some cases, several problems arise; an inhomogeneous organic layer is formed on the hole injecting electrode, and no good interface can be formed.
For this reason, it has so far been reported to use on the hole injecting electrode interface in an organic EL device materials such as phthalocyanine, polyphenylene-vinylene, evaporated polythiophene film, and amine polymer. However, it is found that the use of phthalocyanine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,432 or JP-A 63-295695) is not preferable because it yields a device which can be well operated in an initial state, but dark spots, light emission variations, etc. manifest themselves while it is operated over an extended period. This is because the phthalocyanine accelerates the crystallization of a material placed thereon due to its own microcrystalline nature. For polyphenylene-vinylene, it is required to use a wet process such as spin coating wherein atmospheric impurities such as moisture are entrained therein, or ionic impurities such as leaving groups are entrained therein upon conversion from its precursor. Thus, the oxidation of the electrode proceeds rapidly, causing a striking luminance drop or a noticeable driving voltage increase.
Problems with the evaporated polythiophene film are that the reproducibility of fabrication of good devices is low due to large variations in the degree of polymerization of polythiophene and large fluctuations in polythiophene during evaporation, and the surface of ITO cannot be fully denatured due to difficulty involved in making polythiophene thick because the polythiophene itself has light absorption in a visible light region. Regarding amine polymers, for instance, dendrimer materials (JP-A 4-308688), tetraamine materials (U.S. Pat. No. 439,627) and triamine materials (JP-A 8-193191) have been reported. However, it is found that sufficient heat resistance is not obtained, and that a homogeneous and stable film cannot be obtained on a hole injecting electrode during high-temperature storage.

Abstract: where L0 is any one of o-, p-, and m-phenylene groups which have two, three or four rings and which may have a substituent with the proviso that when L0 is a phenylene group having four rings, the phenylene group may have an unsubstituted or substituted aminophenyl group somewhere therein, R01, R02, R03 and R04 are each any one of the following groups:

Abstract: where R11, R12, R13, R14, R15, R16 and R17 are each a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and r1, r2, r3 and r4 are each an integer of 0 to 5 with the proviso that r1+r2+r3+r4 1, is less susceptible to physical changes, photochemical changes and electrochemical changes, and can emit light having various colors with high reliability and high light emission efficiency.


The invention relates to basic polynucleate aluminum hydroxy silicate sulfate compounds and to a process for their preparation. The process involves first mixing an alkali metal silicate and an alkali metal aluminate solution and optionally a third component under continuous stirring to form an alkaline intermediate mixture and slowly adding the resulting alkaline intermediate mixture to an acidic aluminum sulfate solution under high shear mixing conditions. Compared to processes of the prior art, the present invention leads directly to solution products having higher Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 concentrations. Moreover, the products prepared through this invention exhibit enhanced stability over time, and improved performance in flocculation-coagulation application.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to basic polynucleate aluminum hydroxy silicate sulfate (PASS) compounds and to a process for their preparation.
II. Description of the Prior Art
These compounds act as flocculants, coagulating agents, precipitating agents, dewatering agents and clarifiers useful in industries such as water treatment, pulp and paper, or wherever an aluminum hydroxide gel system resulting from such polymeric compounds can be employed.
Compounds of this type, processes for their production, and specific uses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,675, issued on Jan. 1, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,893 issued on Dec. 3, 1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,400 issued on Sep. 22, 1992 (from patent application Ser. No. 07/601,374 filed Oct. 23, 1990), all assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The disclosures of these patents are specifically incorporated herein by reference.
While these compounds and processes are effective and useful, there is still room for improvement both in the form in which the compounds are prepared and in their processes of preparation.

Polymeric aluminum silicate-sulphate and process for producing same


A demultiplexer using transistors for accessing memory cell arrays. The demultiplexer includes (a) a substrate; (b) 2N semiconductor regions which are parallel to one another and run in a first direction; (c) first N gate electrode lines, which (i) run in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction, (ii) are electrically insulated from the 2N semiconductor regions, and (iii) are disposed between the first plurality of memory cells and the contact region; (d) a contact region; (e) a first plurality of memory cells. An intersection transistor exists at each of intersections between the first N gate electrode lines and the 2N semiconductor regions. In response to pre-specified voltage potentials being applied to the contact region and the first N gate electrode lines, memory cells of the first plurality of memory cells disposed on only one of the 2N semiconductor regions are selected.

In the prior art, to select one of multiple rows of a memory cell array, a demultiplexer circuit is used. Therefore, there is a need for a demultiplexer circuit (and methods for forming and operating the same), which is simpler than that of the prior art, for accessing the (sublithographic) memory cell array. It should be noted that sublithography is a method for forming structures having smaller pitches than can be formed by conventional lithography.

Demultiplexers using transistors for accessing memory cell arrays

International Business Machines Corporation


Embodiments can provide concurrent (or substantially concurrent) wireless communication that can achieve load and/or battery consumption balance between or among a set of wireless devices. In wireless transmission, each receiving device is typically identified by an address or an ID, which can be used for device identification and wireless configuration over wireless link. Under the concurrent wireless transmission in accordance with the embodiments, a secondary device can “impersonate” the primary device by assuming an ID or address assigned to primary device. In this way, load and/or battery consumption balance can be achieved among multiple wireless devices in the concurrent wireless transmission.

Transmitting data wirelessly is generally known in the art. In some applications, data may need to be sent to multiple devices concurrently over a wireless link. Protocols have been designed to achieve such concurrent wireless data transmission. One of the common implementations of those protocols is the broadcast/multicast schemes where the same data is sent to all devices simultaneously. In such protocols, no feedback is provided from the devices to the data source. Another way for sending the data is to designate one of the devices as a primary device and one or more other devices may be designated as secondary device(s). In those protocols, data may be sent to the primary device wirelessly first; and after receiving the data, the primary device may forward the data to the secondary device(s). In addition to the data, the primary device can send additional control or synchronization information to the secondary device(s).
Wireless earbuds are one example application that uses concurrent wireless transmission protocol mentioned above. A pair of wireless earbuds typically includes a right earbud and a left earbud. Typically, wireless earbuds employ Bluetooth to receive audio data from a master device—for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop or a desktop computer. Either the right or left earbud is designated as the primary earbud that will receive data from the master device and forward the data to the other earbud.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Some embodiments of the invention provide a method of facilitating routing through a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) defined for an entity. A first edge forwarding node located at a first multi-machine site of the entity, the first multi-machine site at a first physical location and including a first set of machines, serves as an edge forwarding node for the first set of machines by forwarding packets between the first set of machines and other machines associated with the entity via other forwarding nodes in the SD-WAN. The first edge forwarding node receives configuration data specifying for the first edge forwarding node to serve as a hub forwarding node for forwarding a set of packets from a second set of machines associated with the entity and operating at a second multi-machine site at a second physical location to a third set of machines associated with the entity and operating at a third multi-machine site at a third physical location. The first edge forwarding node serves as a hub forwarding node to forward the set of packets from the second set of machines to the third set of machines.

Today, software defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) provide secure access to applications hosted on clouds as well as enterprise datacenters. Typical SD-WAN deployments require a transit node through which the application flows in order to reach destinations (e.g., a cloud application involves branch-to-branch flows via gateways). However, certain challenges arise when handling critical application traffic, such as path impairments between source edge nodes and transit nodes, which can lead to application degradation. Additionally, critical applications that are of SOS nature are also subject to path instabilities and can end up with black out or brown out scenarios that lead to undesirable outcomes.

Routing mesh to provide alternate routes through SD-WAN edge forwarding nodes based on degraded operational states of SD-WAN hubs


A method to guide the placement of new small cell, wherein a small cell is a radio cell station with much smaller coverage area than a macro cell, having one or more existing wireless cells, one or more mobile devices of known location and application use and context, a processor and database system, a new small cell, a device for guiding the user in the placement of the new small cell, includes the steps: the location dependant measured network characteristics and location dependant contextual data needs of the mobile device are recorded and stored in the database system over time; and the contents of the database system are used to determine the likely future location specific network needs, such that this information together with the characteristics of the new small cell are used to determine the placement co-ordinates of the new small cell, and use the placement co-ordinates to guide a user in the placement of the new small cell, with the device for guiding the user.

As mobile networks rapidly evolve, it is widely forecast that there will be a profusion of connected devices and associated cells. In addition to conventional macro cells, many "small cells" will work at low energy levels and are designed to communicate with devices in the immediate local area. In this document small cell are defined as any radio cell with much smaller coverage area than conventional "macro" cells, including public "pico cells", residential femto cells, or Wifi access points.
A current example of a small cell is a femto-cell. A femto-cell is a portable, consumer deployed unit typically using licensed spectrum. Unlike the traditional base station, backhaul to the wireless communications network is via a consumer provided packet data (IP) connection, e.g. a DSL connection, rather than the dedicated or leased line switched circuit backhaul used in first and second generation cellular systems. Designed for indoor coverage, femto-cell radio power output nominally ranges from 0.5 to 1 Watt. Femto-cells are also known as "Home eNodeB's" in the Third Generation Partnership Program's (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Evolved UTRAN (eUTRAN) program
Using small cells as a low cost approach to adding coverage and capacity to the wireless communications network raises some difficulties that embodiments of the present invention seek to address. The placement of small, inexpensive radio cells is not usually practicable by conventional cell location planning methods. Location of the small-cell is of the upmost importance however, since the small-cell location may be the only connection available to mobile users who have specific data needs (high bandwidth, low latency etc.) or who are located in buildings which create challenging reception conditions between the user and other network cells. Incorrect location can have a critical effect on the performance of the wider network (e.g. in terms of interference), and this is the key issue to be addressed for successful deployment.
Due to the number of cell types which are likely to be used in future mobile communication networks, which have different capacities, support different network topologies and have different bandwidth capabilities and the diversity of application needs, there is however an advantage to be gained in assisting the placement of small cells such that it optimally meets network needs, and also optimally meets user needs in the context of their location dependant usage of network resources.
More information can be found at "US2010120394 (A1)—Femto-Cell Location by Proxy Methods"
Current cell location planning methods are in general not suitable for the guided placement of small cells (whose placement may be undertaken by the network operator or the consumers), and other placement methods which have been discovered in the prior-art do not consider the contextual nature of a users mobile device use. Accordingly, at present there is no placement method or apparatus which allows the consumer placement of small cells in a way which takes into account the location specific needs of applications.
Specific restrictions include:    (i) The placement of the small cell should be consistent with the context in which users are utilising the network and the network resources available from other adjacent cells. For example, a user may need a very high bandwidth low latency connection in a specific location. A high bandwidth low latency connection may only be available in one part of the building (which has good coverage from a new macro cell) but the other part of the building (which only has coverage from previous generation cells) may coincide with the users normal location—which results in a limitation on the efficiency of associated applications. Clearly in this instance the small cell should be placed so as to meet the contextual location specific needs of the user, which is the subject of this invention. In other words, the position of the cell has to take into account both the existing coverage and the user's position-dependent requirements, which are independent of each other. Thus, depending on the user's needs, the small cell might coincide with the area of poor coverage, or it might coincide with the area of available good coverage (but for example low capacity of the macro cellular network), if this where it is required by the user(s).    (ii) While cell location planning or participatory sensing methods may identify areas of low or strong signal strength from surrounding cells, known approaches do not take into account how objects, such as stone walls, attenuate signals across a range of frequencies in the context of an applications needs. This is likely to become increasingly important for advanced mobile communication networks due to the deployment of communication links operating at different frequencies, ranging from GHz through THz, which may be omni- or unidirectional (if adaptive beamforming is used for example). If this is not considered in the placement of a small cell then suboptimal links may result as its placement will not adequately reflect the location and location specific signal attenuation of other cells in the area.
US2010120394 (A1)—Femto-Cell Location by Proxy Methods
Location of small, consumer deployed femto-cells cannot be determined by the usual site survey methods. Location of attached mobiles allows for a proxy location of the femto-cell that can then be used for wireless network planning including the provisioning of a calculated default emergency services location for the femto-cell.
The document discloses a method for use by a wireless location system (WLS) in locating a femto-cell device operating in a wireless communications system, comprising:    discovering and initiating location of the femto-cell device;    determining an identification of a mobile station (MS) being served by the femto-cell device;    determining the location of the MS; and    determining the location of the femto-cell device using the location of the MS.
Consequently a determination of the location of consumer deployed femto-cell using a proxy method based on the location of a Mobile Station is disclosed.
US2008151777 (A1)—System and Method for Core Network Topology Router Placement Planning
Systems and methods for core network topology router placement planning are provided. The systems and methods may use existing network data to create a data set and use the data set to optimize a network for the placement of routers.
1. A method, comprising:    identifying a network topology;    calculating circuit locations from the network topology;    creating a dataset from the network topology and the circuit locations; and    solving the dataset to determine at least one output indicative of a proposed placement of one or more routers in the network topology.
Summary: uses network topology to calculate placement location
US2008279552 (A1)—Methods of Placing Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMS) in a Network
A distributed network including at least two Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) may be designed by a method including simulating routing of data traffic in a distributed network. The method may also include identifying a first location for placement of a first ROADM based at least partially on the simulated routing of the data traffic. The method may also include simulating rerouting of data traffic in the distributed network including the first ROADM at the first location. The method may further include identifying a second location for placement of a second ROADM based at least partially on the simulated rerouting of the data traffic.
The document discloses a method, comprising:    identifying a plurality of candidate locations based at least partially on an initial simulated routing of data traffic in a distributed network;    selecting at least one of the plurality of candidate locations for placement of a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) based at least partially on a cost; and    simulating rerouting of data traffic in the distributed network including the at least one ROADM at the at least one selected candidate location.
The document uses simulations of routing data to assist in placement of multiplexers.
WO02071781 (A1)—Method of Cell Site Location in a Cellular Mobile Network
The location of a fixed transmit cell site in a cellular mobile telephone network is identified by a method including the steps of: deriving survey data measurements of the network by means of a mobile test telephone; grouping into individual subsets the survey data measurements derived on a drive route; identifying first site cluster data and second site cluster data for the transmit cell site location by means of multiple triangulation computations in which each individual point in respect of the geographical location data of the receiver of the test telephone is paired with each other individual point to provide in each case a pair of locations whose distance from the transmit cell site location is determined from the corresponding timing advance data; and determining which of the first site and second site cluster data has the greatest cluster density and determining centre of gravity of that site as identifying the location of the fixed transmit cell site. The survey data measurements comprise geographical location data of a receiver of the test telephone; timing advance data providing distance between the fixed transmit cell site and the receiver of the test telephone; and cell identity field data. Each subset of survey data measurements corresponds to measurements belonging to the same fixed transmit cell site.
The document discloses a method for identifying the location of a fixed transmit cell site in a cellular mobile telephone network, comprising the steps of: deriving survey data measurements of the network by means of a mobile test telephone, the survey data measurements comprising: geographical location data of a receiver of the test telephone; timing advance data providing distance between the fixed transmit cell site and the receiver of the test telephone; and cell identity field data; grouping into individual subsets the survey data measurements derived on a drive route, wherein each subset corresponds to measurements belonging to the same fixed transmit cell site; identifying first site cluster data and second site cluster data for the transmit cell site location by means of multiple triangulation computations in which each individual point in respect of the geographical location data of the receiver of the test telephone is paired with each other individual point to provide in each case a pair of locations whose distance from the transmit cell site location is determined from the corresponding timing advance data; and determining which of the first site and second site cluster data has the greatest cluster density and determining centre of gravity of that site as identifying the location of the fixed transmit cell site.
The document uses site survey data as part of a method to locate cells within a cellular network
US2010309790 (A1)—Femto Base Stations and Methods Operating the Same
Femto base stations and methods described herein suppress the need for an external GPS antenna and cable, while still providing a network service provider with the ability to obtain the desired GPS location coordinates and the user with the flexibility of placing the femto cell at the location of their choice within a home regardless of GPS signal strength.
The US application comprise a method operating a femto base station in a wireless network, the method comprising: deciding, at the femto base station, whether position information signals are available;    determining, at the femto base station, whether anchor position information stored in a memory at the femto base station is valid if the deciding step decides that position information signals are unavailable, the anchor position information being indicative of an anchor position of the femto base station; and    identifying network configuration parameters for the femto base station if the determining step determines that the stored anchor position information is valid.

Method to guide the placement of new small cell


A hinged vapor wall for use in mobile living quarters having a main living area and a secondary area such as a garage. The vapor wall has a first and second section that overlap to form a barrier between the garage and the main living area. When the sections of the vapor wall are in their closed position, the main living area and the garage area are divided into separate airtight compartments. Typically, small vehicles such as motorcycles and ATVs are placed in the garage, and the fumes from their fuel may spread into the main living space in the absence of a barrier. A permanent barrier sacrifices space within the main living area. The hinged vapor wall of this invention is movable to an open position when small vehicles are not being stored in the garage, enabling the garage to be used as living space as well.

Modern toy haulers provide many of the same amenities of a fixed home, but have the added benefit of being portable. In an effort to make a toy hauler feel as much like a traditional home as possible, features such as slide-out rooms and garages have been added. Slide-out rooms are used to maximize the available interior space when parked. However, a separate garage can subtract from overall living space if a fixed wall is placed between the garage and the main living area.
A fixed wall garage has been necessary in prior art designs because of the fumes from fuel carried in vehicles within the garage. Vehicles or toys, which are usually motorcycles or ATVs, may contain several gallons of gasoline per vehicle. Since gasoline is extremely volatile, the vapors would easily migrate into living space unless a fixed wall is placed between the garage and living area. Having a fixed wall is objectionable to most customers because that would mean losing twelve feet of living space from the end of the toy hauler. Ideally, a garage wall would have a position that separates the living area from the garage while blocking all vapors and the wall would be movable to extend the living area into the garage when it is empty.


A data retrieval device capable of attaining a low power consumption while utilizing high speed retrieving characteristics of a CAM, wherein a plurality of rule data with determined priority is newly arranged in an order of the size and assigned to memory blocks in accordance with the order, information on the assigned data range is stored in a register, the rule data is rearranged again in the priority order in each memory block, a range comparator compares input retrieval data with a content held in the register and a memory block to be retrieved is specified by the result, and a block controller activates only the specified block at the time of retrieving and not activating other blocks, so that a power consumption at the time of retrieving is reduced for that amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data retrieval device operating at a high speed with a low power consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with a development of the Internet, there has been a demand for retrieving and comparing rule data determined in advance with packet data at a high speed for attaining high speed path retrieving and securing of security of a packet. Due to the demand, a content addressable memory (CAM) capable of retrieving data at a high speed has become an essential device (refer to, for example, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-236790).
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-236790 discloses a content addressable memory having a plurality of physical banks storing different data in accordance with kinds of CAMs, such as a binary CAM having data of only "0" and "1" and a ternary CAM having "X (don't care)" data in addition to the binary data, and a difference of bit lengths.
A currently prevailing CAM is called a ternary CAM wherein one data is composed of a plurality of bit data and each bit can store three kinds, "0", "1" and "* (don't care)". The stored data (rule data) and retrieval data (packet data) input from the outside are compared by every bit. When a bit in the stored data is "0 (or 1)" and a corresponding bit of the retrieval data is "0 (or 1)", the comparison result is matched, while when the retrieval data is "1 (or 0)", the result is not matched. The "* (don't care)" matches with both "0" and "1" of the retrieval data. This comparison is made on all bits composing the data, and the stored data and the retrieval data are considered to be matched only when all of the data was matched.
Also, since there is a case where the data stored in the CAM and the retrieval data from the outside match more than one, there is a priority circuit for outputting in an ascending (descending) order of the stored address. Normally, it is configured to output only data having the smallest address among the matched data. Accordingly, when creating rule data, significant rule data is stored in an ascending order of the address. An example thereof is shown in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2, for simplification, stored rule data 100 is largely divided to three 4-bit data regions (A, B and C), and each rule data is stored at a position of a stored address 101 in accordance with the priority order of the rule data (in the figure, a priority tag 102 indicating the order is added to facilitate understanding, but it does not actually exist). Also, a mark "* (4 bits are expressed by one mark in the figure)" in the stored rule data 100 indicates that the value can be any. Furthermore, for example, "2–4" indicates that the data expressing a region from "2" to "4". In actuality, for specifying such a range, values of respective bits of the stored rule data 100 are made to be suitable values and one rule is expressed by a plurality of stored rule data 100 in some cases; but this time, for simplification, it is assumed that one rule can be expressed by one stored rule data 100.
However, a content addressable memory of the related art is configured to have a comparison circuit for every stored data stored therein and compares retrieval data from the outside with all stored data at a time. Therefore, extremely high-speed retrieving becomes possible, but since all comparison circuits operate at a time, an extremely large power is necessarily consumed. Naturally, a data transmission apparatus using the device becomes capable of transferring data at a high speed, but the large power consumption is a disadvantage. The above Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-236790 does not mention such comparison circuits, and it is considered that it applies a general configuration provided that it is not specifically mentioned, the same disadvantage is shared thereby.
For example, the CAM shown in FIG. 2 can store the rule data effectively and retrieve the data from the outside at an extremely high speed, but the power consumption is extremely large. This is because of comparing all the stored rule data with the retrieval data at a time. Furthermore, it is because of the characteristics of the priority circuit of the CAM that the more significant rule is stored at a position with the smaller (or the larger) address, and it is difficult to specify an area wherein a rule matching with retrieval data from the outside exists in advance. Therefore, it is required to perform a matching comparison on all rule data, so that a large power is consumed for performing the matching comparison.
The disadvantage to be solved in the present invention is the fact that a power consumption is large because of comparing the retrieval data from the outside with the all stored data, and this hinders realization of a large scale data retrieval device at a high speed.


In a circuit module package arranged on a mounting board, a circuit module has signal input and output terminals and is mounted on an interposer. The interposer is provided with first signal terminals electrically connected to the signal input and output terminals of the circuit module, second electric terminals for electrically connecting the circuit module to the mounting board, internal wirings electrically connected to the first signal terminals, and first coupling parts electrically connected to the internal wirings. An interface module is provided with a signal transmission line for transmitting the signals and second coupling parts electrically connected to the transmission line. The second coupling part is electrically and mechanically connected to the first coupling parts, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LSI package provided with an interface module and a method of mounting the same, particularly, to an LSI package provided with an interface module for transmitting a signal at a high-speed between the external wiring and the interface module and a method of mounting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the clock frequency of an LSI is being made higher and higher, and a CPU for a personal computer that is operated under a clock frequency of the order of GHz has been put to a practical use. However, the pace of the improvement in the throughput at the interface between the adjacent LSIs is moderate, compared with the increase in the clock frequency, which constitutes a bottle neck in the performance of the personal computer. Such being the situation, the research and development for improving the throughput in the interface are being conducted vigorously.
For improving the throughput of the interface, it is necessary to increase the signal frequency per terminal and to increase the number of terminals. However, the increase in the number of terminals is limited because, if the number of terminals is increased, the areas of the LSI and the package thereof are enlarged so as to increase the length of the internal wiring, with the result that it is impossible to operate the LSI under a high frequency. It follows that it is of high importance to increase the frequency per terminal. On the other hand, if the frequency per terminal is increased, the attenuation of the electric signal is increased so as to increase the influence on the reflection produced by the impedance mismatch. Such being the situation, the line length is limited. Under the circumstances, it is necessary to use a transmission line that permits greatly suppressing the impedance mismatch and the attenuation amount as a high-speed signal transmission line.
It is effective to use an optical fiber as a long-distance transmission line that is small in the influences produced by the impedance mismatch and by the loss. Therefore, an optical interface module performing the photo-electric converting function is used as the interface module. The interface modules commercialized by using the optical interface module include, for example, the transceiver module disclosed in "Proceedings. 51st Electronic Components and Technology Conference, P.P. 880-5,2001".
In the transceiver module disclosed in the literature quoted above, an LSI for processing signals is incorporated in a PGA (programmable gate array) package. This PGA package is mounted to a mounting board. The input-output signal from the LSI is transmitted through the package into the optical interface module that is mounted to the mounting board and is further transmitted from the optical interface module into a signal line. The optical interface module includes optical elements such as a semiconductor laser element (LD) and a photo-detecting element (PD) as well as an optical fiber, and an optical signal is received from and transmitted to an external circuit through the optical fiber. Also, an interface IC for driving the optical element is housed in the optical interface module so as to be connected to a signal line on the mounting board, to a required control signal line and to a power source line (not shown) through an electrical input-output terminal. Each of the LSI and the optical interface module is provided with a heat sink for the heat dissipation for the cooling.
In the board edge mounting type optical interface module of the configuration described above, the electric signal is converted into an optical signal by the photo-electric converting function so as to permit the converted optical signal to be introduced into the optical fiber. Since the loss is very small and the limitation of the band is small in the optical fiber, it is possible to transmit the signals at a high-speed even if the transmission line is relatively long as in the transmission between mounting boards or between devices. However, in the optical interface module, the electric signal is received and transmitted through the signal line on the mounting board and, thus, the signal transmission is affected by the attenuation of the electric signal on the mounting board or by the impedance mismatch. Since the maximum length of the signal wiring of the mounting board exceeds 30 cm, a highly expensive transmission line is required for transmitting signals having a high frequency, e.g., a signal of 10 Gbps, so as to give rise to the problem that the cost of the mounting board is increased.
Under the circumstances, an improved technology for the signal transmission at a high-speed is proposed in, for example, "HOT9 Interconnects, Symposium on High Performance Interconnects, P.P. 31-5,2001" and "Nikkei Electronics No. 810, Dec. 3, 2001, pp. 121-122". Specifically, it is proposed that signals are transmitted only within an interposer of an LSI package without using a mounting board so as to shorten the electrical wiring as much as possible, and the electric signal is converted into an optical signal on the interposer for receiving the signals from the external device or for transmitting the signals to the external device.
Each of the publications quoted above discloses the configuration that an optical interface module is fixed by welding to the interposer of the LSI, and the interposer of the LSI is optically connected to the optical interface module by a fiber comprising an optical connector.
In this configuration, the LSI for the signal processing is electrically connected to the interposer by a solder bump. An optical interface module is mounted to the interposer by a solder bump. The input-output terminals of the LSI are connected to a wiring, and the wiring is connected to the optical interface module. An interface IC and an optical element are housed in the optical interface module, and the electric signal is converted into an optical signal by the interface IC and the optical element. The interface IC and the optical element are housed in a package provided with an input-output window for the optical signal so as to ensure the reliability as the optical interface module.
A flat micro-lens plate is mounted to the input-output window so as to permit the light beam incident on the optical interface module and the light beam emitted from the optical interface module to be converged by the micro lens. The micro lens imparts a big tolerance relative to the optical coupling with the optical fiber mounted on the outside. The interposer is electrically connected to the solder bump by the mounting board. One end of the optical fiber is connected to an optical connector comprising a mirror for changing the optical path by 90°. An aligning pin mounted to the optical connector is inserted into a coupling hole of the package so as to determine the positions of the optical connector and the package so as to permit the micro lens and the optical fiber to be aligned.
According to the configuration described above, the optical interface module is mounted to the interposer after the interface IC, the optical element, etc. have been packaged. Therefore, the optical interface modules are individually inspected so as to make it possible to mount a good optical interface alone having a high reliability, thereby suppressing the inspection cost. Also, since the optical connector is connected after the interposer is mounted to the mounting board, advantages in the manufacturing process can be obtained. For example, it is unnecessary to take into consideration the deterioration of the resin cover caused by the heat treatment in the mounting stage of the interposer and other parts. It is also unnecessary to consider the limitation in the handling of the optical fiber such as the bending leading to the breakage.
However, the particular configuration requires the soldering of the LSI to the interposer, the soldering of the optical interface module to the interposer, or the soldering of the interposer to the mounting board. It should be noted in this connection that the LSI package must be assembled by changing the melting points of the solders such that a certain soldering does not cause a defect in the other soldering. Also, the mounting procedure is limited in assembling the parts of the LSI package. Further, in order to hold the optical connector, required is a mechanism for pushing the optical connector to the package so as to hold the optical connector, and the mechanism of the apparatus tends to be rendered bulky in the case where the optical connection is achieved by using a connector. Still further, if a holding mechanism is mounted to the apparatus, the space in which is arranged a heat sink mounted to an upper portion of the LSI is limited so as to render complex the configuration and to increase the cost. It follows that it is difficult to mount the heat dissipating heat sink of the optical interface module.
In general, the power consumption per terminal tends to be increased with increase in the transfer frequency of the signal. For example, the power consumption of some of the LSIs has come to reach 70 to 80 W in recent years in the CPU used in a personal computer. Therefore, the apparatus is constructed such that a heat spreader and a gigantic heat sink are mounted on the signal processing LSI so as to ensure a large heat dissipating area, and a compulsory air cooling is performed by using, for example, a fan. On the other hand, it is necessary to decrease the wiring length between the signal processing LSI and the interface module as much as possible as described previously. Therefore, in the case of mounting a heat sink for the signal processing LSI, there is no allowance in the space for mounting another heat sink for the interface module.
Under the circumstances, it is conceivable to mount a heat sink shared by the signal processing LSI and the interface module so as to achieve the heat dissipation simultaneously from the signal processing LSI and the interface module. However, where the signal processing LSI and the interface module are mounted simultaneously to the interposer 2, it is difficult to align strictly the upper surfaces of the signal processing LSI and the interface module and to set the difference in level strictly at a prescribed value.
What should also be noted is that, since the interface module is soldered, it is also necessary to renew the expensive signal processing LSI in the event of the disorder of the interface module.
The configuration that an optical element is mounted directly to the interposer 2 and an optical waveguide made of an organic material is attached to the mounting board so as to form a transmission line is disclosed in "16th Academic Lecture Meeting of Electronics Mounting, 20B-10, 2002".
In the particular configuration, an interface IC is soldered to the interposer. The interposer is fixed to a mounting board with a spacer interposed therebetween. The mounting board and the interposer are connected to each other by, for example, a flexible wiring, and a power source, an input-output electric signal, etc. are supplied to the mounting board and the interposer. In this configuration, it is assumed that the signal processing LSI, etc. are mounted in the three dimensional direction above the interface IC.
A surface-emitting type optical element is mounted to the interposer on the side of the mounting board, and the positions of an optical waveguide and an optical element are determined to permit the optical element to be optically coupled with the optical waveguide including a mirror mounted to the mounting board for changing the optical path by 90°. Also, an electrode is mounted to extend through the interposer so as to decrease the length of the wiring for the electric signal, thereby obtaining good signal characteristics.
In the particular configuration, the optical element as a bare chip is mounted directly to the interposer. When the interposer is mounted to the mounting board, the optical element is optically coupled with the optical waveguide. It follows that it is difficult to maintain an optical accuracy because of the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the mounting board and the interposer. Also, if the optical element is mounted as a bare chip, it is difficult to ensure the reliability of the optical element. In order to ensure the reliability, it is necessary for the optical element portion to be buried in, for example, the resin transparent to the wavelength used for the signal transmission so as to require a processing operation on the mounting board. It follows that much limitation is imposed on the manufacturing process so as to increase the manufacturing cost. Further, since it is necessary to attach separately the optical waveguide to the mounting board, the mounting process is rendered complex so as to increase the mounting cost. An additional problem to be noted is that, in the particular configuration, it is necessary to renew the optical element together with the expensive signal processing LSI in the event of the disorder of the optical element.
The problems described above in conjunction with the prior art using an optical fiber as a transmission line are also brought about in the case of using an electrical transmission line such as a coaxial cable, a semi-rigid cable or a flexible wiring board.
As described above, various optical interface modules are used for improving the throughput of the conventional interface. However, the board edge mounting type optical interface module disclosed in "Proceedings. 51st Electronic Components and Technology Conference, P.P. 880-5,2001" gives rise to the problem that a costly transmission line is required for transmitting signals having a high frequency so as to increase the cost of the mounting board.
Also, the configuration disclosed in "HOT9 Interconnects. Symposium on High Performance Interconnects, P.P. 31-5,2001" and "Nikkei Electronics No. 810, Dec. 3, 2001, pp/121-122" gives rise to the problems in the mounting that the mechanism is rendered excessively bulky because a connector system is employed in the configuration, and that careful attentions are required for the soldering. Further, the configuration is rendered complex because it is necessary to ensure the space for mounting a heat sink so as to give rise to the problems that the manufacturing cost is increased and that it is difficult to mount a heat sink for the heat dissipation from the optical interface module. Where the heat sink is shared by the signal processing LSI and the interface module, it is difficult to allow the upper surfaces of the signal processing LSI and the interface module to be aligned strictly and to control the difference in level at a prescribed value strictly in mounting simultaneously the LSI and the interface module to the interposer. Further, since the interface module is soldered, it is also necessary to renew the expensive signal processing LSI in the event of the disorder of the interface module.
Further, the configuration disclosed in "16th Academic Lecture Meeting of Electronics Mounting, 20B-10, 2002" gives rise to the problem that it is difficult to maintain an optical accuracy because of the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the mounting board and the interposer. Further, since it is necessary to mount separately an optical waveguide to the mounting board, the mounting process is rendered complex so as to increase the mounting cost. In addition, in the event of the disorder of the optical element, it is necessary to renew the expensive signal processing LSI in the event of the disorder of the optical element.
The problems similar to those described above are also brought about in the configuration in which is used an electric interface module that does not involve an optical element.

LSI package provided with interface module and method of mounting the same


The process comprises a "pledging" step in which a debtor party transmits to a creditor party a data item which is the image of a pledged data item, and a "commencement" step in which the debtor party transmits the plain pledged data item to the creditor party who can verify pledge consistency. In the pledging step, the debtor party produces a seed applied to a pseudo-random generator to produce a pseudo-random word, combines this pseudo-random word in a one-to-one and reversible manner with the pledged data item to produce a checkword, and transmits the checkword to the creditor party. In the commencement step, the debtor party transmits to the creditor party the seed together with the plain pledged data item. The creditor party then applies the seed to a pseudo-random generator similar to that of the debtor party to produce another pseudo-random word, combines in the same one-to-one and reversible manner as for the debtor party, this other pseudo-random word with the checkword, to produce a check data item, and checks the consistency of the check data item with the plain pledged data item received from the debtor party.

The invention relates to a process for pledging data for a secure data-exchange protocol.
The invention applies especially, advantageously, to physical and logical access control systems, for example in computer networks or checking systems such as those found for example in decoders for conditional-access television (pay television, encoded television, etc.). Of course, these applications are in no sense limiting and are given here merely by way of examples of technical fields in which the invention may be used.
The principle of pledging a data item consists, for a first party, in committing a predetermined data item to another party but without communicating this data item in clear. During a subsequent step, the first party reveals the plain data item to the second party, the latter having the possibility of verifying at this time that the plain data item is indeed that which had been secretly pledged beforehand.
Here and in what follows it will be noted that the term "party" relates equally to moral or physical persons as to electronic or computer systems exchanging data between themselves in an entirely automatic manner in the framework of a particular protocol, or, more generally, of a given transaction.
Similarly, the data item forming the subject of the transaction will be referred to as the "pledged data item", the party who initially holds the pledged data item (the "first party" indicated above) will be referred to as the "debtor" and the party for whom the pledged data item is intended (the "second party" indicated above) will be referred to as the "creditor".

Process for pledging data for a secure data exchange protocol


A multilumen catheter assembly (100) including an elongated body (108) having a proximal end (102) and a distal end (104) and a first lumen (110) having a sidewall (118) extending between the proximal end and the distal end, a first distal opening (151) disposed at the distal end, and a first guide wire opening (152) disposed proximally of the distal end and co-planar with the sidewall. The assembly also includes a second lumen (112) connected to the sidewall and extending from the proximal end toward the distal end, proximally of the distal end. The second lumen (112) includes a second opening (155) extending obliquely away from the sidewall distally toward the first distal opening (114) and a second guide wire opening (155) disposed proximally of the second opening (155) and in a plane generally parallel to the sidewall. A method of inserting the catheter into a vessel is also disclosed.

Catheters for the introduction or removal of fluids may be placed in various venous locations and cavities throughout the body for introduction or removal of these fluids. Such catheterization may be performed by using a single catheter assembly having multiple lumens. A typical example of a multiple lumen catheter assembly is a dual lumen catheter in which one lumen introduces fluid and the other lumen removes fluid. Such a multiple lumen catheter assembly is known as the SPLIT STREAM™ catheter, manufactured and sold by Medical Components, Inc. of Harleysville, Pa.
Generally, to insert any catheter into a blood vessel, the vessel is identified by aspiration through a long hollow needle in accordance with the well known Seldinger technique. When blood enters a syringe attached to the needle, indicating that the vessel has been found, a thin guide wire is then introduced, typically through the puncturing needle or other introducer device into the lumen of the vessel. The introducer device is then removed, leaving the guide wire within the vessel. The guide wire projects beyond the surface of the skin. At this point, several options are available to a physician for catheter placement. The simplest is to pass a catheter into the vessel directly over the guide wire. The guide wire is then removed, leaving the catheter in position within the vessel. However, this technique is only possible in cases where the catheter is of a relatively small diameter, made of a stiff material, and not significantly larger than the guide wire, for example, for insertion of small diameter dual lumen catheters. If the catheter to be inserted is significantly larger than the guide wire, a dilator device is passed over the guide wire to enlarge the opening into the vessel and then removed. The catheter is then passed over the guide wire, and the guide wire is then removed, leaving the catheter within the vessel.
During hemodialysis, the two lumens, the arterial lumen and the venous lumen, are connected to a hemodialysis machine and are used to remove toxic blood from the patient for dialysis and to return dialyzed blood to the patient, respectively. However, suction of the toxic blood into the arterial lumen may draw the distal opening of the arterial lumen against the wall of the blood vessel into which the lumen is inserted, reducing or cutting off blood flow through the arterial lumen, and significantly reducing the amount of blood being dialyzed. This reduction in blood flow can lead to a longer dialysis period, or result in less dialysis of the patient's blood. It would be beneficial to provide a catheter that reduces the suction of the arterial lumen against the blood vessel wall.
Twardowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,320 and Davey et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,423 B1 both disclose dual lumen catheters with an arterial lumen that includes an overhanging lip or shield to reduce the suction of the arterial lumen against the blood vessel wall. However, neither Twardowski et al. nor Davey et al. disclose a structure or method for inserting the catheter into the blood vessel that minimizes the likelihood of the overhanging lip snagging on the blood vessel wall during insertion. It would be beneficial to provide a catheter having an overhanging lip and a method of inserting the catheter that minimizes the likelihood of such snagging.


A driving circuit of this invention has a comparator that compares an input signal with a sampling signal to perform a pulse width modulation to the input signal, a driving transistor circuit that switches according to an output signal of the comparator, and a filter that reduces a switching frequency component of the driving transistor circuit. The switching frequency of the driving transistor circuit is a product of multiplication of a horizontal frequency. Also, a PLL circuit that locks the frequency of the sampling signal to the frequency acquired from multiplication of the horizontal frequency is provided. Therefore, when the driving circuit with the PWM method is built in a television set, beat interference can be prevented, avoiding an unpleasant view caused by the raster interference on the television screen.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a driving circuit utilized in a television receiver, especially to a driving circuit with a PWM (pulse width modulation) method, for example, a vertical deflection driving circuit, and a sound amplifying circuit using a PWM method.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 5 is an outline of the vertical deflection driving circuit of the PWM method. A sawtooth wave voltage Vin for a vertical deflection is inputted to a positive input terminal (+) of a comparator 2 from an input terminal 1, and a sawtooth wave with frequency f is supplied to a negative input terminal (−) of the comparator 2 as a sampling signal (also known as a carrier signal).
As a result, a PWM signal with a pulse width corresponding to the level of the input sawtooth wave voltage Vin is acquired from the comparator 2 as seen from FIG. 6. The amplitude of the PWM signal is level-shifted by a level adjustment circuit 3 from Vcc1 (5V) to Vcc2, which is an enough voltage for driving output MOS transistors TR1 and TR2. Then, the level-shifted signal is supplied to a driving transistor circuit 4 comprising the output MOS transistors TR1 and TR2.
A pumping-up circuit 5 supplies a driving source voltage to the driving transistor circuit 4. The pumping-up circuit 5 turns on during a retracing period Tr and supplies the voltage of 2 Vcc to the driving transistor circuit 4. Since the transistor TR2 is off and the transistor TR1 is set to be on during the retracing period Tr, the output signal of the driving transistor circuit 4 is 2Vcc. On the other hand, a switching signal, on which a pulse width modulation has been performed, is outputted from the driving transistor circuit 4 during a scanning period Tt. Therefore, the waveform of the output signal from the driving transistor circuit 4 takes the shape shown in FIG. 7A.
Then, the output signal of the driving transistor circuit 4 is taken out from an output terminal 7 through a low pass filter 6. The output from the low pass filter 6 is supplied to a vertical deflection yoke coil not shown in the figure. The waveform of the output from the low pass filter 6 is shown in FIG. 7B. The PWM signal is reproduced as a waveform similar to the waveform of the inverted input sawtooth wave Vin when passing through the low pass filter 6.
With the vertical deflection driving circuit with the abovementioned configuration or a sound amplifying circuit with the same configuration, it is necessary to reduce the switching frequency component fsw by the low pass filter 6 before inputting the switching frequency component fsw of the output MOS transistors TR1 and TR2 to the vertical deflection yoke coil or the speaker. This is because if the switching frequency component fsw is not reduced enough, a raster scan 50 of a television screen 100 shows wave-like distortions as seen from FIG. 8.
The peak of the wave in the raster scan 50 corresponds to the high output of the driving transistor 4 and the valley of the wave in the raster scan 50 corresponds to the low output of the driving transistor circuit 4. When the driving circuit with the PWM method is employed, the peak and valley of the wave in the raster scan 50 are gradually crumbled along with the change in the duty of the PWM signal. There are, for example, 525 raster scans on a television screen. Only a part of the raster scan is shown in FIG. 8.
In order to reduce the switching frequency component fsw, the ability of the low pass filter 6 may be enhanced. However, this may lead to the enlarged size of coil and capacitor as well as the high cost. Although the switching frequency may be ascended for the same purpose, there is a limit for this approach due to the characteristics of the output MOS transistors TR1, TR2 and other elements.


Provided is an image forming apparatus that includes a first image forming section configured to form an auxiliary layer, a second image forming section configured to form an image layer, and a controller. The first and the second image forming sections each include an image supporting member configured to support a latent image on a surface thereof and a developer supporting member configured to support, on a surface thereof, a developer. The controller is configured to control the first and the second image forming sections to allow a first velocity and a second velocity to be different from each other. The first velocity is a traveling velocity of the surface of the developer supporting member in the first image forming section, and the second velocity is a traveling velocity of the surface of the developer supporting member in the second image forming section.

The invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image with use of an electrophotographic process.
There has been proposed an electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which a white toner is used in addition to color toners. For example, reference is made to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-68811. Forming a layer (a white toner image) such as an underlayer of an image layer (color toner images) with use of the white toner allows for reduction in an influence exerted by a ground color of a recording medium (a transfer member) that, for example, may have a color tone or may be made of a transparent material, and allows for improvement in color development accordingly.


A circuit (100) has a pull-up transistor (110), a pull-down transistor (120), an input driver (200). The pull transistors (110, 120) pull an output line (102) to first or second reference lines (101, 103). The output line (102) can assume a potential higher than the potential at the first reference line (101). The circuit (100) further comprises protection transistors (150, 160, 170, 180). The protection transistors compare the potential at the output line (102) with the potential at the first reference line (101). The protection transistors keep a substrate line (106) of the pull-up transistor (110) at the potential of the output line (102) or at the potential of the first reference line (101), whichever is higher.

Users of modern electronic devices, such as, for example, portable computers, mobile phones, accessories therefore, etc. appreciate robustness and high reliability, long battery lifetimes, compatibility between the devices and other features. Advances in very large scale integration (VLSI) fabrication techniques for integrated circuits (IC) are often based on reduced transistor dimensions (e.g., channel length) without a proportional scaling of the supply voltages. The reduction of critical transistor dimensions results in a significant increase of the electrical fields in the transistors. Also, circuits with different supply voltages might be connected to each other. For example, a first circuit (hereinafter conveniently called "interface") operates at a low supply voltage VCCL (e.g., 3.3 volts, "L" for "low") and controls a second circuit (e.g., a computer) operating at a higher supply voltage VCCH (e.g., 5 volts, "H" for "high"). The computer might from time to time pull outputs nodes of the interface to the high voltage VCCH. Thereby, the voltage VCCH from the computer goes partly into the interface and becomes an "overvoltage" for the interface. To avoid damages at, for example, output transistors at the interface, a further propagation of the high voltage VCCH should be avoided. The output transistors themselves should also accommodate VCCH. Leakage currents flow from the computer (at VCCH) back to the interface (at VCCL) and contribute to parasitic power consumption. The interface should be protected from overvoltages even if its supply voltage is grounded (at e.g., zero volts) or floating.
CMOS-circuits have inherently parasitic bipolar transistors and thyristors which form silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR). Under overvoltage conditions, these SCR can cause unwanted effect known as "latch-up". The following references give more details: [1] Whitaker, J. C. (editor): "The Electronics Handbook", Technical Press, Beaverton, Oreg., 1996, ISBN 0-8493-8345-5, chapter 47.3 "CMOS Logic" on pages 679-683; and [2] Horowitz, P., Hill, W.: "The Art of Electronics", Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, 1989, ISBN 0-521-37095-7, chapter 14.16 "Keeping CMOS Low Power" on pages 970-974. Circuits are, for example, described in European Patent 414 353 B 1 to Lundberg [3]; and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,698 to Taylor [4]. Some circuits employ enhancement and depletion transistors. Such solutions require cost intensive manufacturing steps to implement the depletion transistors.
Hence, the present invention seeks to provide an improved circuit and a method which mitigate or avoid these and other disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.