A device (such as a printer or a network device that may be connected to the printer) that is connected to a network and which performs secure operations using an existing encryption keypair maintained within the device, generates a new encryption keypair within the device by receiving a request from another device on the network to provide an encryption key of the existing encryption keypair to the another device. In response to the request, the device determines whether an encryption key of the existing encryption keypair within the device is valid. In a case where it is determined that the encryption key of the existing encryption keypair is invalid, the device automatically deletes each key of the existing encryption keypair from the device, generates a new encryption keypair within the device and stores the new encryption keypair in the device. The device then provides a new encryption key corresponding to the requested encryption key of the new encryption keypair to another device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns automatic generation of a new encryption keys when existing keys are found to be corrupt. More particularly, the present invention concerns a device determining whether an existing encryption keypair is valid, and if not, automatically deleting the existing encryption keypair from the device, generating a new encryption keypair within the device itself, and notifying another device on a network that a new encryption keypair has been generated.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of encryption keys for secure network printing applications is known. For example, it has been known to use public/private keypairs for secure printing. With this technique, a public/private keypair for the printer is generally created during the manufacturing process of the printer. The private key is generally maintained within the printer and is not divulged outside of the printer. The public key, on the other hand, is both maintained within the printer and is made available to the general public for use in transmitting secure print jobs to the printer. The printer's public key can be provided to users via any of a number of means including a public key infrastructure (PKI) or by a printer driver simply requesting the public key from the printer itself or from a secure print server. Once the printer's public key has been obtained, a printer driver uses the public key to encrypt a symmetric key, which is used to encrypt print data and transmits the encrypted print job to the printer. Upon receiving the encrypted print job, the printer uses its private key of the public/private keypair to decrypt the public key and to obtain the symmetric key, which the printer then uses to decrypt the print data.
While this system has worked somewhat well, problems arise when the printer's public and/or private keys have become corrupt. In a case where the printer's public key has become corrupt in the printer, the printer will no longer be able to provide the public key to additional clients. While clients already in possession of the printer's original public key will still be able to use it to encrypt future jobs, which the printer will be able to successfully decrypt, no additional clients will be able to obtain the key and thus encrypt print jobs directed to this printer. In a case where the printer's private key has become corrupt, the printer driver may not be aware that the key is corrupt and may send a print job to the printer using the printer's public key, which is associated with the corrupt private key. In this case, the printer will be unable to decrypt the print job using the corrupt private key and as a result, the print job generally fails.
It is also possible that the printer's public key, after having been obtained by a client and stored locally in the client, may become corrupt in the client. To address the concern, it has been proposed to validate the locally stored public key in the client before submitting the print job to the printer. In this case, the printer driver in the client retrieves the locally stored public key and performs a validation (integrity) check on the public key by performing a hashing algorithm over the key and comparing the resultant hash value with a hash value of the key that was generated and stored locally in the client when the key was first created. If the printer driver is unable to validate the printer's public key, the print job is terminated by the printer driver and the user is notified of a printing error. As a result, the printer driver cannot process secure print jobs.
However, in the case where either the printer's public or private key becomes corrupt in the printer, it is generally assumed that a hardware failure has occurred within the printer and that the security hardware needs to be replaced. Of course, it may also be possible for an administrator to correct the problem by installing a new keypair in the printer rather than replacing the hardware, and notifying the public that the printer's public key has changed. However, both of the foregoing correction processes involve relatively significant printer downtime to either replace the printer's hardware or to install new keys. Thus, the printer is unusable, particularly for printing secure print jobs, until the error can be corrected.

Automatic generation of a new encryption key


A method and apparatus for performing bandedge equalization. Specifically, the apparatus contains a pre-equalizer for adjusting the amplitudes of the bandedges of a broadband signal in response to a control signal. A bandedge filter is connected to the pre-equalizer and extracts a bandedge signal from the broadband signal. Lastly, a bandedge signal processor that is connected to the bandedge filter generates the control signal in response to said bandedge signal. In this manner, when the bandedges of the broadband signal are asymmetric, the apparatus adjusts the signal strength of each bandedge with respect to one another to equalize (balance) the bandedges. The balanced signal can then be used by a bandedge timing recovery circuit. As such, the accuracy of a bandedge timing recovery circuit is not impacted by the asymmetric bandedges of the input signal.

A conventional digital information transmission system contains a data source, a transmitter, a transmission medium, and a receiver. Illustratively, in a digital television system, the data source is a digitized audio-video signal, the transmitter contains a plurality of application encoders (e.g., a video signal encoder, an audio signal encoder, and a system control information encoder), a transport encoder for packetizing and multiplexing the encoded signals and an M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulator. The transmission medium is typically a cable network or wireless path.
The receiver in a digital television system contains a demodulator for demodulating the QAM signal, a transport decoder for depacketizing and demultiplexing the encoded signals, a plurality of application decoders, and a presentation device for displaying the information from the data source to a user, e.g., the presentation device can be a conventional television. The demodulator produces a serial baseband digital signal (a bit stream containing packetized and multiplexed digital information). As is well-known in the art, the demodulator accomplishes carrier recovery, signal equalization, packet synchronization and the like, to generate a useful baseband digital signal. The baseband signal must be further processed by a transport decoder to extract from the baseband signal the video, audio and timing information within the data packets.
In a digital information transmission system employing bandedge timing recovery, an imbalance in the amplitudes of the upper and lower bandedge signal strength causes "stress" or jitter in the timing recovery circuitry. To produce jitter-free timing signals, such timing recovery circuitry rely on constant or near constant signal strength at both bandedges. If the incoming signal becomes attenuated, in some cases a 10 db difference between upper and lower bandedge signal strength can occur for broadband signals, timing signals are no longer produced in a jitter-free manner and the demodulator may be "thrown out of sync" with the rest of the system resulting in a degraded or non-existent baseband signal.
For example, in wireless communication systems, as the carrier frequency increases, the impact of multipath attenuation becomes more pronounced. Traditional equalizers in these types of systems can easily compensate for multipath attenuation by employing some standard form of closed end cancellation to eliminate the reflected signal that causes the incident signal attenuation. However, for broadband signals, a conventional equalizer does not compensate for different attenuation at each bandedge, e.g., an imbalanced bandedge signal strength. Consequently, the timing loop becomes "stressed" when the imbalanced signals are received. This results in jitter or unevenly spaced intervals of the timing signals. Properly spaced timing signals are critical to the optimal operation of the receiver.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a method and apparatus that can autobalance the amplitudes of the bandedges of the incoming signal to reduce timing signal jitter caused by an imbalance in amplitudes of the upper and low bandedge signals.

Method and apparatus for performing bandedge equalization


A fluorescent probe for measuring magnesium ion, which can selectively form a complex with magnesium ion in aqueous system is disclosed. The fluorescent probe for measuring magnesium ion according to the present invention has the structure represented by the following Formula [I]:

Methods for quantifying magnesium ion in a sample includes a method using an ion-selective electrode, and atomic absorption method. Ion-selective electrode is a sensor which selectively responds to the target ion and converts the response to electrochemical information, and the ion activity is determined from the response potential. Atomic absorption method is a method in which vaporized metal atoms are irradiated with a light having a specific wavelength and the metal atoms are quantified from the amount of the absorption. Both of these methods have good sensitivity and accuracy. However, it is pointed out that these methods require pretreatment, and real time monitoring cannot be carried out.
On the other hand, similar to the above-mentioned atomic absorption method, methods for quantifying the target substance in a sample utilizing the process of absorption of light or emission of light by the substance are now rapidly developing with the development of spectroscopy. Among these, fluorometry is now widely used as one of the methods enabling trace of kinetic behavior of metal ions in the body, because the pretreatment is simple, real-time measurement can be attained, and because of the rapid progress of the measuring apparatuses such as fluorescence microscope and confocal laser microscope. Particularly, fluorescent probes for measuring calcium ion have the largest share in this field, and a number of calcium ion-selective fluorescent probes have been synthesized. By virtue of these probes, the kinetic behaviors of magnesium ions in the cells of nerve, muscle and organs are imaged, and so the probes greatly contribute to the fields of medicine and biology.
Magnesium ion is an important metal ion in the body, which acts as a buffering agent, and which controls enzyme reactions and photosynthesis reactions in green plants. In case of the above-mentioned calcium ion, a wide variety of fluorescent pigment molecules have been developed and the behaviors of calcium ions in the body have been clarified. In contrast, no effective fluorescent probe for magnesium ion has been developed. The reasons therefor include that the hydration energy of magnesium ion is greater than that of calcium ion so that a large binding constant cannot be obtained in water, and that competition reaction by calcium ions occurs, so that a complex cannot be formed selectively with magnesium ion.

Fluorescent probe for magnesium ion determination

Abstract: (wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom, metal atom or an ester-forming group; A represents a group which forms a ring structure together with carbon atom 1 and carbon atom 2; and X is a fluorescent group which may form a condensed ring together with the ring containing the group A).

Japan Science and Technology Corporation

The Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology Foundation


A hollow fan blade for the fan of an aircraft engine includes a blade base section (2) and a blade tip section (5) which are assembled at opposing faying surfaces (6, 6′) by a joining process. Starting from the respective faying surface, cavities (7, 9) are produced in the two blade portions (2, 5) which are dimensioned in accordance with the loads occurring in the respective blade areas. The joining weld (4) is in a low-loaded area. The blade base section and the blade tip section can be constructed of solid material with formed-in cavities. The blade tip section can also be a sheet-metal structure.

This invention relates to a hollow fan blade for the fan of an aircraft engine with cavities provided in the blade for weight reduction and, further, to a method for the manufacture of such a blade.
The fan blades are the foremost rotating components of an aircraft engine and are, therefore, subject to considerable loads by ingested foreign bodies, such as birds, primarily in the take-off phase. In order to withstand the extremely high loads, the fan blades are made of a high-strength metal, metal alloy or fiber-reinforced polymer with metallic leading edge protection and dimensioned adequately. Such solid blades are, on the one hand, very costly due to the high amount of expensive material invested and, on the other hand, the mechanical loads arising from natural vibrations, vibration amplitude and centrifugal forces are high. Furthermore, the fan containments must be dimensioned commensurate with the high weight of solid blades, this entailing a further increase in weight of the aircraft engine and additional costs.
For high-power aircraft engines, hollow fan blades, i.e. fan blades with inner cavities, have already been developed to save weight and to avoid the disadvantages resulting from a high weight. The known hollow blades according to Patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,881 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,186, for example, which are known as fabricated structures, require, however, complicated and accordingly costly forming and joining techniques for their production.
It has also been proposed to provide the blade with long cavities originating at the blade tip and extending towards the blade root and to produce these cavities by means of known material removal processes, such as ECM (electro-chemical machining) or EDM (electro-discharge machining). This method, or the blades produced by this method, is/are, however, disadvantageous in that the cavities, due to the curvature of the blades, can only be produced in a limited tip area, as a result of which the weight saving and cost reduction effect is minimal.

Hollow fan blade for aircraft engines and method for its manufacture


An apparatus for adjusting the tension on a heating filament in a reactor used in carbon deposition on a substrate via chemical-vapor deposition is disclosed, as is a method for preventing breakage of the filaments during operation. The apparatus comprises a force regulator attached to an array of heating filaments. Preferably, the force regulator is adjustable and is adjusted prior to reactor operation and/or periodically or continuously as the filaments lengthen due to carburization in the carbon-vapor environment of the reactor. The adjustable force regulator attached to an array of filaments enables effective regulation of the force on a filament during reactor operation and provides an easily-maintained reactor with quick turn-around time between cycles of use.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for making diamond-coated tools.
Diamond-coating of tools has been performed for a number of years. Diamond-coating provides a strong and highly abrasive tool useful for cutting or otherwise abrading surfaces.
One method of making a diamond-coated tool utilizes chemical-vapor deposition of carbon onto a substrate under conditions that are sufficient to grow diamond on the surface of the substrate. Typically, substrates to be diamond-coated are placed in a batch reactor in close proximity to several resistance heating filaments, and the reactor is slowly heated to the appropriate temperature. A mixture of hydrogen and hydrocarbon gas such as methane is heated to at least the temperature at which hydrogen gas dissociates and forms elemental hydrogen. Elemental hydrogen reacts with the hydrocarbon to form elemental carbon, and when this hot gaseous mixture is circulated around the substrate, carbon is deposited on the substrate.
Several factors are important to successfully deposit carbon and grow diamond on the substrate's surface. The gases immediately surrounding the substrate must be hot enough to dissociate hydrogen and subsequently assist formation of elemental carbon. The substrate must also be sufficiently hot for a period which is long enough to affix elemental carbon to the substrate's surface or to other carbon deposited on the tool and to crystallize the carbon into diamond. The temperature at which the reaction occurs must be closely controlled to optimize diamond growth. The integrity of the resistance heating filaments is thus critical in achieving and maintaining the correct temperature for the duration of the reaction. If a heating filament breaks or sags, the temperature in the vicinity of the heating element drops, thereby creating unanticipated thermal gradients in the reactor and introducing substandard conditions for carbon deposition and diamond growth.
The condition and position of heating elements is therefore a critical factor in diamond growth. Resistance heating filaments are delicate and are easily broken during installation, heat-up, and/or normal operation of the reactor. Typical resistance heating filaments are approximately 0.002-0.06 cm thick and 30 cm long. Filaments expand when heated from room temperature to their typical operating temperature of 2500.degree. C. and are thus subject to thermally-induced stresses that can break the filaments. Also, during carbon deposition, resistance heating filaments can react with carbon-bearing gases contacting the filaments and form a carbide, further lengthening and embrittling the filaments. It has been reported in the literature that typical tungsten resistance heating filaments expand about 20% in length because of carburization. Filaments can sag or droop and short-out because of contact with a ground source such as the reactor floor or structure. Further, filaments that are not taut are more likely to break because of vibrations that are naturally present in the reactor. Thus, heating filament expansion and breakage is a major source of inconsistent carbon deposition and diamond growth, and filament breakage is a major contributor to substandard diamond-coated cutting and abrading tools. Carburization of heating filaments usually requires new heating filaments to be installed after a batch of tools is made.
There have been a number of attempts to control filament breakage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,499 states that vertical, pre-stressed, curved filaments alleviate filament breakage or filament/filament or filament/substrate contact and thereby compensate for thermal expansion and expansion caused by filament carburization. The filaments are typically prestressed in a suitable jig. However, this method is expected to result in significant breakage of brittle filaments such as tungsten filaments during the pre-stressing step, thereby adding to the cost of producing diamond-coated tools. Also, the bends introduced into the filaments would be expected to be mechanically weak, resulting in more filament breakage in use in the reactor than straight filaments would provide. It is also anticipated that these bends create internal stresses in the filaments that, upon heating, cause the filaments to bend in unexpected and unwanted directions, thereby misaligning the filaments. Further, these curved filaments are mounted to non-adjustable fixed electrodes on each end, causing the filaments to bend even more as they gain mass and length due to carburization.
A further attempt to reduce the incidence of filament breakage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,592. '592 states that a vertical heating-element may be maintained without coiling and without flexing when connected to a counterbalancing weight assembly.
The '592 counterbalancing weight assembly is a complex assembly that is unadjustable during use and that consists of numerous elements. A filament tensioning rod runs through a low-friction bearing said to have axial and longitudinal freedom of movement. The tensioning rod is connected to a single filament on one end and to a lever arm on the other end. The lever arm has a counterweight on the end opposite to the end to which the tensioning rod is attached, and the lever arm is suspended about a fulcrum point by a cable. The mass of the lever-arm counterweight is determined by the mass of the tensioning rod and the distances of counterweight and tensioning rod from the fulcrum point. The cable suspending the assembly rides on a pulley and has a second counterweight attached to the cable that equals the sum of the tensioning rod and counterweight masses. The pulley suspends the whole assembly of cable, counterweights, lever arm, and tensioning rod in mid-air.
This counterbalancing weight assembly is expected to have numerous problems. First, the entire assembly is suspended in mid-air and is thus prone to rocking, swaying, and/or pivoting in any environment but one in which the air around the assembly is absolutely quiescent. A completely quiescent environment is quite difficult to achieve, especially since the '592 assembly is connected to a heated oven that creates natural convection currents in the air around the outside of the oven and around the counterbalancing weight assembly. Vibration from associated equipment will also invariably be transmitted into the counterweight assembly through the pulley, the reactor, or the air around the counterweight assembly. The '592 assembly is analogous to a dumbbell suspended from a cable, which cable is slung over a pulley and to which cable a mass equal to the dumbbell's mass is suspended. Any external forces that are transmitted to the suspended dumbbell set it into motion that is difficult to stop because of the large moment of inertia of a dumbbell. The rocking dumbbell is essentially free to pivot about the fulcrum in any manner. The dumbbell can rock up and down about the fulcrum; it can swing in an arc from side to side at the end of the cable; it can pivot about the cable; or it can make any combination of these movements. Any of these movements would be expected to induce significant forces (compression or tension) into the delicate filament attached to the end of the tensioning rod, subjecting the filament to stresses that could easily cause failure of the filament during reactor operation.
The '592 counterweight assembly also has no provisions to overcome hysteresis inherent in its design. The low-friction bearing disclosed in the '592 assembly has two-dimensional freedom of movement, so it can accommodate radial movements and longitudinal movements of the tensioning rod. However, the bearing cannot accommodate a three-dimensional motion such as a rocking motion of the assembly. The tensioning rod would likely bind in the bearing, particularly at the high temperatures to which the bearing is subjected at the reactor, until the lever arm moved to a position where the tensioning rod was no longer binding in the bearing. Then, the force would suddenly be instantaneously relieved axially and/or longitudinally. This could subject the filament to an unwanted force of magnitude sufficient to break the filament.
An additional problem of the '592 assembly is the precision required in setting-up the assembly. The mass of each counterweight must be precisely controlled, and the pivot point must also be precisely positioned to establish a balanced system and to prevent the assembly from subjecting the filament to a substantial and incorrect force during reactor operation.
Also, each '592 counterweight assembly is attached to only one filament. Typical reactors utilize at least eight to ten filaments and can have approximately 30 or more filaments, which are all replaced after a batch of diamond-coated tools are produced. Thus, many counterweight assemblies must be precisely fabricated or overhauled for each run, and after each run, the assemblies must again be precisely reconstructed and adjusted. The '592 counterweight assembly would consequently require substantial maintenance and adjustment between batches.
The '592 counterweight assembly is subject to many problems that would limit the system's ability to prevent premature breakage of filaments. The '592 patent states that "an appropriate system of spring biasing means may be employed to reduce the tension on [the] heater filament . . . to 0 at its incandescent temperature[,]" but '592 is silent on what the "appropriate system of spring biasing means" might be.
Another attempt to prevent filament breakage during operation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,986. This system utilize a plurality of reactor-enclosed spring means attached to an equal plurality of movable electrodes to maintain an equal number of filaments taut. This system has numerous shortcomings.
Each spring is attached at one end to a fixed frame contained within the reactor and at its other end to its own movable electrode, also contained within the reactor. Each electrode is attached to a single filament. Each spring is presumably pre-tensioned prior to sealing the reactor and operating it. There are no provisions to allow adjusting the tension on filaments after servicing the reactor and closing it. There especially is no provision to adjust each steel spring as it carburizes and hardens in the hot carbon-bearing gases present in the reactor. The '986 patent recognizes that over-tensioning the spring can occur and provides a plug attached to each delicate filament in an attempt to prevent over-tensioning of the filament by the spring. However, if this plug is not precisely adjusted, the filament will be over-tensioned or under-tensioned at some point in its operating cycle, and if the set-screw for the plug is over-tightened, the filament is weakened.
Since there are multiple filaments, there are many opportunities to incorrectly adjust a plug and cause premature filament breakage. Each time that the filaments and/or springs are changed, the plug positions must be adjusted. Any variations in spring length, spring constant, or filament length used from one batch of tools to the next requires compensation for and adjustment of each new spring and filament. Further, the multiple spring, electrode, and guide bearing assemblies of the '986 patent require more time to be spent maintaining the reactor between cycles and provide more opportunities for equipment failure during operation.
The electrode and spring design in the '986 reactor also can create substantial vibrations in the filaments during reactor operation. Current passing through the filaments creates strong electric and magnetic fields around each filament, and the fields of adjacent filaments interact to repel the filaments from each other. The small electrode and flexible spring on the end of each filament allow fairly free lateral movement of that end of the filament. Thus, the free ends of the filaments can be whipped about by the electric and magnetic fields induced by flowing current, causing the filaments to vibrate strongly if the spring on each filament is only designed to absorb the growth of the filament. Thus, strong vibrations and consequent filament failure must be accepted, or springs must be selected to exert a much stronger force on the filaments to restrict the amount of vibration as well as to compensate for filament growth. Even with a stronger spring, the filaments in the '986 reactor experience vibrational forces in all directions, especially at locations near the ends of the filaments, creating stresses in the filaments that can break them. Because of stronger springs, the filaments are also subjected to more tension in the '986 reactor than would be present in a reactor designed to minimize such vibrations and which has to compensate primarily for filament growth. This additional tension can also contribute to failure of the hair-like heating filaments.
The '986 reactor has another short-coming. The copper power-supply braid attached to each movable electrode must be a fairly substantial braid in order to supply large quantities of power and also to withstand the high temperatures present near the 2000-2500.degree. C. filaments. The braid adds weight that the spring must overcome, and differences in braid weight must be taken into account when adjusting each filament/spring assembly between batches. Further, the braid can bind, especially at elevated temperatures, causing unpredictable stresses that the spring must try to overcome to maintain its filament taut.
The filament and reactor designs discussed previously have not provided designs that both adequately address premature filament breakage and provide a system that can be easily maintained and quickly fitted with new filaments between batches. In the '499 patent, the bowed filaments bow out even further and in unpredictable directions because carburization lengthens the filaments, creating more force on the filaments at the bend points (compressive force on the inside sections of the bends and tension on the outside sections of the bends) and causing misalignment of the filaments. In the '592 patent, the multiple counterweight balances are a maintenance-intensive system for tensioning filaments, and uncontrolled forces are easily introduced by normal operating conditions such as vibration and high temperature present at the reactor. In the '986 patent, many springs, electrodes, filaments, power-supply braids, and over-tension plugs must be changed and/or adjusted between batches, the filaments fatigue from substantial forces in varying directions because of vibration and/or strong spring tension, and carburization changes the spring constant of each spring during reactor operation. The prior art has not provided an easily-maintained reactor that effectively solves the problem of carburization of filaments and other components present in the reactor.
Therefore, one object of this invention is to provide an apparatus that can maintain a substantially constant force on the filaments in an array during operation of the filaments. Another object of this invention is to provide a simple, adjustable apparatus for maintaining a substantially constant force on filaments in an array over the life of the filaments, which apparatus requires little maintenance and equipment set-up between cycles. A further object of this invention is to provide a force on filaments in an array that is parallel to the axes of the filaments. These and other objects are apparent from the disclosure herein.

Reactor having an array of heating filaments and a filament force regulator


A semiconductor memory device and an operating method thereof are provided. The semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory groups each including at least a drain-select transistor and a plurality of memory cells, a voltage generator suitable for generating a read voltage that is to be applied to a selected memory cell of the memory cells and a pass voltage that is to be applied to unselected memory cells other than the selected memory cell among the memory cells, and a control logic suitable for controlling the voltage generator to generate the pass voltage to have different levels depending on a distance between the drain-select transistor and the selected memory cell during a read operation.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor memory device and an operating method thereof.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor memory device is implemented using a semiconductor, such as silicon (Si) germanium (Ge), gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), etc. The semiconductor memory device is mainly classified into a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory.
The volatile memory is a memory device, which loses stored data when power is interrupted. Examples of the volatile memory include a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc. The nonvolatile memory is a memory device, which maintains stored data even when power is interrupted. Examples of the nonvolatile memory include a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), etc. The flash memory is mainly divided into a NOR type flash memory and a NAND type flash memory.
Such a semiconductor memory device has been reduced in size, and the size of components inside the semiconductor memory device has also been reduced. For example, the size of a memory cell in the semiconductor memory device is reduced and a width of a bit line connected to the memory cell is also reduced. Accordingly, environments of inducing cell currents Icell in a programming operation process and a read operation process are changed. When a read operation of the semiconductor memory device is performed, a value of the cell current is incorrectly read. For example, the value of the cell current may be read to be greater than it is, which is referred to as a Back Pattern Dependency phenomenon. This may degrade the operation reliability.

Semiconductor memory device and operating method thereof


Embodiments of the disclosure provide a transfusion guiding robot and a guiding method for guiding a movement of a transfused person. The transfusion guiding robot comprises a controller, a moving portion and a fixing portion. The controller is configured to receive and process instruction information, and control the transfusion guiding robot according to the instruction information; the moving portion is configured to move according to a command from the controller; and the fixing portion is configured to fix a container, a height of the fixing portion being adjustable.

In modern medicine, transfusion is an important part of drug treatment. Taking antibiotic treatment as an example, in the United Kingdom, approximate 40% of patients treated with antibiotics are administrated via transfusion. Although doctors will try to dispense oral medications once the patient's condition improves, the transfusions are often the first choice for treatment.

Transfusion guiding robot and guiding method


A wireless fire alarm door unlocking system includes a remote alarm panel interface to receive information from a central alarm panel interface over an RF channel. The central alarm panel interface monitors an output from an alarm control panel and, when an alarm condition is asserted, initiates an unlock signal that is sent to the remote alarm panel interface. It in turn causes the door with which it is associated to unconditionally release to allow unimpeded entrance and exit. The system also monitors the status of the remove alarm panel interface and raises an alert in the event of a malfunction. The interface may be implemented as a hardware and software modification to an access control system or as separate components that coexist with an access control system on a non-interfering basis.

The present invention relates to a wireless security access control system that grants or denies access to a user seeking access to a facility. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of unlocking electrically secured doors controlled by a wireless security access control system in the event of an activation of an alarm condition.
Modern day commercial facilities are required by building codes to have alarm control systems to detect hazardous events and to warn the inhabitants of the facility of the occurrence of a dangerous condition. Such systems generally consist of a collection of sensors that detect the hazardous condition, an alarm control panel that serves as a central coordination and distribution point; and a collection of alarm devices that provide sensory warnings to the facility occupants. Such hazardous conditions may include, but not be limited to, fires, toxic fumes, carbon monoxide, radiation, and toxic chemical releases. For example, in a typical fire alarm control system, a collection of smoke and/or heat detectors may be installed at strategic locations throughout the facility to detect a fire. These are connected to a fire alarm control panel (FACP). A number of alarms such as lights, horns, sirens, and the like are also installed at strategic locations, so that when a sensor detects the presence of fire, it triggers the appropriate alarm device(s) through the FACP. Such triggers are generally provided as outputs from the FACP that actuate an alarm device. In addition, such alarm control systems are hardwired to release devices on the doors to automatically release the doors in the event that they are secured at the time of the hazardous condition.
Some modern day commercial facilities may also have access control systems installed to provide positive control of entrance and exits, i.e. doors, using electrically actuated locks. These locks permit controlled access to areas by requiring the person who desires entrance to present an access means that is recognized by the access control system, whereupon the lock will release and allow the person to enter. Such access means may include the presentation of a coded personnel access device, such as a magnetically or digitally encoded card or tag, or the manual entry of a numeric code on a keypad located adjacent to the door. When the access means is presented to the access control system at the door, a door controller or computer validates the access means and temporarily unlocks the door if the access means is valid.
A system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,861 to Rodenbeck et al., discloses a system that uses wireless means to communicate between system components. In this system, a centrally located computer communicates with a remote access controller located at each door for which controlled access is desired. The computer communicates by means of a remote wireless communicator, receives requests from the remote access controllers, validates the code presented by the person desiring access, and provides access information to the remote access controller allowing it to open the door. The remote wireless communicator communicates via radio frequency (RF) media, and preferably by spread-spectrum RF. However, this arrangement does not address other wireless means for allowing the remote access controller to operate, such as activation by a fire or other catastrophic event.
Many municipal building codes require an automatic unlock at all exit doors when the building fire alarm system is activated. Typically, a hardwired alarm system is installed in public buildings such as theaters, restaurants, etc., to handle this, along with possibly a sprinkler system. If such an alarm control panel is already in place within a facility and a hardwired access control system is to be installed, then installation of the hardwired access control system is relatively easy since the cables can generally be piggy-backed with the existing cable runs for the alarm control panel and both hardwired systems may be wired to actuate the same door unlocking mechanism. However, the installation of additional cabling for the access control system involves higher labor costs and costs for the wiring.
If a wireless access control system is to be installed, then an opportunity is presented to dispense with the cabling of the alarm control system and take advantage of the wireless access control system for performing all communication with the door unlocking mechanism. The wireless access control system generally interfaces with the alarm control panel by providing an input at each door to which the wire from the alarm control panel may be connected. This input is intended to bypass the access control system and to directly open the electronic lock associated with the door, without any direct interaction with the access control system. However, this method still requires the installation of an alarm control system with wiring to each of the doors. Furthermore, if there is any failure of the alarm control system circuitry or associated devices, there is no indication of the failure that would allow remedial action to be taken.
As can be seen, there is a need for a wireless door unlocking interface that can be integrated with an access control system and configured to present alarm control panels to provide the capability of unlocking electronically secured doors in the event of an emergency. The door unlocking interface should also be wireless to eliminate the need for expensive cabling and to provide for ease in installation. The door unlocking interface should also have a self-test capability that would notify maintenance personnel of malfunctions to ensure that the equipment is operating properly in case of an emergency.

Wireless fire alarm door unlocking interface


A carrier for a laser diode bar comprises a generally rectangularly shaped block formed from a dielectric material having a high thermal conductivity. The block includes a stepped recess formed therein having a height essentially equal to one half the height of a laser diode bar to be mounted thereon. An assembly for mounting a laser diode bar comprises a pair of carriers in contact with one another and oriented such that their stepped recesses are in facing relationship to one another. A laser diode bar is positioned between the carriers in the space left by their combined stepped recesses. A plurality of assemblies may be placed in contact with or separated from one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser diode arrays. More specifically, the present invention relates to structures and methods for mounting laser diode arrays.
2. The Prior Art
Most laser diodes, particularly those operating at high power are typically mounted by soldering the laser diode or laser diode array to a heat spreader formed from a thermally conductive material such as diamond or copper. The heat spreader is itself fixed to a sub-mount formed from a thermally conductive material such as copper. This final assembly is attached to a finned heat sink or a thermal electric cooler. The sizes and shapes of the various pieces and overall assembly can vary depending on the application.
Most of the design considerations for a particular mounting scheme are as much concerned with ease of assembly as with efficiency of heat removal. Because only the D.C. electrical characteristics and not light output of an individual laser diode can be tested in wafer form, individual laser diodes are typically mounted on the heat spreader and/or sub-mount and are then tested before committing to final assembly. This two-step assembly procedure is important in order to maintain acceptable yield. Rework, necessitated by a poor or inoperative individual laser diode in a laser diode array, is expensive after final assembly; thus the mounting components and procedures are designed so that the laser can be tested optically as soon as possible and subsequent handling of the laser itself is minimized. Relative and absolute thermal expansion of the parts is important in applications such as fiber-optic communications where alignment and stability is important.
For high power applications, such as diode-pumped YAG lasers requiring concentrated high intensity laser radiation sources, such as laser diode arrays which may have many (50-100) emitting regions in a single 1 cm by 0.08 cm bar, a "rack and stack" approach is often employed which is extremely effective for removing high heat flux.
The laser diode array is soldered to a heat spreader which carries the heat from the device to a cooled backplane which acts as the heat sink removing the heat. The basic rack and stack unit is repeated by stacking units one above another, resulting in a very compact concentrated high power laser light source with very high heat removal capability. Sometimes an insulating spacer is mounted on top of the heat spreader to aid in assembly and to act as a wire bonding pad. As discussed above with the conventional mount, the laser diode array is first attached to a heat spreader or sub-mount which facilitates optical testing before final assembly. Once the laser diode array optical performance is confirmed, the bars are then attached to the heat sink, a difficult process when many bars are stacked on top of one another. In addition, since electrical current passes top to bottom through the laser diode array, care must be taken not to electrically short the laser diode array and to isolate it properly from the other laser diode arrays and the heat sink.
Because the laser diode arrays used in these applications dissipate large amounts of heat into small areas, the heat spreader must have good thermal properties as well as allow easy test and mounting. The heat sinks or cooled backplanes to which the mounted laser diode array is attached must be able to remove large quantities of heat from a small area. The advanced heat sinks used in these applications are typically impingement coolers or microchannel coolers. The impingement cooler sprays a cooling fluid directly against the backplane and is then recirculated through another cooling stage. A microchannel cooler, shown in the schematic above, circulates a fluid through narrow channels etched in a material such as silicon. Properly designed, these devices can handle considerable heat fluxes.
In one instance, developed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, a rack and stack mounting scheme has been developed where the heat sink to which the laser diode array is attached is itself a microchannel cooler. Thus in the rack and stack embodiment, laser diode arrays are mounted on individual microchannel coolers and this assembly stacked up. This requires solving complex design problems on how to get high pressure cooling fluid efficiently to all the coolers and how to channel electrical current through the coolers themselves.
In view of the state of the art, there exists a need for providing a structure and method for mounting an array of laser diode emitters which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art, which include difficulty of assembly leading to high cost and low yield, and the difficulty with working with high thermal conductivity materials to form rack and stack components.
It is an object of the present invention to improve heat removal from laser diode arrays.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce laser diode array assembly complexity and to reduce yield losses during laser diode array assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to improve mechanical alignment precision of laser diode arrays, and to reduce the complexity of power supply metallization patterning for laser diode arrays.

Structure and method for mounting laser diode arrays


A thermostat comprising an audible alarm or LCD, and sensing means for sensing at least one signal from at least one external carbon monoxide detector. The thermostat is configured to change the temperature setting to 50xc2x0 F., and to trigger the audible alarm or flash a warning on the LCD display when receiving a signal from at least one carbon monoxide detector indicating the presence of a harmful level of carbon monoxide. The heating system""s operation is not disabled but rather reduced to prevent potential freezing damage. The thermostat would continue the audible alarm, flashing warning and 50xc2x0 F. temperature setting until it is reset.

This invention relates to carbon monoxide warning systems, and in particular, to systems for alerting an occupant of an excessive level of carbon monoxide gas.
As a result of the increased concern over the dangers of carbon monoxide, many types of carbon monoxide detectors are currently available for sale to the public. These devices typically include a detection circuit that triggers an audible alarm to alert occupants of a harmful level of carbon monoxide gas. To provide further protection to the occupant, improvements have been made to disable the operation of gas-fired heaters, which may potentially be the source of the carbon monoxide gas. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,296 issued to Lewkowicz, or in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,243 issued to Gallo. However, upon detecting the presence of carbon monoxide gas, these devices either disable the operation of a thermostat connected to a heating system, or disable the flow of natural gas to a furnace or boiler. Installing such devices in primarily unoccupied vacation homes could potentially cause freezing damage to water pipes, resulting from the disabling of heating systems. Thus, there is still a need for a device that will both alert occupants of a harmful level of carbon monoxide gas and maintain the operation of a gas-fired heating system at a reduced level, to prevent potential freezing damage and reduce the potential for further carbon monoxide production.
There is provided, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a digital thermostat comprising an LCD display or an audible alarm, and input means for receiving at least one signal from at least one carbon monoxide detector external to the thermostat. The thermostat is configured to trigger the audible alarm or flash a warning on the LCD display when receiving at least one signal from at least one carbon monoxide detector indicating the presence of a predetermined level of carbon monoxide gas. The thermostat is also configured to lower the set point temperature to approximately 50xc2x0 F. to prevent potential freezing damage to water pipes and to reduce the potential for further carbon monoxide production. The minimal set point temperature of 50xc2x0 F. could also prompt hearing-impaired occupants to view an LCD display, which would alert them of the presence of carbon monoxide gas with a flashing warning. The 50xc2x0 F. set point, audible alarm, and flashing warning would remain in effect until the thermostat is manually reset.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the digital thermostat comprises a plurality of sensing means for sensing input signals received from at least one carbon monoxide detector external to the thermostat. One such sensing means comprises a filter circuit that monitors the waveform of the current through the thermostat""s 24 VAC xe2x80x9cheat loadxe2x80x9d terminals, which connect to a furnace control that incorporates a carbon monoxide detector. The furnace control may be configured to switch or chop the 24 VAC signal to the thermostat when the carbon monoxide detector indicates the presence of a predetermined level of carbon monoxide gas. The thermostat""s filter circuit detects any high frequency fluctuations in the 24 VAC waveform generated by the furnace control and isolates the fluctuations as a signal, which may communicate the carbon monoxide level sensed by the furnace control""s carbon monoxide detector. Another sensing means comprises a microprocessor in the thermostat that senses the presence of current through a second set of input terminals, which may be connected directly to a second external carbon monoxide detector.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a thermostat that can receive signals from an external carbon monoxide detector indicating a harmful level of carbon monoxide gas, alert an occupant of the carbon monoxide, and reduce the operation of a gas-fired heating system which may potentially produce such carbon monoxide gas, without disabling the heating system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a thermostat that comprises signal input monitoring means for a plurality of carbon monoxide detectors external to the thermostat, and that is configured to trigger an audible alarm and or flashing warning on the LCD display when receiving at least one signal from said detectors indicating a harmful level of carbon monoxide gas.

Thermostat with carbon monoxide warning feature


A powder coating composition for PC strand coating which, when used for the coating of a PC strand, can advantageously form a coating film having an even thickness at low cost without causing uneven thickness or stringness is disclosed. The powder coating composition of this invention for PC strand coating is characterized by having a melt viscosity of 3,000-15,000 poise.

A prestressed concrete (hereafter referred to as "PC") has tensioned strand in the concrete at installation, which has improved resistance of crack under tension because of its compression force. Thus using the prestressed concrete can provide improved load bearing structure. Applying a synthetic adhesive resin coating with a surface of the PC strand has been conducted to improve corrosion prevention effect of the tensioned strand in the prestressed concrete.
A method of an electrostatic powder coating or an immersion coating under flowing using a powder coating composition has been generally conducted as a method for coating a PC strand with a synthetic resin. Specifically, a method for electrostatic powder coating of a strand with a partially-cured thermosetting epoxy resin is disclosed in a patent literature 1 (Japan patent publication of JP S59 (1984)-130960 A1). In addition, a method for immersion coating under flowing including heating PC strand with plural single wires mutually twisted, and attaching synthetic resin powder in a untwisted manner, heating to melt the resin powder and returning to the original twisted state is disclosed in a patent literature 2 (Japan patent publication of JP H02 (1990)-033386 A1).
However, an immersion coating under flowing of a strand with a conventional powder coating composition may often provide uneven thickness, which has various film thicknesses in a cross section of PC strand.
On the other hand, an electrostatic immersion coating under flowing, which is a combination coating method of an immersion coating under flowing and electrostatic application to a coating composition in order to improve an attachment of a coating composition, may often provide uneven thickness and stringiness. The stringiness is a phenomenon of spinning a synthetic fiber by melting coating film in a flow direction of air.
In these methods, a film thickness of more than 1200 μm is provided in a thick film part in order to fulfill a minimum film thickness within standards, which leads to high expense because of increase of attachment amount of a powder coating composition. In addition, such thick film may counteract fixing of the strand by a fix tool and sliding when the obtained PC strand is put under stress.
In order to prevent uneven thickness, an electrostatic powder coating method (hereafter referred to as "electrostatic gun powder coating") can be applied instead of the electrostatic immersion coating under flowing. The coating method however needs installation of multiple spray guns around the strand. The coating method furthermore needs sensitive control of the number of spray guns, amount of discharged coating composition from the spray guns and a discharge direction of the spray guns. Defection of such control may provide increase of used amount of a coating composition or decrease the yield caused by a fault of that thickness, which leads to high expense.    Patent literature 1: Japan patent publication of JP S59 (1984)-130960 A1    Patent literature 2: Japan patent publication of JP H02 (1990)-033386 A1

Powder coating composition for PC strand coating, coating method, and coating film


An improved steering mechanism for toy vehicles is disclosed wherein an operator merely pushes downwardly on one lateral side of the vehicle, and the vehicle is caused to turn to that side. The invention incorporates a simplified steering system, wherein an elongate member rotates with the vehicle cab, and causes the front wheels to move to a location such that the vehicle will turn in the desired direction.

This application in general relates to a toy vehicle which may be easily steered.
In the prior art, toy vehicles are often not steerable. Prior art toy vehicles that are steerable are cumbersome and difficult to use. Often, relatively complex manipulation is required to steer the vehicle. A child typically uses toy vehicles and it would be desirable that the toy vehicle be easy to steer. Further, the vehicles may often not easily turn when being pushed at a relatively high rate of speed.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to disclose a vehicle which may be easily steered by a child. Further, it is an object of the present invention to disclose a toy vehicle which turns easily when being pushed at a relatively high rate of speed.


A channel resource set indication method, a device and a computer storage medium are provided. The method includes: a terminal determines at least two resource sets, wherein different resource sets respectively correspond to different configuration information, and the configuration information includes at least one of: a DCI format type, an uplink and downlink resource proportion, and a type of a downlink control channel search space; the terminal determines first configuration information; the terminal determines a first resource set corresponding to the first configuration information from the at least two resource sets; the terminal determines a target resource in the first resource set; and the terminal transmits a signaling or data corresponding to the first configuration information on the target resource.

In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a time-frequency resource of a physical channel (such as Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) is indicated by Downlink Control Information (DCI). A scheduling granularity in time domain is a time slot or a subframe, and a scheduling bandwidth in frequency domain is a bandwidth of a whole system.
The fifth Generation mobile communication (5G) system supports more flexible scheduling, and scheduling at slot and symbol levels is supported in the time domain. A resource can be scheduled in a bandwidth part (BWP) smaller than a system bandwidth in frequency domain, and a control channel (such as Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) can also be flexibly allocated with a resource in code domain. In the 5G system, if only direct DCI is used to indicate a resource, it will bring a lot of signaling overhead. Therefore, in the 5G system, a resource allocation method in which Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration is widely used in conjunction with the DCI indication, that is, an RRC signaling is used to configure several "candidate resources", and then a specific resource is specified from this resource set through the DCI.
In existing 5G solutions, the DCI has only 2 to 4 bits used for indicating a resource in a resource set, i.e., one resource set contains only 4 to 16 candidate resources, while each type of physical channels can be only configured with one resource set. However, a resource to be scheduled includes parameters of many dimensions, including a starting time slot, a quantity of time slots, a starting symbol, a quantity of symbols, a starting Physical Resource Block (PRB), a quantity of PRBs, a code domain parameter (such as a sequence number, a cyclic shift number, an orthogonal mask number) and a frequency hopping parameter (such as whether frequency hopping is started or not, a location of the frequency domain for frequency hopping). It can be seen that one resource set including a small quantity of candidate resources cannot meet the flexible scheduling requirement, greatly limits scheduling flexibility of a system, and results in decrease of spectrum efficiency.

Channel resource set indication method and device, and computer storage medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


Methods, computer program products, and systems are presented. The method computer program products, and systems can include, for instance: (a) obtaining grooming operation scheduling data specifying a schedule of grooming operations performed by at least first and second layers of the plurality of layers; (b) identifying, using data of grooming operation scheduling data, at least one gap in the execution of scheduled operations performed by the storage system; (c) moving an execution time of one or more grooming operation of the grooming operations into said at least one gap; and (d) repeating steps (a) to (c) to adapt to a changing usage pattern of said storage system.

Commercially available unified storage systems can provide a set of utilities in one physical platform. The physical platform can include e.g. one or more server to install and run an application desired, one or more SAN switch connected to the one or more server and one or more storage virtualization appliance along with backend disk subsystems attached to them. Commercially available unified storage system can include a complete I/O stack from application layer to I/O management layer followed by the actual disk drives where the data and metadata is stored.
Commercially available unified storage systems can provide storage access at a block level and/or at a file level and can provide consolidated block and file services to clients, physical servers, and virtual servers. Commercially available unified storage systems can provide block and file services across multiple protocols often through a common interface and can support different kinds of storage including storage area networks (SANs), fiber channel, and internet small computer system interface (ISCSI) storage. Commercially available unified storage systems can accommodate file based storage methods such as network attached storage scenarios (NAS). SANs can provide a secure highspeed data transfer that provides access to consolidated block level storage.

Application and storage based scheduling

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A CPR training mannequin includes a humanoid torso, the torso composed of a material having a degree of transparency. A humanoid head is connected to the torso and has a mouth opening connected to a ventilation tube within the head. The torso is supported by resilient elements from the base to simulate resistance to chest compressions. A simulated heart and simulated lungs are arranged within the torso and are visible through the front surface of the torso. Sensors measure the air flow during CPR ventilation and depth of CPR chest compressions. Lights within the heart, brain and lungs indicate the chest compressions and ventilation are adequate to resuscitate the simulated victim.

Mannequins are used as aids in teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Students can practice and learn the proper techniques of chest compression and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (MMR) without acting on an actual patient. CPR mannequins have been known that simulate human appearance closely so that the students will be accustomed to the look and feel of performing CPR in a real life situation.
The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable if a CPR mannequin simulated the look and feel of a human while also being substantially race neutral. The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable to provide a CPR mannequin that provided immediate feedback to the CPR trainee that the CPR procedure being performed by the trainee was accomplishing the required degree of ventilation and chest compressions to revive the simulated patient. The present inventor has recognized that it would be desirable if a CPR mannequin provided immediate feedback that was observable easily by a CPR instructor in front of a class of trainees each of which is performing on a different mannequin. The present inventor has also recognized that it would be desirable if a CPR mannequin provided active feedback or interaction with the trainee that would be interesting and entertaining such as to stimulate the trainee to perform and learn to a greater degree.


A electric toothbrush attachment consisting of a miswaak element. The attachment is positioned to rotate at ninety degrees from the rotation of the arm. This motion results in a circular movement of the brush element against the surfaces of the teeth. The brush element is mounted on a disk which rotates in response to rotation of arm. The brush element may be fixed to the disk by adhesive. The brush element has a conical shaped end is left in water to provide soft bristles upon use.

This invention relates to mechanized toothbrushes, in general, and specifically to the structure and materials of the replaceable brush element.
One of the tenets of Islam is the miswaak or the use of the miswaak. This has to do with the cleansing of the teeth and mouth, including the proper ways to do so and the proper materials for use in the exercise. In some uses of the term, miswaak refers to the specific implement used for cleaning the teeth.
Miswaak can be twigs of certain trees that are used to maintain oral hygiene. Almost any type of tree may be used as long as the trees are not harmful or poisonous. Certain woods are not permitted to be used for miswaak, such as the Pomegranate, Bamboo, Raihaan, or Chambelie. Recommended woods include the Peelo tree, known botanically as azadirachta, Zaitoon or Olive tree, Bitam, Walnut or any bitter tree.
These twigs are cut to a particular size, cleaned and dried. The wood fibers extend along the length of the prepared twig.
The twigs are manually placed in the mouth and rubbed against the teeth and gums. As the saliva penetrates the wood, the end of the twig, or miswaak, becomes softened and the individual fibers separate. This moistened fibrous end performs or acts as the bristles of a toothbrush. The softening of the wood also releases the natural oils within the twig further contributing to the efficacy of the mechanical brushing.
Mechanized toothbrushes, sometimes referred to as electric toothbrushes, are well known in the toothbrush art. There are mechanized toothbrushes that have bristles mounted perpendicularly in an annular disk. The disk has a powered rotation in the same plane as the diameter of the disk. Other rotary brushes have an elongated shaft with the bristles mounted radially along the shaft. Some toothbrushes have a powered shaft that reciprocates in a plane normal to the length of the bristles mounted on the shaft.
Other mechanized toothbrushes have bristles with one end mounted in a shaft that oscillates through an arc. The radius of the arc is parallel with the length of the bristles.
Regardless of the particular movement of the bristles of the various toothbrushes, the bristles receive the most wear and must be replaced more often than the other elements of the mechanized toothbrush. Usually, the bristles are made of a material that is stiff, durable and resilient for long wear.
Ahmed et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,886, teaches the use of miswaak in a dentifrice. The dentifrice may be in the form of a tooth powder, a gel or a rinse.
Miller et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,049, discloses a chewing stick made of natural fibers. The stick may be reused, as desired.
Driesen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,990, illustrates a typical electric rotary toothbrush having a disk with one end of elongated bristles mounted on the disk. The disk rotates in the plane of the disk. Hilfinger et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,258, shows a rotary toothbrush with the bristles mounted in an elongated shaft.
Herzog, U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,856, discloses an electric toothbrush which has an oscillating motion and a rotary motion imparted to the bristles. While Hilfinger et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,558, shows a reciprocating/rotating bristle action.
All of the prior art devices are of modular construction so that the element carrying the bristles, regardless of its complexity, is replaceable. The bristles of these devices are usually made of a plastic composition.
The instant invention is an attachment to an electric toothbrush having a handle portion and a rotary arm. The brush element is constructed from the miswaak plant and is positioned to rotate at ninety degrees from the rotation of the arm. This motion results in a circular movement of the brush element against the surfaces of the teeth.
The brush element or miswaak is made from a piece of a twig from a nonpoisonous tree and mounted on a disk which rotates in response to rotation of arm. The brush element may be fixed to the disk by adhesive of a waterproof consistency allowing the brush element to remain in a soaking container between uses. The end of the brush element connected with the disk may be planar or roughened. The surface of the disk contacting the roughened brush end may be similarly shaped to form a cooperating keyed connection. The working end of the brush element has a conical depression.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to provide a replaceable brush element for mechanized toothbrushes with the brushing element in the form of a solid block of natural material which is composed of natural fibers.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to provide a brush element for electric toothbrushes with a solid block of materials that contribute to the efficacy of the brushing action. In use, the solid mass breaks down into fibrous material for more intimate contact with the teeth and releases the natural oils contained in the mass.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to teach the use of a mounted piece of wood in a brush element of a mechanized toothbrush. The wood can come from the Peelo tree, known botanically as azadirachta or salvadora persica.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.


A lighting device includes a translucent member having the same cross sectional tubular shape throughout a longitudinal direction and including a lens that includes a light incident surface for receiving incident light and a pair of light exit surface for diffusing and emitting the light incident on the light incident surface to the outside, and a light-emitting portion mounted on a substrate and emitting the light toward a region including the light incident surface of the translucent member, where in the translucent member includes a pair of light guide portions for guiding the light incident on the light incident surface to a pair of the light exit surfaces so that the light incident on the light incident surface is diffused and emitted from the pair of light exit surfaces in a width direction that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lighting device and a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, incandescent bulbs or fluorescent lamps are used as light sources of, e.g., backlights of illuminated signs and liquid crystal displays or lighting equipments, etc. In recent years, since it has become possible to output high power from LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) as a point light source and intensity of illumination usable for lighting can be obtained, LEDs have been diversified as a light source alternative to incandescent bulbs or fluorescent lamps.
A lighting device, in which an illuminated area per LED is increased, has been proposed as a device using this type of LEDs for lighting (see, e.g., JP-A-2011-14831).
The lighting device described in JP-A-2011-14831 is provided with an LED extending in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis direction (in a longitudinal direction), a substrate mounting the LED, and a lens is provided so as to seal the LED on the surface of the substrate, the lens having a shape extending along the longitudinal direction to spread light of the LED in a width direction of the LED (a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the LED and to the optical axis direction). A light incident surface of the lens is optically coupled to a light-emitting surface of the LED by a coupling member.
However, in case of the lighting device described in JP-A-2011-14831 which is configured such that a back surface of the substrate is exposed from the lens, outdoor use thereof may lead to corrosion of wiring of the substrate or short-circuit because of rain water, etc. Thus, there is a problem in waterproof properties when using the lighting device outdoors. Meanwhile, use of a cover, etc., protecting from rain water, etc., allows the lighting device to be used outdoors but causes problems of an increase in the number of components of the lighting device and the resulting complicated structure, and optical loss caused by the cover is also a problem.


Forming a thermal interface material structure includes forming an assembly that includes a thermal interface material disposed between a first mating surface and a second mating surface. The first mating surface is associated with a module lid, and the second mating surface is associated with a heat sink. Protruding surface features are incorporated onto the first mating surface or the second mating surface. The process also includes compressing the assembly to form a thermal interface material structure. The thermal interface material structure includes the thermal interface material disposed within an interface defined by the first mating surface and the second mating surface. The protruding surface features protrude from the first mating surface or the second mating surface into selected areas of the interface to limit relative movement of the mating surfaces into the selected areas during thermal cycling to reduce thermal interface material migration out of the interface.

In an electronic device, a thermal interface material (also referred to as a "TIM") is a material (e.g., a grease or a putty) that is disposed between a heat generating component of an electronic device (e.g., a die, a memory component, an inductor, etc.) and a heat dissipating component (e.g., a heat spreader or a heat sink) in order to facilitate efficient heat transfer between the heat generating component and the heat dissipating component. The powering up or powering down of the electronic device may cause temperature changes which may cause a relative motion between the heat generating component and the heat dissipating component, including in-plane motion and out-of-plane motion due to coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch. This relative motion may cause the thermal interface material to squeeze out of the interface gap. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "pump-out" of the thermal interface material and results in increased thermal resistance due to loss of material from the interface.

Thermal interface material structures including protruding surface features to reduce thermal interface material migration

International Business Machines Corporation


Various solutions for frequency domain-resource allocation (FD-RA) when frequency hopping is enabled with respect to user equipment and network apparatus in mobile communications are described. An apparatus may determine whether frequency hopping is enabled. The apparatus may determine at least one of a first coarse step size corresponding to a start of an FD-RA and a second coarse step size corresponding to a length of the FD-RA in an event that the frequency hopping is enabled. The apparatus may determine allocated resources blocks (RBs) according to at least one of the first coarse step size and the second coarse step size. The apparatus may perform a transmission on the allocated RBs.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.
In New Radio (NR), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) is supported for emerging applications that demands high requirements on end-to-end latency and reliability. A general URLLC reliability requirement is that a packet of size 32 bytes shall be transmitted within 1 millisecond end-to-end latency with a success probability of 10−5. URLLC traffic is typically sporadic and short whereas low-latency and high-reliability requirements are stringent. For example, the control reliability of URLLC has to be stricter than the data reliability which is up to 10−6 BLER.
The concept of bandwidth part (BWP) is also introduced to achieve better frequency spectrum efficiency and reduce user equipment (UE) power consumption. Carrier BWP is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks selected from a contiguous subset of the common resource blocks for a given numerology on a given carrier. Currently, the maximum size of the uplink BWP's bandwidth is 275 RBs. Thus, 16 bits RIV are enough to cover all possible combinations of starting RBs and RB lengths.
However, when frequency hopping is enabled for uplink FD-RA, it will borrow 1 or 2 bits from the frequency domain RA bit-field to indicate the hopping position. Then, only 14 bits can be used to represent the frequency allocation. Such issue will limit the size and the position of the resource allocation when frequency hopping is enabled. This will not be ideal for URLLC which requires in general large frequency allocation and more flexibility to meet the reliability and the latency requirements.
Accordingly, how to configure FD-RA when frequency hopping is enabled may become an important issue in the newly developed wireless communication network. Therefore, it is needed to provide proper schemes to determine FD-RA and avoid inefficient spectrum usage.

Method and apparatus for frequency domain resource allocation when frequency hopping is enabled in mobile communications


A portable latrine includes an annular seat that has an opening formed therein and a lip formed with a perimeter of the opening that extends downwardly and orthogonally from a seat top surface. A biodegradable sack has an elastic open top end for fitting beneath the seat opening. The elastic outer edge is adaptable between extended and retracted positions and is seated against and on top of the lip for suspending and supporting the bag therefrom. Independently pivotal support legs have opposed ends that are positional adjacent to a seat bottom surface and on a ground surface, respectively. Hinges and clamps are conjoined to the seat bottom at opposed corners thereof. Each clamp is situated adjacent to its corresponding hinge. Straps are connected to selected hinges and include a D-ring conjoined thereto for receiving a backpack portion therethrough such that the latrine can be attached to the backpack.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to latrines and, more particularly, to a portable latrine for outdoor use.
2. Prior Art
Many people find camping in the wilderness an enjoyable form of recreation. Sometimes the camping occurs in conjunction with hunting, fishing, canoe tripping, backpacking, nature study, or scouting. Others spend time in the wilderness in connection with their profession or employment. For some people, however, the necessity to defecate in the wilderness without the convenience of a toilet or outhouse is a deterrent to the wilderness experience.
Unfortunately, nature does not provide a ready substitute for the facility found in most bathrooms. Additionally, because of the rapidly increasing occurrence of Lyme disease in North America, all wilderness campers need to be particularly careful to avoid exposure to deer ticks which are known to transmit the disease. Deer ticks frequently wait in wooded areas or grassy areas for a passing animal onto which they jump and attach themselves. Thus, a human responding to nature's call may acquire a deer tick in the process.
Different types and designs of portable toilets and latrines have previously been provided. Generally, many of these prior designs are characterized in being relatively bulky and cannot be readily assembled and disassembled for easy transport. These prior portable toilets have principally been designed for relatively long-term installation and are not well adapted for use by campers and others who find it desirable to quickly break up camp and move. Many of the prior portable toilets are also not well suited for transport in the confines of a car or relatively small truck or van of the type used by campers. In addition, many of the prior portable toilets and latrines have the drawback of not being sufficiently sanitary after use for transport in a person's car, truck or van.
One prior art example provides a portable toilet comprised of a barrel-shaped stool formed of split cylinders which are detachably mounted at their top ends by an annular seat and at their bottom ends by a pair of C-shaped base-plate elements. The elements of the base-plate are detachably mounted together through pin and shackle connections. A flexible disposable liner is suspended within the stool with the upper end of the liner captured between an outer rim at the upper end of the split cylinders and a downwardly extending rim of the seat. A lid is pivotally mounted on the top of the seat. Unfortunately, this design has an inherent drawback wherein the assembly is not easily transportable between remote locations, unless same is being transported in a vehicle. Thus, the unit becomes limited to fishing and local camping activities, excluding hiking activities and other extended outdoor stays.
Another prior art example shows a portable toilet seat and stand for wilderness camping that includes seat bar members, legs, and crosspieces designed to interlock under the weight of the user. A pair of feet are provided for engagement with the legs to prevent the legs from sinking into soft ground. The portable toilet and stand is lightweight and the disassembled parts may be bundled together in a stuff bag. It is in this feature that the present example has its greatest drawbacks. Having many separate elements to the toilet seat increases the trouble of transport and obviously requires assembling prior to each use, while also increasing the likelihood of misplacing one such an element. This would render the toilet seat useless and inoperable.
Accordingly, a need remains for a portable latrine in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a portable latrine that is convenient, comfortable and easy to use, lightweight and portable in design, and sanitary in nature. Such a portable latrine is used at remote locations to provide a sanitary, personal toilet when public facilities are not readily available. At a fully collapsed state the assembly conveniently attaches to a users backpack or hiking-pack for easy transport thereof. Such an portable latrine advantageously eliminates the need for a person to squat over a hole while they are relieving themselves, thereby saving stress and strain on their legs, knees and joints. The biodegradable liners provided therewith effectively shield the user's feet, legs and clothing from waste splash that occurs during the relieving process. The portable latrine is particularly useful among individuals who enjoy outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, fishing and hunting, but can be useful in many other settings as well.


A levitated XY stage with a mechanism to disable the bearing element to allow the physical elements of the stage to come into contact with one another and “Coulomb weld” together, thereby eliminating drift. Preferably, the XY position shift of the stage that results from disabling the bearing is measured, and feed-forward communication to, for example, the AFM scanner is used to enable an offset and remove the error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for minimizing the effects of drift on small scale metrology measurements, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus of correcting for a position shift from a tip-sample target location such as that which occurs during lock down of an air bearing stage used in a scanning probe microscope.
2. Description of Related Art
Several probe-based instruments monitor the interaction between a cantilever-based probe and a sample to obtain information concerning one or more characteristics of the sample. Such measurements are often made on the nanoscale so positioning between the probe and sample is a challenge and often leads to corrupted data. Known systems lack the desired precision and, moreover, are susceptible to factors that compromise the ability to obtain reliable data.
Scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), such as the atomic force microscope (AFM), are devices which typically use a sharp tip to make a local measurement of one or more properties of a sample. More particularly, SPMs typically characterize the surfaces of such small-scale sample features by monitoring the interaction between the sample and the tip of the associated probe assembly. By providing relative scanning movement between the tip and the sample, surface characteristic data and other sample-dependent data can be acquired over a particular region of the sample, and a corresponding map of the sample can be generated.
The atomic force microscope is a very popular type of SPM. The probe of the typical AFM includes a very small cantilever which is fixed to a support at its base and has a sharp probe tip attached to the opposite, free end. The probe tip is brought very near to or into direct or intermittent contact with a surface of the sample to be examined, and the deflection of the cantilever in response to the probe tip's interaction with the sample is measured with an extremely sensitive deflection detector, often an optical lever system such as described in Hansma et al. U.S. Pat. No. RE 34,489, or some other deflection detector such as an arrangement of strain gauges, capacitance sensors, etc. AFMs can obtain resolution down to the atomic level on a wide variety of insulating or conductive surfaces in air, liquid or vacuum. Because of their resolution and versatility, AFMs are important measurement devices in many diverse fields ranging from semiconductor manufacturing to biological research.
Preferably, the probe is scanned over a surface using a high-resolution three axis scanner acting on the sample support and/or the probe. The instrument is thus capable of creating relative motion between the probe and the sample while measuring the topography or some other property of the sample as described, for example, in Hansma et al. supra; Elings et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,801; and Elings et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,980.
AFMs can be designed to operate in a variety of modes, including contact mode and oscillating flexural mode. In an oscillation "flexural mode" of operation the cantilever oscillates generally about a fixed end. One flexure mode of operation is the so-called TappingMode™ AFM operation (TappingMode™ is a trademark of the present assignee). In a TappingMode™ AFM, the tip is oscillated flexurally at or near a resonant frequency of the cantilever of the probe. When the tip is in intermittent or proximate contact with the sample surface, the oscillation amplitude is determined by tip/surface interactions. Typically, amplitude, phase or frequency of this oscillation is kept constant during scanning using feedback signals, which are generated in response to tip-sample interaction. These feedback signals are then collected, stored, and used as data to characterize the sample. When measuring semiconductor samples, such as the trench capacitors discussed herein, a particular version of this oscillating mode known as deep trench (DT) mode, which employs a unique and costly tip, is used.
As metrology applications demand greater and greater throughput, and as the desirability of using SPM in a wide variety of applications requiring sub-micron measurements continues to grow, improvements to data acquisition using SPM have become necessary. Wafer analysis in the semiconductor industry is one key application. In general, chip makers want to measure structures (e.g., lines, vias, trenches, etc.) having critical dimensions (CDs) that are 90 nm and below. When analyzing these structures at such small scale, the corresponding measurements require uniformity control and must be able to accommodate high volume production environments. In this regard, one advancement has been in the area of automated AFMs which greatly improve the number of samples that may be imaged in a certain time frame by minimizing expert user tasks during operation. Instruments for performing automated wafer measurements are varied but AFM offers a unique solution by providing, for example, the ability to perform high-resolution multi-dimension (e.g., 3-D) imaging. Some instruments, like the Dimension X automated AFM offered by Veeco Instruments, have proven 200 mm and 300 mm automation platforms.
More particularly, two performance metrics to be considered when evaluating instruments used to make such measurements include throughput and repeatability. Throughput, in this case, typically is the number of wafers that may be imaged per unit time, and repeatability is the variation in results obtained from repeated measurements made on the same object under substantially identical conditions. These measurements most often must be proved prior to the tool being useful. A third issue concerns reproducibility, which is the variation that results when making the same measurement under different conditions. Reproducibility is important in that it determines whether the technique can accommodate condition variations when both positioning the wafer and focusing the optics. When considering these metrics, known systems have significant limitations.
One problem, for instance, is that repeatability, precision and accuracy can be severely compromised due to drift in the stage supporting the sample. Drift can occur during various phases of making AFM measurements, including during both set-up and operation. Notably, drift in this context is measured in nanometers/second. For conventional mechanical stages used in scanning probe microscopy, one to five nanometers/second of continuous drift is common. Clearly, if either the position of the tip or the position of the sample experiences drift before or during the measurement, an inaccurate measurement will be obtained. Drift affects the measurement in at least two ways, one being that repeating probe-sample positioning at a selected location on a line of the sample to be imaged, an important metric as understood in the art, is a challenge. Proving repeatability of the tool when drift is present can be nearly impossible. This becomes particularly challenging in view of the fact that there is enough variability in the line width that, if the tool is off by some fraction of the tip diameter when repeating the line measurement, a different measurement will be obtained.
The other primary reason data can be compromised by drift concerns line width variability. This problem is directly related to a metric that is monitored in semiconductor fabrication known as linewidth roughness (LWR), a measure of the variability of the width of the line itself.
With current SPM systems, as a line of a sample is scanned at a number of different places, different measurements of line width are obtained depending on the LWR. This is illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates a single line 10 having a width varying in what is shown as the vertical or "Y" direction. Line width roughness or LWR is essentially the deviation from the average of the independent widths, W1, W2, W3, etc. Depending upon the location at which the tip contacts the sample, different data will result. In the context of drift, the apparent width of line 10 will be expanded if drift occurs in a direction of scanning, and narrowed when drift is opposite the direction of scanning. As a result, a component of LWR will be introduced that is not due to the line itself but to drift. In many cases, this is the largest impact on the data due to drift, even more so than position repeatability along the line, since it is used to construct sample surface images.
Notably, it is only with the recent advancements in the resolution of scanning probe microscopy that LWR can even be measured and accounted for using SPM. In many known systems, users would not know that a different measurement was being conducted because the data would be essentially the same, requiring semiconductor manufacturers to use tools such as an SEM, and its attendant drawbacks, as understood in the art, to perform such measurements.
Known attempted solutions to the problem of controlling drift of AFM sample stages include providing an air bearing stage with a lock-down scheme, such as a vacuum lock down stage. However, even though such stages can be effective in minimizing the effects of drift, none of these systems correct for the position error that occurs during the lock down operation.
More particularly, current air-bearing stage technology allows for precise translation and a final position lock during which the air bearing is de-activated, most typically by applying a magnetic or vacuum force. However, the tradeoff with the benefits of an air-bearing stage (e.g., minimal adverse effects due to drift, fine positioning substantially free of counteracting forces, etc.) is that the lock down operation contributes to a final position error. When lock down of the stage occurs at a commanded or target position (using vacuum or magnetic force, or even gravity, for instance), Coulomb welding between the two pieces of the stage occurs so that the whole system responds like a solid piece of material. This often causes at least a micron or two of position shift of the stage. Moreover, the stage will oftentimes tilt during lock down, further compromising the precise positioning required for the applications contemplated by the preferred embodiments.
As a result, what was desired in the field of making atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements, particularly in the semiconductor industry, was an improved stage and corresponding method that minimizes positioning errors (e.g., due to stage lock down and drift), including improving position repeatability and reproducibility along AFM scan lines, as well as achieving a linewidth roughness (LWR) repeatability that yields increased throughput for high volume applications, such as semiconductor wafer measurement.

Method and apparatus of compensating for position shift