An amplifier circuit that offers high bandwidth operation and a high slew rate is disclosed. The amplifier circuit may also have an input voltage swing down to the negative rail which is particularly suitable for low voltage applications having a single power source. In one embodiment, the amplifier circuit amplifies a difference voltage between first and second input voltages to produce an output voltage, and includes: an analog voltage-to-current converter for receiving the first and second input voltages and producing complementary current signals; and a complementary mirror output stage coupled to receive the complementary current signals at respective mirror circuits. Each of the respective mirror circuits includes a pair of base-coupled transistors having their emitters respectively connected to supply potentials through resistors, and the complementary current signals from the analog voltage-to-current converter are respectively connected to at least one of the emitter of the base-coupled transistors for the respective mirror circuits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to analog circuits, and more particularly, to stages for amplifier circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Amplifiers are commonly known and used in discrete analog circuits and in monolithic integrated circuits (ICs). For details on amplifier fundamentals, see e.g., Malvino, Electronic Principles, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1973. Often amplifiers will consist of a number of stages. These stages may, for example, include an input stage followed by one or more amplifying stages. The last stage is referred to as an output stage. One function served by an input stage is to provide an appropriate input impedance. The input stage may also provide some amplification. Usually, the amplifying stages (including the output stage) provide most of the needed amplification.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional amplifier 100. The conventional amplifier 100 has a differential input stage 102 followed by a folded cascode stage 104. The differential input stage 102 is a differential amplifier constructed from a current source I.sub.1 and transistors Q.sub.1 and Q.sub.2. The folded cascode stage 104 is constructed from cascode transistors Q.sub.3 and Q.sub.4, load transistors Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.6, and emitter resisters R.sub.E1 and R.sub.E2. The conventional amplifier 100 also includes an output voltage V.sub.OUT, an output capacitor C.sub.C, and a bias voltage source V.sub.B. The conventional amplifier 100 offers a high bandwidth and essentially a rail to rail voltage swing, both of which are advantageous. However, one problem with the conventional amplifier 100 is that the maximum rate-of-change, i.e., slew rate, for the output voltage V.sub.OUT is significantly limited. In effect, the current source I.sup.t operates to determine a maximum output current i.sub.o that leads to the slew rate limitation. This slew rate limitation is commonly present with amplifiers that employ differential stages such as that illustrated in FIG. 1.
One approach to overcome the slew rate limitation is to use a complementary design. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional amplifier 200. Although other complementary designs exists, the conventional amplifier 200 is at least useful to illustrate the improvement provided by a complementary design. The conventional amplifier 200 is constructed from a diamond follower input stage 202 and a complementary current mirror stage 204. The diamond follower input stage 202 is constructed from current sources I.sub.1 and I.sub.2 and transistors Q.sub.1 through Q.sub.4. The transistors Q.sub.3 and Q.sub.4 drive opposing current mirror circuits formed by transistors Q.sub.7 and Q.sub.8 and transistors Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.6, respectively. The maximum slew rate for the output voltage V.sub.OUT then depends on the amount of output current i.sub.o available to charge a compensation capacitor C.sub.C. Here, however, unlike FIG. 1, the output current i.sub.o is not limited by the current sources I.sub.1 and I.sub.2 but instead offers (via the driving of transistors Q.sub.3 and Q.sub.4) the ability to provide a large and largely unlimited output current i.sub.o. Consequently, the conventional amplifier 200 has a slew rate limit that far exceeds that available with the conventional amplifier 100 illustrated in FIG. 1.
Although the conventional amplifier 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 overcomes the slew rate problem, the conventional amplifier 200 is a non-cascode amplifier and as such the input voltage swing of the conventional amplifier 200 is restricted. The input voltage swing is restricted by two emitter-base voltage drops (i.e., V.sub.be (Q.sub.2) and V.sub.be (Q.sub.5)) for negative going input signals) that separate the input voltage range from the power supply rails (V.sub.CC and V.sub.EE), which in low power designs can be a substantial penalty.
Thus, there is a need for an amplifier design that offers not only high bandwidth operation but also a high slew rate and a wide input voltage swing.


A method is provided to produce training data set for training an inference engine to predict events in a data center comprising: producing probe vectors corresponding to components of a data center, each probe vector including a sequence of data elements, one of the probe vectors indicating an event at a component and at a time of the event; and producing at a master device a set of training snapshots, wherein each training snapshot includes a subsequence of data elements that corresponds to a time increment that matches or that occurred not later than the indicated time of occurrence of the event.

A data center, at any scale, is complex to build, operate, and maintain. Combining the various types of technology and the skillsets, teams, tools, interoperability, is logistically challenging. Getting a data center to become fully operational may require incremental improvement over time. By the time the data center is fully operational, the complexity may be such that few persons understand all the pieces and a reconfiguration for business needs or the introduction of new technology may be equally or more challenging to scale than the original build.
Modern data centers typically include a network of servers that may provide client access to application workflows through any of a variety of Web protocols, language platforms, virtual machines that may provide users with full desktops, or containerized applications to provide microservices, for example. Typical data center hardware resources may include: servers, network components, and storage volumes. The servers manage application workflows and respond to client requests. Network switches couple data center servers to manage the workflows. Network routers perform packet forwarding functions. Network gateways may act as junctions between a data center network and the Internet. Storage volumes store information used by servers to serve application workflows. A data center may support numerous different application workflows.
Data center management involves monitoring data center workflow requirements and adjusting data center resource allocation to different application workflows in response to changes in client demands. A data center may include one or more controllers to configure, monitor, and partition hardware resources; an orchestrator that manages how software and services are deployed or distributed amongst the hardware resources; and the application software themselves that run within the data center. There are many data from these hardware resources, controllers, orchestrator, and applications that a data center operator monitors to manage resource allocation, trouble shoot, optimize performance, and plan for growth. These data typically are collected by tools focused in one or another functional area and interpreted by domain experts in that particular functional area. It is not difficult to aggregate all data from different functional areas and collect them in a large (perhaps gigantic) database, but the interpretation on such a large data set may become exponentially challenging not only due to the size of the data, but the complexity and the cross-domain knowledge required to make use of the data. As data centers grow in size and complexity, humans alone are increasingly challenged in making use of these data in a useful real-time manner.

Training a data center hardware instance network


An apparatus and a method are provided including a parameter estimator, a controller, an initial channel estimator, and a channel estimator. The parameter estimator configured to estimate parameters related to a channel. The controller configured to select one of channel environments based on the parameters, and generate a control signal corresponding to the selected channel environment. The initial channel estimator configured to estimate an initial channel based on the control signal. The channel estimator configured to estimate a channel of remaining resource blocks, excluding resource blocks corresponding to a pilot signal, from among resource blocks, based on the initial channel and the control signal.

1. Field
The following description relates to estimating a channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method to control a channel estimation algorithm adaptively based on a channel environment.
2. Description of Related Art
An orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFMD) system is based on wireless transmission technology adopted in various fields, for example, 3rd Generation Partnership Project long-term evolution (3GPP LTE), wireless fidelity (WiFi) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11n/ac, a next broadcasting system, for example, Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial/Satellite (DVB-T/S), and other similar fields. In addition, the OFMD system is considered as a promising transmission technology for a next generation communication system.

Apparatus and method for adaptively estimating channel in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system


A melting furnace for treating wastes is provided which has a container equipped with a feed port for a glass raw material and wastes to be treated at the top thereof and a discharge port for molten glass containing said wastes at the bottom thereof, the container having a wall made of a heat resistant alloy and the container wall being in contact with molten glass inside the container; a heating electrode disposed in the container, the container wall acting as a counter electrode for the heating electrode; and a cooling system disposed at the back side of the container wall. By directly supplying electric power to the glass means disposed at the back side of the container wall.. By directly supplying electric power to the glass between the container wall and the heating electrode, the molten glass containing the wastes can be formed. By conducting cooling of the container wall by the cooling system, corrosion of the wall due to the atmosphere in the container can be restricted.

The present invention relates to a melting furnace for treating industrial wastes, particularly high-level radioactive wastes, and a heating method of the melting furnace.
In order to treat industrial wastes, particularly high-level radioactive wastes, there has been utilized heretofore a method wherein the wastes are put into a molten glass and resulting mixture is cooled to form a vitrified product immobilizing the wastes therein.
The conventional glass melting furnaces for this purpose can be classified broadly into a metallic melting furnace and a refractory melting furnace according to the kind of wall materials that are in contact with molten glass.
For the metallic melting furnace, there have been generally employed an external heating method wherein the glass inside the furnace is heated from the outside of the furnace by intermediate frequency induction heating or by resistance heating, and a microwave heating method wherein the glass inside the furnace is heated directly by applying microwaves. On the other hand, for the refractory melting furnace, an electric power supply heating method wherein the glass inside the furnace is heated by supplying electric power through electrodes has been employed.
However, the conventional metallic melting furnaces generally involve the problems that the metallic wall materials in contact with molten glass are corroded and, since this corrosion is promoted by heating, the service life of the furnace is shortened. In contrast, the refractory melting furnace can have its service life extended by selecting wall materials having high corrosion resistance such as chromia-alumina type refractory bricks or the like, but is not free from the drawback that the secondary wastes such as the wall materials after the end of the service life are generated in large quantities. It has been reported that 80 g of secondary wastes per 1 Kg of glass were generated in a melting furnace of this kind (C. G. Sombret, "Melters and Furnace Equipment Used for Radioactive Waste Conditioning" in Proceedings of the 1987 International Waste Management Conference, Hong Kong, Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 1987, p259).
In accordance with the external heating method employed for the metallic melting furnace, on the other hand, the necessary energy is supplied to the glass inside the furnace by heat transfer through the wall surface that is in contact with the glass to be melted. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the contact surface area in proportion to the increase of the processing capacity after a certain processing capacity has been achieved and, thus, there is an inevitable limit to the processing capacity per unit volume of the furnace. For example, it has been reported in the above-described reference that the maximum processing capacity per unit vitrification plant for treating high level radioactive wastes in France was 35 kg glass/hr. In order to treat the radioactive wastes on an industrial scale, therefore, a plurality of melting furnaces must be installed and if they are installed, there occurs another problem that the operation becomes complicated.
The microwave heating method involves the problem that if the melting furnace is large in scale, only the surface portion of the glass charged into the furnace is heated but the inner portions thereof cannot be melted sufficiently. Therefore, this method is not suitable, either, for the industrial treating method of the radioactive wastes.
There is also a problem in the power supply heating method which has been employed for the refractory melting furnace. Namely, in the processing of high-level radioactive wastes generated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels of a nuclear power plant, for example, a radioactive waste containing therein platinum group metals is produced. When such a radioactive waste is heated by the power supply heating in the refractory melting furnace, electrically conductive materials which are difficult to be dissolved in the molten glass are produced and deposited at the bottom of the furnace. Since the current flows concentratedly through the conductive materials deposited at the furnace bottom, the current efficiency drops and the processing performance of the furnace is caused to deteriorate.

Melting furnace for treating wastes and a heating method of the same


A two-point modulator includes a PLL circuit and a simplified digital pre-filtering system. The two-point modulator includes a first circuit path for impressing an analog modulation signal into a first point in the PLL circuit, and a second circuit path for impressing a digital modulation signal into a second point in the PLL circuit. The second circuit path actuates a frequency divider in the feedback path in the PLL circuit and contains a digital filter which has a square-wave pulse response.

A low-complexity implementation of a transmitter design for transceivers in mobile radio systems is provided by transmitters which have a modulator operating on the basis of the known principle of two-point modulation. In this case, a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit is used as a frequency synthesizer and is used for phase or frequency modulation of a radio-frequency signal.
The modulation signals are usually impressed at two points in the PLL circuit. First, a programmable frequency divider in the PLL circuit is actuated by a digital modulation signal. The programmable frequency divider is fitted in the PLL circuit's feedback path and represents a point in the PLL circuit at which a low-pass response is obtained for impressing a modulation. In this case, the digital modulation signal can have a larger bandwidth than the low-pass filter formed by the PLL circuit. Secondly, an analog modulation signal is injected into a summation point which is situated in the PLL circuit's forward path and is preferably connected upstream of the voltage controlled oscillator. The analog modulation supplied at the summation point has a high-pass filtering effect on the output of the PLL circuit on account of the closed control loop, which means that the corresponding modulation signal is in turn corrupted by the response. The digital and analog modulation signals are superimposed on one another at the output of the PLL circuit, and in this way a frequency-independent response for the PLL circuit is obtained. The simultaneous impression of a digital and an analog modulation signal into a PLL circuit is called two-point modulation.
Such a two-point modulator and a method for phase or frequency modulation with a PLL circuit is described in German laid-open specification DE 199 29 167 A1. A digital modulation signal is supplied to the control connection of a frequency divider in the PLL circuit's feedback path, and this determines the number by whose reciprocal the instantaneous frequency of the input signal for the frequency divider is multiplied. In addition, the digital modulation signal is converted by means of a digital/analog converter into an analog modulation signal which is injected into the PLL circuit at a summation point which represents a high-pass point. This laid-open specification can be regarded as the closest prior art to the present invention.
In the case of the described type of transmitter design, the control loop remains closed. To achieve low noise in the PLL circuit, the bandwidth of the PLL circuit is designed to be much smaller than would be necessary for transmitting the modulated data. To compensate for the small bandwidth, the analog modulation signal is injected into the PLL circuit in addition to the digital modulation signal.
Both the digital modulation signal and the analog modulation signal are prefiltered in order to limit the PLL circuit's output spectrum. The digital modulation signal is usually filtered by means of oversampling, i.e. one bit is represented by a plurality of samples. In addition, for two-point modulation to work correctly, it is necessary for a high degree of correspondence between the amplitudes of the two modulation signals to be ensured in addition to phase equality over time. In the case of known two-point modulators, filters having the same pulse shaping are used for the digital and analog prefiltering for this reason. A drawback of this is the correspondingly high implementation complexity for such digital and analog filters.

Two-point modulator comprising a PLL circuit and a simplified digital pre-filtering system


A laminated wiring board comprising:                a first wiring board forming wiring layers on the upper surface and on the lower surface of a first ceramic insulated substrate; and        a second wiring board forming wiring layers on the upper surface and on the lower surface of a second ceramic insulated substrate;        the wiring layer on the lower surface of the first wiring board and the wiring layer on the upper surface of the second wiring board being connected together through connecting electrodes;        wherein a coefficient α1 of thermal expansion of the first ceramic insulated substrate at 0 to 150° C. and a coefficient α2 of thermal expansion of the second ceramic insulated substrate at 0 to 150° C. are satisfying the following conditions:α1<α2α2−α1≦9×10−6/° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated wiring board and to its mounting structure. In particular, the invention relates to a laminated wiring board constituted by two kinds of wiring boards having different coefficients of thermal expansion, featuring high mounting reliability and is adapted to transmitting signals at high speeds, and to a mounting structure thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric device as represented by a semiconductor device using silicon as a chief component includes a number of transistors having very microscopic wiring circuit layers, which are integrated to a high degree, and its size is ever increasing due to an ever increase in the number of transistors. In the electric device, further, attempts have been made to realize fine wiring circuit layers, to decrease the resistance and to decrease the dielectric constant in the interlayer insulating film in order to cope with an increase in the speed of signal processing resulting, therefore, in a decrease in the mechanical strength in the wiring circuit layers and in the interlayer insulating film constituting the electric device.
Accompanying the development in the technology for integrating electric devices in recent years, further, there has been developed a method capable of forming, in the electric device itself, a solid structure and a functional unit having a moving part. For example, there have been put into practical use a fine solid structure called MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) and an electric device having a moving part. In the electric device produced by the above method, however, the solid structure and the moving part are subject to be destroyed due to stress.
When the electric device having such microscopic wiring circuit layers is incorporated in electronic equipment such as a personal computer, a cell phone or a liquid crystal display device, a hierarchical mounting is employed, such as mounting the electric device on a wiring board like a package for containing the electric device (primary mounting) to adjust the size relative to the microscopic wirings and, then, mounting the wiring board on which the electric device is mounted on an external circuit board such as a printed board (secondary mounting).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-247706 proposes a mounting structure in which, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a wiring board interposed between an electric device 101 and an external circuit board 103 has a two-step structure. Namely, in this mounting structure, a ceramic wiring board 105 is arranged on the side of the electric device 101, and a resin wiring board 107 is arranged on the side of the external circuit board 103.
However, if the above mounting structure is subjected to the cooling/heating cycles in the mounting step such as temperature cycle testing and reflow heating, the connection electrodes 109 provided between the ceramic wiring board 105 and the resin board 107 are subject to be destroyed deteriorating the reliability of mounting. Further, when there is used the electric device 101 having a decreased mechanical strength due to an increase in the size or an increase in the function, application of the above thermal hysteresis causes the electric device 101 itself to be broken.
Namely, the above problems stem from the thermal stress taking place between the ceramic wiring board 105 and the resin board 107 and from the thermal stress taking place between the electric device 101 and the ceramic wiring board 105.

Laminated wiring board and its mounting structure

Abstract: The laminated wiring board offers a high degree of mounting reliability even when it is interposed between the electric device such as a silicon semiconductor device having a small coefficient of thermal expansion and an external circuit board such as a printed board having a large coefficient of thermal expansion.


A method for fabricating a magneto-optic modulator, such as for use with a solid state ring resonator gyroscope. The method includes inducing a magnetic field at a substrate holder as a layer of magnetic material is being deposited on a substrate. The magnetic field helps to optimally orient the deposited magnetic material layer to improve the characteristics of the magneto-optic modulator. In addition to inducing a magnetic field, a low energy ion beam may be applied to optimize orientation. The method can be used to fabricate a magneto-optic modulator on a substrate containing a partially fabricated ring resonator without destroying previously fabricated components.

Optical waveguides are presently being used for a number of applications including communications, interconnects between optical circuits, and certain optical resonator applications. For varying reasons, there are needs to have phase modulators associated with these optical waveguides. The phase modulators create selected phase shifts for any number of reasons. One particular instance where a phase modulator is necessary is in conjunction with an optical resonator. Additionally, there are numerous instances where phase shifts may be required, for example, in optical communication networks, or in conjunction with optical circuits.
Optical modulators of several types are presently used. Examples of these optical modulators include acousto-optic modulators, as well as electro-optic modulators. Acousto-optic modulators are devices wherein an acoustic wave traveling in a bulk medium is used to modulate an optical signal which is traveling in an associated medium. The disadvantage of acousto-optic modulators is their use of acoustic waves, or sound waves, which are fairly slow and require a large bulk medium to support their transmission.
Another type of modulator is a magnetic modulator. These modulators require the creation of some type of magnetic field which interacts with the optical signal traveling through the modulator. The interaction with the magnetic field alters the amplitude and/or frequency of the optical signal.
A third type of modulator is an electro-optic modulator wherein the optical signals interact with an electric field. The field interaction alters the characteristics of the optical signal, thus varying the frequency amplitude and/or phase of the optical signal.
All of the above-mentioned modulators require precise alignment of the differing components. Specifically, the modulator itself must be aligned and positioned to receive an incoming optical signal and must be situated to appropriately transmit an output optical signal. This alignment can often become very tedious and exacting work which is both time consuming and costly. Furthermore, the modulators require the use of specific materials (i.e., electro-optic materials, magnetic materials, and acousto-optic materials) which display the appropriate characteristics.
Also, many times the application of material on the modulators is uncontrollable. The composition as well as the amount of crystallinity has not been able to be controlled in the past. Further, in the magnetic modulators, the orientation of the magnetic axis of the material is poor and many times, improperly aligned which results in loss. It would be desirable to optimize the operation of the phase modulators by controlling material deposition and optimizing the alignment so that loss could be reduced as well.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic modulator and system of fabrication, such that the modulator exhibits very low losses and very high efficiency.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system of fabricating a magnetic modulator which can be used in conjunction with the fabrication of other components on a single substrate. Specifically, it is an object of the invention to fabricate a magnetic modulator upon a substrate without destroying components which already exist on the same substrate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system of fabricating a magneto-optic modulator which is capable of depositing the necessary thin films of magnetic materials.
The present invention provides a system for the fabrication of a magneto-optic modulator. The method can be used to easily and economically fabricate a magneto-optic modulator which is easily integrated into other devices. Furthermore, the present invention can be used to fabricate a modulator which is situated on a single substrate along with accompanying waveguides. The modulators fabricated are very efficient and high speed modulators. Furthermore, due to the materials used and the purity/consistency of the materials, very low power is required to achieve the necessary modulation.
In accordance with the above-mentioned goals and objectives, the magnetic modulator of the present invention is fabricated using the processes of ion beam and magnetron deposition. It is now possible to use these processes to fabricate thin films of magnetic materials having the necessary magneto-optic characteristics to form a magneto-optic modulator. The deposition processes can be used at differing points in the fabrication of optical devices because the deposition processes are non-destructive methods of fabrication. More specifically, these methods of thin film deposition can be used to fabricate films on a single substrate without destroying previously fabricated structures that already exist upon that substrate.

Method for fabricating a magneto-optic modulator


A multi-purpose structure, especially useful as a greenhouse or other plant-protective structure, comprising; (a) a framework comprising a plurality of vertical supports, said vertical supports being arranged in rows that extend the entire width of the structure, wherein each of said rows contains at least two vertical supports having substantially the same height, said framework further comprising a plurality of connecting members that connect the vertical supports in a row to one another at junction points located at the tops of said supports; the framework further comprises a plurality of permanent cross strips extending perpendicularly to said connecting members; (b) at least one flexible sheet adapted to be weaved through said connecting members and extending the entire length of the framework so as to form at least a part of a roof of said framework.

Greenhouses and other protective structures are well-known in the art Typically, a greenhouse comprises a steel framework that is covered with one or more layers of transparent material (usually glass) so as to trap sunlight inside and provide an appropriate environment for the growth of plants. A greenhouse may also serve to protect plants from harsh weather conditions. Other protective structures for plants may be constructed from more flexible material such as plastic or netting. These structures may be more suitable in parts of the world having a warmer climate, in order to protect the plants from too much sunlight. In either case, however, with changing seasons and changing outdoor weather conditions, it is often desirable to modify the protective structure (or remove the protective structure altogether) so as to achieve a maximal environment for the plants. For example, in cold weather, it is usually desirable to have a transparent covering on the structure, so that the greatest amount of sunlight can penetrate and be trapped inside the structure. However, as the temperature outside rises, it is desirable to find ways for reducing the sunlight penetrating to the structure or for providing better air ventilation, such as by exchanging the transparent covering for a partially-transparent or opaque one, such as a mesh or cover shade, as is known in the art. Other options include whitewashing the structure or inserting ventilation devices. Unfortunately, carrying out any of these steps often proves to be overly-complicated, time consuming, and expensive. There is a need for a simple-to-use protective structure for plants that can be easily modified and adapted as environmental and climatic circumstances dictate.
It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a multi-purpose structure having a unique design so as to enable rapid and simple exchange of one or more coverings of said structure. It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a multi-purpose structure that is manufactured and used at a relatively low cost, that is highly user-friendly, and that can be adapted for virtually any climate in any part of the world.

State of Israel, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center


Provided is an interface circuit having a terminator, in which the terminator includes parallel-connected first to an Nth resistance elements, where N is an integral number equal to or more than 2, and a first to an nth cut-off elements connected in serial with each of the corresponding n(1≦n<N) first to the Nth resistance elements of the first to the Nth resistance elements.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an interface circuit with a terminator and an integrated circuit device and an electronic equipment having the same.
2. Related Art
The interface circuit with the terminator, for example, a driver IC with a high speed serial interface circuit never exists. Some of ICs have external terminators. However, if the high speed serial interface circuit is installed in the driver IC, the external terminator can hardly be installed. As for the high speed serial interface circuit, USB or Universal Serial Bus, IEEE1394 or the like has been known. Some of them have terminators; however, they have not been designed considering adverse effects due to a wiring resistance, a parasitic resistance or the like. See JP-A-2003-270299.

Interface circuit with a terminator and an integrated circuit and an electronic equipment having the same


In a computer with an UltraSCSI bus system, an arrangement is provided for reducing the possibility of the SCSI specifications being exceeded. This arrangement involves selectively inhibiting the host adaptor from using the UltraSCSI data rate when any external SCSI device is detected as present. When there are no such external devices, it is assumed that the computer has been internally designed such that the UltraSCSI specifications will not normally be exceeded so that the UltraSCSI data rate can be safely enabled.

SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) is a well known ANSI standard defining the physical and electrical parameters of an I/O bus for effecting parallel data transfers in small computer systems, for example, between a host processor system and one or more peripheral devices such as hard disk drives or CD-ROM drives.
Generally, a host processor system will interface via a SCSI host adaptor with a SCSI bus to which one or more SCSI devices are connected. These devices may be internal to the computer of which the host processor system forms a part, or external to the computer.
In fact, there are a number of SCSI standards, the original standard (here referred to as SCSI-1) and its successor (SCSI-2) in its basic form, both relating to 8-bit wide data transfers at 5 Megabytes/second. An option of SCSI-2 known as Fast SCSI provides for a data transfer rate of 10 Megabytes/second whilst another SCSI-2 option provides for bus widths of 16 or 32 bits to double or quadruple the data rates available with the basic SCSI-2 standard or the Fast SCSI option. More recently, an "UltraSCSI" option has been developed providing for transfer rates of 20 Megabytes/second in the case of an 8-bit wide bus. The above-quoted data rates refer to the synchronous transmission mode. It should be noted that although a SCSI bus system may have been designed to support Fast SCSI or UltraSCSI data rates, such a rate will only be used if both devices participating in a particular transfer is capable of supporting it--if either device cannot handle the rate, then both devices will use a lower rate (the data rate to be used is subject to an initial negotiation between the devices).
With data transfer rates of the order provided by SCSI systems, in order to achieve reliable transmission care has to be taken to effect proper termination of the bus cable at both ends; in addition, it is necessary to limit the length of bus cable permitted and the number of connected physical devices (host adaptor or peripheral).
As regards termination, problems frequently arise when system configuration is changed (a SCSI device added or removed) simply because bus termination is not correspondingly adjusted. To deal with this problem a number of recent proposals have been made for automatically controlling termination of a SCSI bus by detecting the presence or absence of upstream/downstream SCSI devices. Arrangements for doing this are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,595; WO-A-94/08305; and WO-A-95/02281.
With respect to restrictions on bus length and the number of connected devices, 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2 is restricted to 8 devices and a bus length of 6 meters. UltraSCSI is limited to 8 devices under 1.5 meters or 4 devices between 1.5 meters and 3 meters. The foregoing figures are for single-ended rather than differential transmission.
As there is no inherent way of restricting a user from adding devices and increasing the length of the SCSI bus, it is not uncommon to find systems configured outside of specification with a resultant degradation in transmission quality leading to an increase in data corruption and a reduction of system performance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide some alleviation of the foregoing problem.

Automatic control of data transfer rates over a computer bus


A region affected by X-ray beam limiting within a fluoroscopic image is specified based on position information on beam limiting by an X-ray beam limiting device. A judgment is made as to whether the region affected superposes a first brightness measuring region (region of interest) within the X-ray fluoroscopic image, and when superposition is not judged, automatic brightness control is performed based on the first brightness measuring region. When superposition is judged, the first brightness measuring region is transformed, and automatic brightness control is performed with reference to a second automatic brightness measuring region that does not superpose the region affected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnostic X-ray system with automatic brightness control processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A diagnostic X-ray system is an imaging apparatus that displays variance in strength of X-rays passing through the interior of a subject as a gray-scale image, and includes various types adapted for specific use in diagnosis, treatment, etc. Means for turning a transmission X-ray image into a visible image is roughly divided into two methods: imaging and fluoroscopy. For example, a diagnostic X-ray system adopting fluoroscopy has excellent immediacy in that an acquired X-ray image can be observed in real time as a moving picture on a TV monitor.
A diagnostic X-ray system adopting fluoroscopy or imaging (hereinafter, referred to as the diagnostic X-ray system) is generally furnished with a function referred to as automatic brightness control. This is a function that maintains constant brightness for an X-ray fluoroscopic image being displayed through automatic control by changing X-ray loading factors.
FIG. 7 is a view used to explain the automatic brightness control function in a conventional diagnostic X-ray system, showing X-ray fluoroscopic images displayed on a TV monitor.
According to the conventional diagnostic X-ray system, average brightness of a brightness measuring region 70 within an X-ray fluoroscopic image, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 is computed by a brightness measuring apparatus (for example, an apparatus that measures a level of a photo-multiplier and a video level). Then, automatic brightness control is performed by discriminating between light and dark across the brightness measuring region 70, then determining X-ray loading factors so that appropriate brightness is achieved, and feeding back the X-ray loading factors to an X-ray generating system.
Incidentally, with the aim to prevent a subject from being submitted to overexposure, to make a displayed image easier to see, etc, an X-ray beam radiated from an X-ray generating system is occasionally limited by an X-ray beam limiting device during diagnosis using the diagnostic X-ray system. In this case, an X-ray fluoroscopic image is affected by such beam limiting, which in turn limits an image region as shown in FIG. 1.
However, because average brightness is computed based on the brightness measuring region 70 by the aforementioned conventional automatic brightness control function, when the brightness measuring region 70 is subjected to such beam limiting as shown in FIG. 1, brightness control is performed while including a region affected by the beam limiting. This results in brightness control such that brightens the X-ray fluoroscopic image exceedingly, and thereby makes it impossible to determine X-ray loading factors that can provide optimal brightness.
In addition, a region of interest in diagnosis generally differs from region to region. Nevertheless, the brightness measuring region 70 in the conventional diagnostic X-ray system is of specific shape and size regardless of an object to be imaged (region). Hence, there may be a case that the brightness measuring region 70 does not correspond to a region of interest for a given region being displayed, which makes adequate brightness control corresponding to the given region infeasible.
The invention was devised in view of the foregoing, and therefore has an object to provide a diagnostic X-ray system that is unsusceptible to X-ray beam limiting and capable of performing adequate brightness control processing corresponding to a region to be examined with ease.


An information processing apparatus capable of easily executing calculation of an environmental load volume (LCA result). Inventory data, that is data of individual materials and components, is used as the basic data of aggregate data when calculating the environmental load volume. The aggregate data is made up of a plurality of inventory data. When information per product is inputted, aggregate data is calculated based on the inputted information and the aggregate data is used for calculation of LCA result. The LCA result is calculated also using other LCA results already calculated. The apparatus can be applied to a computer for calculating the environmental load volume.

Through a significant development of human production activities in recent years, an enormous growth has been attained in scientific and technological fields as well as in the economic field; on the other hand, however, there is an increasing apprehension of environmental destruction in global scale caused by consumption of resources and energy for supporting these scientific and technological as well as economic activities. In the industrial fields, attempts at reducing the environmental damages caused by value-added products as much as possible are considered to become more and more active in the future.
Under these circumstances, a method has been proposed in which a LCA (life cycle assessment) for quantitatively assessing an environmental load of a product, i.e., load that affects the environment throughout a life cycle from extraction of the material, its manufacture, and a disposal thereof.
The proposed LCA, which has an advantage that environmental loads can be obtained quantitatively, is, however, associated with a problem that volume of data that must be obtained until the calculation of its environmental load are enormous, requiring complicated calculation for its assessment, thereby requiring a considerably large number of processes until a result thereof is obtained. Further, because a result of calculation is restricted within a given condition, there is a problem that the result of calculation may change greatly depending on a assumptions and/or variables to be considered.
Further, the data considered necessary for calculation of LCA extend to broad areas. For example, although a variety of numbers of parts (components) data are required for constituting one product, there is a problem that it takes lots of time and efforts to collect and manage the data. Still further, there is a problem that a process to search a desired data from an enormous volume of data related to these components may be very time-consuming and tedious.


A device for controlling an automatically shifting transmission of a motor vehicle is provided. A first selection device which sets gear speeds adjustable in an automatic mode, a second selection device which manually sets the gears of the transmission in a manual mode provide inputs to an electronic control device. When the second selection device is actuated, the control device commands a gear change in manual mode directly from the automatic mode. After actuation of the second selection device, a verification process is started to check whether a positive longitudinal acceleration process has begun within a predetermined time window. If no positive acceleration process has occurred within the time window, a switch is made back to automatic mode. If a positive acceleration process has occurred, returning to automatic mode is based on factors such as the end of the acceleration mode and repeated acceleration operations in a short time.

The invention relates to a device for controlling an automatically shifting transmission.
Such a device is known from German patent publication DE 197 36 406 A1, for example. This known device has a first selection device in the form of a selecting lever by which the gear speeds P, R, N, D, which are adjustable in an automatic mode, may be set. By use of a second selection device in the form of a steering wheel having two switches, in a manual mode the gears of the transmission can be manually shifted up or down in stages. The known device has an electronic transmission control device which is common in automatic transmissions or automatic manual transmissions. The basic concept of the device known from German patent publication DE 197 36 406 A1 is that the manual mode is activated from automatic mode when the second selection device is actuated. This manual mode is maintained until situations are recognized in which the automatic mode is desirable, for example until a significant acceleration is detected. It is assumed that during an acceleration in automatic mode it is a priority to relieve the driver.
The object of the present invention is to improve a device for controlling an automatically shifting transmission with regard to desired driving dynamics which are to be more strongly influenced by the driver.
By use of the device according to the invention, when a positive longitudinal acceleration is detected, a higher priority is assigned to a manual intervention of the driver, in particular by appropriate programming of the electronic control device, than to the measures that would be performed according to an automatic mode. The invention has particular relevance for spontaneous downshifting for passing maneuvers.
The invention is explained in greater detail with reference to one exemplary embodiment.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Device for controlling an automatic gearbox

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A self-adhesive acrylate copolymer is provided which can be used to prepare self-adhesive webs. The acrylate copolymer is prepared by a combined suspension and emulsion polymerization.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns self-adhesive acrylate copolymers, a process for their preparation as well as an especially favourable use of these acrylate copolymers.
2. Background of the Related Art
Self-adhesive substances or also pressure-sensitive substances are permanently tacky substances, which adhere spontaneously to many surfaces of different materials on light pressure. Such pressure-sensitive substances are almost exclusively used for the coating of webs, such as paper or film, adhesive labels or self-adhesive decorative films. Important properties of the pressure-sensitive substances are for example their adhesion capacity, their heat, ageing and softener stability.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,140, adhesive elastomer acrylate copolymers are known in the form of micro-spheres. These micro-spheres are produced by aqueous suspension polymerization. The micro-spheres which are obtained after polymerisation are dispersed in solvents, whereby suspensions are obtained. After the application of such a suspension on a web to be coated, the solvent is evaporated, so that a coating of these acrylate copolymer micro-spheres results on the web. This coating has an adhesive effect, so that the web thus coated can be used, for example, for covering or protection of sensitive surfaces. Furthermore, these coated webs have the desirable property that they can be used repeatedly and can repeatedly be removed from a surface to be protected, without this deteriorating effect on the adhesion or adhesive properties. However, this known type of copolymer suffers from the disadvantage that its adhesive properties gradually decrease with time, so that finally no adhesion can be achieved. This is because of a migration of the micro-spheres from the web on which they are applied, to the surface which is covered by the self-adhesive web.
For this reason, this type of adhesive substance was further developed in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,67 ,731 (or the corresponding DE patent 24 17 312) so that in addition to the micro-spheres of acrylate copolymer, a binding agent layer is provided on a web which is to be coated. This binding agent layer, which contains micro-spheres, is applied so that one part of the micro-spheres protrudes from the binding agent layer and thus can come into contact with a corresponding material onto which it should adhere.
It is an object of the the present invention to provide an acrylate copolymer which has good and long-lasting adhesive properties. In particular, their properties should not themselves alter disadvantageously when repeated adhesion and removal is undertaken from materials to be secured. In addition, the invention also has as an object a process for the preparation of such acrylate copolymers by simple means and methods.

Self-adhesive acrylate copolymers, a process for their preparation and self-adhesive webs, which contain them


A transceiver module is provided that includes an optical subassembly having an extension with traces corresponding to traces defined on an associated transceiver substrate. A connector element including a flexible, non-electrically conductive substrate within which is disposed an array of conductors is placed between overlapping portions of the extension and the transceiver substrate so that upper ends of some of the conductors contact the traces of the extension, while lower ends of those same conductors contact the corresponding traces of the transceiver substrate. In this way, the connector element provides electrical communication between the optical subassembly and transceiver substrate, while also accommodating misalignment that may be present, or develop, in the transceiver module components.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors. More specifically, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to electrical connectors for use with optical subassemblies and printed circuit boards.
2. Related Technology
Fiber optic technology is increasingly employed as a method by which information can be reliably transmitted via a communications network. Networks employing fiber optic technology are known as optical communications networks, and are marked by high bandwidth and reliable, high-speed data transmission.
Optical communications networks employ optical transceivers in transmitting information via the network from a transmission node to a reception node. Generally, such optical transceivers implement both data signal transmission and reception capabilities, such that a transmitter portion of a transceiver converts an incoming electrical data signal into an optical data signal, while a receiver portion of the transceiver converts an incoming optical data signal into an electrical data signal.
More particularly, an optical transceiver at the transmission node receives an electrical data signal from a network device, such as a computer, and converts the electrical data signal to a modulated optical data signal using an optical transmitter such as a laser. The optical data signal can then be transmitted in a fiber optic cable via the optical communications network to a reception node of the network. Upon receipt by the reception node, the optical data signal is fed to another optical transceiver that uses a photodetector, such as a photodiode, to convert the received optical data signal back into an electrical data signal. The electrical data signal is then forwarded to a host device, such as a computer, for processing.
Generally, multiple components are designed to accomplish different aspects of these functions. For example, an optical transceiver can include one or more optical subassemblies ("OSA") such as a transmit optical subassembly ("TOSA"), and a receive optical subassembly ("ROSA"). Typically, each OSA is created as a separate physical entity, such as a hermetically sealed cylinder that includes one or more optical sending or receiving components, as well as electrical circuitry for handling and converting the optical signals. Within the optical transceiver, each OSA generally includes electrical connections to various additional components such as a transceiver substrate, sometimes embodied in the form of a printed circuit board ("PCB").
The transceiver substrate can include multiple other active circuitry components particularly designed to drive or handle electrical signals sent to or returning from one or more of the electrically-attached OSAs. Accordingly, such a transceiver substrate will usually include a number of electrical transmission lines with the one or more OSAs. Such connections may include "send" and "receive" data transmission lines for each OSA, one or more power transmission lines for each OSA, and one or more diagnostic data transmission lines for each OSA. These transmission lines are connected between the transceiver substrate and the OSA using different types of electrical connectors, examples of which include an electrical flex circuit, a direct mounting connection between conductive metallic pins extending from the OSA and solder points on the PCB, and a plug connection that extends from the PCB and mounts into electrical extensions from an OSA.
Each of these methods for electrically connecting the OSA with a transceiver substrate implicates various complications relating to matters such as manufacturing processes, and overall cost associated with the device. These, and other, complications become particularly acute in the context of small form factor components. For example, when an OSA has been mounted within a transceiver housing, the spatial relationship of the optical transmit or receive component, as applicable, of the OSA relative to the transceiver housing 160 must closely conform to various predetermined alignment conditions. However, establishment and maintenance of such a spatial relationship may result in a less than optimal or desirable arrangement of other portions of the OSA relative to the transceiver housing and/or relative to the associated transceiver substrate.
With particular reference to small form factor components, small spatial variations of only thousandths of an inch, or mils, at the optical component end of the OSA can create difficulties with the standardized manufacturing process used to electrically connect the opposing end of the OSA to the PCB. As well, small changes to the spatial relationship of the OSA, such as may result from normal system operations occurring over a period of time, can damage or destroy the electrical connection between the OSA and the PCB. Thus, at least some of the difficulties associated with establishing a secure and reliable electrical connection between an OSA and PCB relate to the strict alignment requirements imposed on the various components that make up the optical transceiver.
Accordingly, what is need are electrical connectors that provide for a reliable and secure electrical connection between components such as an OSA and PCB. Further, such electrical connectors should be able to compensate for any misalignment between the OSA and PCB that may occur during assembly or subsequently, without materially compromising the electrical connection therebetween.

Electrical component connector with misalignment compensation


The present disclosure provides a system, method, and apparatus for a solar cell by-pass diode with improved metal contacts. The method involves depositing a dielectric layer (e.g., SiO2 layer) on the metal contacts, and etching off a portion of the dielectric layer after sintering the metal contacts. The dielectric layer prevents the contact metal from oxidation during sintering. The unetched portion of the dielectric layer is used as the P-N junction passivation by the by-pass diode.

Titanium is typically used for the ohmic contacts of silicon diodes by forming titanium silicide. However, oxygen in the environment oxidizes titanium during the metal contact sinter process, which is typically run in a temperature range from 300 degrees Celsius to 600 degrees Celsius. The oxidized titanium layer weakens metal contact adhesion to silicon and, as such, the reliability of the diodes is compromised.
Therefore, a solar cell by-pass diode with improved metal contacts is needed.

Solar cell by-pass diode with improved metal contacts


This invention provides a semiconductor memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells having a common source diffused region extending in a specified direction, a word line that extends in parallel with the common source diffused region and is connected to each gate of the plurality of memory cells, a first source interconnection composed of a first metal interconnection layer electrically connected to the common source diffused region, and a second source interconnection that extends in parallel with the word line and is composed of a second metal interconnection layer electrically connected to the first source interconnection.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor memory device using transistors as memory cells, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device employing with memory cells capable of erasing and rewriting data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some of erasable programmable nonvolatile memory devices such as EPROMs, a basic memory cell is composed of a stacked-gate MOS transistor, where data is written by injection of hot electrons from the drain, while it is erased by applying high voltage to the source to cause tunnel current. Memory cells of this type are usually known as EPROM tunnel oxide memory cells (hereinafter, referred to as ETOX cells), whose cross section is shown in FIG. 1A.
In FIG. 1A, numeral 101 indicates a substrate, 102 a source, 103 a drain, 104 a floating gate, and 105 a control gate.
Data is written into an ETOX cell of such a structure in the same way as an ordinary EPROM cell. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1B, a low voltage of, for example, 0 V as the source voltage V.sub.S is applied to the source 102; a high voltage as the drain voltage V.sub.D to the drain 103; and a high voltage as the control gate voltage V.sub.CG to the control gate 105. Under these voltage conditions, ON current flows between the source and drain, generating pairs of hot electrons and holes in the vicinity of the drain. The hot electrons are injected into the floating gate 104, which raises the threshold of the transistor, thereby completing the write operation. On the other hand, the holes flow into the substrate 101 as substrate current. The erasing of data is done by applying a high voltage to the source 102 and a low voltage of, for example, 0 V to the control gate 105, which sets the drain 103 to a floating state, as shown in FIG. 1C. The floating gate potential depends on the source voltage and the capacitance ratio of the capacitance between the control gate 105 and floating gate 104 and the capacitance between the floating gate 104 and source 102. With this floating gate potential, Fowler-Nordheim tunnel current flows between the floating gate 104 and source 102, which extracts electrons from the floating gate 104, thereby completing the erase operation.
In conventional EEPROMs Electrically Erasable Programmable ROMs) using the ETOXs, data is written on a bit basis, while it is erased on an all-bit basis (flush erasure). This is because in constructing a memory cell array through a conventional single-layer metal process, a significantly large size chip is required to erase data in small blocks, leading to unreasonably high cost.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a memory cell array section in a conventional EEPROM employing the FIG. 1A memory cell. In the figure, numeral 11, . . . , 11 indicate ETOX cells arranged in matrix, 12, . . . , 12 word lines connected to the gates of ETOX cells 11 on a row basis, 13, . . . , 13 common source diffused interconnections composed of diffused regions and connected to the sources of the ETOX cells 11 on a two adjacent row basis, 14, . . . , 14 source interconnections made of a metal such as aluminum electrically connecting the individual common source diffused interconnections 13 to one another, and 15, . . . , 15 bit lines made of a metal such as aluminum connected to the drains of the ETOX cells 11 on a column basis. The EEPROM is assumed to allow a plurality of bits to be read from or written into in parallel simultaneously. Therefore, the ETOX cells 11 are divided into groups of a specified number of parallel bits on a bit line basis, and the bit lines 15 are each connected to sense amplifiers via column select transistors 16.
FIG. 3 is a pattern layout for a integrated circuit of the memory cell array of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a sectional view through line A--A.sub.a of FIG. 3. In this example, a p-type silicon substrate 21 is used as semiconductor substrate, and the ETOX cells are of the n-channel type. In FIG. 4, numeral 22 indicates a first gate insulating film of an ETOX cell; 23 a floating gate; 24 a second gate insulating film; 25 a control gate composed of, for example, a layer of polysilicon, and constituting the word line 12; 26 an n.sup.+ -type diffused region constituting the common source and the common source diffused interconnection 13; 27 an n.sup.+ -type diffused region serving as the common drain of two adjacent ETOXs in the column direction; 28 a metal interconnection serving as the source interconnection 14 made of, for example, aluminum, and connected to the n.sup.+ -type diffused region 26; 29 a contact hole connecting the metal interconnection 28 to the n.sup.+ -type diffused region 26; 30 an interlayer insulating film covering the control gate; 31 a metal inter connection made of, for example, aluminum, serving as the bit line 15, and connected to the n.sup.+ -type diffused region 27 serving as the common drain; and 32 a contact hole connecting the metal interconnection 31 to the n.sup.+ -type diffused region 27.
With this arrangement, the drain potential of each ETO cell is normally applied via the aluminum bit line 15; the gate potential (control gate potential) is applied via the word line 12 extending in the direction crossing the bit line 15; and the source potential is applied via the common source diffused line 13 extending in the direction parallel with the word line 12. The resistance of the common source diffused interconnection 13 is higher than that of a metal interconnection such as aluminum, which has the same effect of inserting resistance R in the common source interconnection 13 as shown in FIG. 2. For this reason, source interconnections 14 of low-resistance aluminum are connected to the source diffused interconnection 13 at a suitable number of places in order to apply the source potential to the common source diffused interconnection 13 in a distributed manner.
With this EEPROM, write operation is based on the same principle as that explained in FIG. 1B with a high voltage selectively applied to one bit line 15 and one word line 12, and the ground potential to the common source diffused interconnection 13. Erase operation is based on the same principle as that explained in FIG. 1C by grounding all the word lines 12 and putting the column select transistor 16 in the off state to put all the bit lines 15 in a floating state while applying a high voltage to the common source diffused interconnection. That is, because of memory layout restrictions, all bits are erased simultaneously (flush erasure).
As noted above, with conventional EEPROMs using ETOX cells, layout restrictions merely permits all bits or a block of many bits to be erased at a time. To erase data in much smaller memory blocks, it is necessary to significantly increase the chip size. The reason for this will be explained below.
For example, in a flush-erase-type EEPROM of one megabits, the minimum unit will be considered for a case where the memory cells are divided into blocks, in which blocks data is erased. Ordinary 1-megabit memory arrays have a rectangular matrix of 1 kilo rows.times.1 kilo columns. A bit string to be written or read has a length of 8 bits or 16 bits like ordinary EPROMs. Since the sense amplifiers for data read are located on the column side, the memory cell array has a structure of 1 kilo rows.times.128 columns.times.8 bits or 1 kilo rows.times.64 columns.times.16 bits.
Now, consideration will be given to a case where the source potential previously applied to the common source diffused interconnection 13 shared by all bits is applied to the individual aluminum source interconnections 14 independently. Specifically, in FIG. 2, the common source diffused line 13 shared by the sources in the column direction is divided into blocks at intervals of, for example, eight bit lines, and each block is independently applied with the source potential. In this case, source interconnections 14 are provided at a rate of eight bit lines per source interconnection. If eight-bit strings are used, the minimum block unit will be as large as 1 kilo/1 column.times.8 column .times.8 bits=64 kilobits. An attempt to divide memory cells into still smaller blocks requires more source interconnections 14, resulting in a larger chip size.
Users want data erasure in much smaller blocks. For example, in the field of magnetic disk memory devices, a single track is divided into 512-byte units and all operating systems (OS) are also based on 512-byte units. To apply flush-erase-type EEPROMs to this field, it is necessary to change such OS, which is technically difficult. Another problem with flush-erase-type EEPROMs is the time required to rewrite data. The time required to write one megabits of data is generally approximately 15 seconds, provided that the write time per bit is 100 .mu.s. Thus, to rewrite only a small amount of data involves first erasing all bits and then writing the data spending 15 seconds, which would have an adverse effect on applications.
There is still another problem with EEPROMs: repetition of erase/write (E/W) cycles is limited. This is because repetition of erase/write operations permits charges to be trapped in the gate insulating film, aggravating the characteristics gradually. The characteristics of memory cells is normally guaranteed for as many as 10 4 times of E/W cycles. Therefore, it is desirable to erase data in smaller blocks. Erasure in smaller blocks prevents extra electrical stress from being applied to the memory cells not to be rewritten, which helps improve the overall reliability of the device.


A heat dissipation assembly includes a heat sink and a fan. The heat sink device has a base and a plurality of fins formed on the base, the fins are parallel with each other, one or more of the fins cooperatively form at least two concave engagement parts. The fan has at least two elastic arms extending from middle positions of two opposite sides of the fan, an engagement hook is formed at an end of the at least two arms. The at least two engagement hooks are engagable with the at least two engagement parts, for fastening the fan on the heat sink device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat dissipation assembly. Particularly, the present invention relates to a heat dissipation assembly for dissipating heat generated by a chip.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices use heat dissipation assemblies for dissipating heat generated by components therein, thus preventing the components from being overheated. Typically, a heat sink device is assembled on top of a heat-generating component, for absorbing heat of the component and radiating the heat to a much larger space, which benefits dissipation of the heat. Furthermore, a fan is fixed on the heat sink device; the fan assists for heat dissipation. The fan and the heat sink device respectively have holes formed on the sides, and screws extend through the holes to fix the fan on the heat sink device.
However, the holes weaken the heat sink devices, causing them to be easily distorted or even to break. Furthermore, it is a tedious task to manipulate screws during installation or removal of the fan. Consequently, a heat dissipation assembly, which is easy to install and uninstall, is needed in the industry.


An orbital welding head for joining two tubes positioned end-to-end includes a welding electrode which is rotated around the tubes and a pair of clamps for holding the tubes in the correct position with respect to each other and the welding electrode. The clamps include a fixed member, a rotatable member and a hinge assembly for joining the rotatable member to the fixed member. The rotatable clamp members are moved clear of the tubes when the tubes are either inserted into or removed from the welding head. Fluid channels are formed in both the fixed and rotatable clamp members. The hinge assembly connects the rotatable clamp member with the fixed member. Fluid channels within the hinge assembly allows cooling fluid introduced into the fixed member to be carried through that member into the rotatable member, cooling both. A return fluid channel is also provided by the hinge. The hinge is provided with a passageway for transferring cooling fluid from one rotatable clamp member to another. Because the rotatable clamp members are cooled, they can be opened by the operator without requiring the use of gloves.

This invention relates to an improved tube-to-tube welding head.
A typical tube-to-tube welding head for joining two tubes positioned end-to-end includes a welding electrode, which is rotated around the joint between the tubes and a pair of clamps for holding the tubes in the correct position with respect to each other and the welding electrode. The clamps include a fixed member, a rotatable member and a hinge to permit the rotatable member to be moved clear of the tubes when the tubes are either inserted into or removed from the welding head. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,144.
When welding large diameter tubes, such as tubes up to five inches in diameter, the welding operation takes considerable time, up to four or five minutes, and as a consequence, the entire welding head becomes hot, 300.degree. F. to 400.degree. F. or higher. Once the welding operation is completed, the clamps are released, and the welding head is removed from the now joined tubes. Because the welding head is so hot, however, the operator must wear gloves to handle the release of the clamps and the installation of the welding head and closure of the clamps on the next pair of tubes to be welded.
In one prior art device, the clamp members are provided with passages through which cooling fluid was passed to reduce the temperature. Cooling of the clamp members can bring their temperature down considerably, from ambient to approximately 140.degree. F. In that device, the cooling passages of the rotatable member were connected by flexible hoses to the fixed components of the welding head. External hoses in the vicinity of the hinge necessarily extended outwardly from the welding head and thus were in the way of a smooth and efficient operation, especially in confined spaces. Further, exposed hoses are subject to breaking or damage.


Apparatus and method for selectively engaging and securing an array of shelf dividers to a mounting device which is securable to a display shelf. In the first form a divider is characterized by a divider structure having an elongated vertical wall and elongated horizontal base that operates to divide, organize and support the displayed merchandise. A resilient latch located on the underside of the base of the divider structure selectively engages and secures the divider structure onto a mounting device comprising a receiving member running longitudinally along the length of the surface of the mounting device which is securable along the front edge of a display shelf. The latch and the receiving member each comprise reciprocating (i.e. complementary) protrusions to allow the cooperative engagement of the divider structure and mounting device, thus locking the divider member to and unlocking the divider member from the mounting device to permit the repositioning of the display as desired without necessitating removal of the merchandise from the display. In addition when the divider structure and mounting device are fully engaged, a second protrusion on the underside of the divider member cooperates with a flange or lip on the mounting device to prevent lateral movement of the divider structure and maintain the position of the divider perpendicular to the mounting device and the front edge of the shelf. In a second embodiment, the divider structure comprises a pusher track and a spring urged pusher assembly to automatically push merchandise to the front of the shelf. Another embodiment comprises a divider base without a vertical divider wall, and with or without a pusher track and spring urged pusher assembly, thus pushers and dividers can be used in various convenient combinations within a shelf management system.

In any merchandising scheme success in selling requires a constant modification of the goods offered for sale while maintaining a neatly organized display. The style, selection and assortment of goods in stores and the display mechanisms for displaying these goods are continuously changing. For these reasons, various prior art shelf organizing structures include the ability to rearrange the dividers within a display. Devices of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,038 issued Nov. 25, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,678 issued Dec. 28, 1999, to Merit. Merit teaches a divider structure that snaps onto a split tube to secure the divider structure to the mounting device attached to a shelf; however, the divider must be rotated ninety degrees to release and remove it from the mounting device to adjust or relocate the divider structure along the mounting device.
Moreover, generally sellers desiring to maximize product sales have increased the number of articles displayed within a given space, thereby significantly limiting the ability of store personnel to conveniently move, change or restock the merchandising display scheme. Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,021 issued May 16, 1989 to Breslow and U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,720 issued Mar. 28, 2000 to Hardy, teach that while some dividers slide easily along an extrusion attached to a shelf, there is no means to lock them in place. Consequently, as articles are emptied from the shelf the display is prone to disarray. Other prior art disclosed by Hardy in published International Application No. PCT/US02/15760 teaches a divider that couples to a mounting member utilizing mating teeth; however, the divider must be removed from the extrusion before it can be repositioned. The teeth lock the divider in place, but do not allow for conveniently repositioning the divider absent removing the displayed articles and the dividers from the shelf. This is inconvenient, labor intensive and expensive for stores because even the slightest adjustment can require removing the articles from the shelf to reposition the dividers, then reloading the articles.

Method and apparatus for selective engagement of shelf divider structures within a shelf management system


A connecting arrangement for a medical system, having a first part including a plastic material that is dimensionally stable at a heat-treatment temperature and a second part including a plastic material that is not dimensionally stable at the heat-treatment temperature and thus tends to flow under a compressive force; in which the plastic materials do not contain any PVC or EVA. The connection is made by bringing the surfaces on the first and second parts together with subsequent heat-treatment under a compressive force, wherein the second plastic material tends to flow under the simultaneous effects of temperature and compressive force.

The following are mentioned as belonging to the prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,977 to Herbert (D1), PA1 EP-A-0 136 848 to Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc.(D2) and PA1 WO-A-82/04016 also to Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc.(D3).
Connecting arrangements or connecting techniques with which the present invention is concerned are disclosed, inter alia, in D1. The object of D1 is a medical bag for storing blood or infusion solutions, in which a connecting piece made of a dimensionally stable plastic material is inserted into the body of the bag made of a different plastic material, wherein, to produce a firm and fluid-tight connection between bag and connecting piece, a bonding layer made of a non-crosslinked copolymer made from an olefin and vinyl acetate or polyurethane is arranged between the connecting piece and the sections of the body of the bag found to be in contact with it.
For the medical bag in accordance with D1, plastic materials based on polyolefins are suggested, inter alia those based on polyethylene, polypropylene and polybutylene. In addition to these homopolymers, plastic materials are also mentioned in D1 that are substituted olefins containing, for example, methyl, ethyl, vinyl or halogen substituents. Copolymers or blends of corresponding materials are also suggested.
Polyethylenes with average to high densities, high molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions are particularly preferred for the bag. Furthermore, according to D1, care should be taken to ensure, in this case, that the polyolefins have a melting point below the sterilization temperature of 110 to 120.degree. C.
Suitable plastics for use for connecting pieces or inserts (in accordance with D1), are relatively rigid and transparent plastic materials and are deformed only at a pressure of at least 2 bar, for example rigid PVC, polypropylene, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyacrylates and similar materials and/or copolymers based on the previously mentioned compounds and styrene-containing copolymers, but in particular polycarbonates.
Materials for the bonding layer include, according to D1, copolymers of an olefin with vinyl acetate or a polyurethane. The bonding layer is between 0.1 and 7 mm thick and, to produce a connection between the connecting fittings piece or insert and bag, is arranged so that a length of tubing of the bonding layer material is drawn over or brushed onto the exterior of the insert or connecting tube, then the insert is pushed into the opening provided for it in the bag and finally the whole unit is welded together.
It is also possible to weld the bonding layer to the connecting piece first, for fixing purposes, and then to introduce this into the prepared connector opening in the bag and seal this unit. In this case, after the welding procedure, the bonded system is autoclaved at approximately 120.degree. C. and 2 bar. During the heat-sealing process itself (welding), the bag is bonded to the ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer in the intermediate layer, the bag also preferably being made of polycarbonate, like the connecting piece.
The connecting technique in accordance to D1 is disadvantageous for a number of reasons. On the one hand the interpositioning of a connecting layer between the separate parts of the system to be connected is a relatively complicated procedure. On the other hand, the bag is not suitable for recycling due to the use of different materials (the bonding layer is not made of a polyolefin material).
The object of D2 is another connecting technique. This discloses a flexible bag made of ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA), in which a multi-layered connection tube made of a plastic material is arranged so that it is in fluid connection with the interior of the bag, wherein the tube has an outer layer which contains an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer which can be connected to the internal surface of the bag. In this case the seal is preferably achieved by means of a high frequency energy sealing process. Apart from the fact that the multi-layered tubes, connecting pipes or fittings have PVC-containing layers, wherein PVC is not a material which gives no concern during waste disposal procedures, and furthermore which almost always contains plasticizer which can diffuse out of the material into the solution being stored, a mixture of PVC and vinyl acetate is very difficult to separate during recycling procedures.
D3 also discloses a connector designed specifically for connecting two different plastic materials as an intermediate layer which is particularly suitable for connecting medical containers such as, for instance, blood bags to flexible tubes, when the parts to be connected consist of materials which are incompatible with each other so that direct welding of the separate parts to each other is not possible.
The intermediate item in accordance with D3 is a coextruded or injection moulded multi-layered connector with layers made of different plastic materials, wherein one of the layers "melts" at a lower temperature than the others.
D3 mentions polyvinylchloride as the material in the inner connector layer, whereas the outer layer consists of a lower melting polymer, for example polyethylenevinylacetate (EVA). In this embodiment, the connector in accordance with D3 is suitable, for instance, for connecting a PVC tube to a polyethylene container whose connecting piece consists of a material containing propylene units and polyethylenevinylacetate units as the first and second components.
To form the connection, the PVC tube is now placed in contact with the inner layer of the connector, for example using a solvent such as cyclohexanone. The outer layer of the connector is then introduced into the connection section of the bag under sliding contact, after firmly fixing the inner tube/connector link. The entire tube/connector/connecting piece/bag arrangement is then taken up to a temperature which is sufficient to melt the EVA in the external layer of the connector and to bond with the connecting piece. This thermal treatment can be performed, inter alia, in an autoclave.
To bond separate parts made of similar materials and to lower the temperature required to heat-bond them, D3 suggests the use of two connectors, the first with a low-melting plastic material outer layer (EVA) and a higher melting plastic material inner layer (PVC) and a second with the reverse sequence of layers. The two connectors with different diameters are then pushed together so that the PVC layers are in contact with each other. The two PVC layers are then solvent-sealed (cyclohexanone) together. The resulting "double connector" then has two low-melting plastic material outer layers which can be used in a known manner for connecting EVA bags and tubes.
In several ways, the disclosure published in D3 is also associated with disadvantages for the person skilled in the art.
On the one hand, at least one additional connector part is required each time to connect a medical system (bag+tube). On the other hand, in the end at least two steps are always required to produce the connection. Thus solvent-welding of the PVC layers in the connector and the tube or even of two connectors regularly precedes heat-treatment, which is really quite a complicated procedure. Finally, D3 is directed exclusively towards classical PVC and EVA materials which, from a current point of view, appear rather dubious, especially against the background of the plasticizer problems associated with PVC.

Connecting arrangement and process for connecting two separate parts of a medical system


A conductive probe for semiconductor material characterization includes a distal metallic layer of micrometer-size particles, an intermediate layer of conformable conductive elastomer material, and a pin attached to the elastomer layer. The probe is preferably manufactured by filling a recess in a bottom plate with the metallic particles, coupling a top plate thereto with a perforation aligned with the recess, and filling the perforation with uncured conductive elastomer. The pin, preferably spring-loaded, is pressed into the perforation to compress the silicone to its intended probe size. The silicone is then allowed to cure at room temperature or in a heated environment, or both.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the general field of testing of semiconductor materials. In particular, it pertains to an improvement in the probe used for characterizing the properties of electroluminescent semiconductor wafers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The characterization of semiconductor materials and in particular light-emitting semiconductor structures at the wafer-level (i.e., after forming the p-n junction and the active quantum well layers, but prior to the chip processing steps) is typically carried out with a non-destructive wafer probe. A conductive probe is temporarily placed in contact with the top of the epi-wafer (p-GaN) layer while an electrode contacts the n-GaN layer through either the edge of the wafer or through other means that allow access to the n-GaN layer. Such typical layout is illustrated in FIG. 1. When energized, the conductive probe, the semiconductor p-n junction structure on the wafer and the electrode form a temporary light-emitting device. By injecting a known current into the junction, light will emit from the device and the spectral properties and their relationship with the electrical properties can be measured and characterized.
Although the method of using conductive probes for semiconductor wafer measurements and tests has been known in the field, the issues of making good, consistent probe-wafer contact with repetitive results are still problematic challenges that vary from application to application. For light-emitting wafer testing, a well-defined uniform contact area with minimal contact resistance is essential. Therefore, the probe material should be stable under a variety of electrical drive conditions.
One major challenge is the precise estimation and consistent repetitiveness of the true contact area between the probe and the surface of the wafer, which affects conductivity and all related measurement parameters. A hard metallic probe would be ideal for perfectly flat and smooth surfaces because of the high and uniform conductivity of metals. However, the surface of wafers is typically not perfectly smooth, but it contains a degree of roughness sufficient to create non-uniformities in the way the probe contacts the wafer. Therefore, different probes with softer tips have been used to cause the probe to deform under pressure and conform to the profile of the wafer's surface. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,679,381 (issued to Ma) describes a probe that includes a conductive deformable tip made of elastomer or polymer material and a pressure control that together ensure a good contact with the wafer under test as various measurements are taken across its surface.
Another type of probe used to improve the uniformity of contact over the test wafer consists of a traditional metallic probe with a conductive silicone tip, such as RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanization) liquid silicone material. Such conductive silicone consists of metallic flakes, typically silver particles, with a nominal diameter in the order of micrometers, dispersed in a silicone carrier that is attached and cured onto the tip of the metal probe. (Depending on the application, other conductive fillers may be used, such as graphite, silver-coated copper, nickel, and so on.) In use, the probe is pressed onto the surface of the wafer, causing its deformable tip to conform to wafer surface irregularities, thereby providing a substantially uniform contact throughout.
FIG. 2 illustrates a probe station for light-emitting epi-wafer characterization using a conducting silicone probe of the type described above, or any other deformable probe, including the novel probe of the invention described below. A spring-loaded probe 10 is used as an anode electrode. The probe is engaged to the surface S of the wafer W and makes contact with the p-GaN layer. The loading force applied to the probe for contacting the wafer is controlled by a spring-loaded mechanism acting on the probe 10 and by controlling the distance between the probe mount and the wafer surface. The contact of the cathode 12 is made at the side edge of the wafer so that the n-GaN layer can be accessed. The two electrodes 10,12 together with the epi-wafer form a temporary LED structure. When current is injected into the wafer from the probe 10, luminescence under the probe occurs and the emitted light is collected from sensors both in the front and back sides of the wafer through optical fibers 14 and a spectrometer 16. The data output of the spectrometer is acquired by a computer processor 18 for analysis and display. A power source 20 controls the level of current injected into the wafer W. The measurements are made on the sample surface by moving the probe or the sample sequentially between locations of interest. After one or a series of measurements have been taken at a location, a stage (not shown) moves the sample or the probe to the next sample location for the next measurement.
While the conductive silicone tip used on a spring-loaded probe as described above produces significant improvements over conventional metallic and other soft-tip probes, certain problems remain unsolved. For instance, when the conductive silicone tip is pressed against the wafer surface, even a very smooth surface, each metal flake incorporated in the silicone tends to make a point contact with the wafer and only silicone material contacts the areas surrounding the points of contact. Thus, while the quality of the contact is uniform in a coarse sense, it is very non-uniform in a microscopic sense and, the conductivity of silicone being negligible in comparison to that of metal, hot spots tend to form in point-contact areas. The present invention describes a new structure and a method of manufacture for a probe that embodies both the conformability and the uniform conductivity that are essential for reliable and repeatable light-emitting semiconductor wafer testing.

Probe and method of manufacture for semiconductor wafer characterization


Charbroiler drawer assembly having a housing and drawer, slide and gas manifold assemblies. The slide assembly has slide brackets mounted to the interior sides of the housing configured to receive caster assemblies mounted to the exterior sides of the drawer. The drawer, having an open bottom and a cooking surface on the top, has sides shaped to fit within and be received by the housing. The gas manifold assembly is cantilevered from the housing back and positioned within the drawer and the housing so as to permit free movement of the drawer and the caster assembly when the caster assembly engages with the slide brackets.

With a growing trend toward open kitchens, more and more restaurants are incorporating brick, stone or ceramic wood-fired or gas-fired pizza ovens in their kitchens, along with a host of other specialized professional cooking equipment, such as charbroilers. Pizza ovens (which can be used for foods other than pizza) operate at extremely high temperatures in the range of around 700° (371.1° C.) to around 1,000° (537.8° C.). Charbroilers are standalone range or countertop models; sometimes a lower oven may be incorporated with the range models.


A method and system for presenting a document to a user. The method comprises the steps of providing a plurality of documents having one or more language translations; specifying a preferred order of languages for the user; and when the user requests a search term, searching the plurality of documents for those that contain the search term. The method comprises the further steps of matching the language translations of the documents containing the search term with the preferred order of languages for the user; and delivering, for each of the documents containing the search term, a best match language translation to the user. With the preferred embodiment of the invention, the following functionalities are enabled: (1) Present to the user his preferred translation or a default translation if the preferred has not yet been made available to the system; (2) Present to the user the “best available” translation, given an order of preference, or a default translation if none of the “better” translations are available; and (3) Present to the user the “best available” translation using a user's specified preference, or, if none of those translations are available, the “best available” according to a system level specified preference.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to identifying and presenting documents from computer databases. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and systems for determining which language in which to present a document when the document is available in more than one language.
2. Prior Art
Over the last several years, the amount of material accessible by computer searching and the geographic reach of computer searching, particularly via the Internet, have both grown enormously. As a result, today, many documents that can be accessed are actually available in several languages. Prior art searching systems, however, do not provide any systematic procedure for determining which language to present or deliver a document when the document is available in more than one language. Moreover, with many searching systems, if a document is not available in a particular language (commonly the searcher's home language), the document is not identified at all, and the searcher does not even become aware of its availability.

Method and system of presenting a document to a user

International Business Machines Corporation