Method of determining the permeability of an underground medium from NMR logs of the permeability of rock fragments from the medium, based on prior calibration of the permeability resulting from this measurements, from direct measurement on rock fragments, such as cuttings for example. The method mainly comprises measuring permeability (k) from rock fragments, measuring the signal produced by a device allowing NMR analysis of the rock fragments previously saturated with a protonated liquid (brine for example), obtaining optimum values for the parameters of a relation giving the permeability as a function of the NMR signal, and applying this relation to the well zones that have already been subjected to NMR logging but for which no direct permeability measurements are available. One example of one of the applications for the present invention is the evaluation of a hydrocarbon reservoir.

The prior art is illustrated by the following publications some of which will be mentioned by way of reference in the description hereafter.                Clark, R. K. and K. L. Bickham: "A mechanistic model for cuttings transport", SPE No.28306, 69th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, 25-28 September 1994,        Fleury, M.: "Validity of permeability prediction from NMR measurements ", No. GERM Annual Meeting, La Pommeray, France, 14-18 May 2001,        Godefroy, S.: "Etudes RMN de la dynamique des molécules aux interfaces solide-liquide: des matériaux poreux calibres aux roches réservoirs ", Thése de l'Ecole Polytechnique, 2001,        Kenyon, W. E.: <<A three-part study of NMR longitudinal relaxation properties of water saturated sandstones >>, SPE Formation Evaluation, March, pp. 622-636, 1989,        Logan, W. D., J. P. Horkowitz, R. Laronga et al.: <<Practical Application of NMR logging in carbonate reservoirs >>, SPE Reservoir Eval. & Eng., October, pp. 438-448, 1998,        Naegel, M., E. Pradié, T. Delahaye et al. <<Cuttings flow meters monitor hole cleaning in extended reach wells >>, SPE No. 50677, European petroleum conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, 20-22 October 1998,        Nigh, E. and M. Taylor: "Wellsite determination of porosity and permeability using drilling cuttings ", C. W. -1. Society 10th Formation Evaluation Symposium, 1985,        Pilehvari, A. A., J. J. Azar and S. A. Shirazi: "State-of-the-art cuttings transport in horizontal wellbores ", SPE No. 37079, International conference on horizontal well technology, Calgary, Canada, 18-20 November 1996,        Santarelli, F. J., A. F. Marsala, M. Brignoli et al.: <<Formation evaluation from logging on cuttings >>, SPE Reservoir Eval. & Eng., June, pp. 238-244, 1998,        Seevers, D. O.: "A nuclear magnetic method for determining the permeability of sandstones ", No. SPWLA 1966, or        Timur, A.: "An investigation of permeability, porosity and residual water saturation relationships ", No. SPWLA 1968.I-1 Existing Petrophysical Measurements from Rock Fragments
Measurement of petrophysical parameters such as permeability, porosity and capillary properties on rock fragments taken up to the surface during drilling of a well through an underground formation constitutes an interesting opportunity for operator companies to obtain rapidly a first petrophysical characterization of producing zones crossed through by the well.
Patent FR-2,809,821 filed by the applicant describes a system for evaluating physical parameters such as the absolute permeability of porous rocks in a zone of an underground formation, from cuttings carried up to the surface with the drilling mud. In an enclosure where the cuttings are immersed in a viscous fluid, some of this fluid is injected at a pressure increasing with time, up to a predetermined pressure threshold, so as to compress the gas trapped in the pores of the rock. This injection phase is followed by a relaxation stage with injection stop. The evolution of the pressure during the injection process having been modelled from initial values selected for the physical parameters of the cuttings, a computer adjusts them iteratively so as to allow the modelled pressure curve to best coincide with the pressure curve really measured.
Patent applications FR-02/0,023 and FR-03/03,742 filed by the applicant describe another method of evaluating physical parameters such as the absolute permeability and the porosity of rocks in a zone of an underground formation, also from cuttings. An enclosure containing the rock fragments and filled with a viscous fluid is communicated with a tank containing this fluid at a predetermined pressure so as to compress the gas trapped in the pores of the rock. The application time of this pressure, according to whether it is short or long, allows to measure either the pressure variation in the enclosure or the variation of the volume effectively absorbed by the rock fragments. Then, the evolution of the pressure or of the volume in the enclosure is modelled from initial values selected for the physical parameters of the rock fragments so that the modelled evolution best adjusts with the measured evolution of the physical parameter in the enclosure.
I-2 Use of NMR in the Petroleum Industry
The non-intrusive measuring technique referred to as NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) has been known for a long time. It has aroused a very strong interest in the petroleum industry twenty years ago thanks to the advances made in data acquisition and processing. The principle of this technique is described in many references, notably by Seevers 1966, Timur 1968, Kenyon 1989 or Godefroy 2001, already mentioned above. To present things in a very simplified way, measurement consists in first exciting the protons along a magnetic field imposed by the device, then in letting the protons come back to their initial state (relaxation). In porous media, the magnetic relaxation signal obtained depends on the nature of the fluids contained in the rock, and on the pore geometry. For a proton, relaxation (T2) is all the faster as it is located in a low-extension pore. T2 is related to surface relaxivity P2, surface area S and volume V by the relation:
      1          T      2        =            ρ      2                  S      V
I-2.1 Porosity Evaluation
When the nature of the fluid contained in the pores is known, the amplitude of the NMR signal can be converted into volume. This allows to directly evaluate the amount of fluid contained in the rock, i.e. directly the difference between the total volume of rock and the solid volume (Vt−Vs). If the total volume is known, the value of the porosity can be deduced. In a more laboratory-oriented context, the total volume has to be measured separately by means of a powder pycnometer for example, or from the dimensions of the sample (core).
  ϕ  =                    V        t            -              V        s                    V      t
NMR measuring devices are widely used for logging. In this context, the total volume corresponds to the measurement volume of these devices (corrected for edge effects).
I-2.2 Permeability Evaluation
Various empirical correlations have been proposed for evaluating the value of the permeability from the distribution characteristics of T2. NMR logging has been presented as a predictive tool for measuring the permeability in a well. This technique has also been considered for measurements on cuttings since it is fast and flexible, in the field as well as in the laboratory. The models are based on the use of measuring times T1 and T2 which represent the respectively longitudinal and transverse relaxation times from the NMR signal. A synthesis of the existing models is given in the aforementioned reference Fleury et al. (2001). In the following publications, also mentioned above, permeability k is modelled by the empirical relations:
                                          Seevers                                                                                (              1966              )                                                                                k                    =                                    C                                            (                                  1                  -                                      S                    wi                                                  )                                                                T              1              2                                    ϕ                                                                                Timur                                                                                (              1968              )                                                                                k                    =                      C                                                                                1                              S                wi                2                                                                ϕ              4.4                                                                                Kenyon                                                                                (              1988              )                                                                                k                    =                                    CT                              2                                ML                            2                                                  ϕ              4                                                                                k        =                  C                                                                          1                          S              wi              2                                                      ϕ            4.4
In the previous models, the value of Swi is obtained from the signal of T2 by considering the volume which corresponds to short relaxation times (small pores) under a certain cutoff threshold. In the literature, the default values of this cutoff threshold are 33 ms for sandstones in contrast to 100 ms for carbonates (purely empirical values). FIG. 1 illustrates the use of the cutoff threshold. All these expressions were successfully validated on a large number of samples belonging to the same petrophysical group.
When changing petrophysical groups, the prediction quality can decrease significantly. This results from the NMR measurement, which is not a direct permeability measurement. Thus, more general relations relating the permeability to the NMR signal are preferably used:
                              k          =                      C                                                                                T              2              a                                                  ϕ              b                                      ,                            k        =                  C                                                                          1                          S              wi              a                                                      ϕ            b                              where C, a and b Depend on the Porous Structure.
Parameters C, a and b thus have to be adjusted to obtain satisfactory predictions for each rock.
I-3 NMR Measurements on Cuttings
In the laboratory
A NMR measurement technique allowing to obtain an evaluation of the porosity of cuttings obtained by crushing core samples of known properties is outlined very roughly by Santarelli et al. (1998) mentioned above. Only the comparison with the reference measurements is given. A good agreement is obtained with the reference measurements, but a certain degradation is observed in relation to the gas (helium) expansion technique which is translated into a lower correlation coefficient (R2=0.87) and a greater mean deviation in relation to the first bisectrix (of the order of 3-4 porosity units).
In the Field
The use of a field NMR device allowing to determine the porosity and the permeability from cuttings short after they have reached the surface is described by Nigh et al. (1985). The first measuring stage consists in properly identifying the cuttings recovered in terms of depth (lag time calculation). It is recommended to frequently inject tracers into the mud in order to contribute towards readjustment. For a drilling operation carried out with water-base mud, the cuttings are first cleaned in a washing cell filled with 3% NaCl brine. The operation is repeated until the cuttings are clean. If an oil-base mud is used, the cuttings are cleaned with solvents. The equivalent of two teaspoonfuls is necessary for one measurement. Once the cleaning operation complete, the cuttings are examined to check that they really come from the reservoir levels corresponding to the lag time. The cuttings selected are then fed into a cell filled with water and placed under vacuum so as to completely saturate them with liquid. The cuttings are thereafter removed from the cell and contacted with a ceramic to remove the water from the surface, and the total volume of rock is calculated. The NMR measurement allows to directly determine the value of the porosity and of the irreducible water saturation Swi. The results obtained show that the porosity measurement systematically underestimates the results of the measurements on core samples and the logs. The authors attribute these differences to depth readjustment problems and to the fact that the cuttings give a value corresponding to a precise depth whereas there is an averaging effect with the logging tools (30 cm on average). According to the saturation procedure described in the publication (which is not the one recommended in the laboratory: API standards), it is also possible that part of the pore network has remained gas-saturated, which could explain the underestimation observed.

Method of determining the permeability of an underground medium from NMR measurements of the permeability of rock fragments from the medium


A system and method is disclosed for efficiently sulfiding metal catalyst resident in a reactor vessel comprises a sulfiding module and a hydrogen sulfide detection module and a remote computer all arranged and configured to communicate wirelessly and to allow remote control and monitoring of the modules and sulfiding process.

1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to methods and apparatuses for sulfiding a hydrocarbon processing catalyst; and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for sulfiding a hydrocarbon processing catalyst resident in a reactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydroprocessing units, such as hydrotreaters, hydrodesulfurizers and hydrocrackers, found in hydrocarbon refineries utilize metal catalysts to aid the chemical reactions. These catalysts require periodic sulfiding to reach maximum catalytic activity. For purposes of this disclosure, "sulfiding" means causing the reaction of a catalyst metal with hydrogen sulfide.
There are several ways to sulfide catalyst already packed in a reactor vessel, commonly referred to as in-situ sulfiding, such as by using the naturally occurring sulfur in the hydrocarbon feed stock (aka sour feed). While avoiding the cost of an independent source of sulfur, using feedstock sulfur can be time consuming and potentially harmful if the sulfur content is not carefully monitored or high enough. An alternative to using feedstock sulfur is to use an independent sulfur source such as mercaptans, sulphides, disulphides, polysulphides and sulfoxides, such as Dimethyl Disulfide (DMDS), Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS), Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO), di-tertiary-butyl polysulfide (TBPS), tertiary nonylpolysulfide (TNPS) and refinery acid gas. These sulfur sources can be used to perform in-situ liquid phase sulfiding or in-situ gas phase sulfiding.
In general, within the hydroprocessing unit, sulfur is reacted with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The metal oxide catalysts are reacted with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and hydrogen (H2) at elevated temperatures to form the active metal sulfide, such as MoS2, CO9S8, WS2 or Ni3S2, in an exothermic reaction. Theoretically, only the stoichiometric amount of sulfur is needed to activate the catalyst. However, in the real world of commercial refineries, it is common to use more than the stoichiometric amount of sulfur to ensure complete sulfiding. Excess sulfur creates excess hydrogen sulfide and other sulfiding products that must be disposed of or otherwise dealt with.
Liquid DMDS is often used as the sulfur source because of its high sulfur density by weight (compared to the other potential sulfur sources) and lack of solid or overly reactive decomposition products, which absence reduces coking. DMDS can be injected into the hydrocarbon feed stream as a liquid or into the hydrogen recycle loop as a gas. Under temperature and pressure, DMDS will decompose into H2S at several temperature ranges including about 350° F. to about 450° F.; about 390° F. to about 500° F. and about 450° F. to about 520° F.
The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to methods and apparatuses for efficiently sulfiding catalysts packed in a reactor vessel.

Efficient in-situ catalyst sulfiding methods and systems


A heat engine enclosed in a housing has two chambers maintained at different temperatures. The first chamber (“hot chamber”) receives heat energy from an external power source. The second chamber (“cold chamber”) is connected to the hot chamber by two conduits, such that a fluid (e.g., air, water, or any other gas or liquid) filling the two chambers can circulate between the two chambers. The expansion of the fluid in the hot chamber and the compression of the fluid in the cold chamber drive a turbine to provide a power output. The fluid may be pressurized to enhance efficiency. In one embodiment, the turbine propels an axle in a rotational motion to transmit the power output of the heat engine to an electrical generator outside of the heat engine's housing. In one embodiment, the turbine includes a first set of blades and a second set of blades located in the hot chamber and the cold chamber, respectively. The blades may each have a flat profile having two unequal surfaces, such that the turbine rotates in preferentially in one direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to applying Stirling engine principles to the design and use for power conversion equipment. In particular, the present invention relates to applying Stirling engine principles for electrical and mechanical power generation, especially in the direct current (DC) mode or in the alternating current (AC) modes.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The Stirling engine is a heat engine that operates by converting the heat energy which flows between two portions of the heat engine having different temperatures into mechanical power. A typical Stirling engine uses the heat energy to drive a coordinated and reciprocating motion of a set of pistons. Numerous designs of Stirling engines can be found in the prior art, including: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,578,359, 6,050,092, 6,195,992, 6,735,946 and 6,164,263. The designs of these Stirling engine are typically complex and include numerous moving parts. Consequently, these designs are costly to manufacture and their efficiencies are low.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for electrical and mechanical power generation using stirling engine principles


A head-mounted image display device with a good operability and a data processing apparatus including such a display device. A head-mounted image display device wherein a liquid crystal panel and an enlarging optical system are crystal display panel through the enlarging optical system housed in a frame and wherein images generated on the liquid are visible in the field of view in front of the frame comprises a first direction detection means (107) disposed in part of the frame (101) for detecting the direction of the user's head; an observation point detection means (109) disposed in part of the frame for detecting the user's line of sight; a trigger input means (4) for transmitting trigger signals; and an image generation means (3, 105) for controlling images generated on the liquid crystal display panel based on signals from the first direction detection, observation point detection, and trigger input means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-mounted image display device for displaying images on a screen showing a virtual space and to a data processing apparatus including this device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The design of electronic circuits or experiment thereon requires materials such as data sheets due to the need to confirm the specifications of parts to be used. In this case, the materials are scattered on and around the designer's desk, thereby limiting the working space or hindering the designer from finding required materials quickly. This reduces the working efficiency.
To carry out design efficiently, computer aided engineering (CAE) for working out designs using computers has been introduced. That is, a paperless design environment has been established in which, for example, materials such as data sheets are registered in a computer to enable them to be displayed and referenced on the screen of the display as required. The above inconveniences have thus partly been eliminated.
If, however, a large number of parts are to be used and a large number of materials must be referenced at the same time, although several windows can be opened on the screen to display different materials in the different windows, the windows must sometimes overlap each other if a large number of windows must be used simultaneously due to the physically limited size and resolution of the CRT display for displaying information. As a result, the amount of information that can be referenced at the same time is limited, and the efficiency provided by the introduction of CAE is thus limited; in some cases, it is faster to find required materials among those scattered on and around the table as described above.
The working efficiency is also reduced in the maintenance or repair of an installed apparatus, wherein the operator must carry out such an operation while referencing instruction manuals and wherein because the surroundings are in disorder, the operator cannot place the manuals in positions in which they can be referenced appropriately. Under such conditions, however, it is further difficult to place a CRT display close to the operator, and the introduction of CAE is impossible. Thus, no other appropriate solutions were available.
Several methods of mounting a display apparatus on the operator's head and displaying information from materials thereon have thus been proposed.
Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 5-100192 describes a method of displaying screens from electronics such as word processors on a spectacle-like display, but this is only a spectacle-shaped variation of conventional displays and is not suited to the presentation of a large number of materials. Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 4-263283 proposes a portable virtual reality apparatus, but this simply provides an artificial reality apparatus and is not suited to the manipulation of displayed data.
In addition, for conventional head-mounted image display devices, several problems arising from the need to alternatively view a virtual image on the liquid crystal display and the corresponding image on the external keyboard due to the large difference in image quality between these images, have been pointed out. To solve this problem, some conventional techniques cause a display image and the corresponding external image to overlap each other. Head-mounted image display devices of this type, however, also have problems. For example, in such apparatuses, the visibility is very bad because external images are simply caused to overlap the corresponding display images, and alternatively viewing different images may strain the operator's eyes.
In addition, in head-mounted image display devices, when, four example, data is input to a word processor, keys to be pressed must be confirmed while viewing a display image, so the external keyboard must be checked while watching the display image.
To solve this problem, a means for switching between an external image and the corresponding image from an arithmetic operational device may be provided, or a configuration that enables the use of part of the field of view for watching the display while using the other part for checking the exterior may be provided, as proposed in Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 5-100192. In this case, however, since data must be input while using a particular part of the field of view to check the input device, mounting the image display device on the operator's head eliminates the freedom of the operator's inputting position, and long time work thus results in a significant fatigue. In addition, if a keyboard is used as an input device, the input operation is very difficult when the keys are larger than the tips of the operator's fingers, so the limit of the practical size of portable terminals depends on the size of the keyboard. Furthermore, due to the fixed arrangement of keys in conventional keyboards, optimal key arrangements for various applications are not available. In this information-oriented society, more and more attention is being paid to multimedia applications, so people must often deal with data in which motion and still pictures are mixed. Under these circumstances, the need of complicated procedures for creating motion pictures hinders people without expertise from providing adequate expressions using multiple media effectively. For hypermedia applications, HyperCard commercially available from Apple Co., Ltd is popular, but requires a large number of mouse clicks, thereby possibly resulting in mistakes in clicking positions.
For movie postproduction processes for processing, synthesizing, and editing movie materials, a large amount of time is required to complete the process due to the need to accurately carry out complex procedures according to pre-calculations, and the flexibility of these processes is limited; it is impossible to test various combinations of images during the process.
In addition, if a head-mounted image display device is used, only the person wearing the device can view image display information output from a data processing apparatus. If a plurality of people have to view image display information output from the data processing apparatus, then:    (1) these people must use a single head-mounted image display device in turn, or    (2) another data processing apparatus with a CRT display must be provided.
In this manner, a plurality of devices may be required according to a particular purpose and usage.
Attempts are being made to reduce the size of computers and word processors, and the utilization of portable data processing apparatuses is increasing. Such portable data processing apparatuses ordinarily include an open type display that is opened in use. However, with the further reduction of the size of portable data processing apparatuses, the extension of the range within which such devices can be used, and the increase in demand for functions of publicly creating confidential documents, the use of head-mounted image display devices has been proposed. As in Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 5-100192, such apparatuses comprise an arithmetic processing device and a head-mounted image display device to display screen information output from the arithmetic operation device, through the head-mounted image display device as enlarged virtual images. In such conventional structures, the arithmetic operation device and the head-mounted image display device are always separated from each other, they must be carried separately, resulting in poor portability despite their reduced sizes. Even if the head-mounted image display device is carried in an outer sheath case, handling becomes cumbersome, and faults are likely to occur.

Head-mounted image display device and data processing apparatus including the same


A semiconductor device and a radio frequency circuit which are appropriate for multiband, multimode performance can be realized as a semiconductor device including a field-effect transistor formed on a semiconductor substrate, and include: ohmic electrodes serving as source and drain electrodes of the field-effect transistor, first and second Schottky electrodes provided between the ohmic electrodes and serving as gate electrodes of the field-effect transistor, and a third Schottky electrode provided and grounded between the first and second Schottky electrodes.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch circuit which switches signals in a mobile communication device or the like and a technique used for a radio frequency power amplifier, and relates more specifically to a semiconductor device, a radio frequency circuit, and a radio frequency power amplifier.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, cellular phones have been further equipped with multiband, multimode compatibility, with a demand growing for higher performance (lower loss) of a radio frequency switch using a field-effect transistor (FET). However, the radio frequency switch using the FET has a disadvantage of degrading isolation (inter-element isolation) characteristics at the time of supplying a large amount of power, and a technique of connecting plural FETs in series is used to improve this status. In this context, a switch circuit whose isolation characteristics are enhanced through multigate configuration has been proposed (for example, see Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 4202852).
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a switch circuit described in Patent Reference 1.
A conventional switch circuit shown in FIG. 1 includes: a switch transistor Q1 connected between a transmission-side terminal TX and a common terminal COM, and a switch transistor Q2 connected between the common terminal COM and a reception-side terminal Rx. Here, the transmission-side terminal Tx is connected to an output terminal of a power amplifier provided outside the diagram, the common terminal COM is connected to an antenna provided outside the diagram, and the reception-side terminal RX is connected to an input terminal of the receiving system circuit provided outside the diagram.
Depression-type HEMTs are used for the switch transistors Q1 and Q2, and each of the depression-type HEMTs is configured as a triple-gate element which includes three gate electrodes each corresponding to one channel.
This triple-gate structure allows the channel to be shorter due to absence of a region where source and drain electrode are supposed to be formed between adjacent gate regions, and also allows reducing on-resistance Ron due to absence of source and drain resistors, thus allowing reduction of insertion loss.
However, in this structure, when turning off the switch transistors Q1 and Q2 included in the conventional switch circuit, depletion layer capacitors directly beneath the multiple gates are connected in series. This does not allow reducing impedance of an off-channel, thus causing a problem of insufficient isolation between both ends of the off-channel.
In addition, when using, in a load circuit of a multiband, multimode power amplifier, the conventional switch circuit as a transmission line selection circuit which selects a transmission line according to each band or mode, the conventional switch circuit is not capable of converting the load impedance, thus causing another problem of degradation of efficiency characteristics of the power amplifier. Therefore, it can be said that the conventional switch circuit is not appropriate for multiband, multimode performance.

Semiconductor device, radio frequency circuit, and radio frequency power amplifier


A method and apparatus for controlling the initiation of new user communication links in a communication system (10), by evaluating the present in-use resources in a particular cell against reserved resources for servicing handoff communications from neighboring cells, evaluating total in-use resources of satellite (12), and determining if present conditions in satellite (12) exceed defined parameters thus inhibiting access by new users. A status is posted and transmitted in a broadcast channel (18) for subscriber units (26) to evaluate prior to initiating requests for communication services.

In communication systems generally, resources are managed by allocating channels to subscriber units as they become available within a given service area. If a subscriber attempts to access the system while all resources are busy, they are generally denied access and are instructed to re-attempt accessing the system at a later time. In cellular communication systems, resources are expanded by partitioning service areas into cells and allowing reuse of communication resources. This reuse permits a greater number of users to access a communication system.
In cellular communication systems, however, subscriber units may be mobile and migrate between partitioned servicing areas. Mobility of subscriber units during a communication session requires handing off communications with a subscriber unit when boundaries of cells are crossed. Such handoffs from a previous cell to a future cell unexpectedly burdens the resources of the future cell. If resources in a future cell are unavailable, then a communication link established by the subscriber unit in a previous cell will be dropped. Such performance is unacceptable in a commercially reliable communication system.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for methods and systems that inhibit acquisition of communication services when resources are at or near capacity and minimize unexpected communication link dropouts due to a deficiency of available resources when handoffs are attempted from a previous cell to a future cell.

Method and system for managing the initiation of new traffic in a resource limited communication system


An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for performing a storage device maintenance operation. A management module receives a command through an interconnection module configured as a non-blocking switch. The management module performs a maintenance operation on a storage device through the interconnection module in response to the command. In addition, the management module may receive queries on the status of the maintenance operation through the interconnection module and report the status of the maintenance operation through the interconnection module.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to performing storage device maintenance operations and more particularly relates to a local management module performing maintenance operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer storage system typically includes a plurality of storage devices such as hard disk drives, magnetic tape drives, optical storage drives, and the like. Each storage device is usually in communication through a communication channel with a control device wherein referred to as an adapter module. The adapter module communicates with one or more host systems. In addition, the adapter module controls and arbitrates access by a host system to a storage device.
For example, the host system may communicate a request to retrieve data from the storage device to the adapter module. The adapter module may then direct the storage device to communicate the desired data to the adapter module, and the adapter module communicates the data to host system. Similarly, the host system may communicate data to the adapter module for storage on the storage device. The adapter module directs the storage device to receive the data and store the data in a specified location.
The adapter module typically also performs maintenance operations on the storage device. For example, the adapter module may perform a health check maintenance operation on the storage device to verify that the storage device is functioning normally. Alternatively, the adapter module may perform an initialization operation on the storage device such as when the storage device is added to an array of storage devices.
The adapter module typically controls a plurality of storage devices. For example, the adapter module may control a plurality of hard disk drives comprising a redundant array of independent drives ("RAID"). While controlling the plurality of storage devices, the adapter module may simultaneously access one or more storage devices for a host system and perform maintenance operations on one or more storage devices. Unfortunately, the adapter module may lack the processing bandwidth to both access and control the storage devices and to perform maintenance operations. In addition, it may be desirable to further improve the communication channel's performance during maintenance operations.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method that locally performs a storage device maintenance operation. Beneficially, such an apparatus, system, and method would increase access to storage device data while the maintenance operation is performed.

Apparatus, system, and method for performing storage device maintenance

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, devices, and systems for welding optical fibers and perforated elements by pulsed laser beam are provided. In one aspect, a method includes focusing a pulsed laser beam onto a region of a joining surface formed by an outer circumference of an optical fiber and an inner circumference of a hole of a perforated element, a beam direction of the pulsed laser beam running in an axial direction of the joining surface, and moving a laser focus of the pulsed laser beam in the region axially in or counter to the beam direction to produce at least one weld seam in the region. The optical fiber and the perforated element are locally melted in the region by the pulsed laser beam focused into a material of the optical fiber and a material of the perforated element and are thereby welded to one another.

Optical fibers are, for example, step-index or multi-clad fibers, Polymer Cladded Fiber (PCF), or hollow core fibers. Hollow core fibers are passive transport fibers that carry radiation through a hollow core, surrounded by a fine photonic glass structure, e.g., in a kagome configuration. The hollow core enables glass destruction thresholds to be avoided and non-linear effects to be suppressed with the result that higher intensities can be guided. For this purpose, the hollow core can have a vacuum. On the other hand, the hollow interior of the core can also be filled with a gas, such as argon, in a targeted manner.
Perforated elements are, for example, perforated blocks, ferrules/glass sleeves, or perforated discs or perforated caps.
Welding of monolithic connections to the hollow core fiber can be achieved by means of CO2 splicing, for example. In return, however, e.g., the sensitive kagome structure is concomitantly melted, which essentially has a negative influence on the beam quality. Further possibilities for connection are for example adhesive bonding or bracing using an O-ring, both of which may pose strain problems. Adhesives may moreover outgas or age prematurely.
In addition, hollow core fibers necessitate the substantially central positioning of the core over the hole in the perforated element, e.g., a perforated cap, and also a plane alignment of the fiber with the perforated element. This requires for the mounting a high precision and at the same time enough degrees of freedom of adjustment. Accordingly, only very small tolerances are present for the complete process in order to achieve successful welding in which the beam quality is maintained and sufficient strength and/or gas-tightness are/is obtained.
EP 0 905 534 A2 describes the connection of a fiber to a glass sleeve. For this purpose, at the fiber end at the interface between the fiber and glass sleeve, materials of the fiber and the glass sleeve are melted in a ring-shaped fashion and the two workpieces are thus connected.

Laser welding of optical fibers in perforated elements and associated optical elements


A hand held electronic detector is provided for detecting the presence/absence and/or nature of a mark on an article (not shown) such as a security mark. The article may comprise a product, such as for example a pack of cigarettes. The detector comprises a case or body of strong rigid plastics material. The case comprises front and rear parts and which are connected together by concealed hinges, at their lower edges, so that the parts and can move hingedly between a closed configuration and a fully open configuration, in which the front and rear parts are angularly spaced by approximately 180°. There is a further defined intermediate open configuration in which the front and rear parts and are angularly spaced by approximately 90° . . . . When opening the case from the closed position the hinges ‘lock’ when the front and rear parts reach this intermediate position. The hinges will only ‘unlock’, so that the case can be opened further or closed, if sufficient force is applied. Relative movement of the case parts and to the fully open configuration shown in FIG. 2 is limited by hinges. In an open configuration the detector presents an article-locating station comprising a mounting surface for receiving an article, and alignment means, located on the mounting surface, which in this case is a marked line on the mounting surface with which the security mark should be aligned.

The present invention relates to a detector for detecting the presence/absence and/or nature of a security mark on an article.
In the field of product or document security it is known to place a machine readable mark on an article or its packaging, which mark can be read by a detector to identify the article and/or to verify the authenticity or otherwise of the article. Such a mark may typically be printed on the article, and may be invisible to the naked eye.
For example, there exist particularly sophisticated, complex inks which reliably emit radiation with certain characteristics under exposure to radiation in a certain frequency range. Such complex inks, which are by their nature difficult for counterfeiters to manufacture include inks known as taggant inks.
A taggant-ink marking on an article will, when exposed to appropriate radiation, exhibit behaviour of a certain signature or characteristic peculiar to that ink. For example, when the ink sample is irradiated by radiation at an "excitation" frequency, the ink sample will emit radiation, at an emission frequency, and will continue to do so after exposure to the excitation radiation has ceased. The emitted radiation, after excitation has ceased, decays in a known, repeatable manner which is unique to the particular taggant.
One example of taggant material, as used in such complex inks, comprises a base material of lattice structure which includes one or more rare-earth metal dopants. By varying the level of dopant, or the position of the dopant molecules within the lattice, it is possible to produce a range of taggant materials which exhibit different, but predictable and repeatable, emission characteristic when excited by a radiation source.
Typically a detector is used to provide the excitation radiation and then to detect emitted radiation to determine the presence/absence, and in certain cases the signature or characteristic, of ink on the article or its packaging.
The detector must therefore incorporate some form of radiation source, the frequency of which must be known, precise and reliably repeatable, and a detection mechanism which is able to detect the presence of emitted radiation of the appropriate frequency.
Such detectors are often used by operatives "in the field" to check consignments of articles in order to identify counterfeit articles.
Detectors used by operatives should advantageously be portable and easy to use.
Known detectors have several problems. Firstly, where emitted radiation to be measured is in the visible part of the spectrum, if the detector is not positioned accurately in relation to the article the ambient light can easily interfere with the detection process, giving inaccurate readings. Secondly, since the taggant ink may be invisible, the operative in the field may have difficulty positioning the article correctly so that the reading can be made.


The present disclosure relates to a 5G or pre-5G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate beyond a 4G communication system such as LTE. To this end, a base station using a large-scale antenna transmits, to a terminal, reference signal resource configuration information including multiple pieces of reference signal configuration information and reference signal port information, for transmission of a reference signal, and transmits the reference signal to the terminal using some or all of channel measurement resources indicated by the multiple pieces of reference signal configuration information and the reference signal port information included in the reference signal resource configuration information. In this case, the channel measurement resources may correspond to antenna ports, the number of which is indicated by a combination of the multiple pieces of reference signal configuration information and the reference signal port information.

In order to meet wireless data traffic demand, which has increased since the commercialization of a 4th-Generation (4G) communication system, efforts to develop an improved 5G communication system or a pre-5G communication system have been made. For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is called a beyond-4G-network communication system or a post-LTE system.
In order to achieve a high data transmission rate, implementation of the 5G communication system in an mmWave band (for example, 60 GHz band) is being considered. In the 5G communication system, technologies such as beamforming, massive Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beam-forming, and large-scale antennas are being discussed to mitigate propagation path loss in the mmWave band and increase the propagation transmission distance.
Further, technologies such as an evolved small cell, an advanced small cell, a cloud Radio Access Network (cloud RAN), an ultra-dense network, Device-to-Device communication (D2D), a wireless backhaul, a moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), and interference cancellation have been developed to improve the system network in the 5G communication system.
In addition, the 5G system has developed Advanced Coding Modulation (ACM) schemes, such as Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and Sliding Window Superposition Coding (SWSC), and advanced access technologies such as Filter Bank Multi Carrier (FBMC), Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), and Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA).

Resource allocation device and method in large-scale antenna system


The present invention provides a fixation device that includes an elongate shank defining a longitudinal axis and having at least one engaging member for applying the fixation device within tissue and securing the fixation device in the tissue once implanted formed thereon, and a drive head having a proximal end, a distal end and a radial cross-sectional geometry, where the drive head is mated to the elongate shank, and includes at least one anti-rotational member integral therewith. Fixation device kits utilizing the fixation device, and methods of fixation in tissue are also provided.

Within the medical field, fixation devices are used in different ways to assist in the reconstruction of damaged body tissue. A fixation device may be used to directly secure tissue in close approximation to neighboring tissue to effect healing such as is the case with meniscal fixation devices, or fracture fixation pins, screws, or wires. Other types of fixation devices are intended to provide mechanical stability and load sharing during the healing process, as when a graft is secured in a bone tunnel for ACL reconstruction. Fixation devices may also be used in conjunction with other device hardware such as plates, rods, or various other connecting members known in the art as part of an implant assembly, such as with a spinal screw fixing a plate to the vertebral body, spinal pedicle screws connected to posterior rod assemblies to name just a couple examples. Other fixation devices are used to anchor suture to bone so the suture can be used to secure injured soft tissues.
Fixation devices typically have an elongate body, and one or more engaging feature(s) for retaining the device within body tissue or as part of a device assembly. The fixation device may either be inserted into body tissue directly, through a preformed hole with or without the aid of a tap, or as part of a device assembly within the bone cavity, such as with a screw/sheath assembly. Oftentimes fixation devices require the application of torsional forces from an insertion tool at one end of the implant to secure their application into body tissue, as with screw-type implants. Insertion tools are typically formed from an elongate shank having a mating feature formed on a distal end thereof for mating with a corresponding mating element formed on or in the head of the fixation device. One common type of driver tool includes a hexagonal-shaped or square-shaped socket for receiving a corresponding hexagonal-shaped or square-shaped head of a fixation device.
Certain conventional fixation devices and their drivers have some drawbacks. Device heads with hexagonal or square shaped cross-sections, for example, tend to have a relatively low stripping strength, meaning that under relatively small torque loads the drive head may be permanently damaged and torque transfer thus inhibited. If the head shape decreases the amount of material on the fixation device head or anchor head that interfaces with the driver, then the amount of material that needs to yield or be "stripped" from the drive head is reduced, thus reducing the stripping strength of the head.
Conventional fixation device heads also tend to have a relatively low failure torque, which can result in shearing of the head during insertion or stripping of the head elements necessary to transfer torque to the device. This type of failure can also be caused by the geometry of the head, which can reduce the overall cross-sectional area of the drive head. Fixation devices were historically constructed of implantable metals and alloys which afforded sufficiently high tensile and torsional strength to withstand the rigors of insertion, but the implant remained in the body for prolonged periods of time. Polymer, ceramic, or composite material systems, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable, have been developed for similar applications, but typically have lower tensile and torsional strength than metal counterparts, thus increasing the risk of device failure during application of high tortional torque loads during implantation in the body, as described above. More recently, biodegradable composite material systems have been developed that incorporate filler materials within the polymer matrix, such as calcium phosphate particles, which are osteoconductive. These filled systems may have further reduced tensile or torsional properties compared to unfilled polymer systems. Thus there is a need for an improved drive head for implantable fixation devices that has higher torsional resistance to strippage or shearing off.
One option to increase the failure torque of a fixation device is to increase the size of the head. Large device heads, however, require a large driver tool, which in turn requires a relatively large bone tunnel to be formed in the bone. This is particularly undesirable where the bone tunnel is to be formed in the cancellous bone, and where the procedure is minimally invasive and must traverse through a cannula or arthroscope. Accordingly, most fixation devices are adapted for use with a relatively small driver tool, and thus they have a relatively small drive head, which can result in a low failure torque and a low stripping strength, particularly in harder bone applications. A drive head of improved torsional strength is desirable to reduce the risk of deformation during insertion. Additionally, a drive head more resistant to deformation upon application of torsion may make a revision procedure easier, as there are some instances where torque driven devices need to be backed out and perhaps even reinserted.
Accordingly, there remains a need for fixation devices having improved physical properties, and in particular having a high failure torque and a high stripping strength.

Medical fixation devices with improved torsional drive head


An ion source having an electrically isolated extraction plate is disclosed. By isolating the extraction plate, a different voltage can be applied to the extraction plate than to the body of the arc chamber. By applying a more positive voltage to the extraction plate, more efficient ion source operation with higher plasma density can be achieved. In this mode the plasma potential is increased, and the electrostatic sheath reduces losses of electrons to the chamber walls. By applying a more negative voltage, an ion rich sheath adjacent to the extraction aperture can be created. In this mode, conditioning and cleaning of the extraction plate is achieved via ion bombardment. Further, in certain embodiments, the voltage applied to the extraction plate can be pulsed to allow ion extraction and cleaning to occur simultaneously.

Various types of ion sources may be used to create the ions that are used in semiconductor processing equipment. For example, an indirectly heated cathode (IHC) ion source operates by supplying a current to a filament disposed behind a cathode. The filament emits thermionic electrons, which are accelerated toward and heat the cathode, in turn causing the cathode to emit electrons into the arc chamber of the ion source. The cathode is disposed at one end of an arc chamber. A repeller may be disposed on the end of the arc chamber opposite the cathode. The cathode and repeller may be biased so as to repel the electrons, directing them back toward the center of the arc chamber. In other embodiments, a cold cathode may be disposed on the opposite end of the arc chamber. In some embodiments, a magnetic field is used to further confine the electrons within the arc chamber. A plurality of sides is used to connect the two ends of the arc chamber.
An extraction aperture is disposed along one of these sides, proximate the center of the arc chamber, through which the ions created in the arc chamber may be extracted.
Plasma ion sources operate by providing RF energy into a plasma chamber. The plasma chamber comprises a plurality of sides, wherein one of these sides may include a dielectric window. An antenna may be disposed on the outside of the plasma chamber, such as proximate the dielectric window. A RF power supply is in communication with the antenna such that the antenna introduces RF energy into the plasma chamber. This RF energy ionizes the feedgas, creating a plasma. Like the IHC ion source, the plasma ion source comprises an extraction aperture disposed along one of the sides, proximate the center of the plasma chamber, through which the ions created in the plasma chamber may be extracted.
Ion sources may suffer from some drawbacks. For example, certain ion species may deposit near the extraction aperture, forming whiskers which may cause non-uniformity of the extracted beam. Additionally, the IHC ion source may be inefficient, since plasma density decreases moving from the center of the arc chamber to the extraction aperture.
Therefore, it would be beneficial if there were an IHC ion source that overcame these issues. Further, it would be advantageous if the IHC ion source could easily transition between different modes of operation.


It is an object of the present invention to reduce power consumption and improve flexibility in a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit. The master slice semiconductor integrated circuit comprises at least two wiring layers to form wirings, and a plurality of clock buffers connected by clock wirings in the form of a clock tree having at least two cascaded stages to distribute clock signals to a plurality of sequential circuits, wherein the clock wirings comprises a wiring layer switching portion which switches a wiring layer from a lower wiring layer of the at least two wiring layers to an upper wiring layer of the at least two wiring layers and then switches from the upper wiring layer to the lower wiring layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit, and in particular to a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit which has a clock tree structure formed by a dedicated fixed wiring layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a logic circuit includes combinational circuits which are constituted by gates and the like, and sequential circuits such as flip-flops or latches which take in a signal in synchronization with an edge or a level of a clock signal. Circuit connection of these combinational circuits and sequential circuits is different depending upon customer specifications.
Conventionally, in order to efficiently manufacture an semiconductor integrated circuit corresponding to the logic circuit of the customer specifications, a wafer for master slice, which is processed up to a manufacturing process common to customer specifications by regularly arranging a basic cell repeatedly in an internal region, is manufactured in advance. Then, according to a customer request, in a customized wiring process, a gate, a flip-flop, and the like are constituted and connected by wirings of a customized wiring layer, which is automatically wired on the basis of the customer specifications, to manufacture a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit for the respective customer specifications.
In this case, naturally, the number of sequential circuits and an arrangement thereof in the logic circuit are different depending upon the customer specifications. Clock skew, which is a delay difference among clock inputs of the respective sequential circuits, occurs due to a distance from a clock input terminal to the clock input of the respective sequential circuits or a length of a clock wiring. When this clock skew reaches or exceeds a predetermined value, some sequential circuits start to malfunction, and the logic circuit as a whole malfunctions. In particular, in the case in which the respective sequential circuits operate on the basis of multiphase clock signals, malfunction due to clock skew among the multiphase clock signals are more likely to occur.
In order to avoid the malfunction due to clock skew, various clock signal distribution circuits have been used in a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit so as to have low clock skew. For example, FIG. 1 is an arrangement diagram showing an example of arrangement of a clock distribution circuit in a chip of a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit. (see: JP-A-2003-152082) Here, clock wirings in the clock distribution circuit are collectively shown as a bus wiring.
This master slice semiconductor integrated circuit includes the clock distribution circuit in an internal region where cells 3 dedicated for combinational circuits and cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits are arranged alternately by a unit of column and connected by wirings of a customized wiring layer on the basis of customer specifications. This clock distribution circuit, considering that an entire internal region is a highest order divided region A1, hierarchically divides the internal region into four equally. A selector 1, selectors 21 to 24, and selectors 301 to 316, which select clock signals and also operate as clock buffers, are embedded and arranged in divided regions A1, A21 to A24, and A301 to A316 of three hierarchies from the highest order (A1) to the lowest order (A301 to A316). In addition, output wirings of these selectors 1, 21 to 24, and 301 to 316 are branched in a tree shape by wirings of a fixed wiring layer dedicated for a clock wiring in advance. Clock signals CK1 to CK8 of eight phases of an external input are selectively distributed to the cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits of the lowest order divided regions A301 to A316 from four directions in the circumference.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the clock distribution circuit in this master slice semiconductor integrated circuit. This clock distribution circuit includes twenty-one selectors 1, 21 to 24, and 301 to 316 which are connected in a cascade pattern of three stages in a tree shape in association with the respective divided regions A1, A21 to A24, and A301 to A316 of the highest order to lowest order three hierarchies.
The selector 1 is in the highest stage and includes eight multiplexers which are inputted with clock signals CK1 to CK8 of eight phases from the outside and select one of the clock signals. These eight multiplexers are divided into two groups, each of which consists of four multiplexers. Each group of the multiplexers outputs total four phases of clock signals to two selectors 21 and 23 or 22 and 24 of the next stage through a bus.
The two selectors 21 and 23 include four multiplexers, which are inputted with four phases of clock signals divided and outputted for each group from the selector 1 of the former stage, and select one of the clock signals, respectively. The four multiplexers of the selector 21 are divided into two groups, each of which consists of two multiplexers. Each group of the multiplexers outputs total two phases of clock signals to the two selectors 301 and 303 or 302 and 304 of the next stage through a bus. In addition, the four multiplexers of the selector 23 are divided into two groups, each of which consists of two multiplexers. Each group of the multiplexers outputs total two phases of clock signals to the two selectors 309 and 311 or 310 and 312 of the next stage through a bus.
Similarly, the two selectors 22 and 24 include four multiplexers, which are inputted with four phases of clock signals divided and outputted for each group from the selector 1 of the former stage, and select one of the clock signals, respectively. The four multiplexers of the selector 22 are divided into two groups, each of which consists of two multiplexers. Each group of the multiplexers outputs total two phases of clock signals to the two selectors 305 and 307 or 306 and 308 of the next stage through a bus. In addition, the four multiplexers of the selector 24 are divided into two groups, each of which consists of two multiplexers. Each group of the multiplexers outputs total two phases of clock signals to the two selectors 313 and 315 or 314 and 316 of the next stage through a bus.
The sixteen selectors 301 to 316 are in the lowest stage. The selectors 301 to 316 include a multiplexer, which is inputted with two phases of clock signals divided and outputted for each group from the four selectors 21 to 24 of the former stage, select one of the clock signals, and output the clock signal to the cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits of the lowest order divided regions A301 to A316, respectively. For example, the two selectors 301 and 303 are inputted with two phases of clock signals divided and outputted from the selector 21 of the former stage, select one of the clock signals, and output the clock signal to the cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits of the lowest order divided regions A301 and A303, respectively. The other selectors 303 to 316 operate in the same manner as a group of two, and output a clock signal to the cells dedicated for a sequential circuit of the divided regions A303 to A316 of the lowest order, respectively.
In addition, all the multiplexers constituting the above-described each selector can select one of input clock signals on the basis of a control signal. As the control signal, a potential of a power supply or the ground is supplied to the respective multiplexers according to the wirings of the customized wiring layer.
Therefore, the clock distribution circuit in this conventional master slice semiconductor integrated circuit can select inputs of clock signals, which are required in the respective lower divided regions, in the respective selector of each stage connected in a cascade pattern in a tree shape in association with the respective divided regions of the respective hierarchies of the highest to lowest orders. In addition, the clock distribution circuit can select an arbitrary clock signal from multiphase clock signals on the basis of customer specifications and distribute the clock signal to the cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits of the lowest order. Further, output wirings of the respective selectors are branched in an equal load and an equal wiring length in a tree shape according to the wirings of the dedicated fixed wiring layer, and the multiphase clock signals are distributed at an equal delay from the selectors of the first stage to the cells 2 dedicated for sequential circuits of the respective divided regions of the lowest order. Since this equal delay distribution of the clock signals is performed with high accuracy according to a master slice design, clock skew is reduced.
As described above, circuit connection of logic circuits is different depending upon customer specifications, and a ratio of sequential circuits and the number of phases of clock signals required for the sequential circuits are also different.
On the other hand, in the case in which the ratio of the sequential circuits of the logical circuit is small, in general, the conventional mater slice semiconductor integrated circuit can constitute the sequential circuits using a part of the divided regions, which are hierarchically divided equally, and can connect the entire logic circuit. However, even in the other divided regions which do not constitute the sequential circuits, clock signals are sequentially distributed to the cells dedicated for sequential circuits by the clock distribution circuit, the respective selectors operate, and clock wirings formed by dedicated fixed wirings repeat charge and discharge at a clock frequency. Since the clock frequency is a highest frequency, power consumption by charge and discharge of respective node of the clock distribution circuit is generally large. In addition, there is a problem in that the power consumption of the clock distribution circuit depends upon the master slice design, and is not proportional to a size of a the logic circuit of customer design and always takes a maximum value.
Further, in the conventional master slice semiconductor integrated circuit, a circuit area in the part of the clock distribution circuit increases exponentially with respect to not only an increase in the number of hierarchies of equal division but also an increase in the number of phases of clock signals which can be distributed. Practically, there is a problem in that the number of phases of clock signals cannot be increased so much, a range of application of the master slice semiconductor integrated circuit is small, and it is impossible to flexibly cope with an increase in the number of phases of clock signals due to a change in customer specifications or the like.

Master slice semiconductor integrated circuit


A method and apparatus for wireless location tracking by a wireless device. In one embodiment of the invention, the wireless device has logic to determine the information of a plurality of specific location points and to determine the location of the wireless device based on the information of the plurality of specific location points. The specific location points are selected from a target area where the wireless device is located. By selecting the specific location points in the target area, it allows hidden Access Points (APs) or Base Stations (BSs) to be detected and measured and it increases the accuracy of the tracking of the wireless device.

With a wide spread use of Global Positioning System (GPS), the location of a target with a GPS receiver in an open area can be easily be traced. However, when the target is in an urban area surrounded by tall buildings, the GPS receiver is unable to provide an accurate estimation of the location of the target as the GPS signals are weakened or blocked.
In an indoor situation, the GPS signals are attenuated and the location of the target cannot be tracked using the GPS receiver. This poses a problem for users who want to track a target in an indoor situation such as an office building, car park etc. There is no indoor tracking or positioning system that allows high accuracy of tracking a target.

Method and apparatus for wireless location tracking


An air conditioner having a first circulation channel which drives a thermodynamic cycle while normally circulating a refrigerant, a second circulation channel which is branched from an outlet of a condenser of the first circulation channel to recover oil from the refrigerant to a compressor and to cause the refrigerant to pass through a supercooling heat exchanger, and a third circulation channel which is directly branched from an evaporator of the first circulation channel to recover oil from the refrigerant and to the compressor and to cause the refrigerant to pass through the supercooling heat exchanger, thereby preventing the wet compression of the compressor to achieve improved reliability of the compressor, and preventing the degradation of heat-exchange performance.

In general, an air conditioner is a cooling/heating device which cools an indoor area by repeatedly performing an operation of sucking indoor hot air, heat-exchanging it with a low temperature refrigerant, and discharging the same to the indoor area, or heats the indoor area through the opposite operation. The air conditioner includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion instrument, and an evaporator to form a series of cycle circulating a refrigerant.
Here, the compressor is a device for compressing a refrigerant at a high temperature and high pressure. To this end, essentially, oil in a fine particle form is mixed with the refrigerant. However, when the mixed refrigerant is introduced into the evaporator, it forms an oil film on a surface of a heat exchanging pipe disposed therein, degrading heat exchange efficiency of the evaporator.
Meanwhile, in order to enhance refrigerant heat exchange performance within the evaporator, a supercooling heat exchanger is installed between the condenser and the expansion instrument in order to further cool the refrigerant before the refrigerant is introduced to the evaporator through the expansion instrument from the condenser, in some cases.
However, although the supercooling heat exchanger advantageously enhances the refrigerant heat exchange performance within the evaporator, heat released from the supercooling heat exchanger after heat-exchanging with the refrigerant is discarded helplessly, resulting in an increase in a loss of energy due to the installation of the supercooling heat exchanger.


The invention relates to a heating or air-conditioning system and method for ventilating an occupant compartment of a vehicle having a climatic box in which a heat exchanger is accommodated, through which air can flow, and in which at least one air mixing chamber is constructed, which has an air inflow opening for warm air flowing through the heat exchanger and an air inflow opening for cold air flowing around the heat exchanger as well as outlet openings for mixed air, of which at least one outflow opening is arranged on the bottom in the air mixing chamber and at least one outflow opening is arranged on top in the air mixing chamber, and having closing members controlling the opening cross-sections of the inflow openings. For achieving a temperature gradient between the lower and the upper outflow opening, the closing member for the cold-air inflow opening is constructed in two parts such that an upper closing member part completely covers the upper dimension area and a lower closing member part completely covers the lower dimension area of the cold-air inflow opening, and the two closing member parts are controlled such that, in every closing member position, the lower closing member part covers a larger opening cross-section of the cold-air inflow opening than the upper closing member part.

This application claims the priority of 198 16 332.0-16, filed Apr. 4, 1998, the disclosures of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a heating or air-conditioning system for ventilating an occupant compartment of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a system for ventilating several different areas in the occupant compartment.
In a known type of heating or air-conditioning system as disclosed in U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,704, a closing member for controlling the cold-air inlet opening is constructed as a swivellable air flap which, in its one swivelling end position, completely covers the cold-air inlet opening and, in its other swivelling end position, while simultaneously opening up the cold-air inflow opening, completely covers the air inlet surface of the heat exchanger. As the result of a suitable swivelling position of the air flap, the warm-air and cold-air flows flowing into the air mixing chamber can be adjusted such that the mixed air in the distributor chamber has a desired temperature. By way of the various mixed-air outlet openings, this air is distributed to the foot space, the center plane and the head area of the occupant compartment, in which case the air quantities for the individual zones can be apportioned by means of adjusting flaps assigned to the mixed-air outlet openings. In this case, all zones of the vehicle occupant compartment receive air which has the same temperature.
It is important for the vehicle occupant""s well-being to keep the temperature of the temperature-adjusted air flowing into the center plane and the head area lower than the temperature of the air flowing into the foot space. In order to achieve this, it was suggested in earlier German Patent Application 198 04 287.6, to provide an additional cold-air duct which leads into an air duct leading away from the mixed-air outlet opening for the center plane and can be controlled by means of an air flap. By a corresponding opening-up or closing of the air flap, more or less cold air can be added to the mixed air flowing out of the mixed-air chamber, and the temperature of the air flowing into the center plane can thus be lowered to a higher or lower degree in comparison to the temperature of the foot space air.
It is an object of the present invention to implement, in the case of a heating or air-conditioning system of the initially mentioned type, at low technical expenditures, a temperature reduction of the air flowing into the center plane and/or into the head area of the vehicle occupant compartment in contrast to the air reaching the foot space and therefore lower the manufacturing costs of the system.
In the case of a heating or air-conditioning system according to the present invention, this object is achieved by means of a cold air inflow opening that extends over an upper and lower area of a mixed air outlet opening. A two part closing member is provided for the cold air inflow opening. An upper part of the closing member can completely cover an upper dimension area and a lower part of the closing member can completely cover a lower dimension area of the cold air inflow opening. The two parts of the closing member are controlled such that the lower part covers a larger opening cross-section of the cold air inflow opening than the upper part at any position of the closing member.
The heating or air-conditioning system according to the invention has the advantage that, as the result of the division of the closing member for the cold-air inlet opening of the air mixing chamber and the controlling of the closing member parts such that the lower closing member part always covers a larger opening cross-section of the cold-air inlet opening than the upper closing member part, less cold air always enters into the lower area of the air mixing chamber in which the outlet opening for the foot space is arranged than into the upper area of the air mixing chamber in which the outlet opening for the center plane and/or the head area is arranged. As a result, a temperature stratification occurs in the air mixing chamber which has a temperature gradient from the air outlet opening for the foot space to the outlet opening for the center plane and/or the head area. The center plane and/or the head area are always supplied directly from the air mixing chamber with air adjusted to a lower temperature than the foot space. Additional devices, such as a cold-air duct with a control flap, can be eliminated so that the manufacturing expenses are reduced by the elimination of these components.
According to advantageous embodiments of the invention, the two closing member parts can each be driven by a separate adjusting element or can be rigidly synchronized with one another or mechanically coupled. In the former case, the temperature stratification in the air mixing chamber can be individually adjusted; in the latter case, the air stratification is defined according to the concept.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a partition, which divides the cold-air inflow opening, is arranged between the two closing member parts. The partition continues into the air mixing chamber to its rear wall situated opposite the cold-air inflow opening and separates the upper and lower mixed-air outlet openings from one another. Preferably, the partition divides the air mixing chamber only in the area of the two closing flap parts and not completely. By means of this constructive measure, a very good air stratification in the air mixing chamber between the lower and the upper air outlet opening for the foot space and the center plane and/or the head area can be achieved at low technical expenditures.


A method for conducting a broad range of biochemical analyses or manipulations on a series of nano- to subnanoliter reaction volumes and an apparatus for carrying out the same are disclosed. The invention is implemented on a fluidic microchip to provide high serial throughput. In particular, the disclosed device is a microfabricated channel device that can manipulate nanoliter or subnanoliter reaction volumes in a controlled manner to produce results at rates of 1 to 10 Hz per channel. The reaction volumes are manipulated in serial fashion analogous to a digital shift register. The invention has application to such problems as screening molecular or cellular targets using single beads from split-synthesis combinatorial libraries, screening single cells for RNA or protein expression, genetic diagnostic screening at the single cell level, or performing single cell signal transduction studies.

A number of elementary microfabricated fluidic devices have been demonstrated over the past few years. Although many of these fluidic devices are quite simple, they are demonstratively powerful in addressing many realistic applications and may well revolutionize the way that biochemical separations are performed. The majority of the demonstrations have involved transferring known chemical measurement techniques, such as electrophoresis or liquid chromatography, onto microfabricated platforms. Such demonstrations suggest that microfabricated separation devices will be quite useful for improving the time and cost associated with collecting information from such experiments. However, the known devices have not exploited the new experimental approaches that such microfabricated devices potentially enable. We believe that through improvements in microfluidic control, new more powerful biochemical experimental paradigms will arise.
The area of microfabricated fluidics that has received the most attention is electrokinetically driven processes. Electrokinetic fluid manipulations have been demonstrated for mixing and reacting reagents, injection or dispensing of samples, and chemical separations. Electrically driven separation techniques such as capillary electrophoresis (CE), open channel electrochromatography (OCEC) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) have been demonstrated by a number of research groups. Both dsDNA fragments and sequencing products have been sized using microchip capillary gel electrophoresis coupled with laser induced fluorescence detection. Less conventional electrophoretic separations have been studied in post arrays using DC and pulsed electric fields. In addition fluorescence-based competitive immunoassays have been demonstrated using microchip electrophoretic separation of bound and free labeled antigen. These miniature devices have shown performance either equivalent to or better than conventional laboratory devices in all cases investigated and appear to offer the rare combination of "better-faster-cheaper" simultaneously. Microchip separation devices exhibit speed advantages of one to a few orders of magnitude over conventional approaches. The efficiency of electrophoretic separations under diffusion limited conditions is proportional to the voltage drop experienced by the sample. These diffusion limiting conditions can be achieved for short separation distances on microchips due to the narrow axial extent of the injection plugs that are generated. The time of analysis decreases quadratically with separation distance at constant applied potential, which gives a fundamental advantage to microchip-based electrophoretic separations.
Other significant advantages of microchip based chemical separations are the small volumes that can be analyzed, the ability to monolithically integrate sample processing and analysis, and the low cost of replication which makes possible highly parallel analyses. All of these factors are consistent with high throughput analysis and reductions in cost and time to generate biochemical information. Early efforts demonstrating integration of sample processing include post-separation and pre-separation derivatization of amino acids coupled to electrophoretic separations. On-chip DNA restriction digestions and PCR amplifications have been coupled with electrophoretic fragment sizing on integrated monolithic microchips. Cell lysis, multiplex PCR, and CE analysis were performed on plasmic-containing E. coli cells in a single device. Parallel PCR/CE assays of multiple samples in chips containing multiple reaction wells have also been demonstrated. In addition, competitive immunoassay experiments have been performed on a microchip device that included fluidic elements for mixing of sample with reagents, incubation, and electrophoretic separations. Other microfabricated fluidic elements that have been coupled to electrically driven separations include electrospray ionization for analysis by mass spectrometry, and sample concentration using porous membrane elements and solid phase extraction. Devices have also been demonstrated that employ electrokinetic transport solely for performing chemical and biochemical reactions. Examples include devices for enzymatic reaction kinetics, enzyme assays, organic synthesis, and cellular manipulations. All four of these latter applications could eventually be of significant importance to experimental biology, but have not been sufficiently developed at this time.
A number of microfabricated fluidic devices have also been demonstrated that use hydraulic forces for fluid transport. While the use of hydraulic forces can be applied to a broader range of fluidic materials than electrokinetic phenomena, it is less convenient to implement in general. External connections to microchips for hydraulically driven flow are more cumbersome than applying an electric potential. Moreover, electrokinetically driven forces follow the flow of electrical current and thus, allow greater control over transport within a microchannel manifold versus application of pressure or vacuum to a terminus of such a manifold. Electrokinetic forces are also able to generate much higher effective pressures than is practical with hydraulics. The demonstrated capabilities of hydraulically driven devices appear to be trailing that of electrokinetically driven devices. Nonetheless, a number of important capabilities have been reported.
Microfluidic devices for performing PCR have received considerable interest. Early devices included only chambers machined in silicon to act as sample reservoirs while later devices utilized the silicon structure for resistive heating or utilized integrated filters for the isolation of white blood cells. More recently, an interesting device for continuous flow PCR was reported that utilized a single microchannel that meanders through temperature zones to accomplish thermal cycling. Filters for processing cellular materials have been micromachined into silicon substrates. Flow cytometry devices have also been micromachined into silicon and glass substrates and driven hydraulically.
The capability to manipulate reagents and reaction products "on-chip" suggests the eventual ability to perform virtually any type of "wet-chemical" bench procedure on a microfabricated device. The paradigm shift of moving the laboratory to a microchip includes the advantages of reducing reagent volumes, automation or material manipulation with no moving parts, reduced capital costs, greater parallel processing, and higher processing speed. The volume of fluids that are manipulated or dispensed in the microfluidic structures discussed above is on the nanoliter scale or smaller versus tens of microliters at the laboratory scale, corresponding to a reduction of three orders of magnitude or more. Flow rates on the devices that have been studied are of the order of 1 mL/yr of continuous operation. By implementing multiple processes in a single device (vertical integration), these small fluid quantities can be manipulated from process to process efficiently and automatically under computer control. An operator would only have to load the sample to be analyzed. Obviously, this serial integration of multiple analysis steps can be combined with parallel expansion of processing capacity by replicating microfabricated structures, e.g., parallel separation channels, on the same device.
Although the so-called "Lab-on-a-Chip" appears to hold many promises, and it is believed that it will fulfill many of them, there are further developments necessary to achieve an impact level that parallels the scale of miniaturization realized in the field of microelectronics. There are at least four significant issues that must be addressed to bring "Lab-on-a-Chip" devices to the next level of sophistication, or processing power, over the next decade. Those issues are: advanced microfluidic control, the "world-to-chip" interface, detection, and viable manufacturing strategies. Presently, electrokinetic manipulation of fluids in microchannel structures represents the state-of-the-art in controlled small volume handling with high precision. The strategy has been to control the time-dependent electric potential at each of the channel terminals to move materials along a desired path. While this strategy has been very effective for valving and mixing in simple designs, it is limited in its applicability and performance as designs become more complex. We believe that new strategies that allow control of electric potentials at multiple points in the microchannel design will be necessary for these more complex structures. Electrokinetic transport also has limitations in the types of solutions and materials that can be manipulated.
The world-to-chip interface is the term we have assigned to the problem of delivering multiple samples or reagents onto microchips to achieve high throughput analysis. Although a given sample can be analyzed in times as brief as a millisecond, multiple samples cannot presently be presented to microchip devices at such a rate. There has been very little effort directed toward this problem, but it represents a major hurdle to achieving ultrahigh throughput experimentation.

Microfluidic devices for the controlled manipulation of small volumes


Techniques for transmitting information to a recipient under their control are described. In some situations, the techniques are used in conjunction with a fax delivery system to provide, as part of a connection established to perform a fax transmission, a variety of functionalities to a human recipient that is participating as part of the connection, such as when the human recipient is contacted in error. In addition, in some situations, an interactive voice response system is used to receive and interpret input from a human recipient, such as in response to one or more control selections or options provided to the human recipient.

While current facsimile (or "fax") transmission systems provide a useful means of communicating documents and other information to human recipients, they suffer from various problems. One such problem is that current fax systems provide little opportunity for a human recipient to control the delivery or routing of a fax document, regardless of whether that fax was sent from/to a conventional fax machine or a computer-assisted fax system. While such recipient control functionality would be useful to virtually any fax recipient, it is particularly beneficial in certain situations.
For example, in situations in which an incorrect telephone number is provided to a sending fax machine, the sending fax machine will attempt to deliver a fax document to a destination telephone station that is not attached to the intended destination fax machine (e.g., to a telephone handset used for voice calls by a human, such as someone other than the intended human recipient). When using a conventional fax machine, a human operator sending the fax may be able to manually detect when the recipient of the call is not a fax machine (e.g., by hearing a human voice on the sending fax machine's speaker) and correct the problem so that the current fax is sent to the correct destination fax machine. However, automated fax systems are not typically monitored by an operator, and thus the sender of a fax document using such a system will not immediately detect such a problem. Even if the sender is eventually informed that the fax was not delivered, the sender may not know why the delivery problem occurred, and thus the delivery problem may not be correctly addressed. Moreover, if the incorrect telephone number was obtained in an automated manner (e.g., retrieved from a computer database), the automated fax system may repeatedly attempt delivery to that same incorrect phone number for this and/or other fax documents to be transmitted to the same intended destination.
Another problem arises in situations where an intended human recipient of a fax uses the same telephone number for both voice calls and fax calls. For example, if the human recipient answers a fax telephone call, the destination fax machine may not be able to be activated to receive the fax even if the destination fax machine is currently available (e.g., if the transmitting fax machine timeouts before the recipient can manually activate the destination fax machine). Conversely, the destination fax machine may be temporarily unavailable when a fax telephone call is received (e.g., while the recipient is using the telephone line for a voice call), and if so the recipient may prefer to have incoming fax documents delivered to another fax machine that is currently available via another telephone number. However, neither automated fax delivery systems nor conventional facsimile machines offer a solution to this problem.
Yet another problem occurs when an intended recipient of a document does not have a fax machine attached to the telephone line that was used for the attempted fax delivery. That recipient may wish to have an incoming fax document delivered to an alternative telephone number or instead not delivered at all. In the case where no delivery is desired, the recipient may also wish to provide a message for the sender.
Existing fax machines and automated fax systems do not currently provide satisfactory solutions for such problems, and as a result important fax documents are sometimes delayed and/or lost without the knowledge of either the sender or the recipient. Thus, there is a need for techniques to solve the above problems and to provide additional related functionality.

System and method for document transmission and routing with recipient control


A catalyst for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by the vapor-phase catalytic oxidation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of propylene, isobutylene, t-butanol and methyl-t-butyl ether and a method for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by the use of this catalyst are provided. The catalyst of this invention comprises (A) a catalyst having Mo, Bi and Fe as essential components and used for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by vapor-phase catalytic oxidation of propylene, isobutylene, t-butanol and/or methyl-t-butyl ether and (B) a solid acid having acid strength (Ho) of not more than -11.93. Since this catalyst excels in catalytic activity and service life, it allows unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid to be produced stably at a high yield for a long time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catalyst for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid and a method for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by the use of this catalyst. More particularly, it relates to a catalyst for producing unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid stably at a high yield for a long time by the vapor-phase catalytic oxidation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of propylene, isobutylene, t-butanol and methyl-t-butyl ether and to a method for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by the use of this catalyst.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various improved catalysts have been proposed for the efficient production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by the vapor-phase catalytic oxidation reaction of propylene or isobutylene, for example. For example, JP-A-50-13,308 and JP-A-50-47,915 disclose a catalyst having Mo, Bi, Fe, Sb and Ni and at least one element selected among K, Rb and Cs as essential components, and JP-A-64-56,634 discloses a catalyst having Mo, Bi and Fe and at least one element selected among Ni and Co as essential components. As shown from the disclosures mentioned above, most of the proposed catalysts have molybdenum, bismuth and iron as main components thereof.
The problem confronting these catalysts resides in the fact that they are considered to be still deficient not only in the yield of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid but also in the service life of the catalysts. Further, the fact that molybdenum contained in the catalyst is easily sublimed induces an irreversible degradation of catalytic activity. The oxidation reaction mentioned above is an extremely exothermic reaction. With due consideration of the prominent subliming of molybdenum in a catalytic layer, particularly a local abnormal high-temperature zone so called as "hot spot", the use of a catalyst at a high temperature must be avoided to the utmost. A catalyst having a high activity and manifesting the function thereof stably for a long time has been longed for. In particular, in a high-load operation aimed at a high productivity, in the light of the larger amount of accumulated heat in a hot spot in combination with the longer time of using a catalyst at a high temperature because of a more rapid degradation thereof as compared to that in the general reaction, a catalyst which has a high activity and manifests the function thereof stably for a long period is considered to be indispensable.
Solid acids whose magnitudes of acid strength (Ho) (hereinafter referred to simply as "acid strength" or occasionally as "Ho") are not more than -11.93 are generally called as solid super acids as introduced in detail in "SHOKUBAI", Vol. 31, No. 7 (1989), pp. 512 through 518, for example. According to the literature, the super acid is defined as an acid possessing acidity stronger than that of 100% sulfuric acid (Ho.ltoreq.-11.93) and is reported to be usable under more moderate conditions than the ordinary acid catalysts in such reactions as decomposition, isomerization, alkylation, polymerization, acylation, dehydration, and dehydrogenation of hydrocarbon which are referred to as acid catalytic reactions. The fact that this super acid, particularly when combined with a molybdenum-bismuth-iron type catalyst, is effective in inducing the vapor-phase catalytic oxidation reaction for producing unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid from propylene and isobutylene, for example, has not been known at all to the art.
One object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a catalyst for producing unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid at a high yield.
Another object of this invention is to provide a catalyst for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid which excels in terms of service life and permits the stable operation of the catalytic reaction for a long time.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a catalyst for the production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid which, even in a high-load operation aimed at high productivity, permits this operation to proceed stably for a long time.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a method for producing unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid efficiently by the use of the catalyst just mentioned above.

Catalyst for production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid and method for production of unsaturated aldehyde and unsaturated carboxylic acid by use of the catalyst