Computer software that manages the amount of power provided to a processing unit for a specific process task, optimizing the processing speed of that specific task without overheating the processing unit. In the optimization method, the software initially counts the number of operations completed during an initial subtask duration for the current process task, then recounts the number of operations completed during a repeat subtask duration when the voltage to the processing unit was increased incrementally based on its die size. The software then determines whether to (a) repeat such steps until the operations count stops increasing (and save the completed-operations count of that subtask duration), or (b) whenever the temperature of the processing unit exceeds a failsafe temperature, save the completed-operations count of the immediately preceding subtask duration. The task may be processed continuously at that optimized performance level and power level.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software that manages the amount of voltage provided to a processing unit for optimizing the completion of computing tasks. More particularly, the present invention includes a program that determines the amount of voltage supply to a processing unit that will result in the highest number of completed operations for a task, without overheating the processing unit; that power level and operations count is then stored in association with an identifier unique to that task, to enable the operating system to provide that power level for the next processing of that task.
In general, a computer's operating system manages the software and hardware resources of the computer, and directs each Process (or application) to a processing unit for execution of its instructions in the sequence specified. Each program codes for one or more tasks, each of which may include one or more separate operations that may need to be completed en route to completion of the task or program. The operating system typically assigns each task a unique process identifier ("PID"), and assigns a processing unit to execute the Process code directing performance of each task; this execution is generally known as processing.
The operating system typically places each task into a scheduling queue until a processing unit is available to process the task. A processing unit may take the form of a single central processing unit ("CPU"), or functional subunits on that CPU sometimes called the processing "cores". Besides the multi-core processing arrangements, computers may also contain multiple CPUs, each of which may include multiple functional subunits or cores.
Input or output data or other information associated with a Process and/or its task(s) (and/or a processing unit) may be stored in a memory structure, associated with a processing unit and/or peripheral devices. For most programs not requiring a great amount of time or memory for execution, input data needed for a task is stored in local cache memory, readily available to the processing unit assigned that task. Examples of such stored data include variables for the program, pointer locations and data structures (such as a data array).
Some computers such as laptops, desktops or mobile devices typically process mostly short or relatively simple tasks. Other computers are designed to process time-intensive, high-volume tasks; for example, the tasks required for some computations involved in genetic sequencing or atomic energy modeling may require the accessing and/or manipulation of large database collections, such as the cross referencing large data tables or the computation of complex mathematical calculations. Some programs or tasks may take hours, days or even weeks to process.
Generally, the typical personal computer is not programmed to process a program or task at its optimal performance level; rather, personal computers typically are programmed by manufacturers to maintain a lower, default level of readiness expected to satisfy the energy and processing needs of the typical user. This may be due to recognition that the execution of many common programs by personal computing devices (such as laptops, desktop workstations and mobile devices) requires only a relatively small amount of computing time, power and resources. Moreover, the limited amount of energy available to laptops and mobile devices (remote from an electrical outlet) often requires that the default level of power and performance be set at a relatively low level. Maintaining processing readiness and performance at a maximum level will unnecessarily drain the battery, while processing a task continuously at a maximum performance level may increase the temperature of the processing unit to a point that it may cause damage to the processing unit. Therefore, a manufacturer generally sets a default power level for a processing unit corresponding to a performance level for a task that may be substantially below the task's optimal performance level.
It is important that the maximum recommended processor temperature not be exceeded, to prevent damaging or destroying the processor chip. Some previous solutions for increasing performance were to decrease the processor chip die size so that it processed faster without increasing power consumption or heat. Still, the problem remained with processing a task at its optimal performance level. Although the task may be processed continuously or temporarily at any given performance level, the processing unit temperature reading should be still monitored. Increasing the power provided to the processing unit can be accomplished without compromising the processor chip.
Increasing processor performance may be accomplished by increasing its "clock frequency" and/or its voltage supply. The clock frequency and operating voltage are directly proportional to power consumption and processing unit temperature. However, since increasing voltage also decreases battery life in devices relying upon battery power, consumer-computing industry focus has often been on supplying only the minimal amount of power needed to accomplish the consumer-computing processing fast enough to be acceptable to the average consumer. Some solutions involve decreasing power consumption of a processor for execution of short or uncomplicated tasks, even if doing so would not result in optimal performance of the task. These systems typically seek to conserve battery charge for a mobile device, such as a laptop, or to increase power consumption only for temporary maximum performance. They do not teach or suggest incrementally increasing power (based on processor die size) for a specific task, for a subtask duration, until optimal processing performance has been achieved. Nor do they teach or suggest such a system that also monitors processing unit temperature to maintain a temperature at or below a failsafe temperature.
There is a need for incrementally increasing the processing unit voltage until optimal performance of a task is achieved, without exceeding a failsafe temperature. A need also exists for software that can count the number of operations completed during a subtask duration for a current task, increase the voltage to the processing unit incrementally based upon its die size until the most recent count stops exceeding the weighted average of the previous counts, and save the count of that subtask. A need exists for software that can determine whenever the temperature of a processing unit exceeds a failsafe temperature, and that can save the count of the immediately preceding subtask.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
The following patents are arguably material to the patentability of the invention disclosed herein:
1st NamedDate of Patent/U.S. patent/application No.InventorPublication6,442,700Cooper27 Aug. 20026,845,456Menezes18 Jan. 20056,895,520Altmejd17 May 200520060161375Duberstein20 Jul. 20067,254,721Tobias7 Aug. 20077,260,728Chang21 Aug. 20077,340,622Cox4 Mar. 20087,469,355Chong23 Dec. 20087,647,513Tobias12 Jan. 2010
U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,622 issued to Cox et al (the "Cox patent") discloses a method and apparatus for selectively increasing the operating speed of an electronic circuit, essentially by sequentially increasing the clock speed for the circuit and the voltage supply to it, beginning from a "low" (sub-default) combination of clock speed and voltage yielding sub-default electrical consumption and operating frequency. When the circuit starts to perform computational work, a timer causes the computer to operate at the low level for a pre-set duration (10 ms for example), then the program increases both the voltage and frequency for another pre-set duration (10 ms for example). The computer then increases the voltage and frequency to the maximum sustainable levels (default, or manufacturer recommended) for a pre-set duration (10 ms for example); if the circuit temperature is above a threshold value, the circuit remains in that maximum sustainable voltage and frequency state. If the temperature is below that threshold value, the computer boosts the frequency and voltage above the maximum sustainable state for pre-set duration (40 ms for example), to recover the computational work "lost" in the preceding low-power states. If the temperature ever exceeds the threshold value, the circuit returns to the maximum sustainable frequency and voltage state.
The overall context of the Cox patent is to minimize consumption of electricity while the computer is in "idle" state and during the beginning of processing new tasks, facilitating energy-saving completion of processing requiring only sub-default power during short bursts of activity. Given the emphasis upon balancing circuit performance and power savings (and the fact that the patent is owned by Apple, Inc.), it can be inferred that the program or method of the Cox patent has utility in smaller, battery powered devices. Where power supply is not an issue, there is no need to balance circuit performance and power savings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,520 issued to Altmejd et al (the "Altmejd patent") discloses performance and power optimization through monitoring of utilization information feedback from each "functional block" of the computer, to reduce overall power consumption without unduly decreasing performance. This patent discloses a computer program that periodically (frequently) adjusts power consumption levels of the functional blocks to match respective block utilization levels according to block utilization information. The program tracks utilization information for each of the functional blocks on a task basis; when switching from a first task to a second task, the program adjusts power management parameters for one or more functional blocks according to utilization information corresponding to the second task. The operating system creates a power management profile (clock rate, voltage and dispatch rate) matching a desired performance level for each functional block for a plurality of tasks. When the operating system switches the processor to execute a different task, the power management controller sets the appropriate power management parameters to correspond to the particular task.
The overall concern of the Altmejd patent appears to be to quit diverting power to under-utilized functional units, while routing extra electricity to functional units being utilized more. Those parameters can be further adjusted during task execution to further improve power management. The utilization information may include a percentage of time that the block is used (or idle), such as might be calculated from the number of instructions dispatched to an execution unit over a predetermined period of time. The software periodically determines whether the power consumption (and performance) of the functional unit matches its load (utilization), then adjusts clock frequency, voltage and/or dispatch rate. The overall scheme appears to be to either increase power consumption and performance when the processing unit is (very recently was) busier than the default setting (upper utilization threshold), or decrease the power supply to (and performance readiness of) a processing unit that has recently experienced sub-default-level utilization (below a lower utilization threshold). Voltage may be increased in fixed steps, such as to match the clock speed of the functional unit.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,254,721 and 7,647,513 issued to Tobias et al. (the "Tobias patents") disclose a system for controlling a circuit to enter a predetermined performance state (voltage/frequency pairs) by skipping intermediate states based on the determined utilization of the circuit. These patents disclose a computer that periodically determines processor utilization and increases voltage and/or frequency if it is above a pre-set high threshold, or decreases voltage and/or frequency if it is below a pre-set low threshold. Any stepwise adjustment of the voltage/frequency is calibrated according to CPU utilization, in relation to the pre-set high and low thresholds. In determining CPU utilization, the program queries the operating system periodically for an enumeration of the tasks that are running (including operating system tasks), and obtains execution statistics for each task (such as the time each task spends executing, and any priority level). For each task, the operating system provides the cumulative amount of CPU time used since task initiation. Such sampling may span several subtask durations, disclosed to be less than 100 milliseconds. Averaging of utilization information for multiple samplings may be performed to "level off" changes of performance setting, if fluctuation is undesirable. The program then creates a utilization index for comparison to the high and low thresholds. Voltage is increase on a CPU-wide basis, rather than to each processing unit or on a per-task basis. The value of obtaining per-task information is primarily to exclude unimportant tasks from the equation (or averaging), or to downgrade or delay their processing.
Like the Cox patent, it can perhaps be inferred that both the Tobias patents and the Altmejd patent have most utility in smaller, battery powered devices, or in a computing environment dominated by multitasking of a short or "bursty nature". (Tobias patents, column 5 line 10.)
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,700 issued to Chang et al. (the "Chang patent") discloses a windows-based power management method for optimally distributing power for various tasks in a portable device. The method includes categorizing each task to be executed, prescribing a power management policy for the portable device, and distributing shares of electricity among the tasks based on the task category; then, in response to GUI input commands from users, increasing power to that task running within an active window of the portable device. The Chang patent essentially re-prioritizes previously prioritized tasks in a queue, by moving user-interactive tasks (in an active window) to the immediate attention of the processing unit while delaying processing of other tasks deemed less important at the time (such as those of batch programs).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,355 issued to Chong discloses a system for dynamically overclocking a processor by monitoring an activity measure for a specific operation (such as a count of instruction or data cache accesses by the CPU), evaluating that measure to determine whether it meets a pre-defined level of processor activity, and (if so) dynamically adjusting the clock rate of the processor to modify the execution speed at which the processor carries out instructions. Evaluation of an activity measure may include combining it with a durational measure (such as a count of executed clock cycles) to produce a ratio, and determining whether the ratio has reached a pre-defined level. The clock rate may be adjustable to a plurality of predefined clock rates, based on evaluation of the activity measure. For example, if the activity measure is above a high threshold, indicating that the processor is very active, the system may increase the clock rate of the circuitry to a higher pre-set speed, to allow the CPU to operate at a greater speed until a temperature threshold is exceeded. Conversely, if the activity measure is below a low threshold, indicating that the processor has experienced a low level of activity, the system may decrease the clock rate or return it to a nominal rate such as the manufacturer suggested clock rate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,700 issued to Cooper (the "Cooper patent") discloses thermal control within computer systems having multiple CPU performance states, wherein the computer initially executes user threads (multiple tasks) while in a high performance state (fastest processing possible for the power supply and thermal cooling capabilities) and, when a pre-set thermal threshold is exceeded, the processor transitions to a low power state (to conserve power and reduce heat) and executes user threads until it determines that it is below the thermal threshold so that a transition to a high performance state is possible. The shift between performance states may be as a function of voltage level supplied to the processor.
Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/026,838 issued to Duberstein et al (Publication No. 2006/0161375, "Duberstein") discloses a method of optimizing processing speed base on temperature, by comparing a first processing core temperature to a first threshold and to a second threshold temperature, then comparing a second processor core temperature to the first and second thresholds. If the temperature of either core is below the first threshold, Duberstein increases the speed of that core.
None of the cited patents disclose determining whether the current task PID matches that of a previously-optimized task PID and counting the number of operations completed during a subtask duration, and if no match is found, (1) increasing the voltage to the processing unit by an increment dependent upon its die size and counting the number of operations completed during a subsequent subtask duration, then (2) determining whether the complete-operations count for the subsequent subtask duration exceeds that of the immediately preceding subtask duration so that further repetition of (1) and (2) may further optimize the completion of computing operations, or alternatively determining whether the most recent count does not exceed the previous count (or average or weighted score of previous counts) so that the voltage level and completed-operations count of the most recent subtask duration should be saved in association with its task PID. Moreover, none of the cited patents disclose, if a matching PID is found, (A) counting the number of operations completed during the subtask duration at the voltage level associated with the matching PID and (B) determining whether the completed-operations count is equal to that associated with the matching task identifier so that processing will continue at said voltage supply level, or alternatively determining whether the completed-operations count is equal to that associated with the matching task identifier so that further repetition of (1) and (2) may further optimize the completion of computing operations.

Method and system for optimizing the completion of computing operations


A drive device for injecting different types of fluids, chemicals and slurries into a subsurface for soil stabilization and removing fluids from the subsurface prior to treating a soil. The device is designed to be self advancing into the soil. When the driving of the device in the ground surface is completed, the device can be removed or it can be left in place for forming an anchor or load carrying pier. The device includes a plurality of external and internal hollow pipe sections. The pipe sections are joined together with couplings. Each coupling includes perforations therein and helices around the exterior surface of the coupling. The helices are used for driving the pipe sections into the ground. The perforations in each coupling are used for introducing fluids under pressure into the soil or for extracting fluids from the subsurface. The fluids are pumped under pressure between the inner circumference of the external pipe section and the outer circumference of the internal pipe section and out the perforations in the coupling. The internal pipe section may have a hollow cross section or a solid cross section for increased loading capacity. An upper end of the external pipe section includes a drive cap for accepting various types of torque and percussion drives for drilling the device into different types of soils. A lower end of a lead external pipe section includes a cutter head, a helix, a drill point and the like for advancing downwardly into the soil.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drive device for use in stabilizing different types of soils and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a device for injecting various types of fluids into a subsurface and removing contaminates from the soil. The drive device is removable and reusable or it can be left in place to be used in conjunction with grout and similar materials for forming an anchor or load carry pier.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
Heretofore there have been a variety of different types of helical plate bearing anchors mounted on solid steel bar shafts and pipe shafts with plate helices that are drilled into soil and used as tension, compression and lateral force resisting members. These types of anchors do not provide a means for injecting fluids into the subsurface.
Also, there are many types of hollow drill rods and drill shafts used for circulating water, drill mud and the like during a drilling operation. The drill rods and shafts can be used with grout in forming tiebacks, mini-piles, rock anchors, soil nails and other micro pile uses. The usual exterior diameter of the rods and shafts are less than 2 inches.
Further, there are various types of auger tools made in the United States. The auger tools are used for excavating holes and may be used for collecting soil samples. This type of tool may have either a solid or hollow shaft with a disposable drill head. Also flight augers have continuous helices along the length of the shaft. Because of the expense of this type of auger, the auger is generally removed from a drill hole and not left in place to be used with grout in forming a mini-pile.
Still further, many steel piles are installed today using pipe of various sizes and weights. The load carrying capacity of this type of pile is usually developed by skin friction and/or point bearing. The steel piles are driven by a pile driving hammer or by boring a hole and placing grout around the exterior of the steel pile received in the hole.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,593 to Raaf, a method and apparatus for installing a helical pier with pressurized grouting is disclosed. The patent describes the forming of grout nodules attached to an exterior of a pier column. The pier column includes a bracket for securing the column to a building foundation. The Raaf pier column is not designed to be reusable nor is it used for extracting fluids from a subsurface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,582 to LeCorgne, a method is described for forming a caseless concrete pile using a hollow pipe, a connector and a tubular driving mandrel. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,366 to Turzillo, a hollow auger for drilling holes is disclosed. The auger described in the Turzillo patent is withdrawn from the hole leaving a steel rod with drill bit in place with concrete poured therearound for forming a concrete pier.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,492,493 and 4,756,129 to Webb and 3,115,226 to Thompson, Jr. different types of ground anchors and apparatus are described. Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,998,849 to Summers, 3,961,671 to Adams et al. and 4,678,373 to Langenbach, Jr. disclose different types of driving apparatus and methods of shoring structures.
None of the above patents disclose or teach the unique combination of structure and functions of the subject soil stabilization tool as described herein and it's variety of uses in treating different types of soils.

Drive device used for soil stabilization

Integrated Stabilization Technologies Inc.


A system and method enhance observability of IC failures during burn-in tests. Scan automatic test pattern generation and memory built-in self-test patterns are monitored during the burn-in tests to provide a mechanism for observing selective scan chain outputs and memory BIST status outputs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) burn-in testing, and more particularly to a technique for enhancing observability of IC failures during burn-in tests.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Burn-in testing for a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) device is carried out to eliminate weak devices that are most likely to fail during early life of the product. The test is performed within a burn-in oven by placing multiple devices on a burn-in board at typically a 125 degrees Centigrade (C) temperature and by applying a higher voltage than the normal operating voltage to the device. Due to these extreme stress conditions, weak devices may show failures. To detect these failures during the test itself, the device functionality can be monitored. Depending upon the complexity of the device, the burn-in board configuration and the burn-in oven, only a limited number of devices can be burned-in at the same time. In a complex device, there are several outputs that require monitoring. With limited pin monitoring capability of the oven, monitoring several pins of multiple devices on a board becomes very challenging. In most cases, there are only one or two device pins that can be monitored by the oven. Such limitations regarding observability prevent any substantial scope of fault isolation. On the other hand, observability of failures helps burn-in hardware/software debug during IC development. During the actual burn-in process, the monitoring signal capability helps in eliminating the failing device(s) and is also useful in generating failure statistics for a particular device or process.
In view of the foregoing, it would be both beneficial and advantageous to provide a technique to enhance observability of IC failures during burn-in tests beyond that presently known in the burn-in testing art while adhering to the limitations described herein before.

Mechanism to enhance observability of integrated circuit failures during burn-in tests


A method (700) of controlling one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124) is disclosed. The method comprises: controlling (702) the one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124) according to a dynamic light scene, wherein the dynamic light scene comprises first lighting control settings for controlling an intensity (i) of the light output of the one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124), wherein the intensity changes over a time period (t), receiving (704) an input signal indicative of an activation of a second light scene during the time period, wherein the second light scene comprises one or more second lighting control settings for changing the light output of the one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124), analyzing (706) the dynamic light scene to determine the change of the intensity of the light output of the one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124) for an upcoming time period (u) after the activation (tx) of the second light scene, generating (708) a modified light scene based on the second light settings of the second light scene and the determined change of the intensity of the upcoming time period of the dynamic light scene, and controlling (710) the one or more lighting devices (120, 122, 124) according to the modified light scene during upcoming time period.

Home and office lighting control systems enable users to control connected lamps. These lamps may be controlled based on user inputs received via a personal device, such as a smartphone, based on an actuation of a sensor, based on user-defined routines, based on audio or video streams, etc. Lamps may be controlled according to a dynamic light scene, the dynamic light scene comprising control settings for one or more lamps to change the light output of the one or more lamps over time. If such a dynamic light scene has been activated, and a user selects a new light scene, the new light scene overrules the dynamic light scene, resulting in that the lamps are controlled according to the new light scene.

Control system for controlling one or more lighting devices and a method thereof


A semiconductor integrated circuit device has a first MOS transistor and a second MOS transistor. The first MOS transistor has a first source, a first gate electrode, and a first wiring metal connected to the first source and overlapping the first gate electrode. The second MOS transistor has a second source, a second gate electrode, and a second wiring metal connected to the second source. The first wiring metal of the first MOS transistor and the second wiring metal are positioned so that they do not overlap the second gate electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an analog semiconductor device having a sensor or power management function.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an analog semiconductor integrated circuit device having a sensor or power management function is constructed from MOS transistors, a plurality of threshold voltages (hereinafter, referred to as "Vth") of MOS transistors are generally used instead of a single Vth to meet such a need as to deal with complicated analog signal processing or various input voltage levels. Such multi-Vth technique is used.
In a conventional semiconductor integrated circuit device as shown in FIG. 4, a combination of photolithography and ion implantation, by which a Vth of a MOS transistor is determined, is repeated several times to attain multiple vths (refer to Japanese Patent Application P2000-323587A (page 6, FIG. 2), for example). In FIG. 4(a) the first ion implantation 203 is carried out using photoresist 202 formed on the substrate 201 as a mask. And in FIG. 4(b) the second ion implantation 205 is carried out using photoresist 204 as a mask.
Since the conventional method requires repeating steps of photolithography and ion implantation several times for attaining the multiple Vth as shown above, there arises a problem in terms of a longer manufacturing period, which affects product delivery, and a higher manufacturing cost.


An electronic device. The electronic device comprises a heat source, a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a fan disposed in the housing and selectively rotating at a first speed and a second speed higher than the first speed to generate air flow in the housing to cool the heat source, and a plurality of louvers disposed on the housing, having adjustable angles and selectively positioned at a first angle and a second angle. When the louvers are positioned at the first angle, the fan rotates at the first speed, and when the louvers are at the second angle, the fan rotates at the second speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic device, and in particular to an electronic device with various heat dissipation modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional projector 100 has an air flow path 10 wherein a fan 20 is disposed to generate air flow along the air flow path 10 to cool light bulb 30 or other electronic elements. Louvers 60 and gratings 70 are often disposed in an inlet 40 or an outlet 50 of the air flow path 10 for shielding or covering. The louvers 60 or the gratings 70, with a fixed open angle, however, cannot be adjusted. Number 80 represents a light machine, and number 90 represents a lens.

Electronic device and heat dissipation module thereof


An aircraft fuselage barrel (10) includes a skin (12) and a shear tie (18). The shear tie (18) resides within and is integrally formed with the skin (12). The shear tie (18) is separate from and configured for frame attachment thereon. A multi-ring system (79) for fuselage barrel formation includes a mold (68) with a ring (50). The ring (50) has width (W2) approximately equal to a separation distance (D) between two adjacent fuselage frames (22) and includes a module (52) that has a circumferential length (L1) that is greater than a circumferential distance between two fuselage longerons (14). A support structure (80) is coupled to and supports the mold (68). A method of forming the aircraft fuselage barrel (10) includes constructing the support structure (80). Rings (86) of the mold (68) are attached to and over the support structure (80). The mold (68) is constructed. Material is laid-up onto the mold (68) to integrally form the one-piece fuselage barrel (10) including a Hat-configured longeron (14).

The fuselage of a modern aircraft typically includes multiple fuselage barrels that have an outer skin, which is supported by circular frame structures. The frame structures reside within the skin and are positioned in a parallel configuration and at given intervals. The frame structures are attached to the skin via shear ties, which are fastened to the skin. Longerons are integrally formed with the skin and extend between the shear ties to provide increased rigidity and strength. Doublers are also formed with the skin to provide increased strength in doorway and window areas.
A one-piece or 360° integrally formed fuselage barrel can, for example, be in the form of a sandwich structure or in the form of a monolithic structure. The tooling commonly used to form a one-piece fuselage barrel that has a skin, longerons, and doublers, uses a series of large mandrel segments, which are joined to each other in a radial orientation. For example, the tooling for an aircraft fuselage barrel that is approximately 40 feet long may have six mandrel segments that are each 40 ft long and are coupled in series circumferentially. The skin, longerons, and doublers are "laid-up" onto the segments and cured to form the fuselage. After curing, the mandrels are decoupled and removed from the fuselage barrel. The segments are heavy, and difficult to handle and extract from the fuselage barrel. Each fuselage barrel in the aircraft industry typically has its own set of mandrel segments.
Other approaches have been utilized to form a one-piece fuselage barrel. One of these approaches utilizes mandrel segments that are relatively smaller in diameter as compared to the method described above. The mandrel segments are wrapped with an inflatable bag. A sandwiched fuselage barrel structure, including the inner and outer skins, the core, and the doublers, is laid-up onto the bag. Stable cowlings are placed over the sandwiched structure and the bag is inflated to apply an outward pressure on the sandwiched structure and to press the skin against the cowlings. Upon curing of the fuselage barrel the bag is deflated and the mandrel segments are removed. Although this approach somewhat eases the manipulation of the mandrel segments due to reduced diameter and weight of the mandrels, it is generally better suited for sandwich structures and cannot be easily applied to complex monolithic structures.
Another approach utilizes long continuous mandrel segments. Skins, longerons, and doublers are laid-up onto the mandrel segments and cowling plates are applied and pressed thereon. A bag is extended over the exterior of the cowling plates. The bag applies pressure to the cowling plates via a generated vacuum therein. Although this approach allows for the integral formation of the skin, longerons, and doublers, it does not allow for the integration of shear ties and/or frames. In addition, due to the size and weight, this approach also uses mandrel segments that are difficult to handle and extract.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved, simplified, and efficient technique of forming a one-piece aircraft fuselage barrel.

Multi-ring system for fuselage barrel formation


A method and control apparatus are disclosed for operating a fuel-metering valve associated to a fuel pump arranged to supply fuel into a fuel rail, the fuel-metering valve having a valve member and an electric actuator arranged to move that member for regulating a fuel flow-rate. The control apparatus includes an electronic control unit connected to the fuel-metering valve and configured to implement a method of control using a target value, a nominal function corrected value to set an adjustable parameter of a control signal for the fuel-metering valve.

Conventionally, an automotive system includes an internal combustion engine, such as for example a compression engine or a spark ignition engine. The internal combustion engine usually includes an engine block defining at least one cylinder having a piston, and a cylinder head that closes the cylinder and cooperates with the piston to define a combustion chamber. A fuel and air mixture is disposed in the combustion chamber and ignited, resulting in hot expanding exhaust gasses causing reciprocal movements of the piston, which rotates a crankshaft.
The fuel is provided by at least one fuel injector, which may be located inside the combustion chamber. The fuel injector receives the fuel from a fuel rail, which is in fluid communication with a high-pressure fuel pump that increases the pressure of the fuel received from a fuel source (tank). More particularly, the high-pressure fuel pump may include a reciprocating plunger, which is accommodated in a cylinder communicating with an inlet and with an outlet for the fuel. The plunger is actuated by a camshaft, which is driven by the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. During expansion strokes of the plunger, the fuel is drawn from the inlet of the pump into the cylinder. During compression strokes, the fuel contained in the cylinder is supplied at higher pressure through the outlet of the pump into the fuel rail.
A fuel-metering valve is usually associated to the high-pressure fuel pump to regulate the fuel flow-rate, which is supplied into the fuel rail. The fuel-metering valve may be integrated in the high-pressure fuel pump, in order to realize a single device that is usually referred as fuel metering unit. The fuel-metering valve may be a suction control valve (SCV) or a digital valve.
A suction control valve is generally located at the inlet of the high-pressure fuel pump and includes a valve member that is movable between a closed position, which prevents the fuel to pass through the valve, and a fully open position, which allows a maximum amount of fuel to flow towards the fuel pump. The valve member is moved by an electric actuator, typically a solenoid that converts an electrical current into a magnetic field and then into a motion of the valve member. Depending on the energizing current, the valve member can assume any positions between the closed position and the fully open position. More particularly, some embodiments provide that if no electrical current is supplied to the actuator, the valve member remains in its fully open position. Progressively increasing the electrical current supplied to the actuator, the valve member moves towards its closed position. Other embodiments provide that if no electrical current is supplied to the actuator, the valve member remains in its closed position. Progressively increasing the electrical current supplied to the actuator, the valve member moves towards its fully open position. In both cases, the suction control valve regulates the flow-rate of the fuel, which is drawn inside the pump cylinder during the expansion strokes of the pump plunger.
A digital valve is generally located in a recirculation conduit that connects the cylinder of the high-pressure fuel pump back to the fuel tank. The digital valve includes a valve member, which during the compression stroke of the pump plunger, is moved between an open position and a closed position. As long as the valve member remains open, the pump plunger shoves the fuel from the pump cylinder into the recirculation conduit and then back into the fuel tank. As soon as the valve member is closed, the pump plunger increases the pressure of the fuel within the pump cylinder and supplies it into the fuel rail. The valve member is moved by an electric actuator, which is driven by a pulsed electric signal. In this way, varying the timing of the electric pulses that form the driving signal, the valve member can be closed in different instants during the compression stroke of the pump plunger, thereby regulating the volume of fuel, which is supplied into the fuel rail.
Regardless of how they actually work, the final effect of both digital valves and suction control valves is that of regulating the average flow rate of fuel that is globally supplied by the high-pressure pump into the fuel rail, and for this reason they are all classified as fuel metering valves.
Any fuel-metering valve is typically connected to a control apparatus of the automotive system, which includes several sensors and at least an electronic control unit (ECU). In order to operate the fuel metering valve, the electronic control unit is generally configured to perform a control cycle that includes the following steps: setting a target value of the fuel pressure inside the fuel rail, for example on the basis of the engine working conditions; determining a target value of the fuel flow-rate to be supplied into the fuel rail to meet the target value of the fuel rail pressure; determining a value of the adjustable parameter of the electric signal driving the fuel metering valve, namely the electrical current (for SCVs) or the timing of the electric pulses (for digital valves), that causes the high-pressure fuel pump to supply the target value of the fuel flow-rate; and finally setting the adjustable parameter of the electric signal at that determined value. More particularly, the target value of the fuel flow-rate is generally determined as the sum of two main contributions, namely a feed-forward contribution and a feedback contribution.
The feed-forward contribution is determined by means of an open loop approach that provides for using the target value of the fuel rail pressure as input of a mathematical model of the fuel rail, which yields as output a value of the fuel flow-rate indicative of the quantity of fuel that exits the fuel rail at the target pressure value, due to the operation of the fuel injectors and their leakages. The feed-back contribution is determined by means of a closed loop approach that provides for measuring a value of the pressure inside the fuel rail, for calculating an error between this measured value and the target value of the fuel rail pressure, and for using this error as input of a PI controller, which yields as output a value of the fuel flow-rate aimed to compensate the fuel pressure error.
Once the target value of the fuel flow-rate has been calculated, the corresponding value of the adjustable parameter of the electrical signal driving the fuel metering valve is determined according to another open loop, which provides for using the target value of the fuel flow-rate as input of a correlation function that yields as output a corresponding value of said adjustable parameter.
A drawback of this approach is that the correlation function is generally a nominal function, which is provided by the supplier of the fuel metering valve and which only represents a theoretical relationship between the fuel flow-rate and the adjustable parameter of the electrical signal driving the fuel metering valve, whereas the real behavior of each single fuel metering valve may be different due to production spreads, production tolerances and many other factors such as thermal drifts.
As a consequence, for a given target value of the fuel flow-rate, the nominal correlation function generally yields a nominal value of the adjustable parameter of the electrical driving signal which differs by an offset from the value that really allows the fuel metering valve to attain the target value of the fuel flow-rate.
This offset is currently compensated by the integral term of the PI controller, which adjusts the feedback contribution of the target value of the fuel flow-rate, so that under stable conditions the fuel-metering valve allows the high-pressure fuel pump to attain the correct fuel flow-rate. However, if the value of the offset is too big, this compensation may cause instability of the closed loop.
Moreover, if the target value of the fuel flow-rate changes abruptly, for example during fast transition phases, the PI controller may be not fast enough to compensate a possible change of the offset and a big error may arise between the target value and the real value of the fuel flow-rate supplied into the fuel rail.

Control apparatus for operating a fuel metering valve


An interconnection process is described. A substrate having a conductive region formed therein is provided. A dielectric layer is formed on the substrate. A patterned metal hard mask layer having a trench opening is formed on the dielectric layer. A dielectric hard mask layer is formed conformally on the patterned metal hard mask layer and filled in the trench opening. A photoresist pattern is defined to remove a portion of the dielectric hard mask layer and a portion of the dielectric layer to form a first opening in the dielectric layer. The photoresist pattern is removed. A first etching process is performed using the patterned metal hard mask layer as a mask to form a trench and a second opening extending downward from the first opening in the dielectric layer. The second opening exposes the conductive region. A conductive layer is formed in the trench and the second opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing process. More particularly, the present invention relates to an interconnection process.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of semiconductor technology, the sizes of the semiconductor devices have become smaller and smaller. As the integration degree of integrated circuits (IC) is up to a certain level, a die surface is insufficient for forming all interconnects thereon. Hence, multi-level interconnects are adopted in current very-large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits.
As regards to the current process of manufacturing a metallic interconnect, a damascene technique is often employed. In a damascene process, openings are formed in a dielectric layer in most cases, and metal is then filled in the openings to form an interconnect. Furthermore, due to the difficulties in etching copper in the current semiconductor production process, copper conductive wires are usually fabricated by implementing the damascene process instead of the conventional etching process.
In the normal damascene process, a metal hard mask layer made of titanium nitride (TiN) is formed on a dielectric layer and a dielectric hard mask layer is formed on the metal hard mask layer before performing an etching process to form openings. Next, a first etching process is carried out in a first reaction chamber to pattern the dielectric hard mask layer. Afterwards, a second etching process is implemented with use of the patterned dielectric hard mask layer as a mask in a second reaction chamber to pattern the metal hard mask layer. Thereafter, another etching process is performed with use of the patterned dielectric hard mask layer and the patterned metal hard mask layer as a mask to form the opening in the dielectric layer.
Besides, to simplify the etching process in the aforementioned fabrication, a SiON layer may be formed on the metal hard mask layer, and the SiON layer and the metal hard mask layer are respectively etched with use of a CF4-containing etching gas and a Cl2-containing etching gas in one reaction chamber, so as to form a patterned SiON mask layer and a patterned metal hard mask layer. Thereafter, another etching process is performed with use of the patterned SiON mask layer and the patterned metal hard mask layer as a mask to form the opening in the dielectric layer.
However, since the CF4-containing etching gas and the Cl2-containing etching gas are utilized to respectively etch the SiON layer and the metal hard mask layer in the reaction chamber, a fluorinated polymer and a chlorinated polymer may be simultaneously generated in the reaction chamber, impairing the particle performance during the etching process and adversely affecting the subsequent manufacturing process.

Via-first interconnection process using gap-fill during trench formation


The present invention relates to a vaccine prepared from an attenuated Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains which are obtained by isolating Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a pure state according to the Fisher-Devlin immunotype and then repeatedly purifying the isolated strain, particularly CFCPA 10142 (KCCM 10029), CFCPA 20215 (KCCM 10030), CFCPA 30720 (KCCM 10031), CFCPA 40057 (KCCM 10032), CFCPA 50243 (KCCM 10033), CFCPA 60534 (KCCM 10034) and CFCPA 70018 (KCCM 10035) strains. In addition, the present invention relates to a process for preparing the vaccine for immunization against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection which contains cell wall proteins having molecular weights ranging from 10,000 to 100,000. The cell wall protein component of the attenuated strain is non-pathogenic and safe, and exhibits excellent antibody formation capacity and is useful for preparation of a vaccine and therapeutic agent. The cell wall proteins exhibit an excellent cross-protective efficacy for various Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and a superior antibody inducing property.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a motile gram-negative rod, approximately 0.5 .mu.m.times.1.5-3.0 .mu.m, with a single flagellum and occurs widely in soil, water, sewage and human intestine (See, Mol. Microbiol. 4, 1069-1075, 1990). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogenic strain causative of inveterate infections such as septicemia, generalized infection, chronic respiratory tract infection, cystic fibrosis, etc. The septicemia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a disease resulting from either the invasion of the microorganism itself or the secretion of its toxic components into the blood of patients who have lowered resistance due to surgery, laceration, trauma and the like. The presence of the toxin causes shock with high fever, reduced blood pressure, and other symptoms, which ultimately may lead to death. Furthermore, since Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been detected in urinary tract infections, interest in Pseudomonas aeruginosa has greatly increased. Accordingly, development of a medicinal agent(s) capable of effectively preventing or treating inveterate suppurative diseases, such as septicemia and urinary tract infections, caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is urgently needed. However, Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains are resistant to most antibiotic substances and an effective preventive or therapeutic agent for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections has not been developed up to date. Thus, the lethality by Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections has increased over time.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains can be classified in various ways. One such classification system classifies the strains into seven (7) types according to Fisher immunotype See, J. Bacteriol., Vol. 98, No. 2, p. 835-836, May, 1969.! Another system is based on the 0-antigen group as proposed by Terada. Still another system is the International Antigenic Typing Scheme (IATS) classification system. In view of classification systems, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains most frequently occurring in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infected patients are: 5/2a, 2c, 3, 7/3a, 3c, 1/4a, 4b, 6/5a, 5b, 4/6, 2/7a, 7b, 7c, /10a, /13, /12, /11 and 3, 7/3d, 3e types according to Fisher immunotype/O-serotype, with 3, 7, 2 and 1 types as Fisher immunotype (corresponding to 3a, 3c, 3d, 3e, 7a, 7b, 7c, 4a and 4b as O-serotype) being mainly present.
One method of treatment for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is to neutralizes the Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxins with antitoxins. However, the antitoxin is a therapeutic agent, which is only beneficial in patients already suffering from septicemia, and has no prophylactic effect. Further, the antitoxin recently available is very expensive and its use is limited. In addition, the most significant disadvantage accompanying the use of the antitoxin is the relatively low survival rate and the accompanying severe side effects.
One method under study to avoid the disadvantages associated with the antitoxin uses a common antigen for the prevention and treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Methods under study for obtaining the common antigen can be generally classified into two groups. The first method relates to the use of a common antigen separated and purified from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains having different immunotypes as a prophylactic vaccine antigen against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections See, Japan, J. Exp. Med. 45, 355-359, 1975!. The second method relates to the use of common antigen mass produced by utilizing a genetic engineering technique in which a gene coding for the desired antigen is isolated and inserted into a suitable vector to obtain a recombinant vector and then the suitable host is transformed with the resulting recombinant vector and cultivated to express the desired antigen.
Although development of a prophylactic vaccine using a common antigen is a very effective method in theory, at present the progress of study relating to this method indicates that this method has many problems which remain unsolved. The major disadvantage is that the common antigen cannot prevent all kinds of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections having different immunotypes and therefore its protective efficacy is extremely low. Such low efficacy suggests that the presence of another unknown major antigen, in addition to the common antigen, may provoke an effective prophylactic effect.
Another method for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is the administration of antibiotics or chemotherapeutic agents having broad-spectrum selectivity for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain. However, since there are numerous Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and they generally have a very high degree of drug resistance, many patients have succumb to Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains which cannot be effectively treated by antibiotics.
In addition, a method using therapeutic immunoglobulin has been developed. However, such immunoglobulin exhibits no or little therapeutic effect on all Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections and thus has been used only for very limited types of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. This is mainly due to the immunoglobulin being prepared according to a method for preparing a polyclonal antibody to a certain microorganism and therefore cannot commonly act on the numerous Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.
Attempts have been made to develop an inexpensive therapeutic agent with mouse monoclonal antibodies See, J. Inf. Dis. 152, pp. 1290-1299, 1985! or human monoclonal antibodies See, FEMS Microbiol. Immunol. 64, pp. 263-268, 1990! against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, cell lines can be selected to produce the most effective neutralizing antibodies from a cell bank with cell fusion technique and then a cell line can be used as starting material to produce the desired antibody on an industrial scale. However, this method aims at the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection via antibody production but not at prophylactic vaccines. In addition, this method has a disadvantage that since all infections are caused by different Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains with different serological and immunological types, they cannot all be treated with only one kind of monoclonal antibody. That is, monoclonal antibody therapy cannot be effectively utilized to treat all Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected patients.
To broaden effective treatment by this method, concurrent administration of several kinds of antibodies on the basis of their investigated cross-reactivity has been developed. Here, blood is collected from Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected patients and examined to identify the serological and/or immunological type of the infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Then monoclonal antibodies suitable to the identified type are administered to the patient. However, this method requires a lot of time and therefore is unavailable to patient whose condition necessitates immediate treatment.
In the prior art, the use of cell wall proteins separated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains as an antigen for a vaccine has been proposed See, Stanislavsky et al., Vaccine, Vol. 7, "Experimental studies on the protective efficacy of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine", pp. 563-565, 1989!. The Stanislavsky et al. reference describe the selection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains that can provide the cross-reactivity. Also disclosed are the toxicity and the protective immunogenicity of a protein polyvalent vaccine (PV) produced therefrom.
However, the method proposed in the above reference uses four kinds of general Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, i.e. NN 170041, NN 170015, NN 868 and NN 170046, which are not attenuated and, therefore, a problem concerned with the toxicities of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains themselves is present.
In addition, the chemical composition of the vaccine according to the Stanislavsky et al appears in Table 1 on page 563. Table 1 clearly shows that the PV contains 0.06.+-.0.02% (w/v) of LPS. It is unclear as to whether antigenicity comes from the protein or from LPS in the Stanislavsky et al vaccine. Sawada et al pointed out that the Index of Efficacy (EI) of LPS is superior by about 40-200 times to a protein See, J. Infect. Dis., Vol. 150, No. 4, pp 570-576 (1984)!. More particularly, as described in the Abstract, the amount of LPS which elicits 50% of the protective dose (PD.sub.50) ranges 0.05-2.5 .mu.g of Ig/mouse, while that of protein (cell wall protein) ranges between 10 and 100 .mu.g of Ig/mouse. This means that about 40-200 times the smaller amount of LPS than the protein immunogen shows a similar protection against a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Furthermore, even if the above amount of protein reveals PD.sub.50, much more protein immunogen (about 200 times more than the amount of LPS content) should be administrated into a subject in order to provide a 90 to 100% protective effect.
The LPS content of 0.06.+-.0.02% (w/v) in the Stanislavsky et al vaccine corresponds to about 900 to 1,800 ng per 1 mg of cell wall protein (CWP) when it is converted into weight (gram) units. In detail, when the protein content is 44.6% (w/v) and LPS is 0.06%, then the protein/LPS ratio is 743.3 (See, page 563, lines 7 to 11 of the Results). When LPS is 0.04%, the amount of LPS in 1 mg of CWP is 1/743.3.times.0.04/0.06=897 ng. When LPS is 0.08%, the amount of LPS becomes 2 times the amount, i.e., 1794 ng. This amount is enough to elicit antigenicity.
Elin et al describe that more than 300 ng of LPS content per 1 mg of cell wall 30 protein may cause toxicities such as pyrogenic symptoms and the like See, J. Infect. Dis., 128; pp. 349-352, 1973!. More specifically, the minimal pyrogenic dose is 5 ng/kg in an endotoxin from Klebsiella as described in Table 1 at page 351; this amount corresponding to 300 ng in human (body weight of 60 kg). Thus, the LPS content of ca. 900-1800 ng in the Stanislavsky et al vaccine may cause toxic side effects when it is clinically applied to human. Moreover, Edelman et al describe that the active immunization of patients with an LPS-based Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine was not tolerated well due to adverse reactions associated with a high endotoxin content See, page 1288, lines 2 to 5, right side column, Vaccine, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 1288-1294, (1994)!.
Furthermore, Stanislavsky et al show the clinical experimental results employing the same PV in another published article See, Vaccine, Vol. 9, pp 491-494, July 1991!. The PV contains 0.06.+-.0.02% (w/v) of LPS. See, page 491, lines 13-14, right side column. Table 1 on page 493 shows that 31 volunteers (26%) among 119 volunteers have experienced febrile reactions and 48 volunteers (40.3 %) experienced systemic reactions (i.e., hyperglycemia).
It is believed that, in connection with the process for preparing the vaccine, Stanislavsky et al references employ a process in which after the cell wall of the microorganism is first disrupted, the resulting mixture is then purified by centrifugation. Stanislavsky et al disclose their process in detail in a reference See, Vaccine, volume 7, pp. 562-566, December 1989!. A review of this article reveals that in the Stanislavsky et al process, the cell wall is disrupted. That is, the vaccine produced according to their process contains cytoplasmic cell components, such as, 27.2% (w/v) of nucleic acid, and 2.36% (w/v) of carbohydrates, or other components, such as 11.8% (w/v) of ash and 0.08% (w/v) of LPS in addition to 44.6% (w/v) of the target proteins.
In addition, since in preparing the above vaccine from such Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, cell walls had to be destroyed to result in contamination of the medium with cytoplasmic substances such as nucleic acids and toxic high molecular substances which are present in cytoplasm, or lipopolysaccharides (LPS). These substances are then incorporated into the resulting vaccine as impurities increasing the care required in administering the vaccine and possibly restricting its use. Also, the vaccines prepared according to the conventional techniques contain a large amount of lipopolysaccharide, lipid-protein-carbohydrate component which may elicit antigenicity. Hitherto, there have not been known protein vaccines containing only cell wall proteins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa having molecular weight range between 10,000 and 100,000, of which antigenicity come from cell wall proteins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, and thus can be desirably used without eliciting any side effects in the subject to be administrated.

Process for preparing a vaccine against pseudomonas aeruginosa using attenuated strains


An existing test head is made best use of and a capital investment is reduced. A test apparatus for testing a plurality of devices under test includes: a plurality of test heads for retaining therein at least one test board to test devices under test; a connecting section mounted on upper surfaces of the plurality of test heads and is independently fixed to each of the plurality of test heads; and a DUT board on which the plurality of devices under test are mounted, the DUT board being mounted to the connecting section, where the at least one test board is mountable and removable through a side surface of each of the plurality of test heads while the connecting section is mounted to the test head.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a test apparatus.
2. Related Art
A conventional test apparatus for testing semiconductor apparatuses tests a plurality of devices under test in parallel. The number of devices under test testable in parallel in one test apparatus is limited by the size of the test head on which such devices under test are mounted. Therefore, for increasing the number of devices under test testable in parallel, it is essential to provide a large test head.    Patent Document No. 1: U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,385    Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent No. 4365213
The conventional method of preparing a large test head has been additional purchase of a large test head. With this method, however, existing test heads will be a waste, and it also increases the capital investment.


Methods and devices are provided for moving a droplet on an elongated track formed on a patterned surface using vibration. The elongated track includes a plurality of patterned transverse arcuate regions such that when the surface is vibrated the droplet is urged along the track as a result of an imbalance in the adhesion of a front portion of the droplet and a back portion of the droplet to the transverse arcuate regions.

The promise of enabling time and space resolved chemistries has seen the emergence of droplet microfluidics for lab-on-chip technologies. Generally, prior art approaches to transporting droplets have been directed to creating global surface energy gradients by exploiting electrowetting/electrocapillarity, thermo-capillarity, chemistry, or texture. Prior art static global gradients, however, are limited in usefulness because they can only drive droplets over short distances and can never form a closed loop.
Despite recent advances in microfluidic manipulation of droplets, there remains the need for a simple method and apparatus for transporting droplets over a substrate. In particular, there is a need for an apparatus that can transport droplets along complex paths, including, for example, closed loops.

Vibration-driven droplet transport devices

University of Washington through its Center for Communication


Two-wire, electronic switch which performs sensing functions, measurement functions, and output-control functions for an electrical load without receiving power from a power source, external or internal, other than the power source for the electrical load that is controlled by the switch. Electronic components of a two-wire, electronic switch which is fabricated in accordance with the present invention obtain power: (a) when the switch is off, from a power source which drives a load which is controlled by the switch and (b) when the switch is on, from an output of devices which convert current to voltage and which receive at least a portion of a current through the load as input.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art circuit which comprises two-wire, electromechanical, thermal switch 200, which switch 200 is itself comprised of temperature sensing probe 210. Two-wire, electromechanical, thermal switch 200 turns electrical load 220 on or off whenever a specified temperature is detected by temperature sensing probe 210. As illustrated in FIG. 1, two-wire, electromechanical, thermal switch 200 comprises metallic contacts 215 for use in switching and switch 200 comprises mechanical components (not shown) for transforming a temperature difference into a change in a force-distance-product in temperature sensing probe 210--in this case temperature sensing probe 210 is a thermo-mechanical temperature sensing probe. Whenever switch 200 is on and electrical load 220 is being energized by power source 240, the voltage across terminals 217 and 219 of switch 200 is just the electrical drop across metallic contacts 215 and the connections thereto.
A switch like switch 200 of FIG. 1 is undesirable because metallic contacts 215: (a) erode from use; (b) generate an arc when switching occurs; and (c) often corrode from disuse. As a result of this, a solid state, electronic switch is an attractive alternative because, unlike a metallic contact switch, a solid state, electronic switch: (a) is indifferent to the number of operations it performs; (b) provides arcless switching; and (c) is indifferent to the interval between switching operations.
One method of fabricating a solid state, electronic switch is to use a thermo-mechanical temperature sensing probe and to use a metallic contact to turn a solid state output device such as, for example, a transistor, on and off. Such a switch is undesirable, however, because such a switch would still be limited, in the manner described above, by the use of metallic contacts and by the use of a thermo-mechanical temperature sensing probe. These limitations may be overcome by developing means for performing temperature sensing functions and means for performing output-control functions which are fabricated using electronic components. This is not as simple as it sounds, however, because, when the electrical load is switched on, the voltage drop across the terminals of a typical two-wire, thermal switch that has a solid state output device is in the range of 0.5 volts to about 2.0 volts--the specific value depends on the load and the operating characteristics of the solid state output device used. In practice, the voltage drop across the switch is deliberately designed to be small or negligible when the switch is on to minimize power dissipation in the switch. A problem arises in this regard because this small voltage drop is not adequate to power electronic circuits in the switch which are used to sense temperature and circuits in the switch which are used to provide electronic output-control. As a result, a voltage source is required to provide power to electronic components which would be used in such a thermal switch application.
One method of solving the need to provide power is to use a battery. However, this solution is undesirable because maintenance is required whenever a battery is used. An alternative method of solving this need to provide power is to add a third wire to the switch to supply the switch directly with power from the power source which is connected to the load. However, this solution is undesirable in an application in which an all-electronic switch is to replace a two-wire, electromechanical switch without subsidiary changes.
As a result, there is a need in the art for a two-wire, electronic switch which performs sensing functions, measurement functions, and output-control functions for an electrical load without receiving power from a power source, external or internal, other than the power source for the electrical load that is controlled by the switch, and for a two-wire, electronic switch which can do all of that notwithstanding whether the switch is on or off.


A process of fabricating semiconductor devices includes determining a correlation between band gap and long range order parameter for one or more stoichiometries. Semiconductor materials having a preselected (target) band gap can be fabricated by controlling process parameters to form a material having a stoichiometry and long range order parameter having the target band gap.

Variations in the band gap of semiconducting materials affect various electrical characteristics of the material. In general, the band gap is the energy difference between the valence band maximum and the conduction band minimum. Various approaches to control or modify the band gap of semiconductor materials have been developed.
In general, an order parameter is a measure of changes following a phase transition. In the case of binary alloys, a degree of order of atom species A and B increases with decreasing temperature after a substance undergoes a transition from a disordered phase to an ordered phase. The "long range order parameter" generally refers to this degree of order. The order parameter can be calculated by measuring the integrated intensity of both a superlattice x-ray diffraction reflection, a feature present in the ordered phase, and a fundamental x-ray diffraction reflection, a feature present in both the ordered and disordered phases.
The order parameter may be controlled in metallic binary alloys utilizing known techniques. For example, a film of the material may be heated to a given temperature, at which the desired order parameter is obtained, followed by quenching the film at specific rates to preserve the degree of ordering (order parameter) in the film as it is brought back to room temperature. This technique has also been used to control the degree of cation sublattice order of ZnSnP2, a heterovalent ternary material. Partial ordering of the cation sublattice has been quantified through the order parameter for ZnSnPz. However, for other ternary materials, studies to date are primarily or exclusively qualitative. In molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown samples of ZnSnP2, the order parameter may be controlled by varying the ratio of the cation fluxes.
Semiconductor materials are characterized by multiple properties that may be considered when fabricating electronic devices. An important property in many electronic devices is the band gap energy. The intrinsic gap of a semiconductor may be described as arising from the periodic potential describing the lattice in which a particular material crystallizes. In general, the intrinsic gap of a semiconductor is the energy difference between the valence band—the uppermost band containing electrons forming chemical bonds, and the band immediately above it, referred to as the conduction band. Disorder is known to affect the band gap. Engineering of the band gap energy can be accomplished by alloying one or more compounds in order to achieve a desired value. It is also known that strain can be used to engineer the energy gap, exploiting heteroepitaxial structures potentially in tandem with alloying.
The concept of structural motifs provides a basis for describing a wide range of constructs, spanning such diverse fields as biology, music, and art. The term has its origin as a means of understanding RNA conformations and corresponding secondary structures, and structural similarities among different kinase enzymes performing the same function; in this context, a motif can be defined as a component of a structure with identifiable but variable order, where the resulting physical modification leads to altered properties or functionality.
In the case of semiconductor compounds, a structural motif describes any of the possible variants to the nearest neighbor bonding environment of a given atom. In an ideal crystal of a given compound with fixed stoichiometry, the number of different structural motifs is limited to a single type, and the occurrence of variations of this base motif occur at rates depending upon the degree of disorder and stoichiometry characterizing the corresponding lattice.

The Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University


A method for controlling the average speed of a vehicle over a predetermined time period, or indefinitely, or distance length is described with reference to selecting a desired average speed, measuring an actual speed, and maintaining a cumulative error determined as a function of the difference between the average speed and actual speed and the time over which the actual speed measurement was taken. Based on the cumulative total of speed-time error, a compensatory speed is calculated that will reduce the cumulative speed-time error to an acceptable tolerance range within a selected period of elapsed time. Although particularly applicable to competition situations in which an average speed is dictated for use over a particular competition course, the average speed controlling method can be used in other situations where the average speed of a vehicle must be controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a speed control method for a vehicle and, more particularly, to a method for maintaining an average speed of a marine vessel during a preselected period of time such as the course followed by a marine vessel during a water sport competition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many different types of speed control methods are known to those skilled in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,986, which issued to Gaynor et al on Aug. 29, 2000, discloses an idle speed control system for a marine propulsion system. The idle speed control system controls the amount of fuel injected into the combustion chamber of an engine cylinder as a function of the error between a selected target speed and an actual speed. The speed can either be an engine speed, measured in revolutions per minute, or it can be boat speed, measured in nautical miles per mile or kilometers per hour. By comparing target speed to actual speed, the control system selects an appropriate pulse width for the injection of fuel into the combustion chamber and regulates the speed by increasing or decreasing the pulse width.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,528, which issued to Kamimaru on Jun. 16, 1998, describes an idle speed control system for automotive internal combustion engines. During idling of an internal combustion engine, when there is a difference between an actual engine speed and a target idle speed which is preset in accordance with an engine load, the opening and closing timings of an intake/exhaust valve of the engine is changed in accordance with the difference between the actual engine speed and the target idle speed to change an intake air flow sucked into the engine. Therefore, it is not required to provide any apparatus, such ISC valve, provided in conventional systems, and it is possible to quickly adjust the engine speed so as to be equal to the target idle speed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,263, which issued to Petty on Nov. 8, 1994, describes a trolling autopilot. The autopilot is for a vessel and for use in combination with a depth finder having a transducer, including a means for setting and storing a desired characteristic to be followed by the vessel, means for measuring the characteristic to be followed by the vessel, and means for storing a signal generated by the measuring means indicative of the measured characteristic. Once received and stored, the measured characteristic is compared to the selected characteristic. Based upon the comparison between the two characteristics, at least one servo motor is actuated to alter the direction the vessel is traveling. A servo motor may be coupled to the helm or to an outboard motor mounted to the vessel. The speed of the vessel may also be controlled based upon a comparison between a measured value and a selected value.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,322, which issued to Fukui on Nov. 15, 1994, describes a control apparatus for a marine engine. The apparatus is capable of effectively suppressing a great variation in the rotational speed of the engine due to a great variation in an intake air pressure particularly when the engine is trolling. In one form, an air/fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to the engine is made constant to maintain engine output power at a constant level. In another form, the intake air pressure, based on which the engine is controlled, is averaged in such a manner as to reduce a variation in the engine rotational speed by using a greater averaging coefficient during trolling than at other times. In a further form, if a variation in the intake air pressure is less than a predetermined value, the intake air pressure is used controlling the engine, whereas if otherwise, another engine operating parameter such as an opening degree of a throttle valve is used instead of the intake air pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,188, which issued to Wangler et al on Aug. 13, 1996, describes an intelligent vehicle highway system sensor and method. An object sensor and method using pulsed laser range imaging technology is adapted for determining the velocity and three dimensional profile of a vehicle passing the sensor for classifying the type of vehicle for use in Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems. A pair of scanned laser beams are provided by splitting a continuously pulsed laser beam from a transmitter and an optical receiver determines the presence of a vehicle in a predetermined zone such as a highway weigh station or toll booth. Range, angle and time data are collected and stored for use in determining the speed of the vehicle passing the sensor and its three dimensional profile. Forward and backward scanned beams are provided using alternate embodiments of a rotation mirror and using two transmitters/receivers in another embodiment. The pulsed energy is sent into two divergent beams, which are received as reflective energy in a receiver. The receiver accepts reflections from the beams and provides inputs for purposes of determining time of flight, and for measuring the time interval between interceptions of the two divergent beams for a given vehicle. An encoder tracks the position of the mirror for providing angle data with associated range measurements. The vehicle speed is calculated for range data collected when the vehicle passes through the forward and backward scanned beams. Three dimensional profiles are compared with preselected vehicle profiles for classifying the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,992, which issued to Kiyono on Sep. 28, 1999, describes a vehicle cruise control system and method having improved target speed resolution feature. A vehicular constant-speed running system converges a vehicle speed control of a vehicle quickly to a target vehicle speed when the vehicle is set in a cruise control mode. The vehicular constant-speed running system includes a constant-speed running section for controlling a throttle opening independently of an accelerator opening to maintain a vehicle at a target vehicle speed. It is also an initial opening setting section which, at the time of transfer by the constant-speed running section, sets the throttle opening before the transfer of an initial value at the time of the transfer if the throttle opening is in a region which is preset based on either the vehicle speed at the time of the transfer or a parameter correlated with the vehicle speed. If the throttle opening is not in this region, the initial opening setting section sets the same throttle opening to the upper limit and/or the lower limit of that region.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,309, which issued to Rauznitz et al on Oct. 21, 1997, describes a control system for automatic resumption of speed control after gear change. The method for automatically resuming vehicle speed control after a gear change of the vehicle""s manual transmission is disclosed. The method may be implemented as a subroutine in the vehicle""s general control software. After disengagement of the clutch, the subroutine suspends the automatic speed control system and then periodically checks to determine if the driver has shifted gears within a predetermined time period. This determination is made by checking to see if the clutch has once again been engaged with the transmission in gear. If this occurs within the predetermined time period, then the control system automatically resumes the speed control of the engine. The determination of whether the transmission has been placed into another gear is made by an explanation of calculated gear ratios, rather than by the addition of a hardware sensor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,005, which issued to Torii on Apr. 29, 1997, describes a running speed control device for a vehicle. When an xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d state of an idle switch is detected even once after an ignition switch of an internal combustion engine is turned on, a cruise ECU determines that the idle switch is normal, and performs constant-speed cruise control if the start thereof is instructed. Because the constant-speed cruise control is normally instructed while a vehicle is running, if the idle switch is normal, the idle switch becomes the xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d state at least one time during the time period until the start of the constant-speed cruise control is instructed after the ignition switch is turned on. For this reason, if the idle switch does not become the xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d state even once, the cruise ECU determines that the idle switch has failed and interrupts the constant-speed cruise control.
The patents described above are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
Known cruise control systems typically provide a method of regulating the speed of a vehicle to a target speed without concern with the average speed of the vehicle over a preselected time or distance. For example, if a target speed of 50 miles per hour (MPH) is set for a vehicle, known cruise control algorithms react to a deviation from the target speed by regulating the vehicle speed back to the target speed. In other words, if the cruise control algorithm detects that the vehicle actually is traveling at 49 miles per hour, when the target speed is 50 miles per hour, the algorithm will take steps to increase the speed of the vehicle to 50 miles per hour. Regardless of the specific methodology employed to accomplish this task, known cruise control systems attempt to reestablish the target speed when a deviation in speed is sensed.
In certain situations, such as timed water sport competition, a requirement is set that the vehicle maintain a certain average speed over a predefined course. In these circumstances, a deviation from the targeted average speed, followed by a known type of cruise control method attempt to reestablish the target speed, will be ineffective in achieving the overall average target speed required for the competition.
It would therefore be significantly beneficial if a speed control method could be provided which assures the achievement of an average speed over a predefined distance or over a preselected time period, in which a vehicle traveling over a predefined competition course will satisfy the required time period at precisely the time when the vehicle completely traverses the length of the competition course.
A method for controlling the average speed of a vehicle performed in accordance with the present invention, comprises the steps of measuring elapsed time, defining a desired average speed, measuring an actual speed of the vehicle, and calculating an error magnitude as a function of the desired actual speed and the actual speed. The method of the present invention further comprises the steps of determining a cumulative error magnitude of the vehicle as a function of both the error magnitude and the elapsed time and then selecting a period of elapsed time over which an absolute value of the cumulative error magnitude is to be reduced to a predetermined magnitude, such as zero. The method of the present invention further comprises the step of determining a compensatory speed of the vehicle, as a function of the cumulative error and the period of elapsed time, which will reduce the cumulative error magnitude to the predetermined magnitude with in the selected period of elapsed time.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle is a marine vessel and the timed measuring step, the error magnitude calculating step, the cumulative error determining step, and the compensatory speed determining step are all performed by a microprocessor. The microprocessor can be part of an engine control unit (ECU) of an engine.
A particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention further comprises the steps of sensing a starting signal and iterating the steps of the present invention repeatedly for a preselected period of time subsequent to the starting signal sensing step. The actual speed can be measured by a sonar device, a radar device, or a global positioning satellite (GPS) system. In a particularly effective embodiment of the present invention, the desired average speed, the actual speed, and the compensatory speed are all land-based speeds.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, the actual speed measuring step can comprise the steps of measuring a first distance from the vehicle to an object fixed to the land, measuring a first speed of the vehicle relative to the object, and calculating the actual speed of the vehicle as a function of the first distance and the first speed. The first period of elapsed time over which the absolute value of the cumulative error magnitude is to be reduced to a predetermined magnitude, such as zero, is selected as a function of a predetermined length of a course over which the vehicle must maintain the average speed during a competition.

Method for controlling the average speed of a vehicle


The invention relates to a method and a screen for screening two or more pulp mixtures with different roughness. The screen comprises a first screen cylinder and a second screen cylinder. A coarse first pulp mixture is fed into the inlet end of the first screen cylinder, and a second, less coarse pulp mixture is supplied to the second screen cylinder. The pulp mixtures are screened by means of a screen surface of the screen cylinders into accept that passes apertures provided in the screen surface and reject that does not pass the apertures. The accept from the second cylinder is conveyed by means of a guide tube provided between the cylinders towards the inlet end of the first cylinder and it is finally mixed with the first pulp mixture. The accept from the first and the second pulp mixture passes the screen surface of the first screen cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for screening pulp mixtures with different roughness, which method comprises feeding a pulp mixture to be screened into a screen cylinder from an inlet end of the cylinder, and rotating the screen cylinder around its longitudinal axis during the screening, the pulp being thus screened by means of a screen surface provided with apertures, such that the accepted pulp fraction, or accept, is able to pass the apertures in the screen surface and the rejected fraction, or reject, is conveyed to the opposite or discharge end of the screen cylinder where it is removed from the screen.
2. Field of the Invention
The invention further relates to a screen comprising a screen cylinder arranged to be rotated around its longitudinal axis by a rotator, the inlet end of the screen cylinder comprising a feed pipe for feeding a pulp mixture into the screen cylinder, the circumference of the screen cylinder forming a screen surface, which is provided with apertures of a predetermined size for screening the pulp into an accepted fraction, or accept, that passes said apertures and a rejected fraction, or reject, that does not pass the apertures, the inner circumference of the screen cylinder being provided with conveying means for conveying the reject to the discharge end of the screen cylinder as the cylinder is rotated, the screen comprising a recovery basin for recovering the accept.
3. Description of Related Art
Manufacture of paper includes removal of impurities from pulp and screening of fibre mixtures with different roughness. For example processing of recycled fibre provides pulp mixtures with different roughness consisting primarily of water and fibres, and the mixtures are further processed by screens in order to recover the desired accepted fibre fraction, or accept, and to remove the rejected fraction, or reject. The reject can be conducted for reprocessing or it can be discharged entirely from the process. Pulp mixtures with different roughness have presently their own screens. Screens typically comprise a screen cylinder arranged rotatably around the longitudinal axis, and the pulp to be screened is fed into the cylinder. The circumference of the screen cylinder is provided with apertures forming a screen surface. Depending on the structure the apertures of the screen surface are either holes or slots. During screening the cylinder is rotated and the accepted part of the pulp passes the apertures in the screen surface and is thereafter recovered into a recovery basin and conducted further to subsequent process steps. The material that does not fit through the apertures constitutes the reject, which is supplied inside the cylinder to the discharge end and finally removed therefrom. A problem with the presently used arrangements is that pulp mixtures with different roughness require separate screens. Several screens are naturally expensive to acquire and use and they also require a great deal of space in production plants.

Method and screen for screening at least two pulp mixtures


Disclosed is a forward channel configuring method in an OFDMA FDD system. The method comprises: classifying the cells into a specific number of patterns based on location relations of the respective cells; allowing the respective base stations of the cells having different classified patterns to transmit control information to the mobile station at different times within a period of the forward channel, and allowing the respective base stations of the cells having the same classified patterns to transmit control information to the mobile station at the same time; and allowing the respective base stations to transmit traffic data to the mobile station irrespective of the classified patterns when the control information is transmitted.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for configuring and allocating forward channels in an OFDMA FDD system.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, information transmitted forward by each base station provided in a cell in an OFDMA FDD system is classified as control data and traffic data. The information works as useful information for a base station, but it influences other neighboring base stations as interference.
For example, FIG. 1 shows an area influenced by the data transmitted by a base station BS1 in a first cell cn1 when first to third cells cn1, cn2, and cn3 are adjacent to each other. As to mobile stations MS1 and MS2 located in the first cell cn1, power intensity of the base station BS1 influencing the first mobile station MS1 is strong and surrounding interference influencing the same is weak since the first mobile station MS1 is located within the area of the first base station BS1, but power intensity of the base station BS1 influencing the second mobile station MS2 is relatively weak and surrounding interference influencing the same is relatively strong since the second mobile station MS2 is located on the border of the area of the first base station BS1, compared with those of the first mobile station case. In this state, when a mobile station located in the second cell cn2, i.e. a mobile station MS3, receives information from a base station BS2 by using very similar subcarriers in an area which is very close to the second mobile station MS2 located in the first cell cn1, information respectively provided to the second and third mobile stations MS2 and MS3 influences the other by interference which is generated among adjacent cells.
When respective users' priorities are defined by a scheduler for determining the priorities of user mobile stations, a channel allocation unit allocates subcarriers to the respective users following the defined priorities. In this instance, a channel allocation method for preventing interference between users uses a hopping pattern to regularly spread inter-cell interference or notify channel allocation information of a base station of other remaining base stations per period, and prevents other adjacent base stations from being allocated with repeated channels at the neighboring area.
A conventional paradigm will now be described as to an interference dispersion method using the hopping pattern and an interference avoiding method using a transmission time difference.
An exemplified interference-spreading method using the hopping pattern is disclosed by PCT (patent cooperation treaty) application number PCT/IL01/00681 entitled "Allocation of subcarriers to subscribers using Reed-Solomon codes", to be described subsequently.
An R-S (Reed-Solomon) code based on the prime number 23 is used to generate a basic pattern, and respective cells use different codes which increase by one from the basic pattern to generate a hopping pattern, or all the cells respectively use different basic patterns to generate a hopping pattern.
When the R-S 23 basic pattern is {0, 5, 2, 10, 4, 20, 8, 17, 16, 11, 9, 22, 18, 21, 13, 19, 3, 15, 6, 7, 12, 14, 1}, respective numbers that configure the basic pattern set are numbers of subcarriers that configure respective groups when all the subcarriers are divided into 23 groups. When the first cell cn1 uses the basic pattern to allocate the subcarriers to the terminals for the 23 groups, the second cell cn2 increases the basic pattern of the first cell cn1 by 1, and uses the one-increased basic pattern. The third cell cn3 increases the pattern of the second cell cn2 by 1 and uses it as a hopping pattern. The respective hopping patterns used for the cells in this manner are as follows.
The set of the first cell pattern={0, 5, 2, 10, 4, 20, 8, 17, 16, 11, 9, 22, 18, 21, 13, 19, 3, 15, 6, 7, 12, 14, 1},
the set of the second cell pattern={1, 6, 3, 11, 5, 21, 9, 18, 17, 12, 10, 0, 19, 22, 14, 20, 4, 16, 7, 8, 13, 15, 2}, and
the set of the third cell pattern={2, 7, 4, 12, 6, 22, 10, 19, 18, 13, 11, 1, 20, 0, 15, 21, 5, 17, 8, 9, 14, 16, 3}.
The above-noted example is the method for using different hopping patterns to the cells to uniformly disperse inter-cell interference so that all the cells may use all the frequency ranges without superimposition at the transmission time. In the above, the increment of the pattern has been defined to be 1, and further, the set of patterns with the increment by n between the adjacent cells, that is, the set of patterns with great differences of subcarrier allocation patterns, can be selected.
The above-described method obtains a gain of dispersing the interference when load ratios of the surrounding cells are small, and cannot obtain the gain when the load ratios are large.
In a method for establishing transmission time differences for respective base stations and transmitting channel allocation information to other adjacent base stations, a base station that currently transmits channel allocation information notifies channel allocation information to be used at the area adjacent to other base stations, and other base stations allocate channels without using subcarriers repeated by neighboring base stations in consideration of interference used by the neighboring base stations. This TDMA-based information transmission and a channel-using method in the adjacent area are more effective since they essentially avoid interference compared to the interference dispersing method using the hopping pattern.
However, since the above-described control method and the method for transmitting data information with time differences previously considers the way other base stations have allocated the channels, and it is needed to re-allocate repeated channels, the repeated channels cannot be used, and hence the methods are ineffective in transmitting high rate packet information.

Method for configuring and allocating forward channel in orthogonal frequency division multiple access frequency division duplex system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute