A system provides a user map service that receives component data associated with a resource in a storage area network and matches the component data to entries in a user-created component matching database to determine a specific identity of the resource in the storage area network to which the component data is associated. The system provides the specific identity of the resource in the storage area network to which the component data is associated. The system maintains the user-created component matching database by allowing a user to create matches between individual resources for which component data is received to specific identities of those resources as determined by the user. The database can be queried and updated to make matching more efficient.

The rapid expansion of information service and data processing industries has resulted in a need for computer systems to manage and store large amounts of data. As an example, financial service industry organizations such as banks, mutual fund companies or the like often operate large and complex data processing systems that require access to many hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes of data. Computer system developers have responded to these types of data storage and information sharing requirements by creating large complex networks that store data. An example of a network that stores data is referred to as a storage area network or SAN. A typical SAN is a collection of data storage systems that are networked with a number of host computer systems that operate as servers to access data stored in the data storage systems. Other types of networks include wide are networks such as the Internet and local area network such as smaller corporate networks.
Using a SAN as an example network, elements of a typical conventional storage area network implementation include one or more connectivity devices such as high speed data switches or routers that interconnect the various data storage systems to each other and to one or more host or server computer systems (servers) that require access to (e.g., read and/or write) the data in the data storage systems on behalf of client software applications and/or client computer systems.
A developer or manager of such a network environment may install one or more distributed network management software applications within host computers in the network to manage or administer the various resources (i.e., devices, host computer systems, storage systems, applications, etc.) that operate within the network. A network manager (i.e., a person) responsible for management of the network operates the network management software application(s) to perform management tasks such as performance monitoring, network analysis and remote configuration and administration of the various components (i.e., software and hardware resources) operating within the network.
A conventional network management software application may have several different software components that execute independently of each other on different computer systems but that collectively interoperate together to perform network management. As an example, conventional designs of storage area network management software applications can include a management station programs such as console and server processes, several agent processes that operate on remote host computers, store process and possibly other software processes.
Generally, the server process operates as a central control process within the storage area network management application and coordinates communication between the console, storage and agent processes. The console process often executes within a dedicated network management workstation to allow a network administrator to visualize and remotely control and manage the various elements within the storage area network that are graphically represented on an interface presented by the console. The console allows the administrator to, for example, issue a command to an agent operating on a host computer within the network being managed. Agent processes execute on various host computer systems such as servers within the storage area network to manage storage area network entities (i.e., managed resources such as devices). As an example, there may be different respective agent programs specifically designed (e.g., coded) to remotely manage and control certain vendor-specific data storage systems, databases, switches, and so forth.
Agent processes receive remote management commands from the server process and apply functionality associated with those management commands to the managed resources within the storage area network for which those agents are designated to manage. Agents may receive a command, for example, to collect or discover configuration or management data concerning the network resources that those agents manage. This device discovery data collection process can happen in a scheduled or periodic manner, or in response to a command received from the management server. When agents are finished processing a command, results are returned to the store process for storage within a network management database. The server can then access the database to view the results of the command sent to the agent process.
If even a single resource in a SAN such as a switch, operating system, host bus adapter, storage system, or the like is incompatible with other hardware and/or software resources present in the storage area network, then the storage area network may no longer operate properly and enable a respective user to retrieve stored data.
One conventional way to ensure that a storage area network will work properly (e.g., so that the storage area network enables users to access corresponding stored data) is to provide a software application that operates as a SAN resource compatibility checker. Such applications are referred to herein as SAN advisor or network compatibility checking software applications since they can analyze a given SAN configuration and can indicate or "advise" a user (e.g. a SAN administrator) of what resources in the SAN might present compatibility problems with other resources in a particular SAN configuration.

Maintaining and using user-created mapping history for network resource mapping


A food composition for preventing type I allergy, a pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating type I allergy and an external preparation for skin for preventing or treating type I allergy.

In recent years it has been reported that various substances contained in plants have antiallergic actions. For example, it has been reported that kaempferol, which is a type of flavonoid, has type I allergy suppression effect. However, this effect is not sufficient. The type I allergy suppression effect of kaempferol-3-glucoside (also referred to as 'astragalin'), which is a glycoside of kaempferol and is represented by undermentioned general formula (1), on the other hand, has not previously been found.

Composition for preventing and treating type I allergy


An articulated wing has a fore wing portion and after wing portion connected to an articulate axis support structure which extends along the length of the wing and separates the two wing portions. Control actuators separately connect the fore and after wing portions to the articulate wing support structure in order to provide separate angular positioning capabilities for the two wing portions. Further, the articulate wing support structure itself may be rotated with respect to the mechanism it is attached to. These and other flexible controls over the wing attitude and size allow the wing to provide a number of force vector amplitudes as well as directions for any given fluid flow direction and velocity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wing mechanisms for altering fluid flow. More particularly, the present invention pertains to articulated wing mechanisms having variable wing surface areas and independently controllable boom actuators to vary the angle between the fore wing and after wing, as well as the surface areas of said wings, in order to optimize lift for various fluid flow velocities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,301 issued Jul. 23, 1985 to Ronald D. Latham discloses a variable camber airfoil for a vessel consisting of a flaccid fabric attached to a rigid leading edge with the ability of moving from side to side for efficient entry into the wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,410 issued Aug. 11, 1987 to Robert R. Fuller discloses a wing with a variable surface area. The wing has a front and rear airfoil coupled so that a rotation of the front airfoil produces a counter rotation of the rear airfoil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,428 issued Jul. 28, 1981 to John Werner, Jr. discloses a sailing vessel with adjustable sails for providing lift in addition to thrust.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,407 issued Jun. 2, 1987 to Ronald E. Cobb discloses a telescopic boom mask with front and rear sails.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


Logic to reduce the probability of hashing collisions via a single hash function. Logic may hash the service set identification (SSID) to generate a compressed SSID and determine multiple compressed SSID segments based upon the compressed SSID. Logic may generate multiple SSID segments by hashing modified versions of the SSID or modifying hashed versions of the SSID. And logic may identify the compressed SSID segment with an index number. Logic may receive one or more compressed SSID segments, determine an index number associated with the segment(s) and compare the received SSID segment against a compressed SSID segment of an SSID that is sought. Logic may generate the multiple compressed SSID segments, store the segments in memory, and compare the compressed SSID segment received in a beacon with a corresponding compressed SSID segment in the memory.

For some wireless communications devices, the service set identification (SSID) field may be compressed. This reduces the overhead of the SSID field in the Beacon frame. Due to the shortened size of the SSID, there is a chance for two different SSIDs resulting in the same compressed SSID value. This can be called a collision.

Methods and arrangements to compress identification


A device may receive information identifying a call attempt associated with a calling device. The device may select a domain network, of a plurality of domain networks, for the call attempt. Each of the plurality of domain networks may be associated with a respective domain type. The device may identify the respective domain type associated with selected domain network. The device may cause a tone, associated with the respective domain type, to be output by the calling device to notify a user of the calling device that the call attempt is being made via the selected domain network.

A ringback tone is an audible indication played by a calling device, associated with a calling party, while a called device, associated with a called party, is being contacted. The ringback tone may be a repeated tone designed to assure the calling party that the called party's device is ringing. The ringback tone may also include another type of tone, such as a song (e.g., ringback music), an advertisement (e.g., a ringback advertisement), or the like.

Domain indicator tone for a calling party


The invention discloses differing embodiments of pillow speaker systems and methods. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed of directing sound energy emitted from a speaker substantially into a cavity of a gas pillow. In other embodiments, pillow speaker systems are disclosed which direct sound energy emitted from the speakers substantially into the gas pillow cavity.

There are existing pillow speaker systems and methods. Many of these pillow speaker systems and methods do not substantially direct sound emitted from the speakers directly into the cavity of the gas pillow. As a result, sound emitted from the speakers may travel outside of the gas pillow cavity which may lead to sound several feet away from the pillow. This sound may disrupt people who are not the intended listeners. In other existing pillow speaker systems and methods, other types of problems may be present.
A pillow speaker system and method is needed which may solve one or more problems in one or more of the existing pillow speaker systems and methods.


A method of fabricating a flexible substrate structure includes the following steps. A supporting carrier is provided, and a release layer is formed on the supporting carrier, where the release layer includes a photo-sensitive adhesive layer. A local modification process is performed to form a bonding region with adhesion property in modified parts of the release layer, and to form a release region without adhesion property in unmodified parts of the release layer. The local modification process includes performing a local exposure process with a light source to form the bonding region with adhesion property in illuminated parts of the release layer, and to form a release region without adhesion property in unilluminated parts of the release layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible substrate structure and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a flexible substrate structure including forming a bonding region with adhesion property and a release region without adhesion property on a release layer with a local modification process, and a flexible substrate structure thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern display technologies, flexible display device is distinguished for its characteristics such as light weight, impact endurance, flexibility, wearability, portability, etc. Thus, the flexible display devices are regarded as a foresighted display technology. A conventional method of fabricating a flexible display device has encountered a bottleneck of fabricating thin film transistors (TFTs) on a flexible substrate, such as a plastic substrate.
In accordance with the conventional method of fabricating the TFTs on the flexible substrate, the flexible substrate is disposed on a supporting carrier (e.g. a glass carrier), and then the supporting carrier will be separated from the flexible substrate by performing a release process after the TFTs is accomplished. In a conventional release process, a vacuum evaporated polymer film is utilized as a release layer, and then the release layer and the flexible substrate are bonded together due to a good adhesion of the polymer film between the plastic substrate and the glass carrier. In other words, the release layer has to be patterned to form a release region with low adhesion ability, and a bonding region with high adhesion ability. However, the conventional method of directly forming the patterned release layer by performing a vacuum evaporation process causes a high fabrication cost. In addition, the shadow mask utilized in the vacuum evaporation process has to be in contact with the release layer. As a result, the release layer tends to adhere to the shadow mask, which may cause a peeling problem consequently. On the other hand, a method of indirectly forming the patterned release layer requires extra processes.

Method of fabricating flexible substrate structure


A method of treating specific forms of cancer with water-insoluble 20(S)-camptothecin compounds with the closed-lactone ring intact and/or derivatives thereof is disclosed. The method includes administering the compounds intramuscularly, orally and transdermally.

20(S)-camptothecin (CPT), a plant alkaloid, was found to have anticancer activity in 1966 (Wall, M., Wani, M. C., Cooke, C. E., Palmer, K. H., McPhail, A. T. and Slim, G. A. "Plant antitumor agents. I. The isolation and structure of camptothecin, a novel alkaloidal leukemia and tumor inhibitor from Camptotheca acuminata", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 88: 3888-3890, 1966).
During the sixties and seventies the sodium salt of CPT was derived from CPT, and clinical trials of this chemically altered CPT were carried out and then abandoned because of the high toxicity and low potency of this compound (Gottlieb, J. A., Guarino, A. M., Call, J. B., Oliverio, V. T. and Block, J. B. "Preliminary pharmacological and clinical evaluation of camptothecin sodium salt (NSC 100880)", Cancer Chemother. Rep. 54: 461-470; 1979; Muggia, F. M., Creaven, P. J., Hansen, H. H., Cohen, M. N. and Selawry, D. S. "Phase I clinical trials of weekly and daily treatment with camptothecin (NSC 100880). Correlation with clinical studies." Cancer Chemother. Rep. 56: 515-521; 1972; Gottlieb, J. A. and Luce, J. K. "Treatment of malignant melanoma with camptothecin (NSC 100880)." Cancer Chemother. Rep. 56: 103-105; 1972; and Moertel, C. G., Schutt, A. J., Reitemeier, R. J. and Hahn, R. G. "Phase II study of camptothecin (NSC 100880) in the treatment of advanced gastrointestinal cancer." Cancer Chemother. Rep. 56: 95-101; 1972. All these trials were conducted using the hydrosoluble, sodium salt derivative of CPT (CPT Na+), which was administered via i.v. The research of the present inventors has fully confirmed the ineffectiveness and the toxicity of CPT Na+.
Experiments have demonstrated that the non-water soluble CPT is nontoxic and highly effective as an anticancer agent. Furthermore, the present inventors have demonstrated that the intramuscular and oral administration provide unexpectedly better results than the intravenous administration.
Drug therapies have been evaluated with respect to treating human cancer, e.g., human cancer xenograft lines. Human tumors are serially heterotransplanted into immunodeficient, so-called "nude" mice, and the mice then tested for their responsiveness to a specific drug. (Giovanella, B. C., et al., Cancer 52(7):1146 (1983)). The data obtained in these studies strongly support the validity of heterotransplanted human tumors into immunodeficient mammals, such as nude mice, as a predictive model for testing the effectiveness of anticancer agents.
It was determined that 9-Amino-20(S)-Camptothecin (9AC) and 10,11-Methylendioxy-20(S)-Camptothecin (10,11MD) are capable of having high anticancer activity against human colon cancer xenografts (Giovanella, B. C., Wall, M. E., Wani, M. C., Nicholas, A. W., Liu, L. F., Silber, R. and Potmesil, M. "Highly effective topoisomerase-I targeted chemotherapy of human colon cancer in xenografts." Science 246: 1046-1048; 1989). After this finding, the present inventors extended these studies to other human cancers growing as xenografts in nude mice as well as conducted studies on the administration of CPT and its derivatives. It is important to note that the fundamental difference between the chemical used by the present invention (CPT) and the one used ineffectively and with high attendant toxicity in the past (CPT Na+) is that CPT is water-insoluble and CPT Na+is water-soluble.

Method for treating cancer with water-insoluble S-camptothecin of the closed lactone ring form and derivatives thereof

The Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research


A regenerative amplifier includes a gain-medium that is optically pumped by CW radiation. The amplifier has primary resonator for amplifying pulses. The primary resonator has an optical switch for opening and closing the primary resonator. The amplifier has a secondary resonator that includes the gain-medium and a selectively variable attenuator, but not the optical switch. The optical switch and the variable attenuator are cooperatively controlled in response to repeated trigger-signals such that the amplifier delivers corresponding amplified pulses each having about the same energy independent of repetition frequency of the signals below some predetermined value.

In laser machining or material processing operations in which pulses of laser radiation are repetitively delivered to a workpiece it is often necessary to change the repetition frequency (PRF) of the pulses while maintaining the peak power of the pulses, or the energy per pulse, constant. In a pulsed laser or a pulsed, master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser-system including a continuously pumped gain-medium a change in repetition rate can result in a change in pulse energy. This is because the interval between the delivery of pulses in a train, among other factors, determines the gain available for each pulse. Further, in a pulsed-laser that is activated to provide a pulse train after a period of inactivity in which the gain medium continues to be pumped, the power of the first pulse in a train can be much higher than any subsequent pulses.
Several techniques for providing variation of the PRF of a pulsed laser, or a pulsed laser and amplifier system while maintaining constant energy per pulse have been described in the prior-art. These techniques include operating the laser or amplifier in a continuous (CW) mode while pulses are not being delivered, allowing the laser or amplifier to operate in a CW mode between pulses in a train, and operating the laser or amplifier at a PRF much greater than the nominal PRF before a pulse train is delivered or between pulses in a train. Examples of such techniques are described in one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,038,241; 6,414,980; 6,418,154; 6,683,893; and 6,931,035, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The method of carrying of the techniques primarily involve certain sequences of operation of a Q-switch which is normally provided in the laser for causing the laser to operate in a pulsed mode and controlling the PRF of the laser, whether or not any measures were taken for controlling pulse energy or first pulse suppression. Such additional operations include steps in which the Q-switch must be selectively partially opened (or closed). An acousto-optic Q-switch is preferred for the operation of the lasers described. This type of Q-switch is operable in a partially open or closed mode.
Adding such Q-switch operations for pulse-energy control adds to the complexity of circuitry required to control the Q-switch as careful synchronization of the additional operations with "normal" operations is required. Certain amplifier types such as regenerative amplifiers used in ultrafast laser-amplifier systems, require a Pockels-cell type Q-switch, which operates by switching electrically induced birefringence, and does not lend itself to operation in a partially open or partially closed mode. It would be advantageous to have a method for controlling pulse energy and providing first pulse suppression that did not require complex, synchronized Q-switch operations. Preferably such a method would be primarily passive and be effective independent of the type of Q-switch in the laser.

Repetitively pulsed laser and amplifier with dual resonator for pulse-energy management


A compound semiconductor light-emitting diode comprising a light-emitting layer composed of a Group III-V compound semiconductor, and a current diffusion layer provided on the light-emitting layer and composed of a Group III-V compound semiconductor, characterized in that the current diffusion layer is composed of a conductive boron-phosphide-based semiconductor and has a bandgap at room temperature wider than that of the light-emitting layer.

LEDs having a light-emitting layer composed of an aluminum gallium indium phosphide mixed crystal (compositional formula: AlXGaYInZP: 0≦X, Y, Z≦1, X+Y+Z=1) are known to emit light having a wavelength corresponding to green light to red light (see Y. Hosokawa et al., J. Crystal Growth, Vol. 221 (2000), Holland, p. 652-656).
As disclosed in aforementioned Y. Hosokawa et al., a light-emitting layer which emits visible light having a shorter wavelength is generally formed of AlXGaYInZP and exhibits a relatively large bandgap at room temperature of about 2 eV.
Generally, such a light-emitting layer has a heterojunction structure in which a cladding layer is joined to form a heterojunction for enhancing radiation recombination efficiency and attaining high-intensity light emission.
In a light-emitting layer formed of AlXGaYInZP, a cladding layer serving as a barrier layer which is joined to form a heterojunction is formed of AlXGaYInZP exhibiting a bandgap wider than that of the light-emitting layer. Although a carrier-confining effect is attained, such a cladding layer is generally insufficient for diffusing a current for operating a device (i.e., device operation current) over a wide range of the light-emitting layer, since the cladding layer is formed from a semiconductor layer exhibiting a wide bandgap.
To solve this problem, one prior art technique employs a current diffusion layer on a cladding layer for spreading device operational current over a wide range of the light-emitting layer (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,718).
The current diffusion layer is composed of a semiconductor material exhibiting a relatively narrow bandgap (e.g., smaller than the bandgap of the light-emitting layer) in order to widely diffuse device operation current.
For example, an orange-light-emitting or red-light-emitting compound semiconductor light-emitting diode is disclosed, in which a current diffusion layer composed of aluminum gallium arsenide (compositional formula: AlXGaYAs: 0≦X, Y≦1) is provided on the light-emitting layer composed of AlXGaYInZP (see, for example, page 4, paragraph [0010], in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 11-4020).
However, the current diffusion layer formed of a semiconductor material exhibiting such a narrow bandgap by nature absorbs light emitted from the light-emitting layer. Therefore, even though the light-emitting layer has a heterojunction structure for attaining high-intensity light emission, high-intensity LEDs cannot be consistently and reliably produced so long as the LEDs have a conventional configuration in which a current diffusion layer is provided on the light-emitting area on the light extraction side.
Meanwhile, there has been disclosed an LED having a current diffusion layer formed of an optically transparent material such as indium tin complex oxide film (abbreviated as ITO) (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-144330).
Transparent oxide such as ITO can be employed as a material for forming a current diffusion layer serving also as a window layer through which light is extracted to the outside, by virtue of exhibiting wide bandgap and low resistance.
However, transparent oxide generally encounters difficulty in consistently maintaining Ohmic contact with a Group III-V compound semiconductor, and diffusion of device operation current over a wide area may fail to be attained.
To overcome the above problem, aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-144330 discloses a technique for diffusing device operation current over the light-emitting layer through employment of an electrode configuration in which a plurality of Ohmic electrodes are discretely provided on a cladding layer composed of a Group III-V compound semiconductor.
However, when the Ohmic electrodes are provided discretely, cumbersome steps are required for producing LEDs or other devices, which is problematic.
The current diffusion layer included in an LED is required to be formed of an optically transparent material so as to sufficiently diffuse device operation current over a wide area of the light-emitting layer and allow light emitted from the light-emitting layer to be extracted to the outside without absorbing the emitted light. In order to satisfy the above requirements, the current diffusion layer must exhibit a bandgap at room temperature which is wider than that of the light-emitting layer.
However, when the current diffusion layer is formed from a conventionally employed AlXGaYAs (0≦X, Y≦1), a conductor layer exhibiting sufficiently low resistance is difficult to form. In other words, there remains a drawback that a current diffusion layer suitably diffusing device operation current cannot be reliably formed.
Meanwhile, a Group II-VI compound semiconductor layer containing zinc (Zn) as a component element is susceptible to oxidation. In order to fabricate a light-emitting device of excellent operation reliability, such a Group II-VI semiconductor layer must be coated with an anti-oxidizing protective film. Such an additional operation would make the device production steps cumbersome.
An oxide material such as ITO, which is another material serving as a current diffusion layer, fails to reliably attain excellent Ohmic contact with a semiconductor such as a Group III-V compound semiconductor serving as a cladding layer. Thus, electric resistance between the cladding layer and the current diffusion layer formed of a transparent oxide material or a similar material increases, which may be disadvantageous in production of an LED exhibiting low forward voltage (Vf).

Compound semiconductor light-emitting diode


A semiconductor multiple package module (10) on a PCB material substrate (18) is provided, wherein semiconductor dice are directly mounted onto the PCB material substrate (18) thereby eliminating a subsequent board mounting at the customer level. A plurality of semiconductor dice are mounted and electrically connected to a plurality of circuit traces (22) on the PCB material substrate (18) having a plurality of edge connectors (20). The plurality of circuit traces (22) has conductive paths to electrically interconnect the semiconductor dice to the edge connectors (20) and to each other. The semiconductor dice are directly overmolded on the PCB material substrate (18) with a molding compound to form individual semiconductor devices (12, 14, and 16) having separate package bodies. The individualized package bodies enable repair to the module by making removal of only nonfunctional semiconductor devices from the PCB material substrate (18) possible.

Printed circuit (PC) boards, like everything else in electronics, are getting smaller and denser. A compact packaging technology is needed when mounting area is limited dictating that circuit elements be closely spaced. A module consisting of a plurality of semiconductor devices is used to densely dispose semiconductor devices and to obtain a small-sized electronic apparatus. PC boards have typically been designed so that semiconductor devices in the form of packaged semiconductor dice are mounted thereon to make a final circuit. Mounting can be accomplished by a surface mount technique or by socketing. Interconnections among devices arrayed on PC boards are usually made by conductive traces formed by photolithography and etching processes.
Additionally, semiconductor dice are traditionally probed individually before assembly, while critical units are burned in under accelerated aging conditions to minimize the risk of subsequent system failure. Burn-in is performed to screen out weak devices, and packaged devices rather than bare chips are normally burned-in. In a multiple chip module, the burn-in process should be performed at the packaged module level. The drawback in module level burn-in is that a percentage of die in the module will fail, and replacement with another good die has to be performed by a proper removing procedure. The replacement procedure may not always be cost effective or easy to effect.
One circuit board mounted array of semiconductor devices of particular interest is the single in-line memory module (SIMM) or a memory card. SIMM boards or memory cards are circuit arrays which are typically byte multiples of memory chips arranged on a daughter PC board or comparable mounting arrangement. The SIMM board or memory card is connected to a circuit control board by an edge connector. One edge of a SIMM module is a card edge connector, which plugs into a socket on the computer which is directly connected to the computer busses required for powering and addressing the memory on the SIMM. The semiconductor devices on SIMM boards are typically packaged in small outline J-leaded packages (SOJs) or thin small outline packages (TSOPs) before they are mounted on the daughter PC board.
Single in-line packages (SIPs) are similar in design to SIMMs, except that instead of having a card edge-type connector, SIPs have pins which are either socket mounted or solder mounted to a mother board or bus. These modules have been constructed by first packaging individual semiconductor dice into packages, and then soldering the packaged dice onto a daughter PC board. These packages are attached to the daughter board by surface mount techniques or into through-holes.
The disadvantage to both SIMMs and SIPS is that the semiconductor dice have to be packaged individually before they are mounted on a daughter board. Furthermore, each device is tested and burned-in on a discrete unit level instead of a module level.
Several methods exist for fabricating a semiconductor module. One such method uses a cofired ceramic substrate, onto which bare semiconductor dice are directly attached to the ceramic mounting surface and are wire bonded to conductive areas on the mounting surface, or are inverted and connected directly to metallized areas on the ceramic mounting surface by, for example, a solder-bump technique. However, direct chip attach has a limitation of no burn-in capability before module assembly and is difficult to repair after board mounting.
Another method of fabricating a semiconductor module involves tape automated bonded (TAB) semiconductor dice to a flexible circuit leadframe, which also serves as a printed circuit board. The semiconductor dice are tested as discrete units before being mounted, or they can be tested in the final circuit form after the TAB process. After testing and reworking, the flexible circuit leadframe is encapsulated. The dice and circuitry on the leadframe including the leadframe are encapsulated in a mold forming a single package body for the entire module. The disadvantage to this approach is that repair of the module after encapsulation is not possible. Hence, any failure of a semiconductor die inside the encapsulated module would cause the entire module to be rejected.

Repairable semiconductor multi-package module having individualized package bodies on a PC board substrate


Modifications are provided to a standard, batch type industrial heat treat furnace of a hot wall design which permit the furnace to be operated efficiently at high temperatures. The furnace is of a cylindrical design having a forward heat treat chamber and a rearward plenum chamber with a flat bulkhead plate in-between the chambers. The bulkhead has exit and inlet openings permitting wind mass to flow to the heat treat chamber and back to the plenum chamber. The bulkhead has a plurality of radially extending slits formed therein which permit the bulkhead to remain flat despite temperature and pressure gradients resulting in expansion/contraction of the bulkhead. Additionally, the furnace includes a closed end muffle within the heat treat chamber into which work to be heat treated is placed. A water cooled spring biasing support is provided for the closed end of the muffle to resist downward deformation of the muffle at high temperatures. The furnace additionally includes a heat shield circumscribing the furnace casing to provide a cooling air space for preheating burner combustion air while minimizing heat losses and the cost of furnace insulation.

This invention is limited to batch-type, industrial heat treat furnaces. Batch-type furnaces are generally constructed in one of two ways. For vacuum applications which are typically high temperature furnace applications, the furnace is usually constructed with a water jacket which keeps the outer furnace casing cool to the touch and allows the use of elastomer seals to maintain a very secure, gas tight door connection. This construction is expensive and the cost dramatically increases with the size of the furnace. The other type of furnace construction and the type of construction to which this invention relates uses a thin, gas-tight furnace casing, the interior of which is lined with insulation (fibrous or brick). Seals for such furnace, because of the heat generated, typically comprise a ceramic type rope seal and a variety of door sealing mechanisms exist within the art. Though such seals are effective, they cannot achieve the seal integrity of the elastomer seals used in the vacuum furnace. Recently, this type of furnace, which will hereafter be termed "standard atmosphere furnace" has been operated at higher and higher furnace temperatures despite the lack of a water jacket casing. Such furnace temperatures can exceed slightly over 2000.degree. F. As used herein and throughout this specification, "high temperature" with respect to industrial furnace operation means temperatures in excess of about 1700.degree.-1750.degree. F. This temperature is believed to be a temperature generally accepted within the art as a high temperature furnace application. When standard atmosphere construction furnaces are operated at high temperature, the insulation on the furnace casing must be dramatically increased so that the casing temperature does not exceed about 150.degree. F. Besides the expense of added insulation, because the furnace insulation is applied to the inside of the furnace, the furnace size increases. Thus a larger and more expansive furnace casing is required.
All batch-type furnaces typically use a fan for directing wind mass about the work. The direction of the wind mass is achieved by baffles. It is generally understood within the art that heating of the work is achieved at the low temperature end by convection heat transfer and at the high temperature end by radiation heat transfer because little heat transfer occurs by convection at elevated temperatures. In the furnace of the present invention and as defined in some of the patents incorporated by reference, high speed jet impingement is utilized to boost the temperatures over which convective heat transfer can effectively occur. However, whether high speed jet impingement is or is not used, at high furnace temperatures baffles for directing the wind mass can distort. This distortion can effect the performance of the furnace in that the work may not be heated uniformly because of baffle distortions. The problem is more severe if the wind mass is pumped through jet orifices for heating the work by impingement. Distortion of the baffling then can affect the angle at which the jets impinge the work creating localized, hot spots etc.
Batch furnaces are produced in a variety of shapes. One type of furnace construction typically used in the art can be defined as a cylindrical furnace with a closed end. The work is simply loaded through the open end of the cylindrical tube (which is insulated) and the door seals the furnace interior which is then heated. To achieve heating and cooling of the work, a f an plenum arrangement is typically constructed at the rear end of the furnace.
One specific type of a batch furnace may be generally described as a closed end cylindrical tube, the interior of which is lined with insulation and a rotatable door or vertically slidable door is provided so that work can be placed into and out of the furnace from the open end of the cylindrical tube. In this type furnace, the fan is provided at the closed rear-end and a plenum plate or, as is used herein, a bulkhead is provided adjacent the fan. The bulkhead has a central under-pressure opening and, spaced radially outwardly therefrom, an exit opening so that the wind mass developed by the fan between the bulkhead and the end of the furnace is pumped through the exit opening and returns to the fan through the under-pressure central opening. When such furnaces are operated at high furnace temperatures, thermal expansion and fan pressure cause the bulkhead to expand and contract with the result that the bulkhead distorts. This distortion can adversely influence the wind distribution pattern about the work as discussed generally above.
Of the various types of industrial furnace constructions, there is a furnace construction conventionally referred to as a muffle furnace. In essence, a muffle furnace can be viewed as a tube within a tube. The work which is to be heat treated is placed within a tube and the tube itself is heated which heat is then radiated to heat the work inside the muffle. To avoid any difficulties in semantics, batch coil annealing apparatus can be viewed as a muffle furnace and the imperforate shell disclosed in my prior patents can also be viewed as a muffle. For batch furnace application, the muffle is viewed as a closed end cylindrical tube while a continuous or semicontinuous furnace the muffle is an open-ended tube within a furnace through which work travels. The applications are entirely different and "muffle" as used herein means a muffle furnace for batch work processing. It can be appreciated that the muffle is a thin wall, rather large, imperforate cylindrical tube which at high furnace temperatures tends to distort. This distortion can effect the heat distribution pattern which the outside of the muffle is subjected to. This can produce localized hot spots relative to the work.

High temperature industrial heat treat furnace


A motor controller employs absolute encoder signals to periodically assess the existence of cumulative error in a position signal derived from an incremental encoder signal. In one embodiment the absolute encoder signals are extracted from commutation switches of the motor eliminating the need for a separate absolute encoder.

The present invention relates to electronic controls for motors and, in particular, to a motor controller providing correction of position feedback signals derived from incremental encoders.
Electronic motor controls regulate the electrical power to a motor to control the motor's position and velocity or other dynamic characteristics including torque, acceleration, and power efficiency. Typically, a command signal from a user, for example, a desired motor position, is received by control logic in the motor controller which compares this command signal to a corresponding feedback signal (actual motor position) to develop an error signal. The error signal may be further processed and then used to synthesize a high-power drive signal via solid-state semiconductor devices such as MOSFET transistors. These drive signals are applied to the motor windings to move the motor to reduce the error signal, in this example, to bring the motor to the position of the command signal.
The feedback signal may be produced by a position encoder attached directly to the motor or indirectly to the motor through intervening rotating machinery. As is understood in the art, the position encoder may be an absolute encoder, for example, generating a unique code (e.g., a Gray code) defining an absolute position of the rotor within a single revolution or multiple revolutions of the motor rotor. Alternatively the position encoder may be an incremental encoder (e.g., providing a pair of quadrature phased sine or square waves) defining a direction and magnitude of change of motor position but not absolute motor position. The signal from an incremental encoder may be converted to a "synthesized" absolute position signal by summing or integrating the increments of motion to a known starting or reference position.
Motor controllers may be used to control DC brushless motors. Such motors typically have a permanent magnet rotor and use a set of commutation switches connected with the rotor to detect the rotor position to switch the stator winding fields in the same manner as would be done by brushes on a standard brush type DC motor. Unlike brushes, however, the commutation switches in brushless DC motors employ non-contacting rotor position sensors, such as Hall-effect sensors, to eliminate the wear, sparking, and friction accompanying the use of brushes. For practical reasons, the circuitry of the motor controller is normally also used to provide a switching of power to the stator windings based on the signal from the commutation switches.
A typical Hall-effect commutation switch will provide multiple switch outputs that may be logically combined to determine a coarse static position of the rotor, for example, within about ±30°. This static position is sufficiently accurate to ensure that the stator currents produce the desired direction of rotor motion at startup. Once the rotor is moving, the transition "edges" of the switch outputs are used to provide a more precise indication of a dynamic rotor position.
When the motor controller employs an incremental encoder, the incremental signal may drive a "commutation counter", initialized by the commutation switches, then used in lieu of the commutation switches for precise commutation control. The incremental signal may also be used to create a synthesized absolute position signal for feedback control by initializing an accumulating counter (for example, using the commutation switches) and then updating the accumulating counter with the incremental signal.
Motor controller systems employing incremental encoders providing synthesized absolute position offer some advantages over motor controller systems employing absolute encoders. As a general matter, incremental encoders provide equivalent accuracy at lower cost and, as mentioned, can transfer data at higher rates. Nevertheless incremental encoders are subject to errors caused by electrical noise that may mask or simulate an incremental "count". Because of the accumulation or summation process used to convert the incremental encoder signal to a synthesized absolute signal, such errors can accumulate over time to fundamentally affect the accuracy of the control system.
It is known in the art to use noise suppression or detection circuitry to monitor the signal from an incremental encoder in an attempt to neutralize or detect noise induced errors. Such techniques are not always effective particularly for high-speed encoders where noise characteristics are very similar to the characteristics of the incremental encoder signal itself.

Motor controller providing position feedback correction


The present invention provides a black water-based ink composition that has excellent resistance to light and ozone, has an excellent hue as a black ink, and also has excellent storage stability. A black water-based ink composition is prepared by combining at least one type of black dye selected from the group consisting of compounds expressed by the following formula (1) and salts thereof:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a black water-based ink composition that can be used favorably in inkjet recording, that has excellent storage stability, and that also has excellent hue, and to an inkjet recording method in which this ink composition is used, and recorded material produced by this recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet recording is a known method in which an ink composition is discharged in the form of droplets from a narrow nozzle, and recording is performed by causing the ink to adhere to the surface of a recording medium in the shape of text or graphics. Inkjet recording methods that have seen practical use include (i) a method in which an electrostrictive device is used to convert electrical signals into mechanical signals, and an ink composition held in a nozzle head portion is intermittently discharged from the nozzle head by these mechanical signals and made to adhere to the surface of a recording medium in the shape of text or graphics, and (ii) a method in which the portion of the nozzle head that is extremely close to the discharge component is rapidly heated so as to generate bubbles in the ink composition held in the nozzle head portion, and the volumetric expansion of these bubbles causes the ink composition to be intermittently discharged from the nozzle head and adhere to the surface of the recording method in the shape of text or graphics.
The ink composition used in inkjet recording is generally a solution obtained by dissolving various dyes in water, an organic solvent, or a mixture of these. These ink compositions need to be safer and afford better printing performance than inks used for fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and other such writing instruments.
Furthermore, in recent years inkjet printers have come to be used in the production of printed materials for advertising, and printed materials produced by an inkjet recording method featuring a water-based ink composition are used not only indoors, but also outdoors. This means that the printed material may be exposed to sunlight and/or light from various light sources, and to chemical substances contained in the atmosphere such as ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides, and must not be degraded by these over time. Various studies into colored inks such as yellow, magenta, and cyan have been conducted in an effort to meet these requirements. Progress has been made with black inks, depending on the dye density and what proportion of the image is accounted for by black ink, because the ink itself is more durable than colored inks, for example. However, black ink is very important from the standpoint of achieving good contrast in an image, and development has been accelerating in recent years along with improvements to the characteristics of colored inks.
In the midst of all this, a disazo dye with the following structure, for example, is known as a dye capable of improving the gas resistance, and particularly the ozone resistance, of an ink composition in which a dye is used as a colorant (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H3-229770 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H3-91576, for example).

However, even an ink composition containing the above-mentioned dye still has inadequate light resistance and ozone resistance, and when its printed material is exposed to light, ozone, and the like, the quality thereof deteriorates over time, resulting in problems such as fading.

Abstract: and at least one type of dye other than a black dye, and the hue is adjusted by adding the dye other than a black dye. It is preferable if the dye other than the black dye is a compound that has at least one type of group selected from the group consisting of an —SO3H group, —COOH group, —SO3M group, and —COOM group (where M in these groups is an alkali metal atom), and is not an ammonium salt or a salt with an organic cation. It is also preferable for the dye other than the black dye to be a dye selected from the group consisting of yellow dyes and magenta dyes.


A request for data from a distributed table is received at a network interface controller system. The request for data from the distributed table is identified as a request to be processed by the network interface controller system instead of a processor of a host computer system. The requested data is requested and received from a memory of the computing host computer system via a computer interface of the network interface controller system. The received requested data is caused to be cached in a cache of the network interface controller system.

An embedding is a table comprised of a plurality of entries. Each entry may be associated with a plurality of elements. For example, an embedding table may be comprised of a million entries, where each of the entries is comprised of 64 elements. Embedding tables may be used to represent different things, such as movies, people, items, etc. Embedding tables may be used for recommendation purposes. For example, entries that are similar to each other may be recommended. An embedding table may be stored in memory. However, due to the large size of the embedding table, the embedding table may use a lot of available memory. This may reduce system performance since a large portion of the memory that could be used for other purposes is reserved for storing the embedding table.

Smart network interface controller for caching distributed data


A lens for a vehicular lamp includes an outer annular portion and a central portion. The outer annular portion surrounds a central axis and includes an incident face on a rear thereof. The outer annular portion further includes a light guiding portion in front of the incident face. The light guiding portion includes a reflective face on an outer side thereof. The central portion is surrounded by the outer annular portion and is connected to the light guiding portion. The central portion includes front and rear faces. The front face includes an outer edge connected to the reflective face. The rear face includes a plurality of grooves. A portion of light rays from a light source entering the light guiding portion via the incident face transmits out of the lens via the reflective face. Another portion of the light rays is reflected to the central portion and reaches the grooves.

The present invention relates to a lens for a vehicular lamp and, more particularly, to a lens capable of generating point light sources.
Conventional vehicular lamps generally include a lighting element in a lamp housing, and a lens is mounted to a front of the lamp housing. The light rays emitted by the lighting element transmit the lens to provide a lighting effect.
Vehicular lamps of new models generally use light emitting diodes (LED) as the lighting elements. A plurality of LEDs is mounted in a vehicle lamp to increase the lighting effect. The light rays of each LED are simultaneously emitted out of the lens of the vehicular lamp to provide a visual effect of point light sources corresponding to the locations of the LEDs.
However, each point light source requires a corresponding LED, leading to an increase in the costs and the consumed energy if the vehicular lamp has many point light sources.


Rubber vibration isolators are held between a base frame supporting a driving device and an upper deflecting sheave, and a support connected to car guide rails and a counterweight guide rail. The rubber vibration isolators are held between a horizontal member and vertical members of a support frame supporting lower deflecting sheaves. Transmission of vibrations generated by the driving device, the upper deflecting sheave, and the lower deflecting sheaves to the side walls of an elevator shaft can be intercepted.

Various machine room-less elevator systems not having any machine room above an elevator shaft have been proposed to use space in buildings efficiently and to avoid problems relating with right to sunshine and such. The applicant of the present invention patent application proposed previously a machine room-less elevator system shown in FIG. 6. In this machine room-less elevator system shown in FIG. 6, a counterweight 2 is supported behind a car 1 that is guided by right and left car guide rails, not shown, for vertical movement in an elevator shaft. The counterweight 2 is guided by right and left counterweight guide rails, not shown. A base frame 3 is supported in a horizontal position on top of the right car guide rail and the right counterweight guide rail or on to of the left car guide rail and the left counterweight guide rail. A driving device 4 installed on the base frame 3 drives a traction sheave 5 for rotation. A lower deflecting sheave 6 is disposed near the right side wall, as viewed in FIG. 6, of the elevator shaft, and an upper deflecting sheave 7 is disposed near the rear wall of the elevator shaft.
Parts 8a to 8c, extending between the traction sheave 5 and a front hitch 9f, of a hoisting element 8 are wound round right and left top sheaves 1a and 1b to suspend the car 1 in 2-to-1 roping. Parts 8d to 8i, extending between the traction sheave 5 and a hitch 9r, of the hoisting element 8 are wound round the lower deflecting sheave 6, the upper deflecting sheave 7, and counterweight sheaves 2a and 2b to suspend the counterweight 2 in 2-to-1 roping.
This known machine room-less elevator system has many advantages; that is, the counterweight 2 is able to move for a sufficient vertical stroke, the hoisting element 8 is extended smoothly to extend their useful life, and concentrative maintenance work can be performed on the car 1.
In the machine room-less elevator system shown in FIG. 6, the base frame 3 is supported on the car guide rail and the counterweight guide rail. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the propagation of vibrations generated by the driving device 4, the lower deflecting sheave 6 and the upper deflecting sheave 7 through the guide rails to the building. The useful life of the hoisting element 8 can be further extended by changing the position of the upper deflecting sheave 7 so that the hoisting element 8 may be further smoothly extended. There is still room for improving the space efficiency of the machine room-less elevator system by changing the position of a control panel CP for controlling the operation of the driving device 4.


The present invention is related to a decision-support system and method for providing with a score an object represented by a target item from a multidimensional space, said score being representative of the probability that the object satisfies a given binary property. The method and/or decision support-system may be performed in a computer environment comprising processing means connected to memory means.

Many activities in various fields, from finance to medicine, require evaluating a risk and taking a decision: it may be the decision to make an investment, to begin to treat a patient for a given pathology, to decide whether a document is relevant, to reject a product as defective, or simply to choose between two or more possibilities.
A family of computer tools, named "decision support systems" has the objective to help to take decisions by analysing massive data. For example, knowing a large number a financial data, such a system try to establish whether an investment should be made.
Methods of supervised classification, located at the interface between mathematics and computer science, propose to class the cases to be tested by associating them a binary label, such as "good payer" versus to "insolvent payer" "relevant documents" and "irrelevant document," patient "healthy" to "ill" or product "conform" to "not conform". However, such methods only attempt to predict the most likely label for a case. The risk of doing a mistake is only somewhat reduced.
Methods of scoring/ranking propose another approach: the aim of such methods is to learn how to sort/order the cases, so that a large number of "good payers" or "relevant documents" are at the top of the list with maximum likelihood.
The most natural way of ordering multivariate observations is to use a scoring function, assigning to each observed case (new or not) a numerical value—a "score"—interpretable as a degree of risk or relevance. The quality of this scoring function is usually assessed using a functional criterion, namely a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, which allows a very visual display of true positive rate in relation to the rate of false positives. The Recall-Precision curve widely used in information retrieval is a similar approach to visualize the results of discrimination, when the rate of positive label data is very high or very low.
While many powerful algorithms (CART, SVM, boosting, random forests) of supervised classification of high dimensional data are already known, no algorithm of the "machine-learning" type was far dedicated to the problem of scoring. In most applications, the approach is to use conventional statistical methods, such as logistic regression (linear) or linear discriminant analysis, based primarily on manual data preprocessing, such as modelling distribution of the observations, a truncation of information, etc. . . . . These approaches also face the problem caused by the exponential increase in data volume associated with adding extra dimensions ("curse of dimensionality"). Besides, the binary classification methods sometimes incorrectly use the "distance to the margin" as score.
There is a consequently a need for an improved method of scoring based on machine-learning.

Method for providing with a score an object, and decision-support system


A new cultivar of Azalea named ‘AZ 16’ that is characterized by its uniform flower color and size, its strong flowering during its extended flowering season blooming in late March to early April and then again in late August through October in Mississippi, its large pink flowers with red flecks and red undertones on the upper surface of the petals, its leaves that retain a burgundy color through winter and into the spring bloom season, its rapid development and a tight crown with only minimum pruning required when grown under optimum conditions in containers, and its exceptional environmental stress tolerance including fluctuations in moisture and temperature stress, and its good disease and pest resistance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rhododendron plant of hybrid origin, botanically known as Rhododendron hybrida 'AZ 16' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'AZ 16'. 'AZ 16' is a new cultivar of evergreen Azalea grown for use as a landscape plant.
The new cultivar was developed through an on-going breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Poplarville, Miss., USA. The objectives of the breeding program are to develop new cultivars of Azalea that exhibit tolerance to environmental stresses and disease resistance combined with unique flower colors and extended bloom periods.
The new cultivar arose from a cross made in spring of 2005 in Poplarville, Miss. between 'Red Slippers' (not patented) as the female parent and 'Fourth of July' (not patented) as the male parent. The Inventors selected 'AZ 16' as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross in fall of 2007.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in Poplarville, Miss. in spring of 2008 by one of the Inventors. Asexual propagation by softwood and semi-hardwood stem cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE


It is an object of the present invention to suppress an influence of voltage drop due to wiring resistance to make an image quality of a display device uniform. In addition, it is also an object of the present invention to suppress delay due to a wiring for electrically connecting a driving circuit portion to an input/output terminal to improve an operation speed in the driving circuit portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wiring formation in the field of a semiconductor device that has a semiconductor element (typically, a transistor) used as a device, and belongs to technical fields on lowering resistance of a wiring and miniaturization thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have recently been developed techniques of manufacturing a TFT with using a thin semiconductor film (a thickness on the order of several hundreds to several thousands nm) formed on an insulating surface. The TFT is widely applied to an integrated circuit (IC) and a semiconductor device such as an electro-optical device, and has been rapidly developed particularly as a switching element of display devices including a liquid crystal display device and a light emitting device.
Above all, the application of display devices such as a monitor and a television has been expanded and mass production of the display devices has proceeded. Therefore, it is required additionally to achieve a large-sized screen, a high definition, a high open area ratio, and a high reliability.
There is, however, voltage drop (also referred to as IR drop) due to a wiring resistance as a phenomenon that becomes a problem in driving a display device, which is a phenomenon that a voltage is more lowered as a distance from a power source is larger in the same wiring. This problem is especially serious in the case of a long wiring length, and is a barrier against the achievement of a large screen of the display device.
Namely, the voltage drop due to the wiring resistance makes it impossible to transmit a desired voltage, which causes as the result a trouble that uniformity of an image quality is significantly damaged in a pixel portion. A contrivance such as applying voltage from both ends of a wiring is attempted to improve such problem. However, the influence of the voltage drop cannot be neglected after all since the wiring is taken around long.
In the case of fabricating a monolithic display device in which a driving circuit portion (typically including a gate driving circuit and a source driving circuit) is formed integrally on the same substrate, a wiring resistance of a wiring taken around between the driving circuit portion and an input terminal for an electric signal becomes a problem. The wiring resistance is likely to cause delay in the electric signal to lower an operation speed of the gate driving circuit or the source driving circuit.
As set forth above, there are troubles that uniformity of an image quality is significantly damaged and an operation speed of the driving circuit portion is extremely lowered by the voltage drop due to the wiring resistance and the delay in the electric signal. Such problem is especially serious in the case of a display device that has a large-sized screen with diagonally several tens inch.
For the above-mentioned problem, it is reported that a material with low resistance is used to lower a wiring resistance (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2000-58650). In such case, however, microfabrication is difficult and particle contamination is caused in using CMP since copper is used as the material with low resistance and a copper wiring is formed with damascene.
In addition, there is the known technique that a substrate that has an element formed and a printed wiring board (PWB) with a large hardness are electrically connected with a conductor (an isotropic conductive film or bump) to reduce resistance of various wirings (first group of wirings) formed on the substrate that has the element formed in order to suppress an influence of voltage drop due to wiring resistance (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2001-236025).

Manufacturing method of semiconductor device

Abstract: In the present invention, a wiring including copper for realizing lowered wiring resistance, subjected to microfabrication, is used as a wiring used for a semiconductor device and a barrier conductive film for preventing diffusion of copper is provided for a TFT as a part of the wiring including copper to form the wiring including copper without diffusion of copper into a semiconductor layer of the TFT. The wiring including copper is a wiring including a laminate film of at least a conductive film containing copper as its main component, subjected to microfabricaiton, and the barrier conductive film.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A wheeled vehicle for transporting aircraft along the ground includes an engagement and hoisting unit supported by a vehicle chassis. The unit is brought into a position close to, but not touching, the nose wheels of the aircraft, both in front of and behind the contact points between the nose wheels and the ground. The unit is lifted by a cylinder acting between it and the chassis and makes contact with the treads of the nose wheels on both sides of the contact points, raising the nose wheels off the ground.

The present invention relates to a wheeled vehicle for transporting aircraft along the ground.
It is known to use tow-vehicles with gripping devices operating with parallel telescopic arms provided with folding cross-pieces and engaging the nose wheels of the aircraft from behind and hydraulically pull the tow-vehicle towards the nose gear. The nose-gear wheels are thus drawn either towards a scoop-like device as suggested in German patent No. 3 318 077, or the nose wheels are drawn up on a sloping plane before being locked by the gripping arms so that they can be lifted.

Wheeled vehicle for ground transport of aircraft


A calibration method comprising generating a pattern with an array of individually controllable elements, providing a substrate table with a radiation sensor, using radiation to generate an image of the pattern at the substrate table, moving at least one of the generated pattern and the substrate table relative to each other in order to move the image relative to the sensor, detecting radiation intensity with the sensor, and calculating a calibration establishing a relationship between coordinates of the coordinate system of the array of individually controllable elements and coordinates of the coordinate system of the substrate table, based on the detected intensity and the positions of the array of individually controllable elements and the substrate table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a calibration method for a lithographic apparatus and to a device manufacturing method.
2. Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), flat panel displays and other devices involving fine structures. In a conventional lithographic apparatus, a patterning means, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC (or other device), and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g., comprising part of one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer or glass plate) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). Instead of a mask, the patterning means may comprise an array of individually controllable elements that generate the circuit pattern on an impinging light beam.
In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Lithographic apparatus include steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion in one pass, and scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the projection beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction), while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
In a lithographic apparatus, a substrate table will generally be movable and its position within a coordinate system can be known and controlled with very great accuracy. For example, this can be done using interferometric measuring means. Similarly, if an array of individually controllable elements is movable, then its position within a coordinate system, possibly a different coordinate system, will also be measurable very accurately. The coordinate of any addressable pixel within the array of individually controllable elements will be very accurately defined. However, although arrays of individually controllable elements are used in lithographic projection apparatus, there are not known calibration methods for determining the relationship between the coordinate system of the array of individually controllable elements and the coordinate system of the substrate table. This calibration is desired to image a feature at a specific location on a substrate on the substrate table so that it is known where to generate that feature on the array of individually controllable elements.
Without properly defined calibration methods there exists further problems, such as the calibration might take an excessively long length of time, for example, because certain arrays of individually controllable elements consist of tens of millions of movable mirrors which would have to be calibrated. If the calibration is not properly performed, there is the problem that defective patterns will result. A further problem regarding calibration is that in some lithographic projection apparatus the wafer table and/or array of individually controllable elements are scanned, such that they are in motion during the exposure of the pattern and the radiation system may be pulsed. This means that, as well as spatial calibration, it is also necessary to calibrate the timing of the radiation pulses with respect to the velocities of the movable components, because there can be a delay between a trigger signal for the pulse of radiation and the actual emission of the radiation pulse.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a calibration method for determining a relationship between a coordinate system of an array of individually controllable elements and a coordinate system of a substrate table.

Calibration method for a lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


An apparatus for detecting an open neutral condition in a split phase power system is described. The apparatus includes two powered lines providing output electricity to an electrical distribution system and a shared neutral line providing a grounded neutral to the first and second powered lines. The apparatus is configured for detecting when an open neutral condition is present in the split phase power system by determining when a power current is present on one or both of the first and second powered lines while a return current is not present on the neutral line; and in response to detecting that the open neutral condition is present, causing an interrupter to interrupt the power supplied by the first and second powered lines or to generate a signal indicating an open condition.

Split phase power systems consist of two line conductors, or powered lines, which provide electrical power to a distribution system or a connected electric appliance. The two line conductors of the split phase power utilize one shared neutral line. A failure in the neutral line can cause an open neutral condition to persist, resulting in overvoltage and under-voltage conditions to occur on the powered lines. An open neutral condition can cause failure and damage to electrical and electronic devices connected to the powered lines.
A common application of split phase power systems is a 50 ampere (A) Recreational Vehicle (RV) service. An RV typically requires large amounts of electricity to power all of the appliances (e.g. microwaves, a refrigerators, pumps) and other electrical devices (e.g. Televisions, computers, chargers) located on the RV. This large power requirement can be efficiently delivered with the reduced wiring requirements of a split phase power system. Many RV power services are located in campgrounds or other outdoor environments, which may leave electric connection components at a power connection pedestal open to weathering and corrosion. This weathering and corrosion can include rusting of the metal electrical connectors or a breakdown in the other connection materials of a power outlet into which an RV owner would plug their connection. The corrosion and break down of the connection at the power pedestal may cause a bad connection in the neutral line of the split phase power system, resulting in an open neutral condition or high impedance on the neutral line. Due to the mobility of RVs, RV owners frequently connect to outlets with which they are unfamiliar and that may include weathered power pedestals susceptible to open neutral conditions or to electrical systems that may simply be wired incorrectly, which opens the RV owner to the threat of open neutral conditions occurring in the RV.
Another common cause of open neutral conditions forming in RVs include wiring problems on the RV side of the power pedestal. For example, an RV may also suffer from incorrect or corroded onboard wiring, which opens up another potential source of an open neutral condition.
This high susceptibility for 50 A RV electric service to experience high resistance or open neutral conditions has led to some methods and protection devices that attempt to protect against open neutral conditions from damaging electrical and electronic devices. However, these devices and methods fail to detect open neutral conditions downstream of the power pedestal (or load side of the protection device) from the detection device. This can lead to open neutral conditions forming at the RV and causing damage to electrically powered devices without any indication there is an open neutral at the protection device.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need in the art to provide protection against open neutral conditions that may develop on either side of an open neutral protection device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A protecting circuit is disclosed, that comprises a static electricity protecting means composed of a plurality of p channel type transistors, wherein a source electrode, a gate electrode, and a substrate electrode of a first p channel type transistor are connected to a high voltage power supply terminal, a drain electrode of a second p channel type MOS transistor being connected to a low voltage power supply terminal, a substrate electrode of the second p channel type substrate being connected to the high voltage power supply terminal, a drain electrode of the first p channel type transistor, a source electrode and a gate electrode of the second p channel type MOS transistor being connected to an external terminal and an internal circuit in common.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protecting circuit for a semiconductor circuit, in particular, to a protecting circuit connected to an input terminal and an output terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Whenever semiconductor apparatuses are handled, in every situation such as fabrication, assembling, and operation, they should be potected against a breakdown due to static electricity. Static discharging results, for example, in deterioration of characteristics, breakdown of a junction, and damage of an oxide film. In recent years, the semiconductor devices have been drastically miniaturized. However, the miniaturization of semiconductor devices causes the resistance against the breakdown due to static electricity to deteriorate. Thus, countermeasures against the static discharging are becoming important.
In the most common example of a breakdown due to static electricity, static electricity that has been charged to a human body causes static discharge. On occasion, the charged voltage may amount to several 1000 V. This discharging may cause, for example, an electrode of a semiconductor device to melt, a P-N junction to break, and an oxide film to break down.
A semiconductor apparatus using MOS transistors has a gate electrode that is insulated from the transistors. Thus, especially, this semiconductor apparatus does not have a sufficient resistance against the breakdown due to static electricity. Consequently, countermeasures against static electricity are required. As a conventional method of such countermeasures, a protecting circuit is disposed between an input terminal and an input circuit so that the protecting circuit absorbs an excessive voltage.
A protecting circuit is composed of a resistor, a p-n diode, a combination of a resistor and a p-n diode, a combination of a resistor and a MOS diode, and so forth.
FIG. 7A is an equivalent circuit showing an example of the structure of a conventional static electricity protecting circuit of such a semiconductor apparatus. Referring to FIG. 7A, the protecting circuit comprises a p channel type MOS transistor P1 and an n channel type MOS transistor N1. A source electrode, a gate electrode, and a substrate electrode of the p channel type MOS transistor P1 are connected to a high voltage power supply VDD. A source electrode, a gate electrode, and a substrate electrode of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 are connected to a low voltage power supply VSS. A drain of the p channel type MOS transistor P1 and a drain of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 are connected. This connected point is connected to an external terminal and an internal circuit of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
FIG. 7B is a sectional view showing the structure of the protecting circuit shown in FIG. 7A. Referring to FIG. 7B, a source electrode S1 and a gate electrode G1 of a p channel type MOS transistor P1 formed in an n well region on a p type substrate are connected to a high voltage power supply VDD with a metal wire M1. In addition, the source electrode S1 and the gate electrode G1 are connected to the n well region with a contact C1.
On the other hand, a gate electrode G2 and a source electrode S2 of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 are connected to a low voltage power supply VSS with a metal wire M3. In addition, the gate electrode G2 and the source electrode S2 are connected to a p type substrate with a contact C2.
The drain electrode D1 of the p channel type MOS transistor P1 and the drain electrode D2 of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 are connected to an external terminal and an internal circuit with a metal wire M2. These transistors P1 and N1 are isolated with a field oxide film SiO.sub.2. An oxide film is formed on the front surface of these devices including individual electrodes so as to insulate the metal wires from the electrodes of the devices.
When a voltage that is higher than a power supply voltage is applied to the external terminal, the voltage of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 becomes higher than a threshold value and thereby a current flows in the n channel type MOS transistor N1. In contrast, when a voltage lower than VSS is applied to the external terminal, a current flows in the p channel type MOS transistor P1. When an abnormal voltage is applied to the external terminal, a current flows in the n channel type MOS transistor N1 or the p channel type MOS transistor P1 so as to protect the internal circuit.
A pnp type parasitic bipolar transistor Tr1 is formed between the source electrode and the drain electrode of the p channel type MOS transistor P1. A npn type parasitic bipolar transistor Tr2 is formed between the source electrode and the drain electrode of the n channel type MOS transistor N1.
The base voltage of the parasitic transistor Tr2 on the n channel side becomes equal to the voltage of the channel portion ch2. However, since the base electrode and the contact C2 is spaced to some extent, a parasitic resistance R2 takes place therebetween.
When an excessive plus voltage is applied to the drain electrode D2 of the n channel type MOS transistor N1 against the low voltage power supply VSS, an avalanche breakdown current flows at a connection between the n type drain electrode D2 and the p type substrate sub.
Since the resistance of the parasitic resistor R2 is not zero, the voltage of the channel portion ch2 (namely, the base voltage of the parasitic transistor Tr2 rises). Thus, the parasitic transistor Tr2 snaps back. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relation between a source-drain voltage VDS and a source-drain current IDS upon occurrence of snap-back phenomenon. Referring to FIG. 2, the voltage VSBN at which the parasitic transistor Tr2 has snapped back is lower than the voltage BVDSS at the initial stage of the avalanche breakdown.
Thus, the parasitic transistor Tr2 clamps the excessive voltage to the voltage VSBN at which it has snapped back. Likewise, the parasitic transistor Tr1 on the p channel side clamps the excessive voltage to VSBP.
Experimental results of breakdown withstand voltages against static surge and so forth show that parasitic transistors more easily break down in the case that an n channel type transistor snaps back than the case that a p channel type transistor snaps back.
In other words, since a parasitic transistor formed in an n channel type MOS transistor N1 is of npn type, after the parasitic transistor snaps back, it tends to locally heat and break down. Since electrons in a device have higher mobility than holes therein, an npn transistor tends to snap back. In addition, the amplitude hfe of the parasitic transistor largely depends on the temperature. Thus, current and heat tend to concentrate in the parasitic transistor, resulting in a breakdown thereof.
In addition, since two types of an n channel type MOS transistor and a p channel type MOS transistor are used in the protecting circuit, it is difficult to reduce the size thereof.
In other words, since impurities of the drain electrode and the source electrode of an n channel type MOS transistor are different from those of a p channel type MOS transistor, the drain electrode and the source electrode cannot be formed in common.

Protecting circuit for a semiconductor circuit


A projection exposure apparatus comprises a light source for emitting a light beam for exposure; an illumination optical system comprising optical fiber bundle portion including a plurality of bundled optical fibers having an entrance plane to which a light beam exiting from the exposing light source is incident, and a little optical fiber bundle portion including a plurality of little optical fiber bundles respectively having an outgoing plane; and an projection exposure system for projecting a light beam passing through the illumination optical system and transmitting a mask or a reticle onto an object to be exposed as a pattern image of the mask or the reticle.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for exposure illumination for use in projection exposure apparatus for producing semiconductor chips, and more particularly, to projection exposure apparatus, illumination methods and illumination apparatus which control the directivity of illuminating light in accordance with the size and shape of a pattern to be exposed or detected as well as the kind of a mask, a reticle or a wafer, so as to allow a pattern to be exposed or detected in an appropriate condition.
Patterns of semiconductor integrated circuits tending to be increasingly fine have advanced to an extent that the pattern width approaches to the wavelength of light. Although exposing methods using X-rays or electron rays in place of light beams have been developed, these methods are inferior in mass productivity as compared with the light exposing method which allows a large number of integrated circuit chips to be exposed for a short time, particularly for producing memories and so on which are in great demand, and therefore encounter difficulties in mass-producing inexpensive memories. In such circumstances, techniques have been developed in recent years for providing a mask or a reticle used in a conventional i-line reduction projection exposure apparatus (i-line stepper) with a phase shift portion so as to significantly improve the resolution of a pattern as compared with a conventionally used normal reticle. Further, a technique, as described in JP-A-61-91662, has been developed for improving the resolution of patterns, even without employing such a special reticle, by forming an ring-shaped light beam for illuminating a reticle on an entrance pupil of a reduction projection lens so as to have high spatial frequency spectrum of the light transmitting the reticle pass through an entrance pupil of an imaging lens for exposure.
When a method of improving the resolution of patterns as described above is to be employed, if a conventionally used semiconductor exposure apparatus (i-line stepper) is used as it is, a problem arises that a so-called .sigma. value indicative of the illumination directivity of a light beam illuminating a reticle (.sigma.=the ratio of extension of illuminating light on a pupil of an imaging lens for exposure to the diameter of the pupil of the lens) does not coincide with the .sigma. value indicative of the illumination directivity optimal to the resolution improving method.

Illumination method, illumination apparatus and projection exposure apparatus


Systems and methods are described for a data breach detection based on snapshot analytics. The described systems and methods identify a plurality of snapshots of a data structure, identify a plurality of leaf nodes of the data structure for each of the snapshots, generate a vector of data attributes for each of the leaf nodes, assign a weight to each of the vectors to produce a set of weighted vectors for each of the snapshots, compute a distance metric between each pair of the snapshots based on the corresponding sets of weighted vectors, and detect an abnormal snapshot among the plurality of snapshots based on the distance metrics.

The following relates generally to data breach detection, and more specifically to data breach detection based on snapshot analytics.
As individuals and corporate entities become more reliant on data, they also become vulnerable to attacks that target that data. Cyber resiliency is the ability of an individual or organization to continue to function with the least amount of disruption in the face of cyber-attacks. Cyber resiliency may include information security, business continuity, and network resilience of enterprises to ensure organizations continue to function during cyber-attacks and cyber outages.
In some cases, cyber attacks may be conducted in a way that makes them hard to detect. Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods that provide improved ability to detect sophisticated cyber attacks.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An active implantable medical device, in particular a pacemaker, defibrillator, or cardiovertor having an automatic adjustment of the stimulation pulse level. This device delivers to the heart stimulation pulses of low energy for the treatment of the cardiac disorders, which stimulation pulses present a predetermined amplitude and duration (width). The amplitude of the stimulation pulses can be automatically adjusted, a capture threshold is measured at predetermined intervals, and the measured capture threshold value is used as a basis for the adjustment of the stimulation pulse amplitude. The amplitude adjustment includes a validation of the measured capture threshold value, suitable to operate a coherence test between the last capture threshold value measured and at least one of the corresponding capture threshold values previously measured. The adjustment of the stimulation pulse amplitude level is then inhibited in the event of positive result of the coherence test.

The present invention relates to xe2x80x9cactive implantable medical devicesxe2x80x9d as defined by the Jun. 20, 1990 directive 90/385/CEE of the European Communities Council, more particularly to pacemaker, defibrillators and/or cardiovertors which are capable of delivering low-energy stimulation pulses to the heart for the treatment of the cardiac rate disorders, and even more particularly to the adjustment of the stimulation pulse amplitude (voltage level) over time.
The voltage level (amplitude) used to stimulate the cardiac cavities (ventricular or atrial) of a human is a value typically selected in a range between 1.5 and 5.0 V (xc2x110%), and which is adjustable in 0.25 V steps or increments within that range. The amplitude must be sufficiently high to cause the depolarization of the cavity myocardium (i.e., a stimulated heart beat). It is, however, important to avoid amplitudes that are too high to spare the lifespan of the battery, because the stimulation energy applied to the myocardium and, therefore, the corresponding consumption of the implant device, is proportional to the square of the amplitude (and also to the duration) of the stimulation pulse delivered.
Moreover, the capture threshold, i.e., the minimum energy level needed to cause a contraction of the myocardium, is a value which can vary over time. Thus, it is desirable to be able to reevaluate at regular intervals the stimulation amplitude level needed by operating a test of the threshold of the effectiveness of the stimulation, called the xe2x80x9ccapture threshold testxe2x80x9d or more simply xe2x80x9ccapture testxe2x80x9d. The capture test thus determines the minimum amplitude needed to cause a stimulated heart beat.
The amplitude of the stimulation pulse is then adjusted on the basis of the capture threshold measured, and typically is a value that is twice the value of the measured capture threshold, subject to a minimum level (typically 1.5 V) and a maximum level (typically 5.0 V) amplitude. This provides a degree of confidence that the amplitude delivered will exceed the capture threshold and cause a beat.
International application WO-A-93/02741 and its corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,533 (commonly assigned herewith to Ela Medical S.A.) describe an automatic algorithm for testing the ventricular capture threshold, which is used in the Talent(copyright) model pacemaker marketed by Ela Medical. A clinical follow-up of patients equipped with this device revealed that, in certain cases, the algorithm of automatic capture threshold test will be deceived and give inaccurate measures, probably because of fusions (stimulations intervening in a concomitant way to a spontaneous QRS (ventricular) event) occurring at the time of the capture test.
These anomalies result in an overvaluation of the capture threshold compared to the real capture threshold of the patient. Because reevaluation of the capture threshold (and possible readjustment of the stimulation amplitude) is typically performed every six hours, an excessive amplitude level which is maintained for these six hours, although not in itself dangerous, is a source of overconsumption of battery energy, and thus leads to a reduction of the lifespan of the implant device.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantage by proposing various improvements to the algorithm for the capture threshold test, so as to detect these anomalies which are likely to erratically occur, and to neutralize their effects when they occur.
Broadly, the present invention is directed to the type of implant device described by the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,533, which includes a stimulation means for delivering to the heart stimulation pulses of low energy for the treatment of the cardiac rate disorders, these stimulation pulses having a predetermined amplitude and a predetermined duration, and means for adjusting the amplitude of the stimulation pulses, comprising means for automatically measuring the capture threshold at predetermined intervals, and delivering a measured capture threshold value which can then be used as a basis for the adjustment of the stimulation amplitude.
According to the invention, the means for adjusting the amplitude also comprises means for validating the capture threshold value, suitable to operate a coherence test as between the last measured capture threshold value and a reference value which is a function of at least one of the corresponding capture threshold values measured previously. If the coherence test result is positive (i.e., incoherence exists), the adjustment of the stimulation pulse amplitude level is inhibited. In a preferred embodiment, the aforementioned reference value is one of the previously measured capture threshold values.
Preferably, the validating means produces a positive result of the coherence test when the difference between the last and the penultimate measured capture threshold values is higher than a first predetermined difference, and when the difference between the penultimate and the antepenultimate measured capture threshold values is less than a second predetermined difference. The aforementioned first or second difference is preferably equal to one step of the measurement of the capture threshold level, or an integer multiple of this step (i.e., an integer multiple for n an integer, nxe2x89xa71). Further, the first predetermined difference is preferably greater than or equal to the second predetermined difference.
In another preferred embodiment, in the event of a positive result with the coherence test, the validating means starts a reiteration of the measurement of the capture threshold, the stimulation amplitude level being preferably adjusted after the reiteration on the basis of the lowest of the two capture thresholds thus measured, before and after the reiteration. In this last case, the device also includes means, responsive to the value of the capture threshold measured after the reiteration being higher than the one measured before the reiteration, for reducing the duration of the atrio-ventricular delay (xe2x80x9cAVDxe2x80x9d), and setting of the automatic measuring means of the capture threshold with this new value of the AVD.
The device also includes means, responsive to the automatic measuring means giving an indicator indicating the impossibility of delivering a result, to reduce the duration of the stimulation pulses, and setting of the automatic measuring means with this new value of the pulse duration.

Active implantable medical device, in particular pacemaker, defibrillator or cardioverter having automatic adjustment of the stimulation pulse amplitude