A multi-bit pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having a shared amplifier structure includes: a sample-and-hold amplifier (SHA) for sampling and holding an input analog voltage and removing a sampling error of the input voltage; N-bit flash ADCs of first to K-th stages receiving analog signals, converting them into digital signals and outputting the digital signals; N-bit multiplying digital-to-analog converters (MDACs) of first to K-th stages converting differences between the digital signals output from the N-bit flash ADCs and output signals of preceding stages back into analog signals and outputting the analog signals; and a three-stage amplifier connected to an output of the N-bit MDAC of the first stage at a first clock and an output of the SHA at a second clock, wherein intergers N>= and K>=2. An amplifier can be shared between an SHA and an MDAC of a first stage, thereby reducing power consumption and chip size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-bit pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having a shared amplifier structure, and more particularly, to technology capable of minimizing power consumption and reducing a chip size by enabling sharing of an amplifier used in a multi-bit pipeline ADC.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In order to process an image signal in an image system, a small analog signal needs to be converted into a digital signal sensitive to a noise. The conversion of the analog signal into the digital signal is performed using an ADC.
Since image data output from a sensor is very minute, the imaging system requires a high-resolution ADC capable of distinguishing a small signal. In addition to the imaging system, communication systems and image processing/application systems, such as mobile communication devices, asynchronous digital subscriber loops (ADSLs), IMT-2000, digital camcorders, and high-definition televisions (HDTVs), also require high-resolution ADCs that have a high resolution (12-/14 bit) and a high sampling rate of several tens of MHz.
Among the variety of known ADC structures, a flash ADC, a folding ADC, a subranging ADC, and a pipeline ADC are able to process signals at a high-speed. Recently, a pipeline ADC structure, which consumes low power and occupies a small area, has been widely used to satisfy both conditions of high-speed signal processing and a high resolution at the same time.
A conventional pipeline ADC may be classified into a single-bit structure, which decides 1 bit for each stage, or a multi-bit structure, which decides 2 bits or more for each stage. In general, a high-resolution pipeline ADC has adopted the multi-bit structure to a greater extent than the single-bit structure which requires many stages, because the multi-bit structure decides many bits at each (a first) stage to lessen the influence of the next stage and optimize power consumption and an occupied area.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional multi-bit pipeline ADC.
Referring to FIG. 1, the multi-bit pipeline ADC includes several stages, so that an analog input signal Vin passes through a sample-and-hold amplifier (SHA) 10 and is converted into a digital signal at each of stages ST1 to STk, and is output. For example, the stage ST1 includes an N-bit flash ADC 20 and an N-bit multiplying digital-to-analog converter (MDAC) 30. The N-bit flash ADC 20 receives an analog signal from a preceding stage, converts the analog signal into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal. The N-bit MDAC 30 converts a difference between the digital signal output from the N-bit flash ADC 20 and the preceding-stage output signal into an analog signal and outputs the amplified analog signal to the next stage.
When analog-to-digital conversion is to produce 4 bits at each stage, the following operation is performed at each stage: a 4-bit flash ADC 20 receives an input analog signal and outputs a 4-bit digital signal, and a 4-bit MDAC 30 converts a difference between the digital signal output from the 4-bit flash ADC 20 and the preceding-stage output signal into an analog signal and outputs the amplified analog signal to the next stage.
In other words, the multi-bit pipeline ADC constituted as shown in FIG. 1 converts a part of an analog signal into a digital signal at each stage, so that the signal conversion is achieved as intended.
In the multi-bit pipeline ADC constituted as shown in FIG. 1, the SHA 10 used at an input terminal to remove a sampling error of input voltages between the MDAC and the flash ADC of the first stage comprises one amplifier and a plurality of capacitors. Also, this circuit needs a wide bandwidth as well as a large phase margin of about 70˜80 degrees to achieve high speed and high linearity. Therefore, as the operation speed of the ADC increases, a large amount of power is consumed by the amplifier of the SHA 10.
Various amplifier sharing method are suggested to reduce such power consumption. For example, an amplifier can be shared between adjacent pipeline stages operating opposite clock phase. However, this scheme is not adaptable to a front-end SHA and following first-stage MDAC which take up a major portion of the overall ADC power, because the SHA and MDAC have large differences in their operating conditions, especially, in multi-bit-per stage pipelined ADCs. Thus, most methods reduce power consumption by sharing an amplifier between only MDAC 30 blocks having the same structure and feedback factor as shown in E of FIG. 1.
More specifically, the SHA 10 outputs an input signal using the same value and thus has a feedback factor of about 1, and the MDAC 30 amplifies an input signal by a factor of 4 or more and thus has a feedback factor of a quarter or less. Due to such a difference in feedback factor, it is not possible to simultaneously satisfy bandwidths and phase margins required by each block when the same amplifier is shared. What's more, sharing the same amplifier between the SHA 10 and the MDAC 30 increases power consumption and chip size. For these reasons, it is difficult to share an amplifier between the SHA 10 and the MDAC 30. Thus, an amplifier is only shared between the MDAC 30 blocks.
Thus, in order to reduce the power consumption and chip size of a multi-bit pipeline ADC, there is need of a way to share an amplifier between an SHA and an MDAC while satisfying requirements on the operation characteristics of each block.

Multi-bit pipeline analog-to-digital converter having shared amplifier structure

Abstract: In the multi-bit pipeline ADC, an amplifier can be shared between an SHA consuming much power and an MDAC of a first stage, so that power consumption and chip size can be reduced.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


An access node comprises an access port configured for operating in a semi-transparent mode. The semi-transparent mode provides for 1:1 between a logical circuit on a network interface of the access node and a logical circuit on an access loop between the access port and customer premise equipment (CPE). The 1:1 mapping enables manipulation of subscriber traffic at the access port on a per-subscriber basis while maintaining logical separation of per-subscriber traffic.

The data flow of different sources (e.g., several users, several services or several terminals) must be combined and connected in an efficient way in order to perform access and aggregation tasks. Currently, broadband access nodes connected to an Ethernet aggregation network typically support two main logical connectivity models (i.e., conventional connectivity models). These two conventional connectivity models are aggregation model and transparent cross connection model.
In aggregation mode, a broadband access node combines the traffic from multiple subscribers or logical channels on a subscriber's loop onto 1 or more logical identifiers in an aggregation network. Typically, a per-service logical identifier, for instance a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), is used on the Ethernet aggregation network. Consolidating traffic can be achieved at Layer 2 (i.e., the Data Link Layer) through a bridging function or at Layer 3 (i.e., the Network Layer) through Internet Protocol (IP) forwarding function. This aggregation mode allows for a very efficient multicast infrastructure and the implementation of per-subscriber security and traffic policing at the aggregation or services edge of the network.
However, combining traffic from multiple subscribers through such an aggregation mode at the access node requires that certain function be enabled at the access node. Examples these functions include, but are not limited to, enforcement of per-subscriber security policies, enforcement of per-subscriber traffic/Quality of Service (QoS) policies, generation of billing records and lawful intercept of information. The aggregation mode of operation forces these functions to be further distributed into the broadband access node. Traditionally, a Broadband Remote Access Aggregation Server (BRAS) or Edge Router in a network has performed these functions by adding a session-based protocol to identify a subscriber and enforce policies
In transparent cross connect mode, a broadband access node does not consolidate traffic from multiple subscribers or logical channels on a subscriber's loop. The broadband access node performs a direct transparent forwarding of the data from the subscriber's logical channel to a VLAN identifier on the Ethernet aggregation link. The combination of traffic of different subscribers in this mode is performed by more centrally-located network nodes. Accordingly, this model allows for per-subscriber security and traffic policies to be enforced by a centralized network node but not by the access node itself.
When operating in transparent cross connection mode, the broadband access node performs a transparent mapping of a local loop logical circuit to a unique VLAN identifier on the aggregation link. Because of this transparent mapping, no traffic in the access node is consolidated and, thus, allowing for this consolidation functionality to remain in the BRAS or Edge Router. Furthermore, when cross connectivity is facilitated in a transparent manner, the broadband access node cannot become a replication point for multicast traffic, cannot filter packets, cannot change the order of packets, cannot insert packets in the data stream and cannot enforce per-subscriber policies or security policies (e.g., enforcement of per-subscriber security policies, enforcement of per-subscriber traffic/QoS policies, generation of billing records and lawful intercept of information).
Therefore, implementation of cross connection functionality in an access node in a manner that overcomes limitations associated with conventional approaches for implementing cross connection functionality in an access node is useful and advantageous.

Method and access node configured for providing intelligent cross connection functionality


A vehicle body front section structure includes: a suspension tower; an apron upper member that extends in a vehicle front-rear direction along a top wall portion of the suspension tower, a pair of frames that are disposed to a vehicle front side and a vehicle rear side of the suspension tower, that extend from the apron upper member towards a vehicle lower side and vehicle width direction inner side, and that are integrally formed with a cast-formed suspension tower structural body together with the suspension tower and the apron upper member; a cross rib that is formed at the apron upper member and that extends along the apron upper member; and a pair of vertical ribs that are respectively formed at the pair of frames, that extend along each of the pair of frames, and that are connected to the cross rib.

The following technology is an example of a known vehicle body front section structure. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. H05-85410 describes a front section vehicle body structure including a suspension tower portion. In this front section vehicle body structure, an extension portion is provided extending inside a closed cross-section of an apron reinforcement at an upper end portion of the suspension tower portion. The extension portion divides the closed cross-section of the apron reinforcement into two, and is joined to the panels that configure the apron reinforcement.
According to this front section vehicle body structure, the rigidity of the apron reinforcement can be increased by the extension portion. The rigidity of the suspension tower portion with respect to upwards load (input along the vehicle up-down direction) from the suspension can accordingly be increased due to coupling together the portion of the apron reinforcement with increased rigidity and the suspension tower portion with the extension portion.
Further examples of related technology are found in JP-A No. 2007-309471, JP-A No. 2004-249801, JP-A No. 2005-219607, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. H06-27442, and JP-A No. 2001-80544.


A machine includes a frame and a coupler assembly suspended below the frame, the coupler assembly configured for sideshift movement and having an implement mounting element for engaging with a mating feature on an implement. An implement grabber mounted to the coupler assembly is configured to grab an implement and move the implement via sideshift movement of the coupler assembly from a position lateral of the frame to a mounting position at which the mounting element of the coupler assembly can engage with the mating feature of the implement. A method of implement positioning for a machine includes grabbing the implement with a implement grabber mounted on a coupler assembly and moving the implement with the coupler assembly. The method also includes disengaging the implement from the implement grabber and actuating a mounting element of the coupler assembly to engage or disengage with the mating feature of the implement. The method and machine are amenable to mounting long objects to a motor grader, which are unsuitable for pick up via conventional means.

Many modern machines used in earthworking, construction, mining, agriculture and similar industries utilize specialized implements for performing various tasks. Certain machines have long been designed to couple with and utilize a variety of implements, the implements being selected based upon the particular work performed by the machine. While the desirability of flexibility in implement-machine compatibility has long been recognized, certain machines are less amenable than others to use with different classes of implements, often because the overall machine design has traditionally been directed to relatively narrow applications. Motor graders and the like represent one group of machines which, while performing very well in certain tasks such as road grading and snow removal, have been limited in their use in nontraditional applications. As a result, motor graders often sit idle when their owners and operators would like to be able to use them. The limitation on motor graders to work in only certain applications relates to a certain extent to the overall machine design, as well as the means by which they are traditionally manufactured.
Motor graders typically include a grader blade suspended below the machine's frame, and mounted in the middle of the machine between the front and back wheels. Due to this design, a motor grader cannot swap implements as readily as certain other machines, such as loaders, which typically have front mounted implements. If an implement is to be mounted to a motor grader, the machine can in some instances be driven around the implement such that the implement coupling mechanism is positioned close enough to the implement for mounting. This approach, however, works less well, if at all, with implements that are relatively long, as the machine often cannot readily turn tightly enough due to its long frame to position the coupling mechanism close enough to the implement for easy mounting. Motor graders also often have factory installed blades, which tend to be relatively labor intensive to uncouple and replace. Despite these challenges to implement mounting, there remain strong incentives to increase the utilization of motor graders.
One means by which engineers have attempted to broaden the range of motor grader use has been via supplementary attachments which couple directly to a motor grader blade. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,013 to Waldron is one such device, and provides a dirt distribution device that attaches to an earth moving blade of a grader. In Waldron's design, the supplementary device is mounted to an adjustable support arm that mounts the device to an outboard end of the blade. While Waldron's strategy may improve the performance of a motor grader in certain types of operations, the system falls short of adapting a motor grader for truly new uses, and requires the supplementary device to be coupled to and work in concert with the existing grader blade.
The present disclosure is directed to one or more of the problems or shortcomings set forth above.

Implement positioning assembly for a machine


An inverse kinematics method of determining joint variables for a manipulator is obtained by forming a model by modifying offset values of a selected arm segments of the manipulator to define a model for which it is possible to derive closed-form inverse kinematics equations for solving the joint variables for said model, developing from said closed-form inverse kinematics equations a system of not more than 3 non-linear equations in not more than 3 unknowns which when solved give an inverse kinematics solution for the model, solving the system of at most 3 non-linear equations to provide the inverse kinematic solution for said manipulator to determine its joint variables.

Closed-form inverse kinematics equations may be derived for many types of manipulators which make the inverse kinematics solutions for the joint variables for these manipulators relatively simple to calculate.
With 6 degree of freedom (DOF) manipulators, closed-form inverse kinematics equations can often be derived when any three adjacent joints of the manipulator are either intersecting or parallel to one another. The theory for 7 DOF manipulators is not as well understood, however it is possible to derive closed-form equations for many manipulators which resemble the human arm.
Non-closed-form methods for determining joint coordinates of a manipulator via the inverse kinematics are also known. Generally all of these methods involve numerically iterating to within a maximum allowable error of the desired solution, and are usually intended to be used on manipulators which may not have closed-form inverse kinematics equations.
Wang and Chen describe a combined optimization method which they state can be used on any manipulator geometry (see Int. J. Robot. Res., 7(4):pages 489-499, August 1991). This method uses the cyclic coordinate descent method to find an initial estimate of the desired solution and then uses the Broyden-Fletcher-Shanno variable metric method to find a solution which is within the maximum tolerable error. The method is applicable to manipulators of arbitrary number of degrees of freedom, has guaranteed global convergence, and is not sensitive to manipulator singularities.
Tsai and Morgan in Trans. ASME J. Mech. Transmiss., Automat. Des., 107(2): 189-200, June 1985 describe a method which is applicable to general six- and five-DOF manipulators and which can generate all possible solutions for a desired endpoint position and orientation. This was achieved by converting the problem into a system of 8 second order equations in 8 unknowns and then solving this system for all possible solutions, by continuation methods.
Lee and Liang in Mech. Mach. Theory, 23(7): 219-226, 1988 describe a general method for solving the inverse kinematics problem for 6 DOF manipulators with rotational joints. This method involves deriving a 16th order polynomial equation in the tan-half-angle of the first joint (.theta..sub.1), and then (for each desired endpoint position and orientation) numerically solving for all of the zeroes of this polynomial equation. All the real roots obtained represent a viable joint angle value for .theta..sub.1 while the other five joint variable values are calculated using closed-form equations which are functions of .theta..sub.1.
Takano describes an inverse kinematics method for 6 DOF manipulators which requires closed-form Inverse kinematics equations for the first 3 joints in terms of the endpoint position of the third line (see Journal of the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (B), 38(2): 107-135, 1985. It also requires closed-form inverse kinematics equations for the last 3 links in terms of the orientation of the final link. Endpoint position and endpoint orientation are then solved for separately, one after the other in an iterative manner, until convergence is obtained to within the required accuracy.
Manseur and Doty in Int. J. Robot. Res., 7(3): 52-63, June 1988 teach a fast algorithm which can be used with 6 DOF manipulators that have revolute joints at the first and last links, and for which one is able to derive closed-form equations for joint variables 2 through 6 as a function of joint variable 1. Under these conditions, it is shown that a single non-linear equation can be generated with the only unknown being joint variable 1. This equation is then solved using the Newton-Raphson method.
In IEEE Trans. Robotics and Automat., 5(5): 555-568, October 1989 Tourassis and Ang describe a fast method which is applicable to general 6 DOF geometries. The method is based on creating a system of 3 non-linear equations in 3 unknowns which represent the Cartesian position of the wrist. Conditions under which the method will converge are given and the desired manipulator configuration can be easily specified. The algorithm is also applicable for real time use.
Other methods which have been extensively used to solve the inverse kinematics problem are called Inverse Jacobian Methods and are based upon Newton algorithms which are used to solve systems of non-linear equations. The non-linear equations are usually derived from expressions in which the desired endpoint position and orientation are functions of the manipulator's joint variables (i.e. forward kinematics equations). These methods work by linearizing the system of equations using a Taylor's series expansion around the manipulator's initial position (i.e. calculating the Jacobian of the forward kinematics equations). This system of linear equations, when solved, provides an approximation to the joint variable values which give the desired endpoint position and orientation. Inverse Jacobian methods are generally applicable to all manipulator geometries, including redundant manipulators, and can be suitable for real time control.
Some Newton-based algorithms use damped least-squares methods to compensate for problems that are associated with Jacobian singularities. Nakamura in his PhD thesis "Kinematical Studies on the Trajectory Control of Robot Manipulators", Kyoto, Japan, June 1985 describes a method wherein damping factor is increased as the manipulator approached a Jacobian singularity region. U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,254 issued Jan. 9, 1990 to Chan et al describes a system wherein the damping factor is a function of residual error to provide inverse kinematics control of manipulators near singularity regions. Hutchinson in his master thesis "Manipulator inverse kinematics based recursive least squares estimation", Dept. of Electrical Eng., University of British Columbia, December 1988 showed that a least-squares approximated Jacobian used in a Newton-Raphson type algorithm has similar convergence properties to the damped least-squares method.
Novakovic and Nemec in "A solution to the inverse Kinematics Problem Using the Sliding Mode", IEEE Trans.Robotics and Automat, 6(2): 247-252, April 1990 developed an algorithm based on sliding mode control and Lyapunov theory. The algorithm is tested on a 4 axis manipulator which has no known closed-form solutions to its inverse kinematics. The method is indicated as being computationally more efficient than Newton based methods and not as prone to singularity problems.
Powell "A Hybrid Method for Nonlinear Equations". In P. Rabinowitz, editor, "Numerical Methods for Nonlinear Algebraic Equations, pages 87-114. London, UK: Gordon and Breach, 1970 developed a hybrid algorithm for solving systems of linear equations which uses the Newton-Raphson method, the gradient descent method, and a combination of the two. The combination of these three algorithms give Powell's hybrid algorithm, in general, better convergence properties than most other non-linear equation solving algorithms. This inverse kinematics formulation is applicable to general manipulator geometries, allows real time control, and has better convergence properties than methods that are based solely on the Newton-Raphson approach.
Another approach to the inverse kinematics problem involves the integration of joint velocities which are obtained using inverse Jacobian techniques. Tsai and Orin "A Strictly Convergent Real-time solution for Inverse kinematics of Robot Manipulators", J. Robotic Syst., 4(4): 477-501, August 1987 used a variation of this approach along with a special-purpose inverse kinematics processor to obtain a system that works in real time. This method has good convergence properties in that it usually only fails to converge in manipulator singularity regions.
None of the above methods simultaneously
1. guarantees convergence to a desired endpoint position and orientation if it exists; PA0 2. is applicable to real-time manipulator control; PA0 3. gives direct control over the manipulator's configuration; and PA0 4. is applicable to manipulators of arbitrarily many degrees of freedom.

System for determining manipulator coordinates


A communication paging device whereby the coding mechanism allows messages to be constructed using bit-stream syntax blocks. Each syntax block is designated with a category such as a sentence format, subject, verb, location modifier, location, date modifier, date, time, and etc. Within each syntax block category is a set of variable code values that will translate into a screen display of alphanumeric characters to form both words and graphical screen elements. By using the coding mechanism, the syntax blocks are concatenated to form meaningful sentences with words arranged in a logical syntax order for that particular language. The conjugation of words in the sentence are easier and require less Boolean type functions to arrive at the conjugate word. The use of syntax blocks gives flexibility to allow conversion of statement sentences to question sentences, and question sentences into statement sentences. The use of syntax blocks also allow sentence structure conversion from a pager of one language into a receiving pager of a different language. The use of syntax blocks also reduces the amount of memory, and transmission bandwidth needed to transmit the data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a build message communication system and more particularly to a message communication terminal device such as a portable two-way pager device used in a two-way paging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of a prior art message communicating pager, a paging receiver with display is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,256 (Nagata). The prior art uses a coding mechanism that reads message data from a message table with a fixed column order to designate syntax order. Under each table column, there is a list of words consisting of a mixed category of subject, verb, location, date, and time. Therefore, certain same words need to be repeated across multiple columns in order to construct statement sentence messages as well as question sentence messages because syntax order is different between statement sentences and question sentences. This also opens the possibility that non-meaningful sentence structures can be created, therefore resulting in possible miscommunication.
There is another prior art in which it is required that each sentence be constructed by keying in each character one at a time to build words that will then build the sentence message. This requires more manual interaction from the user, opens the possibility that spelling errors may occur, requires more memory to be allocated and built into the paging device, uses more data and thus, increases the bandwidth needed for transmission making the process costly and time consuming.
The prior art has disadvantages in building messages. The usual method of building a sentence structure has typically made the use of fixed tables where the first word in the sentence is extracted from the first column in the table, the second word in the sentence is extracted from the second column, and so forth. This sets up a rigid sentence structure where the syntax order is fixed; for example, into subject noun that goes into the first column, verb that goes into the second column, location modifier that goes into the third column, location that goes into the fourth column, date modifier that goes into the fifth column, date that goes into the sixth column, and time that goes into the seventh column. If any sentence should fall out of this rigid syntax order, the sentence can still be constructed, but with the addition of repeated words placed into each column category of the table to make up for the different syntax order. This results in a clutter of words using up valuable memory space, and requiring the coding mechanism to search each category for the correct word, then determining if that word is even available in that category, and then conjugating that word. This method becomes a time-consuming process.
The prior art has disadvantages in conjugating messages. The conjugation of subject nouns with their respective verbs, locations, dates, times, modifiers, format, negation, etc. is difficult, if not impossible, because there would be too many repeated words to conjugate, and there are no fixed categories to direct the coding mechanism to find and reference as to which words are to be conjugated. The manner in how the words are conjugated also means relying on other related words within the sentence, and if there are no fixed categories under which the related words are grouped, then the coding mechanism cannot find and reference the subject noun that directs how the other words are to be conjugated. This requires using many Boolean type functions, that therefore makes conjugation of words a difficult and time-consuming task.
The prior art has disadvantages in transposing messages. The prior art coding mechanism also makes converting statement sentences into question sentences, and question sentences into statement sentences difficult. Relating specifically to a two-way communication system such as a two-way (receiving/transmitting) paging system, formulating the reply to a question statement would require the user to rebuild a reply statement response word by word because the coding mechanism cannot detect nor translate the meaning of the question statement. The user needs to accommodate this weakness in the coding mechanism by telling the paging device exactly what words and what syntax order to use to build the message. Thus, the user spends valuable time manually keying in information.
The prior art has disadvantages in translating messages. The use of a fixed table coding mechanism makes language translation difficult. If any sentence requires more than the designated number of columns allocated for this particular table, as in the case of translation into another language which may have a different and lengthy syntax structure, then the sentence cannot be constructed completely and may lose its meaning. The prior art coding mechanism would only allow for words in the columns to be translated, but this does not result in translating a meaningful message, as conjugation, prefixes, suffixes, and syntax order vary between languages. Again, miscommunication may result, or the sentence simply cannot be translated.

Build message communication system utilizing data tables containing message defining data and corresponding codes


Aspects for a power converter with power factor correction (PFC) circuit are described. The aspects include a buck/boost circuit for achieving a DC voltage from an AC input voltage signal line without developing an inrush current from the AC input voltage line, and a DC/DC converter circuit coupled to the buck/boost circuit for converting the DC voltage to a desired voltage level. The aspects are achieved in a straightforward, cost effective, and adaptable manner.

The present invention relates to power converters, and more particularly to providing a power factor correction circuit that eliminates an inrush current limit circuit for a power converter.
An important consideration in the design of power converters is that a power converter provide a high power factor. Power factor correction (PFC) circuits are commonly used in desktop computers where a high power factor is required. The power factor of power converters generally refers to the ratio of the true power to the product of the voltage and current in the circuit. A high power factor is one which approximates or exceeds 0.9, with the maximum power factor being 1.0.
One type of power converter, a boost-type power converter, is a well-known and practical choice for a high power-factor converter used in motor drive and power supply applications. While this converter circuit realizes the line current waveform needed to comply with line harmonic standards, both present and anticipated, and can provide a nearly full conduction angle, a boost converter requires the output voltage to always be higher than the peak input voltage. If a lower voltage is needed as, for example, in motor drives operating at lower speeds, then, the voltage reduction function must be performed separately. This adds to the converter cost and complexity. Boost-type converters must also have power on input current surge limiting circuits, and output short-circuit current limiting circuits.
Buck-type power converters are also generally well-known in the art, and are frequently used in DC to DC converters. They can also used as AC to DC power converters. A major limitation of buck-type converters is that the duration for which power can be extracted from a single-phase line supply (input conduction angle) decreases when the converter output voltage increases. A consequence of this limitation is the cost of the power converter increases while the benefits derived from using it decrease, especially when a wide range of output voltages (motor speeds) is required.
A need exists for a power factor correction circuit that avoids limitations of prior art circuits. In particular, a need exists for a power factor correction circuit that eliminates an inrush current limit circuit and that allows the DC voltage to be lower than the peak of AC line voltage. The present invention addresses such a need.
The present invention provides aspects for a power converter with power factor correction circuit. The aspects include a buck/boost circuit for achieving a DC voltage from an AC input voltage signal line without developing an inrush current from the AC input voltage and a DC/DC converter circuit coupled to the buck/boost circuit for converting the DC voltage to a desired voltage level. The PFC circuit in accordance with the present invention is straightforward, cost effective and capable of being easily adapted to current technology.

Power factor correction (PFC) circuit that eliminates an inrush current limit circuit

International Business Machines Corporation


A steering and positioning structure of a ratchet screwdriver has a main body, ratchet assembly, radial holding tank, two upper snapping blocks in multi-tooth meshed pattern and two downward abutting pieces, as well as an elastic abutting member, revolving drum and revolving drum split positioning member. The upper snapping blocks are activated in tune with the downward abutting pieces, such that the upper snapping blocks can be formed by means of powder metallurgy and demolding. Multiple snapping teeth could be formed on the snapping blocks. As the snapping teeth can mated with the ratchets of the ratchet assembly in multi-tooth meshing pattern, the structure can meet the multi-tooth meshing structural demands for convenient forming, and also improve substantially the torsion of the ratchet screwdriver, enhance the ease-of-operation and mass production for higher economic benefits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a steering and positioning structure of a ratchet screwdriver, and more particularly to an innovative one which is adapted to a multi-tooth meshing mechanism for easy forming and demolding.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
The ratchet screwdriver is a common handheld tool in everyday life, which is utilized in a unique manner that the screwdriver could be freely rotated positively (or reversely in idle state), reversely (or positively in idle state) or bi-directionally for ease-of-operation and convenience.
As for a conventional steering and positioning structure, a shaft lever with gearing assembled into the main body is used for guided meshing with the help of two □-shaped snappers and two abutting seats vertically inserted into the radial slot of the main body. Of which, the cross frame of said □-shaped snapper can be meshed with the gearing of the shaft lever, and the vertical frame of □-shaped snapper can be extended onto the abutting seat; when the user rotates positively or reversely the bushing sleeved onto the main body, an abutting seat can be pressed to push the corresponding □-shaped snapper, such that the snapper's cross frame is disengaged from the gearing, and another □-shaped snapper is meshed with the gearing for single-way rotation (in idle state it rotated in other direction).
Yet, as □-shaped snappers of the conventional steering and positioning structure are meshed with the gearing of the shaft lever only via the cross frame, insufficient torsion likely exists during rotation of the ratchet screwdriver. To resolve this problem, the gearing of the shaft lever is generally designed with coarse teeth with bigger pitch, so as to increase the meshing contact area of the □-shaped snapper's cross frame and the gearing, and also raise the rotational torsion; however, owing to bigger pitch of the gearing, the meshing, points for meshing rotation will decline when the ratchet screwdriver is used (□-shaped snapper's cross frame is meshed with the gearing only when the ratchet screwdriver is rotated to a specific angle). When space-saving is at a premium, the insufficient space likely causes interference to affect convenient use of the ratchet screwdriver or even causes its unavailability. For this reason, the gearing of the shaft lever is designed with fine teeth with smaller pitch. In such a case, insufficient torsion likely occurs due to single-tooth mating of the □-shaped snapper and the gearing during actual applications. Therefore, them-shaped snapper must be designed with a multi-tooth meshing pattern to increase the rotational torsion. As the □-shaped snapper is generally designed into a plate pattern (by means of punching), multi-tooth pattern could not be formed in the manufacturing process. If powder metallurgy is applied to the forming process, demolding is made impossible due to the □-shaped structure, bringing about big problem in manufacturing.

Steering and positioning structure of a ratchet screwdriver


The present invention provides a process for preparing a filled halobutyl elastomer, which includes mixing a halobutyl elastomer with at least one mineral filler and at least one phosphine modifier and optionally curing the filled elastomer with sulfur or other curative systems. Filled halobutyl elastomers prepared according to the present invention possess improved levels of filler dispersion which results in a reduction in the hardness of the compound and an increased tensile strength.

It is known that reinforcing fillers such as carbon black and silica greatly improve the strength and fatigue properties of elastomeric compounds. It is also known that chemical interactions occur between the elastomer and the filler. Good interaction between carbon black and highly unsaturated elastomers such as polybutadiene (BR) and styrene butadiene copolymers (SBR) occurs due to the large number of carbon-carbon double bonds present in the copolymers. Butyl elastomers may have only one tenth, or fewer, of the carbon-carbon double bonds found in BR or SBR, and compounds made from butyl elastomers are known to interact poorly with carbon black. For example, a compound prepared by mixing carbon black with a combination of BR and butyl elastomers results in domains of BR, which contain most of the carbon black, and butyl domains which contain very little carbon black. It is also known that butyl compounds have poor abrasion resistance.
Canadian Patent Application 2,293,149 teaches that it is possible to produce filled butyl elastomer compositions with improved physical properties by combining halobutyl elastomers with silica and specific silanes. These silanes act as dispersing and bonding agents between the halogenated butyl elastomer and the filler. However, one disadvantage of the use of silanes is the evolution of alcohol during the manufacturing process and potentially during the use of the manufactured article produced by this process. Additionally, silanes significantly increase the cost of the resulting manufactured article.
Co-pending Canadian Patent Application 2,418,822 teaches a process for preparing compositions containing halobutyl elastomers and at least one mineral filler that has been reacted with at least one organic compound containing at least one basic nitrogen-containing group and at least one hydroxyl group and optionally at least one silazane compound before admixing the (pre-reacted) filler with the halobutyl elastomer. According to CA 2,418,822 the elastomers have improved properties, such as tensile strength and abrasion resistance due to the pre-functionalization of the silica with DMAE and/or HMDZ.
Co-pending Canadian Application CA 2,368,363 discloses filled halobutyl elastomer compositions containing halobutyl elastomers, at least one mineral filler in the presence of organic compounds containing at least one basic nitrogen-containing group and at least one hydroxyl group and at least one silazane compound.
Co-pending Canadian Patent Application 2,339,080 discloses filled halobutyl elastomeric compounds containing certain organic compounds containing at least one basic nitrogen-containing group and at least one hydroxyl group enhance the interaction of halobutyl elastomers with carbon-black and mineral fillers, resulting in improved compound properties such as tensile strength and abrasion (DIN).
Filled halobutyl elastomeric compounds according to the present invention utilize phosphines as a novel class of modifiers. The phosphonium modified butyl according to the present invention is ionomeric and therefore possess enhanced affinity towards polar, hydrophilic fillers such as silica. Unlike the amine modifiers known in the cited art, the phosphine modifiers according to the present invention, are involatile and therefore safer to use.

Process to produce silica-filled elastomeric compounds


A wireless electrical power transmission system includes a panel having a recessed area for receiving a wireless power transmitter, such as an electric field resonant transmitter. The panel has a first outer surface and a second outer surface opposite the first outer surface, with a thickness defined between the first and second outer surfaces. The recessed area is formed in the first outer surface, and the recessed area has a depth that is less than the thickness of the panel. Electrical wiring is coupled to the wireless power transmitter and passes through an opening formed in the panel, which opening is accessible from the recessed area, and the electrical wiring is in communication with an electrical power source.

Electric field ('E-field') wireless power systems cannot transmit electrical energy through ferrous materials, such as steel plates, panels, or tiles that are commonly used in raised floor systems, cannot penetrate steel wall studs, certain types of interior wall or divider panels, and the like. Therefore, ferrous materials are generally considered incompatible with E-field wireless power transmitters and receivers. Examples of E-field wireless power transmitters and receivers are described in U.S. patent application, Publication No. 2013/0147427, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 9,653,948.

Surface-mounted resonators for wireless power


A vehicle roof module includes an outer skin and a foamed backing on a rear side of the outer skin. At least one elongated hollow element is embedded in the foamed backing. The elongated hollow element acts as a support for add-on components and may also house signal transmission components, such as cables.

Currently manufactured vehicle roofs are not made as sheet metal roofs welded to, or integrally formed with, a roof frame. Instead, vehicle roofs are increasingly made from a roof module, which is produced by a supplier, that is permanently and rigidly fixed to the roof frame. Note that the phrase "permanently and rigidly fixed" as used in the present description does not exclude the option of removing the roof module from the frame in a workshop to be replaced by a new roof module. In this case, the new roof module will also be permanently and rigidly fixed on the roof frame.
The roof module is usually made of plastic and has an outer skin of aluminum foil or plastic film, for instance, that is provided with a foamed backing layer. Vehicle roof modules of this type may be configured with or without a roof opening system, which opens a movable cover. In a roof module with a roof opening system, a separate frame is screwed to the outer skin from below. The separate frame is configured to accommodate and guide drive cables that open and close the movable cover to prevent the drive cables from buckling. However the frame increases the amount of vertical space occupied by the roof module. Further, there may be a desire to secure more add-on components to the roof module from the inside of the vehicle, increasing the overall cost of the roof module and creating installation problems due to restricted space.
There is a desire for a compact and stable vehicle roof module that simplifies attachment of add-on components, even in the case of retrofitting, and which makes a roof opening system easier to integrate with the roof module.


Electronic devices can be provided with at least one first circuit component coupled to a first circuit board, at least one second circuit component coupled to a second circuit board, and a mating assembly coupled to the boards for holding them in a vertical stack. The first circuit components can face the second circuit components in the stack. One or more of the first circuit components can be horizontally offset from one or more of the second circuit components in the stack to reduce the thickness of the mated circuit boards. Portions of the circuit boards and the mating assembly can shield the circuit components of the stack from electromagnetic interference.

The present invention can relate to apparatus and methods for arranging multiple circuit boards in an electronic device.
In some cases, an electronic device can include a housing with one or more electrical circuit components and a circuit board. The circuit board can be used to mechanically support and electronically interconnect the one or more electrical circuit components of the device.
In some cases, high frequency communication signals can be transmitted and/or received by the device, and it is, therefore, generally desirable to shield the circuit board and its circuit components from electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by such high frequency communication. However, the various amounts of electrical circuit components that may be coupled to the circuit board, as well as the one or more shielding layers that may be used to prevent EMI on the board, create significant challenges to manufacturing smaller and thinner electronic devices.

Multiple circuit board arrangements in electronic devices


An autotuning combiner particularly for use in combining signals for radio telephony transmission. The combiner has a series of filter cavities each with an adjuster for fine-tuning the cavity to an input carrier signal. The combiner cavities are stabilized from positional drift in the absence of a carrier signal by means of a mechanical brake which holds the adjuster or a pilot signal generator which simulates the absent carrier signal.

In cellular telephony, it is common to feed radio signals generated by individual channel units into amplifiers and then to combine these signals in an autotuning combiner before relaying them further to an antenna for broadcast to subscriber units. A common type of autotuning combiner has a set of cavity filters which are tuned using an adjuster. The adjuster is a moving mechanical element inside a physical cavity which is moved within the cavity to adjust the resonant frequency of the cavity. Typically, such an adjuster is tuned based on the radio frequency signal received from the amplifier. However, when the radio frequency signal is turned off, the resonant frequency of the cavity is free to drift. This resonant frequency drift can result from drift of the adjuster position or environmental effects and results in a one-half to two second delay in the effectiveness of the filter when a new RF frequency signal is received. In most telephony applications this delay is of little concern because there is a one-half to two second delay between the initiation of a telephone call and the transmission of any significant information. However, in other telephony applications, it may be desirable to transmit information immediately upon the establishment of a telephone call. It may also be desirable to transmit information on the carrier frequency in bursts with short delays between the signal bursts. In such a system, the extended delay would distort or destroy a significant amount of the data in each burst.

Autotuning combiner stabilized against frequency drift


The disclosure herein relates to a kit for creating a knitted garment such as a hat. The kit includes a length of yarn, a topper, a stabilizer, and optionally instructions for creating the garment from the yarn, topper and stabilizer. A method of packaging the kit for an effective presentation to the purchaser is also provided.

Knitting and crocheting hand-made garments is a custom that is often passed down from generation to generation, providing a skill that can be used for a lifetime. While hand-made clothing is no longer a necessity for many people, many still enjoy the hobby of knitting garments, blankets, or any number of other items in a large variety of patterns and colors.
There continues to be an opportunity to package and combine a novel set of elements to attract a potential customer with a user friendly design that would appeal to the creator of the finished product, a stitcher, as well as the recipient athe finished product.

Hat making kit and packaging method therefore


The present invention provides a nonaqueous electrolytic solution capable of improving electrochemical characteristics in a broad temperature range, such as low-temperature cycle properties and low-temperature discharge properties after high-temperature storage, and provides an energy storage device using the nonaqueous electrolytic solution. The invention includes (1) a nonaqueous electrolytic solution of an electrolyte salt dissolved in a nonaqueous solvent, which comprises from 0.001 to 10% by mass of a compound represented by the following general formula (I), and (2) an energy storage device comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution of an electrolyte salt dissolved in a nonaqueous solvent, wherein the nonaqueous electrolytic solution is the nonaqueous electrolytic solution of (1).

In recent years, energy storage devices, especially lithium secondary batteries have been widely used in small-sized electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, notebook-size personal computers and the like, in electric vehicles, and for electric power storage. These electronic devices and vehicles may be used in a broad temperature range at midsummer high temperatures or at frigid low temperatures, and are therefore required to have well-balanced and improved electrochemical characteristics in a broad temperature range.
In particular, for preventing global warming, CO2 emission reduction has now become imperative, and among environment-responsive vehicles equipped with energy storage devices such as lithium secondary batteries, capacitors and the like, early popularization of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) is desired. Vehicles may take a long travel distance and therefore may be used in the region of a widely-varying temperature range that covers from an extremely hot region of the tropical zone to a frigid region. Consequently, it is required that the electrochemical characteristics of those storage devices to be mounted on such vehicles should not be deteriorated even in use in a broad temperature range varying from high temperatures to low temperatures.
In this specification, the term of lithium secondary batteries is used as the concept that includes also so-called lithium ion secondary batteries.
A lithium secondary battery is mainly constituted of a positive electrode and a negative electrode containing a material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing a lithium salt and a nonaqueous solvent. For the nonaqueous solvent, used are carbonates, such as ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC), etc.
As the negative electrode of the lithium secondary battery, known are metal lithium, and metal compounds (metal elemental substances, oxides, alloys with lithium, etc.) and carbon materials capable of absorbing and releasing lithium. In particular, a lithium secondary battery using a carbon material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium, such as coke, artificial graphite, natural graphite or the like, has been widely put into practical use.
For example, it is known that, in a lithium secondary battery that uses a highly-crystallized carbon material, such as natural graphite, artificial graphite or the like, as the negative electrode material therein, the solvent in the nonaqueous electrolytic solution undergoes reductive decomposition on the surface of the negative electrode during charging and the decomposed products and gases generated through the decomposition detract from the desired electrochemical reaction in the battery to thereby worsen the cycle properties of the battery. In addition, when the decomposed products of the nonaqueous solvent accumulate, then lithium could not be smoothly absorbed and released by the negative electrode and the electrochemical characteristics of the battery would be thereby worsened in a broad temperature range.
Further, it is known that a lithium secondary battery using a lithium metal or its alloy, or a metal elemental substance, such as tin, silicon or the like or its metal oxide as the negative electrode material therein may have a high initial battery capacity but the battery capacity and the battery performance thereof, such as cycle properties greatly worsens, since the micronized powdering of the material is promoted during cycles thereby bringing about accelerated reductive decomposition of the nonaqueous solvent, as compared with the negative electrode of a carbon material. In addition, the micronized powdering of the negative electrode material and the accumulation of the decomposed products of the nonaqueous solvent would interfere with smooth absorption and release of lithium by the negative electrode, thereby often worsening the electrochemical characteristics in a broad temperature range of the battery.
On the other hand, it is also known that, in a lithium secondary battery using, for example, LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNiO2, LiFePO4 or the like as the positive electrode, the nonaqueous solvent in the nonaqueous electrolytic solution locally undergoes partial oxidative decomposition in the interface between the positive electrode material and the nonaqueous electrolytic solution in a charged state and the decomposed products and gases generated through the decomposition interfere with the desired electrochemical reaction in the battery, thereby also worsening the electrochemical characteristics in a broad temperature range of the battery.
As in the above, the decomposed products and gases generated through decomposition of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution in the positive electrode and the negative electrode interfere with lithium ion movement and cause battery swelling, and the battery performance is thereby worsened. Despite the situation, electronic appliances equipped with lithium secondary batteries therein are offering more and more an increasing range of functions and are being in a stream of further increase in power consumption. With that, the capacity of lithium secondary batteries is being much increased, and the space volume for the nonaqueous electrolytic solution in the battery is decreased by increasing the density of the electrode and by reducing the useless space volume in the battery. Accordingly, the situation is that even decomposition of only a small amount of nonaqueous electrolytic solution may worsen the electrochemical characteristics in a broad temperature range of the battery.
PTL 1 proposes a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing 1,5,2,4-dioxadithiepane 2,2,4,4-tetraoxide, and suggests improvement of cycle properties and storage properties.
PTL 2 proposes a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing diphenylmethane disulfonate, and suggests improvement of cycle properties and storage properties.
PTL 3 proposes a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing dimethyl malonate, and suggests improvement of overcharge properties.
PTL 4 proposes a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing 2,4-difluorophenyl acetate, and suggests improvement of overcharge properties and storage properties.

Non-aqueous electrolyte and electricity storage device using same

Abstract: (In the formula, Y represents a group —C(═O)— or a group —S(═O)2—; R3 and R4 each independently represent an aryl group having from 6 to 10 carbon atoms in which at least one hydrogen atom is substituted with a halogen atom, or R3 and R4 bonding to each other represent a cycloalkanediyl group or a benzenediyl group, having from 5 to 12 carbon atoms. R represents —C(R1)(R2)— or -L-; R1 and R2 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, or an alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms; and L represents a divalent linking group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and optionally substituted with a halogen atom).


A cosmetic composition having excellent application feeling and transparency while maintaining covering power which includes (a) composite particles obtained by allowing at least two kinds of particles having different shapes and particle diameters to contact with at least one polymer compound selected from the group consisting of fluorinated polymer compounds, silicone polymer compounds, and mixture thereof, in the presence of supercritical carbon dioxide, and (b) a cosmetic component.

Many cosmetic compositions have been developed in response to various needs for cosmetics. Surface treatment and complexing of cosmetic powders are among them. For example, a cosmetic powder prepared by coating the powder with silicone or organic compounds to make them water repellent and oil repellent has been widely used as a cosmetic.
However, a cosmetic powder prepared merely by coating one kind of powder with organic compounds is not considered to have sufficient makeup effect when blended into cosmetics. Various method for preparing a composite powder comprising at least two kinds of powders and polymer compounds also has been investigated.
JP-A 64-63035 proposes a powder comprising pigments on the circumferential face of spherical particles and the like, which is encapsulated with a polymer layer, in order to prevent luster and color saturation of the pigments from lowering.
JP-A 03-181411 discloses a cosmetic powder in which pigments are adhered on the surface of inorganic particles with an adhesive, and describes that a cosmetic composition containing such powder is effective for masking wrinkles.
Further, JP-A 2000-72622 describes a particle in which a first inorganic particle is coated with a second inorganic particle having a mean particle diameter of 1/10 or less of the first inorganic particle using an organic polymer compound such as a polymethyl methacrylate as a coating medium. Cosmetic compositions blended with such powder have an excellent UV blocking effect.
The composite particles prepared by these general methods known in the art are readily coagulated among the particles, and the cosmetics blended with these conventional composite particles have insufficient feeling. Furthermore, the cosmetics have poor adhesive properties and extendibility when blended with other powders, for example, spherical particles, and are deficient in covering power with little shielding effects of skin roughness i.e., pores and the like.
The present invention has found that the problems as described above can be solved by using a cosmetic composition containing composite particles prepared by allowing at least two kinds of particles having different shapes and particle diameters with respect to each other to contact a specified polymer compound in the presence of supercritical carbon dioxide.
It was also found that by combining the composite particle with specified cosmetic components, for example, a spherical powder, a powder having pearlescent shade, a volatile oil, a water-soluble thickener, zinc oxide, and a flaky powder having multi-coating layers, produces a cosmetic that makes pores inconspicuous, improves glossiness, gives fresh feeling, retains the effect of the cosmetic while suppressing the oily appearance caused by time-dependent changes, gives a moist feeling with improved adhesion and no flaky feeling, has good extendibility, retains covering power and transparency, and gives an even finish.
The present invention relates to a cosmetic composition that is excellent in application feeling and provides transparency (transparent feeling) while maintaining covering power.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that can make skin roughness, i.e., pores, inconspicuous by blending a composite particle with a spherical powder.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that can improve a lustrous feeling by blending a composite particle with a powder having pearlescent shade.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that has a fresh feeling without an oily appearance caused by time-dependent changes, and can retain makeup by blending a composite particle with a volatile oil.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that when applied, has a moist feeling and good extensibility without a flaky feeling, by using a composite particle together with a water-soluble thickener.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that has covering power and transparency with good extendibility on the skin while retaining the makeup as well as achieving less color fading, by using a composite particle together with zinc oxide.
The present invention also relates to a cosmetic composition that affords a uniform makeup with a fine-textured finish, by using a composite particle together with flaky powder having multi-coated layers.


A computer-implemented method for creating a set of wafer transfer instructions configured to transfer a wafer between an origination wafer-holding location and a destination wafer-holding location in a plasma cluster tool, which has a plurality of wafer-holding locations. The method includes receiving a first user-provided location indicator and a second user-provided location indicator, which graphically identify the origination wafer-holding location and the destination wafer-holding location respectively on the on-screen graphical representation of the plasma cluster tool. The method further includes ascertaining data pertaining to a path between the first user-provided location indicator and the second user-provided location indicator. The method further includes forming the set of wafer transfer instructions responsive to the data pertaining to the path. The set of wafer transfer instructions is configured to transfer the wafer along a set of wafer-holding locations associated with the path.

Controlling the transfer of a wafer within a plasma cluster tool environment can be a complex and tedious process. As discussed herein, a plasma cluster tool relates to an integrated multi-module plasma processing system. Generally, a wafer undergoes a series of process steps in various wafer-holding locations by the time the wafer completes an etching cycle.
As discussed herein, a wafer-holding location relates to a given node within a given module. Examples of modules include, but are not limited to, process modules, airlock modules, vacuum transfer modules, atmospheric transfer modules, and ports. Each module may have a plurality of nodes (i.e., slots), from one to an nth number of nodes. For example, a process module usually has one node while an airlock module generally has two nodes. Thus, an example of a wafer-holding location is node 1 of airlock module 1.
The transfer of a wafer between wafer-holding locations is usually handled by a centralized handling module. A user at the centralized handling module creates wafer transfer instructions (i.e., macro commands or sequences) that may involve a combination of menus, buttons and icons to enable wafer movement. Further, to move a wafer from an origination wafer-holding location (i.e., source module with source node) to a destination wafer-holding location may involve multiple intermediate wafer transfer instructions. Thus, a successful wafer movement may be dependent upon skills and reliability of the user. However, even if the user is skilled in the creation of wafer transfer instructions, the sheer number of parameters that the user may have to provide to complete a wafer movement increases the likelihood that an error may occur.
To facilitate discussion and to illustrate the possible complexity of creating and executing wafer transfer instructions, FIG. 1 shows a menu-driven interface, which is coupled with a graphical animated overview of the current state of a plasma cluster tool. Section 100 shows an animated graphical overview of the current state of plasma cluster tool 101. Section 119 shows a menu driven interface that user employs to create wafer transfer instructions to move wafers within plasma cluster tool 101. Plasma cluster tool 101 generally consists of various wafer-holding locations that enable a wafer to be processed as it moves from a port through an atmospheric transfer module (ATM) to a vacuum transfer module (VTM) to one or more process modules and ultimately back out to a port.
A wafer is placed in one of the ports (110, 112, 114). An ATM 125, which may be a robotic arm, moves the wafer to an aligner 107. Aligner 107 allows the wafer to be centered properly before the wafer is etched. Once centered, the wafer is moved by ATM 125 to one of the airlock modules (121 and 123). Since airlock modules have the ability to match the environment between an atmospheric transfer module and a vacuum transfer module, the wafer is able to move between the two pressure environments without being damaged.
From an airlock module, the wafer is moved into one of the process modules (102, 103, 104 and 105) by one of the robotic effectors (109 and 111) in vacuum transfer module (VTM) 108. To move between process modules, one of the robotic effectors in VTM 108 is used. For example, to move from process module (PM) 102 to PM 104, the wafer is moved from PM 102 to VTM 108. From VTM 108, the wafer is moved to PM 104.
Once the wafer has been processed, the wafer is moved from the process modules (102 and 104) to one of the airlock modules (121 and 123) by one of the robotic effectors (109 and 111) in VTM 108. At the airlock module (i.e., 123), the wafer may be moved via ATM 125 to one of the ports (110, 112, 114) or to aligner 107.
With the aid of the graphical animated overview in section 100, a user is able to employs section 119 to create wafer transfer instructions. Section 119 is divided into 2 main sections: VTM commands 171 and ATM commands 173. Assuming that a wafer is in PM 102, the user wants to move the wafer to port 110. To create wafer transfer instructions to execute the wafer movement for the example mentioned above, the user has to create two different sets of wafer transfer instructions. The set of first wafer transfer instructions, which are defined in VTM commands 171, move the wafer from PM 102 to one of the airlock modules. The second set of wafer transfer instructions, which are defined in ATM commands 173, move the wafer from one of the airlock modules to port 110.
To create the set of first wafer transfer instructions, the user identifies an origination wafer-holding location, an intermediate destination wafer-holding location, and a robotic effector that will move the wafer from the origination wafer-holding location to the intermediate destination wafer-holding location. First, at fields 120 and 122 the user has to identify a module and node respectively for the origination wafer-holding location (i.e., node 1 of PM 102).
Then the user has to define the intermediate destination wafer-holding location. The intermediate destination wafer-holding location may be another PM (PM 104, PM 103, or PM 105) or it may be one of the airlock modules (121 or 123). For example, the parameters for fields 124 and 126 may be node 1 of airlock module 123. Finally, to complete VTM commands 171, the user has to identify at field 136 which robotic effector (i.e., 109) in VTM 108 to use.
To move the wafer to its final destination wafer-holding location at port 110, the user identifies an intermediate origination wafer-holding location and a destination wafer-holding location at ATM commands 173. First, at fields 152 and 154, the user identifies the module and node respectively for the intermediate origination wafer-holding location (i.e., node 1 of airlock module 123). The intermediate origination wafer-holding location defined in ATM commands 173 may the same intermediate destination wafer-holding location identified in VTM commands 171. Then the user identifies the destination wafer-holding location parameters for fields 156 and 158 (i.e., node 1 of port 110). To execute the command, the user pushes button 174.
The example above describes a transfer of a wafer from a module to a port. However, wafer movement is bi-directional. For example, a wafer at port 110 needs to be moved to PM 102 to be processed. In this situation, a user has to first create wafer transfer instructions in ATM commands 173 to move the wafer from the port through the ATM. Then the user creates wafer transfer instructions in VTM commands 171 to move the wafer to the designated process module.
In another example, a user may only want to move a wafer to an intermediate wafer-holding location. For example, the user wants to move the wafer at PM 102 to VTM 108. To accomplish this transfer, the user may use a "Pick" option, which requires the user to identify an origination wafer-holding location in fields 132 and 134 (module and node respectively) and to determine a robot effector in field 136.
Likewise, if the user wants to move the wafer from VTM 108 to PM 102, then the user may use a "Place" option, which requires the user to identify a destination wafer-holding location in fields 128 and 130 (module and node respectively) and to determine a robot effector in field 136. A similar "Pick" (fields 172 and 168) and "Place" (fields 170 and 166) options exist in ATM commands 173.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B both provide flowcharts of the steps a user may take in order to move a wafer to a desired wafer-holding location. FIGS. 2A and 2B are described in reference to FIG. 1 with the assumption that a user wants to move a wafer from PM 102 to port 110. FIG. 2A describes the steps a user takes in VTM commands 171 and FIG. 2B describes the steps a user takes in ATM commands 173.
At step 204, the user selects VTM commands 171. At step 206, the user selects a source module (i.e., enter PM 102 as the parameter for field 120). Then at step 208, the user selects a source node (i.e., enter 1 in field 122). At step 210, the user selects an intermediate destination module (i.e., enter airlock module 123 in field 124). Step 212 requires the user to select an intermediate destination node (i.e., enter 2 in field 126). At step 214, the user selects a robot effector (i.e., choose robotic arm A in field 136). At step 216, the user executes and waits for the wafer transfer instructions to be completed. At step 218, if the wafer is not at an intermediate destination wafer-holding location, then the process may start again at step 206 if the user wants to create another wafer transfer instructions.
However, if at step 218, the wafer is at an intermediate destination module, then the user proceeds to step 250. At step 250, the user selects ATM commands 173. At step 252, the user selects an intermediate source module (i.e., enter airlock module 123 in field 152). Then the user selects an intermediate source node (i.e., enter 2 in field 154). Parameters for steps 252 and 254 may be the same as those in steps 210 and 212 respectively. At step 256, the user selects a destination module (i.e., enter port 110 in field 156). Then, at step 258, the user selects a destination node (i.e., enter 1 in field 158). At step 260, the user executes by pushing button 174.
At step 260, if the wafer movement is complete (step 262), then the user proceeds to step 264 and the whole process is done. However, if the wafer movement is not complete, then the user returns to step 250 and proceeds to go through the steps again until the wafer is at its final destination wafer-holding location.
As described above, to move a wafer from a module to a port involves multiple wafer transfer instructions, which require a user to make multiple inputs. The user is not just required to define an origination wafer-holding location and a destination wafer-holding location, but the user may also have to select the mechanism by which the transfer is to be accomplished. As a result, the user needs to be knowledgeable in order to assure that the creation of wafer transfer instructions ensures a successful wafer movement.
There are several problems with the current methods for wafer movements. One, to create wafer transfer instructions requires a user to enter specific parameters. Thus, the user not only needs to know an origination wafer-holding location and a destination wafer-holding location, but the user may also have to define the transfer mechanism and an intermediate destination wafer-holding location. Since the user has to enter various parameters to create wafer transfer instructions, the possibility of errors increases.
Second, the user is limited by a graphical overview that may provide the user with the current state of a plasma cluster tool. Assume that a wafer currently occupies one of the wafer-holding locations in the plasma cluster tool (i.e., user sees that airlock module 121 is occupied by a wafer). However, the graphical overview may only allow the user to see that a module is occupied and does not identify which node is occupied (i.e., user is unable to determine whether the wafer is in node 1 or node 2). To prevent the risk of the two wafers being broken when one wafer tries to move into an occupied node, a skilled user may have to eliminate the possibility of using the occupied airlock module (i.e., 121) as the next wafer-holding location and chose another airlock module instead. However, if the user chooses to place a wafer into the occupied node, then two wafers will be broken and the plasma cluster tool will have to be shut down in order to clean the broken pieces from the wafer-holding location.
A third problem that exists occurs when an emergency arises and a plurality of wafers has to be removed in a timely manner. For example, a power outage occurs and the user is informed that he has five minutes to remove all wafers from a plasma cluster tool. The user has the option of physically removing the wafers from the plasma cluster tool or to create wafer transfer instructions to remove each wafer from the plasma cluster tool. In either case, the user runs the risk of making a mistake and causing damages to the machine as he quickly tries to remove the wafers from the plasma cluster tool within a short time span.


A densified silicon nitride body can be formed using a lanthana-based sintering aid. The composition may exhibit properties that provide a material useful in a variety of applications that can benefit from improved wear characteristics. The composition may be densified by sintering and hot isostatic pressing.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to silicon nitride compositions and, in particular, to silicon nitride bodies including lanthanum.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Silicon nitride (Si3N4) materials comprise a class of ceramics that has been shown to provide excellent characteristics in high wear applications including, for example, bearings, cutting tools, vanes and blades, and valves and seals. These properties include low density, high hardness, high temperature tolerance, high dielectric strength and extended wear capabilities. Typically, silicon nitride bearing elements have lower density, greater hardness, a higher elastic modulus and higher temperature ratings than do steel components. For these reasons and others silicon nitride components have replaced steel and alloy components in many applications. One example is the use of high speed hybrid bearings consisting of silicon nitride rolling elements and steel races.
Several methods of forming silicon nitride bodies are known. Typically, silicon nitride bodies are densified by applying heat and pressure to green bodies of silicon nitride powder. These techniques include sintering in the presence of a sintering aid and/or hot isostatic pressing (HIP) to form consistent durable bodies. Known sintering aids include, for example, aluminum oxide (alumina) and yttrium oxide (yttria). Sintering aids may be added in the form of a fine mesh powder to the silicon nitride powder prior to densification, and a variety of materials have been developed to improve characteristics, such as hardness.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,796 to Pujari et al. describes a silicon nitride body made using TiC of a small grain size. According to the Pujari disclosure, the resulting body provides improved wear and flexural properties. Products such as bearing components can benefit from these improved wear and flexural properties.

Silicon nitride body and method of manufacture


Instrumenting a computer program to provide instrumented byte code includes examining the byte code, selecting portions of the byte code for instrumentation, and instrumenting the portions to provide instrumented byte code. Selecting the portions may include choosing portions of the byte code corresponding to method entry, method exit, a throw, a method call, or a new line number. Instrumenting a portion of the byte code corresponding to a method call may include instrumenting a local line number of source code corresponding to the byte code being instrumented. Instrumenting the portions may include adding calls to instrumentation runtime functions that pass parameters indicative of the portions being instrumented. At least one of the parameters that is passed may include a line number of the source code corresponding to the portion being instrumented or a thispointer for the method corresponding to the portion being instrumented. Data from instrumentation may be passed via a message stream that is viewed as the data is being generated and/or stored.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to the field of computer software and more particularly to the field of computer software for instrumentation of code in order to facilitate debugging.
2. Description of Related Art
Code instrumentation is performed by adding statements to software in order to monitor performance and operation of the software during run time. Code instrumentation is sometimes used to facilitate debugging of run time errors relating to memory accesses. Specifically, since many run time errors are the result of improperly accessing or using memory (e.g., writing beyond an array's boundaries, not freeing dynamically allocated memory, etc.), then instrumentation may be used to supplement memory accessing portions of the software with additional software that monitors memory accesses and provides an indication when it appears that an improper access has occurred.
Instrumentation may be performed manually by having the programmer insert source code statements that intermittently output or record values related to memory variables, such as array indices and amounts of free space left in the allocation heap. However, such manual instrumentation is often inefficient for a number of reasons. Manual instrumentation requires the programmer to recognize possible sources of error in order to be able to insert the appropriate source code to perform the instrumentation. However, once the programmer has identified possible sources of error, it may be more straight-forward to simply examine the potentially errant code and fix the error rather than perform the additional steps associated with adding source code instrumentation statements. In addition, manually adding source code instrumentation statements requires repeated recompiling of the source code before execution, which adds time and effort to the debugging process. Also, the programmer must remember which statements are instrumentation statements in order to remove those statements once the added debugging statements are no longer needed.
Various systems exist for automating the debugging process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,696 to Kolawa et. al (the '696 patent) is directed to a method of using a computer for automatically instrumenting a computer program for dynamic debugging. In the system disclosed in the '696 patent, the instrumentation software examines and supplements a parse tree intermediate stage produced by the compiler. The parse tree is a tree having nodes corresponding to tokens that represent individual source code statements. The system described in the '696 patent traverses the parse tree to locate tokens of interest (e.g., tokens corresponding to memory accesses) and supplements those tokens with additional tokens corresponding to code that monitors the memory accesses. However, since the contents of the parse tree depend upon the particular source programming language used, the system disclosed in the '696 patent is also source dependent.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,180, 5,335,344, and 5,535,329, all to Hastings (the Hastings patents), disclose a system for instrumenting computer object code to detect memory access errors. The instrumentation includes providing additional code that maintains the status of each and every program memory location along with supplementing object code instructions that access the program memory with additional code that facilitates maintaining status of the memory locations. To the extent that the object code is independent of the particular source code that is used, the system disclosed in the Hastings patents is also independent of the source code language used.
However, since the system disclosed in the Hastings patents involves modifying object code, then the system is target dependent in that it may only be configured to work with object code that executes a particular target processor's native language. Although it may be desirable to adapt the Hastings system to work with object code for a variety of target processors, such an adaptation would require significant modifications to the system since object code instructions that access memory may vary significantly between different target processor languages. In addition, monitoring program memory accesses by maintaining the status of program memory locations allows some improper operations to be performed by the software without being detected. For example, reading a memory location beyond an array's boundaries may not be detected if the memory location that is read has been allocated and initialized in connection with another memory variable.
Other systems for facilitating debugging exist. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,290 to Goss et al. is directed to compilers that create intermediate representation (IR) code that is both source and target independent. Column 5, lines 57-60 disclose using the IR code to facilitate debugging by retaining portions of the IR code that would otherwise be eliminated in the course of optimization if debugging is not being performed. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,856 to Van Dyke et al. discloses a compiler that produces an IR code where debugging is facilitated by passing information through the intermediate code file.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,276,881, 5,280,613, and 5,339,419, all to Chan et al., disclose a compiler system that produces an IR code. U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,881 is illustrative of the three patents and discloses symbolic debugging support provided in connection with the compiler system described in the patent. Column 59, lines 15-19 indicate that if the symbolic debug option is specified, " . . . then the Low-level Code Generator 1322 writes additional information to the Low Level CIR 1338.". (CIR is an acronym for Compiler Intermediate Representation.) Column 57, lines 59-63 indicate that the Low-Level CIR 1338 is analogous to the compiler intermediate representation 212, but the low level CIR 1338 is not architecturally neutral (i.e., is target dependent). Column 57, lines 63-65 state specifically that the Low-Level CIR 1338 is dependent upon the particular architecture of the target computer platform.
In addition, various systems compile source code into an interpretive language, such as byte code. Ideally, the byte code is machine independent so that it may be run on a computer that uses an interpreter to perform the operations indicated by the byte code. The interpreter is, of course, machine dependent. However, once an interpreter has been provided for a particular machine, it only needs to be subsequently modified or updated when changes to the byte code standard occur.
Note that an interpreted byte code is, ideally, independent of the particular underlying source code. Thus one particular byte code could be used for multiple source code languages. An example of this is P-Code, which is an interpreted byte code that is provided by Fortran, C, and Pascal compilers. Thus, since a byte code may be both machine and source code independent, it would be advantageous to be able to instrument the byte code to provide instrumentation for a plurality of source code languages and a plurality of machines that all make use of the byte code.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides a method of user equipment transmitting aperiodic channel state information and user equipment using the method. The method includes receiving a channel state information request for a plurality of reference signals, receiving the plurality of reference signals, generating channel state information on each of the plurality of reference signals in response to the channel state information request, and transmitting the channel state information through a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), wherein the channel state information request is included in only some of subframes in which the plurality of reference signals is received.

The data transfer rate over a wireless communication network is recently rapidly increasing. This is because a variety of devices, such as smart phones and tablet PCs which require Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication and a high data transfer rate, are appearing and spread. In order to meet a higher data transfer rate, carrier aggregation technology and cognitive radio technology for efficiently using more frequency bands and multiple antenna technology and multiple base station co-operation technology for increasing the data capacity within a limited frequency are recently are highlighted.
Furthermore, a wireless communication network is evolving toward a tendency that the density of accessible nodes around a user is increasing. Here, the term 'node' may mean antennas or a group of antennas which are spaced apart from one another in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS). However, the node is not limited to the meaning, but may be used as a broader meaning. That is, the node may become a pico eNB (PeNB), a home eNB (HeNB), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), or a relay. A wireless communication system including nodes having a high density may have higher system performance through cooperation between nodes. That is, if the transmission and reception of each node are managed by one control station so that the nodes are operated as antennas or a group of antennas for one cell, the node may have much more excellent system performance as compared with when the nodes do not cooperate with each other and thus each node operated as an independent Base Station (BS) (or an Advanced BS (ABS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), or an Access Point (AP)). A wireless communication system including a plurality of nodes is hereinafter referred to as a multi-node system.
In a multi-node system, a node which sends a signal to user equipment may be different every user equipment, and a plurality of the nodes may be configured. Here, the nodes may send different reference signals. The reference signals transmitted by the respective nodes may be transmitted in different subframes because the reference signals have different subframe offset values although they have the same transmission cycle. In this case, it may be necessary for a base station to request user equipment to measure a plurality of reference signals transmitted in different subframes and feed back the measurement. In the prior art, a channel state information request field is transmitted in each downlink subframe in which a reference signal, that is, the subject of measurement is transmitted. The conventional method is problematic in that radio resources are wasted because a channel state information request field must be repeatedly transmitted.

Method and apparatus for transmitting aperiodic channel state information in wireless communication system


A collapsible thermal insulating container (10) includes a bottom wall (14), side wall (16) and integral lid (20). The side wall is formed from hinged panels including fastener strips (36). The container can be disassembled to form a sheet which lies flat in a common plane. All walls and the lid of the container are constructed from a matrix including inner and outer radiant energy reflective laminates (44) and an air trapping laminated foam insulating layer (52) disposed therebetween. A rigidity imparting structural reinforcement layer (56) is also included in the panels of the sidewall, bottom wall and lid.

Shipment and handling of thermally sensitive commodities, such as pharmaceutical, biomedical and food products, often requires thermally insulated packaging and/or refrigerated transport. For example, there often exists a need in the food industry to thermally insulate frozen, chilled or heated food products. Frozen or chilled meats and seafood, produce, and prepared foods, must be kept cold during transportation to and from processing facilities and to retail markets. Cold or hot prepared foods, such as ice cream or pizzas, must also be maintained at preparation temperature during delivery to individual consumers. Other industries also require thermal insulation of materials during shipment. For example, human blood or tissue must be maintained at a safe storage temperature to prevent degradation during transportation from collection centers to storage or transfusion sites.
Containers for shipping and thermally insulating hot or cold materials conventionally are constructed from rigid molded materials, such as rigid thermoplastic shells filled with insulating materials, or foam polystyrene shells. Such construction is typical of coolers used by individual consumers. However, such rigid coolers have limited thermal retention abilities. Radiant energy in the form of heat is absorbed by the container walls, and then passes through the wall, as limited by the low conductivity of the materials used to construct the container walls. Similarly, radiant energy from hot materials kept in such coolers radiates externally from within the container. Additional heat leakage may occur through joints defined between containers and their lids, which aid in heat transfer to or from the container. While such coolers work well for short periods of time, the ability to safely maintain foods, medical products or other materials at a desired temperature is typically limited to less than eight hours. Such containers are also very large and bulky due to the thickness of the insulating material required to achieve some effective level of thermal insulating ability. Thus, such containers are not suitable for shipping large quantities of materials. Further, once emptied, the containers utilize considerable storage room.
Soft-walled fabric insulating containers have also been developed, typically for use in insulating hot prepared foods during delivery, such as for the delivery of pizza. Such soft-walled containers are much thinner and lighter in weight, compared to conventional coolers. However, their thermal insulating abilities are typically of limited effectiveness, compared even to conventional rigid coolers. These soft-walled containers are typically constructed from fabric materials, such as woven nylon, which are insulated with polyester fiber insulating materials. Radiant energy passes freely through such containers, although the insulation does provide some resistance to conductive heat transfer, dependent on the insulating abilities of the fiber fill. Additional heat leakage occurs through sewn seams and zippers incorporated into such containers. Additionally, such soft-walled containers have no structural rigidity, and thus are floppy and difficult to use when loading and unloading materials. Further, the walls of such containers tend not to be impervious to vapors and liquids, permitting leakage of materials stored within the containers or, potentially, contamination of stored materials with water or other liquids from the outside. The fabric used to construct these containers is also prone to abrasion and wear.
Some soft thermal containers have been developed which include a single layer of radiant energy reflective material on the inside of the container. This single layer of reflective material aids in prevention of radiant heat energy flow into or out of the interior of the container, but does not prevent passage of such radiant energy through the insulation of the container wall. Thus, while inclusion of a single reflective layer is an improvement over other conventional soft thermal containers, the overall thermal efficiency of these containers is still limited. Further, additional shortcomings of soft thermal containers, such as leakage through seams and zippers, floppy construction, poor wear characteristics, and the use of liquid and vapor permeable materials, are still present.
There also exists a need for thermal insulating containers which include tamper-evident seals, particularly for shipment of foods and medical products. Such seals are useful to insure that the integrity of the materials contained within the containers has not been compromised during shipment.

Collapsible thermal insulating container