A semiconductor memory device, wherein an access to a first memory portion is made by referring to an address transformation table stored in a second memory portion, so that an access to a defective block is prevented; the second memory portion and the first memory portion are mounted on the same semiconductor chip, so that a part or all of address data input from outside the semiconductor chip can be made corresponding to an address of the second memory portion and input to the second memory portion without executing any calculation, and a stored pointer can be taken out at a high speed; and an access can be made to a memory at a high speed by following the address transformation table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device having a function of inhibiting an access to a memory region having a defect.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with a development of semiconductor fine processing technologies, a remarkable development has been made to attain a larger capacity of a semiconductor memory. For example, a flash memory for storing files has already reached a capacity of 1G bits and is still under development of a larger capacity. On the other hand, however, a large number of defect points also arise. Particularly when making a memory cell finer, an effect of microscopic unevenness due to the production steps becomes large statistically and an occurrence rate of a cell defect itself becomes high. They appear as a large number of small defects arising on an entire chip.
Generally, a relief of a defect in a semiconductor memory is performed as below.
First, a one-system or two-system redundant word line group or redundant bit line group is prepared for each memory array, and a defect map corresponding to each redundant field is provided. A flag indicating whether a corresponding redundant field is used or not and position information of defect points are programmed in each of the defect maps by normally using a fuse. When an access is made to a memory array, the defect map is referred to, and an existence of a defect and a defect point thereof are specified and replaced by a redundant field.
However, because defects arising randomly in a small unit have increased in recent years as explained above, they cannot be fully handled by the defect relief method of the related art. Namely, in the above mentioned method of the related art, it becomes extremely difficult to relieve when a large number of small defects arise in one cell array. In that case, the entire chip becomes defective even if all other arrays are good. Accordingly, there are demands for a more flexible defect relief method having a high relief efficiency.
On the other hand, a method called remapping is sometimes used as a measure for correcting such defects of a semiconductor memory on the host apparatus side for accessing the semiconductor memory. This is a method of skipping defect points and using only normal parts by providing a second memory for storing an address transformation table on the host apparatus side and performing address transformation.
FIG. 8 is a view of a configuration example of a general system for performing remapping.
A host apparatus 1 is, for example, a computer having a CPU and accesses to a first memory 2 and a second memory 3 via a bus.
The first memory 2 is a block access memory for storing files. A size of one block is, for example, 512 bytes, and an address space is divided in units of blocks each having 512 bytes. When assuming that a memory capacity of the first memory 2 is 1 G bits, the number of blocks is 256 k (The "k" after the number indicates that the number is multiplied with 1024. It will be the same below.). In this case, the number of address bits is 18 bits, and a physical address region indicated by the hexadecimal system is "00000" to "3FFFF".
Also, the first memory 2 has spare bits for marking parity bits and defects, and a defect can be detected by examining these bits when reading data.
The second memory 3 is a memory provided separately for storing an address transformation table of the first memory 2. The host apparatus 1 accesses to the first memory 2 via the address transformation table of the second memory 3.
Normally, the second memory 3 is a semiconductor memory used as a main memory in the host apparatus 1 and the address transformation table is stored in a part of the region. When the second memory 3 is a DRAM of a 16-bit configuration, a physical address to be a pointer to the first memory 2 is stored in a two-word amount of the memory region.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of remapping in the system shown in FIG. 8.
The host apparatus 1 scans contents of the first memory 2 successively from the 0 address in the physical address and, when the read portion is good, maps the address in the second memory 3. In the example in FIG. 9, two words are used each time from the physical address "10000" of the second memory 3 to map effective physical addresses of the first memory 2. The physical addresses "00001" and "00004" are defective in the first memory 2 and their physical addresses are deleted from the address transformation table in the second memory 3. In the present embodiment, a total of 15 defective blocks exist and the end of the logical address is "3FFF0".
When a table as above is once constructed, the host apparatus 1 accesses to the first memory 2 always via the table after that. When an application accesses a file, the logical address shown in FIG. 9 is used directly, and the logical address is transformed to a physical address in the first memory 2 based on the address transformation table in the second memory 3.
For example, when assuming that a logical address A1 is specified by an application, the host apparatus 1 calculates an address A2 in the second memory 2 by A2=10000+2×A1, and reads a two-word amount of data from the address A2. Then, an access to the first memory 2 is made by using the read data as the physical address in the first memory 2.
When the above method is used, even if some defective blocks exist, only good blocks can be used by eliminating them from the address transformation table and a defect relief can be flexibly performed.
[Patent Article 1] The Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-120788


A belt buckle for a seat belt connected to a fitting part having an insert tongue, the buckle includes a load-bearing frame comprising an upper part and a lower part substantially parallel thereto, between which an insert tongue of said fitting part can be received and which are formed by bending of an elongated plate-type part. The upper and the lower parts each having a free end and side edges and being interlocked with each other in the region of their free ends by at least one portion of one of the upper part and the lower part being bent around an adjoining portion of the corresponding other part at each of the two side edges.

The load-bearing frame of known belt buckles consists usually of a sheet metal stamping which is bent about a middle axis to the extent that an upper part and lower part materialize which, although roughly parallel to each other, are spaced from each other. It is usually the case that spacers are provided on the upper part and lower part, which are intended to prevent the parts from having insufficient spacing from each other. The bent stamping is subsequently tempered. During tempering, the frame spreads apart, and the spacing between upper part and lower part becomes greater at the free ends thereof. This spacing may become so large that the frame is no longer suitable for installing in a belt buckle, and a reject is the result. Such rejects need to be separated out in due time from fully automatic feeding of component parts for assembly.
Furthermore, belt buckle frames or bent stampings are known, the upper and the lower part of which are attached to each other by rivets in order to avoid the frame from spreading apart. However, providing an attachment by rivets is cost-intensive.


An electrolytic cell for producing acidic water and alkaline water is disclosed. High-purity acidic water and high-purity alkaline water can be produced in a well balanced proportion from ultrapure water which is supplied in the minimum amount necessary for producing the desired acidic and alkaline waters using the minimum amount of electricity. The electrolytic cell includes an electrolytic acidic-water production unit 3 comprising an anode chamber 6 and an auxiliary cathode chamber 7 separated therefrom by a first ion-exchange membrane 5, and an electrolytic alkaline-water production unit 4 comprising a cathode chamber 10 and an auxiliary anode chamber 9 separated therefrom by a second ion-exchange membrane 8. Separately controllable power supplies are also provided for supplying power to each of the two units. The supply amount of pure water and the amount of electricity used can be fixed according to the desired amounts of acidic and alkaline waters. Thus, wasteful use of ultrapure water and electric power can be avoided.

In producing and cleaning electronic parts, media specially prepared for these purposes conventionally include, for example, sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. These cleaning media continue to be suitably used depending on the intended application. However, these cleaning media are obtained by specially purifying corresponding products produced through chemical processes. The purification operations are complicated because they involve the step of removing metallic ingredients which have been introduced into the chemical products, for example, from the catalysts used in producing the same. As a result, the purified products are expensive. In addition, even if the purification operations are carefully conducted, the thus-purified products cannot always satisfy the reduction in allowable impurity levels required by advances in electronic devices. New substitute techniques are hence desired.
One of these substitute techniques is the use of ozonized water. In particular, highly ozonized water produced by electrolysis is known to be exceedingly effective, e.g., in cleaning electronic devices. However, because the use of ozonized water alone is insufficient in some cases, there is a growing need for a treatment liquid which has one or more functions not possessed by ozonized water, e.g., an oxidizing function and a reducing function, and which furthermore does not contain metallic elements.
Among such treatment liquids is so-called acidic water or ultra-acidic water. Acidic water generally has a pH of 3 or lower and an oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of 1.2 V or higher and hence has an oxidizing ability. Consequently, the acidic water has the effect of, for example, decomposing organic substances or dissolving metallic deposits therein to remove these impurities, and has come to be used for the cleaning of electronic devices, etc.
Simultaneously with the production of the acidic water in an electrolytic cell, alkaline water having a pH of 10 or higher and an ORP of 0 V or lower is produced as a by-product in the cathode chamber of the electrolytic cell. Use of this alkaline water for cleaning, etc., has reached a stage of practical use.
These modified acidic and alkaline waters (electrolytic active waters or electrolytic ionic waters) have the same cleaning effect as reagents such as high-purity acids, alkalis, and hydrogen peroxide. Since the electrolytic active waters are markedly inexpensive, a considerable cost reduction is attainable.
In the electrolytic production of acidic water and alkaline water, a two-chamber type electrolytic cell is generally used which is partitioned into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber with an ion-exchange membrane serving as a diaphragm. For conducting electrolysis using this type of electrolytic cell, an appropriate supporting electrolyte is added to electrolyte liquids in order to impart ionic conductivity thereto. However, the cleaning waters thus produced mostly contain the supporting electrolyte remaining therein or are contaminated with metallic ions and particles which are attributable to the dissolution of material constituting the inner wall of the electrolytic cell main body by the electrolytic solutions. If such contaminated cleaning waters are used for cleaning electronic devices such as semiconductors and liquid crystals, metallic ions and other contaminants contained in the cleaning waters adhere to semiconductor surfaces and these adherent impurities cause problems such as insulation failures.
Consequently, for producing high-purity acidic water and alkaline water for use in, e.g., the cleaning of electronic devices, electrolysis is conducted using electrolytic liquids not containing an electrolyte dissolved therein and using an ion-exchange membrane so that the membrane itself functions as a solid electrolyte. In this method, when ultrapure water is used as an anolyte and a catholyte, almost no impurities are introduced into the anolyte and catholyte used as feedstocks or into the acidic water and alkaline water thus produced. Namely, the desired high-purity acidic water and alkaline water can be produced.
In the above electrolysis, the efficiency of producing acidic water (anode water) in the anode chamber and the efficiency of producing alkaline water (cathode water) in the cathode chamber vary depending on the kind of feedstock water, the kind of electrode catalyst, and electrolytic conditions including the current density. Furthermore, the required amount of acidic water and alkaline water vary depending on the intended purpose. Consequently, when a single electrolytic cell (which may be either a two-chamber or three-chamber cell) is used for simultaneously yielding acidic water and alkaline water, one of the waters tends to be produced in excess and this causes a cost increase. Although it is desirable to suitably regulate the production amount of acidic water and alkaline water as needed, this regulation is virtually impossible in a conventional apparatus.
In a conventional electrolytic cell for use in producing high-purity acidic water and high-purity alkaline water, electrolysis is conducted while adding water, especially ultrapure water, to the single electrolytic cell on the anode side and the cathode side as needed to thereby simultaneously obtain acidic water and alkaline water in the single electrolytic cell. This technique generally yields alkaline water in excess, and the excess alkaline water is discarded. However, when ultrapure water, in particular, is used as an electrolyte liquid, it is exceedingly uneconomical to discard the excess product, e.g., alkaline water, because ultrapure water itself is very expensive and much time is required to produce the same.
Furthermore, the conventional electrolytic cell described above has an unsolved problem in that the electrode material moves, although in a slight amount, through the ion-exchange membrane to the counter-electrode side to reduce the purity of the electrolytic water thus produced. Because this dissolution of electrode material occurs in an amount of about several tens of ppb at the most, contamination therewith poses no problem in ordinary applications for which feedstock water having a purity on the same level as ion-exchanged water is used. However, contamination with the electrode material exceeds the allowable impurity levels for acidic or alkaline water for electronic-device cleaning.

Electrolytic cell for producing acidic water and alkaline water


A multiconfigurable device masking shunt for a network device, preferably, on a secure network having a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, the shunt cloaks the network device by rendering the network device invisible to upstream and downstream relay devices. During cloaking, the network device's media access control address is substituted with the upstream or downstream relay devices media access control address. In a second mode, the shunt passes inbound and outbound traffic through one of two alternate paths to the secure network from an unsecure network and can monitor such traffic.

Frame-based communications protocols may embed device specific data as part of the frame. For example, in 100BASE-TX the SA (source address) frame may contain codes which indicate the manufacture and modelnumber of the source device. This information is sometimes known as the media access control (MAC) originating address. The MAC address is an address specific to the type of network hardware and thus provides invaluable information, such as the manufacturer and model number, to a hacker. Capturing the MAC originating address while not simple is sought after by the everyday hacker. The capture of a firewall's MAC originating address provides a doorway into the secure system being protected by the firewall. There are numerous other network devices that employ MAC originating address such as network cards.
The first phase of hacking into a network is the discovery phase which gets the password, IP (internet protocol) address in a dumpster or a network's topology. The hacker sniffs about the network or performs a network scan. In such instances, the firewall's MAC originating address can be captured, thus identifying the manufacturer and model number of the firewall's network interface(s).
One attempt to conceal the MAC originating address of the firewall is to spoof (fake) a MAC originating address (since the communication standards requires a packet to be assembled with a MAC originating address). However, the transmissions with an invalid MAC originating address do not generally conceal or render the device invisible since a pattern of invalid address might eventually be detected.
It is now possible with Linux and OpenBSD to create transparent bridging firewalls. What all bridges tend to have in common is that, although they sit in the middle of a connection between two machines, the two machines do not know that the bridge is there. Ethernet bridging takes place at Layer 2 (network layer) on the ISO stack. The Linux/OpenBSD bridging system needs no IP address. It does not even need to reveal its Ethernet address. The only telltale sign that a filter might be there is that latency is somewhat higher, and that packets do not seem to make it to their final destination. While, the Linux/OpenBSD solution functions as intended, such solution is operating system dependant, vulnerable to tampering or hacking and is not easily adaptable to a variety of network devices and applications.
In view of the above, there is a continuing need for a device masking shunt to assist in providing a transparent bridging function that is independent of an operating system (in other words, does not use or require an operating system) and as such would be tamper proof. The transparent bridging function can then be used to hide firewalls (or other devices or networks), monitor traffic, or provide a redundancy switch-over function.
Additionally, there is a continuing need for a firewall that can be configured in promiscuous mode to pass IP addresses straight through and which would not divulge its MAC address for any IP level requests.
Furthermore, there is a continuing need for a device masking shunt that can be used defensively to aid in the securing of a network and which both monitors operations of a firewall and automatically takes corrective action in the event of failure or network saturation.
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially different in structure, methodology and approach from that of the prior bridging devices.

Multiconfigurable device masking shunt and method of use


The present invention provides a refrigerator, comprising: an adsorption container, an air compressor and a nitrogen storage tank. A sealed storage space is formed in a storage compartment of the refrigerator. The adsorption container with carbon molecular sieves disposed therein is disposed in the storage compartment. The air compressor is directly connected to the adsorption container through an air inlet pipe and configured to supply compressed air for the adsorption container in a controlled manner so as to allow the carbon molecular sieves to prepare nitrogen by means of the compressed air. A gas inlet end of the nitrogen storage tank is connected to the adsorption container, and a gas outlet end thereof is communicated with the storage space.

Currently, freshness preservation is to ensure the quality of food or other articles as long as possible. In general, reduction in quality of fruits and vegetables is predominantly related to their own aerobic respiration and reproduction of microorganisms in food. Therefore, freshness preservation of fruits and vegetables requires reduction of their own aerobic respiration and reduction in bioactivity of the microorganisms.
Freshness preservation means commonly used in a storage device of a freshness preservation refrigerator (refrigerating cabinet) mainly includes: low-temperature treatment. However, this means cannot effectively inhibit the aerobic respiration of fruits and vegetables or growth of the microorganisms. Besides, an excessively low temperature will lead to nutrient loss of food. Therefore, a conventional refrigerator is short in freshness preservation time and cannot meet the demand for long-term storage of food, and the freshness preservation performance thereof cannot satisfy users' requirements.


Optical isolation is provided for optically black pixels in image sensors. Image sensors, such as backside illumination (BSI) image sensors, may have an active pixel array and an array having optically black pixels. Isolation structures such as a metal wall may be formed in a dielectric stack between an active pixel array and optically black pixels. Patterned shallow trench isolation regions or polysilicon regions may be formed in a substrate between an active pixel array and optically black pixels. An absorption region such as a germanium-doped absorption region may be formed in a substrate between an active pixel array and optically black pixels. Optical isolation and absorption regions may be formed in a ring surrounding an active pixel array.

This relates generally to imaging devices, and more particularly, image sensors having optically black pixels for backside illumination image sensors.
Image sensors are commonly used in electronic devices such as cellular telephones, cameras, and computers to capture images. Conventional image sensors are fabricated on a semiconductor substrate using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology or charge-coupled device (CCD) technology.
An image sensor may include an active pixel array having photodiodes. The image sensor may have optically black pixels that provide reference signals for use when processing signals from active pixels in the active pixel array. It is important that optically black pixels are optically isolated so as to receive as little light as possible.
Backside illumination (BSI) image sensors have been developed in which incoming light enters from a back side of a substrate. A dielectric stack, which is beneficial for isolating control and bias metal lines, is provided on a front side of a substrate. In BSI image sensors, incoming light does not pass through such a dielectric stack before reaching photodiodes in the substrate, which can result in improved pixel signals.
However, it may be difficult to provide good optical isolation for optically black pixels in BSI image sensors. Due to the position of the dielectric stack, stray light is sometimes reflected into the optically black pixels.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide image sensors having improved optical isolation for optically black pixels in backside illumination image sensors.

Optical isolation of optically black pixels in image sensors

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


A method of monitoring a temperature of a plurality of regions in a substrate during a deposition process, the monitoring of the temperature including: forming, in the monitored plurality of regions, a plurality of metal structures each with a different metal pattern density, where each metal pattern density corresponds to a threshold temperature at or above which metal voids and surface roughness are formed in the plurality of metal structures, and detecting metal voids and surface roughness in the plurality of metal structures to determine the temperature of the monitored plurality of regions.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to improving wafer temperature measurements during high density plasma (HDP) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of dielectric films.
Microelectronic devices are generally fabricated on substrates such as, for example, silicon wafers, using a variety of processing methods including numerous deposition and removal techniques. During the semiconductor fabrication process, various layers of a conductor film and a dielectric film may be deposited on the substrate to form most of the electrical interconnects on a multilevel integrated-circuit chip. Generally, the dielectric film may include a silicon-based dielectric material such as silicon oxide, hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, and other silicon-based low-k dielectrics. The conductor film may typically include an aluminum-based or a copper-based metal.
In submicron device manufacturing, a high density plasma (HDP) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process may be conducted to form the dielectric film on the substrate. This type of plasma deposition process may generate large amounts of heat which may require careful temperature monitoring during processing of the substrate since a substantial temperature increase may cause significant damage to particularly aluminum-based electrical interconnects, negatively impacting product yield and reliability.

Void monitoring device for measurement of wafer temperature variations


A computer settings configuration system and method for configuring computer settings are provided. The computer settings configuration system comprises a loading module for loading into computer readable memory a subset of computer setting variables and a modification module for modifying computer system settings corresponding with the subset of computer setting variables. The method comprises the steps of loading into computer readable memory a subset of computer setting variables and modifying computer system settings corresponding with the subset of computer setting variables.

The hardware of a computer generally comprises an IO (Input Output) system for receiving information from a user and communicating information to the user, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for processing data, volatile memory such as RAM or VRAM (Random Access Memory or Video Random Access Memory) and non volatile memory such as a hard drive or a floppy disk drive.
The hardware of a computer requires software to provide additional functionality. As computers have become more powerful, the software has also become more powerful. Most people are familiar with using a computer to run a particular program such as Microsoft Word. Most people are also familiar with an operating system that runs on the computer. A typical OS, such as Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X, allows a user to work with multiple programs at the same time. An OS helps control lower level functionality of the computer system. The lower level functionality can comprise the control of graphic cards for displaying information, the control of network cards, process and thread management. One skilled in the art will appreciate that this is a simplistic overview of an OS. The OS is a complex piece of software, with many different settings that a user can change. These settings are typically stored in registry keys. A software program such as Microsoft Word may also require numerous settings to be saved in a non volatile way, to do this the program stores the information or data relating to the setting or variable in the registry.
The registry files on a windows OS typically comprise thousands of registry keys. In order for a user to change a computer setting, they must navigate through the registry file, typically accomplished using a registry editor such as RegEdit, and locate the specific key they wish to change. A user must have knowledge of the particular registry key, and where it is located in the registry in order to change its value. Due to the large number of registry keys this can be a time consuming process.
As an example, if a user wished to change a common WiFi setting for multiple radios they would have to search through the registry and change the following keys every time they wanted to manipulate the values.
HKLM\Comm\WLAGS46b1\Parms\SystemScale = Dword 1HKLM\Comm\NETWLAN1\ParmsAPDensity = Dword 1HKLM\Comm\IMWEBN51\ParmsAPDensity = Dword 1HKLM\Comm\CF8385PN1\ParmsAPDensity = Dword 1
Once the user has changed the required key values in the registry, if they wish to revert back to the previous configuration, from AP density of 2 to 1 as above, the process of locating the individual keys and changing each value must be done again.
There have been attempts to overcome some of the problems encountered when editing a registry file.
A previous attempt to address some of these shortcomings combines all of the prior Control Panel applets into one consolidated Network Setup Control Panel. This requires a centralized database or Configuration Library consisting of collected data relating to available configuration settings. It provides for the configuration of computer settings through the use of scripting. In order to modify a configuration a Scripting Server and a Scripting Plug-In must be used. The Scripting Plug-In supports changing a configuration setting. If the Scripting Plug-In does not support changing a configuration setting, the user is not able to easily change it. A new Scripting Plug-In would need to be written to support the configuration setting.
Another attempt to address the shortcomings addressed the problem of modifying configuration files in a secured operating system. The method was addressed to allowing a user to change registry key values when the key has higher security level than the user. This is achieved through the use of a Patch program. The patch program is designed to modify certain registry keys. If a user wishes to modify a registry key value not comprised in the patch program, a new Patch program would need to be written to change the key.
There is therefore a need for a system that can enable or configure computer settings without requiring the user to manually edit individual registry keys.

System and method of configuring computer settings


A display management resource associated with a mobile device controls display of images on a respective display screen of the mobile device. The display management resource receives location information indicating a location of the mobile device in a geographical region. Additionally, the display management resource receives input from a user operating the mobile device. The input can be any suitable information such as a command to play back images on the display screen of the mobile device. The display management resource maps the input to content such as virtual images such as images associated with an historical event that occurred in the past. Using the virtual images, the display management resource initiates display of a rendition of the virtual images from different perspectives depending on an orientation and location of the mobile device and corresponding display screen.

In general, augmented reality is a view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented in some manner. For example, it is well known that a camera disposed on a respective mobile communication device can be used to capture a respective image and display it on a display screen. Augmented reality can include creating a supplemental image (that is not in the field of view of the camera) and overlaying the supplemental image onto the respective image captured by the camera. Via the overlay of the supplemental image onto a real captured image, the image of reality is augmented by the supplemental image.

Display application and perspective views of virtual space


A sheet attachment detecting apparatus includes a rotary member which is rotatable for conveying a sheet and whose surface is electrically conductive, an electrically conductive member which can be abutted on and separated from the surface of the rotary member, and an attachment detector which applies a power to the rotary member and the electrically conductive member for detecting the attachment of the sheet around the rotary member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet attachment detecting apparatus that is capable of detecting a phenomenon that a sheet is attached around a rotary member that conveys the sheet when the phenomenon occurs, and a fixing apparatus and an image forming apparatus each having the sheet attachment detecting apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
At present, many image forming apparatuses such as printers or copying machines are electrophotographic systems. In this system, a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto a sheet conveyed at a transfer position to form an image. However, because the toner image is unstable after the toner image is transferred onto the sheet, the sheet is conveyed to a fixing apparatus where the toner image is fixed onto the sheet.
The fixing apparatus which is made up of a pair of rollers consisting of a fixing roller having a heater therein and a pressure roller that presses the sheet under a predetermined pressure to the fixing roller is widely employed because it is simple in structure.
That is, while the sheet is nipped between and conveyed by both of the rollers that are rotating, heat and pressure are applied to the sheet, to thereby permit the toner image to be permanently fixed around the sheet.
However, there is a case in which the sheet is attached onto the surface of the rollers while the sheet is nipped and conveyed by the pair of rollers. Up to now, even if the sheet is attached around the fixing roller or the pressure roller, there was provided no means for detecting that fact directly.
For that reason, when a power supply of the apparatus turns on and off in a state where the sheet is attached around the roller, the roller is driven and rotated, and the sheet is further attached around the roller, as a result of which there may occur severe sheet jamming.
This phenomenon is not limited to the rollers in the fixing apparatus, but may occur in any roller in the case where the sheet is conveyed by the rollers.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet attachment detecting apparatus that is capable of detecting a phenomenon that a sheet is attached around (wound round) a rotary member that rotates to convey the sheet when the phenomenon occurs, and a fixing apparatus and an image forming apparatus each having the sheet attachment detecting apparatus.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a representative structure comprising: a rotary member which is rotatable for conveying a sheet and whose surface is electrically conductive; an electrically conductive member which can be abutted on and separated from the surface of the rotary member; and an attachment detecting means which applies a power to the rotary member and the electrically conductive member for detecting the attachment of the sheet around the rotary member.
In the above structure, when the sheet is attached around the rotary member, the sheet exists between the electrically conductive member and the rotary member. As a result, a potential difference is different between a case where a sheet does not exist between the electrically conductive member and the rotary member and a case where a sheet exists therebetween when the power is applied to the electrically conductive member. Accordingly, the attachment of the sheet around the rotary member is detected by detecting a voltage across the electrically conductive member.
Because the present invention is structured as described above, the attachment of the sheet around the rotary member can be detected. For that reason, the severe jamming can be prevented in advance by stopping the drive of the apparatus or the like at the time when the attachment of the sheet around the rotary member is detected.

Sheet attachment detecting apparatus, fixing apparatus and image forming apparatus


The present application relates to a novel liquid crystal compound and a use thereof. The novel liquid crystal compounds of the present application can exhibit a smectic A phase over a wide temperature range. The novel liquid crystal compounds of the present application can be usefully used in the technical fields to which smectic A liquid crystals can be applied, for example, bistable devices.

Smectic A liquid crystals can be used in bistable devices. For example, smectic A liquid crystals can cause a high scattering state due to movement of a charging substance added in a DC or low frequency AC electric field, and the scattering state can be converted to a non-scattering state due to the dielectric reorientation of the liquid crystals in a high frequency AC electric field. The scattering state and the non-scattering state can realize a bistable device while being maintained even after the electric field is removed (Patent Document 1: Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2015-0007998).
Smectic A liquid crystals are difficult to ensure compatibility because of limitations of physical properties such as transition temperature characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a compatible temperature range of smectic A liquid crystals, and in particular, it is necessary to develop a liquid crystal compound having a wide temperature range for a smectic A phase.


A method for switching a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) transmission protocol includes: setting an operational mode of the UICC to an ISO 7816-12 USB UICC transmission protocol mode (USB mode); and in response to a user input, enabling the UICC to fallback from the USB mode to an ISO 7816-3 T=0/T=1 transmission protocol mode (ISO mode).

A Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) is a smart card used in mobile communication devices in Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) radio access technology.
A UICC may contain several applications, making it possible for the same smart card to provide access to the different networks. In a GSM or UMTS network, a subscriber identity module (SIM) application or a universal SIM (USIM) application on the UICC can be provisioned, and in a CDMA network, a CDMA SIM (CSIM) application or a removable user identity module (R-UIM) can be provisioned. The UICC can be inserted into CDMA, GSM, or UMTS mobile communication devices. A Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface is used for connections between the UICC and the main chipset of a mobile communication device using the ISO 7816-12 USB UICC transmission protocol.
In addition to the ISO 7816-12 USB UICC transmission protocol, the ISO 7816-3 T=0/T=1 transmission protocol is supported for mobile communication devices including Long Term Evolution (LTE) enabled mobile communication devices. When the USB UICC transmission protocol is supported by a mobile communication device and the UIM powers up in the ISO 7816-12 USB UICC transmission protocol mode (USB mode), power consumption increases over the legacy ISO 7816-3 T=0/T=1 transmission protocol mode (ISO mode).
However, since conserving battery life has become a requirement for mobile communication devices, operating a mobile communication device in the ISO protocol mode may sometimes be preferable to operation in the USB mode.


A system and method for inferring schematic and topological properties of an electrical distribution grid is provided. The system may include Remote Hubs, Subordinate Remotes, a Substation Receiver, and an associated Computing Platform and Concentrator. At least one intelligent edge transmitter, called a Remote Hub Edge Transmitter, may transmit messages on the electrical distribution grid by injecting a modulated current into a power main that supplies an electric meter. The Subordinate Remotes, Remote Hubs, the Substation Receiver, and the associated Computing Platform and Concentrator may contain processing units which execute stored instructions allowing each node in the network to implement methods for organizing the on-grid network and transmitting and receiving messages on the network. The Substation Receiver, Computing Platform and Concentrator may detect and infer schematic grid location attributes of the network and publish the detected and inferred attributes to other application systems including geospatial information systems maintaining the logical and physical network model.

The power grid is generally considered to be composed of two logical regions, the Transmission Grid(s) and the Distribution Grid(s). The Transmission Grid originates at large generation points such as hydroelectric dams, nuclear reactors, wind farms, and coal-fired or gas-fired power plants. Power from the generation point is transmitted as high-voltage alternating current (AC) over a loosely connected network of long, high-voltage lines to points where demand for power exists, such as factories, farms, and population centers. At the edges of the Transmission Grid there is a collection of Distribution Substations. Distribution Substations contain one or more Substation Transformers, which step down the voltage from high transmission line levels (typically 130 kV to 700 kV) to the medium voltage levels (typically from 4 kV to about 35 kV) at which power is distributed to consumers within a distribution service area. At the edge of the Distribution Grid are a number of Service Transformers, which transform the medium voltage of the distribution grid to the low voltages (in the US, typically 120V, 208V, 240V, 277V, or 480V). Other voltages in addition to some of these can be used elsewhere in the world. In some cases, a tier of one or more transformers, called step-down transformers, lying schematically between the Substation Transformers and the Service Transformers, create intermediate voltage reductions between the Substation and the Service Transformers. Each Service Transformer powers one or more metered loads. A load can be a dwelling, a commercial or industrial building, an element of municipal infrastructure such as a series of street lamps, or agricultural apparatus such as irrigation systems. A typical distribution grid includes other elements used to balance and regulate the flow of power. Examples of such elements are capacitor banks, voltage regulators, switches, and reclosers. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical segment of the power grid.
Distribution grids have been designed and deployed in a variety of topological configurations. In the United States, distribution grid types are typically characterized as radial, loop, or networked. Other emerging cases are the campus grid and the microgrid. Additional topologies, not described, are used elsewhere in the world.
FIG. 2a is a topological schematic of a typical radial grid. In a radial grid, a substation has one or more substation transformers. Each substation transformer has one or more substation busses. One or more three-phase feeders "radiate" outward from each substation bus, with single-phase, double-phase, or three-phase lateral lines branching off from the feeders, and tap-off points (or simply "taps") in turn branching from the laterals. Radial grids are inexpensive to design and build because they are simple, but they are most vulnerable to outages because they lack redundant power paths, so that any break causes at least one load to lose power.
FIG. 2b is a topological schematic of a typical loop distribution grid. In a loop grid, each end of select feeders is attached to a power source such as a bus of a substation transformer. If the loop is undamaged, then power is available at all loads if either substation transformer is operational. If there is a break in the loop, then power is available at all loads assuming that both transformers are operational. In normal circumstances, a system of switches is used to ensure that only one substation transformer at a time is delivering power to each segment of the grid.
FIG. 2c is a topological schematic of a typical networked grid. This topology has maximum redundancy. In addition to employing multiple power sources, all the service transformers are linked to one another on the secondary side in a mesh arrangement. Multiple breaks in connectivity are required to cause a power outage at any point. Networked grids are most expensive to build and maintain, and are typically used in major urban areas such as Manhattan or Washington, D.C. where high-value, high-criticality loads are concentrated together.
FIG. 2d shows a microgrid or campus network. Microgrids are not traditional in electrical distribution technology, but are emerging as a response to increased focus on energy conservation and on distributed generation of energy from renewable sources. Many variations are possible. This type of grid is typically attached to, but severable from, a wider distribution grid, and may contain its own power sources such as windmills, solar panels, or rechargeable storage batteries as well as loads. The entire network may employ low-voltage lines.
A distribution substation receives high-voltage power from the transmission grid into one or more large power transformers. A distribution transformer may incorporate a type of regulator called a load-tap changer, which alters the voltage the transformer delivers to a power distribution bus (the substation bus) by including or excluding some turns of the secondary winding circuit of the transformer, thereby changing the ratio of input to output voltage. One or more feeders depend from the substation bus. If too many feeders are required, additional transformers and busses are used.
In order to monitor and control the components of the grid, current transformers (CTs) or other current sensors such as Hall-effect sensors are attached to power-bearing conductors within the substation. The CTs output a low current on a looped conductor which is accurately proportional to the current delivered at the high voltage conductor being monitored. These low-current outputs are suitable for connecting to data acquisition subsystems associated with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in the substation. Primary monitoring CTs are designed and built into the substation, because changing or adding CTs to the high-voltage components is impossible or dangerous while current is flowing. On the other hand, additional CTs may be safely added to the low-current SCADA loops as needed without impacting power delivery.
In addition to the power lines themselves, the distribution grid contains numerous other devices intended to regulate, isolate, stabilize, and divert the flow of power. These devices include switches, reclosers, capacitor banks (usually for power factor correction), and secondary voltage regulators. All these devices affect the behavior of the distribution grid when considered as a data-bearing network, as do the various loads and secondary power sources on the grid. Devices that have abrupt state changes will introduce impulse noise on the grid, as can loads turning on and off. Some devices, such as transformers and capacitor banks, filter and attenuate signals at certain frequencies.
Other than the wires connecting a consumer load and the associated meter to a service transformer, the service transformer is the outermost element of the distribution grid before the power is actually delivered to a consumer. The meter is attached at the point where the power from the service transformer is delivered to the consumer. Service transformers can be three-phase, dual-phase, or single phase, as can meters.
Traditionally, reading meters was one of the largest operational costs incurred by electrical utilities. Original electric meters were analog devices with an optical read-out that had to be manually examined monthly to drive the utility billing process. Beginning in the 1970s, mechanisms for digitizing meter data and automating its collection began to be deployed. These mechanisms evolved from walk-by or drive-by systems where the meter would broadcast its current reading using a short-range radio signal, which was received by a device carried by the meter reader. These early systems were known as Automated Meter Reading systems or AMRs. Later, a variety of purpose-built data collection networks, employing a combination of short-range RF repeaters in a mesh configuration with collection points equipped with broadband backhaul means for transporting aggregated readings began to be deployed.
These networks were capable of two-way communication between the "metering head-end" at a utility service center and the meters at the edge of this data collection network, which is generally called the Advanced Metering Infrastructure or AMI. AMIs can collect and store readings frequently, typically as often as every 15 minutes, and can report them nearly that often. They can read any meter on demand provided that this feature is used sparingly, and can connect or disconnect any meter on demand as well. AMI meters can pass signals to consumer devices for the purpose of energy conservation, demand management, and variable-rate billing. Because the AMI network is separate from the power distribution grid, AMI meters are neither aware of nor sensitive to changes in the grid topology or certain conditions on the grid. Nonetheless, the introduction of AMI is generally considered to be the beginning of the Smart Grid.
Many characteristics of the electrical distribution infrastructure have limited the success of efforts to use the grid itself as a communications medium. First, the grid is a noisy environment. As already noted, state changes in loads on the grid as well as control and regulation artifacts on the grid itself cause impulse noise on the power line. Normal operation of loads like electrical motors, simple variations in the overall load, and ambient RF noise (chiefly from lightening and other weather-related causes) add up to significant Gaussian noise. The measured noise floor at a typical substation in the United States sits at about 80-90 dB below the maximum amplitude of the 60 Hz fundamental. The complex impedance of the grid varies across both the frequency and time domains. This may lead to loss of signal at a receiver sited at a higher voltage point on the grid when impedance increases, or alternately force the transmitter to use more energy than would be necessary on the average. Capacitor banks sited at points along the grid for the purpose of optimizing the power factor can cause signal attenuation. Most significantly, transformers act as low-pass filters, dramatically attenuating signals above a certain frequency. The threshold frequency is not the same on every distribution grid, because different arrangements and types of transformers are employed and because the transformers themselves are not deliberately tuned to filter at a specified frequency. All these variables impact the frequency response of the medium.
Additionally, injecting modulated current signals on the grid may cause interference between the injected signals themselves. One problematic phenomenon is crosstalk, where a signal injected on one power line is detectable on another line. When crosstalk occurs on two or more phases of the same feeder, it can be caused by inductive and capacitive coupling, as the phase lines run alongside one another for most of the length of the feeder. Crosstalk may also be due to multiple phase windings on the same transformer core. Feeder-to-feeder crosstalk has also been measured, and may be caused by reflection of the injected signal off the power bus at the substation. Given the complexity, diversity, and age of the distribution grids in the United States and the world, less is known about these phenomena than might be expected.
Finally, using the distribution grid as a communications medium often has side effects which interfere with the primary purpose of the grid, which of course is delivering clean, reliable power to consumers. If devices under power resonate with an injected current, a phenomenon called flicker results. LED, CFL, incandescent and fluorescent lighting visibly flickers in response to certain frequencies. This is annoying and sometimes dangerous, as visual flicker has been demonstrated to cause both seizures and vertigo. Other types of devices, such as fans and speakers, also resonate at certain frequencies, causing an audible hum. ANSI/IEEE standard 519 requires any device (whether intended as a communication device or not) that injects current on the grid to avoid doing so at certain frequencies and amplitudes to avoid causing flicker. Specifically, ANSI/IEEE standard 519 requires that no noise be added to the odd harmonics of the fundamental at or below the eleventh harmonic.
Despite the many engineering difficulties inherent in using the power grid as a communications medium, it has remained attractive to electrical utilities because the utility already owns the infrastructure, and it is present at all the points where the utility needs to collect data. Further, the regulatory and cost structure of publicly owned utilities (POUs) strongly favors them using owned assets (which can be profitably purchased and maintained via service rate increases) as opposed to paying operating expenses to a third-party communications provider such as a telephone or cable provider.
High-frequency transmissions (above 1 MHz) are attractive because theoretically high data rates can be achieved. Such schemes, called BPL for Broadband over Power Lines, offer a potential theoretical bandwidth sufficient to deliver internet access to consumers via a gateway located in their electrical meter. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. actively promoted the concept of "Access BPL" as a means of delivering high-speed Internet access to rural American families. Long-range transmission of BPL signals, however, is impractical and expensive, because every transformer between the transmitter and the receiver must be fitted with a bypass or repeater mechanism, or the low-pass filtering characteristics of the transformer will block the signal. In the United States, where the number of consumers per service transformer tends to be very small—in rural areas often only one—the cost to implement BPL becomes prohibitive. Additionally, RF interference caused by BPL transmission has created opposition from aviation, commercial radio, amateur radio, and other sectors. The FCC has attempted to be supportive of BPL technology, but new compromise rules requiring BPL installations to be capable of notching out (avoiding) frequencies where interference is reported have increased the complexity of managing a BPL service. Several attempts at deploying BPL consumer services have been abandoned.
Under the umbrella name Power Line Communication or PLC, some medium-frequency power line protocols have been used with success for Smart Grid applications, especially in Europe (and other locales with European-style grid architectures), where the number of consumers per service transformer is much larger than in the United States. The two most commonly used medium-frequency PLC initiatives are PRIME and G3, both promoted by commercial alliances based in Europe. PRIME uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) at the physical layer, with 512 differential phase-shift keyed channels (DPSK). PRIME achieves data rates as high as 128.6 kbps, but is most reliable at 21.4 kbps. Its frequency range is 42-89 kHz. G3 uses a similar physical-layer combination of OFDM and DPSK, offering 256 channels between 35 and 91 k Hz with a data rate of 33.4 kbps. Both G3 and PRIME are still sharply attenuated by transformers, though in most cases a receiver located on the medium-voltage side of a service transformer can successfully read meter transmissions from low-voltage sites served by that transformer, provided that the receiver is sited close enough to the service transformer. For these reasons, Smart Grid technologies based on these protocols are common in Europe and Asia. PLC protocols are also well-adapted to short-range power-line applications such as arbitrating the charging of electric vehicles.
At the other end of the spectrum are ultra-low frequency systems, chiefly used for control systems because they have little data-bearing capacity. Audio Frequency Ripple Control (AFRC) systems are used mostly in rural areas for load management: to turn off high-consumption devices such as electric heaters and air conditioners during peak load times, or to control use of other constrained resources, such as automated farm irrigation systems. An AFRC transmitter sits on the high-voltage side of a substation or transmission transformer and may service multiple substations. AFRC data rates vary from 2 to 10 bits per second, and the maximum message length is about 100 bits. After such a transmission, the transmitter requires a long idle period before it can transmit again, with a maximum duty cycle on the order of 10%. AFRC systems cause obvious flicker, but not at a dangerous frequency. Because they are typically used in areas of low population density and transmissions are infrequent, the side effects are tolerated. AFRC is a broadcast technology operable from high voltage to low voltage and thus cannot be used for collecting meter data or other data about edge conditions, because that requires transmitting from low voltage to higher voltage.
Aclara®'s TWACS® technology operates by injecting pulses onto the power line when the fundamental power carrier crosses the zero point—twice per 50 Hz or 60 Hz cycle. This method operates either from substation to edge or edge to substation, and uses a polling protocol to avoid having one edge transmission interfere with another. It is slow because it is tied to the fundamental, and because of the polling architecture. It has been criticized by consumer groups for the amount of impulse and broadband noise it introduces onto the grid.
Landis+Gyr employs a low-cost, low-frequency edge transmitter originally developed by Hunt technologies, intended to operate in conjunction with AFRC to provide two-way communication over long distances on the grid. The data transmission method using this transmitter is cheap and reliable, but limited. It induces sympathetic current oscillations by connecting variable impedance to the power line. The data rate is low because the transmitter is dependent on a voltage relative to the power carrier, so that only a few pulses can be injected per 50 Hz or 60 Hz cycle. To achieve enough redundancy for detection at the receiver, the same signal must be repeated for several cycles, resulting in a data rate measurable in cycles per bit rather than bits per cycle. The method is also very noisy, in that each pulse resonates across a broad frequency band.
Despite their limitations, low-frequency systems such as those from Aclara and Landis+Gyr have achieved market penetration in rural areas where wireless systems are cost-prohibitive.
The problems with, and limitations of, the high, medium, and low-frequency PLC methods as discussed above have led in the 21st century to rapid development of custom built wireless networks for AMI data collection in the U.S. High-frequency on-grid methods have proven to be too expensive, not sufficiently reliable, and too fraught with error and uncertainty to be commercially viable. Low-frequency methods can be implemented with low-cost edge-to-substation transmitters, but these lack the data-bearing capacity required by modern AMI, and on-grid low-frequency substation-to-edge transmitters like AFRC are large, expensive, and have undesirable side effects which limit their use in urban settings. One possible option would be to use high-frequency substation-to-edge transmitters in conjunction with low-frequency edge-to-substation transmitters. However, in the U.S. market forces have led to the rapid penetration of wireless AMI systems, especially in urban and suburban areas.
Cost constraints and availability of unregulated spectrum have dictated the use of mesh architectures at the edge of the AMI networks, with neighborhood concentrators that collect data from the meters and use traditional infrastructure (fiber or cellular) for backhaul to data centers. Mesh architecture means that although the RF transceivers used have individually high data rates, the edge networks are easily saturated. Most of the available data bearing capacity in these networks is used just for reporting meter interval data, with limited capacity reserved for firmware updates and control packets for applications such as demand management.
Two major factors limit the utility of the existing AMI infrastructures. The first is, of course, the capacity limitations of the mesh. The second, and more significant, is the fact that the AMI network is not congruent with the electrical grid. It is capable of providing little information about the operational state of the grid. This is unnecessary for meter reading, but more sophisticated Smart Grid applications for energy conservation, asset protection, load balancing, fault isolation, and recovery management require accurate information about the schematic relationship of grid assets, load and conditions on the several segments of the grid, and the current state of bi-modal and multi-modal assets. This information, together with the geospatial locations of the same assets, is called the Grid Map.
Utilities typically maintain two maps or models of the Grid. A Physical Network Model (PNM) aggregates the geospatial location of the assets on the grid. PNMs, thanks to modern GPS technology, are reasonably accurate with respect to point assets such as substations, capacitor banks, transformers, and even individual meters. Inaccuracies stem from failure to update the maps when repairs or changes are made. For example, a service transformer may move from one side of a street to the other as a result of street widening. Longitudinal assets, especially buried cables, are less well represented in the PNM. The PNM can contain as-designed data, but since in many places the cable was laid before global positioning technology had matured, the designs were based on ground-level survey, and the original maps may or may not have been updated to reflect changes. Subsequent surface changes complicate the problem of verifying the geographic path taken by medium-voltage distribution lines.
The second model is the Logical Network Model, or LNM. LNMs describe how grid components are connected, without reference to their geospatial location. The LNM changes frequently. During the course of repairs, the way transformers attach to taps and laterals, and meters attach to transformers, may be altered. Such changes affect both the LNM and the PNM. In many utilities, such changes are recorded manually by field agents. The manual reports may or may not be updated in the LNM and PNM, and when updates are made the time lag between maintenance occurring and its being recorded is variable. Additionally, many grid components, especially regulators, switches and reclosers, change state automatically. Unless these components are instrumented with communications back to a data center rather than simply being subject to local control systems, such dynamic changes are not reflected in the LNM. They do, however, affect the power path, the load and environmental stress on other components of the distribution grid, and the service level to consumers.
Examples of significant but not reliably known aspects of the (actual) Grid Map are the feeder and phase by which each meter is currently powered, the relative load on each phase of each feeder, especially on subordinate branches (laterals) of the grid, the actual voltage supplied to each meter, the power factor along the edges of the grid, whether all the power drawn at a transformer is metered, and the state of switch sets, especially after a weather event that has caused outages. If this information were reliably known, utilities could conserve energy, much of the savings from which would pass on to consumers, save maintenance costs, prolong the life of equipment in the field, improve the efficiency and life of utility and consumer equipment, avoid outages, and reduce recovery times after unavoidable outages.
The problem of automated, dynamic grid mapping is not solved by wireless Smart Meters. Smart meters can measure and record current, voltage and power factor (or phase angle) at the meter, but because they have limitations on how much data they can store and how much data capacity is available for transmission, utilities may choose not to program the meters to report these data. The other data elements described cannot be detected by most modern AMI systems. U.S. Pat. No. 7,948,255 to Coolidge, et al. discloses instruments for phase detection. However, the instruments in Coolidge are intended to be used by field engineers rather than incorporated into the Smart Grid.
The consensus among utilities is that the volatility of the LNM is such that using field engineers to measure and monitor changing attributes of the grid map is not a cost effective or workable solution. For example, conservation voltage regulation efforts were undertaken in the 1990s based on static measurements, and subsequently abandoned because the measurements became outdated too quickly. Today, utilities habitually oversupply consumers, delivering an average effective voltage of 122vAC to a 15 or 20 amp-rated circuit in a residence to ensure that fluctuations in load, power losses in the home wiring, etc. do not result in some consumers' service falling below 110vAC effective at individual outlets inside the building, which is generally the optimum for home appliances and the like. The goal of a well-instrumented fine-grained conservation voltage regulation system might be to reduce the typical effective voltage at a single-phase meter to 114vAC as measured from one leg of the typical 240vAC service to neutral. 114vAC effective at the meter is as low as it is reasonable to go without risking under-powering some outlets in the building, (i.e. not less than 110vAC at any outlet) due to additional losses which are typical inside the home or office.
Since electrical devices consume more energy when powered at the high end of their rated range, this practice of over-delivering impacts consumers' electric bills directly, as well as forcing generation-poor utilities to buy power, increasing their costs. Ultimately, the practice results in more fossil fuel being consumed than necessary.
Cost constraints also dictate that placing SCADA instrumentation at every medium-voltage field asset is impractical. The "touch points" on the distribution grid are, for better or worse, largely the meters at the edge and the instrumentation in the substations. This dictates that techniques for power line communication be revisited, because signals traveling on the power line can be used both to infer and to report grid mapping information not detectable by means of wireless AMI. The ubiquitous presence of wireless AMI for reporting meter data can be considered as a benefit in the search for effective grid-mapping technology, in that it frees the limited data-bearing capacity of low-frequency on-grid transmission methods to support grid mapping systems instead. It is, however, needful to identify a transmission method that is low cost at the edge, coexists with the AMR or AMI, and does not trigger any of the above-noted pitfalls of on-grid transmission: requirements for intermediate devices such as repeaters between the edge and the substation; unacceptable flicker; RF interference; impulse noise; etc. Finally, the transmission must require very little power, because the energy expended driving the transmitters reduces the energy conservation benefits obtained.
As discussed above, some existing PLC methods have adapted radio modulation techniques and channel access methods to the medium of the electrical distribution grid. For example, PRIME uses FDMA with DPSK.
In addition, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a channel access method most famously used in cellular telephony standards cdmaOne, WCDMA, and CDMA2000. CDMA spreads its signal across a range or band of frequencies, as do other similar technologies; hence the term broadband. Multiple access means that more than one transmitter can use the same channel (here, a power line) without the signal from one transmitter destructively interfering with the signal of another transmitter. In CDMA, each transmitter which uses the same band is assigned a distinct reference code or chip. The transmitted signal equals the exclusive OR (XOR) of the chip with the data signal. If the chips (treated as binary vectors) are mathematically orthogonal, then the receiver can separate out the several data signals from the additive received waveform. A requirement of standard CDMA as used in a wireless application is that there is a dynamic feedback loop from receiver to transmitter to ensure that the power of the several signals received from the different transmitters is the same or nearly the same at the receiver. The feedback loop permits the transmitters to rapidly and dynamically adjust their transmission power to maintain the balance.
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) means that multiple channels in a medium are created by having different transmitters use different frequencies (or different frequency bands). A signal injected on the power line creates harmonic signals of different amplitudes. If the frequency-division bands are incorrectly chosen, then the harmonics from different bands can coincide and create false signals that interfere destructively with the intended signals. The obvious means of eliminating this effect is to place the channels far apart on the frequency spectrum. This, however, reduces the overall data bearing capability of the medium by "wasting" spectrum.
A third channel access method is Time Division Multiple Access, or TDMA. In TDMA, the channel is divided cyclically over time, with each transmitter sharing the channel assigned a specific time slot in the cycle where that transmitter uniquely has permission to transmit. TDMA requires that all the transmitters have system clocks which are synchronized with one another within a close enough tolerance that one channel accessor does not overlap its transmission with that of another channel accessor.

System and method for inferring schematic and topological properties of an electrical distribution grid


An electric sharpener for sharpening ceramic blades includes at least one stage. The stage is a finishing station having a sharpening member in the form of a disc which comprises a rigid support having a flexible abrasive matrix which both sharpens and polishes the facet of the ceramic blade. The sharpener may include a pre-sharpening stage for metal blades and a further pre-sharpening stage for ceramic blades. The sharpener also includes a removable guide.

Initial research on the process of sharpening ceramic knives as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,585,462, ('462 Patent), concluded that due to the fracturing of the brittle and fragile ceramic knife edge, to properly develop a factory quality edge, it would require a minimum of three (3) progressive sharpening stages. All of the details of the '462 Patent are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The (diamond) abrasives grit size would successively be smaller as the ceramic knife is sharpened in stage 1 followed by stage 2 and finished in stage 3. By reducing the grit size of the abrasives in stage 1 and 2 the sizes of the chips in the knife edge would be reduced sufficiently so that the very fine abrasive in stage 3 would be able to remove the remaining small chips and provide a chip free edge.
To further reduce the size of the chips developed in stages 1 and 2, the research concluded that the sharpening process in those two stages should be done by the abrasive moving into the edge, thereby removing ceramic material under compression. By this process the very fine abrasive in stage 3 could remove the small chips. However, to develop a sharp, chip free edge, the direction of the final, finishing stage abrasive would need to move in the opposite direction from stages 1 and 2, thereby moving away from the edge.
Although excellent results could be obtained by this method it provides some drawbacks. First, the requirement to change the direction of the rotation of the abrasive discs presented additional cost, making the manufacture of this sharpener more expensive. Second, the requirement to have at least 3 stages to accomplish the ceramic knife sharpening task, further exacerbated the manufacturing cost. And finally, because of the very small grit size abrasives required in all stages to minimize the chipping process, this sharpener would not be able to sharpen in a reasonably acceptable time, steel knives, which are much more prevalent in homes and stores.
A concern with knife sharpeners, whether for ceramic blades or metal blades, is the difficulty in cleaning or removing swarf created during sharpening from the guide surfaces in the various stages of a sharpener, particularly in the finishing stage.

Electric sharpener for ceramic and metal blades


Described herein are systems and methods for motorbike collision avoidance. One or more sensors or devices can be used to monitor the operating conditions of a motorbike and, upon a determination that a collision or drop has occurred, or is likely to occur, an alert system can be activated. The alert system can comprise one or more auxiliary illumination devices and/or acoustic devices configured to draw the attention of other motorists. The alert system may aid the other motorists in noticing the motorbike and approximating the motorbike's position, size, distance, or speed. The alert system can also be activated by the motorbike rider to communicate to other motorists that the rider believes a collision is possible or that a situation requires caution.

The root cause of most motorcycle accidents is the failure of other vehicle drivers to notice a motorcycle, its proximity, and/or gauge its speed and the potential for a collision. All too frequently, vehicles pull out in front of oncoming motorcycles, leaving the motorcycle rider with limited options to avoid a collision. Due to their relatively small size and single headlight configuration, motorcycles, mopeds, and scooters often elude detection by other drivers with tragic results.
In fact, a 2009 study by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that more than half of motorcyclist deaths involve at least one other vehicle. 42% of two-vehicle fatal motorcycle crashes involve a vehicle turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing, or overtaking the vehicle.
Motorbike riders are also at risk when at a standstill, i.e., after a collision, or when stopped in traffic, at traffic lights, or stop signs. Approaching vehicle drivers may not see a stopped/fallen motorbike, may fail to appreciate that the motorbike is either stopped or preparing to stop, or may fail to accurately gauge the distance to the stopped or slowing motorbike.
When collisions do occur, motorbikes offer little protection to riders. Riders can mitigate some risk by wearing helmets and other protective gear, but avoiding collisions altogether is the best way to reduce motorbike fatalities and injuries.
Riders are also in a precarious position after an accident when the motorbike and/or rider may be laying on a driving surface. The headlights and tail lights of a motorbike may be insufficient to properly alert other vehicle drivers of the crashed motorbike's presence, particularly in instances where the crashed motorbike comes to rest in a position where one or more of the headlights and tail lights is obscured or broken. Further, in instances where the motorbike and/or the rider comes to rest some distance off of the driving surface, existing lights on a motorbike may be insufficient to draw other motorists attention who may be in a position to render aid or call emergency responders.
Thus, a need exists for improved systems and techniques for alerting other vehicle drivers to the presence of a motorbike, particularly in instances when motorbike riders are most at risk or a collision is possible. Moreover, when a collision does occur, improved devices and techniques are needed to make other motorists aware of the crash and alert those in a position to render aid or medical attention.

Systems and methods for motorbike collision avoidance


A collapsible tripod stool (16) which comprises three legs (18) with a structure (20) for crisscrossing the legs (18) together. A flexible seat (22) is also provided. A facility (24) is for attaching the flexible seat (22) onto flattened curved top ends (26) of the legs (18). When the legs (18) with the flexible seat (22) are put in an open position and placed upon the ground (28), a person (30) can sit upon the flexible seat (22). When the legs (18) with the flexible seat (22) are put in a closed position, the person (30) can comfortably carry it anywhere for any kind of outdoor activity.

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to camping equipment and more specifically it relates to a collapsible tripod stool. The collapsible tripod stool can be folded up, so that it can be comfortably carried anywhere for any kind of outdoor activity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous camping equipment have been provided in prior art that are adapted to be utilized by people, such as soldiers, who are temporarily lodged in places having tents, huts or other makeshift shelters. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


An apparatus includes a logistics manager that includes a processor. The logistics manager is communicably coupled to at least one of a first wireless communication module onboard a first vehicle and a second wireless communication module onboard a second vehicle. The logistics manager is configured to: receive, via the first wireless communication module, first data regarding the first vehicle, where the first data is provided by a first sensor module onboard the first vehicle; receive, via the second wireless communication module, second data regarding the second vehicle, where the second data is provided by a second sensor module onboard the second vehicle; and provide navigational commands to at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on a cost and benefit analysis in response to at least one the first data and the second data.

Fuel efficiency has traditionally been an important performance criterion for vehicles. As gas prices continue to rise and emissions regulations grow more stringent, vehicular fuel efficiency become even more critical. The transportation industry is particularly cognizant of this criterion due to the correlation between fuel efficiency and a company's bottom line. This is particularly true with respect to the trucking industry.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Class 8 trucks haul approximately 69% of all freight tonnage and use more than 20% of the fuel consumed in the United States. Trucks having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above 33,000 pounds qualify as Class 8. Hence, there is a need to reduce the fuel consumption of trucks, and particularly of large, long haul trucks.
In 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a 'SuperTruck' program to challenge engine and vehicle manufacturers to create a 50% more efficient Class 8 truck. The goal of this five-year program is to design a heavy-duty Class 8 truck which demonstrates a 50% improvement in overall freight efficiency measured in ton-miles per gallon. To ensure there is total vehicle improvement, 30% of the efficiency must come from the tractor and trailer, while the remaining 20% must come from the engine. Each vehicle's engine also needs to show 50% brake thermal efficiency, and a path to achieve 55% brake thermal efficiency must be provided. Conventional approaches to achieving such efficiencies typically include improving engine performance, reducing vehicular weight, and reducing aerodynamic drag.

Apparatus and method for grouping vehicles for cooperative driving


A bobbin apparatus and associated magnetic component is configured to reduce gap losses associated with a core air gap in a bobbin-wound magnetic component such as an inductor or transformer. The bobbin includes a step structure protruding from the winding surface between bobbin ends. The step is operable to provide spacing between the conductive windings disposed on the bobbin and the core air gap inside the bobbin axial passage. The spacing reduces stray flux interactions with the conductive winding, thereby reducing gap losses and preventing undesirable heating of the winding and core. Additional winding configurations and methods for use with the bobbin apparatus are also provided.

The present invention relates generally to magnetic components for electronic circuits, and more particularly to bobbin and core structures for reducing gap losses in magnetic components such as inductors and transformers.
Conventional magnetic components such as inductors and transformers generally include a bobbin about which one or more conductive windings are placed. One or more magnetically permeable core members are also generally placed on or near the bobbin such that a magnetic field interaction is achieved between the core members and the conductive winding. In many applications, the core members are positioned such that a gap is defined between the core members at a location inside the bobbin structure. Air gaps may be provided for a variety of reasons, such as to influence magnetic or electrical performance of the magnetic component.
One problem associated with bobbin-wound magnetic components having a core air gap is leakage inductance. Leakage inductance results in local stray magnetic flux that may adversely affect performance of the magnetic component. In magnetic components having conventional bobbin and core structure configurations, stray flux associated with leakage inductance across a core air gap may interact with local regions of the conductive coil, leading to undesirable eddy currents. Stray flux interaction with the conductive coil may also cause an undesirable temperature rise in the coil, further reducing performance. Such interactions also cause eddy losses and reduce performance of the component.
Others have attempted to overcome the problems associated with stray flux by changing winding patterns or air gap dimensions, but such approaches are generally inadequate.
What is needed then are improvements in magnetic components and associated bobbin and core structures to reduce gap losses and other undesirable effects associated with stray flux near core air gaps.

Bobbin apparatus for reducing gap losses in magnetic components


A method of making a semiconductor chip assembly includes providing a metal base, a routing line, a metal containment wall and a solder layer in which the metal containment wall includes a cavity and the solder terminal contacts the metal containment wall in the cavity, mechanically attaching a semiconductor chip to the routing line, forming a connection joint that electrically connects the routing line and the pad, etching the metal base to reduce contact area between the metal base and the routing line and between the metal base and the metal containment wall, and providing a solder terminal that includes the solder layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor chip assembly, and more particularly to a semiconductor chip assembly with a solder terminal and its method of manufacture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor chips have input/output pads that must be connected to external circuitry in order to function as part of an electronic system. The connection media is typically an array of metallic leads (e.g., a lead frame) or a support circuit (e.g., a substrate), although the connection can be made directly to a circuit panel (e.g., a mother board). Several connection techniques are widely used. These include wire bonding, tape automated bonding (TAB) and flip-chip bonding.
The semiconductor chip assembly is subsequently connected to another circuit such as a printed circuit board (PCB) or mother board during next level assembly. Different semiconductor assemblies are connected to the next level assembly in different ways. For instance, ball grid array (BGA) packages contain an array of solder balls, and land grid array (LGA) packages contain an array of metal pads that receive corresponding solder traces on the PCB.
BGA packages typically have the solder balls fused on land metal elements such as nickel terminals. Since the solder balls are contact terminals to the next level assembly, the BGA package becomes degraded or inoperative when the solder balls separate from the land metal elements.
Conventional solder ball attachment techniques focus on allowing the solder ball to be easily fused on the land metal element. For instance, sequentially plating nickel and gold films on a smooth and flat surface of a land metal element allows the solder ball to be easily fused to the land metal element, however this does not avoid the solder ball separation problem.
Conventional solder ball attachment techniques also focus on contacting an insulator such as bismaleimide triazine epoxy to the solder ball in order to enhance the mechanical attachment of the solder ball. However, the solder ball easily separates from the epoxy as well as the land metal element.
In view of the various development stages and limitations in currently available semiconductor chip assemblies, there is a need for a semiconductor chip assembly that is cost-effective, reliable, manufacturable, versatile, provides a solder terminal with excellent mechanical and electrical properties, and makes advantageous use the particular connection joint technique best suited for a given application.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of making a semiconductor chip assembly with a metal containment wall and a solder terminal


Provided is a semiconductor device, including: a substrate, a well region of a first conductivity type, a field region of a second conductivity type, a first doped region of the first conductivity type, and a second doped region of the second conductivity type. The well region is located in the substrate. The field region is located in the well region. The first doped region is located in the well region of a first side of the field region. The second doped region is located in the field region, wherein the first doped region is at least partially surrounded by the second doped region.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor device and particularly relates to a high voltage junction field effect transistor (JFET).
Description of Related Art
High voltage devices are extensively used in power management integrated circuits (PMIC), switch mode power supplies (SMPS), and LED drivers. In recent years, green energy technology, which requires higher conversion efficiency and lower standby power consumption, is drawing more and more attention. Generally, a start-up circuit and a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit are integrated in a switch mode power integrated circuit. The start-up circuit can be used for starting up the pulse width modulation circuit and is turned off when the pulse width modulation circuit is started up and begins to operate. Thus, the start-up circuit needs to have the characteristic of low leakage current.
Compared to the conventional power resistor or high voltage depletion NMOS (HVDNMOS), a high voltage junction field effect transistor (HVJFET) is used as the start-up circuit, which has the characteristics of high pinch off voltage and low leakage current. However, the traditional HVJFET requires a well region so as to pinch off voltage and the well is more sensitive to the process variation. As a result, the pinch off voltage may shift easily.

High voltage junction field effect transistor


A gable-top type carton and blank for forming the same including a front panel, a back panel, a bottom panel and first and second side walls extending between the front panel and the back panel with at least one of the side walls including a gusset forming section for permitting the front and back panels to converge towards one another from the bottom panel along a length of the side walls to an edge of the front and back panels opposite the bottom panel is disclosed. The gusset forming section includes at least one cut-out section formed in each of the side walls with the cut-out being preferably in the form of a triangle which is spatially positioned in an intermediate portion of the side wall. Extending from an apex of the triangle to an upper limit of the respective side wall is a line of weakness in the form of a perforated cut score which in turn cooperates with a base portion of the cut-out which is in the form of an arch having a radius of curvature and crease score lines of weakness extending from respective edges of the base of the triangle to form a gusset in the side walls of the carton. A closure flap is further provided along an upper edge of the front panel such that once the front and back panels are converged towards one another, the closure flap is overfolded into contact with the back panel and adhered to an outer surface of the back panel to close the carton, thus forming a carton suitable for containing articles and particularly perishable products which may be readily viewed by the consumer.

A variety of paperboard containers have been developed in order to contain as well as display the contents placed therein. Additionally, a variety of containers having gusseted side walls which allow the side walls to be collapsed inward such that the front and back of the carton converges toward one another from a bottom of the carton to the top of the carton have also been developed.
One such similar carton construction is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,665. Therein, a carton having upper and lower gusset forming sections in each side wall is disclosed such that the front and rear panels of the carton will converge towards one another to form a handle in the upper portion of the carton. However, the gusset cannot be readily formed in the side walls without jeopardizing the overall structural integrity of the carton. That is, the carton may at any time be compressed and thus collapse along fold lines 21 and 26 during the erection of the carton. Moreover, the erection, filling and sealing of a carton in accordance with that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,665 may not be readily carried out by automatic machinery in that the side walls may buckle with the induced stress due to the buckling jeopardizing the structural integrity of the carton.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,171 issued to Prin discloses a similar carton construction for carrying articles. As with the above-mentioned carton, this carton includes two sets of gusset forming sections, one being in a lower portion of the side walls and another in an intermediate position along the length of the side wall. The gusset can thus be formed to extend along the entire length of the side wall or be formed intermediate the ends of the side walls. However, because the gusset forming system includes a plurality of prescored fold lines, the side walls may tend to buckle, that is, a portion of the side wall would fold outwardly rather than inwardly along the central fold line thus destroying the integrity of the side wall as well as the accurate formation of the carton. Moreover, the carton disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,171 is intended for use as a bag shaped box or carrier for packing and carrying articles offered, for example, by shopkeepers to their clients to carry their purchases. Such a carton is not readily adaptable to automatic machinery for erecting, filling and closing the carton.
In an effort to provide a carton for manipulation by machinery for erecting, filling and sealing cartons, a carton was developed including front, back and side panels with the side panels including perforated cut score lines extending from a point substantially adjacent the fold line between the front panel and side panel and the back panel and side panel along the bottom of the side wall and converging towards one another to a center point at the top of the side wall. However, during the formation of the carton, the side walls often buckle and bow outwardly and the stresses induced by the buckling would thus induce reverse folding and even separation along the two perforated cut score lines which define the gussets in the side walls of the carton. When such occurs, the structural integrity of the carton is significantly impaired to the point where the carton is no longer useful in containing articles.
As can be seen from the foregoing, there is clearly a pressing need for a carton of the above-mentioned type which may be reliably formed and manipulated by machinery by forming, filling and sealing such cartons, without jeopardizing the structural integrity of the carton when formed. Additionally, there is a need for a carton which conveniently presents the goods placed therein in a manner which appeals to the consumer.

Gable-top type carton and blank for forming the same


A color image capture systems comprised of: a lens 110; a light sensitive sensor 114; a first wavelength dependent mask 120 located on an optical path 128 between the lens and sensor, wherein the first wavelength dependent mask 120 includes a first attenuation pattern for modulation of a light field; and a second wavelength dependent mask 130, wherein the second wavelength dependent mask includes a second attenuation pattern to modulate the modulated light field from the first wavelength dependent mask, the second wavelength dependent mask located on the optical path 128 between the first wavelength dependent mask and the sensor, further wherein the second wavelength dependent mask is separated from the sensor by a distance d.

Plenoptic cameras may be implemented using micro-lens arrays. Unfortunately, micro-lens arrays can be expensive and if color images are desirable, the plenoptic camera can also require a color filter array. Color plenoptic cameras may also be implemented using a gray mask with broadband absorption in addition to a color filter array. However, the lowered light transmission associated with color filter arrays have made mask-based plenoptic cameras less attractive to digital camera designers.
The drawings referred to in this Brief Description should not be understood as being drawn to scale unless specifically noted.

Color image capture system and method for light modulation

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A power semiconductor device with charge compensation structure and a method for producing the same is disclosed. In one embodiment, the power semiconductor device has in a semiconductor body a drift path between a body zone and a substrate region. The drift path is divided into drift zones of a first conduction type. A field stop zone is provided having the first conduction type, which is arranged on the substrate region, wherein the net dopant concentration of the field stop zone is lower than that of the substrate region and higher than that of the drift zones.

One or more embodiments relate to a power semiconductor device with charge compensation structure and a method for producing the same.
A power semiconductor device is known from the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,275. The power semiconductor devices proposed therein have a drift path having drift zones and charge compensation zones, referred to as a composite buffer layer (CB layer). Such charge compensation devices having depletable complementarily doped charge compensation zones in the form of complementarily doped pillars have the disadvantage, in the case of very precise charge compensation and constant doping of the pillars over the depth thereof, that the reverse voltage falls significantly in the event of an alternation of the compensation as a result of current flow of a few amperes in the off-state case when the avalanche case occurs. The reverse characteristic curve, which is initially characterized by a reverse current determined by the intrinsic conduction of the semiconductor material, undergoes transition to the breakdown characteristic curve in the avalanche case and exhibits a "snapback effect" upon additional take-up of a voltage. The snapback effect is characterized by the fact that the reverse voltage decreases significantly even at low currents without the device being destroyed.
The snapback effect or the snapback of the breakdown characteristic curve can be stemmed in charge compensation devices by using a variable doping of the charge compensation zones, as is known from the document DE 198 40 032 C1. However, this solution can be applied only to a limited extent to a technology in which the charge compensation is produced by stacking selectively doped epitaxial layers. For techniques in which the charge compensation zones are effected by introducing trench structures in which the n-type or p-type doping is introduced via trench sidewalls, a variable doping of the charge compensation zones cannot readily be realized, however.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Power semiconductor component with charge compensation structure and method for producing the same