A semiconductor laser device includes a laser section and a modulator section. The laser section has: a first mesa stripe which is formed on a semiconductor substrate; semi-insulative burying layers which are placed to abut on both side surfaces of the first mesa stripe and are formed on the semiconductor substrate; n-type burying layers formed on respective surfaces of the semi-insulative burying layers; and a p-type cladding layer which covers surfaces of the n-type burying layers and the first mesa stripe. The modulator section has: a second mesa stripe which is formed on the semiconductor substrate; semi-insulative burying layers which are placed to abut on both side surfaces of the second mesa stripe and are formed on the semiconductor substrate; and a p-type cladding layer which covers surfaces of the semi-insulative burying layers and the second mesa stripe.

As a semiconductor laser device in which an electro-absorption (EA) modulator and a semiconductor laser, of a buried type, are integrated together, such a device has been developed that employs an Fe(iron)-doped semi-insulative semiconductor layer (Fe—InP layer) as a burying layer (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). In FIG. 33 (conventional example) of Patent Document 2, there is disclosed a semiconductor laser device in which, with respect to a mesa structure portion in each of a semiconductor laser section (Region I), a separation section (Region II) and a modulator section (Region III), both sides thereof are buried by Fe-doped InP semi-insulative semiconductor layers (semi-insulative semiconductor layers) and n-type InP hole-trapping layers (n-type burying layers), and the surfaces of the n-type InP hole-trapping layers (their surfaces on a side opposite to that facing an n-type InP semiconductor substrate) and the surface of the mesa structure portion are covered with a p-type InP cladding layer (P-type cladding layer). The n-type InP hole-trapping layers are used for preventing hole injection from the p-type InP cladding layer into the Fe-doped InP semi-insulative semiconductor layers, to thereby improve the laser efficiency.
As the first example (FIG. 1) of Patent Document 1, there is disclosed an integrated optical modulator (semiconductor laser device) in which: in a laser region (laser section), both side surfaces of the mesa stripe are buried by Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers (semi-insulative semiconductor layers), and the surfaces of n-type InP buffer layers (n-type burying layers) (their surfaces on a side opposite to that facing an n-InP substrate) and the surface of the mesa stripe are covered with a p-type InP layer (p-type cladding layer); whereas, in a modulation region (modulator section), both side surfaces of the mesa stripe are only buried by Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers. The n-type InP buffer layers in the laser region (laser section) are used for preventing light-output saturation due to injection of holes from the P-type InP layer into the Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers, namely, for improving the laser efficiency.
As the second example (FIG. 2) of Patent Document 1, there is disclosed an integrated optical modulator (semiconductor laser device) in which, in each of the laser region (laser section) and the modulation region (modulator section), both side surfaces of the mesa stripe are buried by Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers (semi-insulative semiconductor layers), and the surface of the mesa stripe and portions of the Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers adjacent to the mesa stripe, are covered with partially-removed n-type InP buffer layers (n-type burying layers) and a p-type InP layer (p-type cladding layer). The structure of the n-type InP buffer layers and the p-type InP layer, is such a structure in which the n-type InP buffer layers are formed at around the surface-perimeter portions of the mesa stripe and on the surfaces of the Fe-doped InP high-resistance blocking layers outside the surface-perimeter portions; and the p-type InP layer covers the surface-central portion of the mesa stripe and the surfaces of the n-type InP buffer layers.


The present invention provides a device isolation method of a semiconductor memory device and flash memory device fabricating method using the same, which can prevent a bridge occurrence between cells. The present invention includes forming a nitride layer pattern defining a trench forming area on a semiconductor substrate, forming a spacer on a sidewall of the nitride layer pattern, forming a trench in the semiconductor layer by removing a portion of the semiconductor layer using the nitride layer pattern and the spacer as an etch mask, forming a device isolation layer filling up the trench, removing the nitride layer pattern and the spacer to complete the device isolation layer, forming a conductor layer over the substrate including the device isolation layer, planarizing the conductor layer and the device isolation layer to lie in a same plane, and forming an insulating layer over the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device isolation method of a semiconductor memory device and flash memory device fabricating method using the same, by which characteristics of the semiconductor memory device can be enhanced.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, in forming floating gates for fabricating a flash memory device, it is important to electrically separate the floating gates in neighbor cells.
A floating gate is formed in a manner of forming a device isolation layer by shallow trench isolation (hereinafter abbreviated STI), forming a tunnel oxide layer by depositing an oxide layer over a substrate, depositing a doped polysilicon layer on the tunnel oxide layer, and patterning the doped polysilicon layer.
Yet, in the related art floating gate forming method, it is difficult to precisely pattern the floating gate due to the misalignment between the device isolation layer and the etch mask for patterning the floating gate, i.e., the photoresist pattern. Hence, limitation is put on reducing a cell size.
To overcome such a problem, there is a method of forming a tunnel oxide layer and a floating gate after etching an upper part of a device isolation layer having a positive profile.
However, since a lateral side of the floating gate exposed by etching the device isolation has a negative profile, the polysilicon layer is not completely removed in patterning a control gate, whereby a bridge occurs between control gates in neighbor cells.

Device isolation method of semiconductor memory device and flash memory device fabricating method using the same


A variable compression ratio piston (26) and connecting rod (18) assembly for an internal combustion engine (14) includes an eccentric bushing (28) that carries a piston pin bushing (42) and contains a journaled portion (48) held in the rod bore (24) of the connecting rod (18). The eccentric bushing (28) can be selectively rotated between either of two angle adjusted positions to effect a change in the height of the piston (26) relative to the connecting rod (18), and thus change the compression ratio of the assembly. A latch (50) mechanism is actuated by oil jets (90, 91) external to the connecting rod (18). The latch (50) includes bolts (54, 56) with tapered tips that seat in oblong holes (60, 62) in a flange plate (58) to reduce destructive lash. A resilient stop post (80) bears the brunt of stresses associated with stopping the flange plate (58) during switching events to protect the latching bolts (54, 56).

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to a variable compression ratio engine in which the compression ratio in a cylinder for an internal combustion engine is adjusted while the engine is running, and more specifically toward an improved piston and connecting rod arrangement for dynamically varying the engine compression ratio.
2. Related Art
Gasoline engines have a limit on the maximum pressure that can be developed during the compression stroke. When the fuel/air mixture is subjected to pressure and temperature above a certain limit for a given period of time, it autoignites rather than burns. Maximum combustion efficiency occurs at maximum combustion pressures, but in the absence of compression-induced autoignition that can create undesirable noise and also do mechanical damage to the engine. When higher power outputs are desired for any given speed, more fuel and air must be delivered to the engine. To achieve greater fuel/air delivery, the intake manifold pressure is increased by an additional opening of a throttle plate or by the use of turbochargers or superchargers, which also increase the engine inlet pressures. For engines already operating at peak efficiency/maximum pressure, however, the added inlet pressures created by turbochargers and superchargers would over compress the combustion mixtures, thereby resulting in autoignition, often called knock due to the accompanying sound produced. If additional power is desired when the engine is already operating with combustion pressures near the knock limit, the ignition spark timing must be retarded from the point of best efficiency. This ignition timing retard results in a loss of engine operating efficiency and also an increase of combustion heat transferred to the engine. Thus, a dilemma exists: the engine designer must choose one compression ratio for all modes. A high compression ratio will result in optimal fuel efficiency at light load operation, but at high load operation, the ignition spark must be retarded to avoid autoignition. This results in an efficiency reduction at high load, reduced power output, and increased combustion heat transfer to the engine. A lower compression ratio, in turn, results in a loss of engine efficiency during light load operation, which is typically a majority of the operating cycle.
To avoid this undesirable dilemma, the prior art has taught the concept of dynamically reducing an engine compression ratio whenever a turbocharger or supercharger is activated to satisfy temporary needs for massive power increases. Thus, using variable compression ratio technology, the compression ratio of an internal combustion engine can be set at maximum, peak pressures in non-turbo/super charged modes to increase fuel efficiency while the engine is operating under light loads. However, in the occasional instances when high load demands are placed upon the engine, such as during heavy acceleration and hill climbing, the compression ratio can be lowered, on the fly, to accommodate an increase in the inlet pressure caused by activation of a turbocharger or supercharger. In all instances, compression-induced knock is avoided, and maximum engine efficiencies are maintained.
Various attempts to accomplish dynamic variable compression ratios in an internal combustion engine have been proposed. For example, the automobile company SAAB introduced a variable compression ratio engine at the Geneva Motor Show in the year 2000. The SAAB design consisted of a monoblock cylinder head and a separate crankshaft/crankcase assembly. The monoblock head was connected by a pivot to the crankshaft/crankcase assembly, so that a small (e.g., 4°) relative movement was permitted, which movement was controlled by a hydraulic actuator. The SAAB mechanism enabled the distance between the crankshaft center line and the cylinder head to be varied.
Other attempts to accomplish dynamic variable compression ratios have included an effective lengthening/shortening of the connecting rod, which joins the reciprocating piston to a rotating crankshaft. Among the myriad designs which favor adjusting the length of a connecting rod, some are proposed in which an eccentric wristpin connection is provided at the articulating joint between the small end of the connecting rod and the piston. Examples of eccentric wristpin constructions may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,427,668 to Gill, issued Sep. 23, 1947, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,348 to Naruoka et al., granted Aug. 18, 1987, and also U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,975 to Hasegawa, granted Sep. 12, 1989.
A particular shortcoming in all prior art attempts to extend or shorten the length of the connecting rod through an eccentric bushing at the small (upper) end arises out of the orientation of various latching and/or actuation features relative to acceleration fields created at the small end of the connecting rod. More specifically, the reciprocating and articulating small end of the connecting rod generates directional acceleration fields along multiple vectors. If any of the latch or actuator features that control latching of the eccentric bushing are permitted to move in paths that coincide with one of these acceleration vectors, then the latch or actuator may inadvertently move when the engine is operated. This could lead to unintentional movement of the piston assembly between high and low compression settings.

Variable compression ratio engine with isolated actuator


The plasma antenna is designed to allow connection between electric elements within the antenna to be varied without changing the construction of the antenna during a chemical vapor deposition process, thereby maximizing efficiency of a cleaning or deposition process. The plasma antenna comprises two or more coils to which RF power is supplied from an RF power source, respectively, and a switch connected to ends of the coils. The coils are constructed to have different impedances. The circuit construction of the plasma antenna can be changed on the basis of an inductive coupled plasma antenna so as to generate parallel connection type plasma, series connection type plasma, or capacitive coupled plasma according to the kind of process, such as cleaning or depositing, without changing the construction of the antenna, so that the process can be performed efficiently, thereby enhancing productivity through reduction in manufacturing costs attributed to the simple construction of the antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma antenna for a plasma processing apparatus, and, more particularly, to a plasma antenna, designed to allow connection between electric elements of the antenna to be varied without changing the construction of the antenna during a chemical vapor deposition process, thereby maximizing efficiency of a cleaning or deposition process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In manufacture of semiconductor devices, various plasma deposition and etching have been developed. This is attributed to the fact that, in comparison to a commonly used chemical vapor deposition process, the plasma deposition process can be performed at a lower deposition temperature and a higher deposition speed due to activation of reactant gases by the plasma. Additionally, the plasma deposition or etching process can be performed more easily by appropriately applying a relative bias to a plasma electrode or a susceptor.
As for a plasma processing apparatus, an inductive coupled plasma processing apparatus, and a capacitive coupled plasma processing apparatus have been widely employed. Additionally, a new type of plasma processing apparatus, which has an electric field generator coupled to basic components of the typical plasma processing apparatus, has been developed.
The conventional inductive coupled plasma processing apparatus employs a single helical antenna or a plurality of separated coil antennas. As RF power is applied to the antenna, a time-variable magnetic field is generated perpendicular to a plane constituted by the antenna, and induces an electric field within a chamber. Then, the electric field heats electrons to generate plasma. That is, as the electrons collide with surrounding neutral gaseous particles, ions and radicals are generated, which are used for plasma etching or deposition. Furthermore, it is possible to control the energy of ion beams incident to a specimen through application of power to a wafer chuck by use of a separate high frequency power source.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the overall construction of a semiconductor processing apparatus using an inductive coupled plasma antenna 17 as an example of the conventional plasma processing apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, the plasma antenna 17 is equipped on a vacuum chamber 11 for generating plasma in order to perform a deposition process or to remove a coated film on the surface of an object within the chamber during the process. The plasma antenna 17 is equipped with an insulating plate (not shown), which is highly conducive so as to transfer the energy from an RF power source to the plasma through inductive coupling by reducing capacitive coupling between the antenna and the plasma. Meanwhile, the plasma antenna 17 is connected to an impedance matching device 35, which is connected to an RF power source 37. Furthermore, the chamber 11 is formed with a gas injection port 27 for supplying a cleaning gas or a deposition gas, and is equipped at a lower portion with a wafer chuck 29 upon which a wafer to be subjected to deposition is located. Additionally, the vacuum chamber 11 is further formed with an exhaust port (not shown) through which the gas is exhausted to the outside. With such a construction of the inductive coupled plasma processing apparatus 10, initially, the vacuum chamber 11 is evacuated to below a predetermined vacuum level by use of a vacuum pump (not shown), and supplied with a reactant gas for generating the plasma through the gas injection port 27 such that a predetermined pressure is maintained. Then, RF power is applied to the plasma antenna 17 from the RF power source 37. As such, with the plasma processing apparatus, the plasma can be generated by applying an appropriate RF power in a single frequency band or in various frequency bands to an antenna for generating the inductive coupled plasma, such as the plasma antenna 17, surrounding the vacuum chamber.
Meanwhile, the plasma processing apparatus for a cleaning or depositing process used for semiconductor manufacturing equipment employs a helical antenna, as shown in FIGS. 2a and 3a in which a single or a plurality of coils constituting the antenna are connected in series and in parallel, respectively.
In FIG. 2a, an RF power source 41 is connected to a helical antenna of a series circuit through an impedance matching circuit 40. In this construction, since respective coils of the antenna are connected in series, a constant electrical current flows through the respective coils. However, since the constant electrical current flows through the respective coils, it is difficult to control distribution of an inductive electric field. Additionally, since the respective coils constituting the antenna are connected in series, causing voltage drop to be increased by the antenna, an influence attributed to capacitive coupling with the plasma is increased.
Thus, loss of ions and electrons occurs adjacent to an inner wall of the chamber, whereby the plasma is increased in density at the center thereof while being decreased in density at portions adjacent to the inner wall of the chamber.
FIG. 2b is an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG. 2a, in which the RF power source 41 is applied to impedances Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z4 of the respective coils. Here, in the case where the antenna constitutes a series circuit, since the respective coils are connected in series, the sum of the impedances of the respective coils is larger than that of the antenna constituting a parallel circuit in which the respective coils are connected in parallel. As a result, the insulating plate equipped between the antenna and the vacuum chamber can be damaged due to the plasma.
In FIGS. 3a and 3b, a variable capacitor for resonance is connected to a point g of the outermost coil of the antenna 52 having helical windings connected in parallel, and acts to control electric current in the antenna 52, thereby providing plasma having a uniform density. Accordingly, even if the frequency of the power for the plasma supplied to the antenna is increased, the problem of impedance matching does not occur. In this case, when the antenna is employed under a higher vacuum level of several mTorr, it generates plasma exhibiting desirable characteristics, whereas when the antenna is employed under a lower vacuum level of several Torr, it often generates partially concentrated plasma, thereby partially damaging the object to be processed. The primary cause of this is a constructional problem causing the RF power to be concentrated on a specific coil.
As for another construction of the antenna, there is an antenna having a plurality of side coils together with a plurality of coils connected in series, in which independent power sources are applied to the respective coils, and require matching boxes for impedance matching, respectively, thereby complicating the construction of the antenna.


A liquid crystal display includes a first substrate and a second substrate. A liquid crystal layer is located between the first and the second substrates. A first transparent heating layer is attached on the first substrate. A second transparent heating layer is attached on the second substrate. Each of the first and second transparent heating layers includes a plurality of carbon nanotubes.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to liquid crystal displays and, particularly, to a carbon nanotube-based liquid crystal display.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCD) are been widely used in applications for displaying information, for example, mobile telephones, electronic notebooks, computers, because it can be operated with extremely low power consumption and provide a flat screen. The most common LCD types are Twisted Nematic (TN), In-Plane Switching (IPS) and Vertical Alignment (VA). These three types of LCD control the twist angle and movements of liquid crystal molecules to allow light to pass through them in their twisted phase.
When no voltage is supplied to the liquid crystal display, light can pass through the liquid crystal display. When voltage is supplied, light cannot pass through the liquid crystal display. Thus, when a predetermined voltage is selectively applied to different pixels defined in the liquid crystal display, a picture can be shown.
However, for many reasons, the liquid crystal display cannot perform at low temperature environments. The threshold voltage of the liquid crystal display is related to the temperature, increasing as the temperature decreases. The high threshold voltage will deteriorate the color contrast of the liquid crystal display. In addition, the viscosity of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer will increase as the temperature decreases. When the liquid crystal molecules become hard move, the response time of the liquid crystal display becomes slow.
Conventionally, in order to overcome the above problems, a heating layer is provided on the surface away from the liquid crystal molecules to increase an operating temperature of the liquid crystal display. The heating layer is usually made of indium-tin oxide transparent conductive layer. However, the indium-tin oxide transparent conductive layer is inefficient heater. The process of heating with an indium-tin oxide transparent conductive layer consumes a lot of energy and requires a preheating process.
What is needed, therefore, is to provide a liquid crystal display that can perform in low external temperature environments.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The examples set out herein illustrate at least one embodiment of the present liquid crystal display, in at least one form, and such examples are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.

Liquid crystal display with transparent heating layer comprising carbon nanotube structure


When a shutter release button of an image capturing apparatus is half pressed, an exposure time t is determined by a normal AE function. Then, if a shutter release button is fully pressed, an image is captured with the exposure time t, and the captured image is stored in a frame memory. At the same time, a color-coding circuit color-codes the captured image according to luminance thresholds, and the color-coded image is displayed on an LCD. If a user selects a color of an area equivalent to a main subject with reference to the color-coded image, a dynamic range, gamma characteristics, and the like of the image are determined so that the area in the selected color can have a correct luminance. The image is corrected accordingly, and image data acquired by the correction is stored in a recording part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an image capturing apparatus and an automatic exposure control correcting method. More specifically, the invention relates to an automatic exposure control correcting method for obtaining correct exposure by complementing an automatic exposure adjusting function of an electronic image capturing apparatus, such as an electronic still camera and a video camera, that converts an optical image into electronic image signals with an imaging device and the image capturing apparatus for use in this method.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic image capturing apparatus or an electronic camera that converts an optical image into electronic image signals by an imaging device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor has an automatic exposure adjusting function (AE function) for automatically adjusting a diaphragm and a shutter according to a photometry value and automatically controlling the time in which electric charges are stored in the CCD image sensor. An image captured by the electronic camera with an exposure adjusted by the AE function often has lower image quality than a silver halide photograph. The main subject as well as the background can be blackened or partially whitened. This is because an acceptable dynamic range of the imaging device is much narrower than a silver halide film, and thus, the incorrectness of the AE severely affects the image quality in the electronic image capturing.
To improve the AE performance in the conventional cameras, a screen is divided into a plurality of areas, a scene is identified according to a differences in luminance between the center and the adjacent areas, and the AE is determined according to the identification. Even if the AE is excellent, however, it is difficult to obtain correct exposure for a subject out of AE pattern. To address this problem, there is proposed a method in which the AE is controlled in real-time. For example, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-38801 discloses an image capturing apparatus that produces a histogram of a pixel luminance distribution of a captured image during the image capturing and displays the histogram as well as the captured image on an electronic viewfinder to thereby enable an easy confirmation as to the correctness of the exposure. This image capturing apparatus, however, cannot always obtain a correct exposure for a main subject even if the correctness of the exposure is determined from the entire luminance distribution with reference to the histogram displayed on the electronic viewfinder.
As a result of an experiment, the present inventor confirmed that the conventional AE function causes an error of ±1.5EV when a variety of scenes is imaged. Thus, there is a limitation to the AE performance of the camera.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 1-193708 discloses an autofocus device in a camera that displays an image captured by an imaging device on a liquid crystal display (LCD) part provided with a touch panel and enlarges the image about a touched position on the LCD part to recapture with the focus adjusted on the touched position. This publication, however, does not mention the AE.

Image capturing apparatus and automatic exposure control correcting method


Antenna feed chains and methods are disclosed. An antenna feed chain, include a feed horn having a first cross-polarization performance over a solid angle of interest and a frequency band of interest and a polarizer having a second cross-polarization performance over the solid angle of interest and the frequency band of interest. The polarizer is coupled to the feed horn. The first cross-polarization performance of the feed horn compensates for the second cross-polarization performance of the polarizer over the solid angle of interest and the frequency band of interest.

Various RF antennas may be suitable for transmitting, receiving, or transmitting and receiving a signal. RF antennas may include a feed horn and a polarizer. A feed horn and a polarizer comprise an antenna feed chain. Generally, the cross-polarization performance of an antenna feed chain may impact the antennas performance. Antenna performance may impact the performance of a communication system using the antenna. Accordingly, antenna performance may impact the ability of a communication to successfully send, successfully receive, or successfully send and receive signals. Thus, it may be beneficial to improve cross-polarization performance in an antenna feed chain.

High-performance dual-polarized antenna feed chain


Disclosed is a key generator, which assures the security of a key by preventing a circuit designer and other persons from readily knowing the value of the key. Random number generator circuits (51, 52, 53 and so on) generate random numbers respectively in accordance with different clocks (CLK1, CLK2, CLK3, and so on). An arithmetic circuit (59) operates on the random numbers generated from the random number generator circuits (51, 52, 53 and so on) to generate an N-bit random number RA as the output from a random number generator (50). This N-bit random number is RA acquired via a key selector (43), and latched into a key register (45) in accordance with an acquisition enable signal EN from a timing monitoring counter (47), which is driven by a clock CLKA other than clocks CLK1, CLK2, CLK3, and so on, to obtain a hardware key, which is a unique secret key.

A system for receiving encrypted data delivered to a PC (personal computer) or other terminal via a recording medium or a communications network such as the Internet, entering the received data, for instance, into a recording/reproduction apparatus connected to the terminal, decrypting the entered data with an encryptor/decryptor apparatus within the recording/reproduction apparatus, and recording the decrypted data onto a recording medium is now considered.
FIG. 4 shows a typical encryptor/decryptor apparatus. The reference numeral 60 in the figure denotes an encryptor/decryptor processor, which represents a portion excluding the encryptor/decryptor apparatus's interface, CPU, and other components to be incorporated in the form of an IC (integrated circuit). The encryptor/decryptor processor 60 includes an encryptor/decryptor computing section 61, a key selector 62, a hardware key generator 64, and a key memory 69.
The hardware key generator 64 includes a ROM 65 in which fixed-value data is written; an arithmetic circuit 66 for inverting and shifting the bits of data read from the ROM 65, calculating the exclusive OR (EOR or XOR) of such bits, or otherwise operating on the data read from the ROM 65; and a latch circuit 67 for latching, at a time specified by an external command, the data generated from the arithmetic circuit 66 in accordance with a clock (CLK). The data output from the latch circuit 67 is entered into the key selector 62 as a hardware key.
Upon external command, the hardware key generated from the hardware key generator 64 is first selected by the key selector 62, and operated on in conjunction with input data in the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61 for performing calculations to produce a first-step process key, which is then written into the key memory 69.
Next, the first-step process key is read from the key memory 69, selected by the key selector 62, and operated on in conjunction with the input data in the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61 for performing calculations to produce a second-step process key, which is then written into the key memory 69 in replacement of the first-step process key.
In the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61, a third-step process key and subsequent process keys are then calculated. Finally, a contents key, which is a secret key for data encryption or decryption, is calculated and written into the key memory 69.
If, in the resulting state, a command for selecting a decryption mode is entered and ciphertext data is entered as input data, the contents key read from the key memory 69 is selected by the key selector 62, and operated on in conjunction with the ciphertext data in the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61 to decrypt the ciphertext data. As a result, the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61 outputs plain text data.
If, on the other hand, a command for selecting an encryption mode is entered and plain text data is entered as input data, the plain text data is encrypted similarly, and the encryptor/decryptor computing section 61 outputs ciphertext data.
However, the use of the aforementioned encryptor/decryptor apparatus, that is, the encryptor/decryptor processor 60, permits a circuit designer or other similar specialist to readily know the value of the hardware key by viewing the RTL (register transfer level) description of the hardware key generator 64 included in the circuitry.
It is therefore necessary to pay careful attention to design file management at the RTL in order to ensure the secrecy of the hardware key, which is used as a unique secret key. However, since it is difficult to take all possible security measures, it is not easy to ensure the secrecy of the hardware key for security assurance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means for generating key data in such a manner as to ensure security.

Key generator device, encoding/decoding device, and key generation method


A method of photo display comprises electronically selecting at least one photo from a memory and electronically arranging at least one electronic photo sheet template, including arranging the at least one photo on the template, into a manipulable configuration for producing a three-dimensional photo display.

Digital photography has spawned an entire industry including photo editing software, photo printers, photo web sites, digital cameras, and more. This digital revolution expands an already vibrant movement of scrapbooking, journaling, and photodisplay such as Creative Memories® photo albums. With these changes, a larger cross section of the population is becoming more interested in photography.
However, even with this digital advantage, consumers are still limited in many ways. For example, consumers largely obtain printed photos from local film processing centers, and then physically attach or insert the photos into photo, albums, frames, scrapbooks, and the like. Even with conventional photo editing software and photo printers, consumers continue to display photos in familiar ways. Photos may be edited by computer software and printed at home, but then are cut and pasted like ordinary photos into photo album pages, or inserted into album sleeves.
Accordingly, while a new frontier of digital photo media has been opened, this frontier leaves much to be explored.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An integrated circuit device package. A substrate includes a first terminal coupled to the substrate. First and second conductive traces are formed on the substrate and are electrically coupled to the first terminal wherein the first conductive trace is provided to electrically couple a first bondwire to the first terminal and the second conductive trace is provided to electrically couple the second bondwire to the first terminal.

The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit device packages, and more particularly, to connections between an integrated circuit die and terminal(s) on an integrated circuit device package.
While integrated circuit devices continue to increase in complexity, keeping costs low and form factors small is still a focus for many applications. A key factor in determining the cost and space taken up by a particular integrated circuit device can be the package in which the integrated circuit device is provided.
For integrated circuit devices such as microprocessor chipsets, for example, that are particularly cost- and space-sensitive, a relatively small plastic package having a dense input/output terminal pattern may be used. Ball grid array (BGA) packages, for example, are increasingly popular because they are capable of providing a dense terminal array in a relatively small area at a relatively low cost.
xe2x80x9cTerminalsxe2x80x9d as the term is used herein, refers to external, electrically conductive features provided on a package for transferring signals to and from the integrated circuit die within the package. Types of terminals include pins, solder balls, polymer balls coated with a conductive material, solder columns, land pads, etc. The type of terminal depends on the type of package being used.
To transfer signals to and from an integrated circuit die within a package, bondwires may be used to electrically connect bondpads on the integrated circuit die to bondfingers or bondposts on a package substrate. Individual traces and vias on the package substrate electrically couple the bondfingers to the respective terminals that provide the input/output connections for the package.
The routing of electrical connections from bondpads on the integrated circuit die to the package terminals presents several challenges for integrated circuit package designers. In particular, there may be more bondpads on the integrated circuit die (or bondwires from the integrated circuit die to the package substrate) than there are available terminals on the package. This circumstance may arise, for example, where multiple power and/or ground connections to the integrated circuit die are provided. Multiple power and/or ground connections are desirable in many cases to improve the quality and strength of the signals transmitted to and from an integrated circuit die.
One approach to addressing this issue is illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a top view of a portion of a package substrate 10 having an integrated circuit die 11 mounted thereon. The integrated circuit die 11 includes a double bondpad 12 and two bondwires 13 extending from the bondpad 12 to a double bondfinger 14. The double bondfinger 14 is electrically connected to a single conductive trace 15 extending to a single via 16. The via 16 is electrically connected by a conductive trace on another layer or surface of the substrate 10 to a single power terminal 17 (shown in phantom). The power terminal 17 is coupled to an underside of the package substrate 10. In this manner, the package substrate 10 of FIG. 1 provides for multiple power connections to a single power terminal 17 such that the number of bondpads on the die 11 may be greater than the number of available terminals.
A disadvantage of this approach, however, is that while a ground connection may be provided on either side of the double power connection, a ground bondwire or other ground connection cannot be provided between the two power bondwires 13. Lack of a ground connection between the two power bondwires 13 of FIG. 1 can cause the inductance of the combined power connection to be undesirably high. High inductance can adversely affect device performance.
Further, different types of bondwires and/or integrated circuit device packages including substrates that are different than the substrate 10 of FIG. 1 that have dense terminal layouts may present similar issues.
An integrated circuit device package includes a substrate including a first terminal coupled to the substrate. First and second conductive traces are formed on the substrate and electrically coupled to the first terminal, wherein the first conductive trace is to couple a first bondwire to the first terminal and the second conductive trace is to couple a second bondwire to the first terminal.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows below.

Interleaving a bondwire between two bondwires coupled to a same terminal


A method for manufacturing a peripheral circuit of a touch panel includes: printing a radiation curable conductive material on a substrate having a transparent conductive pattern; irradiating the radiation curable conductive material with a radiated ray, in order to cure parts of the radiation curable conductive material; and removing uncured parts of the radiation curable conductive material, in order to form the peripheral circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral circuit of a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of touch technology are widely applied in electronic products. For example, in mobile phones and tablets, touch panels are often utilized as an input interface. The user can use their hand to directly contact the surface of the touch panel for performing operations, or slide their hand on the surface of the touch panel to control a mouse or perform a hand-written input. A display together with the touch panel may also show a virtual keyboard for the user, and the user can input characters via corresponding keys on the virtual keyboard.
The touch panel may be divided into various types such as a resistive touch panel, capacitive touch panel, ultrasonic touch panel and infrared ray touch panel. Among these touch panels, the resistive touch panel is the most commonly utilized. The resistive touch panel may mainly be divided into a four-wire touch panel, five-wire touch panel, six-wire touch panel and eight-wire touch panel. Since the four-wire touch panel is more mature in consideration of cost and technology, it is currently the most widely manufactured. The capacitive touch panel, however, can sense a light-touch, and thus is more convenient for utilization. In addition, the capacitive touch panel rarely wears down due to finger contact. It is also more stable and has a longer life than the resistive touch panel. For these reasons, the capacitive touch panel is gradually replacing the resistive touch panel as the most commonly utilized touch panel applied in electronic products.
The touch panel includes a substrate, a transparent conductive layer formed on the substrate, a peripheral circuit and an insulating layer. The touch panel may further include a connected flexible printed circuit board (FPC). The peripheral circuit is connected with the transparent conductive layer and the FPC. The peripheral circuit can be formed by a photolithography process. The conventional photolithography process includes the following steps: first, a metal layer is formed on the substrate by deposition or electrode planting; then a photoresist layer is applied on the metal layer, and selective exposure is performed on the photoresist layer; then developing is performed on the photoresist layer after exposure with a developer, to obtain a patterned photoresist layer; finally, the patterned photoresist layer is utilized as a mask to etch the metal layer, in order to form a conductive circuit on the substrate.
When the conventional photolithography process is implemented, the steps are complex and need to utilize a large number of chemicals, such that the cost is high and the process may not comply with the requirements and trends of environmental protection emphasized in modern science and technology.
In order to solve the problems of manufacturing the peripheral circuit with the conventional photolithography process, the industry provides a manufacturing method for forming the peripheral circuit with a printing process. This method prints a thermal setting conductive adhesive on the substrate, and then cures and bakes the thermal setting conductive adhesive with a high temperature, in order to form the peripheral circuit. This manufacturing method benefits from a simplified process in comparison to the photolithography process, but the peripheral circuit formed by utilizing the printing process may come off since the adherence degree of the printing ink connected with the substrate is low, which causes the conductive circuit to be cut off. In addition, this method may only be applied in a conductive pattern and circuit with a thicker wire width and a greater wire distance, and cannot effectively enhance the density of circuit disposition.
Therefore, how to provide a peripheral circuit of a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof which are capable of reducing wire width or wire distance in order to achieve higher integration while complying with environmental protection requirements becomes an important issue.

Peripheral circuit of touch panel and manufacturing method thereof


Void-maintaining laminates comprising fuzzy woven or fuzzy membrane layers are provided. Laminates of the present invention comprise at least one sheet-like core element, typically comprising void spaces or channels and, bonded thereto, at least one layer of fuzzy woven composite for use in geotechnical applications. The superior adhesion or bonding of the respective layers to one another, and its contribution to the structural integrity of void spaces or channels, enables the construction and positioning of drainage composites having the desirable characteristics of high permittivity and high transmissivity. Numerous embodiments of the invention are possible. Fuzzy geocomposites of the invention can be used, for example, underneath buildings, foundations, roadways and other paved structures, or in landfills or other types of geotechnical installations to replace or complement conventional drainage materials such as sand, stone and gravel. Methods for making the fuzzy geocomposites are also provided.

Water is the principal cause of distress in many types of structures. Geotechnical engineers and others skilled in the art specify and purchase sand, stone, or gravel as drainage means for conveying fluids to collection pipes. For some years, geocomposite materials have been used to complement natural earthen materials. Typically, such geocomposites are manufactured with a rigid core element encased between permeable non-woven fabrics that are thermally bonded to the rigid core element, or woven fabrics that are adhesively bound to the core element.
In conventional drainage laminates, membranes or woven textiles are typically adhered to a core element, the core element having voids or channels which permit the flow of fluids in a desired direction, typically away from the structure. However, the adhesions between the core element and the membrane or textile often fail in conventional laminates, resulting in intrusion of the membrane or textile into void spaces and the consequent clogging of those voids. With sufficient intrusion into the voids, clogging of the voids occurs, and insufficient drainage is provided to the structure with which the conventional laminate is associated. Such insufficiency often leads to failure of the structure or to a significant reduction in the length of its useful life.
Similar clogging problems exist with respect to the use of laminates formed of a core element and a non-woven geotextile. Typically, non-woven textiles resemble sheet-like pads of random fibers. Because of this, they have numerous potential fibrous attachment sites that are available for adhering or bonding the non-woven textile to a core element. However, because the pore size of non-woven geotextiles is not uniform, and because their random fibers tend to trap various sizes of particles, laminates which utilize them often clog quickly. With the use of semi-permeable or impermeable membranes, however, other problems exist. Because such semi-permeable or impermeable membranes are usually quite smooth, they are difficult to bond to core elements whether such bonding is effected by adhesives, heat fusion, laser welding or by ultrasonic bonding techniques. As a consequence of this, the adhesion between a membrane and its adjacent core element often fail in use.
The problems with the existing synthetic drainage technologies are therefore numerous. This is so because many synthetic drainage technology applications do not provide laminates that yield acceptable performance characteristics while retaining a reasonable amount of bond or adhesion between layers of the geocomposite. For example, even though leachate collection systems are more suitable for woven geofabric laminates, the geocomposite structures that use woven fabrics are limited in their use to those installations that allow for chemical adhesives to produce the bond between the core element and the fabric. These adhesives are typically soluble or degradable, and therefore fail to retain acceptable bonding characteristics over time. A related problem pertains to the fact that the bond strength of chemical adhesion is less than bonds provided by thermal methods such as heat fusion or laser welding.
Moreover, many specifiers are reluctant to introduce additional chemical constituents, such as are found in adhesives, into environmental applications. Moreover, conventional woven products cannot be thermally bonded to a degree that is acceptably effective for the areas or milieu of intended use. These disadvantages exist, at least partially, because woven fabrics are produced with a paucity of effective adhesion or bonding sites, that is, few fibers or protrusions that extend from the surface of the weave. This means that few fibers are available for inter-laminar bonding such as would otherwise take place during lamination or co-extrusion with the molten form of a rigid core element or layer.
Similar problems exist with respect to non-woven geofabrics. In sum, no woven or non-woven geoproducts are currently produced that yield acceptable bonding or adhesion performance characteristics with respect to thermal lamination methods such as heat fusion, laser welding or ultrasonic welding. Because of the above-described problems, there is thus a need for geocomposite laminates having superior structural integrity with respect to the maintenance of void spaces over time. More specifically, there is a need for geocomposites having superior bond strength between the respective layers of the laminates.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fuzzy woven layers, geocomposite laminates incorporating them, and related methods


A medical device for use in supporting a luminal surface of a human or animal body comprising a catheter, a stent mounted on the distal end of the catheter, the stent comprising a hollow cylindrical first wire segment and a hollow cylindrical second wire segment, and a means on the catheter for releasing the stent in the expanded diameter from the catheter. The first wire segment forms a plurality of spaced-apart first wire segment elements each extending 360 degrees around the hollow cylinder, each of the first wire segment elements having a plurality of extendible portions which permit the first wire segment elements to be expanded from the unexpanded diameter to a second, expanded diameter, the first wire segment proximal end having a straight tail extending proximally and longitudinally therefrom. The second wire segment forming a plurality of spaced-apart second wire segment elements each extending 360 degrees around the hollow cylinder, each of the second wire segment elements having a plurality of extendible portions which permit the second wire segment elements to be expanded from the unexpanded diameter to a second, expanded diameter, the second wire segment distal end having a straight tail extending distally and longitudinally therefrom.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is used to increase the lumen diameter of a coronary artery partially or totally obstructed by a build-up of cholesterol fats or atherosclerotic plaque. Typically a first guidewire of about 0.038 inches in diameter is steered through the vascular system to the site of therapy. A guiding catheter, for example, can then be advanced over the first guidewire to a point just proximal of the stenosis. The first guidewire is then removed. A balloon catheter on a smaller 0.014 inch diameter second guidewire is advanced within the guiding catheter to a point just proximal of the stenosis. The second guidewire is advanced into the stenosis, followed by the balloon on the distal end of the catheter. The balloon is inflated causing the site of the stenosis to widen. The dilatation of the occlusion, however, can form flaps, fissures and dissections which threaten reclosure of the dilated vessel or even perforations in the vessel wall. Implantation of a metal stent can provide support for such flaps and dissections and thereby prevent reclosure of the vessel or provide a patch repair for a perforated vessel wall until corrective surgery can be performed. It has also been shown that the use of intravascular stents can measurably decrease the incidence of restenosis after angioplasty thereby reducing the likelihood that a secondary angioplasty procedure or a surgical bypass operation will be necessary.
An implanted prosthesis such as a stent can preclude additional procedures and maintain vascular patency by mechanically supporting dilated vessels to prevent vessel reclosure. Stents can also be used to repair aneurysms, to support artificial vessels as liners of vessels or to repair dissections. Stents are suited to the treatment of any body lumen, including the vas deferens, ducts of the gallbladder, prostate gland, trachea, bronchus and liver. The body lumens range in diameter from small coronary vessels of 3 mm or less to 28 mm in the aortic vessel. The invention applies to acute and chronic closure or reclosure of body lumens.
A typical stent is a cylindrically shaped wire formed device intended to act as a permanent prosthesis. A typical stent 10 ranges from 5 mm to 50 mm in length. A stent is deployed in a body lumen from a radially compressed configuration into a radially expanded configuration which allows it to contact and support a body lumen. The stent can be made to be radially self-expanding or expandable by the use of an expansion device. The self expanding stent is made from a resilient springy material while the device expandable stent is made from a material which is plastically deformable. A plastically deformable stent can be implanted during a single angioplasty procedure by using a balloon catheter bearing a stent which has been crimped onto the balloon. Stents radially expand as the balloon is inflated, forcing the stent into contact with the interior of the body lumen thereby forming a supporting relationship with the vessel walls.
Various shapes of stents are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062 to Wiktor for "Intravascular Radially Expandable Stent and Method of Implant" discloses a two-dimensional zig-zag form, typically a sinusoidal form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,516 to Hillstead for "Endovascular Stent Apparatus and Method" discloses a wire first bent into a series of tight bends. The wire is then further bent into a sequence of loops that are connected by half hitch junctions and interconnections which are either aligned or spiral around a circumference of the stent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,906 to Lindemann et al. for "Endoprosthesis for Repairing a Damaged Vessel" discloses a flexible, plastic, thin-walled sleeve molded with various types of circumferential and axial ribs and reinforcements to be used as an endovascular prosthesis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,071 to MacGregor for "Bifircating Stent Apparatus and Method" discloses a wire forming a backbone extending axially along the length of the lattice that extends away from the lattice and is used to construct the interconnecting loops.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,732 to Wiktor for "Intravascular Stent" discloses a stent body coiled from a generally continuous wire with a deformable zig-zag structure with a means for preventing the stent body from stretching along its longitudinal axis.
The above art discloses various axial ribs. The disadvantage of such single longitudinal reinforcements is that of reduced flexibility. What is needed is a stent design which controls the length of the stent as it expands on a balloon yet maintains flexibility without resulting in longitudinal compression at the center of the stent when expanded.


Pulse echo signals containing false echoes are processed by forming tracks of multiple received echoes and monitoring these tracks by a recursive filter such as a Kalman filter. A track velocity is estimated for each track, and the position of each the next echo on the track is predicted.

In systems of this nature, the echo profile typically contains a number of false echoes arising from obstacles, reflections and the like. It is well known to provide signal processing which discriminates between these and the true measurement echo. Many systems make use of a time-varying threshold (TVT). The echo of the material sometimes dips below the TVT causing the device to select another echo and potentially go into loss of echo state. There are also instances where an unwanted echo rises above the TVT, causing the device to lock onto that echo and produce incorrect readings.
Up to now, the echo has been tracked by a simple discrimination window: the next echo must fall within the window to be accepted. The window is centred on the position of the current echo, and has its width adjusted based on historical knowledge. The window is initially narrow, and an echo within the window is selected. When no echoes are found within the present window, the size of the window is increased until an echo falls within it.
Unwanted echoes are eliminated from the selection process by the TVT curve. At commissioning, the TVT is shaped around the known fixed obstacles. Once the commissioning is complete, the device no longer has any means to discriminate for obstacles. If the level of an echo from an obstacle rises above the TVT, then the device will lock onto it when the level of the material is below the level of the obstacle. This can be a significant problem, which the present invention seeks to overcome or mitigate.

Processing of pulse-echo measurement signals

Siemens Milltronics Process Instruments, Inc.


The device comprises a container (1) of active substance in liquid form, which is sealed by means of a permeable membrane (3) which lets the active substance vapour pass and prevents the passage of liquid, being completed with a porous support (5) on the inner face of the membrane (3), so as to take the active substance to the centre of the membrane (3), this being warmed by a heater element (9) with pins (10) which are coupled directly onto the pins (8) of a socket plug (7), via which the device is powered, so that the evaporation of the active substance takes place by warming and it issues to the exterior by ways of slots (12) provided in a housing (11) which joins the container (1) to the socket plug (7). The assembly forms a disposable device, although the container (1) can be embodied so that it is interchangeable.

There are already known active substance electrical diffuser devices or appliances, wherein the active substance can be released in different ways, by means of heat, air flow, etc, and the appliance is re-usable.
Other electrical diffuser devices or appliances are also known that are made up of a single container with the active substance in liquid, gel or solid form (tablets, bottles with a wick, etc), where the container may be refilled or else be disposable. The devices composed of a bottle with a wick containing the active ingredient in liquid form are of particular interest, as they have the significant advantages of letting us know the remaining active ingredient capacity at all times and of being able to adjust the rate of release of active ingredient by means of the porosity of the wick. These devices, however, have the drawback of not assuring clean handling since active ingredient in liquid form may leak out in the event of incorrect handling.
Disposable appliances and devices are also known for diffusing active substances or principles, generally based on porous carriers impregnated with active substances, although appliances or devices of this type have the disadvantage of providing no control over the rate of release of the product or its consistency over time.
Finally, there is another type of appliance that consists of a receptacle for liquids with a "breathable" wall, i.e. it lets the vapours pass through but not the liquid, although its use on the market is confined to producing evaporation at room temperature.
In this respect, different documents may be cited each referring to patents, such as PCT 84/02654 or even U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,283, corresponding to volatile product dispenser devices, wherein evaporation takes place at room temperature and wherein membranes impermeable to the liquid but permeable to vapour are used so as to allow the vapour to escape to the exterior but not the liquid.
We may also cite U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,157,787, 3,951,622, 5,716,000 and 5,518,790, all referring to containers with one form and features or the other, but with a permeable membrane that allows the vapour of an active substance contained inside the bottle or container to pass, but always with the common denominator that evaporation takes place at room temperature.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,606 describes a container with a breathable membrane for use as a refill for an electrical diffuser, in this case, evaporation is achieved by means of warming the active ingredient. The drawback of this system is that the whole refill contents are warmed in the same way as if it were a tablet impregnated with active ingredient, so that the active ingredient may eventually be degraded, with the result that the efficiency of the evaporator device is impaired.

Disposable electrical device for releasing active substances


A culture module is contemplated that allows the perfusion and optionally mechanical actuation of one or more microfluidic devices, such as organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices comprising cells that mimic at least one function of an organ in the body. A method for pressure control is contemplated to allow the control of flow rate (while perfusing cells) despite limitations of common pressure regulators. The method for pressure control allows for perfusion of a microfluidic device, such as an organ on a chip microfluidic device comprising cells that mimic cells in an organ in the body, that is detachably linked with said assembly, so that fluid enters ports of the microfluidic device from a fluid reservoir, optionally without tubing, at a controllable flow rate.

Two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture systems have been used for many years in biological research. The most common cell culture platform is the two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture in petri dishes or flasks. Although such 2D in vitro models are less expensive than animal models and are conducive to systematic, and reproducible quantitative studies of cell physiology (e.g., in drug discovery and development), the physiological relevance of the information retrieved from in vitro studies to in vivo system is often questionable. It has now been widely accepted that three-dimensional (3D) cell culture matrix promotes many biological relevant functions not observed in 2D monolayer cell culture. Said another way, 2D cell culture systems do not accurately recapitulate the structure, function, physiology of living tissues in vivo.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,647,861 describes microfluidic "organ-on-chip" devices comprising living cells on membranes in microchannels exposed to culture fluid at a flow rate. In contrast to static 2D culture, microchannels allow the perfusion of cell culture medium throughout the cell culture during in vitro studies and as such offer a more in vivo-like physical environment. In simple terms, an inlet port allows injection of cell culture medium into a cell-laden microfluidic channel or chamber, thus delivering nutrients and oxygen to cells. An outlet port then permits the exit of remaining medium as well as harmful metabolic by-products.
While such microfluidic devices are an improvement over traditional static tissue culture models, the small size, scale and interface of these devices makes fluid handling difficult. What is needed is a way to control perfusion of these devices in a manner whereby fluid pressure creates a flow rate that applies a desired fluid shear stress to the living cells. Ideally, the solution should provide for a simple user workflow.


The surfaces of silicon protrusions from hypereutectic alloy bearing surfaces are converted to a highly stable metal silicides which are more effectively lubricated by conventional polar lubricant additives.

Moving components of engines, such as pistons, cylinders, and rocker arms, often are fabricated from hypereutectic alloys of aluminum and silicon. These hypereutectic alloys typically contain in the range of from about 16% to about 23% by weight silicon--an amount that is far beyond the solid solubility level for the silicon in the alloy. As a result, excess silicon tends to precipitate as angular particles generally about 10 microns in size. After the component is manufactured, an electrochemical etch typically is used to remove some of the aluminum matrix at the surface of the component. The etch causes precipitated silicon particles to protrude from the matrix, forming a hard bearing surface.
Bearing surfaces comprising these protruding silicon particles frequently are in frictional contact with a metallic counterfacing surface, such as a chromium-plated piston ring, a steel rocker shaft, or a component made of some other ferrous alloy, such as cast iron. Frictional wear between these counterfacing surfaces remains a serious problem.
The problem is exacerbated by "oil starvation." Current attempts to reduce hydrocarbon emissions from engines often involve the use of less lubricating oil. The resulting "oil starvation" can cause increased wear on the load-bearing surfaces. If increased wear persists, oil can seep past the ring. The result is wear-related hydrocarbon emissions which defeat the purpose of using less lubricating oil in order to reduce emissions.
Methods are needed to alter the load-bearing surfaces to promote the effectiveness of conventional lubricants in preventing tribochemical attrition of silicon and metal.

Bearing surfaces of hypereutectic alloys modified to increase lubricant effectiveness


Maintenance modes of operation of a multiprocessing vector supercomputer system are disclosed. The modes allow diagnostics to run on a failed portion of the system while simultaneously allowing user tasks to run in a degraded performance mode. This is accomplished by assigning a processor or a group of processors to run diagnostics on an assigned portion of memory, while the operating system and user tasks are run in the remaining processors in the remaining portion of memory. In this manner, the diagnostics can isolate the problem without requiring complete shut down of the user task, while at the same time protecting the integrity of the operating system. The result is significantly reduced preventive maintenance down time, more efficient diagnosis of hardware failures, and a corresponding increase in user task run time.

Many scientific data processing tasks involve extensive arithmetic manipulation of ordered arrays of data. Commonly, this type of manipulation or "vector" processing involves performing the same operation repetitively on each successive element of a set of data. Most computers are organized with one central processing unit (CPU) which can communicate with a memory and with input-output (I/O). To perform an arithmetic function, each of the operands must be successively brought to the CPU from memory, the functions must be performed, and the result returned to memory. However, the CPU can usually process instructions and data faster than they can be fetched from the memory unit. This inherent memory latency results in the CPU sitting idle much of the time waiting for instructions or data to be retrieved from memory. Machines utilizing this type of organization, i.e. "scalar" machines, have therefore been found too slow and hardware inefficient for practical use in large scale vector processing tasks.
In order to increase processing speed and hardware efficiency when dealing with ordered arrays of data, "vector" machines have been developed. A vector machine is one which deals with ordered arrays of data by virtue of its hardware organization, thus attaining a higher speed of operation than scalar machines. One such vector machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,880, issued Dec. 5, 1978 to Cray, which patent is incorporated herein by reference.
The vector processing machine of the Cray patent is a single processor machine having three vector functional units specifically designed for performing vector operations. The Cray patent also provides a set of eight vector registers. Because vector operations can be performed using data directly from the vector registers, a substantial reduction in memory access requirements (and thus delay due to the inherent memory latency) is achieved where repeated computation on the same data is required.
The Cray patent also employs prefetching of instructions and data as a means of hiding inherent memory latencies. This technique, known as "pipelining", involves the prefetching of program instructions and writing them into one end of an instruction "pipe" of length n while previous instructions are being executed. The corresponding data necessary for execution of that instruction is also fetched from memory and written into one end of a separate data pipeline or "chain". Thus, by the time an instruction reaches the read end of the pipe, the data necessary for execution which had to be retrieved from memory is immediately available for processing from the read end of the data chain. By pipelining instructions and chaining the data, then, most of the execution time can be overlapped with the memory fetch time. As a result, processor idle time is greatly reduced, and processing speed and efficiency in large scale vector processing tasks is greatly increased.
Computer processing speed and efficiency in both scalar and vector machines can be further increased through the use of multiprocessing techniques. Multiprocessing involves the use of two or more processors sharing system resources, such as the main memory. Independent tasks of different jobs or related tasks of a single job may be run on the multiple processors. Each processor obeys its own set of instructions, and the processors execute their instructions simultaneously ("in parallel"). By increasing the number of processors and operating them in parallel, more work can be done in a shorter period of time.
An example of a two-processor multiprocessing vector machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,942, issued Jan. 13, 1987 to Chen et al., which patent is incorporated herein by reference. Another aspect of the two-processor machine of the Chen '942 patent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,900, issued Apr. 28, 1987 to Chen et al., which patent is incorporated herein by reference. A four-processor multiprocessing vector machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,545, issued May 17, 1988 to Schiffleger, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,398, issued Jun. 28, 1988 to Pribnow, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. All of the above named patents are assigned to Cray Research, Inc., the assignee of the present invention.
Another multiprocessing vector machine from Cray Research, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, is the Y-MP vector supercomputer. A detailed description of the Y-MP architecture can be found in the co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,638, issued Aug. 25, 1992, entitled "MEMORY ACCESS CONFLICT RESOLUTION SYSTEM FOR THE Y-MP" which application is incorporated herein by reference. In the Y-MP design, each vector processor has a single pipeline for executing instructions. Each processor accesses common memory in a completely connected topology which leads to unavoidable collisions between processors attempting to access the same areas of memory. The Y-MP uses a collision avoidance system to minimize the collisions and clear up conflicts as quickly as possible. The conflict resolution system deactivates the processors involved and shuts down the vectors while the conflict is being resolved.
Although the above-mentioned multiprocessor vector supercomputing machines greatly increase processing speed and efficiency on large scale vector processing tasks, these machines cannot be run continuously without the occurrence of hardware failures. Therefore, periodic preventive maintenance ("PM") time is scheduled, during which the operating system is shut down and diagnostics are run on the machine in an effort to prevent hardware failures before they occur. PM time, while reducing the number of hardware failures which occur during run time of the operating system and associated user tasks, also decrease the amount of time the operating system can be up and running. Today many user processing tasks are so large that the user simply cannot afford any PM time. These users require that the system simply cannot go down. As a result, machines must be run until they break (i.e., a hardware failure occurs), and then the operating system down time must be reduced to a minimum. Those skilled in the art have therefore recognized the need for a computing system which minimizes shut down time such that the run time of the operating system can be maximized.
Another problem facing multiprocessing system designers is how to recover from a failure of a section of shared memory. If one of the processors of a multiprocessing system fails that processor can simply be shut down and the rest of the processors in the system can continue running user tasks with only a relatively small reduction in performance. However, problems are encountered when a processor is removed from the operating system. For example, any I/O attached to that processor is also unavailable to the operating system, and the entire multiprocessor system must be brought down, reconfigured, and the I/O is reassigned to the remaining processors such that all I/O is available to the operating system.
In addition, if a portion of the shared memory fails, shutting down a processor will not solve the problem because the remaining processors will continue to see the same memory errors. Previously, the only way to recover from a shared memory failure was to shut down the operating system and associated user tasks, and run diagnostics to isolate the failure. Once the failure was located, the machine was turned off completely, and the defective module replaced.
Although the above described method can effectively locate and repair failed hardware, it significantly reduces the time that the operating system is up and running. As stated previously herein, this is an undesirable result for many users whose processing tasks require almost continuous operation of their multiprocessor systems. Those skilled in the art have therefore recognized the need for a multiprocessor computing system which has a minimum amount of PM time, which can recover effectively from hardware failures on both the processor side and the shared memory side, all the while maximizing the time that the operating system is up and running.

Disabled memory sections for degraded operation of a vector supercomputer


According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus having a circuit board supporting structure, the circuit board supporting structure including: a casing including a first body and a second body, the first body having a first boss portion, the second body having a second boss portion; a jig including a cylindrical portion having, and a flange portion formed on an outer periphery, the cylindrical portion configured to slidably receive the first boss portion and the second boss portion in an inner peripheral wall; and a circuit board disposed in the casing. The first and second boss portions are configured to be fastened by a bolt member; the circuit board has a hole and a joining region provided around the hole, the hole configured to allow the cylindrical portion to penetrate therethrough; and the joining region is configured to be soldered to the flange portion.

1. Field of the Invention
One aspect of the present invention relates to a casing of an electronic apparatus with improved reliability of joints, and a supporting structure of a circuit board on which electronic components are mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
With sophistication, multi-functionalization, etc., of instruments mounted with electronic apparatuses, the number of electrical joints which joins a circuit board and an electronic apparatus becomes an extremely large number. As a result, ensuring of joint reliability is not easy.
In electronic apparatuses, there is a tendency that thermal stress resulting from a difference between coefficients of linear expansion of a casing and a circuit board, and stress resulting from external load become large especially around a boss portion. Therefore, when the circuit board is fastened and fixed to the casing via the boss portion, the load of electronic components on the circuit board in a vicinity of the boss portion increases. Especially, more large-sized electronic components are there in the vicinity of a middle of the circuit board. This problem is actualized. Hereinafter, a cause of deterioration of reliability of a joint will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 13. A circuit board 13 is fixed to casing boss portions 27, 28, and 29. When the circuit board 13, the upper casing 11, and the lower casing 12 are fixed at the boss portions 27, 28, and 29, and the stress of the circuit board 13 around the boss portions 27 and 28 by temperature fluctuation and the 29 becomes large due to the difference between the coefficients of linear expansion of the circuit board 13, and the upper casing 11 or the lower casing 12.
Also, in a case where external load is generated, since deformation of the upper casing 11 and the lower casing 12 is transmitted to the circuit board via the boss portions 27, 28, and 29, the stress of the circuit board 13 around the boss portions 27 and 28 and the 29 becomes large. In particular, the tendency that the load of electronic components 19 in the vicinity of the boss portion 27 increases is observed in the middle of the circuit board 13.
A method of fastening a shielding plate and a boss portion of a casing is suggested in connection with a circuit board (see JP-A-9-8488 (FIG. 2), for instance).
This method is a method of arranging a solder pattern, and jointly fastening the circuit board having a solder portion formed thereon and the shielding plate to the boss portion of the casing while the solder portion is interposed therebetween.
In the invention disclosed in JP-A-9-8488, the circuit board is soldered to the casing, and electrical connection is secured. Thus, thermal stress can be reduced. However, the concentration of stress caused around an attaching portion by external load onto an electronic component mounted on the circuit board cannot be reduced.


This invention relates to isolated nucleic acids comprising genes of human chromosome 12q23-qter and the proteins encoded by these genes. Expression vectors and host cells containing such genes or fragments thereof, as well as antibodies to the proteins encoded by these nucleic acids are also included herein.

Wilkinson et al. showed linkage of asthma to markers on human chromosome 12 (Genomics, 53: 251-259 (1998)). In addition, Wilson et al. has shown that obesity may be linked to asthma (Arch. Intern. Med. 159: 2513-14 (1999)). In particular chromosomal region 12q23-qter has been linked to a variety of genetic disorders including male germ cell tumors, histidinemia, growth retardation with deafness and mental retardation, deficiency of Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, spinal muscular atrophy, Darier disease, cardiomyopathy, Spinocerebellar ataxia-2, brachydactyl), Mevalonicaciduria, Hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D, Noonan syndrome-1, Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, spinal muscular atrophy-4, tyrosinemia, phenylketonuria, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Ulnar-mammary syndrome, Holt-Oram syndrome, Scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy, alcohol intolerance, MODY, Diabetes mellitus, noninsulin-dependent, 2 and diabetes mellitus insulin-dependent (See National Center for Biotechnology Information at the website of: (hypertext transfer protocol, (i.e., http), world wide web, (i.e., www), National Center for Biotechnology Information (ncbi), National Library of Medicine (nlm), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Government (gov)/omim.). Although this region appears to contain genes affecting these disorders few genes have been discovered. There is a need in the art for identifying specific genes for such disorders because they are also associated with obesity and lung disease, particularly inflammatory lung disease phenotypes such as Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD), Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), and asthma. Identification and characterization of such genetic compositions will make possible the development of effective diagnostics and therapeutic means to treat lung related disorders as well as the other diseases described herein.

Human genes relating to respiratory diseases and obesity


A wireless IC device has a resonant frequency that is hardly altered or affected by external influences and reliably communicates with a reader/writer. The wireless IC device includes a wireless IC chip arranged to process a radio signal, a feeder circuit board coupled to the wireless IC chip and including a feeder circuit, and a radiation electrode arranged at least one principal surface of the feeder circuit board. The feeder circuit board includes a magnetic material and has the feeder circuit disposed therein. The radiation electrode is disposed on at least one principal surface of the feeder circuit board so as to be electromagnetically coupled to the feeder circuit and includes at least two open ends. The wireless IC chip is coupled to the radiation electrode through the feeder circuit and communicates with a reader/writer using HF band frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless integrated circuit (IC) devices including a wireless IC and a radiation plate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wireless IC device preferably for use in a radio frequency identification (RFID) system performing communication using an HF band frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an RFID system has been developed as an article management system in which electromagnetic-field-based contactless communication is performed between a reader/writer generating an induction field and a wireless IC tag (hereinafter, also referred to as a wireless IC device) affixed to an article and storing predetermined information so that the predetermined information is transmitted.
The wireless IC tag used in this RFID system includes a wireless IC chip that processes a predetermined radio signal and a radiation plate that transmits and receives the radio signal. For example, a wireless IC tag disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-102348 is known.
The wireless IC tag disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-102348 is constituted by a multilayer antenna pattern and an IC chip. Swirling electrodes are disposed on a plurality of layers to form the antenna pattern. A resonance circuit is constituted by inductance generated by the electrodes and inter-electrode capacitance and capacitance of the IC chip. The resonant frequency of this resonance circuit is set equal to communication frequency, e.g., 13.56 MHz. The wireless IC tag communicates with a reader/writer through the antenna pattern.
However, the wireless IC tag has the following problems. Since the antenna pattern is covered with a protection film but is exposed to the outside, a magnetic field generated by the antenna pattern leaks to the outside and an inductance value of the antenna pattern changes because of influences of the dielectric constant and the shape of articles attached with the tag. Variance of the resonant frequency due to the inductance value change causes a communication failure.
To prevent the magnetic field from leaking to the outside and to increase the inductance value, the antenna pattern may be disposed in a magnetic body, such as ferrite. However, when the antenna pattern is disposed completely within the magnetic body, the magnetic field is trapped inside the magnetic body and communication cannot be performed.


A modular electrical control system for installation in an electrical box of a premises includes a switch module configured to control power delivery to at least one external load, the switch module including a multi-position switch device that changes an operational mode of the switch module to off, toggle mode, or dimmer mode, and a removable user interface module configured to connect to the switch module, receive power from the switch module and display an interface in accordance with a setting of the multi-position switch device.

It will be appreciated that this Background section represents the observations of the inventors, which are provided simply as a research guide to the reader. As such, nothing in this Background section is intended to represent, or to fully describe, prior art.
Lighting controls remain one of the most common devices in the world. They are in nearly every country, in most homes and rooms. In addition to widespread use, the appearance and functionality of the basic light switch remains virtually identical to what was provided in the original disclosure of the toggle light switch in 1917. However, newer functions like dimming, motion-based activation and programmed lighting schedules have been implemented in various forms. Companies have also integrated modern connectivity solutions into the standard light switch, allowing it to be controlled remotely via smartphone or other electronic device.
Some lighting systems operate in a "toggle" mode, that is having only an ON or OFF state, while others can operate in a "dimmer" mode. In dimmer mode the amount of power delivered to the light can be controlled to brighten or dim the light.


Laundry or cleaning composition comprising: (a) a catalytically effective amount, preferably from about 1 ppb to about 99.9%, of a transition-metal bleach catalyst which is a complex of a transition-metal and a cross-bridged macropolycyclic ligand; and (b) at least about 0.1% of one or more laundry or cleaning adjunct materials, preferably comprising an oxygen bleaching agent. Preferred compositions are laundry compositions and automatic dishwashing detergents which provide enhanced cleaning/bleaching benefits through the use of such catalysts.

A damaging effect of manganese on fabrics during bleaching has been known since the 19th century. In the 1960's and '70's, efforts were made to include simple Mn(II) salts in detergents, but none saw commercial success. More recently, metal-containing catalysts containing macrocycle ligands have been described for use in bleaching compositions. Preferred catalysts include those described as manganese-containing catalysts of small macrocycles, especially the compound 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane. These catalysts assertedly catalyze the bleaching action of peroxy compounds against various stains. Several are said to be effective in washing and bleaching of substrates, including in laundry and cleaning applications and in the textile, paper and wood pulp industries. However, such metal-containing bleach catalysts, especially these manganese-containing catalysts, still have shortcomings, for example a tendency to damage textile fabric, relatively high cost, high color, and the ability to locally stain or discolor substrates.
Salts of cationic-metal dry cave complexes have been described (in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,032, to Busch, Dec. 19, 1989) as complexing oxygen reversibly, and are taught as being useful for oxygen scavenging and separating oxygen from air. A wide variety of ligands are taught to be usable, some of which include macrocycle ring structures and bridging groups. See also: D. H. Busch, Chemical Reviews, (1993), 93, 847–880, for example the discussion of superstructures on polydentate ligands at pages 856–857, and references cited therein; B. K. Coltrain et al., "Oxygen Activation by Transition Metal Complexes of Macrobicyclic Cyclidene Ligands" in "The Activation of Dioxygen and Homogeneous Catalytic Oxidation", Ed. by E. H. R. Barton, et al. (Plenum Press, NY; 1993), pp. 359–380.
More recently the technical literature on azamacrocycles has grown at a rapid pace. Among the many references are Hancock et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., (1987), 1129–1130; Weisman et al., "Synthesis and Transition Metal Complexes of New Cross-Bridged Tetraamine Ligands", Chem. Commun., (1996), 947–948; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,428,180, 5,504,075, and 5,126,464, all to Burrows et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,990, to Kiefer et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,416, to Rousseaux et al. None of hundreds of such references identify which of numerous new ligands and/or complexes would be commercially useful in bleaching compositions. This history does not reveal the possibility that catalytic oxidation may alter almost all families of organic compounds to yield valuable products, but successful application as hard surface of fabric bleaching depends on a complex set of relationships including the activity of the putative catalyst, its survivability under reaction conditions, its selectivity, and the absence of undesirable side reactions or over-reaction.
In view of the long-felt need, the ongoing search for superior bleaching compositions containing transition-metal bleach catalysts, and in view of the lack of commercial success to this point, especially in fabric laundering compositions with transition-metal bleach catalysts; in view also of the ongoing need for improved cleaning compositions of all kinds which deliver superior bleaching and stain removal without disadvantages such as tendency to damage or discolor the material to be cleaned, and in view also of the known technical limitations of existing transition-metal bleach catalysts for detergent applications, especially in aqueous solutions at high pH, it would be very desirable to identify which of thousands of potential transition-metal complexes might successfully be incorporated in laundry and cleaning products. Accordingly it is an an object herein to provide superior cleaning compositions incorporating selected transition-metal bleach catalysts with detergent or cleaning adjuncts that resolve one or more of the known limitations of such compositions.
It has now surprisingly been determined that, for use in laundry and hard-surface cleaning products, transition-metal catalysts having specific cross-bridged macropolycyclic ligands have exceptional kinetic stability such that the metal ions only dissociate very slowly under conditions which would destroy complexes with ordinary ligands, and further have exceptional thermal stability. Thus, the catalysts useful in the present invention compositions can provide one or more important benefits. These include improved effectiveness of the compositions, and in some instances even synergy with one or more primary oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide, hydrophilically or hydrophobically activated hydrogen peroxide, preformed peracids, or monopersulfate; the cleaning compositions include some especially those containing Mn(II), in which the catalyst is particularly well color-matched with other detergent ingredients, the catalyst having little to no color. The compositions afford great formulation flexibility in consumer products where product aesthetics are very important; and are effective on many types of soils and soiled substrates, including a variety of soiled or stained fabrics or hard surfaces. The compositions permit compatible incorporation of many types of detergent adjuncts, including hydrophobic bleach activators, with excellent results. Moreover, the compositions reduce or even minimize tendency to stain or damage such surfaces.
These and other objects are secured herein, as will be seen from the following disclosures.