A sealed bulkhead coaxial jack (100) that includes a shell (200), a front dielectric (300), a rear dielectric (400) having a projection ring (404), a front seal (500), a contact (600), and a pin (700). The shell (200) has a metal cylindrical sidewall (201) with the sidewall (201) having retaining lips (204,205). The front dielectric (300) fits snugly within the front shell portion (202) and is constructed of a cylindrical sidewall (301), a front face (302) having an opening (302a) therethrough, and an open rear end. The rear dielectric (400) is a generally solid cylinder block (401) having a passage therethrough. The rear dielectric (400) has a projection ring (404) that encircles and extends away from its outer surface, providing an internal seal for the jack. The front seal (500) is positioned in the front opening (204a) of the shell between the front retaining lip (204) and the front face (302) of the front dielectric (300). The contact (600) has a front portion having a dual beam configuration in proximity to the front shell opening (204a) and is capable of receiving a center conductor of a coaxial cable. The contact (600) also has a rear portion having a triple beam configuration located within the passage of the rear dielectric (400) with a rear portion electrically connected to a pin (700) that extends from its connection within the rear dielectric passage beyond the rear opening (205a) of the shell (200).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved jack for use with a coaxial cable. More particularly, the improved jack of the present invention relates to improved seals for preventing moisture from entering into and flowing through the jack and also relates to a center contact that is a stamped, dual socket female contact that will optimize RF performance while providing the ability to mate with the center conductor of a coaxial cable.
2. Description of Related Art
Various attempts have been made in the industry in an effort to develop better internal and external seals for coaxial jacks with a varied amount of success. Typical jacks may leak moisture into the interior of the jack through the front or rear openings, thereby increasing the chance of an electrical failure. Moisture that does find its way into the inside of the jack often then migrates between the inner surface of the housing and the outer surface of the dielectric material, potentially disrupting the electrical connection.
Another disadvantage of a conventional coaxial jack is that the center receptacle contact is not as efficient as it could be. A typical stamped center contact is usually constructed of two thin ribbons of flat metal that are bent to form a receptacle for a center conductor of a coaxial cable. This construction, while low in cost, typically results in poor RF performance and offers little control of the characteristic impedance. Equivalent contacts that are machined instead of stamped provide better performance but involve a significant increase in production cost.
Another problem with certain types of conventional contacts is the inability to accommodate various sizes of conductors with which the contacts are mated.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a coaxial jack that provides more efficient means of sealing the jack internally as well as externally. Furthermore, there also remains a need for an improved jack that includes a cost-effective contact that facilitates improved RF performance, allows better control of characteristic impedance, and can receive conductors having a range of diameters.

Sealed bulkhead coaxial jack and related method


A new and improved swimming pool vacuum apparatus includes an extensible handle assembly which serves as a handle grasped by an operator and which supports a vacuum motor assembly. The vacuum motor assembly is used for providing vacuum power to a vacuum head assembly which contacts the bottom and the walls of a swimming pool. The vacuum head assembly is also supported by the extensible handle assembly. An electrical conductor assembly, connected between the vacuum motor assembly and a source of AC power, is used for conducting electrical power from the source of AC power to the vacuum motor assembly. The electrical conductor assembly includes a ground fault circuit interrupter assembly for interrupting electrical power flow from the source of AC power to the vacuum motor assembly in the event of a short circuit. The extensible handle assembly may include a plurality of handle units connected together in telescopic fashion and also includes an electrically insulating hand grip member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners, and more particularly, to a vacuum apparatus especially adapted to clean swimming pools containing water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Swimming pools accumulate debris over a period of time. Some of the debris is cleaned from the pool water as the water is recycled and filtered. Other debris sinks to the bottom of the pool and is not cleaned during water recycling and filtration. To clean the debris that sinks to the bottom of the pool, a swimming pool vacuum cleaner may be employed.
One form of swimming pool vacuum cleaner makes use of the swimming pool filter assembly. That is, normal connections of the swimming pool filter assembly are altered, and a long vacuum hose is attached to the filter. The vacuum hose is then used for vacuuming the pool. Moreover, the vacuum produced by the filter assembly may be insufficient unless the filter is backwashed. This requires additional time and effort. After the pool is vacuumed, the vacuum hose is disconnected, and the filter is returned to normal. These alterations to the filter system are time consuming and inconvenient. Moreover, the repetitive disassembly and reassembly of filter connections imposes unwanted wear and tear on the filter components. In this respect, it would be desirable to vacuum the pool without using the pool filter apparatus.
A number of swimming pool vacuum cleaners are disclosed in the prior art. For example, the following U.S. patents disclose swimming pool vacuum cleaner apparatus: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,868,739 of Hargrave; 4,240,173 of Sherrill; 4,637,086 of Goode; 4,718,129 of Miller; and 4,962,559 of Shuman.
The patents to Sherrill, Goode, and Miller disclose devices which employ a vacuum source outside the pool and provide a vacuum hose running from the vacuum source to the bottom of the pool. The devices disclosed in these patents avoid any potential problems that might result if water and electricity were to mix. Yet, a disadvantage of these devices is that a large and heavy vacuum hose must be employed. Use of such a large and heavy vacuum hose is undesirable for a number of reasons. Much physical effort must be expended to unwind the hose, use the hose, and rewind the hose. The hose is susceptible to rotting and leaking, thereby reducing its effectiveness. A large hose requires quite a bit of storage space when the hose is not being used. It would be desirable, therefore, if a swimming pool vacuum apparatus were provided which avoided the use of a vacuum hose running from a vacuum source outside the pool to the bottom of the pool.
The patents to Hargrave and Shuman disclose swimming pool vacuum cleaners that avoid the use of long vacuum hoses by using submersible vacuum pumps. The vacuum pump in the Shuman patent is a cordless electric pump. A disadvantage of the Shuman device is that its effective use time is limited by the charge retained in its rechargeable batteries. In this respect, it would be desirable if an immersible swimming pool vacuum apparatus were provided which is not limited by a charge retained by rechargeable batteries.
The patent to Hargrave discloses a swimming pool vacuum cleaner which employs an electrical cord running from an immersible vacuum unit to a source of electricity, e.g. an AC outlet, outside the pool. It is well known that electricity and water do not mix. In this respect it does not appear that special provisions have been made with the Hargrave device to prevent electricity from being conducted from the underwater portions of the device to a person, outside the pool, using the device.
More specifically with respect to the Hargrave device, and generally with respect to immersible vacuum cleaners, it would be desirable if electrical protection were provided to protect a person outside the pool, who is using the underwater portion of the device, from electric shock or electrocution in the event that a short circuit develops in the underwater portion of the device.
The protection from electrical shock could take a number of forms. The protection could be an electrical protection device in the electric circuit powering the immersible vacuum cleaner. In addition, the protective device could take the form of means for electrically isolating the person outside the pool from the electrical portions of the device that are immersed in the pool water.
Aside from pool vacuuming, another chore associated with a swimming pool is the addition of appropriate chemicals to the pool. Generally, pool vacuuming is deemed to be one maintenance operation, and adding chemicals is deemed to be another maintenance operation. In this respect, it would be desirable if the pool vacuuming operation and the chemical addition operation could be combined into a single operation.
Another problems associated with swimming pool vacuum cleaners relates to the handle that is held by the operator outside the pool for controlling the vacuum unit located at the bottom of the pool. Such a handle must have a long effective length. Yet a long handle is very inconvenient when the unit must be stored when not in use. In this respect, it would be desirable to provide a handle for a swimming pool vacuum cleaner that is small and compact during storage, but that is sufficiently long when the handle is in use.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use immersible swimming pool vacuum cleaners, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest an immersible swimming pool vacuum apparatus which is not limited by a charge retained by rechargeable batteries and which provides electrical protection to protect a person outside the pool, who is using the underwater portion of the device, from electric shock or electrocution in the event that a short circuit develops in the underwater portion of the device. The prior art does not provide an electrical protection device in the electric circuit powering the immersible vacuum cleaner. Neither does the prior art provide means for electrically isolating the person outside the pool from the electrical portions of the device that are immersed in the pool water. Also, the prior art does not provide combining the pool vacuuming operation and the chemical addition operation into a single operation. In addition, the prior art does not provide a handle for a swimming pool vacuum cleaner that is small and compact during storage, but that is sufficiently long when the handle is in use. The foregoing disadvantages are overcome by the unique swimming pool vacuum apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.


A service AP conducting ordinary business processing is executed on a first OS. The first OS includes an operation recording controller for recording operation conducted by the first OS as operation recording information together with time when the operation is conducted, and an auxiliary driver for accepting and executing external processing. A multi-OS controller interface included in a second OS, which is higher in reliability than the first OS, operates a multi-OS controller from an AP operating on the second OS. An analysis and prediction AP operating on the second OS analyzes states of the first OS and the service AP, and detects a failure sign. Upon detecting a failure sign, degrade operation of the OS or service AP to be analyzed, preparations for switching from an active system to a stand-by system, and actual switching are conducted before the failure occurs.

The present invention relates to a computer system and a detecting method for detecting a sign of a failure of the computer system. In particular, the present invention relates to a computer system and a detecting method for detecting a sign of a failure of the computer system capable of detecting a sign of failure of an application (AP), an operating system (OS) and hardware (HW) in its own system.
In general, an AP or an OS in a computer system sometimes fails and stops for various reasons such as a defect included in the AP or OS itself or a failure in a device used by the OS.
As a conventional technique concerning a technique for detecting a failure in an AP in the case where it is necessary to continue a function provided by the AP even when a failure as described has occurred, there is known a technique called heart beat whereby the time required until the processing is finished is monitored and a decision is made whether exchange of communication data has been completed within a predetermined time by using a watchdog timer. As another conventional technique, a technique of monitoring a log issued periodically by a system and detecting occurrence of a failure is known. As a conventional technique concerning the heart beat now in use in typical HA clusters, for example, a technique disclosed in http://www.atmarkit.co.jp/flinux/rensai/cluster02/clust er02.html is known.

Computer system and detecting method for detecting a sign of failure of the computer system


A semiconductor device equipped with an area sensor 2 including a plurality of image sensors S11–Smn outputting analog image signals corresponding to the amount of received light; an A/D conversion section 4 including a signal latch section 3 latching the analog image signals, a counter 6 that successively increments integer values and outputs the same, a sweep signal generation section 7 outputting sweep signals whose potential rises in a polygonal line with respect to the integer values, comparators C1–Cn comparing the analog image signals and the sweep signals, and outputting high level signals when the sweep signals are greater than the analog image signals, and latches L1–Ln latching and outputting integer values when signals output from the comparators C1–Cn become a high level; and a signal latch section 5 latching digital image data output from the A/D conversion section 4 and outputting the same.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device that photographs images and outputs digital image data.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, digital still cameras and digital video cameras with over one million pixels have come into use. These digital still cameras and the like are quipped with an area sensor and an A/D converter, and obtain digital image data by digitally converting output signals (analog image signals) of the area sensor by the A/D converter. Digital still cameras and the like used in recent years need an A/D conversion speed of about 20 MHz–30 MHz, and therefore often use pipeline type A/D converters that are capable of performing high-speed A/D conversion. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional circuit (digital image photographing circuit) for photographing digital images. Referring to FIG. 6, the digital image photographing circuit 40 is equipped with an area sensor 41 having sensors disposed in matrix, a signal latch section 42 that latches analog image signals output from the sensors within the area sensor 41, a CDS circuit 43 that removes noise components from the analog image signals output from the signal latch section 42, and a pipeline type A/D converter 44 that converts the analog image signals output from the CDS circuit 43 into digital image data.
The digital image photographing circuit 40 shown in FIG. 6 generally uses an image sensor having a CCD (charge coupled device) transmission circuit that can photograph high-quality images with low noise. For A/D conversion, a pipeline type A/D converter is used to photograph moving pictures and take out digital image data at a high speed.
In recent years, digital still cameras and digital video cameras with over one million pixels have come into use. These digital still cameras and the like are equipped with an area sensor and an A/D converter, and obtain digital image data by digitally converting output signals (analog image signals) of the area sensor by the A/D converter. Digital still cameras and the like used in recent years need an A/D conversion speed of about 20 MHz–30 MHz, and therefore often use pipeline type A/D converters that are capable of performing high-speed A/D conversion. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional circuit (digital image photographing circuit) for photographing digital images. Referring to FIG. 6, the digital image photographing circuit 40 is equipped with an area sensor 41 having sensors disposed in matrix, a signal latch section 42 that latches analog image signals output from the sensors within the area sensor 41, a CDS circuit 43 that removes noise components from the analog image signals output from the signal latch section 42, and a pipeline type A/D converter 44 that converts the analog image signals output from the CDS circuit 43 into digital image data.
Also, a semiconductor device manufacturing process for CCDs and a semiconductor device manufacturing process for pipeline type A/D converters are completely different from each other, and therefore there is a problem in that the CCDs and pipeline type A/D converter cannot be formed on a single semiconductor chip.
Also, in recent years, CMOS type image sensors that produce higher image quality have been made available. The CMOS type image sensor can be formed with a logic circuit such as an A/D converter on a single semiconductor chip. (Here, the CMOS type image sensor means sensors in general terms that can be formed on a single semiconductor chip using a CMOS manufacturing process which forms A/D converters and digital processing circuits.)
The CMOS type image sensor can be formed on the same semiconductor chip where a pipeline type A/D converter having a large circuit and a large power consumption is formed, but also can be formed on the same semiconductor chip where a column type A/D converter that can achieve a lower power consumption is formed. FIG. 7 shows an example of a semiconductor device using a column type A/D converter. In FIG. 7, a semiconductor device 50 is equipped with an area sensor 51 with CMOS type image sensors disposed in matrix, and a column type A/D converter 52.
FIG. 8 shows an internal structure of the column type A/D converter 52. In FIG. 8, the column type A/D converter 52 includes a counter 53, a sweep signal generation section 54, comparators C11–C1n, and latches L11–L1n.
The counter 53 successively outputs unsigned integer values (0–1023) having a 10-bit width. The counter 53 successively outputs the integer values with a 10-bit width for the following reasons. As described later, the integer values output from the counter 53 are latched by the latches L11–L1n, and output as digital image data. Accordingly, the bit width of the digital image data is the same as the bit width of the integer values output from the counter 53. However, the digital image data with 8-bit width is not sufficient in actual use as high-quality image data, and about 10-bit width is normally required.
The sweep signal generation section 54 outputs sweep signals according to the integer values output from the counter 53. FIG. 9 shows a relationship between the integer values that are output from the counter 53 and potentials of the sweep signals that are output from the sweep signal generation section 54 (i.e., sweep signal output characteristic). In FIG. 9, integer values output from the counter 53 are indicated along a horizontal axis direction, and potentials of the sweep signals that are output from the sweep signal generation section 54 are indicated along a vertical axis direction. As shown in FIG. 9, the sweep signal generation section 54 output potentials that linearly increase with respect to the integer values output from the counter 53. It is noted that, in general, the power supply voltage of a CMOS type image sensor is 3.3V, and an amplitude of an analog image signal that is output from the CMOS type image sensor is about 2 V. Therefore, the sweep signal generation section 54 outputs a 2V sweep signal with an amplitude of (VB)V through (VB+2)V according to the amplitude of the analog image signal that is output from the CMOS type image sensor.
When a column type A/D converter is used, an area sensor and the column type A/D converter can be integrated on a single semiconductor device. However, the column type A/D converter has a problem in that it is difficult to secure the dynamic range. Also, the column type A/D converter has a problem in that the A/D conversion takes a long time because the cycle of the sweep signal in a ramp shape must be made longer in order to achieve a highly accurate A/D conversion.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide semiconductor devices in which an area sensor and an A/D converter can be formed on a single semiconductor chip, which is capable of reducing power consumption, converting analog image signals to digital image data with a simple circuit, reducing noise sources, reducing costs, and compressing the bit width of the digital image data while achieving a high dynamic range.


A method and system for resilient mobile communications in a network when network elements are removed, upgraded or fail are provided. A mobile device communicates with an endpoint through foreign and home agents communicatively connected to the network. An active home agent stores communication information for the mobile node and multicasts the communication information to non-active home agents associated with the active home agent. When an active home agent is removed, upgraded or fails, the mobile device is able to maintain mobile communications with the endpoint through one or more non-active home agent. A non-active home agent having a high priority is transitioned to active status to maintain communication service between the mobile node and endpoint.

Conventionally, mobile Internet Protocol (IP) communications utilize a home agent and foreign agent, such as a packet data serving node, to provide mobile service to mobile devices. The home agent is a router on the mobile device's home network that delivers information from or to the mobile device. The foreign agent is a router or server located on a network visited by the mobile node when away from home. The foreign agent provides mobile services for the mobile device while the mobile device is visiting the network associated with the foreign agent. The foreign agent generates a path to the home agent and provides the mobile device with mobile service.
A home network that utilizes a single home agent creates a single point of failure. When the home agent is taken offline, the mobile service to the mobile device is interrupted until a new home agent is connected to the home network. Some networks are configured with multiple home agents to eliminate the single point of failure. For instance, a network may utilize one-to-one redundancy mechanisms that provide a backup home agent for each active home agent. The backup and active home agent share the same configuration and are synchronized periodically. Accordingly, when the active home agent fails, the backup home agent is added to the network.
Although the one-to-one redundancy mechanism provides fault-tolerance by eliminating the single point of failure, the synchronization process may prevent the backup home agent from quickly replacing the active home agent and may delay service to the mobile device. Also, the mechanism is limited to IP version four (IPv4) and may not effectively work with IP version six (IPv6) communication networks.

Stateful home agent recovery protocol (SHARP)


A chip tray has a rectangular base and a protruded area integrally formed on a top face of the base. The base has a concave area defined in a bottom face of the base, a truncated corner defined to facilitate the alignment with another one and at least one cutout defined in an edge of the base. When multiple chip trays are stacked together with the assistance of the truncated corner and the concave area, the cutouts of multiple chip trays form a slot and thus mistakes such as wrong size or wrong feature of the chips are able to be identified easily.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip tray, and more particularly to a chip tray enabling a user to readily identify the serial number and size of the chips received in the tray so as to reduce the risk of having different sizes of chips mixed together.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, in chip fabricating plants and the chip packaging plants, chips, after being cut, are placed and received in a chip tray to facilitate shipment. Normally, chips of same sizes are received in the same tray with a serial number marking the features of the chips in the tray. FIGS. 7 and 8 show a conventional chip tray comprising a base (70) and multiple compartments (81) defined in a top face of the base (70). On an edge of the top face of the base (70), a series of serial numbers is marked for the user to identify the features of chips (not shown) respectively received in each of the compartments (81). The base (70) has a truncated corner (71) such that multiple trays of this kind are able to be stacked one after another. However, when multiple trays of this kind are stacked together, only the top one is able to be identified by the user. That is, if there is a tray of one size or feature misplaced with another size or feature, the user may not be able to find out this mistake, unless each of the trays is removed from on top of another tray. Therefore, this kind of conventional chip tray is not convenient for the user.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved chip tray to mitigate and obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a chip tray with which the user is able to identify whether each of the stacked trays are of the same serial number or of the same feature.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

No. 5, Hsin Le Rd., An Ping Industrial Dist.


An aluminum alloy having improved strength and ductility, comprising:                Cu 3.5–5.8 wt. %,        Mg 0.1–1.8 wt. %        Mn 0.1–0.8 wt. %        Ag 0.2–0.8 wt. %        Ti 0.02–0.12 wt. % and        optionally one or more selected from the group consisting of Cr 0.1–0.8 wt. %,        Hf 0.1–1.0 wt. %, Sc 0.03–0.6 wt. %, and V 0.05–0.15 wt. %.        balance aluminum and incidental elements and impurities,        and wherein the alloy is substantially zirconium-free.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to aluminum-copper-magnesium based alloys and products, and more particularly to aluminum-copper-magnesium alloys and products containing silver, including those particularly suitable for aircraft structural applications requiring high strength and ductility as well as high durability and damage tolerance such as fracture toughness and fatigue resistance.
2. Description of Related Art
Aerospace applications generally require a very specific set of properties. High strength alloys are generally desired, but according to the desired intended use, other properties such as high fracture toughness or ductility, as well as good corrosion resistance may also usually be required.
Aluminum alloys containing copper, magnesium and silver are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,342 describes a wrought aluminum-copper-magnesium-silver alloy including copper in an amount of 5–7 weight (wt.) percent (%), magnesium in an amount of 0.3–0.8 wt. %, silver in an amount of 0.2–1 wt. %, manganese in an amount of 0.3–1.0 wt. %, zirconium in an amount of 0.1–0.25 wt. %, vanadium in an amount of 0.05–0.15 wt. %, silicon less than 0.10 wt. %, and the balance aluminum.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,192 discloses a wrought aluminum alloy comprising about 2.5–5.5 wt. % copper, about 0.10–2.3 wt. % magnesium, about 0.1–1% wt. % silver, up to 0.05 wt. % titanium, and the balance aluminum, in which the amount of copper and magnesium together is maintained at less than the solid solubility limit for copper and magnesium in aluminum.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630,889, 5,665,306, 5,800,927, and 5,879,475 disclose substantially vanadium-free aluminum-based alloys including about 4.85–5.3 wt. % copper, about 0.5–1 wt. % magnesium, about 0.4–0.8 wt. % manganese, about 0.2–0.8 wt. % silver, up to about 0.25 wt. % zirconium, up to about 0.1 wt. % silicon, and up to 0.1 wt. % iron, the balance aluminum, incidental elements and impurities. The alloy can be produced for use in extruded, rolled or forged products, and in a preferred embodiment, the alloy contains a Zr level of about 0.15 wt. %.

Al—Cu—Mg—Ag—Mn-alloy for structural applications requiring high strength and high ductility


Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and apparatus of receiving signals of a plurality of communication services. The apparatus may include, for example, a plurality of multimode receivers to receive signals of a plurality of wireless communication services, wherein the number of the plurality of communication services is equal to or greater than the number of the plurality of multimode receivers; and a controller to control a receive mode of the plurality of receivers. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

A wireless communication device may be adapted to perform diversity reception of wireless signals of a plurality of communication services, e.g., a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication service and a cellular communications service.
The device may include a plurality of receiver modules to receive signals of the plurality of communication services, respectively. Each of the plurality of receiver modules may include a plurality of receive paths to perform diversity reception of the received signals. Each of the paths may include one or more antennas, a band/mode selector and a receiver adapted to receive signals of one of the plurality of communication services. This configuration may be relatively complex and/or expensive, since a relatively large number of receive paths may be required. For example, a device to receive signals of two communication services may include two receiver modules, each including two receive paths, wherein each receive path includes a receiver and an antenna.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn accurately or to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity or several physical components included in one functional block or element. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Moreover, some of the blocks depicted in the drawings may be combined into a single function.

System, method and device of receiving signals of a plurality of communication services


Disclosed herein is a metal interconnection structure of a semiconductor device, comprising lower metal interconnection layers disposed on a semiconductor substrate, a buffer layer made of a metal oxide disposed thereon, an intermetallic dielectric layer made of a low-k material disposed on the buffer layer of the metal oxide, and an upper metal interconnection layer disposed on the intermetallic dielectric layer and electrically connected through the intermetallic dielectric layer and buffer layer to the lower metal interconnection layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly to a metal interconnection structure of a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the increased degree of integration of semiconductor devices and rising demand for high performance thereof, metal interconnection of the semiconductor devices employs a multi-layer metal interconnection structure. In particular, the semiconductor memory devices, for example graphic dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices requiring high speed operation exhibit a trend toward use of a tri layer metal interconnection structure instead of a double layer metal interconnection structure in metal interconnection. In order to reduce the RC signal delay caused by resistance components of metal interconnection layers and capacitor components of intermetallic dielectric layers in such multi-layer metal interconnection structures, the metal interconnection layers should be formed of metal materials having low specific resistance, and further, the intermetallic dielectric layers should be formed of materials having a low dielectric constant. In compliance with such requirements, recently, there is a trend toward formation of the intermetallic dielectric layers using low-k materials having a low dielectric constant.
Meanwhile, in order to reduce sheet resistance (Rs) of the metal interconnection layer itself, the thickness thereof should be increased. However, as the thickness of the metal interconnection layer increases, the thickness of the intermetallic dielectric layer should also be increased. On the other hand, in the case of low-k Spin On Glass (SOG)-based dielectric layers, which have recently been used as the intermetallic dielectric layer, the stress applied to the lower metal interconnection layer is increased when the thickness of the intermetallic dielectric layer is thicker than a certain thickness, and such stress is localized in specific regions, for example end parts of the metal interconnection layer, which correspond to edge parts of a wafer, upon heat treatment of the metal interconnection layer, causing cracks or lifting of the lower metal interconnection layers.
In order to solve such problems, silicon dioxide (SiO2)-based materials having a low carbon content, as a buffer layer, have been conventionally disposed between the metal interconnection layer and intermetallic dielectric layer. As the silicon dioxide (SiO2)-based materials, mention may be made of LP-tetra-ethyl-ortho-silicate (LP-TEOS) oxide layers, Middle Temperature Oxide (MTO) layers and Low Temperature Oxide (LTO) layers, which are deposited via use of Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD), for example. Formation of such silicon dioxide (SiO2)-based materials involves a high-temperature process of more than 600° C. Therefore, when aluminum (Al) or the like is employed as the lower metal interconnection layers, such a high-temperature process adversely affects the lower metal interconnection layers including aluminum (Al), thus making it difficult to enter practical application thereof. In contrast, where Plasma Enhanced Oxide (PEOX) involving a relatively low-temperature process is employed, plasma induced damage results in poor properties of transistors in cell regions and peripheral circuit regions, thus making it even more difficult to enter practical application thereof. Further, such a Plasma Enhanced Oxide exhibits relatively low stress-relieving properties and therefore cannot sufficiently serve as the buffer layer.

Metal interconnection of a semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


A cable retractor for paying out and retracting an electrical cable providing electrical power to an electrical load on a movable window element comprising a first assembly having a rotatable cable spool for receiving the electrical cable for winding on the cable spool, the first assembly including a first housing having an opening therein for paying out a first end of the electrical cable wound on the spool and at least one electrical terminal for connecting a second end of the electrical cable on the spool to one of an electrical power source or the electrical load; a second assembly having at least one electrical connection connected to the first end of the electrical cable and further being connected to the other one of the electrical load or the electrical power source; thereby to provide power to the electrical load from the electrical cable; one of the first and second assemblies being mounted for movement with the movable window element and the other of the first and second assemblies being fixed; and a guide channel disposed between the first and second assemblies for guiding the electrical cable as the electrical cable is retracted into the first housing on the cable spool as the movable window element moves such that the first and second assemblies move relatively toward each other; whereby the electrical load is provided with electrical power from the electrical power source at all positions of the movable window element.

The present invention relates to retractable electrical cable assemblies, and in particular, to a retractable electrical cable assembly that retracts an electrical cable that provides electrical power to a defroster element of a movable sliding window of a vehicle.
Defroster elements are commonly applied to or contained within or on the window glass elements of vehicles to provide a heating function to defrost the windowpane. Some vehicles, for example, pick-up trucks, have a rear window panel that is slidable horizontally to open it. It is desirable to provide a defroster element on such slidable window panels. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/408,192, filed Mar. 20, 2009, entitled Sliding Window Magnetic Electrical Connector, an apparatus for providing electrical power to the defroster element of such a slidable window panel is disclosed. However, in that apparatus, the window panel must be in the closed position to receive electrical power.
It is desirable to be able to provide electrical power to the defroster element of a slidable window panel so that the defroster element is electrically powered in any position of the window panel, i.e., whether the panel is closed, open or in a partially open state.

Electrical cable retractor assembly for a movable window


A generator includes a heat-electricity transforming device and a heat collector. The heat-electricity transforming device is configured to transform heat into electricity. The heat collector includes at least one heat absorption module. The at least one heat absorption module includes a carbon nanotube structure. The at least one heat absorption module is connected to the heat-electricity transforming device and transfers heat to the heat-electricity transforming device.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to generators and, in particular, to a generator based on carbon nanotubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The heat-electricity transforming rate of a typical generator obeys the following formula:
            Φ      max        =                            [                                    (                                                T                  1                                -                                  T                  2                                            )                        /                          T              1                                ]                ×                  [                                                    (                                  1                  +                                      Z                                                              T                      _                                                                      )                                            1                /                2                                      -            1                    ]                            [                                            (                              1                +                                  Z                                                        T                    _                                                              )                                      1              /              2                                +                                    T              2                        /                          T              1                                      ]              ,wherein T1 is temperature of a high temperature area of the generator, T2 is temperature of a low temperature area of the generator, Z is a factor relating to material, and T=(T1+T2)/2. As described above, the transforming rate relates to the difference in temperature between the high temperature area and the low temperature area besides the properties of the heat-absorbing material. Therefore, increasing the temperature of the high temperature area can improve the transforming rate of the generator.
Referring to FIG. 9, a typical generator 200 includes a heat-electricity transforming device 210, a heat-receiving area 220, a cooling area 222, a nickel-chromium layer 224, a glass plate 226, and a heat sink 230. A vacuum container 228 is defined between the glass plate 226 and the heat-receiving area 220. The heat-receiving area 220 and the cooling area 222 are disposed on opposite ends of the heat-electricity transforming device 210. The nickel-chromium layer 222 is disposed on a surface of the heat-receiving area 220 and configured to absorb heat. However, the nickel-chromium layer 224 has a lower heat-absorbing rate, thereby decreasing the heat-electricity transforming rate of the generator 200. The nickel-chromium layer 224 may reflect visible light and far infrared light, which is disadvantageous for improving the temperature of the heat-receiving area 220 and further results in a poor heat-electricity transforming rate of the generator 200.
What is needed, therefore, is a new generator based on carbon nanotubes, which can overcome the above-described shortcomings.


A method of testing non-volatile memory arrays. A first test stage including at least a first stage read uses a first step size for setting current for BCC testing and/or voltage for VT testing for reading at least some memory cells. A second test stage including at least one second stage read uses an adjusted step size less in magnitude than the first step size for reading at least some memory cells. Provided no bit pattern match by the second test stage and/or the adjusted step size does not meet a predetermined minimum resolution (PMR), one or more additional test stages including additional array searching are added using a fixed step size less in magnitude than the adjusted step size including at least one read until a final read determines the predetermined bit pattern is matched and a fixed step size for the final read meets the PMR.

Non-volatile semiconductor memory devices that have an array of memory cells is a basic building block in computer systems and semiconductor devices that store data. Typical non-volatile memory arrays are arranged in rows and columns of memory cells ("cells"), where each cell in the array typically provides two different states, and each cell can be uniquely addressable. However, non-volatile memory cells that provide more than two possible states are also known.
Finding the threshold voltage (VT) or bit cell current (BCC) of the cells in the non-volatile memory of a semiconductor device is used in production testing for stability testing to ensure the long term reliability of the memory for holding data. For example, one example semiconductor device having non-volatile memory is a microcontroller (MCU) which generally includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a flash memory array as the main memory where the customer's firmware generally resides.
One type of known flash memory cell is based on a dual gate field effect transistor (FET) that includes a select gate, a floating gate, a body, a drain, and a source. For read operations, the source of the flash cell is coupled to ground, and the drain of the cell is coupled to a bitline of the flash memory array. The cell is switched on and off by applying a select voltage to the select gate via a wordline that is coupled to the select gate. The extent to which the cell conducts current when the select voltage is applied across the channel of the FET is determined by the threshold voltage VT of the cell, where the VT can be increased by trapping electrons on the floating gate.
A typical method for storing information in a flash cell involves trapping of excess electrons on the floating gate to increase the VT of the cell such that the channel current conducted by the cell is reduced when the select voltage is applied to the select gate. If the cell current is less than a reference current when the select voltage is applied, the cell is said to be "programmed." If the cell current is greater than the reference current when the select voltage is applied, the flash cell is said to be "erased." Since the typical flash memory cell is configured to be in one of two possible states, programmed or erased, the typical flash cell is said to store one bit of data.
The cells in the memory array are generally first set (initialized) to a predetermined bit pattern of ones (1; erased) and/or zeros (0; programmed) before each VT search and/or bit cell current (BCC) search. The memory arrays cells may be set to be all erased (FF) or at least partially programmed (00, checkerboard (CHK), or inverse CHK). Following setting of the states of the memory cells, during the VT/BCC search, an external control voltage/current is applied by automatic test equipment (ATE) to cells in the device and then the content of the all the cells in the array is read typically by the ATE and compared to the expected values from the predetermined bit pattern. In the case of memory testing an integrated circuit (IC) such as an MCU including a controller (e.g., central processing unit (CPU)) and a non-volatile memory array, the IC can include a dedicated analog test pin for receiving the voltage or current from the ATE for the read operation so that the MCU can perform the search and read functions. The MCU may also generate the voltage or current levels for the read operation and perform the search and read functions, thus removing the need for the ATE for testing the memory array. A PASS is observed when all of the memory cells match with the expected value at one end of the search range, or the test is considered a FAIL otherwise at another end of the search range.
Based on the compare results, in the case of a FAIL, the external conditions (e.g., control voltage for VT testing) may be adjusted up or down by a predetermined fixed step size (e.g., 10 mV for VT testing) until the actual value read for all the cells in the array match with the expected value at the target resolution level for the search (thus providing a "convergence value"). Using a binary search scheme for conventional cells providing 2 states, this process typically involves multiple, iterative passes of reading all the cells in the memory array several times (stages) to find the convergence value, driving the test cost higher than desired.


The present invention discloses a system and method for synthesizing a portrait sketch from a photo. The method includes: dividing the photo into a set of photo patches; determining first matching information between each of the photo patches and training photo patches pre-divided from a set of training photos; determining second matching information between each of the photo patches and training sketch patches pre-divided from a set of training sketches; determining a shape prior for the portrait sketch to be synthesized; determining a set of matched training sketch patches for each of the photo patches based on the first and the second matching information and the shape prior; and synthesizing the portrait sketch from the determined matched training sketch patches.

Recently, automatic face sketch synthesis gets more and more attention due to its applications in law enforcement and digital entertainment. For example, in law enforcement, it is useful to develop a system for searching photos from police mug-shot databases by using a sketch drawing where a photo of a suspect is not available. By transferring face photos to sketches, a sketch drawn by a painter may be directly matched with a sketch automatically synthesized by a computer, so that the authenticity of face recognition may be improved. In the movie industry, artists may save a great amount of time on drawing cartoon faces with an assistance of an automatic sketch synthesis system. Such a system may also make people to easily personalize their identities in the digital world, such as a MSN avatar.
Popular sketch synthesis methods are mostly based on a sample library, which generates a sketch with rich textures from an input face photo based on a set of training face photo-sketch pairs. These approaches can synthesize sketches of different styles by choosing different style of training sets. In the prior art, it is proposed to apply a global feature transform to synthesize a sketch from a photo. However, such a global linear model will not work well if the hair region is included, since the hair styles vary significantly from different people. To overcome this limitation, a patch-based reconstruction is proposed. The drawback of this approach is that the patches in each area are synthesized independently such that their spatial relationships are ignored. Therefore, some face structures cannot be well synthesized. In addition, face sketch synthesis through linear combinations of training sketch patches causes the blurring effect.
In a word, previous methods only work under well controlled conditions and often fail when there are variations of lighting and pose.

System and method for synthesizing portrait sketch from a photo


This invention provides an improved system and method for producing manifolds such as those used to direct exhaust gasses from an internal combustion engine into a turbocharger. The manifold is made from two or more pieces which are machined in such a way as to create passageways when the separate pieces are assembled together. The method is much faster and easier to produce than present methods and allows for improved accuracy. The ability to machine these manifolds using computer controlled machines will lower costs and improve quality.

In recent years the addition of a turbocharger has become popular as a means for boosting the power of internal combustion engines. To this end, many auto makers have tried turbo charging to extract more power from small engines. These manufacturers have typically used the economies of volume production to make it feasible to have exhaust manifolds cast by the thousand to direct exhaust gasses to the turbocharger turbine wheel. These manifolds were generally quite acceptable in use but were not usually the best design to extract the highest performance possible. The casting process left a rough internal finish which restricted the flow of exhaust gasses.
There is also a large demand for turbo manifolds which can be fitted to engines which were either supplied without turbo's or, were supplied with poorly designed manifolds which could be exchanged for an after market manifold for improved performance. These after market manifolds are usually constructed using a flat steel plate type flange which bolts to the cylinder head of the engine. The plate has holes in it which correspond with the exhaust ports of the engine. Welded to this flange plate are steel pipes which direct the exhaust gasses away from the cylinder head exhaust ports and into a common collection area. This collection area has a flange at its exhaust end which is configured to match the bolt pattern of the turbo charger inlet. The combined gasses from all the cylinders are routed via this flange, into the turbocharger turbine inlet. These welded pipe style manifolds are free flowing but difficult and expensive to construct. Due to the thin metal used in their construction these manifolds are also prone to failure when under the stress of the intense heat generated in a turbo charged engines exhaust system. These manifolds require many separate components to produce and require a great deal of skilled welding.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that an improved system and method for producing turbocharger manifolds would have many applications for internal combustion engines.

System and method of producing exhaust and other types of manifold


An electrode assembly has a positive sheet, a negative sheet, and separators that are stacked and wounded. A joint portion is formed by thermally fusion bonding or compression bonding of the separators at one end in a width direction thereof so that one end of the positive sheet on an opposite side in a width direction with respect to a positive lead is wrapped by the separators. Arranged outside of the joint portion in the width direction is a separating portion where the separators are separated from each other. A protecting layer made of an insulating material is formed on the end face of the positive sheet. The positive sheet is reliably prevented from being in contact with a foreign material.

Some of electrode assemblies for an electric storage element such as a battery including a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and a capacitor have structure in which a positive sheet, a negative sheet, and two separators, all of which has a strip-like shape, are stacked and wound. Active material layers are formed on both surfaces of the positive sheet and the negative sheet. On one ends in a width direction of the positive and negative sheets, active material layers are not formed so as to expose the metal foils to form leads. The separators are respectively interposed between the positive sheet and the negative sheet. The lead protrudes from any one of the both ends in the width direction of the separators.
An electrode assembly included in a secondary battery disclosed in JP No. 2011-216399 A includes a joint portion that joints the two separators at one end on an opposite side with respect to the lead the positive sheet and/or the negative sheet in the width direction. The joint portion is formed by, e.g., thermal fusion bonding of the two separators by heat rollers at the time of winding. By forming the joint portion, the positive sheet and/or the negative sheet are wrapped with the two separators at one end on the opposite side with respect to the lead, resulting in that foreign material is prevented from being in contact with the portions. The foreign material includes, e.g., metal particles generated when the leads of the positive sheet and/or the negative sheet are welded to an electric collector by ultrasonic welding.


An illumination device for a display instrument is described which is used to illuminate two sets of scale markings and to separately illuminate a pointer scale of the display instrument. The light from a light source is guided past light funnels that are used to illuminate the pointer scale by an optical waveguide. This provides an efficient and economical means of illuminating a display instrument of this type.

The present invention relates to an illumination device for a display instrument according to the definition of the species of the main claim. Illumination devices for display instruments with two different scale markings are known in which both the scale markings as well as a pointer scale are illuminated by one light source. If individual segments of the pointer scale are to be darkened, a known method is for this darkening to be implemented using a switchable liquid crystal cell. The liquid crystal cell is, however, expensive to manufacture and difficult to mount, especially since it is generally made of glass. A further known method is to arrange additional light sources to illuminate each pointer scale.


An auxiliary module for an electrohydraulic brake assembly, in particular for use in highly automated driving, including a hydraulics unit with a pressure provision device for building up pressure in at least two brakes, wherein at least one reservoir for brake fluid is integrated into the hydraulics unit, and a brake assembly system having an auxiliary module.

In motor vehicle engineering, "brake-by-wire" brake assemblies are being used ever more widely. Brake assemblies of this kind often have not only a master brake cylinder that can be actuated by the vehicle driver but also an electrically activatable pressure provision device (activatable "by-wire"), by means of which actuation of the wheel brakes takes place in the "brake-by-wire" operating mode.
In these modern brake systems, in particular electrohydraulic brake systems with the "brake-by-wire" operating mode, the driver does not have direct access to the brakes. When the pedal is actuated, a pedal decoupling unit and a simulator are usually actuated, and the braking demand of the driver is detected by a sensor system. The pedal simulator, which is commonly formed as master brake cylinder, is used to give the driver a brake pedal feel which is as familiar and comfortable as possible. The detected braking demand leads to the determination of a setpoint braking torque, from which the setpoint brake pressure for the brakes is then determined. The brake pressure is then built up actively in the brakes by a pressure provision device.
The actual braking is thus achieved by active pressure build-up in the brake circuits with the aid of a pressure provision device, which is activated by an open-loop and closed-loop control unit. By virtue of the brake pedal actuation being hydraulically decoupled from the pressure build-up, a large number of functionalities, such as ABS, ESC, TCS, slope starting assistance etc., can be implemented in a convenient manner for the driver in brake systems of this kind.
In brake systems of this kind, a hydraulic fall-back level is usually provided, by means of which the driver can brake or halt the vehicle by muscle power by actuating the brake pedal if the "by-wire" operating mode fails or is disrupted. Whereas, in the normal mode, the above-described hydraulic decoupling between brake pedal actuation and brake pressure build-up is realized by means of a pedal decoupling unit, this decoupling is eliminated in the fall-back level, thus enabling the driver to directly displace brake medium into the brake circuits. A switch is made to the fall-back level if it is no longer possible to build up pressure with the aid of the pressure provision device. This is the case inter alia if the check valve that connects the pressure provision device to the reservoir no longer reliably shuts off, such that a pressure build-up is no longer reliably possible.
The pressure provision device in the brake systems described above is also referred to as an actuator or hydraulic actuator. In particular, actuators are designed as linear actuators or linear units, in which, for the pressure build-up, a piston is displaced axially into a hydraulic pressure space which is constructed in series with a rotation-translation mechanism. The motor shaft of an electric motor is converted by the rotation-translation mechanism into an axial displacement of the piston.
DE 10 2013 204 778 A1, incorporated by reference herein, has disclosed a "brake-by-wire" brake assembly for motor vehicles which comprises a tandem master brake cylinder, which can be actuated by means of a brake pedal and the pressure spaces of which are in each case connected, separably by means of an electrically actuatable isolating valve, to a brake circuit with two wheel brakes, an activatable and deactivatable simulation device, which is hydraulically connected to the master brake cylinder, and an electrically controllable pressure provision device, which is formed by a piston-cylinder arrangement with a hydraulic pressure space, the piston of which is displaceable by an electromechanical actuator, wherein the pressure provision device is connected via two electrically actuatable activation valves to the inlet valves of the wheel brakes.
During normal operation, the driver is separated from the wheel brakes by switching of driver isolating valves, and the linear actuator is hydraulically connected to the wheel brakes by switching of actuator activation valves. A movement of the linear actuator out of its rest position in a forward direction effects a pressure build-up, and, in the reverse direction, a pressure dissipation, in the wheel brakes.
Such a brake-by-wire brake assembly is suitable for use in automated driving, in the case of which the vehicle control is partially or substantially entirely automated, such that the driver can perform other activities. In the event of a failure of the normal level of the brake assembly, it can take a relatively long time until the driver notices this failure and actuates the brake pedal himself or herself by muscle force.
For automated driving, a backup module is therefore required which, in the event of failure of the master brake system, can ensure basic brake functionality until the driver takes over. Exactly the time period between the failure occurring and the driver being ready to act is thus bridged in this way.
In this regard, there are already various proposed solutions. In the case of some of these technical solutions, provision is made for a dedicated brake fluid tank to be installed on the auxiliary module, which dedicated brake fluid tank is connected to the tank of the primary brake assembly via a hose line.
Such an arrangement however has numerous disadvantages. Firstly, it has an insecure hose connection between the two brake fluid tanks, which can easily be damaged and lead to leakages. For the monitoring, a further tank warning device is necessary. The packaging of an auxiliary module of said type has furthermore proven to be unfavorable and difficult.

Add-on module for an electrohydraulic brake assembly, and brake assembly system comprising an add-on module of said type


A method for determining the amount of an analyte in a sample fluid utilizing an assay element which comprises at least one reagent layer. The assay method includes the steps of optically reading a signal producing species, e.g., a fluorescent label, a first time prior to depositing the sample fluid on the assay element and a second time, at the same wavelength and in the same location within the assay element after the sample fluid has been applied to the assay element and the sample analyte has interacted with the reagent(s) present in the assay element. The first, or dry, reading is corrected for relative humidity and/or temperature variations.

The present invention relates to assays for the determination of analytes in fluids and, more particularly, to a method for correcting the signal obtained for variations caused by relative humidity and/or temperature variations.
Many types of assay elements for the rapid analysis of analytes present in biological fluids are known in the art. Of particular interest are dry multilayer analytical elements to which a sample, e.g., a drop of blood, serum or plasma, is applied and allowed to migrate or diffuse to a reagent layer or layers. As a result of the interaction between the analyte and the reagent(s) present, a detectable change is brought about in the element corresponding to the presence of the analyte in the sample. The detectable change can be a color change which may be evaluated visually or read spectrophotometrically such as with a densitometer. In another scheme based on the presence of fluorescent-labeled biologically active species, a fluorescent output signal can be generated and read spectrofluorometrically. Such assay elements are of great interest because they can be adapted for use in automated analytical instruments.
In the automated analytical instruments a sample of a test fluid is typically provided in a sample cup and all of the assay method steps including pipetting of a measured volume of the sample onto an assay element, incubation and readout of the signal obtained as a result of the interaction(s) between the reagent(s) and the sample analyte are carried out automatically. The assay element is typically transported from one station, e.g., the pipetting station, to another, e.g., the optical read station, by a transport means such as a rotating carousel to enable the test steps to be carried out automatically. Further, in some instruments the pipetting and optical read steps are carried out while the assay element is in a temperature-controlled chamber. Such automated instruments can be operated in the batch mode, that is, a plurality of assays for the same analyte are carried out at the same time. Also, some instruments are capable of being operated in a random-access mode, that is, assays for a plurality of different analytes can be carried out at the same time.
Such automated analytical instruments are capable of processing many assay elements rapidly and it is necessary to achieve a very high level of precision for these assays. However, imprecisions in the results obtained can be caused by a number of factors. Commonly assigned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 382,555, filed Jul. 19, 1989 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,079 discloses and claims an analytical method which utilizes dry multilayer assay elements. The method corrects for signal imprecisions caused by variations in reagent levels from assay element to assay element and other variations including those in instrument position response. Briefly, this method involves taking a first optical reading of the assay element prior to delivering sample fluid to the element and, after the fluid has been dispensed and the requisite interaction between the sample analyte and the reagent(s) has taken place, taking a second optical reading. The ratio of the second signal to the first signal is taken and compared with that for known amounts of the analyte to determine the amount of analyte in the fluid.
As the state of the art advances, however, additional difficulties may be encountered. For example, the optical signals obtained from various dry assay elements including multilayer assay elements can vary significantly depending upon the relative humidity of the environment in which the instrument is located. Typically, these diagnostic assay elements are packaged in moisture impermeable materials and the relative humidity inside the package maintained at a very low level, e.g., about 10%, so as to prolong the shelf life of the elements. The assay elements should be removed from the package just prior to use and inserted into the analytical instrument without being allowed to remain in the ambient environment for any extended length of time. However, it is apparent that the ambient environment will vary from location to location and also within a location over time. Therefore the relative humidity within the instrument will vary.
Dealing with relative humidity and temperature considerations in random access analyzers involves still another level of difficulty since the individual assay elements may reside in the instrument for different periods of time before the dry optical reading is taken. One approach to dealing with temperature considerations in such analyzers is to allow the assay element to remain in a temperature controlled chamber for the period of time necessary for the element to equilibrate with the chamber temperature. A possible approach to the relative humidity factor would be to take the dry reading only after a particular assay element has been in the instrument for a period of time sufficient to permit it to come to equilibrium with the relative humidity of the environment and to correct the reading based on the relative humidity as measured by a sensor. Such procedures are not entirely satisfactory because imposing such minimum time periods on the assay protocols would restrict the throughput rate of the instrument and would not permit the instrument to be operated in the most efficient manner.
It would be desirable therefore to have a method for compensating for optical signal imprecisions caused by relative humidity and/or temperature variations which offers a number of optional choices based on the manner in which the operator desires to practice the method. It would also be desirable to have such a method which can be practiced so as not to adversely affect the throughput rate of the analytical instrument. Further, it would be desirable to have such a method which would permit a random access automated analytical instrument to be operated in the most efficient manner possible.


A method and system is used to predict a behavioral value for a forecast period based on historical pattern identification and modeling. A set of training periods is compiled, and for each of the training periods, a generalized percentage function of the behavioral values is defined and computed. The training periods and their corresponding generalized percentage functions are further normalized and generalized, respectively, so that all training periods have the same length as the forecast period. A prediction time series is computed from the generalized percentage functions. The prediction time series is used to forecast a set of values in the forecast period based on a current behavior value. In one example, the behavior values are revenue and calculated over monthly training and forecast periods.

Businesses today are under intense pressure to compete in an environment of tight deadlines and reduced profits. One key to being successful in this environment is having timely and accurate financial and other business performance data that reflects the state of the corporation. It would be difficult for a modern large enterprise to be successful without accurate gathering and analysis of financial and other business performance data.
Businesses rely on financial data in order to support decision-making. The financial data is maintained in computerized financial reporting systems. For some large entities, these reporting systems process large numbers of complex transactions occurring at locations around the world. Businesses attempt to use this data to determine some behavior, such as predicted end-of-month revenue, for supporting business decisions. However, modeling the complex financial transactions of the large enterprise is very difficult.
Traditionally, business enterprise data has been kept in databases that are sometimes specialized and often separate from other data repositories. Data may be stored in various incompatible databases and formats across corporate divisions. A major task in managing the large enterprise is effectively gathering this data into repositories for analysis within various levels of the organization.
Recently, businesses have started exploring the feasibility of applying traditional statistical analysis techniques to large databases for the purpose of discovering hidden data attributes, trends, and patterns. This exploration, known as data mining, has evolved into the creation of analytical tools based on a wide collection of statistical techniques.
For a corporation, the discovery of previously unknown statistical patterns or trends can provide valuable insight into the function and environment of their organization. Data-mining techniques allow businesses to make predictions of future events, whereas analysis of warehoused data only gives evidence of past facts.
A common approach to analyzing this data is to have a human expert extract, sort, and process important parts of the data for trend analysis and forecasting. This method can be effective, but is rather slow and highly dependent on the skill of the analyst. Although the use of computers makes arranging and viewing the date much more convenient, traditional computing operations still require human interaction to spot trends in order to provide acceptable results on which to base important business decisions.
Due to ever shortening business cycles and the need to distribute information to all parts of the enterprise, legacy business processes that require data to be extracted and manually manipulated before use will be much less desirable. Instead, enterprises will need rapid decision support based on rapid analysis and forecasting of future behavior.
A system and method that address the aforementioned problems, as well as other related problems, are therefore desirable.

Method and system for predicting revenue based on historical pattern indentification and modeling

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A frame structure of an electric bed includes a detachable upper frame and a detachable lower frame, wherein the upper frame includes wheels, and the lower frame includes rail slots. The lower frame can be separated into a front lower frame and a rear lower frame; the front lower frame includes a front lower frame main body and front lower frame mounting portions on both sides of the front lower frame main body; the rear lower frame includes a rear lower frame main body and rear lower frame mounting portions on both sides of the rear lower frame main body; and wherein the front lower frame mounting portions and the rear lower frame mounting portions are connected by screws; and the front lower frame main body and the rear lower frame main body together form an accommodating space for accommodating a driving structure of an electric bed.

With the improvement of people's living standards, electric beds are widely used.
The existing electric bed is usually of an integrated design, that is, a large bed frame fixedly mounted with a plurality of mechanical and electrical components connected by wires and cables, and detachable bed legs further mounted on the bed frame.
This type of integrated electric bed is not only complicated in construction, but also large in size and heavy in weight. This causes inconvenience in packaging and transportation, increasing the difficulty of moving to the household. Due to the limitation of residential elevators and stairs, the integrated electric bed is difficult to move, which greatly increases the labor intensity of transportation. Some electric beds cannot even be moved to the household, which makes the application of electric beds very limited.
For the above reason, a detachable frame structure of an electric bed is needed for easy transportation.


There is provided a back-illuminated type solid-state image pickup unit, in which a pad wiring line is provided on a light reception surface, capable of improving light reception characteristics in a photoelectric conversion section by thinning an insulating film in the back-illuminated type solid-state image pickup unit. A solid-state image pickup unit according to the present technology to accomplish such a purpose includes a sensor substrate having a pixel region in which photoelectric conversion sections are formed in an array, and a drive circuit is provided on a surface opposed to a light reception surface for the photoelectric conversion sections of the sensor substrate. Moreover, a through hole via reaching the drive circuit from the light reception surface of the sensor substrate is provided in a peripheral region located outside the pixel region. Further, a pad wiring line directly laminated on the through hole via is provided on the light reception surface in the peripheral region.

In solid-state image pickup units, to improve photoelectric conversion efficiency and sensitivity with respect to incident light, there has been proposed a so-called back-illuminated type structure in which a drive circuit is formed on a front surface of a semiconductor substrate and a back surface of the semiconductor substrate serves as a light reception surface. Moreover, there has been proposed a three-dimensional structure in which a circuit substrate where a drive circuit is formed is prepared in addition to a semiconductor substrate where a photoelectric conversion section is formed and the circuit substrate is bonded to a surface opposed to a light reception surface of the semiconductor substrate.
In such a back-illuminated type solid-state image pickup unit, a plurality of through hole vias reaching a drive circuit of a semiconductor substrate or a drive circuit of a circuit substrate are provided to a peripheral region located outside a pixel region including a photoelectric conversion section so as to penetrate the semiconductor substrate. A configuration on the light reception surface of the semiconductor is fabricated by the following processes. First, a cap film is provided on the light reception surface so as to cover the through hole vias that are so formed as to be embedded in the semiconductor substrate, and then a light-shielding film is provided on the cap film. Next, in the peripheral region provided with the through hole vias, a wiring line and an electrode pad allowing the through hole vias to be connected to one another are provided on the cap film. Then, a planarization film is provided so as to cover the wiring line and the electrode pad, and color filters and on-chip lenses corresponding to the respective photoelectric conversion sections are provided on the planarization film. Finally, in the peripheral region, the planarization film covering the wiring line and the electrode pad is selectively removed by etching to form a pad opening allowing the electrode pad to be exposed.
Moreover, a configuration on the light reception surface side of the back-illuminated type solid-state image pickup unit is as follows. A through hole via penetrating the semiconductor substrate is provided to a section peripheral to the pixel region where the photoelectric conversion sections are arrayed. The through hole via via is connected to a wiring line or a circuit substrate provided on a side opposed to the light reception surface. Moreover, a top on the light reception surface side is covered with an insulating film, and a pad wiring line such as a wiring line for connection or an electrode pad is provided on the insulating film. The pad wiring line is connected to the through hole via through a connection hole formed in the insulating film, and is connected to an external wiring line by wire bonding.
Further, an insulating film covering the pad wiring line is provided on the light reception surface side, and color filters and on-chip lenses corresponding to the respective photoelectric conversion sections are provided on the insulating film. Moreover, an opening allowing the pad wiring line to be exposed is provided to the insulating film covering the pad wiring line (refer to the following PTL 1 up to this point).

Solid-state image pickup unit, method of manufacturing solid-state image pickup unit, and electronic apparatus


A nose sprocket for chain saws includes an inner peripheral surface defining a bearing race, and teeth disposed at an outer peripheral portion of the nose sprocket. Side surfaces of the nose sprocket are provided with a vapor-deposited low-friction coating, except that the inner peripheral surface and a portion of each side surface adjoining the inner peripheral surface are free of the coating.

The present invention relates to nose sprockets for chain saws, and to a method of making such a nose sprocket.
Thin nose sprockets have long been used to carry a saw chain around the nose of a guide bar. The sprockets carry the chain without friction against the guide bar edges, resulting in less wear and less power requirement.
In vehicle-mounted chain saws the chain is subjected to very high velocity and tensile force. The engine power is much higher than in manual chain saws and the operator has no direct view of the cutting area. If a tree trunk is leaning when sawn through, the saw chain and guide bar may be compressed so hard that the chain of a manual chain saw stops, but the chain of a vehicle-mounted saw may still keep running. This will cause damage by overheating the nose sprocket until it becomes buckled and skewed, followed by local welding and seizure.
Several guide bar and sprocket designs have been suggested to lessen the risk of such damage, such as increasing the space between the sprocket and the guide bar side plates, or pressure-lubricating the sprocket bearing with an excess of lubricant enough to lubricate the sprocket sides. This has at least created a possibility to continue sawing with a slightly deformed sprocket, but has not solved the problem of overheating during the initial compression stage.


A non-arcing electrical switch is disclosed wherein a solid-state switching element is operated in response to current flow within an external circuit. The switch is particularly suitable for use within an auxiliary lighting circuit of a gaseous discharge lamp. Because the switch operates in response to the current drawn by the gaseous discharge lamp rather than a specific sensed voltage, it may be used with virtually any type of clamp or lamp operating circuit.

It has long been considered desirable for the starting and operating circuits of gaseous discharge lamps to incorporate circuitry for automatically lighting an auxiliary lamp when the gaseous discharge lamp is extinguished. Examples of such circuits are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,976,910, 3,611,432 and 3,517,254, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Previous auxiliary lighting circuits, however, are severely limited in their range of application. This is because those circuits are designed to measure specific voltage levels in order to determine whether the gaseous discharge lamp is operating or not. From that determination, the auxiliary lighting source is either energized or maintained in an off state. Voltage levels of gaseous discharge lamp operating circuits vary greatly, however, depending upon the type of lamp (e.g., metal halide or high pressure sodium), the voltage of the power source, and the specific design of the operating circuit. Indeed, most of the previous auxiliary lighting circuits are designed as an inherent part of the main lamp operating circuit and, therefore, have no general applicability to other lamps.

Auxiliary lighting circuit for a gaseous discharge lamp


When a phosphor for ultraviolet excitation or visible light excitation is excited by light having wavelengths in a range of 100 to 500 nm and emission colors of the phosphor are represented by xy coordinates, the phosphor has a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of x coordinates and a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of y coordinates which are respectively 0.020 or less. A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting part which contains at least such a phosphor. The light-emitting part emits visible light when irradiated with ultraviolet or visible light emitted from an excitation source.

In recent years, a light-emitting device using a phosphor, which is excited with ultraviolet or visible light, is spreading rapidly. Specific light-emitting devices include a plasma display panel (PDP), a cold cathode discharge lamp used for a back light or the like of a liquid crystal display, a white light-emitting type LED lamp (white LED lamp) using a light-emitting diode (LED), and the like. When the conventional heavily used fluorescent lamps are added to the above, demands for the ultraviolet excitation type or visible light excitation type phosphor are increasing rapidly. With the increase of such demands and use, the quality that the phosphor is demanded to have, particularly a life property (phosphor luminance maintenance property when operating), has become higher in level because the light-emitting device has become common and highly sophisticated.
The ultraviolet excitation type phosphor is made to emit visible light (so-called light emission) by irradiation of ultraviolet rays having various wavelengths. As an ultraviolet ray supply source, it is general to use rare gas discharge (wavelength: mainly 147 nm and 172 nm), mercury (wavelength: mainly 254 nm), black light (wavelength: mainly 360 nm), ultraviolet LED (wavelength: mainly 380 nm), and the like, which are selectively used depending on an applying device. For example, the rare gas discharge is used for the plasma display panel, the mercury is used for the cold cathode discharge lamp for the back light and the fluorescent lamp, and the ultraviolet LED (ultraviolet ray-emitting LED) is used for the white LED lamp.
The phosphor is made to emit light by ultraviolet rays having various wavelengths, and its light-emitting property is peculiar to the phosphor. For example, a red light-emitting Y2O3:Eu phosphor which is used for the cold cathode discharge lamp and the fluorescent lamp is made to emit light efficiently by ultraviolet rays of 147 nm, 172 nm and 254 nm but not made to emit light substantially by ultraviolet rays of 360 nm and 380 nm. A blue light-emitting BaMgAl10O17:Eu phosphor used for the plasma display panel is made to emit light efficiently by all ultraviolet rays of 147 nm, 172 nm, 254 nm, 360 nm and 380 nm.
As phosphor materials for the light-emitting device described above, phosphors of various compositions have been developed. For example, ultraviolet excitation type phosphors used for a plasma display panel, a rare gas discharge lamp and the like are described in Patent Reference 1 and Patent Reference 2. The phosphors described in these Patent Literatures were improved their compositions to improve an emission intensity and a luminescent maintenance factor. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 describes an ultraviolet excitation type phosphor having a luminance maintenance factor of 97% after a continuous light-emitting operation of 1000 hours.
In recent years, the light-emitting device is being used extensively in various fields, such as the back light of the plasma display panel and the liquid crystal display, and its use methods are becoming available in great variety. Therefore, there was conventionally no problem if the luminance maintenance factor after a continuous operation of about 1000 hours was excellent. But, a higher luminance maintenance factor is demanded in these years. Specifically, an excellent luminance maintenance factor is demanded even after a lapse of 3000 hours or more, e.g., about 5000 hours. However, the conventional phosphor does not always provide a luminance maintenance factor with a good result after a continuous operation for more than 3000 hours.
[Patent Reference 1] JP-A 2002-348571 (KOKAI)
[Patent Reference 2] JP-A 2004-203980 (KOKAI)

Phosphor and method for producing same, and light-emitting device using same and method for manufacturing such device


The invention proposes a method of linking extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK implicitly to eCCEs used by EPDCCH. According to an embodiment of the invention, extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK are indexed based on the numbering of eCCEs. As compared with a method of indexing extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK through explicit linking, this method of implicit linking can save a significant signaling overhead and facilitate a standardization course. Furthermore this method further addresses the problem in the prior art of the lack of a linkage between extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK implicitly to eCCEs used by EPDCCH.

At present, an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) has been introduced during the course of standardizing the 3GPP LTE-A and will be increasingly widely applied. The EPDCCH is located in the data domain and demodulated based on a Demodulation-Reference Signal (DM-RS) transmitted in a physical resource block allocated for transmission of downlink control information. The introduction of the EPDCCH in combination with an original PDCCH can enable more user equipments to be scheduled in a given frame, and this requires more PUCCH resources for feedback of a Hybrid-ARQ Acknowledgement/Not Acknowledgement (HARQ ACK/NACK).
To this end, extended PUCCH resources have been proposed and introduced in the document "PUCCH resource mapping with EPDCCH" by Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell to accommodate a significant ACK/NACK demand arising from EPDCCH scheduling. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the left and right segments of the figure schematically illustrate PUCCH resource mapping before and after the extension respectively. However, how to link the extended PUCCH resources to respective resources occupied by the EPDCCH has not been solved yet.
On the other hand, in the Rel-10, a corresponding PUCCH resource for ACK/NACK is linked by numbering of a legacy PDCCH Control Channel Element (CCE). However, the foregoing linking scheme is inapplicable to the EPDCCH which is structurally different from the PDCCH. Furthermore, although there is an ongoing discussion in the 3GPP RAN 1 about an enhanced Control Channel Element (eCCE), for details of which, reference can be made to the document "Multiplexing of different DCI messages on EPDCCH" by Alcatel-Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, there has been no discussion about how to number the eCCE.
Thus, in the case of EPDCCH, there is an urgent issue of how to link extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK implicitly to eCCEs used by the EPDCCH.

Method of linking extended PUCCH resources for ACK/NACK implicitly to eCCEs used by EPDCCH


The invention is an electronic system for warning helicopter pilots of the presence of electric power lines during landing. The system detects electromagnetic fields created by electricity flowing through the power lines. When the helicopter is closer than a predetermined distance from the power line, visual and audio alarms alert the pilot of the danger. When the helicopter is a safe distance from the power line, the alarms reset.

The invention relates to the timely detection of electromagnetic fields created by alternating current flowing through electric power lines and notification of the helicopter pilot of their presence prior to landing.
Helicopters have the highest accident rate per 100,000 hours of operation of all commercial aircraft operated in the US. Most helicopter crashes occur during landing, often in inclement weather. Improvements such as lower cost radar, (Honeywell), are being introduced. The detection of power lines, which are not detectable by radar, in order to reduce the number of helicopter accidents, is the focus of this patent application.

Helicopter electronic system for detecting electric power lines during landing


A method of recovering colorectal epithelial cells or fragments thereof from a stool sample is provided. The method involves contacting a stool sample with a specific binding reagent having specificity for colorectal epithelial cells or membrane fragments thereof to form a complex containing the specific binding reagent and the colorectal epithelial cells or fragments thereof, and separating the complex from the sample. A method of detecting dysplastic colorectal epithelial cells or fragments thereof, wherein a specific binding reagent employed in the method has specificity for dysplastic colorectal epithelial cells or membrane fragments thereof, is also provided. An article of manufacture containing reagents for performing the method is further provided.

Colorectal cancer mortality ranks second among all causes of malignant death in industrialized nations. Recognition and curative treatment of precursor (premalignant) adenomas and localized cancers is possible with early detection.
Currently fecal occult blood testing is a widely utilized screening tool for the early detection of colorectal neoplasia, but suffers from several disadvantages. Fecal blood testing measures an ambiguous marker for colorectal neoplasia--hemoglobin--and tests for hemoglobin in stool samples have proved to be neither specific nor sufficiently sensitive. Recent reports indicate that fecal blood testing fails to detect over 70 percent of pre-malignant polyps. Colorectal neoplasms bleed intermittently, and thus fecal occult blood is not a reliable marker for colorectal neoplasia. Moreover, there are many causes of gastrointestinal bleeding unrelated to colorectal neoplasia, resulting in a very high level of false positives using the fecal occult blood screening method. False positives result in unnecessary and costly follow-up procedures such as colonoscopy.
In terms of simplicity, however, stool testing approaches the ideal for colorectal cancer screening; it is non-invasive, has a low unit cost, generates reasonably high compliance, and reflects the entire colorectal surface. A specific and sensitive stool screening test for colorectal neoplasia would thus be extremely valuable.
Exfoliated dysplastic epithelial cells represent a possible stool marker for colon cancer. Such cells obtained from lavage effluents have been shown to be reliable markers of colorectal cancer, but specimen collection required the invasive technique of colorectal purgation, limiting the clinical utility of this approach. Recently, a density gradient centrifugation technique was developed to collect sloughed colonocytes from routine stool samples. This technique, however, is time-consuming and technically complex, and therefore does not allow for an efficient and selective recovery of colorectal epithelial cells, is not amenable to large volume processing, and thus is not useful as a stool screening technique of the type currently needed.

Methods of recovering colorectal epithelial cells or fragments thereof from stool

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research