Each of a plurality of mobile stations is provided with a plurality of extension numbers including at least one unique extension number, and different lines are set for the plurality of extension numbers respectively. This enables a call using a line even when another call is made using another line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a private branch exchange system, and more particularly to a private branch exchange system using a plurality of mobile stations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a private branch exchange system, one department is assigned one or a plurality of extension numbers which are used to make a wired-based call on the premises.
However, in such a private branch exchange system, since one department is simply assigned one or a plurality of extension numbers, a telephone call intended for a user belonging to the department may be answered by another user. In this case, extra time is required for putting the intended user on the line.
Additionally, when a called party is away from his desk, a calling party must make a call again.
To address these disadvantages, in recent years, a private branch exchange system is contemplated in which each user of the private branch exchange system is assigned one mobile station for performing wireless communication. It is thus possible to eliminate the time taken for putting an intended user on the line and to receive an incoming call even when a user is away from his desk.
Mobile stations assigned to respective users have different extension numbers respectively which are used to make a call among the mobile stations.
In the prior art private branch exchange system using mobile stations as mentioned above, each user of the private branch exchange system is assigned one mobile station having a unique extension number, so that a common extension number throughout one department is not provided as in the prior art wired private branch exchange system.
Thus, in the case of a call directed to a department, a mobile station is called by using an extension number of one of users belonging to the department. If the mobile station is busy or outside a service area, a disadvantage occurs in that another mobile station is called by using an extension number of another user belonging to the department.
Additionally, a disadvantage exists in that, if a mobile station is busy, a caller must make another call later since one mobile station is assigned only one extension number.
When a mobile station is busy or outside a service area, a call directed thereto may be transferred to another mobile station. However, the transfer function depends on the setting operations by a user, and the disadvantages as mentioned above occur if a user has forgotten to set the transfer function.


A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) magnetoresistive read head for a magnetic recording system has the MTJ device located between two spaced-apart magnetic shields. The magnetic shields, which allow the head to detect individual magnetic transitions from the magnetic recording medium without interference from neighboring transitions, also function as electrical leads for connection of the head to sense circuitry. Electrically conductive spacer layers are located at the top and bottom of the MTJ device and connect the MTJ device to the shields. The thickness of the spacer layers is selected to optimize the spacing between the shields, which is a parameter that controls the linear resolution of the data that can be read from the magnetic recording medium. To reduce the likelihood of electrical shorting between the shields if the shield-to-shield spacing is too small, each of the shields can have a pedestal region with the MTJ device located between the two pedestals, so that the shield-to-shield spacing outside the pedestal regions is greater than in the pedestal regions.

A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device is comprised of two ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin insulating tunnel barrier layer and is based on the phenomenon of spin-polarized electron tunneling. One of the ferromagnetic layers has a higher saturation field in one direction of an applied magnetic field, typically due to its higher coercivity than the other ferromagnetic layer. The insulating tunnel barrier layer is thin enough that quantum mechanical tunneling occurs between the ferromagnetic layers. The tunneling phenomenon is electron-spin dependent, making the magnetic response of the MTJ a function of the relative orientations and spin polarizations of the two ferromagnetic layers.
MTJ devices have been proposed primarily as memory cells for solid state memory. The state of the MTJ memory cell is determined by measuring the resistance of the MTJ when a sense current is passed perpendicularly through the MTJ from one ferromagnetic layer to the other. The probability of tunneling of charge carriers across the insulating tunnel barrier layer depends on the relative alignment of the magnetic moments (magnetization directions) of the two ferromagnetic layers. The tunneling current is spin polarized, which means that the electrical current passing from one of the ferromagnetic layers, for example, a layer whose magnetic moment is fixed or prevented from rotation, is predominantly composed of electrons of one spin type (spin up or spin down, depending on the orientation of the magnetic moment of the ferromagnetic layer). The degree of spin polarization of the tunneling current is determined by the electronic band structure of the magnetic material comprising the ferromagnetic layer at the interface of the ferromagnetic layer with the tunnel barrier layer. The first ferromagnetic layer thus acts as a spin filter. The probability of tunneling of the charge carriers depends on the availability of electronic states of the same spin polarization as the spin polarization of the electrical current in the second ferromagnetic layer. Usually, when the magnetic moment of the second ferromagnetic layer is parallel to the magnetic moment of the first ferromagnetic layer, there are more available electronic states than when the magnetic moment of the second ferromagnetic layer is aligned antiparallel to that of the first ferromagnetic layer. Thus, the tunneling probability of the charge carriers is highest when the magnetic moments of both layers are parallel, and is lowest when the magnetic moments are antiparallel. When the moments are arranged neither parallel nor antiparallel, the tunneling probability takes an intermediate value. Thus, the electrical resistance of the MTJ memory cell depends on both the spin polarization of the electrical current and the electronic states in both of the ferromagnetic layers. As a result, the two possible magnetization directions of the ferromagnetic layer whose magnetization direction is not fixed uniquely define two possible bit states (0 or 1) of the memory cell.
A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor detects magnetic field signals through the resistance changes of a sensing element, fabricated of a magnetic material, as a function of the strength and direction of magnetic flux being sensed by the sensing element. Conventional MR sensors, such as those used as a MR read heads for reading data in magnetic recording disk drives, operate on the basis of the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect of the bulk magnetic material, which is typically permalloy (Ni.sub.81 Fe.sub.19). A component of the read element resistance varies as the square of the cosine of the angle between the magnetization direction in the read element and the direction of sense current through the read element. Recorded data can be read from a magnetic medium, such as the disk in a disk drive, because the external magnetic field from the recorded magnetic medium (the signal field) causes a change in the direction of magnetization in the read element, which in turn causes a change in resistance of the read element and a corresponding change in the sensed current or voltage. In conventional MR read heads, in contrast to MTJ devices, the sense current is in a direction parallel to the ferromagnetic layer of the read element.
The use of an MTJ device as a magnetoresistive read head for magnetic recording is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,061. In this MTJ read head, the electrical sense current to the MTJ device is applied by means of electrical conductors in the form of thin metal layers located above and below the MTJ device. These conductors typically have thicknesses of several hundred Angstroms. Typically the magnetoresistive (MR) read elements are placed between thick highly permeable magnetic layers or shields from which the conductors must be electrically insulated by means of non-electrically conducting layers of sufficient thickness, as shown in FIG. 10 of the '061 patent. For high areal density magnetic recording applications the size of the MR read head and related components have to be decreased as the size of the magnetic bits in which information is stored is decreased. In particular the thickness of the spacing between the magnetic shields, between which the MR read head is typically located, must be reduced in thickness to enable the MR read head to sense magnetic bits with decreased bit lengths. The thickness of the MTJ device and conducting leads and insulating layers cannot be made indefinitely smaller and thus a limit to the maximum possible areal density will eventually be reached. IBM's U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,410 describes an MTJ MR read head with longitudinal biasing wherein the MTJ device has electrical leads that connect to the MR sense circuitry. The leads are in contact with insulating gap material and the gap material is in contact with the magnetic shields so that the leads are electrically insulated from the shields.
What is needed is an MR read head with an MTJ device including its sense leads that can be made sufficiently thin to achieve high areal density by reducing the spacing between the magnetic shields.

Shielded magnetic tunnel junction magnetoresistive read head

International Business Machines Corporation


The present application provides dental fillers, and methods of making and using dental fillers that include a treated surface that includes phosphorus and a divalent cation. Dental compositions including such dental fillers can be useful for delivering ions to the oral environment.

Demineralization of dental structures is well known to lead to caries, decayed dentin, cementum, and/or enamel, conditions that typically require treatment with a dental restorative, for example. Although such conditions can usually be adequately treated using dental restoratives, restored dental structures oftentimes can be susceptible to further decay around the margins of the restoration.
The release of ions (e.g., calcium, and preferably calcium, and phosphorus) into the oral environment is known to enhance the natural remineralizing capability of dental structures. It is believed that enhanced remineralization may be a useful supplement to, or even an alternative to, traditional dental restorative methods. However, known compositions that release calcium and phosphorus into the oral environment (e.g., calcium phosphate containing compositions) oftentimes lack desirable properties including, for example, sustained release capabilities.
Thus, new compositions capable of releasing ions (e.g., phosphorus and other ions) into the oral environment are needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dental fillers including a phosphorus-containing surface treatment, and compositions and methods thereof


Disclosed is a method of improved grid generation for semiconductor device simulation. In particular, the invention includes a simple method for locating critical interfaces (e.g., oxide-silicon interfaces) and then utilizing the information to generate finer mesh elements near those boundaries where device behavior is most critical. The method of identifying critical interfaces includes the steps of examining the boundary data for each material region in the device, and then generating normal lines between adjacent boundaries to identify "thin" regions, which are generally associated with the critical interfaces. Once this occurs, a recursive subdivision algorithm may be utilized to generate a grid whose element dimensions are dependent upon their proximity to identified critical regions.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to semiconductor device simulation and more particularly to a method of automating the discretization of two and three dimensional semiconductor device representations.
2. Related Art
Computer based simulations have become an integral part of semiconductor manufacturing because they allow chip designers to study and predict the electrical behavioral characteristics of a semiconductor device before it is ever manufactured. Semiconductor device simulation is increasingly used in the microelectronics industry for reducing hardware experiments and technology development time, for producing more manufacturable and higher-performance designs, and for reducing product time to market. Concommitent with the increased use of simulation is a trend to apply simulation to increasingly complex structures and increasingly complex physical phenomena. Unfortunately, because known simulation techniques require a significant amount of computational resources, severe time and computer processing limitations presently exist.
Semiconductor-device simulation is typically accomplished by first generating a two or three dimensional computer representation of the structure that includes various material regions. Next, the structure is subdivided into a mesh structure that includes numerous grid points which constitute the vertices of the subdivided regions. The mathematical equations describing the physical phenomena that determine the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device are then solved on the mesh subdivisions. The typical result of the solution is a set of physical quantities defined at each grid point. Typical physical quantities are electric potential, positive and negative carrier concentrations, semiconductor atomic lattice temperature and average carrier temperature. The grid points can then be used to create mathematical equations that describe the characteristics of the device. In general, it is desirable to have a high number of grid points to create an accurate simulation. Unfortunately, as the number of grid points increases, the computation burden of solving the equations also increases.
As noted above, the computation burden of performing simulations is further affected by the fact that silicon devices are becoming more and more complex. For example, beginning with the 16 Mb generation of semiconductor devices, practically all dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell design issues are three dimensional in nature. Three-dimensional simulation poses an order-of-magnitude greater computational burden compared to the more typical two dimensional simulation.
In addition, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, is becoming increasingly attractive as the drive to denser integrated circuits, composed of smaller devices and utilizing lower power supplies, proceeds. SOI device structures are significantly more complex than the commonly used bulk silicon devices, and the operation is based on physical phenomena that are more complex than those driving bulk devices. Physically accurate simulations of SOI devices may require solution of up to twice the number of equations required by less complex structures.
Moreover, there is a growing demand for a "design-for-manufacturing" (DFM) approach to using simulation. In this approach, hundreds of distinct simulations of a given design point are performed in order to cover the range of perturbations experienced in a manufacturing environment. This approach to simulation obviates the present paradigm in which engineers manually prepare and submit simulations.
Finally, the shrinking dimensions of modem and future transistors makes quantum-mechanical physical effects more and more prevalent. Solving the partial differential equations that describe these effects is a much more computationally intensive process than the semiclassical equations now routinely used to simulate semiconductor device operation.
Thus, without a more efficient method of performing simulations, designing and manufacturing of semiconductor devices will be severely limited. The aforementioned technology references and prior art are herein included by reference.

Discretization technique for multi-dimensional semiconductor device simulation


The present disclosure provides an engine cooling system comprising a first cooling circuit and a second cooling circuit, each of which includes a cooling unit for cooling a compressed or charge air from one or more turbochargers of the engine.

Internal combustion engines used to operate motor vehicles or heavy mechanical equipment generate considerable heat that must be dissipated. If not properly dissipated, heat reduces operating efficiency of the engine and can ultimately lead to damage of the engine.
Engine cooling systems typically flow a cooling fluid through the block of the engine to cool the engine. The cooling fluid captures heat from the engine and releases the heat through a heat exchanger in which the cooling fluid passes in heat exchange relationship with air or liquid. An air-to-liquid heat exchanger may include a series of tubes through which the cooling fluid is pumped, and airflow induced by a fan cools the tubes, and hence the cooling fluid flowing through the tubes. The cooling fluid can be pumped through various engine components, such as the engine head and block, an engine oil cooler or the like, to remove heat from the various engine components.
In the operation of an internal combustion engine, the amount of combustion air that can be delivered to the intake manifold of the engine, for combustion in the engine cylinders, is a limiting factor in the performance of the engine. Atmospheric pressure is often inadequate to supply the required amount of air for proper and efficient operation of an engine.
Thus, an engine may include one or more turbochargers for compressing air to be supplied to one or more combustion chambers within corresponding combustion cylinders. The turbocharger supplies combustion air at a higher pressure and higher density than existing atmospheric pressure and ambient density. The use of a turbocharger can compensate for lack of power due to altitude, or to increase the power that can be obtained from an engine of a given displacement, thereby reducing the cost, weight and size of an engine required for a given power output. The turbocharger typically includes a turbine driven by exhaust gases from the engine, and one or more compressors driven by the turbine through a turbocharger shaft common to both the turbine and the compressor or compressors. A stream of exhaust gases from the engine is conducted from the exhaust manifold to the turbine, and the exhaust gas stream passing through the turbine causes a turbine wheel to rotate. Rotation of the turbine wheel rotates the common shaft interconnecting the turbine wheel and one or more compressor wheels in the compressor section, thereby rotating the compressor wheels. Air to be compressed is received in the compressor section, wherein the air is compressed and supplied to the air intake system of the engine.
The boost air flowing from the compressor or compressors may be conditioned to affect the overall turbocharger performance and/or the engine efficiency. In turbochargers having multiple stage compressors, compressing the air in the first compressor significantly raises the temperature of the air, increasing the power required by the second compressor to achieve a desired pressure boost. To overcome the detrimental effects of the increase in temperature, so called "intercoolers" have been provided in the flow path between the first compressor outlet and the second compressor inlet. Similarly, so called "aftercoolers" have been used after the turbocharger in turbochargers having both single stage and multi-stage compressors. The aftercooler cools the compressed air being supplied to the intake manifold, thereby increasing the oxygen content per unit volume, to better support combustion in the cylinders and decrease engine operating temperatures.
Certain cooling systems use cooling fluid from the engine cooling system to circulate through the aftercooler, providing a heat exchange medium for the compressed air also flowing through the aftercooler. Heat from the compressed air stream is removed by the cooling fluid and absorbed in the heat exchanger. Reducing the temperature of the charge air can reduce engine emissions and increase engine efficiency.
An aftercooler system may also provide a separate cooling fluid circuit from the heat exchanger to the aftercooler, including a separate circuit aftercooler (SCAC) pump for circulating the cooling fluid to the aftercooler. However, the cooling efficiency of such systems has not always met expectations under all operating conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,484 describes a cooling system for an internal combustion engine, with a radiator assembly including a first group of radiator cores and a second group of radiator cores. Some cooling fluid cooled in the first group of radiator cores is passed from the radiator assembly to an engine cooling circuit. Another portion of cooling fluid cooled in the first group of radiator cores is passed to the second group of radiator cores, for additional cooling thereof. From the second group of radiator cores, cooling fluid is passed to the separate circuit aftercooler cooling circuit. A turbocharged engine cooling system using a two-pass heat exchanger and a separate circuit aftercooler pump in an aftercooler cooling circuit is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,399.
In view of the engine efficiency and emissions reduction benefits obtained from adequate aftercooling of the combustion air, it is desirable to have an improved cooling system that provides adequate aftercooler cooling while maintaining sufficient cooling of various other engine components under various operating conditions.
The present disclosure is directed to addressing one or more needs as set forth above.

Engine cooling system having two cooling circuits


A beverage container lid can include an audio speaker; a wireless transceiver to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a hardware processor to process wireless signals received by the wireless transceiver and to output audible signals through the audio speaker. The beverage container lid can also include a water-tight housing, the wireless transceiver and hardware processor contained within the water-tight housing; a drinking aperture; and a fluid channel, the fluid channel to allow fluid to pass through the drinking aperture, and the water-tight housing to prevent fluid passing through the fluid channel from contacting the wireless transceiver and hardware processor.

Insulation cups, or double wall beverage containers, are containers that house an inner and an outer wall in order to maintain temperatures of beverages. The inner wall can employ stainless steel while the outer wall can be stainless steel, plastic, or other kinds of proprietary materials, including different types of ceramic or glass.

Waterproof lid with bluetooth speaker integration


A surface light emitting semiconductor laser element, comprises a substrate, a lower reflector including a semiconductor multi-layer disposed on the substrate, an active layer disposed on the lower reflector, an upper reflector including a semiconductor multi-layer disposed on the active layer, a compound semiconductor layer having a first opening for exposing the upper reflector and extending over the upper reflector, and a metal film having a second opening for exposing the upper reflector disposed inside of the first opening and extending over the compound semiconductor layer, wherein the metal film and the compound semiconductor layer constitute a complex refractive index distribution structure where a complex refractive index is changed from the center of the second opening towards the outside. A method of emitting laser light in a single-peak transverse mode is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element and a method of manufacture thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element and a method of emitting laser light in a single-peak transverse mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A surface light emitting semiconductor laser element emits laser light in a direction orthogonal to a surface of a substrate, and is a remarkable light source for application in various fields.
The surface light emitting semiconductor laser element has a semiconductor substrate, a pair of upper and lower reflectors, i.e., Diffractive Bragg Reflectors (DBRs) comprising compound semiconductors having different refractive indices on the substrate, and an active layer that constitutes a light emitting area between the pair of reflectors.
Typically, the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element has a post-type mesa structure were the upper DBR has a current confinement area. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-210908 discloses a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element comprising a circular post-type mesa structure having a mesa diameter of about 30 μm obtained by dry etching the upper DBR, and a current confinement area within the circular post-type mesa structure formed by selectively oxidizing an AlAs layer to efficiently inject current into the active layer.
Referring to the above-mentioned Japanese patent application publication and FIG. 12, a conventional surface light emitting semiconductor laser element comprising a post-type mesa structure will be described. FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing the structure of the conventional surface light emitting semiconductor laser element disclosed in the above-mentioned patent application publication.
As shown in FIG. 12, a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element 80 has a laminated structure sequentially comprising an n-type GaAs substrate 82, a lower diffractive bragg reflector (hereinafter "lower DBR") 84 comprising an n-type semiconductor multi-layer, a lower clad layer 86 comprising non-doped AlGaAs, a light emitting layer (active layer) 88, an upper clad layer 90 comprising non-doped AlGaAs, an upper diffractive bragg reflector (hereinafter "upper DBR") 92 comprising non-doped AlGaAs, and a p-type GaAs cap layer 94.
The lower DBR 84 has a semiconductor multi-layer structure including 30.5 pairs of n-type Al0.2Ga0.8As layers and n-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layers having composition gradient layers on the hetero interfaces. The upper DBR 92 has a semiconductor multi-layer structure including 25 pairs of p-type Al0.2Ga0.8As layers and p-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layers having composition gradient layers on the hetero interfaces.
A cylindrical mesa post 96 is formed by etching the cap layer 94, the upper DBR 92, the upper clad layer 90, the active layer 88, the lower clad layer 86, and the lower DBR 84.
A p-type AlAs layer is formed instead of the p-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layer on the compound semiconductor layer of the upper DBR 92 at the nearest side of the active layer 88. Al contained in the p-type AlAs layer is selectively oxidized excluding a center circular area to provide an oxidized-Al current confinement layer 98.
The p-type AlAs layer remaining on the center circular area functions as a current injection area 98A, and the oxidized-Al current confinement layer functions as an insulation area 98B having high electrical resistance.
A SiNx film 100 is formed over the mesa post 96 and the lower DBR 84. The SiNx film has an opening for exposing the p-type GaAs cap layer 94 provided by circularly removing the SiNx film 100 on the upper surface of the mesa post 96. A circular p-side electrode (upper electrode) 102 is formed at the periphery of the opening. On the opposite surface of the n-type GaAs substrate 82, an n-side electrode (lower electrode) 104 is formed. The p-side electrode 102 has an extraction electrode 106.
Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, a method of producing the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element 80 will now be described. FIG. 13A and 13B are sectional views showing steps of producing the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element 80.
As shown in FIG. 13A, the laminated structure is formed by sequentially laminating the lower DBR 84, the lower clad layer 86 comprising non-doped AlGaAs, the active layer 88, the upper clad layer 90 comprising non-doped AlGaAs, the upper DBR 92, and the p-type GaAs cap layer 94 on the n-type GaAs substrate 82.
The lower DBR 84 is produced by laminating 30.5 pairs of the n-type Al0.2Ga0.8As layers and the n-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layers having the composition gradient layers on the hetero interfaces. The upper DBR 92 is produced by laminating 25 pairs of the p-type Al0.2Ga0.8As layers and the p-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layers having the composition gradient layers on the hetero interfaces.
Before the upper DBR 92 is formed, the p-type AlAs layer 108 is formed instead of the p-type Al0.9Ga0.1As layer on the compound semiconductor layer of the upper DBR 92 at the nearest side of, or adjacent to the active layer 88.
As shown in FIG. 13B, the p-type GaAs cap layer 94, the upper DBR 92, the AlAs layer 108, the upper clad layer 90, the active layer 88, and the lower clad layer 86 are partially etched using a SiNx film mask 110 until the upper surface of the lower DBR 84 is exposed, whereby a mesa post 96 is formed.
The laminated structure having the mesa post 96 is heated at 400° C. for about 25 minutes under steam atmosphere to selectively oxidize only the p-type AlAs layer from the side face to the center of the mesa post 96.
Thus, a current confinement layer 98 is formed. The current confinement layer 98 has the cylindrical current confinement area 98B comprising the oxidized-Al layer, and the circular current injection area 98A comprising the p-type AlAs layer 108 that is not oxidized and remains. The circular current injection area 98A is surrounded by the current confinement area 98B.
After the SiNx film 100 is formed over the entire surface, the SiNx film 100 on the upper surface of the mesa post 96 is circularly removed to expose the p-type GaAs cap layer 94 where the circular p-side electrode is formed. At the opposite surface of the n-type GaAs substrate 82, the n-side electrode 104 is formed. As a result, the conventional surface light emitting semiconductor laser element 80 is provided.
In the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element comprising the post-type mesa structure, the current confinement layer 98 defines a section of a path for injecting a current into the active layer 88. Therefore, the current is intensively injected into the active layer 88 around the current confinement area 98B, which leads to efficient laser oscillation.
Typically, the conventional surface light emitting semiconductor laser element oscillates in a multi-mode which is a transverse mode having a plurality of peaks in the far field pattern (FFP).
When the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element is lens-coupled to an optical waveguide such as an optical fiber in the communication field, the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element desirably emits beams in a single-peak transverse mode, i.e., a Gaussian distribution mode, in order to improve the optical connection efficiency.
In the oxidized-type current confinement structure, the number of modes in the oscillating laser light is substantially in proportion to the size of the current confinement layer. Therefore, when the current injection area in the current confinement layer is decreased, it is possible to emit light in a single mode excited in a narrow area of the active layer.
Accordingly, in the conventional surface light emitting semiconductor laser element having the oxidized-type current confinement structure, when the size of the current confinement structure (current injection area) comprising the oxidized-Al layer is reduced, the light-emitting area of the active layer can be decreased and light is selectively oscillated in the single-peak transverse mode.
In order to provide the single-peak transverse mode, the size of the current confinement structure should be as small as 4 μm or less, as reported in IEEE. Photon, Tech. Lett. Vol. 9, No. 10, p. 1304, by M. Grabherr et al. However, if the size of the current confinement structure is 4 μm or less, the following problems occur.
Firstly, the tolerance of production errors becomes limited, since the size of the current confinement structure is extremely small. It is difficult to produce a surface light-emitting semiconductor laser element having a current confinement structure with a small diameter with good controllability. Also, wafer in-plane uniformity becomes poor, resulting in significantly decreased yields.
Secondly, current flows through the decreased current injection area (AlAs layer) by one order of magnitude as compared with the typical devices, whereby the resistance of the element becomes high, i.e., 100Ω or more. As a result, the output as well as the current and light emission efficiencies are lowered. In other words, since the output depends on the single-peak transverse mode, it is difficult to provide high output from the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element in the single-peak transverse mode.
Thirdly, due to the increased resistance caused by the current confinement, the impedance is mismatched. If the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element is attempted to be driven at high frequency, the high frequency properties are significantly degraded. Accordingly, it is difficult to apply the surface light emitting semiconductor laser element to light transmission driven at high frequency, as required in the communication field.
For transverse mode control of the laser light in a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-359432 discloses, for example, a method of stabilizing the transverse mode by processing a light emitting surface. However, this publication is not directed to the stabilization of the single transverse mode, but to the stabilization of a higher-order transverse mode.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-24277 discloses that a reflectance distribution is provided at a reflecting surface opposite to a light-emitting surface to stabilize the transverse mode. However, since light is injected through a substrate, it is difficult to apply this invention to a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element. In addition, since a proton-injection-type is presumed, it is difficult to apply this invention to the oxidized-type current confinement structure.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-246660 discloses a method of stabilizing the transverse mode by disposing a lens structure comprising a circular diffraction grating within a laser. However, the process is complicated because a compound semiconductor layer should be re-grown. There are both technical and economical problems.
As described above, using the conventional technique, it is difficult to provide a surface light emitting semiconductor laser element that emits laser light in the single-peak transverse mode.

Surface light emitting semiconductor laser element


The absolute angular position of an internal combustion engine is determined by monitoring engine intake manifold pressure at a strategic position in the manifold affected most significantly by the intake event of a predetermined cylinder. A significant or maximum depression in manifold pressure over each engine cycle then is indicative of the intake stroke of the predetermined cylinder.

Engine angular position is relied on as a control input in conventional approaches to engine control, for instance in fuel control. Camshaft position sensing hardware is thus provided in conventional mechanizations by which a camshaft reference signal is provided the control, typically once per engine cycle, to synchronize a crankshaft signal with the activity of the individual cylinders of the engine. The engine controller thus is provided sufficient information with which to, among other things, make appropriate decisions on fuel timing.
The additional hardware mandated by the above described conventional approach is typically used as described--for crankshaft reference signal synchronization. As such, the cost of the additional hardware is justified only by the need for the camshaft reference signal. Additionally, gains in control precision provided by the camshaft reference signal may be surrendered in the event the signal becomes faulty, for instance by operating the engine in a fallback mode wherein the level of engine performance must be sacrificed. Conventional systems may mitigate against the risk of a fault in the camshaft reference signal generating means only by adding to the cost of the system.
Accordingly, what is needed is an inexpensive method and apparatus for reliably sensing engine angular position. Further, what is needed is an inexpensive method and apparatus for providing information on engine angular position in the event the camshaft reference signal as generated by conventional means is diagnosed as faulty.

Engine position detection using manifold pressure


A method and pharmaceutical compositions are described for the use of keratinocyte growth factor to treat diabetes mellitus in mammals.

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a growth factor specific for epithelial cells that was first identified in conditioned medium of a human embryonic lung fibroblast cell line. Rubin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:802-806 (1989). Expression of messenger RNA for KGF has been detected in several stromal fibroblast cell lines derived from epithelial tissues at various stages of development. The transcript for KGF was also evident in RNA extracted from normal adult kidney and organs of the gastrointestinal tract. Finch et al., Science 245:752-755 (1989). Evidence that KGF is secreted from fibroblasts in culture and is expressed in vivo in the dermis but not epidermis indicates that KGF may be an important normal paracrine effector of keratinocyte proliferation. Studies have shown that KGF is as potent as EGF in stimulating the proliferation of primary or secondary human keratinocytes in tissue culture. Marchese et al., J. Cell. Phys. 144:326-332 (1990).
Ex vivo and in vivo studies in normal adult animals have shown that KGF produces changes in hair follicle morphogenesis, hepatocyte proliferation, and epithelial cell proliferation in the lung, breast, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. Panos et al., J. Clin. Invest. 92:969-977 (1993); Ulich et al., Am. J. Path. 144:862-868 (1994); Yi et al., Am. J. Path. 145:80-85 (1994); and Ulich et al., J. Clin. Invest. 93:1298-1306 (1994). The role of KGF in embryonic or neonatal development has not been studied in detail; however, KGF has been documented to be an important mediator of seminal vesicle development in the newborn mouse. Alarid et al., P.N.A.S. 91:1074-1078 (1994).
Published PCT patent application WO 90/08771 describes the purification of KGF from the conditioned medium of a human embryonic fibroblast cell line, the partial amino acid sequencing of purified KGF, the cloning of the gene, and the expression of the gene in bacterial cells to yield biologically active recombinant KGF. The aforementioned publication discloses that KGF or KGF-like polypeptides can be used as wound healing agents for burn wounds or to stimulate transplanted corneal tissue. In fact, KGF has been demonstrated to increase re-epithelialization and increased thickness of the epithelium when recombinant KGF was topically applied to wounds surgically induced in the rabbit ear or in porcine skin. Pierce et al., J. Exp. Med. 179:831-840 (1994); and Staiano-Coico et al., J. Exp. Med. 178:865-878 (1993).

Method of treating diabetes mellitus using KGF


A method for producing hydrogen by using different metals includes: providing a metal of lower reduction potential as an anode metal and a metal of higher reduction potential as a cathode metal, then immerse the anode metal and the cathode metal in an electrolyte, while the anode metal and the cathode metal can be combined with appropriate steps before or after being immersed in the electrolyte, whereby hydrogen and side-products generated from a reaction of electrochemistry caused by reduction potential difference between the different metals, that is, the method for producing hydrogen is through spontaneous chemical reaction without extra energy consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing hydrogen, and particularly to a method for producing hydrogen by using different metals through spontaneous chemical reaction and a reaction of electrochemistry caused without extra energy consumption.
2. Related Art
Hydrogen is a non-pollution resource, which can be adapted to fuel, Ni-MH battery, and energy for industrials, such as desulfuration materials for oil working, chemical industrial, metallurgy industrial, and semi-conductor industry. Besides, hydrogen reacted in fuel cells do not produce carbon dioxide, therefore, hydrogen is expected to be new resource of energy in the development of the fuel cells. It is no doubt that increasing research on hydrogen is inevitable in the near future. Thus the study of application of hydrogen is very important.
As is well known, there are many ways to produce hydrogen, such as steam reforming, partial oxidation, gasification, and producing by electrolyte solution; however, hydrogen produced by the preceding three ways will generated carbon dioxide as well, which is unnecessary and not benefit to our earth, especially that carbon dioxide is the main factor causing global warming. Unfortunately, the fourth way mentioned before requires a large electricity consumption during processes of hydrogen production, and which results in higher cost, not economic benefits.
Although aforementioned ways are not the ideal ways to produce hydrogen, there is one method of producing hydrogen that is by using metal scrap. For instance, recycle disused aluminum cans as material of hydrogen production, but it still has to wash away coating of the cans by chemical solution, which may result in wastewater pollution.

Method for producing hydrogen by using different metals


This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a gas-turbine combustion chamber which consists of individual wall sections produced by casting. To make up the combustion chamber, the wall sections are joined by laser welding. Preferably, the individual wall sections are segments of the annular or circular combustion chamber, with the casting material of the wall sections being a high-temperature nickel-base casting alloy.

This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a combustion chamber of a gas-turbine engine, this combustion chamber consisting of individual wall sections made by a casting process. For background art, reference is made to EP 0 753 704 A1, by way of example.
Gas-turbine combustion chambers are normally made of forged and/or rolled rings which are subsequently machined and suitably drilled. For increased thermal strength, thermal barrier coatings are partly applied to the rings. The dome of the combustion chamber, which is subject to extremely high thermal stress, is in some designs made as a casting in a highly temperature-resistant nickel-base casting alloy. The rings and the dome of the combustion chamber are usually joined by welding, however, the thermal strength of this weld joint is inferior to that of the casting, this circumstance being due to the limited thermal strength of the weld filler material.
The manufacturing route, i.e. the forging and subsequent machining of the ring and, if applicable, the subsequent welding of the cast dome, incurs an enormous manufacturing effort. Furthermore, the forging materials available are inferior to the precision casting materials available in terms of their thermo-mechanical strength above 1000° C., as a result of which a considerable share of the air compressed in the compressor of the gas-turbine engine is to be used for the cooling of components and is thus not available for combustion. This impairs the power density, the specific fuel consumption and the pollutant-emission characteristics of the gas-turbine engine.
The above-mentioned EP 0 753 704 A1 teaches a gas turbine whose combustion chamber and a subsequent transition piece to the downstream turbine section are each made as cylindrical castings without weld, with the combustion chamber and the transition piece being joined together by inert-gas welding. Full castability, i.e. castability in one piece, as proposed in the referenced Specification, is, however, limited to small combustion chambers for gas-turbine engines in the lower thrust range. In the thrust range above 10,000 lbs. take-off thrust, the manufacture of a combustion chamber by casting is not economical due to constraints such as the size of the combustion chamber and the dimensional and quality requirements.

Method for the manufacture of a combustion chamber of a gas-turbine engine


A data communication device for data communication through radio among a plurality of devices includes a reception circuit receiving data, a storage circuit connected to the reception circuit to store received data, a transmission circuit connected to the storage circuit to search for one data communication device capable of communication therewith, and transmitting the data stored in the storage circuit into the found data communication device, and a control unit connected to the storage circuit, controlling the storage circuit to delete the data transmitted to the found data communication device in response to receiving reception complete data representing reception of data from the found data communication device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technique of data communication, particularly to the technique of data communication among a plurality of apparatuses.
2. Description of the Background Art
The development of portable communication apparatuses such as the portable telephone, PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is notable these few years. In accordance with development of these communication apparatuses, intercommunication of the same data among a plurality of communication apparatuses is now carried out.
As the technology related to such data communication, infocast (Journal of The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 386-390, April 1999) is known. This communication technique allows the same data to be diffused among a plurality of communication apparatuses as in the game of Chinese whispers by repeating the process of transmitting the data received by a communication apparatus to another communication apparatus.
In a communication system employing the aforementioned communication technique, one data is transmitted to a plurality of communication apparatuses so that a duplicate of one data will exist in many communication apparatuses. In the case where, for example, the communication data corresponds to data of a virtual pet in such a communication system, there will be duplicates of data of the virtual pet in a plurality of communication apparatuses. Therefore, the operation of moving data of a virtual pet around the communication system similar to the moving action of a pet in the real world cannot be realized. In other words, data of a virtual pet cannot be moved from one communication apparatus to another communication apparatus, and then further from that communication apparatus to another communication apparatus.
In the case where one communication apparatus is to be extracted from a plurality of data communication apparatuses by identifying the transmitted data, the aforementioned communication technique will not allow the extraction of one communication apparatus since duplicates of the same one data are respectively present in the plurality of communication apparatuses.

Data communication device and method of processing transmitted data


A package (10, 100) of building-panel products consists essentially of panels (20), panel accessories (30, 32a-d, 110a-d, 120), and at least one binding means (80, 70a, 70b), which may include strapping and/or clamping elements. The panels, which are to be mounted to a structure such as a house, are arranged in a stack (20a). The accessories, which are to be mounted to the structure in association with the building panels, are positioned to frame one or more sides of the panel stack so as to help maintain the panels in stacked relationship. The binding elements releasably secure the accessories to the stack of building panels to form a cartonless package.

Systems have been developed for packaging various building-panel products. However, known systems suffer from various drawbacks, e.g., they can be expensive, cumbersome, or wasteful. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,878 to Simpson et al. discloses a package for stacked roof panels requiring support elements.
Siding panels for mounting to houses and like structures, which may be made from vinyl or metal, are typically packaged in cardboard boxes, such as corrugated kraft linerboard boxes. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,620 to Boltz et al. Accessories, such as J-channels, F-channels, finish trims, corner posts, and starter strips, which are adapted for mounting to houses and like structures in association with the building panels, are likewise packaged in cardboard boxes. Typically, the boxes of building panels and accessories are stacked onto long wooden skids or pallets, framed with wood slats, and wrapped with a polymeric film material.
Other ways of packaging siding panels have been developed, but still suffer disadvantages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,367 to Lynch discloses a packaging system employing frame elements and compressible members.
The typical packaging cost as a percentage of the overall cost of building-panel products is quite significant. This is especially true with regard to vinyl siding products. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a more cost-effective manner for packaging building-panel products.

Owens Corning Fiberglas Technology, Inc.


A chemical amplification type resist composition comprising a specific benzenesulfonyldiazomethane containing a long-chain alkoxyl group at the 2-position on benzene ring has many advantages including improved resolution, improved focus latitude, minimized line width variation or shape degradation even on long-term PED, minimized debris left after coating, development and peeling, and improved pattern profile after development and is thus suited for microfabrication.

While a number of efforts are currently being made to achieve a finer pattern rule in the drive for higher integration and operating speeds in LSI devices, deep-ultraviolet lithography is thought to hold particular promise as the next generation in microfabrication technology.
One technology that has attracted a good deal of attention recently utilizes as the deep UV light source a high-intensity KrF excimer laser, especially an ArF excimer laser featuring a shorter wavelength. There is a desire to have a microfabrication technique of finer definition by combining exposure light of shorter wavelength with a resist material having a higher resolution.
In this regard, the recently developed, acid-catalyzed, chemical amplification type resist materials are expected to comply with the deep UV lithography because of their many advantages including high sensitivity, resolution and dry etching resistance. The chemical amplification type resist materials include positive working materials that leave the unexposed areas with the exposed areas removed and negative working materials that leave the exposed areas with the unexposed areas removed.
In chemical amplification type, positive working, resist compositions to be developed with alkaline developers, an alkali-soluble phenol or a resin and/or compound in which carboxylic acid is partially or entirely protected with acid-labile protective groups (acid labile groups) is catalytically decomposed by an acid which is generated upon exposure, to thereby generate the phenol or carboxylic acid in the exposed area which is removed by an alkaline developer. Also, in similar negative working resist compositions, an alkali-soluble phenol or a resin and/or compound having carboxylic acid and a compound (crosslinking agent) capable of bonding or crosslinking the resin or compound under the action of an acid are crosslinked with an acid which is generated upon exposure whereby the exposed area is converted to be insoluble in an alkaline developer and the unexposed area is removed by the alkaline developer.
On use of the chemical amplification type, positive working, resist compositions, a resist film is formed by dissolving a resin having acid labile groups as a binder and a compound capable of generating an acid upon exposure to radiation (to be referred to as photoacid generator) in a solvent, applying the resist solution onto a substrate by a variety of methods, and evaporating off the solvent optionally by heating. The resist film is then exposed to radiation, for example, deep UV through a mask of a predetermined pattern. This is optionally followed by post-exposure baking (PEB) for promoting acid-catalyzed reaction. The exposed resist film is developed with an aqueous alkaline developer for removing the exposed area of the resist film, obtaining a positive pattern profile. The substrate is then etched by any desired technique. Finally the remaining resist film is removed by dissolution in a remover solution or ashing, leaving the substrate having the desired pattern profile.
The chemical amplification type, positive working, resist compositions adapted for KrF excimer lasers generally use a phenolic resin, for example, polyhydroxystyrene in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms of phenolic hydroxyl groups are protected with acid labile protective groups. Iodonium salts, sulfonium salts, and bissulfonyldiazomethane compounds are typically used as the photoacid generator. If necessary, there are added additives, for example, a dissolution inhibiting or promoting compound in the form of a carboxylic acid and/or phenol derivative having a molecular weight of up to 3,000 in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms of carboxylic acid and/or phenolic hydroxyl groups are protected with acid labile groups, a carboxylic acid compound for improving dissolution characteristics, a basic compound for improving contrast, and a surfactant for improving coating characteristics.
Bissulfonyldiazomethanes as shown below are advantageously used as the photoacid generator in chemical amplification type resist compositions, especially chemical amplification type, positive working, resist compositions adapted for KrF excimer lasers because they provide a high sensitivity and resolution and eliminate poor compatibility with resins and poor solubility in resist solvents as found with the sulfonium and iodonium salt photoacid generators.

Although these photoacid generators are highly lipophilic and highly soluble in resist solvents, they have poor affinity to or solubility in developers so that upon development and/or resist removal, the photoacid generators can be left on the substrate as insoluble matter (consisting of the photoacid generator or a mixture thereof with the resin).
For example, upon development, the resist material which has poor affinity to or solubility in a developer deposits on developed spaces in the exposed area or on lines in the unexposed area as foreign matter.
JP-A 3-103854 discloses bis(4-methoxyphenylsulfonyl)diazomethane as a photoacid generator having a methoxy group introduced therein. As long as we confirmed, the methoxy group is not fully effective. The photoacid generator is often left on the substrate as insoluble matter (consisting of the photoacid generator or a mixture thereof with the resin) upon development and/or resist film removal.
If unsubstituted bis(phenylsulfonyl)diazomethane or bis(cyclohexylsulfonyl)diazomethane having alkyl groups instead of aryl groups is used in a resist material as the photoacid generator for reducing lipophilic property, resolution is deteriorated. If it is added in large amounts, the problem of insoluble matter upon development and/or resist film removal remains unsolved.
Aside from the countermeasure for foreign matter, JP-A 10-90884 discloses to introduce such an acid labile group as t-butoxycarbonyloxy, ethoxyethyl or tetrahydropyranyl into disulfonediazomethane for the purpose of improving the contrast of positive resist material. We empirically found that these compounds are unstable and ineffective for eliminating the foreign matter upon development and resist film removal.
Searching for a countermeasure to the foreign matter problem, we already synthesized sulfonyldiazomethanes having an acyl group (e.g., acetyl) or methanesulfonyl group introduced therein and found that they were useful as the photoacid generator in chemical amplification type resist composition. Since these arylsulfonyldiazomethanes having an acyl group or methanesulfonyl group introduced therein lack stability under basic conditions during their synthesis, the yield of diazo formation is sometimes low. See JP-A 2001-055373 and JP-A 2001-106669.
It is known from JP-A 8-123032 to use two or more photoacid generators in a resist material. JP-A 11-72921 discloses the use of a radiation-sensitive acid generator comprising in admixture a compound which generates a sulfonic acid having at least three fluorine atoms upon exposure to radiation and a compound which generates a fluorine atom-free sulfonic acid upon exposure to radiation, thereby improving resolution without inviting nano-edge roughness and film surface roughening. JP-A 11-38604 describes that a resist composition comprising an asymmetric bissulfonyldiazomethane such as a bissulfonyldiazomethane having alkylsulfonyl and arylsulfonyl groups or a bissulfonyldiazomethane having arylsulfonyl and alkoxy-substituted arylsulfonyl groups and a polyhydroxystyrene derivative having acid labile groups as the polymer has a resolution at least comparable to prior art compositions, a sufficient sensitivity and significantly improved heat resistance. However, we empirically found that these resist compositions are unsatisfactory in resolution and in the effect of eliminating the foreign matter on the pattern upon development. From the synthetic and industrial standpoints, it is difficult to obtain bilaterally asymmetric bissulfonyldiazomethanes.
Aside from the above-discussed problem of insoluble matter upon development and/or removal, there is also a problem that the pattern profile often changes when the period from exposure to post-exposure baking (PEB) is prolonged, which is known as post-exposure delay (PED). Such changes frequently reveal as a slimming of the line width of unexposed areas in the case of chemical amplification type positive resist compositions using acetal and analogous acid labile groups, and as a thickening of the line width of unexposed areas in the case of chemical amplification type positive resist compositions using tert-butoxycarbonyl (t-BOC) and analogous acid labile groups. Since the period from exposure to PEB is often prolonged for the operational reason, there is a desire to have a stable resist composition which is free from such changes, that is, has PED stability.
In some resist processes, baking is performed at far higher temperatures (e.g., 130° C.) than the customary baking temperature of 120° C. or below as disclosed in JP-A 6-266112. In this case, the bissulfonyldiazomethanes shown above by structural formulae can be thermally decomposed to generate acids due to their low heat resistance so that acidolysis takes place everywhere regardless of whether the areas are exposed or unexposed, failing in pattern formation.
The solubility of photosensitive agents or photoacid generators was the problem from the age when quinonediazide photosensitive agents were used in non-chemical amplification type resist materials. Specific considerations include the solubility of photoacid generators in resist solvents, the compatibility of photoacid generators with resins, the solubility (or affinity) of photo-decomposed products after exposure and PEB and non-decomposed compound (photoacid generator) in a developer, and the solubility of the photoacid generator and photo-decomposed products thereof in a remover solvent upon resist removal or peeling. If these factors are poor, there can occur problems including precipitation of the photoacid generator during storage, difficulty of filtration, uneven coating, striation, abnormal resist sensitivity, and foreign matter, left-over and staining on the pattern and in spaces after development.
The photoacid generator in resist material is required to meet a fully high solubility in (or compatibility with) a resist solvent and a resin, good storage stability, non-toxicity, effective coating, a well-defined pattern profile, PED stability, no foreign matter left during pattern formation after development and upon resist removal, and heat resistance. The conventional photoacid generators, especially diazodisulfone photoacid generators do not meet all of these requirements.
As the pattern of integrated circuits becomes finer in these days, a higher resolution is, of course, required, and the problem of foreign matter after development and resist removal becomes more serious.

Sulfonyldiazomethanes, photoacid generators, resist compositions, and patterning process


A method for allocating optimum pages to a logical volume according to the usage of the logical volume and an access characteristic is provided. A storage system is connected to a host computer, includes plural disk drives and a controller to control the plural disk drives, includes a first disk drive group including at least one disk drive, holds information indicating that a first attribute is assigned to a logical volume, assigns the first attribute when a first logical volume including plural first logical storage areas is provided to the host computer, reserves plural physical storage areas of the first disk drive group as the plural first logical storage areas, reserves the plural first logical storage areas included in the first logical volume as storage areas for storing data requested by the host computer, and stores the data requested by the host computer into the allocated physical storage areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of allocating a storage area, and particularly to a method of allocating a logical storage area.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an efficient and effective use method of the resources of a storage area, there is a disk array including plural storage devices. The disk array enhances the reliability by causing the internal storage area to have redundancy, and provides plural hosts with storage areas of required capacity as logical volumes. By this, one storage apparatus can manage the storage areas of plural hosts. Besides, the resources of the storage area can be efficiently and effectively used.
The logical volume includes plural storage areas in page units. The page means the size of a storage area obtained by dividing a storage area of a physical storage device by an arbitrary size. Hereinafter, the storage area in the page unit is simply referred to as the page. The page of the physical storage device having free capacity is allocated as the logical volume of the host, so that the capacity of the logical volume used by the host can be increased.
As a method of providing the logical volume to the host, there is a method in which the capacity of the storage area to be allocated to the host is dynamically changed according to an I/O request from the host, and the logical volume is allocated to the host (see, for example, patent document 1 (JP-A-2003-15915)).
Hitherto, allocation of pages of a logical volume provided to a host for business use is performed so that the pages are allocated so as to be dispersed (at random) in plural physical storage devices. By this, when data is read, since the data is dispersed in the plural physical storage devices, the physical data read time is reduced and the performance of the host for business use becomes high.

Storage system logical storage area allocating method and computer system


A headrest device may include a first plate, a second plate, and a locking mechanism, where the second plate is free to shift in any direction along a surface of the first plate while the locking mechanism is in an unlocked state, and where the second plate is prevented from shifting along the surface of the first plate when the locking mechanism is in a locked state. A method may include forming a first plate, forming a second plate, and attaching a locking mechanism to the second plate, where the second plate is free to shift in any direction along a surface of the first plate while the locking mechanism is in an unlocked state, and where the second plate is prevented from shifting along the surface of the first plate when the locking mechanism is in a locked state.

During operations for head, neck, and maxillofacial procedures, it may be desirable to ensure the stable positioning a patient's head. Further, in order to accommodate different patients and different procedures, easy adjustability of the positioning of the patient's head may also be helpful.
Typical surgical or operation chairs may rely on a "doughnut"-type cushioned headrest for stabilizing and positioning a patient's head. However, the adjustability of these typical headrests may be limited. In some cases, the headrests may be adjusted using hinges that can only be rotated along one axis. If multiple hinges are used, they are typically adjusted one at a time with separate actuating steps for each one. Other disadvantages may exist.


A agricultural working machine includes at least one device for picking up crop material and transferring it to at least one intake conveyor mechanism that feeds the crop material to at least one downstream working unit that processes the crop material, and at least one drive engine with an engine control unit, the drive engine driving the at least one intake conveyor mechanism and the at least one working unit. At maximum crop-material throughput, the engine speed of the agricultural working machine is reduced and the ground speed is increased, and therefore the associated agricultural working machine it is ensured that the agricultural harvesting machine is able to process high crop-material throughputs with a lower specific energy requirement.

The present invention relates to a method for operating an agricultural working machine, in particular a forage harvester.
Publication DE 35 05 887 makes known a method for regulating crop-material throughput that regulates the throughput performance of an agricultural working machine designed as a forage harvester by monitoring the rotational speed of the chopper drum. According to the method disclosed therein, the drive engine of the forage harvester is operated in the usual manner in an engine speed range in which the maximum engine output is available. The preselectable rotational speed of the chopper drum fluctuates depending on the crop-material throughput to be processed by the agricultural working machine and the available engine output.
When the rotational speed of the chopper drum falls below a preset minimum value, suitable regulating devices reduce the ground speed and, therefore, the quantity of newly picked-up crop material until the rotational speed of the chopper drum returns to a rotational speed range that is above the preset minimum value. In an analogous manner, the ground speed of the agricultural working machine is increased when the torque provided by the available engine power is above the torque required to operate the forage harvester. Threshold values are used in this case as well that induce a change in the ground speed of the forage harvester if they are exceeded or fallen below.
A similar method for regulating throughput on a forage harvester is described in EP 1 051 898. In this case, the drive engine is to be operated at a nearly constant engine speed, while the crop-material throughput to be processed by the agricultural working machine is regulated as a function of the torque that corresponds to the nearly constant engine output and is provided by the drive engine. This regulation is carried out such that the ground speed is adjusted—i.e., reduced, if overload occurs—or the rotational speed of the intake rollers is changed, i.e., reduced, if overload occurs. It is also provided that fuzzy logic is used for this purpose.
Both of these methods have the disadvantage that the drive engine is always operated in the range of high engine speeds, which result in a rapid acceleration of the crop material, since the gear ratios between the drive engine and the working units it drives are typically fixed. The crop material is therefore conveyed through the agricultural working machine at a high rate of speed. The greater the quantity is of crop material—i.e., the crop-material throughput—to be conveyed, the greater is the portion of power required to accelerate the crop material and overcome the friction—which is proportional to speed—of the crop material inside the agricultural working machine. Both of these effects greatly limit the possibilities for increasing the crop-material throughput and, due to the high engine speed, result in the need to operate the drive engine of the agricultural working machine in a range of increased fuel consumption.

Agricultural working machine with ground speed control

CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH


A method for embedding tamper proof layers and discrete components into a printed circuit board stack-up is disclosed. According to this method, a plating mask is applied on a base substrate to cover partially one of its faces. Conductive ink is then spread on this face so as to fill the gap formed by the plating mask. To obtain a uniform distribution of the conductive ink and then gel it, the conductive ink is preferably heated. A dielectric layer is applied on the conductive ink layer and the polymerization process is ended to obtain a strong adhesion between these two layers. In a preferred embodiment, conductive tracks are simultaneously designed on the other face of the base substrate to reduce thermo-mechanical strains and deformations.

According to the Department of Commerce of the United States of America, all secure cryptographic application are classified according to one of four possible levels listed in the technical specification untitled "Security requirements for cryptographic modules" published in the Federal Information Processing Standards FIPS PUB 140-2 by the national Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This standard specifies the security requirements that must be satisfied by a cryptographic module to be utilized within a security system, protecting sensitive but unclassified information. The standard provides four increasing qualitative levels of security that are intended to cover a wide range of potential applications and environments in which cryptographic modules may be used.
Electronic packages to be used for FIPS certified applications have a very important function beyond the classical mechanical protection for the embedded semiconductor devices. They ultimately need to maintain the security of the cryptographic keys and algorithm stored within the module. One of the requirement of the highest level of security (FIPS 140 level 4) is the capability to detect and respond to physical intrusion attempts. Such security is provided, in particular, by using tamper proof layers avoiding the undetected penetration of microprobes that can be used to read information from outside of the secure boundaries of the electronic package.
Basically, tamper proof layers comprise a sequence of layers with a combination of different techniques and properties to allow detection by an electronic monitoring system of tamper attempts. When such event is sensed, a security system disables the module, clearing all sensitive information stored in a volatile memory within the electronic package. From the security point of view, the tamper attempts are detected when circuits change their electrical properties from a previous balanced and characterized level. These protection layers are capable of preventing the creation of holes, to introduce electrical microprobes, made by any kind of technique such as micro-drilling with ceramic drills or laser and selective layer ablation. They are also made difficult to work with, for example due to intrinsic material/layer fragility when tampered (very low thickness, brittle layers, not solderable) such as to prevent shunting of the electrical circuit.
To preserve and to extend the life of the battery back-ups, these circuits are preferably made of highly resistive conductive materials drawing low current versus the utilization of low ohmic conductive lines.
The engineering of these electronic packages can drive to solutions where several of the manufacturing steps can be updated to include features that, from the security point of view, are relevant in meeting specifics anti-tampering needs.
The secure module definition i.e., the structure of the implemented layers, is taking advantage of the different possible combinations of stacking these layers for meeting the different levels of security for more generic commercial applications beyond the FIPS requirements.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of tamper proof layers combined with a printed circuit board. As shown, the whole electronic package 100 comprises a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 105 carrying electronic devices or chips. For sake of illustration PCB 105 carries chips 110-1 and 110-2, a volatile memory 115 wherein sensitive information is stored, and a battery 120. PCB 105 is insulated by a dielectric layer 125 on top of which conductive tracks 135 can be designed in conductive layer 130. Likewise, conductive layer 130 is insulated by a dielectric layer 140 on top of which conductive tracks 150 can be designed in conductive layer 145. Conductive layer 145 is protected by the dielectric layer 155. According to this system, a short is established between conductive tracks 135 and 150 when inserting a conductive microprobe in a hole drilled in layers 155 to 125, as depicted by arrows 160. The use of wires 165-1 and 165-2, combined with battery 120, allows to reset volatile memory 115 so as to erase sensitive information contained therein.
However, if the system described by reference to FIG. 1 is adapted to detect shorts created between conductive tracks 135 and 150 when using conductive drills or microprobes, it can not detect a tamper attempt done with insulated tools. To detect such attempt, the conductive tracks 135 and 150 are generally very small in dimensions (line width and gaps between lines) and designed according to schemes similar to the one presented on FIG. 2 wherein an open can be easily detected.
The tamper layers as described above are efficient but are very expensive and cumbersome to produce. For example, a current application consists of a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card placed into a pair of copper covers that are then riveted together and gift-wrapped with a polymer film that carries a pattern of carbon ink defining a resistive network on its two sides. Once the film is placed all around, the package is placed into an Aluminum box, open on one side, and the whole assembly is then potted with a polyurethane resin. From the formed 'brick', only a flat cable is exiting to establish the electrical connection with the system's electronic.
False calls during the manufacturing operations and in the field show the limits of the current solution. The erasing of the cryptographic code causes the replacement of units at customer's sites. Furthermore, such solution presents several drawbacks such as bowing, that has been identified as one of the effects responsible for false tamper calls. There are few mechanism that can trigger the bowing of the secure package that at the end tears, breaks or rips the resistive carbon traces off from their flexible support.
A) The resin potting of the wrapped and the riveted covers, containing the card, creates a multi-materials combination with mutually induced effects on their own different physical properties, such as coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), Young's or elastic module, Poisson's ratio and other physical properties. As all electronic products the functioning of the electronics will generate heat and consequently materials expansion that consequently will start applying various kind of stress to the package. One of higher concern is localized bowing that causes elongation and eventually failure of the highly resistive tracks of the secure mesh triggering a tamper-sensing.
B) the same mechanism of point (A) gets worsened with the possible presence of moisture. As all the plastic electronic packages using plastic polymers sealing that is not moisture proof, moisture is absorbed by the polymer in time, and gets desorbed with thermal cycles. Desorption is increasing the availability of water within a constrained air pockets. Rapid thermal cycle may generate steam, creating condition for sudden and localized formation of high pressure steam, this is also known as "Pop corn" effect, i.e. Inside air bubbles within the potting polymer, that trigger localized pressure/expansion of the material.
C) Along the same line of physics laws, another interesting effect is in the shipping procedures with transits or legs of journey in low pressure environment, like an airplane cargo where the outside depressurized environment poses a challenge in the shipping procedures. The polymer film with exposed resistive traces show limits during handling and the gift-wrapping of the box. The resulting lines abrasion breaks the resistive network. The resistive matrix folded around the box is using an electrically conductive isotropic adhesive that shows temperature dependencies and batch to batch performance changes.
Thus, there is a need to remedy the shortcomings of the prior art as described here above.

Method of embedding tamper proof layers and discrete components into printed circuit board stack-up

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus are provided for downloading a program by using hand-shaking in a digital signal processor (DSP), in which the program stored at an external memory is downloaded to an internal memory by using the hand-shaking in an asynchronous system having a dual CPU, wherein current operation of the digital signal processor is temporarily held to shorten a downloading time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for downloading a program in a digital signal processor (DSP), more particularly, a DSP having a dual CPU employing hand shaking.
2. Discussion of Related Art
At present, the number of handheld phone users is rapidly soaring and new products for various communicating systems and services are being introduced worldwide. New products includes Code Division Multiplex Access 2000 (CDMA 2000) and Wide-CDMA (W-CDMA) as third-generation communications. In Europe, GSM/GPRS products as the 2.5th generations have been developed successively. The third-generation communicating system requires high speed transmission, multimedia service and compatibility with other communication systems. As an example, a wireless terminal is supported by a dual mode, and related software requires several kinds of protocol stacks.
In these communication systems, a digital signal processor (DSP) is utilized to decentralize a load of a micro control unit (MCU). The DSP is a chip capable of performing a boot-loading and requires a driving program to perform actual operation. Such a driving program can be downloaded from a program stored at a memory connected to the micro control unit (MCU), and storing it at an internal program memory.
A problem in such a conventional system is that much time is needed to download the stored program because the DSP has to be reset, and then the desired program is downloaded, and after the downloading is completed, the DSP needs to be reset again to execute the downloaded program.

Method and apparatus for downloading program by using hand shaking in digital signal processing


A semiconductor device with surface-mountable outer contacts and to a process for producing it is disclosed. In one embodiment, surface-mountable outer contacts are arranged on outer contact connection surfaces on the underside of the semiconductor device. In their respective center region, the outer contact connection surfaces have at least one recess which has a dovetail-like profile, the areal extent of the recess being smaller than the maximum cross section of an outer contact. In a one process, the recess in the center region is achieved by selective deposition of correspondingly patterned metal layers.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagrammatic cross section through a prior art surface-mountable outer contact of a semiconductor device of this type. With the aid of this surface-mountable outer contact 1, the semiconductor device is mounted on a higher-level printed circuit board 18. The higher-level printed circuit board 18 has contact connection surfaces 19, which are mounted on the top side 20 of the printed circuit board 18 and in terms of arrangement and size correspond to the arrangement and size of the outer contacts 1 of the surface-mountable semiconductor device 3. The top side 20 of the printed circuit board 18 may have a soldering stop resist layer 17, which only leaves clear a region, in which the outer contact 1 is to be arranged, at the corresponding contact connection surface. The outer contact on the underside 2 of the semiconductor device 3 is also arranged in a very similar way, except that in this case the outer contact connection surface 4 comprises two metal layers 9 and 10, the metal layer 10 being particularly suitable for forming a compound with the solder material of the outer contact 1. Outer contacts 1 of this type have a lead-containing solder material.
However, if the outer contact 1 consists of a lead-free solder material, the problem arises that intermetallic phases 16 are formed in the material of the outer contact 1 in a zone 21, with the result that the material of the outer contact 1 is greatly embrittled. When the outer contacts 1 are being secured to the underside 2 of the semiconductor device 3, as illustrated in FIG. 3, this brittle region is exposed, without any support, to the full stresses caused by shear forces, which occur on account of the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion of the board part of the printed circuit board 18 and of the semiconductor 3. If these shear stresses get out of hand, there is a risk of the outer contact 1 tearing off from the semiconductor device 3 in the brittle material zone 21.
Furthermore, another surface-mountable outer contact is known from document U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,782. In this case, the external outer contact of the semiconductor device is arranged on an outer contact surface, the areal extent of which is smaller than the contact surface by which the outer contact is fixed to the underside of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the outer contact covers not only the outer contact surface but also the edge sides of the metal layer which has been patterned to form an outer contact surface. In principle, the outer contact surface projects into the solder bead of the external outer contact.
A similar structure for a surface-mountable outer contact is known from document U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,597; in this case, first of all a base of conductive material of smaller area extent is additionally deposited on the outer contact surface, and then a soldering ball which completely surrounds the base is applied to the base, so that the base deposited by electroplating projects into the soldering ball. The known surface-mountable outer contacts have the drawback that the critical transition zone from the outer contact surface or the base deposited by electroplating to the outer contacts referred to above is not supported in any way, and consequently there is a risk that in this relatively brittle transition zone the risk of tearing will increase still further in the event of corresponding thermal stresses and sheer stresses on the outer contact.
Patent application DE 103 52 349 discloses a semiconductor chip with flip chip contacts, and a process for producing it. The flip chip contacts are arranged on contact surfaces which are surrounded by a passivation layer covering the active top side while leaving clear the contact surfaces. For its part, this passivation layer has thickened portions which surround the contact surfaces and have an edge beading of polymeric passivation material which limits the extent to which the solder material of a solder ball can spread over the center region of the contact surface. This soft edge beading, consisting of polymeric passivation material, of the outer contact surface cannot mechanically support the critical and brittle transition zone from the solder ball to the outer contact surface.
However, the demands imposed on surface-mountable outer contacts and their reliability are becoming greater and greater, especially since ball grid array packages (BGAPs) with surface-mountable outer contact surfaces are nowadays being used as soldering contact points for a wide range of applications. Mobile appliances are becoming increasingly important in this context. Manufacturers of these appliances, in addition to the reliability tests that have hitherto being standard, are increasingly requiring evidence of what is known as mechanical shock resistance, also referred to as the drop test. In this context, it has been established that the drop test results of lead-free soldered joins are worse than those of lead-containing solders. The outer contacts break at the thinnest point in the soldered join, namely at the point with the greatest stress.
In the case of lead-free solder, this point is also distinguished by the fact that a brittle intermetallic phase of zone within the outer contact is formed close to the outer contact surface and is unable to withstand the shock-like mechanical stresses. The above solutions increase the risk of fracture in solder balls made from lead-free solders still further, since the outer contact surfaces or a pedestal or base which has been deposited by electroplating projects into the solder ball.
Other forms of solutions have proven either too expensive or not practicable. The especially expensive methods include introducing an underfill material between the outer contact surface and a higher-level circuit substrate on which the semiconductor device is to be surface-mountable, with this underfill material being intended to support the outer contacts in order to ensure that they are not torn off the semiconductor chip. In this case, however, an additional process, which involves using special tools to press an underfill material between the underside of the semiconductor chip and the top side of the higher-level printed circuit board, is required for the surface mounting of the semiconductor devices on a higher-level printed circuit board. An additional problem is the limited and restricted storage time of underfill materials of this type and the often greatly restricted access options for introducing the underfill material on the higher-level printed circuit boards and in the intermediate spaces.
In the case of other surface-mountable semiconductor devices, it is attempted to avoid the drawback by drastically reducing the size of the solder bead, which is associated with a reduction in weight and stress. However, this solution proves to be of only very limited use for industrial manufacture using the ball grid array package process that needs to be employed. Another way of avoiding the difficulties of the outer contacts becoming brittle in a boundary zone consists in using elastic solder beads which in the core consist of plastic and only the shell of which is composed of solderable material. However, elastic beads of this type have not to date found an application suitable for industrial manufacture. Moreover, the options for exchanging and replacing semiconductor devices when using surface mounting with elastic solder beads are extremely limited.
Further developments provide for the formation of what are known as non solder mask defined pads" (NSMDPs), which are intended to reduce the mechanical stress over a relatively large contact surface. The drawback of these NSMDPs of outer contact surfaces is the relatively small change in stress which these outer contacts will tolerate without being damaged. Finally, tests have also been carried out using what are known as "softer" alloys with correspondingly softer intermetallic phases at the boundary layer or boundary zone between outer contact surfaces and outer contacts. However, these tests have not to date managed to achieve a certain standardization of the alloys.
Finally, it is attempted, as mentioned in application DE 103 52 349, to support the at-risk location by means of what is known as a collar reinforcement made from a polymer. However, this solution has the drawback that even relatively minor changes in stress can lead to the supporting function being lost. The proposed solutions listed above are therefore in some cases inadequate for the shock stresses mentioned above, or alternatively too expensive to realize on an industrial scale.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Semiconductor device with a recessed bond pad


Various systems and methods for generating environmentally contextualized patterns are disclosed. The system and method generates the environmentally contextualized pattern from a set of images representing an environment. The color palette of the dominant colors from the representational images is processed to remove the gray hues, set the remaining highest and lowest value hues to a particular contrast, and then determine a split complement from the lowest value hue. An algorithm, such as a reaction-diffusion algorithm, is then utilized to generate a pattern incorporating the aforementioned hues. The pattern generated by the algorithm provides a high degree of visual contrast with the environment that the images represent, allowing an individual wearing the pattern to be readily visually identifiable against the environment.

The future success of American cities depends on the support and improvement of the urban cycling experience. Although cycle-commuting is healthy, sustainable, and fun, cycling in the city is dangerous and stressful, to a degree that limits the number of people willing to adopt the practice. Especially in older cities where archaic infrastructure and narrow streets compound the communication issues between drivers and cyclists, being a cyclist requires a certain level of confidence and risk-taking that many people cannot afford. Improving the safety of this practice through better communication and heightened visibility would increase the quality of the experience and the number of participants. Urban cyclists' safety can be improved by translating the visual communication strategies exhibited by other organisms into human-specific solutions. In this way, highly dynamic reaction-diffusion patterns that are specifically generated for the environment in which the pattern is intended to be utilized can dramatically increase the visibility of cyclists. Further, these environmentally contextualized patterns can be expanded into other contexts, such as for equipment for construction workers and other apparel or equipment where it is critical to the safety and well-being of the wearer to be readily visually identifiable against the environment in which the wearer is present.

Environmentally contextualized pattern generation


Hydrosoluble/hydrodispersible polyester copolycondensates, well suited for the sizing of textile threads, comprise terephthalate, isophthalate, sulfoaryl dicarboxylate, ethylene glycol and polyoxyethylene glycol recurring structural units, have a glass transition temperature ranging from 15.degree. to 40.degree. C. at 85% relative humidity and the turbidity of aqueous formulations thereof are storage-stable over time; such polyester copolycondensates are conveniently prepared by (i) transesterifying admixture of dimethyl terephthalate, dimethyl sulfoaryl dicarboxylate and ethylene glycol, (ii) introducing isophthalic acid and an additional amount of ethylene glycol into the medium of transesterification and therein directly esterifying same, and (iii) polycondensing the resulting product of transesterification/direct esterification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the preparation of hydrosoluble and/or hydrodispersible polyesters and to the use of such polyesters for the sizing of textile threads, notably polyester threads.
By the term "threads" are intended both assemblies of long unitary filaments or yarns formed from discontinuous fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Copolyesters which are soluble or dispersible in water, simultaneously comprising terephthalic, isophthalic, sodium-5-oxysulfonyl isophthalic, ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycol recurring structural units are described in FR-A-1,602,002. These are prepared via the copolycondensation of dimethyl terephthalate, dimethyl isophthalate, sodium-5-oxysulfonyl isophthalic acid and a mixture of ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols, in which the polyethylene glycols constitute at least 20% of the mixture. Such copolyesters are used as temporary finishes in the textile industry. The process for the preparation thereof entails the use of relatively expensive diols, such as diethylene glycol.
In JP-A-88/256,619 it is indicated that the aforesaid process does not readily provide an adequate degree of polycondensation. To obviate this disadvantage, JP-A-88/256,619 describes first conducting a direct esterification stage between the terephthalic acid, the isophthalic acid and the ethylene glycol, followed by a transesterification reaction between the dimethyl sodium-5-oxysulfonyl isophthalate and an additional amount of ethylene glycol, and thence a final polycondensation. This process makes it possible to provide a minimum proportion, below 2%, of diethylene glycol units.

Hydrosoluble/hydrodispersible polyesters and sizing of textile threads therewith


Articulation systems and methods of use for a person support apparatus are disclosed. A head support section of a person support apparatus is configured to translate as its inclination with respect to a horizontal surface varies. The inclination of a seat support section is configured to vary as the inclination of the head support section changes with respect to a horizontal surface. Weight acting the seat support section assists in variation of inclination of the head support section.

The present disclosure relates to articulation mechanisms of a hospital stretcher and other person support apparatus. Providing the ability to raise the head support section of a hospital stretcher while requiring minimal effort by the caregiver is an ongoing challenge. While several articulation systems have been developed for hospital stretchers, a need exists for continued development in this area.

Stretcher seat section articulation mechanisms and methods


Personal care compositions containing pituitous silicone fluids compositions are disclosed. The silicone fluid compositions contain certain branched and/or high molecular weight organopolysiloxanes that demonstrate pituitous rheological behavior. When formulated into personal care compositions, the silicone fluids provide enhanced sensory and film-forming properties based on their pituitous rheological properties.

Silicone fluids are widely used in various personal care compositions. The most common silicone fluids used are dimethyl siloxane fluids, which are typically either low molecular weight cyclic molecules of linear polymers. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a linear polymer that is available in a wide range of molecular weights. The viscosity of PDMS increases with molecular weight. When the molecular weight of the PDMS is large enough to exhibit a viscosity in excess of 600,000 centipoise (cP), the fluids are more easily handled when dispersed in a suitable solvent (e.g. low viscosity PDMS fluids, cyclic dimethyl siloxanes, or hydrocarbon solvents). In this way PDMS with a viscosity of several million cP can be easily incorporated into various skin care compositions. In a similar manner, high molecular weight organopolysiloxane resins and elastomers can be incorporated into personal care compositions by first dispersing them in a suitable solvent.
Besides providing certain functional benefits, silicones are incorporated into personal care products for their inherent aesthetic benefits. In particular, formulators will optimize the overall aesthetics of personal care products by selecting certain types and amounts of a silicone. As such, there is a continuing need in this industry to discover new silicone compositions that provide improved product aesthetics, sensory perceptions, or functional improvements. The present inventors have discovered certain silicone fluid compositions that provide such improvements.