An apparatus and method for configuring a gateway device for a modem over packet network session is disclosed. The method for configuring the first gateway device generally comprises: negotiating with a first client device to establish a first link; receiving, from a second gateway device, data indicative of a second link establish between the second gateway device and a second client device; and configuring the first gateway device to transmit data received from the first client device to the second gateway device using a reliable transport and to receive data from the second gateway device using an unreliable transport if the first link is established with error correction and the second link is established without error correction. In some embodiments the error correction provides flow control between the first gateway device and the first client device. The error correction may be based on MNP or V.42 error correction protocol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications over packet networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to the configuration of gateway devices for controlling data flow while communicating over a packet network, such as the Internet, utilizing the Internet Protocol ("IP").
2. Related Art
In recent years, packet-based networks, such as the Internet, have begun to replace the traditional switched telephone networks for transportation of voice and data. For example, with the emergence of voice over IP ("VoIP"), telephone conversations may now be captured, packetized and transported over the Internet. In a conventional VoIP system, telephone conversations or analog voice may be transported over the local loop or the public switch telephone network ("PSTN") to the central office ("CO"). From the CO, the analog voice is transported to a gateway device at the edge of the packet-based network. The gateway device converts the analog voice or speech to packetized data using a codec (coder/decoder), according to one of various existing protocols, such as G.729, G.711, G.723.1, etc. Next, the packetized data is transmitted over the Internet using the Internet Protocol for reception by a remote gateway device and conversion back to analog voice.
Today, many have diverted their focus to using the existing packet-based network and gateway devices, which have been designed to support the transportation of analog voice or speech over IP, to further support modem communication over IP, or as it is referred to in the industry, Modem over Internet Protocol ("MoIP"). FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional communication model for MoIP based on a packet-based network, such as the Internet. As shown, communication model 100 includes first client communication device 110 in communication with first gateway communication device 120 over PSTN providing transmit and receive channels 112 and 114. Communication model 100 further includes second client communication device 150 in communication with second gateway communication device 140 over PSTN providing transmit and receive channels 144 and 142. Communication model 100 enables communications between first gateway communication device 120 and second gateway communication device 140 via a packet network 130 utilizing the Internet Protocol. The Internet Protocol implements the network layer (layer 3) of a network protocol, which contains a network address and is used to route a message to a different network or subnetwork. The Internet Protocol further accepts packets from the layer 4 transport protocol, such as Transmission Control Protocol ("TCP") or User Data Protocol ("UDP"), and adds its own header and delivers the data to the layer 2 data link protocol. TCP provides transport functions, which ensures that the total amount of bytes sent is received correctly at the other end. UDP, which is part of the TCP/IP suite, is an alternate transport that does not guarantee delivery. It is widely used for real-time voice and video transmissions where erroneous packets are not retransmitted. Another transport protocol recently advanced for use with MoIP is Simple Packet Relay Transport ("SPRT") which provides a plurality of communication channels, some of which are defined as "unreliable" (i.e., does not guarantee delivery) and others of which are defined as "reliable" (i.e., guarantees delivery).
For purposes of MoIP, communication devices 110, 120, 140 and 150 are capable of performing modem functions. The term modem stands for modulator-demodulator (i.e. digital-to-analog/analog-to-digital converter). Modem is a device that is capable of adapting a terminal or computer to an analog telephone line by converting digital pulses to audio frequencies and vice versa. Modems may support a variety of data modulation standards, such as ITU (International Telecommunications Union) standards: V.22bis, V.34, V.90 or V.92, etc. Communication devices 110, 120, 140 and 150 may also be cable or DSL modems, which are all digital and technically not modems, but referred to as modems in the industry. Typically, modems have built-in error correction, such as MNP2-4 or LAPM (or V.42) and data compression, such as MNP5, V.42bis or V.44. Modems are also capable of supporting various voice and facsimile standards.
Conventionally, the communication process for MoIP begins when first client modem (("M1") or first client communication device 110) calls first gateway modem (("G1") or first gateway communication device 120). As a result, G1 calls second gateway modem (("G2") or second gateway communication device 140), and G2 in turn calls second client modem (("M2") or second client communication device 150). In order to support VoIP in their default mode of operation, typically, G1 and G2 communicate in voice mode and are configured to use a compressed voice protocol, such as the ITU standard G.723.1. However, when M2 answers the incoming call from G2, M2 generates an answer tone, e.g. 2100 Hz, that causes G1 and G2 to switch to an uncompressed voice protocol, such as an ITU standard G.711, which provides toll quality audio at 64 Kbps using either A-Law or mu-Law pulse code modulation methods. This uncompressed digital format is used in order to allow easy connections to legacy telephone networks. By switching to G.711, the tones generated by M2 may propagate through G1 and G2 in a more intact manner in order to reach M1 at the other side.
One existing method provides for maintaining G1 and G2 in G.711 or modem pass through mode, such that M1 and M2 are able to handshake over packet network 130 and transfer data using G.711 packets using the Internet Protocol. However, such solution suffers from many problems, such as packet loss, jitter and delay, which cannot be tolerated by high-speed modems. To overcome such problems, modem connections are terminated locally such that M1 and G1 handshake and make a connection locally to establish a M1-G1 connection link. Similarly, M2 and G2 handshake and make a connection locally to establish a M2-G2 connection link. After the connection links between M1-G1 and M2-G2 are established, data transmitted by M1 is relayed by G1 to G2 over packet network 130 for transmission to M2. Likewise, data transmitted by M2 is relayed by G2 to G1 over packet network 130 for transmission to M1.
Depending on the type of connection link established between M1 and G1 on the one hand and M2 and G2 on the other, certain problems may arise that can affect the modem relay operation. For example, if both the M1-G1 connection link and the M2-G2 connection link are established with error correction, then the connection between G1 and G2 are generally configured with error correction, and relay of data between M1 and M2 is generally not problematic. By way of illustration, consider the case where the connection links between M1-G1 and M2-G2 are established with an error correction protocol that provides flow control, such as V.42 or MNP4. In this case, the G1-G2 connection is configured using a reliable transport. When data is transmitted by M1 to G1 using the error correction protocol, the data is received into G1's data buffer. Data from G1's data buffer is then transferred to G1's error correction buffer; data from the G1's error correction buffer is then transmitted to G2 over the reliable transport. In a similar way, data transmitted by G1 is received into G2's data buffer. Data from G2's data buffer is then transferred to G2's error correction buffer; data from the G2's error correction buffer is then transmitted to M2 using the error correction protocol. Since the G2-M2 link provides error correction, G2 maintains data transmitted to M2 in its error correction buffer until an acknowledgement from M2 confirming receipt of the transferred data. Once acknowledged, data is removed from the error correction buffer, and additional data from the data buffer is transferred to the error correction buffer for transmission, thus clearing the data buffer to receive additional data. On the other hand, if an acknowledgement is not received, the data remains in G2's error correction buffer and is retransmitted by G2 to M2 until acknowledgement from M2 is received. In such situations where retransmission by G2 is required, G2's data buffer continues to receive data transmitted by G1 from M1. Since G2's error correction buffer is not being cleared during retransmission, G2's data buffer is likewise not being cleared during retransmission and continues to accumulate data transmitted from G1. When a certain threshold level in G2's data buffer is reached, G2 transmits a request or notification to G1 to stop data flow (e.g., a "flow off" request). G1 receives G2's stop data flow request, and stops transferring data from its error correction buffer to G2. During this stop data transfer phase, G1's error correction buffer is not being cleared, and therefore G1's data buffer continues to accumulate data received from M1. When a certain threshold level in G1's data buffer is reached, G1 transmits a request or notification to M1 to stop data flow (e.g., a receiver not ready (RNR)). M1 receives the stop data flow request and stops the data transfer to G1. Once G2 is able to successfully transmit to M1, G2's error correction buffer is cleared and replaced with data from G2's data buffer. After G2's data buffer falls below a certain threshold, G2 transmits a request or notification to G1 to resume data flow (e.g., a "flow on" command). G1 receives G2's resume data flow request, and resumes data transfer from its error correction buffer, resulting in G1's error correction buffer and data buffer being cleared. After G1's data buffer falls below a certain threshold, G1 transmits a request or notification to M1 to resume data flow (e.g., a receive reader (RR)). M1 receives G1's resume data flow request, and resumes data transfer to G1. As illustrated in the above sequence, the ability of G2 and G1 to stop the flow of transferred data from a sender prevents buffer overflow and loss of data for transmission from M1 to M2. The same level of buffer overflow and data loss protection is provided for data transmission from M2 to M1.
However, where one of the connection links between M1-G1 and M2-G2 are established without error correction, modem relay operation and performance can present problems. For example, in the case where the M1-G1 connection link is established without error correction and the M2-G2 connection link is established with error correction (e.g., V.42 or MNP4), G1 and G2 may be configured to communicate over packet network 130 using error correction (such as a reliable transport). This configuration allows G2 to control the flow of data transmitted by G1 to G2 (e.g., by communicating a stop data flow request or notification to avoid data buffer overflow). In response to this command, G1 stops data transfer to G2. In this situation, G1 is unable to clear its error-correction buffer, and therefore its data buffer continues to accumulate data received from M1. However, data transmitted by M1 to G1 cannot be flow controlled by G1 (since G1 is not able to communicate a stop data flow request or notification to M1), because the M1-G1 connection link is established without error correction. As a result, G1's data buffer becomes susceptible to overflow, which results in data loss between the M1-G1 link.
In order to remedy this problem, one proposal has been to configure G1 and G2 to use an unreliable transport protocol or channel in both directions if either one of the G1-M1 and G2-M2 connection links is established without error correction or flow control capability. However, such proposal introduces a significant drawback in that an unreliable protocol makes data transfer over packet network 130 extremely susceptible to network impairments of packet network 130, such as packet loss, jitter and delay, which will still result in loss of data in both directions, i.e. from M1 to M2 and from M2 to M1. Various embodiments of the present invention, as disclosed below, describe methods and devices, which can remedy the shortcomings of such proposal.

Gateway configuration for controlling data flow in modem over packet networks


A conveyor system may include a pipe conveyor with a head end, a tail end, and an inclined section. The conveyor system may also include a conveyor belt including a first portion and a second portion. The conveyor belt may form a pipe shape when the first and second portions of the conveyor belt are overlapped. The pipe shape may extend from a pipe closing point to a pipe opening point and may enclose two or more longitudinally spaced-apart centering structures. The centering structures may allow for self-bridging of a bulk material carried in a pipe volume above each centering structure. Means of implementing this material-transport principle within a pipe conveyor system are described.

One type of conveyor for transporting material is a pipe conveyor, which can be used to protect the material being transported by enclosing it. As such, pipe conveyors are often used in situations where spillage or dust may be an issue or where use of conventional conveyor systems may be too costly or hazardous due to environmental or population concerns. Pipe conveyers may be useful, for example, to convey bulk material between the phases of mining, processing, and storage.
Some pipe conveyors transport material in a circular cross-section formed by overlapping belt edges and using idlers arranged in a hexagonal pattern to form the tubular pipe-like shape. At the loading point, these systems provide a trough or flat conveyor for loading of the material. After loading the material, the belt is formed into a pipe shape for the transport length of the system and re-opened at the destination for the unloading of the material in the standard manner of a troughed or flat conveyor. Because the material is enclosed by the belt during transport, spillage, scattering, pollution, and flying dust may be reduced. These systems also may allow the pipe conveyor to maneuver both vertical and horizontal curves that may be difficult for conventional conveyors to pass through. Also, because pipe conveyors can load and discharge the bulk material in the conventional manner, standard equipment may be used at the head and tail ends.
Pipe conveyors are also useful in situations in which the conveyor layout requires horizontal and/or vertical curves, especially, when the conveyor layout includes a vertical rise or fall. Conventional pipe conveyors, however, are generally limited to being used in conveyor systems with vertical angles of less than 30 degrees as measured from a horizontal axis. While some pipe conveyor designs that allow for pipe conveyors to rise at vertical angles greater than 30 degrees, such systems were proposed more than a quarter of a century ago but have apparently not found successful commercial implementation.
In such conventional systems, the pipe forms a continuous tube. Lifting of the carried material appears to rely on a continuous carry/fall sequence that transports slugs of material for some distance up the tube by means of friction with the pipe walls until the slug collapses and the material falls back down the pipe to a higher level than where it began the previous carry/fall cycle. While prominent pipe conveyor vendors and materials-handling universities have demonstrated in experiments that such a transport mechanism can occur, it appears that difficulties with this approach have, at least to date, prevented such pipe conveyors from being offered for sale.
There are a number of significant difficulties or disadvantages inherent to such systems, which would be manifested if pipe conveyors operating on the continuous-tube principle could be commercialized. One weakness is that the efficiency of transport is likely to be highly dependent on the bulk flow properties of the carried load, which may vary continuously with some partially-processed materials. Another is that—under certain feed conditions—a long void could form below a filled length of pipe, where the filled length is temporarily supported by natural arching or bridging. Such a column of material—having been lifted to a significant height—could then break free, resulting in a sudden collapse of the material in the column, and causing the kind of catastrophic air-blast sometimes associated with hung-up ore passes in underground mines. Yet other limitations of such designs are that special procedures using loose flexible plugs are required to empty the conveyor, and that these designs have only been proposed for conveying in the upwards direction.
Another significant limitation of steep or vertical pipe conveyor systems is that the tensile capacity of the pipe belt increases only in direct proportion to the width of the belt. However, the weight of the material enclosed within the tube and supported by the tensile capacity of the pipe belt increases roughly in proportion to the square of the width of the belt. Therefore, as a designer of a steep or vertical pipe conveyor attempts to increase tonnage by increasing the effective diameter of the carrying tube, it may be found that the tensile capacity of the pipe belt quickly becomes the limiting constraint. Even when intermediate traction drives are provided, this adverse relationship may result in the intermediate drives having to be spaced much more closely than would otherwise have been necessary.
Another possible disadvantage of such steep or vertical pipe conveyor systems is that they may be prone to an unacceptable amount of leakage of carried material fines between the overlapping flaps of the pipe belt. Since the material in the tube is continuously displaced by the carry/fall transport mechanism, there is less opportunity for material to cake at and seal the junction between the overlapping pipe belt flaps.
In another type of steep or vertical pipe conveyor system, a tension element separate from the pipe belt, such as a chain or cable, carries a series of stiff diaphragms within the tube formed by the pipe belt. The diaphragms are configured to stand in planes perpendicular to the main axis of the tube, and to carry most of the weight of the material in steep sections of the pipe conveyor, and transfer the weight of that material to the tension element. The tension element in turn is supported by a drive means at a location beyond the conveyor discharge point. The purposes of such a configuration are apparently to lift discrete volumes of material carried by the discs, and to relieve the pipe belt of the tension-carrying role, so that the belt's primary role becomes that of enclosing the material. A major limitation of such a design is that, for dense materials or high lifts, the tension accrued by the tension element quickly rises to exceed its tensile capacity. Therefore the approach becomes impractical for the high lifts encountered in some applications such as mining. Another significant disadvantage of such systems is that the tension element is in direct contact with the load so that if the load is an abrasive and somewhat sticky material, such as a moist ore, a high rate of wear would occur on the tension element and on the means used to drive it, such as a sprocket in the case where the tension element is a chain. Yet another disadvantage of such an approach is that the rigid discs described are susceptible to damage by larger lumps of ore, as is the tension chain.

Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (USA), Inc.


A network intrusion system for a protected network includes a ruleset module configured to receive metadata for rules. The metadata describes, for each of the rules, a set of associated network vulnerabilities. The ruleset module is configured to access vulnerability information describing a set of cumulative vulnerabilities that each is present in at least one network device within the protected network. The network intrusion system includes a rule management module configured to, for each rule of the plurality of rules: identify the set of associated network vulnerabilities described by the metadata for the rule, determine whether there is a match between any of the set of associated network vulnerabilities and the set of cumulative vulnerabilities, and, in response to determining that there is no match, transmit a first command signal to a network security module. The first command signal instructs the network security module to disable the rule.

Network security relies on various policies and rules to monitor and prevent unauthorized access to devices in a computer network. In some examples, the unauthorized access may lead to malicious attacks on the network. In many cases, the network security helps reduce the risk of data loss and disruption.
Typically, network security systems include a passive network security module such as an intrusion detection system (IDS) or an active network security module such as an intrusion prevention system (IPS) to monitor network traffic for suspicious and/or malicious activity, report the activity, and in some cases, attempt to block network traffic related to the activity. These actions are taken based on default rules provided by a variety of sources including, for example, an IDS/IPS vendor, an open-source repository, a threat-intelligence feed, etc. Generally, the default rules are based on the vendor's recommendation and criteria, taking into account generalized vulnerabilities, the criticality of the vulnerabilities, and recent activity against the vulnerabilities in the wild. This network security approach based on default rules may be referred to as a one-size-fits-all model.
The one-size-fits-all model produces large amounts of default rules pushed to the IDS/IPS to ensure various vulnerabilities spanning across numerous and different network security systems are covered. For example, the one-size-fits-all model commonly produces a ruleset having over 30,000 default rules. Additionally, periodic updates (e.g., weekly, monthly, etc.) may increase the ruleset by about 50 to 300 rules per update. As a result, the IDS/IPS generates millions of alerts per day (e.g., sometimes exceeding ten million alerts per day) based on the default rules, many of which may be false positives—that is, benign traffic, unremarkable scanning activity, or futile attacks. This requires numerous analysts to evaluate the alerts. For example, a single analyst may evaluate and process on average about twelve alerts per hour over an eight hour day. This may lead to overload conditions in the system, manpower, etc.
Analysts may be forced to strike a balance between the default ruleset and the overload conditions. As a result, network security systems assume greater risk and exposure to suspicious and/or malicious activity. Further, processing and storage resources of the IDS/IPS as well as logging and backup systems are stressed by the large volume of alerts.
The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Intrusion detection and prevention system rule automation and optimization


The present invention provides for precision stirrers and mixers which are precision devices for the control of mixing and stirring in liquid and non-liquid systems. As will become obvious, the devices provided for in the present invention may be used for mixing or stirring by adjusting the device configurations and allow precise desired ingredient addition.

Traditional stirrers and mixers consist of a shaft which is driven by a motor with impellers or paddles of various designs attached to the shaft providing stirring and mixing actions. FIG. 1 shows a representative series of commercial designs of mixers, stirrers, and impellers currently available.
The mixing-efficiency of traditional stirrers and mixers is modeled by their pumping effect and by the dynamic response that the impeller imparts into the fluid. When an impeller rotates in the fluid, it generates a combination of flow and shear.
The flow rate produced (in gallons per minute, GPM) and the energy consumed (in horse power, HP) are defined by a characteristic Flow Number (FN) which is a function of the impeller design, impeller diameter (ID), and rotation rate (rotations per minute, RPM). Flow-Numbers, FN, for impellers have been published by the North American Mixing Forum.
It is frequently assumed that the energy imparted by the stirring or mixing device is a significant factor for the properties of the vessel content. The energy consumption (power draw, HP) is defined by the Power-Number (PN), rotation rate (RPM), the impeller diameter (ID), and the fluid specific gravity (FSGR). The impeller generated flow, GPM may be estimated by using the following equation (1)
                    GPM        =                              (                          FN              *              RPM              *                              ID                3                                      )                    231                                    (        1        )            wherein GPM is flow in gallons per minute,                FN is the flow number (dimensionless),        RPM is the impeller rotational rate in revolutions per minute,        ID is the impeller diameter in inches,        231 is conversion factor [cubic inches per gallon]
The power draw (in HP) on the mixing motor can be estimated as
                    HP        =                              (                          PN              *                              RPM                3                            *                              ID                5                            *              FSGR                        )                                1.525            *                          10              13                                                          (        2        )
Wherein HP is power in horsepower (hP),                PN is the power number (dimensionless),        RPM is the impeller rotational rate in revolutions per minute,        ID is the impeller diameter inches,        FSGR is the fluid specific gravity (dimensionless),        1.525*1013 is a conversion factor to horse power (dimensionless).
The estimated energy input (HP)—demand is useful for acquiring and installing appropriate stirrer motors.
The energy input, HP, by the impellers into the reaction mixture is frequently thought to be responsible for unexplained variations of product properties. In temperature-controlled systems, this energy is, of course, neutralized by temperature of the reactor content. Thus, under these conditions, the thermal energy input by stirrers may not contribute to product variability.
Traditional stirrer and mixer devices are generally used for both mixing and stirring. Beyond equations (1) and (2), little seems to be known about the connection between stirrer design, pumping rate (GPM) and energy consumption. As such, general design for scaling impellers for a process from bench-scale to industrial production is little understood. Popular stirrers are magnetic bars and 'marine propellers', however, because of their tendency towards laminar flow regimes, they generally provide poor mixing. Stirring can be related to the turn-over rate of the reaction mixture. In contrast, mixing is provided by controlled mixing rate of reactants with the reaction mixture, the reactor turn-over time, and the reactant reaction rate. Due to cavitation and other effects of mixing, the rate of mixing of ingredients and reactants in a mixture stirred by currently available stirrers such as a magnetic stir bar and mixed by currently available mixers such as those depicted in FIG. 1 cannot be precisely predicted and measured. This inability to precisely control reactant mixing can lead to suboptimal processing of certain chemical reactions such as those used to crystallize silver halides. It is yet another object of the present invention to greatly reduce cavitation within the mixer further allowing for precise prediction of flow rates within the mixer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide quantitative control parameters which allow the designer of a mixer or stirrer to predict the mixing and stirring properties of the mixers and stirrers of the present invention and to design the mixer or stirrer to optimally mix the desired ingredients. It is another object of the present invention to allow the designer or user of the mixers and stirrers of the present invention to accurately and optimally determine the required energy input for a particular degree of mixing. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide mixers and stirrers which allow precise addition of ingredients.


A high-pressure discharge lamp includes an arc tube. The arc tube is supplied with electric power having a frequency at which substantially only one sound standing wave occurs in the arc tube. The sound standing wave is of a given mode, and is in a radial direction with respect to the arc tube. The given mode corresponds to, for example, a first-order mode. Preferably, the arc tube satisfies a relation as follows: EQU (n+0.2).ltoreq.2L/D.ltoreq.(n+0.8). where "n" denotes a natural number, and "L" denotes an axial length of an interior of the arc tube and "D" denotes an inside diameter of the arc tube.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high-pressure discharge lamp which can be used as a light source in various apparatuses such as a liquid-crystal projector, an illuminator, or a lighting equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a prior-art high-pressure discharge lamp, an arc tends to flicker or fall into disorder when the lamp is operated by electric power having a frequency in the range of 10 to 200 kHz. In a worst case, the arc goes out.
A conceivable cause of that phenomenon is as follows. Some mechanisms in the discharge lamp convert the electric power into acoustic energy (sound energy) having a frequency equal to the frequency of the electric power. Acoustic resonance occurs in the discharge lamp. During the presence of the resonance, an acoustic standing wave (a sound standing wave) is developed in the discharge lamp. The acoustic standing wave makes the arc unstable.
Japanese published unexamined patent application 61-126757 discloses a high-pressure discharge lamp in which soft members made of quartz wool are provided on the inner surfaces of ends of an arc tube. The soft members absorb sound waves, thereby controlling the growing up of a resonant sound wave. Accordingly, an arc in the arc tube is stable in a wide frequency band related to electric power fed to the arc tube.
It is known to operate a high-pressure discharge lamp by rectangular electric wave having a frequency in the range of 100 to 300 Hz. Such low-frequency operation of the discharge lamp provides a stable arc.
In the case where a high-pressure discharge lamp is operated horizontally by low-frequency rectangular electric wave, an arc in the discharge lamp bends or curves upwards. Thus, in this case, the temperature of a top portion of the discharge lamp tends to locally rise. Such a temperature rise causes devitrification in the discharge lamp at an early stage, and hence shortens the life of the discharge lamp.
When a high-pressure discharge lamp having an upwardly curving arc is used in combination with an optical system such as a reflecting mirror, the asymmetry of the arc shape causes the illuminance at an illuminated surface to significantly vary from position to position.

High-pressure discharge lamp with reduced bad influence by acoustical standing wave

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A measuring system (15) includes a measuring arm receiving unit (18) mounted on the housing (49) or on an axial pin (30) connected to the housing (49) for conjoint rotation so as to be rotatable or pivotable about the axis of rotation (D). A measuring arm (16) can be arranged on the measuring arm receiving unit (18). A motor unit (24) generates a motor torque about the axis of rotation (D) on the measuring arm receiving unit (18). A rotary angle specifying the rotary angle position of the measuring arm receiving unit (18) about the axis of rotation (D) is detected by a measuring device (67) having a scale part (68) and a detection unit (69). The scale part (68) is arranged in the form of a circular arc, annularly, or in the form of a disc about or coaxially with the axis of rotation (D).

A measuring system can comprise a measuring arm which is mounted pivotably about an axis of rotation and which has two arms protruding away from the axis of rotation in opposite directions, which arms thus form a rocker. A measuring element or probe element, for example a probe tip, a probe skid, or a probe ball, is arranged on a front arm of the rocker, whereas the other, rear end is assigned a sensor and a force-generating device. The deflection of the rear arm can be detected by means of the sensor, and on this basis a measurement value can be determined. The force-generating device is used to press the probe element with a defined force against the surface of an object or workpiece that is to be measured. A probe system of this kind is known for example from DE 40 13 742 A1, DE 31 52 731 A1, DE 196 17 022 C1, DE 10 2007 019 833 A1 or DE 10 2015 004 525 A1. Probe systems of this kind can be used for example when measuring the roughness of a surface of an object.
In a probe system of this kind the measuring force with which the probe element rests on the surface of the object can be adjusted. A measuring force adjustment is known for example from DE 40 13 742 A1 or DE 10 2009 020 294 A1.
With use of measuring or probe systems of this kind, for example in coordinate measuring instruments, the measuring system as a whole can be positioned or oriented in space by means of an appropriate device. Corresponding devices are described for example in DE 10 2009 019 129 A1 or DE 10 2014 110 801 A1.
Proceeding from the prior art, the object of the present invention can be considered that of creating a measuring system, the measuring direction of which can be easily adapted to the orientation of a surface of an object to be measured.

Rocker-free measuring system for a measuring instrument


An image processing apparatus comprises a registration unit configured to perform a first registration between a first set of image data and a second set of data, and a second registration between the first set of image data and the second set of data. The apparatus also comprises a registrability determination unit configured to determine a difference between the first registration and the second registration, and to determine a measure of registrability between the first set of image data and the second set of data based on the difference between the first registration and the second registration.

In the field of medical imaging, medical images are often required to be aligned for comparison. For example, a current image of a patient may be aligned with a prior image of the same patient to assess disease progression or results of treatment, for example to compare tumor size.
It is known to compare or combine images that have been obtained by different modalities of imaging, for example X-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MR), to take advantage of the different information that is obtained from scans in each modality.
However, in general, the position of anatomical features will differ between different images, for example due to different patient positioning, patient movement, different modalities of imaging or different imaging parameters. In order to achieve accurate alignment of two images, it is necessary to transform one of the images so that the coordinates of each anatomical feature are the same in each resulting image. This is achieved by the process of image registration and transformation.
Rigid registration refers to a class of techniques for aligning two or more images or volumes by way of rigid transformations (transformations that involve only rotation and translation parameters). A useful application of rigid registration is for alignment of current and prior volumes in a follow-up study. Affine registration is a registration using affine transformations (rotation, translation, scaling, or shearing).
For image registration, it is sometimes useful to use rotation, translation, and a uniform scaling component. This gives a space of transformations that is more general than rigid transformations, but not as general as affine transformations.
Non-rigid registration refers to a class of techniques that use more general transformations that allow for deformation, including local deformation. These may be particularly suitable when registering images of organs or soft tissue.
Techniques for registration of images are well-known. In general, registration is an optimization problem, with the aim of finding an optimal transform between two images, which relates corresponding features in the images by mapping points in the coordinate system of one image onto the corresponding points in the coordinate system of the other image.
A similarity measure is a measure of the similarity between two images. For example, in the mutual information (MI) approach, points in each image are identified and correlated by the statistical similarity (mutual information) between the two images.
For registration of two images, one image may be kept constant and the other is transformed according to a set of parameters defined by the type of registration (for example, in rigid registration, rotation and translation parameters in the appropriate number of dimensions). The similarity measure between the two resulting images is then determined. This defines an objective function from the parameters to the similarity measure. The objective function is then optimized using an optimization function, for example, gradient descent, hill climbing or Powell optimization, to achieve an optimal transform relating the two images.
This optimal transform is applied to the second image to obtain a transformed image that is aligned with the first image, and has a common coordinate system.
Registration can be performed manually (for example, by manual selection of corresponding points on each image), semi-automatically, or automatically. Many medical imaging systems now have greater automation of registration than was previously the case.
Registration is not always successful, or even possible. Two cases of registration failure in an attempted registration of two sets of image data are described below.
In a first failure case, a good registration of the two sets of image data exists, but the registration algorithm fails to find it. In this case, it would be desirable to improve the registration algorithm to improve the chances of success.
In a second failure case, there is no possible good registration of the two sets of image data, because there is no overlap between the input data sets. For example, the two data sets that the registration algorithm is attempting to register represent images of completely different parts of the body, such as a head and a foot. In this case, no algorithm could possibly give a good registration. If an algorithm claims to find a registration for an unregistrable pair of images, this may be referred to as a blunder.
When registration of a pair of images has failed, a user may want to use an alternative method of alignment, or may want to identify that the pair of images for registration were incorrectly selected. Therefore, it is necessary for a system that is implementing a registration algorithm to be able to detect failures. Currently, most registration algorithms assume that a registration is possible, and always accept the result of the registration. This means that failed registrations, including blunders, are not detected automatically.
Registration algorithms may be evaluated by comparison to ground truth, for example, by comparison to accurate information such as that provided by a clinical expert. It is also known to evaluate registration algorithms without ground truth by considering all combinations of registrations between a set of volumes using multiple different algorithms and statistically combining the results. For this process to be most effective, many data sets and many registration algorithms are used, with considerable statistical processing. This process is used for off-line evaluation of registration algorithms.


Described herein is a mineral-releasing compost prepared by combining a prebiotic material, a probiotic material, and one or more mineral gluconate salts to form a composting mixture, controlling composting conditions to allow for the composting mixture to decompose, and allowing the composting mixture to fully stabilize and mature, wherein the compost includes one or more minerals as digested products of the respective mineral gluconate salts. The mineral-releasing compost is particularly suitable for remediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals and for amendment of soil deficient of certain minerals.

1. Technical Field
This invention is related to mineral-releasing compost and methods of using the same for soil amendment or remediation, in particular, for immobilizing or removing heavy metals from soil.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heavy metal contamination of soil poses a major threat to human health and the ecosystem. Heavy metals are not only prevalent in the soil of mining and manufacturing sites; they are common in agricultural soil that has been treated with certain types of pesticides. Moreover, heavy metals are not necessarily contained within the original sites of the contaminating activities or events. Instead, they may leach into ground water or migrate to other sites through run-offs, causing wider spread pollution.
Conventional techniques for remediating heavy-metal contaminated soils include: immobilization and removal. Immobilization leaves the heavy metals in the soil but minimizes their bioavailability and migration. Immobilization can be achieved by solidification or stabilization by liming and using soil amendments, such as zeolites, cement, or biosolid (a treated byproduct of domestic and commercial sewage). Alternatively, heavy metals may be permanently removed from the contaminated soil by soil washing, which extracts soluble fractions of heavy metal from soil to water. Contaminated soil may also be excavated and transported to an off-site landfill, or disposed of by incineration.
These conventional techniques are typically costly, labor intensive, and environmentally inefficient. Thus, there is a need for an organic approach to soil remediation that has low environmental impact.

Mineral-releasing compost and method of using the same for soil remediation


A machine (1) for gas production, including one or more cylindrical members (2), each of which is associated with two heads that are fixed to the ends of each one of the cylinders (2); adjacent heads, associated with adjacent cylinders, being mutually connected to form a modular manifold; wherein each one of the heads is provided monolithically and made of plastic material by injection molding. The head made of plastic material allows to provide specific tanks for providing onsite gas generators. The advantages of the machine, which is preferably but non-limitatively made of high-density polyethylene or glass-reinforced polypropylene, are: low cost of the raw material and of the molding process, wide and easy availability of the raw material, high repeatability of the production process and very short production times, as well as very low production costs for each manufactured object.

The present invention relates to a machine for gas production.
As is known, a typical apparatus for the production of gas, a so-called onsite generator, for example of O2 or N2, is constituted by one or more tanks, which usually have a cylindrical shape, made of metal, such as alloys of iron, aluminum or steel, which, by working in an alternating cycle, essentially follow the classic operating cycle of a machine of the PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorber) type.
Briefly, in the PSA cycle, an active ingredient contained in the tank is subjected to two alternating steps, characterized by different pressures: a first step at high pressure, called adsorption step, in which the active ingredient contained in the tank is placed in contact with a gas mix, from which a component is to be extracted, and a second low-pressure step, a desorption step, in which the active material, saturated during the preceding step, releases the previously retained gaseous component.
The tanks are designed to work under fatigue conditions with alternating pressure cycles for many years.
Of course, by increasing the capacity of a tank it is possible to provide machines containing a larger quantity of active ingredient and accordingly it is possible to provide onsite generators with greater performance.
To increase the dimensions of a tank it is possible to increase its height and/or diameter.
Whereas by increasing its height, for equal pressures involved, it is not necessary to revise the thickness of the walls of the tank, as the diameter of the tanks is increased, due to the physical law that ties pressure to force (F=p×A), in order to have the same mechanical strength and safety at the same operating pressures it is necessary to increase the thickness of the shell of the tanks, with a consequent nonlinear increase in the quantities of materials used, in process difficulties and in logistical difficulties in their manufacture.


An arrangement includes a carrier and a scale disposed on the carrier in a spaced-apart relation therewith. The scale has a measuring graduation and is attached to the carrier via areally distributed and spaced-apart adhesive dots. The adhesive dots, which can be circular in shape, each include at least three spacers, which can be spheres, enclosed within an adhesive.

US 2007/0281149 A1 describes an arrangement having a scale disposed on a carrier in spaced-apart relation therewith. The scale is attached to the carrier by means of areally distributed and spaced-apart adhesive dots.
As stated in US 2007/0281149 A1 itself, this design has the disadvantage that shrinkage of the adhesive can lead to local bending of the scale, resulting in measurement errors during position measurement with this scale.

Arrangement having a scale attached to a carrier


Infinitely adjustable calibration sleeve for extruded plastic pipes includes an inlet head and two strap layers that intersect like a lattice grate and that are linked with each other at the crossing points. In that manner, the inlet head and the strap layers are adjustable to the pipe diameter, and the inlet head has radially adjustable overlapping segments in a radial plane distributed over the perimeter of the plastic pipe to be calibrated, and the segments mesh and have slots in their overlapping areas. Further, the faces of the segments are configured to lie on the plastic pipe to be calibrated, and the strap layers are linked to the segments flush with the faces. Such a calibration sleeve effectively seals the vacuum tank from the environment and prevents deformations of the entering, extruded plastic pipe.

Calibration sleeves are known from the state-of-the-art whose inner diameter can be changed within a narrow range during operation. The inner diameter of the calibration sleeve is changeable for the purpose of manufacturing plastic pipes within required tolerances taking into account shrinkage of the plastic due to various factors. Examples of such calibration shells are found in DE 44 08 064 C1, DE-OS 26 16 197, DE 200 00 872 U1, DE 200 23 052 U1, EP 1 157 805 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,975 to Steierman.
DE 198 43 340 C2 describes a calibration sleeve whose inner diameter can be adjusted during operation for plastic pipes with different outer diameters. This takes into account the fact that batches within orders are becoming increasingly small under today's production conditions, i.e., the extrusion systems have to be continuously adjusted. These adjustments lead to extrusion system downtime, require a great deal of labor to change the individual parts, and cause loss of plastic material. The calibration sleeve in DE 198 43 340 C2 has numerous rings of blades, and the individual blades of each ring are radially adjustable and overlap from radial plane to radial plane and closely adjoin each other at the overlapping areas. This creates an essentially tubular body that abuts the outside of an extruded plastic pipe, and its diameter is adjustable to adapt to the pipe diameter to be produced. The construction of this known calibration sleeve is relatively complex. In addition, a precisely circular cross-sectional plastic pipe cannot be fabricated with this calibration sleeve.
WO 2004/091891 A1 also describes a calibration sleeve that is adjustable during operation to the different external diameters of plastic pipes to be manufactured. This calibration sleeve possesses an inlet head to which two layers of flexible straps are attached. These straps cross each other like a lattice grate and are linked to each other at their crossing points. The calibration of the calibration sleeve needed for the inner diameter of the extruded plastic pipe is changed by pulling apart or compressing the lattice grate. This calibration sleeve is distinguished by a large adjustment range with high intrinsic strength. In addition, the numerous intersecting linked straps form an absolutely circular calibration sleeve with each adjusted diameter.


A method of deriving a single integer figure of merit representative of vital signs of a mammalian, generally a human subject. A systolic blood pressure S, a diastolic pressure D, and a heart rate PR are used to calculate an Inferred Blood Flow (IBF) using the equation IBF=(S−D)* PR/C where C is a constant, typically 100. A procedure is provided for establishing a statistically valid baseline IBF number against which subsequent IBF readings may be compared to assess the wellness (physiological and emotional) of the subject relative to medical community limits and standards. A self-contained apparatus for making measurements, and computing and storing an IBF is also provided. A normalized single digit scale, the Millen Scale is provided and ideal for use with the present invention. A system for monitoring wellness and/or emotional state of being using the IBF parameter is also provided.

Both the medical community and informed laity are well aware of the variability in blood pressure measurements. Medical professionals are familiar with the many causes for such variations. These causes include a person's physical condition, a person's mental state subject to many outside influences, the quality of the measuring equipment, the competency of data interpreters, and the naturally variable response to normal bodily functions. Despite these numerous variables, healthcare providers of all types and levels of experience typically make important health decisions based upon non-scientific data and evaluations (e.g., a single or small number of blood pressure measurements). According to well-known scientific data processing methodology, using such a single measurement "tradition" introduces a high risk for error. It is difficult to estimate the damage that this traditional procedure may have inflicted upon humans due to inaccurate information and mis-diagnosis.

Method of monitoring a state of health, and a wellness/emotional state monitor implementing the method


A new polysilicon-buffered field isolation process provides reduced stress during field oxidation and reduced bird's beak. Prior to forming the LOCOS masking stack conventionally used for field isolation, a polysilicon buffer layer is first formed on the semiconductor wafer. The polysilicon buffer layer relieves stress between the masking stack and semiconductor wafer similar to conventional Poly-buffered LOCOS processes, but additionally provides sacrificial silicon into which the bird's beak region extends. Subsequent deprocessing of mask and buffer layers removes a significant portion of the bird's beak region, thereby providing active areas having improved physical and electrical characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to semiconductor integrated device design and fabrication and more particularly, to techniques for reducing stress induced charge leakage in VLSI memory arrays such as dynamic random access memories (DRAM).
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention relates to manufacturing processes used to create multilayer semiconductor circuit devices on silicon substrates such as VLSI and ULSI. Generally, these processes include isolation processes, which isolate the active areas of the semiconductor from each other and device implantation processes which result in devices such as transistors and the like being implanted into the active areas. These processes are used to produce, among other things, items such as memory cells. In the past several years the trend has been to produce chips having a higher density of active devices. In particular, DRAM memories are but one example of devices made with these manufacturing processes that have necessitated smaller dimension devices.
As the dimensions of individual memory cells in a DRAM array continue to shrink, the need for efficient and reliable isolation processes to separate active device regions dramatically increases. In fact, known processing techniques have become increasingly ineffective for memory cells and other devices having sub-micron dimensions. Specifically, to extend the use of LOCOS (for LOCal Oxidation of Silicon) isolation technology into sub-half-micron size for 256M DRAM generation, radical modifications in conventional processing technologies are needed.
LOCOS processing is widely used for device isolation applications in the semiconductor industry. Initially, in a conventional LOCOS process, a thin layer of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) is grown on a silicon substrate. This initial layer of silicon dioxide is known as pad oxide in the LOCOS process. The function of this layer is to reduce stress between the silicon substrate and the subsequently deposited layers. Next, a layer of nitride is deposited on the pad oxide layer and lithographically defined to retain the nitride in the active device regions. The nitride is etched from the area between the active device areas where a thick, isolating silicon dioxide layer (field oxide) is to be grown. After the nitride is defined on top of the future active device areas, an oxide layer is thermally grown in the exposed silicon regions and the nitride acts essentially as an oxidation barrier to prevent most oxide growth in the active regions. During the process of oxidation, however, some of the oxidants diffuse laterally at the edges of the nitride masking stack. This causes the oxide layer to grow under and lift the edges of the nitride masking stack. The region of slowly tapering oxide that encroaches under the nitride stack into the active device areas is generally known as the bird's beak region, due to its shape.
Unfortunately, there are several problems that arise from this oxide encroachment under the nitride stack into the active device areas. First, the bird's beak region limits the usable active device areas in the active device region of the substrate. Second, the stress originating from this encroachment and the masking stack thickness increase the overall stress level which leads to the generation of defects in the silicon substrate. These stress induced defects increase the junction leakage current and, as such, reduce the overall reliability of the device.
The problems of the standard LOCOS process have motivated the development of better isolation schemes. In general, an ideal isolation technique should meet the following requirements. First, the spacing between active areas, e.g., the isolation regions, should be minimal to maximize the active area regions of the wafer. Second, the bird's beak region should be as small as possible. Third, the leakage current between active devices must be negligible. Fourth, the process for forming the isolation should not adversely affect the process parameters required for active device fabrication. Finally, the isolation process should be easy to implement and control.
Among a few other isolation technologies, which have focussed their effort on reducing the length of the bird's beak region, the Poly Buffered LOCOS (PBL) isolation process has demonstrated itself as a less complicated improvement on the conventional LOCOS process. PBL uses a polysilicon (poly) layer between the pad oxide and the nitride prior to field oxide growth. The presence of the intermediate polysilicon layer allows the oxide to be thinned and the nitride thickened without generating undue stress in the active regions in order to reduce encroachment during the field oxidation step. In general, a thinner pad oxide layer allows less oxide encroachment under the nitride stack because the downward compressing force from the nitride stack is transmitted more effectively to the substrate through a thinner oxide layer. Consequently, an approximate 50% reduction in length of bird's beak region can be achieved. Following the growth of field oxide the nitride masking stack layers are sequentially stripped (etched away) from the active area locations.
Unfortunately, in standard poly buffered LOCOS processing, the stripping process causes pitting on the surface of the substrate. During the stripping step of the polysilicon layer, the etchants used for stripping polysilicon penetrate into the substrate through the underlying pad oxide layer and develop cavities, i.e., pits, on the surface of the substrate. This cavity formation makes the active areas less usable for further device applications. The pitting becomes more severe as the active area dimensions are reduced to the submicron size.
It is believed that this particular problem with PBL initially begins with the diffusion of oxidants and ammonia along the masking stack layers, which are nitride, polysilicon and pad oxide on top of a silicon substrate, during field oxidation. The oxidants and ammonia diffusing along the pad oxide and polysilicon layers react with the surface of substrate and the top and bottom surfaces of the polysilicon layer to form silicon dioxide and nitride spots thereon. The oxidation and nitridation which proceed along the polysilicon grain boundaries result in some grain boundaries that are more nitride-like in characteristics and others more oxide-like. Hence, when the nitride layer is etched off, nitridized polysilicon grains are completely removed, thereby leaving pits on the polysilicon layer.
Further, during the removal of silicon dioxide residues from the top of the polysilicon layer, oxide etchant penetrates the underlying pad oxide layer through the pitted regions and etches the underlying pad oxide region thereby partially exposing the substrate. Consequently, during the etching step of the polysilicon layer, the polysilicon etchants attack these exposed regions of the substrate. This "pitting" phenomenon is further discussed in "Twin-White-Ribbon Effect and Pit formation Mechanism in PBLOCOS", by Tin-hwang Lin, et al., J. Electr. Chem. Soc., Vol. 138, No. 7, July 1991, pp. 2145-2149.
Techniques to alleviate the problems associated with PBL increase the complexity of the prior art PBL process and thereby increase the costs associated with manufacturing devices using the PBL process. Thus, there is a need to develop new processing techniques to reduce the length of bird's beak region encroachment into the active areas and the related defects while minimizing damage to the upper surface of the active device regions of the wafer during processing.

Process for stress reduction in silicon during field isolation


Disclosed herein is an antiprotozoal composition containing a 2-nitroimidazole derivative as its active component. This drug is especially useful against Trypanosoma cruzi. Process for the preparation is also disclosed.

i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an antiprotozoal composition which is especially effective against Trypanosomatidae and a process for preparing the same.
ii) Background Art
In developing countries especially in South America, high death rate due to diseases caused by protozoa is a big issue. Not only the native people, foreign people sent by other countries to help develop the country are also exposed to danger of getting suffered from such diseases.
Among the diseases caused by protozoa, those caused by Trypanosoma cruzi are fatal because currently no effective antiprotozoals are known. Especially in the case of acute infections, it is not rare that the patients die from myocardosis. Meanwhile, tens of millions of people suffer from chronic infectious diseases caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Prevention and treatment of these diseases, therefore, has been given top priority by the WHO.
It is sbelieved that the development of an effective antiprotozoal, especially against Trypanosoma cruzi is significant for the mankind welfare.

Antiprotozoal composition containing a 2-nitroimidazole derivative and method thereof


A simulation method designs an aperture to obtain optimum resolution and DOF in consideration of the layout of a circuit pattern of a photomask, and a recording medium in which the simulation method is recorded. The simulation method for designing an aperture in an exposure apparatus including a light source, an optical lens group, a photomask, an aperture, receives the layout information of the photomask. The aperture is divided into a plurality of pixels. The pixels of the aperture are flipped, a photolithography simulation is executed to produce a simulated photoresist pattern, and the shape of the aperture that provides an optimum resolution for the simulated photoresist pattern is searched for. Beneficially, a system is provided to execute the method. Also, beneficially, the simulation method may be stored on a storage medium.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a photolithography system, and more particularly, to a simulation method and system for designing an aperture in an exposure apparatus and a recording medium on which the simulation method is recorded.
1. Description
Photolithography is a process of forming a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer and includes a series of processes such as photoresist coating, exposure, and development. As the integration of semiconductor devices increases, various technologies related to photolithography continue to develop in order to obtain a high resolution and optimum depth of focus (DOF) of a photolithography pattern.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional projection exposure apparatus in which photolithography is performed. Referring to FIG. 1, for example, a pair of oval-shaped mirrors 12 are placed around a light source 11, and a collector lens 13, a fly-eye lens 14, a condenser lens 15, a photomask 16, a projection lens 17, a wafer 18, and a wafer table 19 are sequentially arranged under the light source 11. In this case, an aperture 20 which determines the direction of light, is placed between the fly-eye lens 14 and the condenser lens 15. An aperture 20 having a circular opening in the center is usually used. However, if an off-axis illumination (OAI) method is introduced, an aperture having an annular, quadropole, or quasar shaped opening is used.
The operation of the projection exposure apparatus is described below. Light emitted from the light source 11 is reflected by the oval-shaped mirror 12 and is then condensed by the collector lens 13. Light travels parallel to an optical axis through the collector lens 13 and then through the fly-eye lens 14. Light which passes through the fly-eye lens 14, passes through the aperture 20 and is condensed by the condenser lens 15. In this case, the aperture 20 has a predetermined opening as described above, and can adjust the direction of light, i.e., angle, to be transmitted to the photomask 16. Light which passes through the condenser lens 15 is transmitted to the photomask 16, which is used to form a predetermined circuit pattern. After that, light passes through the photomask 16 and the projection lens 17 and is focused on the wafer 18. As a result, the circuit pattern is projected onto the surface of the wafer 18, which is placed on the wafer table 19.
In order to obtain optimum resolution and DOF in a photolithography pattern, it is important for light to be projected in consideration of the layout of the circuit pattern of the photomask 16, and the traveling direction of light can be controlled by the aperture 20.
However, in the present integration circuit manufacturing process, at least 20 to 30 photomasks having different circuit patterns are necessary to manufacture just one device. On the other hand, only a few of the apertures 20 that are mounted in a projection exposure apparatus are used to manufacture one device. Hence, optimum resolution and DOF for each of the photomasks having the layouts of various circuit patterns cannot be obtained. Further, it is not easy to design an aperture in which optimum resolution and DOF are obtained for the layout of each of the photomasks.
To solve the above problems, it would be desirable to provide a simulation method in which an aperture is designed to obtain an optimum resolution and DOF in a photolithography pattern, taking into consideration of the layout of a circuit pattern of a photomask.
It would also be desirable to provide a simulation system implemented by the simulation method.
It would further be desirable to provide a recording medium in which the simulation method is recorded.
Accordingly, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a simulation method for designing an aperture in an exposure apparatus including a light source, an optical lens group, a photomask, and an aperture.
In the method, first, the layout information of the photomask is received. Next, the aperture is divided into a plurality of pixels. Then, the pixels of the aperture are flipped, a photolithography simulation is executed to produce a simulated photolithography pattern, and the shape of the aperture that produces an optimum resolution for the simulated photolithography pattern is searched for.
More specifically, first, exposure conditions and an image of a photomask are inputted into a simulation program. Next, the simulation of a photolithography process is executed using the exposure conditions and the image of the photomask as data. Subsequently, the aperture is divided into a plurality of pixels and the pixels of the aperture are flipped. The simulation of the photolithography process is repeatedly executed when the pixels of the aperture are flipped, and a cost function value, which is a difference between the layout of the photomask and a simulated photoresist pattern produced by the simulation step, is calculated. After that, the steps of flipping the pixels of the aperture, executing the simulation of the photolithography process, and calculating a cost function value are repeatedly performed until the cost function is uniform.
As used herein, the term "flipping the pixels of the aperture" means that the pixels of the aperture are varied so that one or more of the closed pixels are opened and/or one or more of the open pixels are closed.
The exposure conditions include the wavelength of a light source in the exposure apparatus, the intensity of a light source, a numerical aperture (NA) value, and the shape of an aperture.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a simulation system for designing an aperture in an exposure apparatus. The system includes: an inputting unit adapted to receive input data, including the layout information of a photomask; a simulation executing unit which uses the input data to produce a simulated photolithography pattern and searches for the shape of an aperture providing an optimum resolution of the simulated photolithography pattern; and a display unit which displays the result of the simulation executing unit.
In this case, the input data may include exposure conditions such as numerical aperture values, the shapes of apertures, and/or the types and wavelength of light sources.
In addition, the simulation executing unit includes: a photolithography simulation unit which uses the input data to perform a simulated photolithography process; an aperture flipping unit which divides the aperture into a plurality of pixels and flips the pixels of the aperture in a stepwise manner; a cost calculating unit which calculates a cost function value, which is a difference between a photoresist pattern formed by the photolithography simulation unit and the layout of a photomask; and a cost comparing unit which determines whether or not the calculated cost function is uniform. In addition, the display unit may include a monitor.
In order to achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage in which is stored a program for executing a method of designing an aperture in an exposure apparatus. The program includes an inputting module adapted to receive input data including the layout information of a photomask; a simulation module adapted to use the input data to perform a photolithography simulation process to produce a simulated photoresist pattern and to search for a shape of an aperture providing an optimum resolution for the simulated photoresist pattern; and a display module which controls a display of a result of the simulation module.

Simulation method and system for design of aperture in exposure apparatus and recording medium in which the simulation method is recorded


A device for stepping down and/or stepping up the speed of rotation of a motor element, such as a dental micromotor, includes two toothed pinions with common axes of rotation and which are mounted in a support piece. The support piece can turn through an angle (.alpha.) with respect to the body o the motor element about an axis (A) parallel with an axis (o) of the input pinion of the device and offset with respect to the axis (o) by a distance (OA). The axis (A) is further offset with respect to the axis (O') of rotation of the output pinion by a distance (AO') equal to the distance (OA). As a result, in a first position, the axis (O') is merged with the axis (O), and a first one of the pinions (or a crown wheel) is meshed with elements upstream of the kinematic chain. In a second position, following rotation of the support piece through a defined angle (.alpha.), the first one of the pinions is disengaged and a second one of the pinions (or a crown wheel(), is, in turn, meshed with the elements upstream of the kinematic chain.

This invention relates to devices for stepping up or stepping down the speed of rotation of a micromotor, particularly micromotors for dental use, whether electric or pneumatic. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for providing two different speed ratios at the motor's output, and to handpieces and micromotors fitted with such a device. Although the disclosed device is primarily intended for motors it is also applicable to other devices calling for similar speed control.
Dental practice often requires very different ranges of rotational speed for the tool (e.g., a drill) depending on the operation to be performed. For example, for drilling operations, the speed of rotation will correspond to the maximum speed of the motor, whereas for prophylactic operations, the necessary speed will correspond to the minimum speed of the motor.
It is of course possible to cause the speed of an electric motor to vary by adjusting the supply device, and to vary the speed of a pneumatic motor by a device such as that described in French Patent 2,454,513. The disadvantage is that in all cases, and in particular for pneumatic motors, the torque characteristic falls away considerably at low speed. This disadvantage can be palliated by placing a straight or reverse-angled handpiece on the motor. This ensures a speed reduction so that the motor can turn at an acceptable speed. However, the practitioner is then constrained to have two types of handpieces.

Apparatus for the reduction/increase in speed of a micromotor and micromotor equipped therewith


A desmodromic valve train (20) for an engine (40), comprising a valve actuator (100) arranged to actuate a valve (400) independently of the crank angle of the engine (40), wherein the desmodromic valve train (20) comprises: a load path arrangement comprising an input arranged to receive actuating force from the valve actuator (100), an output arranged to provide the actuating force to the valve (400), and mechanical advantage means arranged such that a first displacement, of the input, causes a second displacement, of the output, wherein the second displacement is a multiple of the first displacement, the multiple being within the range 1.3 to 1.95.

A traditional reciprocating internal combustion engine uses valves (typically poppet valves) to control gas flow into and out of the cylinders, facilitating combustion. A valve train is a system that controls the operation of the valves.
An example valve train comprises a camshaft. The camshaft comprises one or more lobes. Each lobe pushes on a valve directly or indirectly to displace the valve from a closed position to an open position. The valve train comprises valve return springs. Each valve return spring biases the valve to displace the valve from the open position to the closed position when the lobe is no longer pushing the valve. The shape of the lobe and design of the valve return springs dictates the resulting displacement over time of the valve from its closed position.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an improved valve train.


The invention relates to an inorganic scintillator material of formula Lu(2-y)Y(y-z-x) CexMzSi(1-v)M′vO5, in which:                M represents a divalent alkaline earth metal and        M′ represents a trivalent metal,        (z+v) being greater than or equal to 0.0001 and less than or equal to 0.2;        z being greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 0.2;        v being greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 0.2;        x being greater than or equal to 0.0001 and less than 0.1; and        y ranging from (x+z) to 1.

The invention relates to scintillator materials, to a manufacturing process for obtaining them and to the use of said materials, especially in gamma-ray and/or X-ray detectors.
Scintillator materials are widely used in detectors for gamma rays, X-rays, cosmic rays and particles having an energy of the order of 1 keV and also above this value.
A scintillator material is a material that is transparent in the scintillation wavelength range, which responds to incident radiation by emitting a light pulse.
It is possible to manufacture from such materials, which are generally single crystals, detectors in which the light emitted by the crystal that the detector contains is coupled to a light detection means and produces an electrical signal proportional to the number of light pulses received and to their intensity. Such detectors are used in particular in industry to measure thickness and grammage or coating weight, and in the fields of nuclear medicine, physics, chemistry and oil research.
One family of known scintillator crystals that is used is that of cerium-doped lutetium silicates. Cerium-doped Lu2SiO5 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,080, and the U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,420 discloses Ce2x(Lu1-yYy)2(1-x) SiO5. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,336 relates to compositions of the Lu2(1-x)M2xSi2O7 type, where M is at least partly cerium. These various scintillator compositions all have in common a high stopping power for high-energy radiation and give rise to intense light emission with very rapid light pulses.
A desirable additional property is to reduce the amount of light emitted after the incident radiation stops (i.e. delayed luminescence or afterglow). Physically, this phenomenon, well known to those skilled in the art, is explained by the presence of electron traps in the crystallographic structure of the material. The phenomenon of scintillation relies on the photoelectric effect, which creates an electron-hole pair in the scintillator material. Upon recombination on an active site (a Ce3+ site in the aforementioned scintillators), the electron emits photons via a process that generally takes place in much less than one microsecond. The aforementioned scintillators, which are particularly rapid, result in a pulse duration that decreases with a first-order exponential constant of around 40 ns. However, the trapped electrons do not generate light, but their detrapping by thermal excitation (including at room temperature) gives rise to photon emission—the afterglow—, which still remains measurable after times of greater than one second.
This phenomenon may be unacceptable in applications in which it is desired to isolate each pulse, using very short windowing. This is particularly the case with CT (computed tomography) applications (scanners) that are well known in the medical or industrial sectors. When the CT system is coupled to a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanner, which is becoming the standard in industry, the poorer resolution of the CT affects the performance of the entire system and therefore the capability of the clinician to interpret the result of the complete PET/CT system. Afterglow is known to be completely unacceptable for these applications.
Compositions of the lutetium silicates type, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,080 (of the LSO:Ce type, using the notation of those skilled in the art) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,420 (of the LYSO:Ce type) are known to generate a significant afterglow. In contrast, the compositions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,336 (of the LPS:Ce type) have the advantage of a much weaker afterglow. These results are given for example by L. Pidol, A. Kahn-Harari, B. Viana, B. Ferrand, P. Dorenbos, J. de Haas, C. W. E. van Eijk and E. Virey in "Scintillation properties of Lu2Si2O7:Ce3+, a fast and dense scintillator crystal", Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2003, 15, 2091-2102. The curve shown in FIG. 1 is extracted from this article and represents the amount of light detected in the form of the number of events (or counts) per mg of scintillator material as a function of time, under X-ray excitation for a few hours. The LPS:Ce composition gives a significantly better result in terms of afterglow.
The behavior of LYSO is very similar to that of LSO from this standpoint. The reduction in this afterglow forms the subject of the present application.
The afterglow property may be demonstrated more fundamentally by thermoluminescence (see S. W. S. McKeever "Thermoluminescence of solids", Cambridge University Press (1985)). This characterization consists in thermally exciting a specimen after irradiation and measuring the light emission. A light peak close to room temperature at 300 K corresponds to an afterglow of greater or lesser magnitude depending on its intensity (detrapping). A peak at a higher temperature corresponds to the existence of traps that are deeper but less susceptible to thermal excitation at room temperature. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, extracted from the aforementioned article by L. Pidol et al., which shows, in another way, the advantage of a composition of the LPS type in terms of afterglow.
However, compositions of the LPS type have the drawback of a lower stopping power than those of the LSO or LYSO type. This situation stems simply from the average atomic number of the compound and from the density of the associated phase.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dense high-speed scintillator material of low afterglow

Abstract: In particular, this material may equip scintillation detectors for applications in industry, for the medical field (scanners) and/or for detection in oil drilling. The presence of Ca in the crystal reduces the afterglow, while stopping power for high-energy radiation remains high.


Portable toilet and schematic toilet arrangements are provided. In one arrangement, the portable toilet comprises a lower toilet shelter and an upper removable conical roof. In another arrangement, the portable toilet includes a lower toilet shelter with an indented upper ledge and a ribbed ceiling. Additional portable toilet arrangements may include a plurality of rounded toilet shelters.

Portable toilets are free-standing structures having minimal enclosures for use as temporary toilets. Portable toilets are widely used at various events, such as sporting events, festivals, concerts and a variety of other large gatherings of people. Typically, portable toilets include an open-front U-shaped toilet seats with a cover. The toilet is generally gravity fed into a waste tank. Often the waste tank includes a chemical disinfectant to minimize unappealing odors and the like.
Portable toilets are efficient for handling the needs of large gatherings, however they are often eyesores or otherwise diminish the aesthetics of the event. Similarly, the footprints of traditional portable toilets are large and unappealing to event planners and patrons, and may distract from adjacent advertising.
Therefore, Applicants desire systems and methods for appealing portable toilet shelters and schematic arrangements without the drawbacks presented by the traditional systems and methods.

Portable toilets and portable restroom arrangements


A soft error-mitigating semiconductor design system and associated methods that tailor circuit design steps to mitigate corruption of data in storage elements (e.g., flip flops) due to Single Events Effects (SEEs). Required storage elements are automatically mapped to triplicated redundant nodes controlled by a voting element that enforces majority-voting logic for fault-free output (i.e., Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR)). Storage elements are also optimally positioned for placement in keeping with SEE-tolerant spacing constraints. Additionally, clock delay insertion (employing either a single global clock or clock triplication) in the TMR specification may introduce useful skew that protects against glitch propagation through the designed device. The resultant layout generated from the TMR configuration may relax constraints imposed on register transfer level (RTL) engineers to make rad-hard designs, as automation introduces TMR storage registers, memory element spacing, and clock delay/triplication with minimal designer input.

The present invention relates to the field of mitigation of radiation effects on semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits (ICs). Interaction of a circuit's silicon with a single energetic particle (such as a strike by a heavy ion, alpha particle, electron, proton, or neutron) may cause a measurable effect on the circuit, up to and including operational malfunction. An ionizing particle strike may introduce electron-hole pairs in the bulk of a semiconductor device, and these carriers may get collected at device nodes owing to drift and diffusion mechanisms. Such radiation-induced events, also known as Single Event Effects (SEEs), may arise when the collected fraction of charge from ionizing particles is larger than the existing electric charge stored on a device node.
SEEs may be further subclassified as hard errors and soft errors. A hard error introduces permanent damage to a semiconductor device that is impacted by a particle. A soft error, while not fatal to a semiconductor, may adversely change the state of data stored on one or more sequential elements in a digital device and/or may affect the performance of analog components like operational amplifiers, regulators, comparators, and oscillators. Two types of SEE soft errors of particular interest to circuit design engineers are Single Event Upsets (SEUs) and Single Event Transients (SETs).
An SEU is characterized by a single energetic-particle strike causing corruption (e.g., a change of state or "bit flip") of a sequential element such as a storage node/register in a microelectronic device (e.g., a microprocessor, semiconductor memory, or power transistor). An SET is characterized by a single energetic-particle strike causing a momentary voltage spike at a node (e.g., a combinational gate) in an integrated circuit that subsequently propagates to the device output. As used hereinafter, such a false or spurious electronic signal caused by a brief, unwanted surge of electric power may be referred to as a "glitch." The SEE summary schematic 100 of FIG. 1 illustrates SEUs 130 potentially manifesting as output signals of various storage nodes/registers 102 within a device and also illustrates SETs 132 potentially introduced within combinational data paths 140 and/or clock buffers 150 employed within a clock tree 112 of a device.
Single Event Upsets (SEUs) and Single Event Transients (SETs) are common in detector electronics for high-energy physics applications, because such detectors are exposed to energetic ionizing particles from the particle collisions that are inherent to such applications. As high-energy physics advancements move, for example, from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) configuration, SEEs have the potential to significantly compromise the reliability of such electronic systems.
The effect of soft errors on circuits may be mitigated at various design levels: technology, cell, or system. At the technology level, for example, Silicon On Insulator (SOI) based devices are resistant to SEEs as the ionizing path in the bulk is quite small compared to planar bulk Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). Also for example, at the cell level, increasing the device node capacitance increases the critical charge to hold the logic state, thereby making the cell less susceptible to SEEs. At the system level, the most prominent methodology for mitigating the impact of soft errors in storage nodes is employment of Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR). TMR is a way of storing the same data on multiple nodes in the circuit design to achieve a fault-tolerant form of system-level redundancy.
In a typical TMR implementation, three systems perform a common computation and the results of each is processed by a majority-voting system to produce a single output. By design, if any one of the three systems fails, the other two systems may be polled by the voting system to identify the failure and, accordingly, to correct and/or mask the fault. FIGS. 1B, 2A, and 2B illustrate an exemplary TMR implementation as known in the art. For example, the D flip-flop 102 shown in FIG. 1B is a memory storage element commonly used in digital designs. Flip-flop 102 features a data input (Din) state 110 and a data output (Dout) state 120. Dout 120 is configured to change state based on Din 110, but only in the presence of a clock signal (Clk) 112. For example, flip-flop 102 may be implemented to only allow the input Din 110 to affect the output Dout 120 state when the clock Clk 112 is HIGH (e.g., set to 1). Thus, D flip-flop 102 may operate as a controlled bi-stable latch with the clock signal at Clk 112 serving as the control signal. Flip-flop 102 may further feature a Set 130 input and a Reset 132 input. A HIGH signal to the Set 130 pin may set output Dout 120 to 1. Conversely, a HIGH signal to the Reset 132 pin may cause output Dout 120 to go to LOW (e.g., reset to 0).
FIG. 2A illustrates employment of D flip-flops in an exemplary TMR implementation 200 as known in the art. Input data Din 210 may be stored in sequential elements (i.e., flip-flops 102(a), 102(b), and 102(c)) on these elements' respective clock edges 112(a), 112(b), and 112(c). The input data Din 210 may be latched on the three flip-flops 102(a), 102(b), 102(c) and a voter element 204 may process the flip-flops' respective outputs Q1 120(a), Q2 120(b), and Q3 120(c) to determine a final output Q 220. As illustrated in the truth table 230 of FIG. 2B, the voter 204 may enforce logic (Q=Q1&Q2 | Q2&Q3 | Q3&Q1) to decide the final output Q 220. Such a TMR implementation 200 may mitigate the effect of an SEE on any one of the storage nodes 102(a), 102(b), 102(c) by ensuring the output Q 220 receives the correct value from the remaining two uncorrupted nodes.
FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary Single Event Transient (SET) scenario 300 as known in the art. As shown, an ionizing particle strike 302 at a gate in a combinational data path may produce a glitch 304. As described above, the propagation of this glitch 302 forward from the impacted gate is termed an SET. The glitch 304 may be captured in a downstream register(s) 310 if the SET arrives as input 314 during the shared Clk 112 clock edge 320 (a phenomenon referred to as SET latching). As illustrated in FIG. 3B, introduction of clock skew 360 (also referred to as "useful skew") is one known method of avoiding glitch propagation through a microelectronic device. As shown, the clock signal Clk 112 may drive a first clock Clk1 312 on a first storage node 370, while that clock signal Clk 112 may be offset by delay logic 350 before driving a second clock Clk2 314 on a second storage node 372. An ionizing particle strike 362 at a gate in a combinational data path may produce glitch 364. However, this glitch 364 may be masked from downstream node 372 because this SET 364 is not allowed to arrive as input 374 during the Clk 314 clock edge 380.
Although the SEE-mitigating techniques 200 and 360 of FIGS. 2A and 3B, respectively, may be sound in the abstract, a design engineer must be concerned with optimization as a specification is carried to implementation. For example, data replication on multiple nodes comes at the cost of additional area and power consumption. Also for example, a design engineer is burdened to ensure that decisions made regarding implementation of a design specification do not inadvertently defeat operational requirements (e.g., expose more than one storage node in a TMR configuration to corruption by a common SEU; fail to account for an SET in a delay logic/clock buffer itself). In circuit design engineering, logic synthesis is a process by which an abstract specification of required circuit behavior is turned into a design implementation in terms of logic gates. Design implementation details are commonly defined at the register transfer level (RTL) using a computer program called a synthesis tool. RTL is a design abstraction that models a synchronous digital circuit in terms of the flow of digital signals (data) between hardware registers, and the logical operations performed on those signals. RTL abstraction is used in hardware description languages (HDLs) like Verilog and Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) to create high-level representations of a circuit from which lower-level representations and, ultimately, actual wiring configurations may be derived.
Accordingly, a need exists for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned challenges in circuit design specification and optimization. More specifically, a need exists for an automated methodology that equips circuit design engineers to more easily, quickly, and/or correctly produce SEE-tolerant standard cell-based digital designs. These are all features and capabilities of the present invention as disclosed and claimed, which provides solutions to the multiple shortcomings of prior art inventions in this field.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Soft error-mitigating semiconductor design system and associated methods


An audio signal encoder is provided which is designed to A/D-convert an analog input signal at a first sampling frequency without being compressed and at a second sampling frequency that is two or four times higher than the first sampling frequency in data compression for minimizing data compression-caused errors in high-frequency components encoded. A decoder decoding digital signals produced by the encoder and a record carrier storing therein the digital signals are also provided.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an encoder, a decoder, and a record carrier, and more particularly to an encoder compressing data to store it on a record carrier, a decoder expanding data that has undergone data compression and been recorded on a record carrier to reproduce it, and a record carrier storing therein data in data compression.
2. Background of Related Art
Optically readable discs such as "Compact Discs" have come into wider use as audio record carriers than conventional magnetic tapes. An EFM recording format using 8-bit fixed length data symbols and a data format including a subcode, audio data, and a CRC are established as logical formats for CDs. CD players having a variety of application functions are now being developed.
CDs are also used as CD-ROMs by discriminating control bits (four bits) in a subcode of a Q channel or detecting the absence of a TOC (Table of Contents) and have wide applicability to the field of electronic publication for mass storage and high-speed access. The CD-ROMs, however, have the drawback in that audio signals are compressed by ADPCM, which makes it impossible to reproduce the audio signals at original quality levels. A recording system designed to achieve the high fidelity is, thus, sought. In other words, development of optical discs capable of recording audio signals within a band of twice that of a conventional CD is expected.

Structures of data compression encoder, decoder, and record carrier