A plurality of individual objects is put together to a group of page type objects in a page type object producing unit. When a display timing and a deletion timing for the group of page type objects are input, a page change timing of each of the page type objects in the group is automatically set in a page change timing setting unit to display the page type objects with a dynamic image at equal intervals in a display period between the display timing and the deletion timing. Therefore, it is not required to input a display timing and a deletion timing for each of the individual objects for the purpose of editing a scenario in which the individual objects are assigned to frames of dynamic image to display the individual objects with the dynamic image, and a scenario editing operation can be easily performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a scenario editor for multimedia data and scenario reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a scenario editor in which a plurality of static images and texts are assigned to a plurality of frames of display scenes one after another on the time-basis of a series of dynamic images and a scenario reproducing apparatus in which the static images and texts assigned to the display scenes on the time-basis of the dynamic images are reproduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a scenario editor for multimedia data, an editing operation is performed while setting a parameter relating to time information, a parameter relating to layout information and a parameter relating to the movement of objects. The objects denote multimedia data such as a dynamic image, a static image, a text and the like, and each frame of display scene is composed of one dynamic image object, one or more static image objects and text objects included in a configuration of a scenario.
In this case, a plurality of static image objects and text objects are assigned to a plurality of frames of display scenes on the time-basis of a series of frames of dynamic image object in a predetermined order according to the time information as if page data is assigned to each of pages of a book. To assign or delete a static object or a text object to/from each frame of display scene at an arbitrary timing indicated by a frame of dynamic image object relating to the time information for the purpose of preparing a scenario of a multimedia image by using the scenario editor, a scenario editing operation is performed as follows.
One frame of dynamic image object used as the timing information is selected, the scene of dynamic image is reproduced, and a reproducing operation is stopped at a particular frame of display scene to display the selected frame of dynamic image object on a display screen. Thereafter, a static or text object to be added or deleted to/from the particular frame of display scene is selected, and a display timing or a deletion timing of the static or text object is set.
In this scenario editing operation, only one object can be added or deleted for each operation. Therefore, it is required to perform a large number of operations equal to the number of adding and deleting objects for the purpose of preparing a scenario of a multimedia image.
Also, an infinite number of scenarios are treated in the scenario editor.
3. Problems to be Solved by The Invention
However, in cases where a plurality of static or text objects are assigned to a plurality of frames of display scene in a predetermined order as if page types data are assigned to pages of a book, because only one object is added for each scenario editing operation in a conventional scenario editor, it is required to select a static or text object according to the predetermined order for each operation, setting a display position and a display size for each selected object and setting a display timing or a deletion timing of each selected object, and a large number of scenario editing operations are troublesome.
For example, in cases where a lecture scene of a person is displayed on a display screen while displaying several tens of pages of materials relating to the lecture, the materials are assigned to a plurality of frames of display scene as a plurality of static objects on the time-basis of the lecture scene treated as a series of frames of dynamic object. In this case, it is required to select the materials one by one in a predetermined order and setting a display timing for each selected material. Therefore, there is a drawback that the editing operations cannot be efficiently performed.
Also, though a scenario edition can be arbitrarily performed by using a conventional scenario editor, an editor is required to perform the scenario editing operations while considering the three parameters, so that a superior editing faculty is required of the editor.

Scenario editor for multimedia data and scenario reproducing apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An earbud sound system for a small speaker system having at least one earbud with a speaker and having, an earbud housing body defining a hollow interior a a circuit board within the housing body and having a signal input connection and a ground connection, and a speaker output connection and a speaker return connection; a bifilar coil unit having first and second coils wound in a bifilar manner, mounted on the circuit board within the housing body, and there being two first coil connections, and two second coil connections on the circuit board, for supporting the bifilar coil unit in a secure manner on the circuit board.

Ear Canal Earbud Sound Systems, such as are used in head sets, especially of the type used in portable audio devices, such as audio players, cell phones, and in some cases in security systems head sets, and military systems, and possibly also in hearing aids, are of compact minimal size, for obvious reasons.
As a result, even though the audio quality of the actual signal may be adequate, the quality of the audio sound delivered by the speakers is often much less than is possible or desirable. This is partly due to the limitations imposed in the design by the small size of the speakers themselves.
The sound quality may be much less, where there is a noisy environment or where transmission is poor.
It is found that much of the loss of quality is due to noise induced in the speaker circuits. If this induced noise can be reduced or eliminated then the audio quality of the sound from the speakers will be both much higher, and of greater clarity.
The signals may come from sources such as tape, CD, or memory chip, or may be communication signals such as mobile phones, radio communication, or possibly hearing aids.
The audio signals may be stereo sound signals. These stereo signals are supplied as left and right hand signals. Audio signals include what can be broadly described as combining both high, medium, and low frequencies. Circuits usually provided in such ear bud speakers for this purpose are usually miniature in scale and somewhat primitive. The speakers themselves also incorporate speaker coils, and these coils are believed to contribute to the electronic noise. It is of course common place that such headsets incorporate a wire harness consisting of a pair of wires connecting to the source of audio signals, and ear buds are then connected by separate wires, one wire for each ear, each of those earbuds incorporating a speaker. In many cases the earbuds actually fit at least partially within the ear canal. In other cases they are held in some form of resilient headband, made of plastic or wire, which partially encircles the head and holds the two earbuds against the two ears.
In prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,615,272, and 5,519,781 and Canadian Patent 2,192,163. Inventor V. W Kukurudza, there are disclosed noise suppression circuits incorporating special "bifilar" wound coils. These bifilar coils actually comprise two coils in one. Bifilar coils consist basically of a pair of wires with the two strands wound into double coils with wire strands of one coil alternating with wire strands of the other coil. Such a bifilar coil is used in each noise suppression circuit. The bifilar coils produce a substantial reduction in electronic noise in the circuit. The bifilar coils also help to reduce the electronic noise originating in the speakers themselves.
To provide a miniaturized noise suppression circuit with such bifilar coils, of an extremely compact size, for use in the Ear Canal Earbud Sound System having the type of head sets or speaker systems described above, numerous other problems arise.
The bifilar coils develop significant internal stresses during operation. The coils must be secured so as to withstand these stresses. One approach is to provide a bifilar coil securely mounted on a single board, and the single board was located in the wire harness, but not in the ear bud itself.
This approach has met with some success. However in this system it was necessary to mount the noise suppression circuit and bifilar coils in the main wire coming from the audio device itself, before the wire is divided into two to supply each earbud. This meant that the entire headset and wire harness must be re-engineered, leading to considerable extra expense. This may lead to a certain degree of customer resistance. Earbuds each incorporate a generally speaking hollow body, containing the miniature speaker, and connections for the wire harness to the speaker.
It is now considered desirable to provide an Ear Canal Earbud Sound System with two separate miniaturized noise suppression circuits each of which actually fit within the hollow interior of a respective earbud, and each being connected between the incoming wire harness connection, and the speaker itself, and back to ground.
In order to provide this extreme degree of miniaturization, the noise suppression circuits are preferably constructed on the smallest practicable circuit board so as to fit within an existing earbud housing.
Each board must be designed and specified so as to fit within the housing of the ear bud, and the housings should preferably fit at least partially within the ear canals of the user.
Boards of this size carrying such a complex circuit, and fitting in such a limited space simply do not exist.


Disclosed herein are substrates comprising reactive ion etched surfaces and specific binding agents immobilized thereon. The substrates may be used in methods and devices for assaying or isolating analytes in a sample. Also disclosed are methods of making the reactive ion etched surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to reactive ion etched polymer surfaces and methods of using in various chemical and biological assays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optimizing surface chemistry to enable immobilization of detection antibodies while retaining bioactivity and minimizing non-specific protein adsorption remains a challenge in the development of robust diagnostic protein microarrays for rapid, high throughput screening of pathogen and toxin exposure. Non-specific protein binding greatly compromises assay sensitivity, so minimizing non-specific adsorption and maximizing the binding ability of antibodies will improve detection limits. Most immobilization strategies developed for protein microarrays involve covalent attachment or non-covalent affinity binding of proteins on glass surfaces, followed by a bovine serum albumin (BSA) blocking step to suppress non-specific binding. Because glass-based microarrays are limited in sensitivity and are particularly susceptible to non-specific background binding, other solid support materials are currently being developed for protein microarray applications. The ideal support surface should provide reasonably strong signals, good signal-to-noise ratios, and an almost negligible background.
Polymers possess desirable bulk physical and chemical properties and are inexpensive and easy to process. However, polymers characteristically exhibit low surface energy and must therefore be modified before use in most applications.
Thus, a need exists for polymer substrates that are suitable for patterned microarrays for high-thoughput assays.

Reactive ion etched substrates and methods of making and using


A crystal-stabilized integrated-circuit oscillator which uses a filtered analog coupling to automatically disable the bias current to an auxiliary gain after startup. Positive feedback is used to ensure that the switchover is completed once it starts. Thus the device sizes and biases of the primary gain stage can be selected for very low-power operation, while assuring that the oscillator will always start-up whenever poser is valid.

The present invention relates to crystal-stabilized integrated circuit oscillators.
Crystal-controlled oscillators use the high Q of an electromechanical resonator (a quartz crystal) to stabilize an integrated oscillating circuit at a desired frequency. Such circuits can achieve a frequency stability in the parts-per-million range, and there is no other practical way to achieve such a constant frequency reference in an integrated circuit. Crystal-controlled oscillators are therefore extremely important, and likely to remain so.
Crystal-controlled oscillators pose some difficulties in design, and one of these is start-up. The impedance of the crystal is typically much higher at zero current condition (which are necessarily present at start-up), so in come implementations the initial loop gain is not enough to start the oscillator. A variety of startup circuits have therefore been proposed; see e.g. B. Parzen, DESIGN OF CRYSTAL AND OTHER HARMONIC OSCILLATORS (1983), at page 415: Unkrich et al., "Conditions for Start-Up in Crystal Oscillators," 17 IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits 87 (1982).
Other difficulties are present in the specific context of low-power CMOS oscillator implementations. Many portable applications are designed for low operating voltage and low power consumption, but also require the frequency stability of crystal oscillator. To reduce power consumption, such low-power CMOS oscillator circuits are typically operated in the weak inversion regime (where gate voltages are only slightly greater than the threshold voltage). However, in the weak inversion regime the gain tends to be lower, and thus start-up is a particularly critical problem. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,055, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Many circuits have been proposed to permit the loop gain to be increased at startup. The input to make this change is conventionally supplied by some external circuit. A prior art example of this is shown in FIG. 4 (taken from U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,122), where the "programmable activity detector" 402 is digital circuit. Until this digital circuit detects the presence of logic transitions on the output FO of final amplifier 322, it generates a logic signal BWC. When this signal is active (and external control signal OSON is active), auxiliary gain stage 218 is turned on, and operates in parallel with the primary gain stage 202. However, the use of a digital circuit to make this determination provides only imperfect matching to the variations which may affect the characteristics of the analog oscillator.
Innovation Structures and Methods
The present application discloses a crystal oscillator which uses a filtered analog coupling to automatically disable the bias current to an auxiliary gain stage after startup. Preferably this analog coupling includes some positive feedback, to ensure that the switchover is completed once it starts. Thus the device sizes and biases of the primary gain stage can be selected for very low-power operation, while assuring that the oscillator will always start-up whenever power is valid.
Advantages of the disclosed methods and structures include:
reliable oscillator start-up: PA1 robust design which is tolerant of minor variations: and PA1 minimum-power operation.

Low power CMOS crystal oscillator circuit


A wood-based decorative article has a finish with grain enhanced by coloring or dyeing. A coated veneer sheet of sliced wood is prepared by bonding a reinforcing member onto the coated veneer by an adhesive. Injection molding is carried out by injecting a molten synthetic resin onto a rear surface of the prepared veneer sheet, thereby integrating the veneer sheet and the synthetic resin with each other and at the same time molding the wood-based decorative article.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wood-based decorative article of composite construction having a veneer arranged on the front surface side thereof and a synthetic resin arranged on the rear surface side thereof and used for decoration of interior equipment for automotive vehicles, furniture, household electrical appliances, and so forth, as well as to a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a method of manufacturing a wood-based decorative article of the above-mentioned kind was disclosed e.g. in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1995-115380. As shown in FIG. 1, according to the manufacturing method, first, a veneer 51 formed of thinly sliced wood is made available (FIG. 1(a)), and then a reinforcing member 53 formed e.g. of a thin metal plate is bonded to the rear surface of the veneer 51 by an adhesive 52 to thereby produce a veneer sheet 54, and a coating process including coloring or dyeing and top coating is performed on the veneer 51 of the veneer sheet 54 (FIG. 1(b)). The coloring/dyeing of the veneer 51 is performed so as to achieve a more beautiful finish by enhancing the grain of the veneer 51. Then, the veneer sheet 54 is set in a mold, not shown, and a molten synthetic resin is injected onto the rear surface of the veneer sheet 54, whereby a substrate 55 made of the synthetic resin is formed on the rear surface of the veneer sheet 54 in a manner integrated with the veneer sheet 54, and at the same time a wood-based decorative article 56 is obtained which is molded as a whole to have a predetermined shape (FIG. 1(c)).
The other conventional methods of manufacturing a wood-based decorative article include, for instance, one illustrated in FIG. 2. According to this manufacturing method, first, two front and rear veneers 61, 62 each formed of thinly sliced wood and a non-woven fabric 63 interposed therebetween are laid one upon another and bonded to each other by using an adhesive, not shown, to make a veneer sheet 64 (FIG. 2(a)). The front veneer 61 functions as a decorative layer, and the non-woven fabric 63 as a reinforcing layer for reinforcing the front veneer 61 which is fragile. Further, the rear veneer 62 functions as an anchoring layer for anchoring a synthetic resin injected onto the rear surface thereof at the following step. Then, after setting the veneer sheet 64 in a mold, not shown, the molten synthetic resin is injected onto the rear surface of the veneer sheet 64 and molded to form a substrate 65 on the rear surface of the veneer sheet 64 in a manner integrated with the veneer sheet 64 (FIG. 2(b)). The substrate 65 is provided for ensuring the strength and rigidity of the wood-based decorative article 67, and the synthetic resin forming the substrate 65 is opaque. Then, top coating is performed on the front surface of the veneer sheet 64, i.e. on the front veneer 61 to form a topcoat layer 66, thereby completing the wood-based decorative article 67 (FIG. 2(c)). The topcoat layer 66 is usually given a polished finish by applying a thick coat e.g. of a polyester coating material onto the front veneer 61 through overcoating performed by multiple coating processes, including an undercoating process, an intercoating process and a finish coating process, while repeatedly carrying out polishing processes for polishing films formed by the respective coating processes.
However, in the conventional manufacturing method shown in FIG. 1, the reinforcing member 53 is bonded to the veneer 51 by the adhesive 52, and then subjected to coating such as coloring or dyeing. Therefore, before the coloring or dyeing is carried out, the veneer 51 has its vessels and fibers impregnated with the adhesive 52. As a result, a coloring agent or a dye is hindered by the adhesive 52 from sufficiently penetrating into the vessels and fibers of the veneer 51, which makes it impossible to carry out sufficient coloring or dyeing to obtain a beautiful wood grain.
Further, the wood-based decorative article 56 is a composite of the veneer 51 and the substrate 55 having different physical properties, and hence tends to suffer from the following problem: The expansion factor of the veneer 51 in relation to humidity is larger than that of the synthetic resin forming the substrate, and hence the dimensional change of the veneer 51 due to a change in humidity is larger. However, since the veneer 51 and the substrate 55 are integrally joined to each other, the veneer 51 is restrained from the dimensional change. For this reason, when the wood-based decorative article 56 is placed in a highly humid environment, a compressive stress acts on the veneer 51, while a tensile stress acts on the substrate 55, which can cause cracking or warpage of the veneer 51.
On the other hand, in the conventional manufacturing method illustrated in FIG. 2, in order to achieve a polished finish, it is required to form the thick topcoat layer 66 through overcoating by repeatedly carrying out the application of the top coating material and polishing of the same. Therefore, the number of man-hours required for the top coating process and the material cost are increased, which leads to increased manufacturing costs. Further, since it is required to provide not only the front veneer 61 but also the rear veneer 62 as the anchoring layer for anchoring the injected synthetic resin, the number of man-hours required to make the veneer sheet is further increased, and the use of the two relatively expensive veneers causes an increase in the material cost, which also leads to the increased manufacturing costs.
Moreover, while the front surface is subjected to the top coating process to be given a polished finish, it is only the front veneer 61 arranged with the substrate 65 as its background that can be seen through the topcoat layer 66. For this reason, the front veneer 61 lacks the feel of depth and the feel of gloss (shiny brightness which looks different depending on viewing angles), and hence only a monotonous finish can be obtained. For the same reason, the design of the wood-based decorative article 67 is substantially determined by the front veneer 61, so that as long as the front veneer 61 remains unchanged, the design of the wood-based decorative article 67 is basically unchanged to provide only a substantially fixed design.

Decorative article having translucent wood veneer


A hair styler for controlling the flow of air emitted from a hair blower, which comprises a coupler for attachment to the hair blower and having an internal chamber with a central axis and a plurality of vents, the hair styler having deflectors in the form of a plurality of canted vanes disposed in a turbinate arrangement exterior of the vents and about the central axis of the internal chamber, for deflecting air that exits the vents into plural flow paths which are approximately transverse to and about the central axis of the central chamber and which manifest different angular direction about the central axis.

Air blowers, for example, hand-held hair blowers or dryers, typically have a cylindrical nozzle with a central axis for discharging air along the central axis in a mostly linear direction of flow to a limited focused area. This is effective for drying hair, but the air blower by itself is not utilizable for other hair grooming actions such as shaping, providing lift to and styling hair.
Recently, various hand-held hair brush and comb devices have been made available for separate use with hair blowers. Some of these are rounded or ball-shaped, are hollow and have bristles or prongs extending outward from their outer surfaces. The devices have round, or elongated openings or gaps in their outer surfaces. Air discharged from a hair blower held in one hand is directed at the outer surface of the hair brush held in the other hand, such that some air passes around the outer surface of the brush and some air enters the openings or gaps in one side of the brush and may exit through openings or gaps in another portion of the brush. These separately held hair brushes and combs are cumbersome in that they require the use of both hands to brush and manipulate the hair. While such hair brushes break up and distribute the flow of air discharged from the hair blower, air blown into and out of the brush is minimal.
More recently, a hair brush device has been provided for attachment to a hair blower. The attachment device is comprised of an elongated cylindrical metal tube which has holes in its outer surface. Bristles inside the tube extend outward through the openings in the tube's outer surface. Such an attachment device is an improvement over hand-held brushes because it frees-up one of the user's hands for use to manipulate the hair cooperatively with the device attached hair blower. Also, since air flow from the hair blower is discharged directly into the attachment, there is a much greater flow of air into and through the attachment than into and through the hand-held, separate hair brush. However, such attachment hair brushes have had the shortcoming that the air discharged through the holes in their cylindrical wall flows in paths which are radial and perpendicular to the axis of flow from the hair blower and to the axis of flow through the attachment device. This can result in an inefficient or limited use of the discharged air. For example, when hair strands are wrapped around the cylindrical attachment, much of the air so discharged through the holes of the attachment strikes the hair strands perpendicularly to their lie and in limited areas, and passes between the strands into the atmosphere. This tends to cause fly-aways, i.e., hair strands which are driven by the air flow to depart from or fly away from the cylindrical brush. Another shortcoming is that these cylindrical attachments are relatively limited in their capability to provide various hair grooming and styling functions. For example, the size of a curl provided to the hair is basically limited to the uniform diameter of the cylindrical tubular attachment. Also, since most of the air exits the device in radial paths which are perpendicular to the axis of flow through the cylinder, their capability of styling the hair in a variety of waves, flips and shapes and of providing increased lift and volume to the hair is limited.
It would be desirable to provide attachment devices for hair blowers, especially attachment devices having, rounded, or ball-like shapes, which would provide varied hair styling capabilities. However, forming such rounded, ball-like brush or comb attachment devices of metal can be difficult and expensive. Although it would be desirable to form such devices of more easily-formable and less expensive materials such as polymeric or elastomeric materials, the high temperatures of approximately 120.degree. C. generated internally in such devices when attached to hot air hair blowers could soften or melt such materials.
Prior designs of separately held, rounded or ball-type brushes and comb devices made of non-metal materials would not be suitable for attachment devices for hot air hair blowers. Although they have gaps in their surfaces which would allow some air to exit the devices, the gaps were designed for aesthetic purposes and would allow little air to exit the devices. Large quantities of hot air delivered from a hot air hair blower directly into the device could not be exhausted rapidly enough. There would be an excessive build up of internal hot air and internal temperatures which could soften or melt non-metal materials of the device. Even if these devices or attachment devices were made of metal, the excessive buildup of hot air in the device would tend to resist the hair blower's air fan and could cause the hair blower to overheat.
It would be desirable to provide a hair styler attachment device for air blowers, especially hot air hair blowers, which could be made of polymeric or elastomeric materials, to provide rounded or ball-type shapes which would permit the styling of hair with the aforementioned variety of shapes and increased lift and volume, and yet which would rapidly exhaust air and avoid excessive build up internal temperatures in the device.


Methods for configuring a cellular telecommunication network are disclosed. A radio frequency (RF) configuration of a selected base station is adjusted to a predetermined setting. A baseline signature is determined based on a plurality of key performance indicators (KPIs). A characteristic of the RF configuration is changed to an updated setting. An updated signature is determined based on measurements of the KPIs after the characteristic is adjusted. The baseline signature and updated signature are analyzed to determine a composite difference profile based on the adjusted characteristic. It is determined that the composite difference profile represents a net improvement in performance of the cellular communication network based on one or more criteria and the adjusted characteristic is maintained as part of a new baseline configuration.

Wireless telecommunication networks have evolved into complex systems that include various hardware that is often controlled with complex software via a central station. To accommodate the increasing demand of such wireless services, large scale wireless telecommunication networks often include an increasing number of cell sites, sometimes referred to as base stations, which are used to service mobile devices in various locations. Radio spectrum is one resource that is managed in wireless communications networks when implementing various wireless technologies such as 3G, 4G, and 5G. An operator of a wireless communication network is typically licensed to operate within specific bandwidth ranges, where a license may designate one or more air-interface technologies that may be used within the specific bandwidth range. For example, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) air-interface technology may be licensed to operate at various frequencies, inter alia, between 700 MHz and 2,700 MHz. Various characteristics that affect the use of the radio spectrum may be changed by the wireless communication network. It is desirable for the wireless communication network to make efficient use of the available spectrum.

Dynamic management of mobile communications network


The specification discloses a process for the production of olefins, including ethylene, propylene and butenes, from methane, the process comprising first, second and third reaction steps operated in tandem. In the first reaction step, hydrogen chloride, perchloroethylene and oxygen are reacted in the presence of a catalyst, using methane as a diluent, to yield hexachloroethane and water. In the second reaction step, the hexachoroethane from the first reaction step is reacted with methane to produce methyl chloride, hydrogen chloride and perchloroethylene. In the third reaction step, the methyl chloride from the second reaction step is reacted to give the desired olefins and hydrogen chloride. By recycling the perchloroethylene from the second reaction step and the hydrogen chloride from both the second and third reaction steps to the first reaction step, a balanced process is achieved that is self-sufficient in chlorine values.

Olefins, including ethylene, propylene and butenes, are major building blocks in the chemical process industries. These materials are either recovered from refinery streams or produced by cracking naphtha or LPG. Not with standing the success of these processes, there is an incentive to use methane as a raw material because of the large reserves of natural gas throughout the world.
From the prior art (Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th ed., Vol. 5, p. 1031), methyl chloride, when heated to very high temperatures, is known to couple giving ethylene and hydrogen chloride. At somewhat lower temperatures, catalytic reactions involving methyl chloride also produce ethylene and other olefins.
The literature (U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,084) further discloses a process for the chlorination of methane using hydrogen chloride as the source of chlorine. This process, however, is attended by several drawbacks. Not only is methyl chloride produced, but the higher chlorinated methanes, including methylene chloride, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, are also generated. In addition, when air is employed in the catalytic reaction, a substantial quantity of gases must be vented, thereby complicating emission control problems and related environmental concerns. On the other hand, the use of pure oxygen hinders the reaction due to the formation of hot spots in the catalyst bed.
There consequently exists a need for a process that starts with methane as a raw material and converts it through the formation of methyl chloride into olefins. Such an integrated process must at once be economical to operate and reduce the inefficiencies characterizing conventional processes.


The invention relates to a process for the preparation of liquid, storage-stable isocyanate mixtures which are characterized by a low color number and which contain carbodiimide (CD) and/or uretonimine (UI) groups. This invention also relates to the isocyanate mixtures obtained by this process, to their use for the preparation of blends with further isocyanates, and to the preparation of prepolymers containing isocyanate groups and of polyurethane plastics, preferably polyurethane foams from these isocyanate mixtures.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of liquid, storage-stable isocyanate mixtures exhibiting a low color number and containing carbodiimide (CD) and/or uretonimine (UI) groups. This invention also relates to the isocyanate mixtures obtained by this process, to their use for the preparation of blends with other isocyanates, for the preparation of prepolymers containing isocyanate groups, and for the preparation of polyurethane plastics, preferably polyurethane foams.
Isocyanate mixtures containing CD and/or UI groups can be prepared in a simple manner using the highly active catalysts from the phospholine series, in particular catalysts of the phospholine oxide series. Suitable processes are known and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,473, EP-A-515 933 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,699.
The high catalytic activity of the phospholine catalysts, particularly the phospholine oxide catalysts, is on the one hand desirable in order to start up the carbodiimidization reaction under gentle temperature conditions. However, on the other hand, no process is known to date which ensures the effective termination of the phospholine catalysis or phospholine oxide catalysis without limitation. The carbodiimidized isocyanates tend to after-react, i.e. they release gas as a result of CO2-formation. This then leads to a build up of pressure in, for example, the storage tanks, especially when the temperature rises.
There have been numerous attempts to discover an effective means to terminate the phospholine catalysis. Suitable terminators are mentioned in, e.g., the patent specifications EP-A-515 933, EP-A-609 698 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,699. These include, e.g., acids, acid chlorides, chloroformates and silylated acids. Termination of the catalyst with acids, which can, for example, also be in the form of acid chlorides, is not sufficiently effective.
According to the disclosure of EP-A-515 933, CD/UI-containing isocyanate mixtures prepared by means of phospholine catalysis are terminated with at least an equimolar amount of, and preferably 1 to 2 times the molar amount of, trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMST), based on the catalyst employed. In practice, however, it has been found that CD/UI-containing isocyanates prepared in such a way are of only limited suitability for the preparation of prepolymers. Prepolymers are the reaction products of these CD/UI-containing isocyanates with polyols. The correspondingly prepared prepolymers, i.e. reaction products of polyols and the CD/UI-modified isocyanates, tend to release gas, which can lead to a build up of pressure in the transportation tanks or to foaming during handling of such products.
This problem can be avoided by employing the silylated acid used for terminating the phospholine catalyst, analogously to EP-A-515 933, in higher molar equivalents (e.g. 5:1-10:1, based on the catalyst employed). In practice, however, this results in the resultant CD/UI-modified isocyanates having a significantly poorer color number. This then also applies to the prepolymers prepared therefrom.
This also applies if the phospholine catalyst is terminated with acids of the trifluoromethanesulfonic acid type in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,699. Prepolymers prepared therefrom also have a considerably increased color number.
The object of the present invention was to provide a process for the preparation of liquid, storage-stable isocyanate mixtures containing carbodiimide and/or uretonimine groups which does not have the deficiencies referred to above. It was also an object to prepare liquid, storage-stable isocyanate mixtures exhibiting low color numbers.

Process for the preparation of liquid, storage-stable organic isocyanates of low color number containing carbodiimide and/or uretonimine groups


For data packet transmission in special format generated by connecting or patching data frames, a request packet and reply packet receivable only by STAs supporting the special format are transmitted/received before the data packet transmission, to check and manage the STA supporting the special format. Based on management information in own station, the data packet is transmitted in the special or standard format according to a receive-side STA. For generating plural data packets in special format in which plural data frames are patched, the plural data frames having subheaders added are connected and divided to data blocks. A main header including information necessary to restore patched data frames are added to each data block, and a control information field and a frame check field of a data packet are added before and after the data block having the main header added thereto, respectively, to generate data packets.

According to the conventional wireless packet communication method in compliance with standard specifications, only one wireless channel to be used is decided in advance, whether the wireless channel is available or not is detected (carrier sense) prior to transmission of the data packet, and one data packet is transmitted only when the wireless channel is available. Such control allows one wireless channel to be shared among a plurality of stations (hereinafter, STA) by staggering times ((1) "International Standard ISO/IEC 8802-11 ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 edition, Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications"; (2) "Low-powered Data Communication System/Broadband Mobile Access Communication System (CSMA) Standard", ARIB STD-T71 version 1.0, Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, settled in 2000).
According to the wireless packet communication method like this, the wireless packet communication method which uses the known MIMO technique (Kurosaki et al., "100 Mbit/s SDM-COFDM over MIMO Channel for Broadband Mobile Communications", Technical Reports of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, A•P2001-96, RCS2001-135 (2001-10)) to perform simultaneous transmission of the plural data packets through one wireless channel, in order to improve transmission efficiency of the data packets, is under study. This space division multiplexing technique (SDM) is the system for simultaneously transmitting the different data packets from each of plural antennas using the same wireless channel, and receiving the plural data packets which are simultaneously transmitted using the same wireless channel by digital signal processing corresponding to a difference in propagation coefficients of the respective data packets received in plural antennas of the opposing STA. The number of MIMOs is decided according to the propagation coefficient and the like.
Moreover, the wireless packet communication method in which each STA has plural wireless network interfaces and, when the multiple wireless channels are available in carrier sense, performs the simultaneous transmission of the plural data packets using the multiple wireless channels, in order to improve the transmission efficiency of the data packets, is under study.
Furthermore, the wireless packet communication method in which the number of data packets corresponding to the total number of MIMOs of the multiple wireless channels are simultaneously transmitted by combining the multiple wireless channels and the MIMO technique is also under study.
According to such methods, when there are the two available wireless channels for the three data packets, for example, the two data packets out of three are simultaneously transmitted using the two wireless channels. Further, when there are the three available wireless channels for the two data packets, all (two) of the data packets are simultaneously transmitted using the two wireless channels. This also applies to the case where the MIMO technique is used.
According to the method of performing the simultaneous transmission of the plural data packets using the multiple wireless channels, the influence of leakage power which leaks from one wireless channel to a frequency band used by the other wireless channel is significant when center frequencies of the multiple wireless channels used simultaneously are close to each other. In general, when transmitting the data packet, the transmit-side STA transmits the data packet, and thereafter, the receive-side STA returns an acknowledge packet (ACK packet, NACK packet) to the transmit-side STA in response to the received data packet. The influence of the leakage power from another wireless channel used in the simultaneous transmission presents the problem when the transmit-side STA is receiving this acknowledge packet.
For example, as shown in FIG. 23, the case is supposed that the central frequencies of a wireless channel #1 and a wireless channel #2 are close to each other and transmission times of the data packets to be transmitted simultaneously from the respective wireless channels are different. In this case, since the data packet transmitted from the wireless channel #1 is short, the wireless channel #2 is performing transmission when the ACK packet in response thereto is received. Accordingly, there is the possibility that the wireless channel #1 cannot receive the ACK packet due to the leakage power from the wireless channel #2. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to improve throughput even though the simultaneous transmission is performed using the multiple wireless channels.
Such a case is caused due to a difference in packet time lengths (transmission time=data size) of the respective data packets when transmission rates of the respective wireless channels are equal to each other, and is caused due to a difference in the packet time lengths (transmission time=data size/transmission rate) of the respective data packets when the transmission rates of the respective wireless channels are taken in account.
Further, according to a wireless LAN system, data sizes of the data frames inputted from a network are not constant. Therefore, when the inputted data frames are sequentially converted to the data packets to be transmitted, the packet time lengths (transmission times) of the respective data packets also change. Therefore, when there is the difference in the packet time lengths between the plural data packets as shown in FIG. 23, there is the high possibility that the ACK packet fails to be received even though these are transmitted in parallel simultaneously.
Relating to such problems, the method of allowing the transmission of the plural data packets to complete simultaneously or almost simultaneously by making the packet time lengths of the plural data packets to be transmitted simultaneously the same or almost the same is under study. According to this method, the transmitting station is not performing the transmission at the time when the ACK packet arrives in response to each of the plural data packets. Therefore, all the ACK packets in response to the data packets which are transmitted simultaneously can be received without being influenced by the leakage power between the wireless channels and the like, which makes it possible to contribute to the improvement of the throughput. The "simultaneous transmission" in this description refers to the state in which the plural data packets with uniform packet time length (transmission time) are transmitted simultaneously. This also applies to the case of the MIMO transmission.
Now, there are the following three ways of generating the plural data packets to be transmitted simultaneously from the data frames. When the data frame is one and the number of idle channels is two, for example, the two data packets having the same packet time length are generated by fragmenting the data frame as shown in FIG. 24(1). Further, when the data frames are three and the number of idle channels is two, the two data packets having the same packet time length are generated by dividing a data frame 2, for example, and connecting these to a data frame 1 and a data frame 3, respectively, as shown in FIG. 24(2). Alternatively, it is the same when the three data frames are connected and then divided into two. Further, as shown in FIG. 24(3), the data frame 1 and the data frame 2 are aggregated and dummy bits are added to the data frame 3, to generate the two data packets having the same packet time length. When the transmission rates of the respective wireless channels are different in using the multiple wireless channels, adjustment is made by bringing size ratio of the respective data packets into correspondence with transmission rate ratio so that the packet time lengths become the same.
Further, according to the wireless LAN system, one data frame is converted to one MAC (Media Access Control) frame. Therefore, even when the data size of a data field in the data frame is small, it is converted to one MAC frame and transmitted as one data packet (for wireless transmission). For example, the maximum size of the data field in the MAC frame of IEEE802.11 standard is 2296 bytes, whereas, in an Ethernet (Trademark) frame which is used as the data frame in general, the data size of the data field is limited to 1500 bytes at the maximum. Accordingly, the Ethernet frame having the maximum size has a margin with respect to the maximum size (2296 bytes) of the data field in the MAC frame. Namely, according to the conventional system, the maximum data size which can be transmitted by one MAC frame is not utilized efficiently, and there is the limit to the improvement of the throughput.
Therefore, in order to utilize the data size of the data packet to the greatest extent possible, the method of aggregating the data fields of the plural data frames and transmitting these as one data packet, as shown in FIG. 24(4), is also under study. In the methods shown in FIG. 24(1) to (3), the connection of the data frames and the like is performed in the range of the maximum size of the MAC frame.
Now, it is possible to deal with the plural data packets generated by the division of the frame as shown in FIG. 24(1) according to the frame format in compliance with the standard specifications based on the conventional fragment processing. Meanwhile, the data packets which are reconstructed by patching the data frames as shown in FIG. 24(2) and aggregating the data frames as shown in FIGS. 24(3) and (4) are in a special format which is not in compliance with the standard specifications.
However, it is needless to say that, in such a data packet in the special format, the data field of the data frame and the data field of the data packet are not in one-to-one correspondence. Meanwhile, the receive-side STA needs to restore the original data frames from the received data packet, but the restoration from the as-is data packet is not possible because its packet format is unexpected conventionally. The reasons are as follows.
When an IP packet in an IP layer is transferred to a lower layer in the actual system, for example, the processing of transferring it is performed by fragmenting it into several data frames. In this case, headers for restoring the original IP packet are respectively added to head parts of the data fields of the respective data frames formed by the fragmentation. When a receive-side STA receives the data packets formed by thus-generated data frames, it extracts the data frames from the data packets, and then restores the original IP packet.
Generally, in the IP layer of the receive-side STA, restoring processing on the IP packet is performed by automatically recognizing that the head part of the data field of each of the received data frames is header information necessary to restore the original IP packet. Namely, from the viewpoint of the IP layer, the problem is caused when the head part of the data field in each data frame is not the header information to restore the original IP packet.
However, in the data packet which is reconstructed by patching or aggregating on the transmit side as described above, the header information to restore the original IP packet is moved to the part other than the head of the data field in each data frame, and therefore the IP packet cannot be restored from the as-is data packet in the IP layer. Therefore, before restoring the IP packet, it is necessary for the receive-side STA to first restore from the received data packet the original data frames before the reconstruction.
In order for receive-side STA to restore the data frames before the reconstruction from the data packet in the special format which is reconstructed on the transmit side, information on whether the data packet is in the special format or not, and when it is in the special format, information such as the boundary of the data frames and the order of the data packets are necessary. However, since a field for transmitting such information is not defined in a standard format, it is necessary to transmit the information from the transmit side to the receive side by the special format which is newly defined. However, when the special format which is not defined generally is adopted by the entire communication system, all the STAs which constitute the communication system must be replaced by new devices supporting the special format, and therefore increase in cost is unavoidable.
It is an object of the present invention to realize the wireless packet communication method which enables transmission/reception of the data packet in the special format, recognizing that it is in the special format, and the restoring processing on the data frame before the reconstruction in the wireless packet communication method in which the data packet in the standard format is transmitted/received.

Wireless packet communication method and apparatus

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A method and apparatus for synchronizing a time stamp counter (TSC) associated with a processor core in a computer system includes initializing the TSC associated with the processor core by synchronizing the TSC associated with the processor core with at least one other TSC in a hierarchy of TSCs. One or more processor cores are powered down. Upon powering up of the one or more processor cores, the TSC associated with the processor core is synchronized with the at least one other TSC in the hierarchy of TSCs.

One of the large challenges in a multicore processor system is keeping the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) synchronized across all the different cores potentially running at different frequencies. As the distances become large between cores and even sockets, this becomes an increasingly difficult problem. Another challenge is keeping the TSC synchronized during power management events, like CC1, CC6, or other sleep states. In conventional designs, the per-core logic has to be reprogrammed with the new TSC value when it wakes up from a clock halt or sleep state.

Method and apparatus for synchronizing the time stamp counter


In a particular embodiment, a controller is adapted to control a spindle motor that controls rotation of at least one rotatable disc of a storage device. The controller is adapted to increase a spindle speed associated with the spindle motor to an unload spindle speed that is greater than an operating spindle speed during a ramp unload operation.

For a storage device with a ramp load/unload mechanism, one challenge includes issues related to low fly heights during load/unload, which can cause spindle speed dips while the slider is flying over a data zone, unload peak voice coil motor (VCM) current spikes due to a large drag force during unload, head/media contact, and damage to the media or the read/write head due to such contact. In small form factor storage devices, the ramp load/unload mechanism is moved to an extreme outside diameter of the storage media to maximize the disc real estate. However, the airflow at the outside diameter is less stable relative to the airflow toward the center of the storage media. Further, in small form factor storage devices, spindle speed dip and head/media contact tend to occur more frequently during unload operations due to a dwelling time at ramp contact during ramp unload operation.
Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.


A method and apparatus provides for control of the quality of service for service groups by controlling the power of each service group. The carrier-to-interference requirements for which each service group achieves its minimum acceptable link quality is determined. The difference in carrier-to-interference requirements due to different requirements of fractions of satisfied users is compensated for. A power offset between the service group is determined using the compensated carrier-to-interference requirements.

The present invention relates to quality of service control in networks, and more specifically, to controlling quality of service for multiple services in a radio network through service group power setting.
Due to the rising popularity of data services such as the Internet, there has been an increased demand for various types of access to these data services. To address this increased demand for access to data services, operators of radio networks have implemented techniques for communication of data through the radio networks. Many portions of the conventional radio networks are reused for these data services. Accordingly, the radio network's air interface resources are shared between the voice and data services. It will be recognized that, depending on the radio access technique, a resource consists of a set of logical or physical channels, (e.g., frequencies for FDMA, timeslots for TDMA, or spreading codes for CDMA), together with a constraint on maximum power or energy for use on these logical or physical channels. When managing the common resource for multiple services in a radio network, bearers of different services having different requirements on channel availability and channel quality, stemming from, e.g., co-channel interference from other cells, should be accounted for.
P. Stuckman et al. "GPRS Radio Network Capacity and Quality of Service Using Fixed and On-Demand Channel Allocation", in proc IEEE VTC'00 Spring, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference, discloses one conventional method for managing different services in a radio network by dividing the common resource set into smaller isolated parts. Each of these smaller isolated parts are reserved specifically for one service group. Accordingly, channel availability per service group can be controlled through the amount of resources allocated to a particular subset. Channel quality may also be controlled if the resources are arranged such that the same subset allocation is used in all cells in the radio network. Using the same subset allocation in all of the cells in a radio network avoids interference between more aggressive and less aggressive service groups because equally aggressive services will be allocated on the same co-channels in neighboring cells. However, dividing the common resource set into smaller isolated parts results in trunking losses due to the fact that the fewer resources that are pooled together, the less effective each individual resource becomes. Dividing the common resource set requires service mix dependent dimensioning which is difficult to determine prior the division of the common resource set.
One method for managing a common resource for multiple services which avoids the above-identified trunking losses, is to mix services on this same resource. When services are mixed on the same resource, channel availability may be controlled through priority schemes, e.g., assigning blocking sensitive voice services priority over less delay-sensitive data services. For more information on mixing services on the same resource the interested reader should refer to G. Bianchi et al., "Packet Data Services Over GSM Networks With Dynamic Stealing Of Voice Channels", Proceedings of IEEE GLOBECOM 1995, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference. Because different services typically have different channel quality requirements there are many deficiencies with mixing services on the same resource. For example, when different services are mixed on the same resource the average interference situation on the shared channels is the same regardless of service type. Accordingly, without first accounting for this interference situation, mixing different services on the same resource does not account for the different channel quality requirements of different services.
One method for adjusting the allocation of resources for different quality requirements can be achieved through individual power control. Individual power control is currently used in most direct sequence-CDMA (DS-CDMA) systems, e.g., wide band CDMA (WCDMA), IS-95 or CDMA-2000, as well as TDMA-based systems, e.g., GSM/EDGE systems. In general, individual power control is used to control the power at which individual mobiles or base stations transmit in order to minimize mutual interference between the mobiles or base stations. Since an increase in transmit power for one mobile or base station increases interference to other mobiles or base stations within radio range, this increased transmit power can be considered as increasing the radio resources allocated to the mobile or base station, while the increased interference decreases the radio resources allocated to the other mobiles or base stations. The intent of individual power control is to limit a mobile or base station to transmitting at a minimum power level required to respectively reach a base station or mobile station, with a desired signal strength or quality. For more information on how individual power control can be used as a component to manage multiple services, the interested reader should refer to D. Imbeni et al., "Quality of Service Management for Mixed Service in WCDMA", in proc IEEE VTC'00 Fall, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference.
One problem with individual power control in GPRS/EGPRS systems is that the amount of individual power control is limited by current standards. Further, in combination with the limited power control provided by the standards, the short duration of data packets for the power control algorithms to converge within renders channel qualities difficult to control through power control. In addition, since these individual power control schemes dynamically regulate power individually for each user to achieve a given link quality target, an increased amount of signaling in the network is required.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to control the quality of service for multiple services that share a common resource without trunking losses and service mix dependent dimensioning. Further, it would be desirable to provide different quality requirements for different services. In addition, it would be desirable to control the interference between service groups to maximize capacity without the increased complexity of individual power control.

Method and apparatus for controlling quality of service for multiple services through power setting


A surface mount antenna includes a ground plane, a feed line, and a radiating element. The ground plane extends in a first direction on a first side of a substrate. The feed line extends in a second direction on a second side of the substrate. The radiating element includes a plurality of segments disposed on the first side of the substrate and is configured to resonate in a plurality of frequency modes.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to surface mount antennas that may be disposed on printed circuit boards (PCBs). More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a quad-band antenna that may be surface mounted on PCBs.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Security or alarm systems are installed in premises to detect hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions. A security system generally includes a plurality of detectors/sensors, one or more keypads, and a control panel containing the system electronics and may include a communication interface (communicator) for remote monitoring and two-way communication over telephone or wireless communication paths. Each of the detectors communicates with the control panel to provide notification of an alarm condition. Examples of possible alarm conditions include unauthorized entry or the unexpected presence of a person who may be an intruder, fire, smoke, toxic gas, high/low temperature conditions (e.g., freezing), flooding, power failure, etc. In other words, an alarm condition may represent any detectable condition that might lead to personal hazard or property damage. Audible and/or visible alarm devices such as sirens, lights, etc., may also be utilized to notify occupants of the existence of an alarm condition. The control panel may be located in a utility room, basement, etc., and may communicate with the detectors and notification devices by wired or wireless signal paths. A keypad, which may also communicate with the control panel via a wired or wireless connection, is used to arm/disarm the system as well as providing a means to display various system messages via a status display screen.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical security system 10 installed in a building or premises. Security system 10 includes a control panel 20 which generally controls operation of the system. A number of detection devices 181 . . . 18N are utilized to monitor an area. Detection devices may include, for example, motion detectors, door contacts, glass break detectors, smoke detectors, water leakage detectors, gas detectors, etc. Detection devices 181 . . . 18N communicate with panel 20 by a dedicated wired interconnect 18A, wirelessly 18B, through the electric (i.e. power) wiring of the premises 18C, or otherwise. One or more user interfaces, such as keypad 25, is used to communicate with control panel 20 to arm, disarm, notify, and generally control system 10.
Control panel 20 communicates with each of the detection devices 181 . . . 18N, keypad 25 and personal device 19 as well as communicating with an offsite monitoring service 30 which is typically geographically remote from the monitored premises in which system 10 is installed. Control panel 20 may include a CPU 34, memory 35, and communicator 36. CPU 34 functions as a controller to control the various communication protocols within system 10. Memory 35 stores system parameters, detection device information, address information, etc. Communicator 36 sends and receives signals to/from the monitoring facility 30 via communications link 31. Alternatively, communicator 36 may be a separate device that communicates with controller 20 via a hardwired or wireless connection.
Generally, when an alarm condition occurs based on the operation of one or more detection devices 181 . . . 18N, a signal is transmitted from the respective detection device to control panel 20. Depending on the type of signal received from the one or more detection devices, communicator 36 communicates with monitoring service 30 via link 31 to notify the monitoring service that an alarm notification has occurred at the premises. Communication link 31 may be a POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) connection, a broadband connection (e.g., internet), a cellular link such as GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) transmission, satellite communication, etc. In certain security systems, keypad 25, control panel 20 and communicator 36 may be housed within a single unit.
For wireless communication, the keypad 25, control panel 20, communicator 36, and detection devices 181 . . . 18N include an antenna for transmitting and receiving signals. However, the size of communicator 36 and other components of the security system are continually being decreased in order for the devices to be unobtrusively installed in various areas of the home or business. For security providers that do business throughout the world, the decreasing sizes of the components of the security system, and consequently the PCBs within the components, often requires the design and manufacture of separate PCBs due to the different bands used for wireless communication in these different regions. For example, security units in North America typically operate in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) 850 and GSM900 bands, and security units in Europe typically operate in the GSM1800 and GSM1900 bands. Accordingly, a compact quad-band surface mount antenna is desirable that can accommodate different GSM bands.


A plasma processing system and method provide an internal coil in a vacuum chamber for maintaining a high density plasma therein in a manner that may have a less restrictive requirement on metal flux shielding than when the shield protects a dielectric window. The shield also shields the coil from plasma heat load. The coil need not be actively cooled. Some metal is allowed to pass through the shield and deposit on the coil. This leads to a thinner shield with less complicated slots than for shields in external coil configurations. Good RF transparency of the shield is a result of the much simpler shield shape. The coil is not sputtered and is thus not consumable. The coil is enclosed in a small conductive space, reducing its inductance, resulting in reduced coil current and voltage, in turn simplifying the design and construction of the tuning network and RF connectors. Stiffeners support the coil and are profiled to avoid formation of conductive paths forming from metal deposits.

In the deposition of metal onto semiconductor wafers in semiconductor manufacturing, plasma sources are used, in addition to a primary sputtering plasma source, to improve the performance of the processing tool. For instance, in ionized physical vapor deposition (iPVD) of metal onto a wafer, a supplemental plasma source is often used to increase plasma density to produce an increased fractional ionization of the metal atoms being deposited. This, combined with RF bias on the substrate wafer leads to improved coverage of the features on the wafer surface, and reduces the closing-off of the necks of such features. Likewise during a soft-etch stage that accompanies many iPVD and other processes, an auxiliary plasma source is employed to provide a dense plasma at the wafer level that will maintain a uniform etch at an acceptable rate and at a DC bias voltage level that is low enough to eliminate plasma damage to the wafer. Further, during a pre-clean stage of various processes, it is again desirable to perform a soft-etch of the wafer. As in the case of the soft-etch process, plasma density and uniformity are desired, as is process throughput and reduced plasma damage to the wafer.
In iPVD, the additional plasma source includes an RF antenna, mounted either internally or externally to the process volume. Both antenna locations have advantages and disadvantages. Where a soft-etch process step is executed in an iPVD module, RF power is applied principally to a wafer that is being processed to generate a plasma and provide a DC biasing voltage to the wafer. This method produces a uniform plasma above the wafer, but at high biasing voltages, in excess of 100 V. In such a case, a small inductively coupled plasma (ICP) improves the etch rate and reduces the bias voltage. Often, such a plasma also dramatically reduces the etch uniformity. In pre-cleaning applications, the pre-cleaning process is usually performed in a separate process module. Typically, the source for the plasma for the pre-cleaning includes an external ICP coil, which transmits power into a vacuum chamber through a dielectric window. To prevent the sputtered metal from coating the window, which would reduce RF penetration into the chamber, the window is often protected by a deposition baffle or shield of some complexity.
RF plasma sources for iPVD can use an internal coil design where the coil is immersed in the plasma. Due to high voltages developed on such a coil, the plasma sputters the coil, necessitating coil replacement. To reduce coil voltages and coil sputtering, the coil is typically operated at about 450 kHz. In addition, due to the large plasma thermal load, the coil needs to be water-cooled, complicating coil construction.
An alternative approach to the internal coil in iPVD is the external antenna design, one version of which has been adopted by Drewery et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,435. In this approach, the RF coil is external to the processing chamber and is situated in air. An RF field from the antenna penetrates into the chamber through a dielectric window. To preserve the transparency of the dielectric window to the RF, the window may be shielded from the metal ions in the plasma in a manner that still provides for RF transparency. This shielding of the window is solved by the introduction of a deposition baffle or shield. The shield is designed to be opaque to the large majority of the metal ions. As discussed in Drewery et al., this is accomplished by introducing a shield of electrically conductive material with long slots generally perpendicular to the direction of the RF antenna conductor segments. This approach removes some of the problems of the internal coil design, but suffers from the drawbacks of deposition shield complexity. The deposition shield must accomplish two counteracting goals: RF transparency and metal opacity. These goals are not easily accomplished, as one is usually achieved at the expense of the other.
The prospect of reduced RF transparency of a dielectric window creates a need to protect the dielectric window from metal deposition. The protection may be provided by a deposition shield, which is either made of one piece with a complex slot shape (such as a chevron) or a two-piece assembly with overlapping slats. Both types of shields introduce transmission losses and result in reduced efficiency of the RF source. The reduced efficiency, and its effect on the output of the whole RF source, can be offset by an increase in coil current, which in turn increases the voltage across the coil. This in turn leads to increased complexity of other parts of the RF circuit, such as the tuning network and RF connectors from the coil to the tuning network.
At iPVD pressures in the range of 30-100 mTorr and higher, an intense plasma having a density in the order of 1012 cm−3 and higher, and electron temperature of 4-5 eV is produced near the RF source. As a result, the shield is subjected to a large thermal load: up to 20 percent or even higher of the RF power is deposited back to the shield in the form of a plasma thermal load. This is particularly the case in deposition applications, for example, in ionized physical vapor deposition (iPVD) applications. These problems are also applicable to soft-etch and pre-clean applications, although these applications usually involve lower power, which simplifies RF power handling and component cooling requirements.
Accordingly, there is a need for an RF power source that overcomes the drawbacks set forth above.

Internal antennae for plasma processing with metal plasma


Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a bar stool that is easy to Additionally, certain embodiments of the present invention provide a bar stool that own into a flat disassembled state that is compact and cost effective for shipping.

The present invention generally relates to bar stools. More particularly, the present invention relates to bar stools that are easy to assemble and convenient and cost effective to ship.
Typically, bar stools are sold in a disassembled state to provide a convenient method for saving space for shipping. Even when disassembled, however, many bar stools are still heavy and bulky, as they contain several large pieces that do not condense and package compactly. Therefore, even in the unassembled state many barstools are still difficult and expensive to ship and transport.
Typically, unassembled bar stools also contain a large number of parts and pieces making assembly extremely complicated and requiring the use of several confusing steps. A large number of parts frequently leads to the misplacement of one or more required elements of the assembly, making the assembly more difficult, if not impossible.
Thus, a need has long existed for a bar stool that is easy to assemble. Additionally, a need exists for a bar stool that lies flat and is thereby convenient and cost effective to transport and ship.


A method for detecting errors includes obtaining input data, applying a knowledge base to the input data, identifying diagnostics associated with errors in the input data, encapsulating data snippets corresponding to errors with associated diagnostic codes to obtain encapsulated data snippets, and outputting encapsulated data snippets.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a branch of computer science dealing with intelligent behavior, learning and adaptation in machines. AI research is focused on producing machines that automate tasks requiring intelligent behavior. Real-world applications of AI include handwriting, speech, and facial recognition, computer and video games, and the ability to answer diagnostic and consumer questions.
Expert systems are a class of computer software that makes up a subset of artificial intelligence. Unlike more typical artificial intelligence models, which tend to be procedural, algorithmic, numerical, or mathematical, expert systems use empirical knowledge to solve problems in specific problem domains. In general, expert systems are employed to solve problems that require the knowledge and experience of human experts. Because knowledge is a fundamental element of expert systems, they are also referred to as knowledge-based systems.
Typically, an expert system is composed of two primary components: the knowledge base and the inference engine. The knowledge base is essentially the collection of domain-specific knowledge that is applied to the problem at hand. Knowledge bases are usually represented as ideas, facts, concepts, and statistical probabilities and their associative relationships. Knowledge bases are derived from human expert knowledge and encoded in a logical form that the expert system can understand. A knowledge base provides the backbone of the expert system and allows the system to accurately evaluate potential problems.
The inference engine forms the brain of the expert system. It emulates the human capability to arrive at conclusions by reasoning about the information in the knowledge base. Inference engines typically employ one of two types of inferencing: forward chaining and backward chaining. Forward chaining, or data driven inferencing, starts with available data and applies rules to the data to extract more information until a goal is reached. Backward chaining, or goal driven inferencing, begins with a list of goals and works backwards through the rules to see whether available data supports the goals.
Expert systems are used in many domains, including accounting, medical, oil exploration, video games, and consumer-product matching. While individual expert systems are applied to highly specific domains, each system can easily be adapted to another domain by changing the knowledge base. The inference engine can be applied to virtually any body of knowledge, provided the knowledge is encoded in a form understandable by the expert system.

System and method for identifying, prioritizing and encapsulating errors in accounting data


In a pulse filtering device, the pulse signal is sampled to enable the counting of this signal by an asynchronous counter. A pulse of calibrated duration is generated when the counting reaches a predetermined number.

In electronic circuits with serial transmission interfaces, it is often necessary to filter the input signal to eliminate the parasitic pulses that may result with excessively small pulse widths. If these parasitic pulses are not filtered, they could cause malfunctioning of the electronic circuit. Indeed, the appearance of a pulse could activate a particular operation in the circuit, but the pulse width would not be sufficient to ensure that the operation runs to its complete extent. Furthermore, it is not desirable that a pulse caused by noise on the line should be capable of activating a function of the electronic circuit. This is why a filtering device is usually provided. This filtering device may include an RC lowpass filter.
The use of an RC lowpass filter of this kind nevertheless has a few drawbacks. The resistance and capacitance values of the RC filter may vary from one electronic circuit to another, owing to variations inherent to the method of manufacture used. These values of resistance and capacitance will also vary with the level of the ambient temperature at which the electronic circuit functions.
The cutoff value of the RC filter depends directly on the amplitude of the pulse. This is shown in FIGS. 1a to 1c in the appended drawings. In these figures, the input signal is referenced Sin and the filtered output signal is referenced Sf. FIG. 1a shows the charging and discharging at the terminals of the capacitor when a pulse I with an amplitude V appears on the input signal Sin (FIG. 1b). The cutoff value d1 of the RC lowpass filter is given by V/2. The filtered signal Sf (FIG. 1c) at the output of the filter has a pulse shortened by the duration d1 corresponding to the time taken to charge the capacitor from zero to V/2.
The filtered signal thus has a shortened pulse duration d2 in the figure. A shortening of this kind of the pulse width is highly inconvenient in practice. Indeed, the system may find itself with a filtered pulse width d2 smaller than the cutoff value d1. For example, if there is an RC filter to filter the pulse widths smaller than 300 ns (d1=300 ns) and if the input pulse has a width of 310 ns, the filtered pulse will have no more than a width d2 equal to 10 ns, leading to an erratic operation of the electronic circuit. With a filtering system of this kind, it is therefore necessary to set a specification for the user requiring that pulses be presented with a width d far greater than the cutoff value d1 of the filter, to take account of the zone of erratic operation.
If d1 is the cutoff value equal to the minimum width of a pulse for accurate operation of the electronic circuit, the specification set a minimum width dmin=2.multidot.d1. The three operating zones are then the following, for an input pulse with a width d:
d<d1: completely filtered pulse, PA1 d1<d<2.multidot.d1: zone of erratic operation, and PA1 d>2.multidot.d1: zone of accurate operation.
Finally, it has been seen that the cutoff value d1 of the filter depends on the amplitude V of the pulse. In one transmission system using the variation of the amplitude of the pulse as an information transmission system, a filtering operation of this kind is therefore not applicable since it would dictate cutoff values that differ according to the amplitude of the pulse received.

Method and device for the filtering of a pulse signal


The effective doping profile of a finished thyristor is altered with helium ions radiated into a region provided for triggering the thyristor in such a way that the breakover voltage for overhead ignition is increased or reduced. Doping profile changes made in the cathode side half of the anode side base provide effective results, e.g. in the vicinity of the pn junction between the anode side and the cathode side base. The helium ions generate acceptor-type states that lower the effective n doping.

The invention relates to a method for setting and for fine-tuning the breakover voltage on thyristors that have already been fabricated.
A thyristor has a semiconductor body which has, in succession, an n-doped cathode-side emitter, a p-doped cathode-side base, a n-doped anode-side base and a p-doped anode-side emitter and whose cathode-side emitter is provided with an electrode serving as a cathode and whose anode-side emitter is provided with an electrode serving as an anode. If an electrical voltage is applied to the anode by the positive pole and to the cathode by the negative pole, the thyristor is in the blocking region (blocking state) for low voltage magnitudes. If the voltage is increased, a current flow in the forward direction is turned on when the (maximum) forward blocking voltage is reached, the so-called breakover voltage, also referred to as trigger voltage. The thyristor is said to trigger. If the voltage is polarized oppositely between anode and cathode, the thyristor is in the blocking region, which is limited by the reverse blocking voltage at which the thyristor breaks down, with the result that a current flows in the reverse direction.
The thyristor can also be triggered in the presence of a voltage in the blocking region. This triggering can be effected by a control current which is applied between the cathode-side base and the cathode-side emitter, and this can be done, for example, via a so-called gate electrode in a region of the semiconductor body provided for this purpose. In the absence of a control current, the triggering can also be effected as so-called breakover triggering by increasing the voltage to the value of the breakover voltage, in addition through the use of a sufficiently steep voltage rise in the blocking direction or by the radiation of light into a region of the semiconductor body formed specially for this purpose, predominantly the cathode-side base.
The breakover voltage is limited by different effects, depending on the configuration of the thyristor. A current flow in the forward direction can be turned on by the electric field at the blocking cathode-side pn junction becoming so large that charge carrier multiplication (avalanche breakdown, avalanche breakover) occurs, or by the space charge zone extending virtually over the entire thickness of the anode-side base and approaching the anode-side emitter to an extent such that the current gain factor of the anode-side transistor formed from the cathode-side base, anode-side base and anodeside emitter becomes large enough to switch the thyristor on (so-called punch-through effect). The doping profiles of the base regions essentially determine which of the two effects leads to a breakover or breakdown.
Published, Non-Prosecuted German Patent Application No. DE 196 50 762 A1 describes a thyristor in which a zone swept over by the space charge zone (depletion zone) in a region provided for breakover triggering is irradiated with xcex1 particles or protons in order to modify the profile of the charge carrier lifetime in such a way that the voltage required for breakover triggering is limited and becomes largely temperature-independent in the range of the operating temperatures. In this thyristor, the breakover triggering takes place in a central BOD structure (breakover diode), which is provided for limiting the breakdown voltage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,087 describes a production method for thyristors, in which the otherwise completed thyristor is irradiated with protons whose penetration depth is set to the cathode-side half of the anode-side base. Defects are produced there in this way, which defects act as donors and locally increase the charge carrier concentration in order to lower the breakover voltage. Although the avalanche breakdown voltage is lowered as a result, on the other hand the current gain factor of the anode-side transistor is lowered due to the reduction of the extent of the space charge zone, with the result that controlled lowering of the breakdown voltage is very difficult.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for setting a breakover voltage of a thyristor which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods of this general type and which can be used to set the breakover voltage of completed thyristors.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for setting a breakover voltage of a thyristor, the method includes the steps of:
providing a thyristor with a semiconductor body having, in succession, an n-doped cathode-side emitter, a p-doped cathode-side base, an n-doped anode-side base and a p-doped anode-side emitter, and the semiconductor body having a given region in which a current flow is triggered if a forward-biased electrical voltage between the anode-side emitter and the cathode-side emitter reaches a breakover voltage; and
radiating ions into the given region provided for triggering the current flow and producing, with the ions, defects in a cathode-side half of the anode-side base such that the defects counteract dopant atoms present in the cathode-side half of the anode-side base.
In other words, a method for setting a breakover voltage of a thyristor, which has a semiconductor body having, in succession, an n-doped cathode-side emitter, a p-doped cathode-side base, an n-doped anode-side base and a p-doped anode-side emitter, and in which the semiconductor body contains a region in which a current flow is triggered if a forward-biased electrical voltage between the anode-side and the cathode-side emitter reaches the value of the breakover voltage, wherein ions are radiated into the region provided for triggering and wherein the ions generate defects in a cathode-side half of an anode-side base, and wherein the defects counteract the dopant atoms.
In the method according to the invention, the effective doping profile of the completed thyristor is altered by irradiation with a suitable ion type in a region provided for triggering, e.g. in a BOD (breakover diode) structure, in such a way that the breakover voltage is set, at least within unavoidable tolerances, to a predetermined value. The ion type is chosen such that defects are produced as a result of the radiating-in process in the semiconductor material, which defects counteract the dopant atoms. What are most effective in this case are alterations in the more weakly doped zone, generally the anode-side base and there preferably in the vicinity of the pn junction between the anode-side and cathode-side bases. In particular, helium ions are suitable for the modification of the n-doped base, the helium ions producing acceptor-like states which lower the effective n-type doping in a region in which the helium ions are highly decelerated. The region in which the helium ions are highly decelerated is generally situated just before the maximum penetration depth which can be determined at least approxiamtely.
Accordingly, a preferred mode of the invention includes radiating ions into the anode-side base such that the ions produce defects acting as acceptors in the anode-side base. Also, a preferred mode includes radiating the ions into the anode-side base such that the ions produce defects acting as acceptors in a zone of the anode-side base adjoining the cathode-side base.
According to another mode of the invention, the ions are radiated into a portion of the thyristor including a BOD structure.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for setting the breakover voltage of a thyristor, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Method for setting the breakover voltage of a thyristor


There is provided a stimulus generation apparatus including a stimulus generation section which provides a stimulus for promoting fat burning for fat or a satiety center inside a body cavity.

The present disclosure relates to a stimulus generation apparatus.
Nowadays, a capsule type medical apparatus introduced into the body of a test subject is known. Randomly imaging each part within the body, gathering samples or the like from within the body, or progressively observing a prescribed part by remaining inside the body cavity such as disclosed in JP 2007-14634A and JP 2005-204806A, are known as such a capsule type medical apparatus.


An EUV light source target material handling system is disclosed which includes a target material dispenser and a target material repository in which solid target material in the target material repository is converted to target material in liquid form through the use of inductive heating.

Extreme ultraviolet light, e.g., electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength of around 50 nm or less (also sometimes referred to as soft x-rays), and including light at a wavelength of about 13.5 nm, can be used in photolithography processes to produce extremely small features in substrates such as silicon wafers. Here and elsewhere herein the term "light" will be used even though it is to be understood that the radiation described using that term may not be in the visible part of the spectrum.
Methods for generating EUV light include converting a target material from a liquid state into a plasma state. The target material preferably includes at least one element, e.g., xenon, lithium or tin, with one or more emission lines in the EUV part of the spectrum. In one such method, often termed laser produced plasma ("LPP"), the required plasma is produced by using a laser beam to irradiate and so to vaporize a target material having the required line-emitting element to form a plasma in an irradiation region.
The target material may take many forms. It may be solid or a molten. If molten, it may be dispensed in several different ways such as in a continuous stream or as a stream of discrete droplets. As an example, the target material in much of the discussion which follows is molten tin which is dispensed as a stream of discrete droplets. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, however, that other target materials, phases of target materials, and delivery modes for target materials may be used.
The energetic radiation generated during de-excitation and recombination of ions in the plasma propagates from the plasma omnidirectionally. In one common arrangement, a near-normal-incidence mirror (often termed a "collector mirror" or simply a "collector") is positioned to collect, direct (and in some arrangements, focus) the light to an intermediate location. The collected light may then be relayed from the intermediate location to where it is to be used, for example, to a set of scanner optics and ultimately to a wafer in the case where the EUV radiation is to be used for semiconductor photolithography.
The target material is introduced into the irradiation region by a target material dispenser. The target material dispenser is supplied with target material in a liquid or solid form. If supplied with target material in a solid form the target material dispenser melts the target material. The target material dispenser then dispenses the molten target material into the vacuum chamber containing the irradiation region as a series of droplets.
As can be appreciated, one technical requirement for implementation of a target material dispenser is the supply of target material to the target material dispenser. Ideally target material is supplied in a manner that does not require frequent or protracted interruptions in the operation of the overall system for producing EUV radiation, that is, the EUV source. At the same time, because it is desirable to provide for the ability to "steer" the target material dispenser precisely and repeatably (i.e., alter the position of the point at which the target material dispenser releases target material into the vacuum chamber), it is also desirable to provide a target material dispenser that has relatively low mass. There is thus a need to supply the target material dispenser with target material in a manner which does not require undue interruption in the operation of the overall EUV source and which does not add undue mass to the target material dispenser.

Apparatus for and method of supplying target material


A strain release connector for an overhead electrical wire includes a first connector part securable to the overhead electrical wire with a fixed clamping force, and a second connector part cooperable with the first connector part and securable to a service cable with an adjustable clamping force, less than the fixed clamping force. The second connector part has at least one strain adjustment screw for modifying the adjustable clamping force. The adjustable clamping force is set by the at least one strain adjustment screw such that the second connector part is configured to release the service cable upon an application of a predetermined tension force.

The invention relates to a releasable connector for an overhead electrical wire and, more particularly, to a releasable connector assembly including strain adjustment screws that provide for controlled breakage (conductive separation) of an overhead electrical wire upon an application of a predetermined tension force.
Downed power lines can carry an electric current strong enough to cause serious injury or death. Downed power lines can result from various causes including fallen trees during a storm, high winds, car accidents into utility poles, and the like. It is also possible for wire tension to cause utility pole breakage, resulting in multiple downed power lines.

Methods for releasably connecting an overhead electrical wire


The present invention discloses a method for improving control and detection precision of tidal volume by introducing R value, comprising the steps of: a plateau pressure Pplate is used to calculate a system compliance C with C=ΔV/(Pplate−PEEP); VT, the tidal volume obtained currently at patient terminal, is calculated with VT=ΔV×(C−Ctube)/C, wherein ΔV is the variation of tidal volume, PEEP is the positive end expiratory pressure and Ctube is the compliance C of the line. Depending on the calculated VT, the tidal volume which is actually obtained by the patients during this period, the processing unit calculates the tidal volume VT′, which the airway is intended to reach during the next expiration period, by VT′=VT+ΔVT×K wherein K is a scaling factor for control and adjustment, VT is the tidal volume obtained by the patient during the current period, VTset is the presetted tidal volume, ΔVT=VTset−VT. And the processing unit accordingly controls the opening position of the inspiratory valve during the next inspiration period, so as to achieve the purpose of improving control and detection of precision tidal volume.

At present, for an anesthesia machine or a ventilator, there exists two methods for detecting tidal volume:
A sensor is placed at the patient terminal for real-time detecting data, which brings about the advantages that the monitored data is accurate, data process is not necessary, and the patient's status can be reflected in real-time. However, this method causes the disadvantage that the circuit from the machine to the patient's mouth is relatively long, resulting in possible interference during an operation by a surgeon. Furthermore, the relatively long circuit may affect the precision of the signals.
A sensor is embedded into the breathing circuit for real-time detecting data, which brings about the advantages that the problem of interference is eliminated and the signal is stable while there is disadvantage that the monitored data is not the real data of the patient, thus requiring a calculation to process it.
Generally, the compliance C is used for the compensation calculation of tidal volume.
The system compliance C=ΔV/(Pplate−PEEP).
wherein ΔV is the tidal volume variation, Pplate is the plateau pressure, and PEEP is the positive end expiratory pressure. ΔV, Pplate and PEEP can be obtained through the monitoring of the sensor.VT=ΔV×(C−Ctube)/C
wherein VT is the calculated tidal volume of the patient, Ctube is the compliance of the circuit and which is obtained by self-checking when the machine starts up.
The disadvantage of such calculation is that the calculated tidal volume VT of patient is not accurate.

Method for improving control and detection precision of tidal volume by a calculation introduced with R value