There is provided a liquid crystal device, wherein a liquid crystal layer is interposed between a first substrate and a second substrate, and at least a display pixel corresponding to a colored region of a color from blue to green in a visible light region of which the color varies depending on a wavelength is included, wherein at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate has a spacer which defines the thickness of the liquid crystal layer and an alignment film which is subjected to a rubbing process in a predetermined direction, and wherein a relative positional relationship between the spacer and the display pixel is defined such that a region of the alignment film, which is not subjected to the rubbing process due to existence of the spacer at the time of the rubbing process, is positioned in the display pixel corresponding to the colored region of the color from blue to green.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device and an electronic apparatus suitable for displaying various kinds of information.
2. Related Art
A semi-transmissive reflective type liquid crystal device for performing a reflective display mode using external light in a bright place and performing a transmissive display mode using illumination light emitted from a backlight as a light source in a dark place is known. In such a liquid crystal device, while the external light passes through a liquid crystal layer twice when the reflective display mode is performed, the illumination light passes through the liquid crystal layer only once when the transmissive display mode is performed.
Thus, in such a liquid crystal device, if the thickness (cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer is "d", the refractive-index anisotropy of the liquid crystal is "Δn", and the integration value thereof, that is, retardation of the liquid crystal is "Δnd", the retardation of the liquid crystal corresponding to a reflective region for performing the reflective display mode is "2×Δnd" because incident light passes through the liquid crystal layer twice and then reaches a viewer. In contrast, the retardation of the liquid crystal corresponding to the transmissive region for performing the transmissive display mode is "1×Δnd" because the illumination light from the backlight passes through the liquid crystal layer only once.
In such a liquid crystal device, a display property (gradation property) such as contrast or brightness varies depending on the case where the reflective display mode is performed and a case where the transmissive display mode is performed and, as a result, display quality deteriorates.
Accordingly, as a liquid crystal device for solving the problem, for example, a multi-gap type semi-transmissive reflective type liquid crystal device in which a step-difference film made of acrylic resin is provided at a position corresponding to a reflective region and a spacer is disposed on the step-difference film such that the thickness of a liquid crystal layer corresponding to the reflective region is less than that of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the transmissive region to obtain high quality display is generally known.
As this kind of liquid crystal device, a liquid crystal device in which a columnar part (generally, also referred to as "photospacer") for uniformly maintaining the thickness (cell gap) of a liquid crystal layer interposed between an element substrate and an opposite substrate is provided at a predetermined position to reduce an alignment defect of liquid crystal is suggested (for example, see JP-A-2004-69826).
In the liquid crystal device disclosed in JP-A-2004-69826, a convex step-difference part is formed in a predetermined region including a reflective region and a columnar part is made of a transparent organic insulating material such as acryl and disposed at a position facing the convex step-difference part in a non-opening region of each pixel. A relative positional relationship between a color filter and the columnar part is defined such that a color filter of blue is positioned at a downstream side of a rubbing direction from the columnar part. In the liquid crystal device having such a configuration, at the time of a rubbing process, a rubbing-defective region occurs due to existence of the columnar part and thus an alignment defect of liquid crystal occurs in the region. Since the alignment defect is inconspicuous on a display when the alignment defect of the liquid crystal occurs in a pixel corresponding to the color filter of blue, in this liquid crystal device, the above-described object is realized by disposing the columnar part at the above-described position.

Liquid crystal device and electronic apparatus


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a MOS transistor comprising forming a gate electrode on a first insulating film formed on a substrate, performing ion implantation into the substrate and forming a diffusion region, and forming a second insulating film on the substrate, in that order. The performing ion implantation comprises forming a first resist pattern, performing the ion implantation using the first resist pattern as a mask and removing the first resist pattern, including removing, by asking, a part of the first resist pattern hardened by the ion implantation and then removing the remaining part. In forming the gate electrode, a gate electrode material layer is patterned and a protective film is formed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device and a semiconductor device.
Description of the Related Art
As a method for reducing characteristic variations of a MOS transistor in a semiconductor device, a technique of covering the MOS transistor after gate electrode etching with a protective film is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-84694).
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-84694, a protective film is formed through gate electrode etching or process treatment executed subsequently thereto, then process treatment such as formation of a diffusion layer is performed and an insulating film is formed so as to cover the protective film. At this time, the insulating film is formed without removing the protective film.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-84694, variations in MOS transistor characteristics are reduced by forming the protective film on a surface of a semiconductor substrate immediately after the gate electrode etching. After forming the protective film, ion implantation is performed on the semiconductor substrate and a diffusion region is formed, and in that case, ion implantation is also performed on a photoresist pattern. However, ashing performed on the ion-implanted photoresist pattern is not particularly taken into consideration. When ashing is performed on the resist pattern, residues of the resist may be generated. Removal of the residues of this resist requires specific cleaning processing. In that case, the protective film which is based on a silicon oxide film is wet-etched and part or the whole thereof is removed, which may consequently cause the loss of the function as the protective film. When there is no protective film, the gate insulating film is wet-etched and part or the whole thereof is removed, which may consequently cause deterioration in the reliability of the transistor.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device and semiconductor device


Methods for identifying optical fibers which exhibit elevated levels of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) are provided. The methods employ difference traces obtained from optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) measurements. The presence of a cyclical pattern in such a difference trace has been found to be indicative of a fiber having an elevated level of PMD.

PMD is an important factor in the design of state-of-the-art fiber optic transmission systems. The effect of PMD in fiber systems is evident when, after propagating a sufficient distance in the network, one digital pulse may spread in the time domain and become indistinguishable from a nearby pulse. The pulse spreading from PMD can introduce errors into the data transmission, effectively limiting the transmission rate of the pulses or the maximum distance of the concatenated fiber medium.
Fiber manufacturers are therefore interested in providing fibers with low PMD, particularly for products targeted for high data rate, long-haul transmission systems. Unfortunately, measuring PMD directly is an expensive processing step. Accordingly, an easy-to-use, indirect method for identifying fibers with high PMD would be of great value to the industry in that it would reduce measurement (quality control) costs, and therefore overall manufacturing costs, for low PMD optical fibers. Optical time domain reflectometers (OTDRs) have been used to measure a variety of properties of optical fibers. OTDRs operate by sending a short pulse of laser light down an optical waveguide fiber and observing the small fraction of light that is scattered back towards the source. Typical pulsewidths may range from 0.5 meters (5 nanoseconds) to 2000 meters (20 microseconds).
In practice, the fiber under test is connected to the OTDR by a relatively short length of fiber (e.g., a one kilometer length of fiber) known in the art as a "pigtail." The pigtail reduces the deadzone (non-linear region) at the start of the fiber where the OTDR does not provide reliable information. To further improve performance, an index matching oil can be used at the junction between the pigtail and the fiber.
A typical OTDR trace is shown in FIG. 1 where returned power in dBs is plotted along the y-axis and distance down the fiber is plotted along the x-axis. Various features of this trace are identified by the reference numbers 1 through 9, where the number 1 shows the reflection which occurs at the junction between the OTDR and the pigtail, the number 2 shows the trace obtained from the pigtail, the number 3 shows the last point of the pigtail and the first point of fiber under test, the number 4 shows the reflection and associated deadzone produced by the junction between the pigtail and test fiber, the number 5 shows the first point after the near-end deadzone at which trace information can be examined reliably (the "fiber start"), the number 6 shows the fiber trace between the fiber start and the physical end of the fiber (the "fiber end"), the number 7 shows the fiber end, the number 8 shows the reflection which occurs at the fiber end, and the number 9 shows the inherent noise level of the OTDR trace.
Some reports of cyclical patterns in OTDR traces have appeared in the literature. Thus, at the Jan. 24, 1995 TIA 6.6.5 Standards Meeting, Casey Shaar of Photon Kinetics presented a report entitled "Bumpy Fiber Effects." The report describes ripple-like patterns in OTDR traces. The ripples are said to be caused either by polarization effects or by the OTDR source spectrum.
The ripples of this report are different from those of the present invention because, among other things, they have a much shorter period than the cyclical pattern of the present invention (e.g., 200-300 meters versus 2-3 kilometers), are more variable with changes in wavelength (e.g., from 1310 nanometers to 1550 nanometers), and change significantly when observed from different ends of a fiber. Furthermore, the ripples of this reference have a certain "character" in the raw OTDR trace (cycle period, magnitude, shape), and a different character in the mode field diameter (MFD) trace (the ripples may add constructively or destructively). In contrast, the cycles in the raw OTDR trace of the present invention combine in phase in the MFD trace, increasing the amplitude of the cycles but leaving the cycle period and shape unchanged.
Garnham, U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,516, describes ripples in OTDR traces which are said to be caused by helical ridges introduced during the preform laydown process. The patent describes a process for preparing preforms which is said to eliminate such ripples. The ripples which Garnham describes generally extend over the entire length of a blank, whereas the ripples which are the subject of the present invention generally start and stop at different parts of a blank. In practice, ripples of the type described in Garnham have been found not to correlate with elevated levels of PMD.
With regard to the present invention, it is important to note that neither the Photon Kinetics paper nor the Garnham patent contains any suggestion that ripples in OTDR or MFD traces can be used to identify fibers which exhibit elevated levels of PMD.


An electrostatic protection circuit in a internal circuit isolated from a substrate bias which protects the internal circuit from static electricity with regard to any of three different sources of bias voltage. An electrostatic protection circuit is constructed for each source of bias voltage so that the internal circuit is protected from static electricity flowing through bonding pads of the isolated circuit. The protective circuit comprises a plurality of NMOS or PMOS transistors for protecting input/output buffers and drivers from the static electricity flowing through the bonding pads. The respective NMOS or PMOS transistors are connected to the respective source voltage terminals and the input/output drivers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a electrostatic protection circuit for protecting against both positive and negative pulses of static electricity, and more particularly, to an electrostatic protection circuit for protecting against static electricity which may be applied from any source, including power supply terminals, by constructing respective protection circuits for each power supply terminal so that an internal circuit can be protected from the static electricity flowing thereto through bonding pads.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) analog circuits, the substrate bias or voltage and the source bias or voltage of the transistor are isolated from each other in an effort to reduce noise, as shown in the input buffer (or load) and an output driver circuits in FIGS. 1A and 1B, respectively.
The CMOS analog circuits operate in the following manner when a pulse of static electricity is applied through bonding pads 1 and 2.
First, when a reference power supply terminal Vdd is grounded and a positive pulse is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, the region between a p.sup.+ -type drain of the PMOS transistor T1 and an n.sup.- -type well is forward-biased, and thus exhibits good electrostatic protection, assuming the transistor T1 has sufficient discharging capacity.
When a negative pulse is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, the static electricity will be discharged through either a pnp-type bipolar junction transistor (BJT), formed between source and drain regions and an n.sup.- -type well region of the PMOS transistor T1, or a protective element formed between a reference power supply terminal Vdd and an NMOS transistor T2 coupled to a reference ground terminal Vss. The particular discharge path is determined by the level of the operating voltage of the BJT and the protective element.
Second, when the source bias or reference ground terminal Vss of the NMOS transistor T2 is grounded and a negative pulse is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, the degree of electrostatic protection is proportional to the size of transistor T2 since the substrate is biased by the substrate voltage Vbb. The PMOS transistor T1 does not operate as a diode coupled between an n.sup.+ -type drain and a p.sup.- -type substrate, causing the transistor T2 to function as a npn-type BJT.
When a positive pulse is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, there is excellent electrostatic protection since the npn-type BJT operates at its breakdown voltage BVceo state, i.e., in an open-circuit state.
Third, when the substrate voltage Vbb is grounded and a negative pulse of static electricity is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, there is excellent electrostatic protection since the n.sup.+ /p.sup.- type diode formed between an n.sup.30 -type drain and a p.sup.- - type substrate region operates in a forward-biased state.
When a positive pulse is applied to the bonding pads 1 and 2, a parasitic BJT is not formed because the source of the transistor, which is an emitter region of the parasitic BJT, is open-circuited. Thus, electrostatic protection deteriorates since the static electricity is discharged by the n.sup.+ /p.sup.- diode feature (see FIG. 3) without utilization of the snap-back phenomenon, which is the major operational mechanism for discharging the static electricity (see FIG. 2).
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate conventional electrostatic protection circuits provided in the respective input driver and output buffer circuits. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the PMOS transistor T1 acts as the input buffer, while the NMOS transistor T2 acts as the output driver. Each pair of NMOS transistors T3, T4 and T5, T6, which are connected to the input buffer and the output driver, respectively, represent protective elements for protecting the internal circuit against static electricity applied from a voltage source of the circuit.
The NMOS transistors T3 and T5 act as the electrostatic protection circuits for the reference power supply terminal Vdd. Transistors T3 and T5 have their respective sources connected to the reference power supply terminal Vdd, their respective drains to the bonding pads 1 and 2, and their respective gates to the reference ground terminal Vss. The substrate is biased by the substrate voltage Vbb.
The NMOS transistors T4 and T6 act as the electrostatic protection circuits for the reference ground terminal Vss. Transistors T4 and T6 have their respective sources connected to the reference ground terminal Vss, their respective drains to the bonding pads 1 and 2, and their respective gates to the reference ground terminal Vss. The substrate is biased by the substrate voltage Vbb.
The operation of these conventional electrostatic protection circuits will now be described. When the source biases comprising the reference ground terminal Vss and the substrate voltage Vbb are grounded, the static electricity will be discharged in the same manner as described in the second and third situations above.
When the reference power supply terminal Vdd is grounded and a negative pulse is applied, the NMOS transistors T3 and T5 discharge the static electricity by the operation of the parasitic BJT. If a positive pulse is applied, the NMOS transistors T3 and T5 operate at the breakdown voltage BVceo. The PMOS transistor T1 forms a p.sup.+ /n.sup.- -type diode between the drain and the n-type well thereof, and thus discharges the overflow current caused by the static electricity at a lower voltage than in the NMOS transistor T2.
Thus, excellent electrostatic protection can be obtained under the condition that the size of the PMOS transistor is large enough to discharge the overflow current applied thereto. If, however, the PMOS transistor is too small, several problems may occur.
Therefore, the conventional electrostatic protection circuits shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B are limited to use in those situations where the PMOS transistor is large enough to satisfy the electrostatic discharge (ESD) standards.

Electrostatic protection circuit of an input/output circuit of a semiconductor device


A fluid circuit sealing apparatus having a valve body with a valve base having a fluid inlet pipe and a fluid discharge pipe extending therethrough, a diaphragm having a cup shape, and a piston engageable with the diaphragm so as to deform the diaphragm so as to rest upon a seat provided on a rim of the inlet pipe. The diaphragm is clamped on an edge thereof between the valve body and the clamping cover. The diaphragm has a raised circumferential rim which forms an angle with a bottom of the diaphragm. The diaphragm has a parabolic dome. The raised circumferential rim has a circular upward fold portion extending to a slanting annular portion. The slanting annular portion is connected to the parabolic dome by a circular fold. The circular fold extends around a periphery of the parabolic dome.

In the current state of the art, the fluid control valve technology comprises on one hand so-called bellows valves, and on the other handle diaphragm valves. The bellows valves offer the advantages of outstanding flow coefficient and capability to work in low pressure down to a vacuum of 10-3 or 10-4 Torr. On the other hand, their main disadvantages are the problems of bellows fabrication due to variable mechanical profiles and to a substantial dead volume in the valve increasing significantly the valve draining time. Finally, said bellows valves have problems of gas contamination through particles coming from the bellows.
Diaphragm valves have a body in which fluid inlet and discharge pipes are provided, with the inlet pipe running into a face opposite which a diaphragm is mounted, which, through deformation, is capable of isolating or connecting up the fluid inlet and discharge pipes by sealing or not sealing the end of the fluid inlet pipe which makes up a seat for the diaphragm.
The major advantage of diaphragm valves is their simple fabrication compared to bellows valves since they can be produced through drawing, bending or cutting. In addition, they have a highly reduced dead volume and a better surface condition thus leading to a significantly lower contamination of the gas.
Offsetting those advantages, they have the problems of limited flow in the open position due to the diaphragm deflection and the possible penetration of moisture into the fluid lines and possible reaction to gasses such as HCl causing corrosion and chemical attack of the fluid lines. Finally, the questions of diaphragm/seat contact tightness in closed position crop up for this type of valve.
Various improvements were made on diaphragm valves, especially by choosing more precise round seats (Patent Application FR 91.07191) or defining diaphragm geometries designed to increase the valve flow in open position (Patent Application FR 91.07192).
Patent FR 0 530 947 describes a diaphragm valve in which the diaphragm has the shape of a spherical dome or cup.
The diaphragm is mounted in a chamber between a bearing of the latter and a ring which through deformation seals the circumferential edge of the dome making up the diaphragm.
The spherical dome shape of the diaphragm puts significant deformation strains on the diaphragm when switching from a position against the seat to a position away from the seat, which may cause rapid deterioration of the diaphragm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,826 describes a diaphragm valve of the above-described type in which the deformable diaphragm is a planar disk which is deformed by an actuating head either curved or as a spherical portion.
The circumferential edge of the diaphragm is blocked between a chamber bearing and a sleeve.
This conformation of the diaphragm and of the actuating head can lead to a deformation of the diaphragm through punctures and deterioration.
The purpose of the invention is to propose a diaphragm valve which avoids such disadvantages.
Another purpose of the invention is to correct the problem of diaphragm valve automatic closing when a vacuum is created in the fluid line. As a matter of fact, in the most frequent case of planar diaphragm valves, just like in patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,826, when a vacuum is created in the fluid line, the diaphragm tends to get naturally deformed under the suction effect and to close by pressing against the seat.
The invention also aims at improving the tightness of the valve in relation to the outside environment.


A liquid crystal optical element comprising a pair of substrates with electrodes and a liquid crystal/polymer composite material which is composed of a liquid crystal and a polymer and interposed between the pair of substrates, wherein the polymer phase of the liquid crystal/polymer composite material is a polymeric cured product of a polymerizable curable material comprising an addition-polymerizable compound presented by the following formula (1): EQU CXY=CZ--CO--O--R--OH (1). wherein each of X, Y and Z is --H or --CH.sub.3, and R is a bivalent hydrocarbon group which has 4 to 8 carbon atoms in total and at least one carbon atom between the carbon atom bonded to the ester linkage and the carbon atom bonded to the hydroxyl group in the formula (1), and may have at least one linkage selected from the group consisting of an ether linkage, an ester linkage and a carbonate linkage, substituted for one or more carbon--carbon linkages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal optical element wherein a composite material composed of liquid crystal and a polymer is interposed between a pair of substrates with electrodes, a liquid crystal display element and a projection type liquid crystal display apparatus using such element.
2. Discussion of Background
In recent years, liquid crystal displays have been widely used for personal word processors, hand-held computers, portable TV sets and so on by making use of advantages of low consumption rate of power, low voltage driving and so on. Of these liquid crystal displays, liquid crystal display elements having active elements which are excellent in viewing angle, of high speed response and capable of high density display, have particularly been noted and developed.
At the beginning, liquid crystal display elements (LCDs) of dynamic scattering type (DSM) have been proposed. However, such DSM-LCDs had a disadvantage of large current consumption because a high value of electric current passed in the liquid crystal. Now, LCDs of twisted nematic type (TN) using a polarizing plate have been widely used in markets as display elements for portable TVs or portable type information devices. Since the TN-LCDs have a very small leak current and a small power consumption rate, they are suitable for usage in which batteries are used as power sources.
In DSM-LCDs having active elements, the leak current of the liquid crystal itself is large. Accordingly, it was necessary to provide a large storage capacitance in parallel to each picture element, and the power consumption of the liquid crystal display elements themselves was large.
Since the leak current of the liquid crystal itself in the TN-LCDs is very small, it is unnecessary to provide a large storage capacitance, and the power consumption of the liquid crystal element itself can be small. However, there is a problem that the transmittance of light is small because two polarizing plates are required in the TN-LCDs. In particular, when a color filter is used to obtain a colored display, only several percents of incident light can be utilized. Accordingly, a strong power source is required, as a result of which power consumption rate is increased.
There are further problems that an extremely strong light source is required when a picture image is to be projected which causes difficulty in obtaining a high contrast ratio on a projection screen and which changes the operating condition of the liquid crystal display element due to heat from the power source.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, there has been proposed a liquid crystal/polymer composite material in which a nematic liquid crystal is dispersed and held in a matrix comprising polymer or the like, or a composite material comprising a continuous liquid crystal phase and a polymer in a network shape is formed. And by utilizing the scattering-transmitting characteristics, there has been obtained a liquid crystal display element capable of controlling turning-on and off of light directly without using any polarizing plate. Such liquid crystal display element is called a dispersion type liquid crystal display element or a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display element. The basic construction and a method or producing the liquid crystal display element will be described.
A liquid crystal optical element includes a nematic liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy, and the refractive index of a polymer phase is made substantially in coincidence with the ordinary refractive index (n.sub.o) of the liquid crystal. A liquid crystal/polymer composite material is interposed between a pair of substrates with electrodes.
Each of the substrates with electrodes is a substrate made of glass, plastics, ceramics or the like on which a transparent electrode such as ITO (In.sub.2 O.sub.3 --SnO.sub.2), SnO.sub.2 or the like is formed. A metallic electrode made of material such as Cr, Al or the like may be used in combination of the above-mentioned electrode, if necessary. When the electrodes are used for a reflection type operation mode, they can be used as reflection electrodes.
In the liquid crystal/polymer composite material, the refractive index of the liquid crystal is changed depending on a state of the application of a voltage across the substrates with electrodes. When the refractive index of the polymer phase substantially agrees with the refractive index of the liquid crystal, light is transmitted, while when they do not agree with each other, light is scattered. Since the liquid crystal optical element does not use a polarizing plate, a bright display is generally obtainable.
When a voltage is applied, liquid crystal molecules are aligned in parallel to a direction of electric field. Accordingly, it is easy to control the refractive indices, and a high transmittance is obtained in a light transmission state of the liquid crystal optical element.
Conventional techniques of the liquid crystal optical element using the liquid crystal/polymer composite material will be described.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 271233/1988 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,509) (referred to as a conventional technique 1) discloses that a mixture of liquid crystal and a polymer material is produced by using a vinyl compound as the polymer material, specifically, an acryloyl compound containing urethane acrylate of high molecular weight, and the mixture is subjected to a photopolymerization phase separation process to form a polymer phase and a liquid crystal phase whereby a liquid crystal/polymer composite material of high performance can be formed. The publication also discloses that a light modulator of good appearance and high performance can be obtained by controlling light passing through the layer of liquid crystal/polymer composite material with an outer electric signal turned-on and off.
In the conventional technique 1, there is a proposal that a curable material including an --OH group-containing vinyl monomer which is 2-hydroxyethylacrylate (2-HEA), i.e., a compound expressed by the formula (1) which will be described hereinbelow, where R is an ethylene group, is used for the liquid crystal/polymer composite material. Formation of a cured product of a curable material comprising an --OH group-containing vinyl monomer as a polymer phase was an important technical factor in adjusting the interaction of contact at the interface between the liquid crystal phase and the polymer phase in the liquid crystal/polymer composite material so as to form a suitable phase separation structure.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 196229/1986 (referred to as a conventional technique 2) discloses as general description a liquid crystal display element formed by combining a liquid crystal/polymer composite material layer comprising polymer and liquid crystal with an active matrix substrate.
The active matrix substrate is composed of a substrate on which electrodes and active elements such as thin film transistors (TFTs), thin film diodes, metal-insulation material-metal non-linear resistor devices (MIMs) or the like are formed. A single or a plurality of active elements are connected to each of the picture element electrodes. The counter electrode substrate is composed of a substrate on which a common electrode or a patterned electrode is formed, and the counter electrode substrate is combined with the active matrix substrate so as to be capable of providing a display.
In a case of using a three-terminal element such as TFT as the active element, a solid electrode used in common with all picture elements may be disposed on the counter electrode substrate. In a case of using a two-terminal element such as an MIM element or a PIN diode or the like, the counter electrode substrate is applied with a stripe-like patterning.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 33523/1989 (conventional technique 3), when a liquid crystal/polymer composite material is formed by photopolymerization, liquid crystal in the liquid crystal/polymer composite material is controlled to have a direction of orientation by applying an electric field from the outside whereby a normally transparent portion or a semi-transparent portion is previously formed. When a fixedly displayed portion is desirable, such normally transparent portion can be formed.
In the initially developed liquid crystal display elements provided with such liquid crystal/polymer composite materials as described in the conventional techniques 1 and 2, there was hysteresis in the voltage-transmission characteristics (V-T curves) in the electro-optical characteristics of the liquid crystal display elements. Although the hysteresis is negligible in a window or a shutter which is operable under the condition of applying two values, there was a problem that the transmission of light varies between a state that a driving voltage rises and a state that the driving voltage falls in a display element of high performance which requires to display a half tone. Accordingly, there was an image-sticking phenomenon wherein a picture image which had appeared in the display just before the changing of picture remained in the present display for several seconds.
In consideration of such problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 186535/1994 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,952) (referred to as a conventional technique 4) presents a propose concerning the physical values of a liquid crystal material and control of the structure of a polymer phase as a result of having paid attention to the physical values of the liquid crystal used and the spatial dispersion of liquid crystal domains in a liquid crystal cell, and discloses that the reduction of hysteresis to a required extent in a display element has been achieved. For instance, there is description that a combination of a refractive index anisotropy .DELTA.n of liquid crystal of 0.18 or more and a dielectric anisotropy .DELTA..epsilon. of 5-13 is preferable. Also, there is description that the shape of liquid crystal domains with a certain deformation and a random arrangement of liquid crystal in the liquid crystal cell contribute to the reduction of the hysteresis.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 134238/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,445) (referred to as a conventional technique 5) discloses that in considering the elasticity of a polymer phase used, a polymer material having an elasticity of 3.times.10.sup.7 N/m.sup.2 or lower at 20.degree. C. and 1.times.10.sup.3 N/m.sup.2 or more at 40.degree. C. should be used. It also describes that control of the elasticity of the polymer phase contributes greatly to the reduction of the hysteresis, and a beautiful display without an image-sticking can be obtained even when a moving picture is to be displayed.
In the conventional liquid crystal/polymer composite materials, however, there is a large temperature dependence in the voltage/transmission characteristics. In particular, the scattering power of the liquid crystal optical element decreases when the ambient temperature is in a low temperature range of 20.degree. C. or less, and the hysteresis which is expressed by a difference of transmission between a voltage rise and a voltage fall in the voltage-transmission characteristics becomes large with the result of the problems that the contrast ratio of a displayed picture decreases and there results an image-sticking wherein a picture image which had appeared in the display just before the changing of picture remained in the present display for several seconds.

Liquid crystal optical element, a liquid crystal display element and a projection type liquid crystal display apparatus


A device is arranged to measure a quantity relating to radiation. The device includes a sensor configured to measure the quantity, a screen arranged to protect the sensor from incoming particles emitted from a source configured to emit extreme ultraviolet radiation, and a mirror configured to redirect extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted by the source, past the screen, to the sensor.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In order to be able to project small patterns onto the substrate, radiation is used having a wavelength which is within the so-called extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range which is electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength typically between 5 nm and 40 nm. In addition to EUV radiation, EUV radiation sources generate contaminant material that may be harmful for both the optics, the sensors configured to measure a quantity relating to the radiation and the working environment in which the lithographic process is carried out. Such is especially the case for EUV sources operating via a laser-induced plasma. Hence, in lithography in which EUV radiation is used for projecting patterns onto the substrate, a desire exists to limit the contamination of the optical system that is arranged to condition the beams of radiation coming from the EUV source, as well as the aforementioned sensors.
It has been proposed to arrange a screen to protect the sensor from incoming particles emitted from the source. However, such a screen may be positioned between the source and the sensor, thereby blocking the radiation from the sensor.
In order to allow radiation to reach the sensor it has been proposed that a mirror is provided, the mirror being configured to redirect extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted by the source and passing the screen, to the sensor.

Device arranged to measure a quantity relating to radiation and lithographic apparatus


A game begins with an initial wager and initially dealing only one card face-up to a dealer. Prior to any other cards being dealt, the player has—After the player opts whether to place the supplemental wager, the option of supplementing the player's initial wager. The initial dealer hand is completed and the initial player hand is dealt. A final dealer hand and final player hand are formed by hitting or standing and the player is rewarded on his initial wager plus any supplement if the final player hand is closer to a target value than the final dealer hand is.

Many casino games include players playing against the house to obtain a player hand having a value closer to a target value than the house hand is. For example, Baccarat, Blackjack, Spanish Twenty-One®, and the like all fit this pattern.
Blackjack is a well known card game played in casinos. The object of the game is to have a final hand sum closer to twenty-one than the dealer's final hand sum is to twenty-one without exceeding twenty-one. For purposes of calculating a hand total, each card has a value equal to its face value except face cards, which have a value of ten, and Aces, which may have a value of eleven or one as the player selects.
The form of Blackjack played in casinos is house banked. This means that the house is represented by a dealer who deals cards, pays winning player wagers, and collects losing player wagers. Similarly, in a Blackjack game machine, the machine controls a house hand and handles collection and payment of wagers, while a player controls the player hand.
In a typical Blackjack game, each player makes a wager. The dealer, whether live or represented by a game machine, deals two cards to each player and two cards, one card face up and the other face down, to the dealer. Any player receiving a natural twenty-one or Blackjack, i.e. a total of twenty-one in the initial dealt hand, is immediately rewarded, typically at a rate of 2:1 or 3:2, and play is terminated as to that player. Each remaining player examines the player's hand and forms a final player hand. In forming the final player hand, the player may hit, i.e. receive another card, or stand, i.e. stop receiving additional cards and make final the current hand. A player may hit as many times as the player wishes as long as the player does not bust, i.e. have a cumulative total greater than twenty-one. When a player busts, the player's wager is immediately collected and play is terminated as to that player.
A player may also have additional options available depending on the initial hand dealt. If the player receives a pair, i.e. two cards having the same face value, the player may split the pair and use each card as a basis for a separate hand. For example, if a player were to be dealt a pair of eights, the player may choose to split the pair and continue play with two hands each having an eight and an additional dealt card. Each of those individual hands is then played independently.
A player may also have the option to double down. The availability of the double down option will vary from casino to casino. However, in all cases, the option allows a player to double the player's wager in exchange for a single additional card. For example, if a player has a initial hand total of eleven, the player may wish to double down, betting that the single additional card dealt is a ten. However, because of the nature of the double down wager, even if the next card is a three, for example, the player cannot receive any additional cards.
After all the players have played their hands, the dealer reveals the face-down card in the dealer's hand. The dealer plays the dealer's hand according to established house rules. That is, the house uses established "house rules" to eliminate the dealer's discretion, so that the dealer hits or stands as the house rules dictate. The dealer then resolves the wagers. In resolving the wagers, players with a final hand total closer to twenty-one than the dealer's final hand total are rewarded at even money. Conversely, wagers are collected from players with a final hand total further from twenty-one than the dealer's final hand total. If the dealer busts, all players who did not bust or receive a Blackjack are rewarded. If the player and dealer push, i.e. have the same final hand total, the player's wager is returned.
Blackjack is a well established and, to some, routine game. It is known that players are drawn to new features on conventional games, especially when those features can lead to higher or more frequent pay outs. One method for a player to increase the excitement and potential win for the player is for the player to make an additional wager to participate in a bonus feature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,730, issued to Pike, discloses a side wager for Blackjack in which players are immediately rewarded for obtaining card sequences independent and separate from the Blackjack game. The winning bonus sequence may include only two cards, such as a pair of cards or adjacent cards, or it may include multiple cards. The player may earn a bonus reward even if he or she loses the Blackjack game itself.
However, the game of Pike has drawbacks. First, the pay outs are cumulative in that a reward is issued when the player receives the first and second card of the sequence and separate rewards are issued as the player "hits" and receives the other cards of the sequence. That is, a player may be issued a first reward for receiving two aces. If the player hits and receives a third ace, he is rewarded again, and so forth. This can create a burden on the casino because the dealer must examine each player's hand after each hit to determine whether a bonus hand has been obtained and issue a reward accordingly.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,077, to Jones, discloses a side wager for Blackjack in which players receive a progressive jackpot reward for receiving a variety of hands including straights, suited combinations, and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,731, also to Jones, likewise discloses a side wager for Blackjack in which players receive a progressive jackpot reward for receiving three aces during the play of the player's hand. The drawbacks to Jones '077 and Jones '731 are that the progressive pay outs must be tracked by the dealer and carried over to each successive game. Again, this can be a burden on the dealer and reduce his or her efficiency and number of games dealt per time period.
Griffiths, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,579, is directed to a game in which a side wager is placed on a dealer Blackjack or bust on three or more playing cards. The drawback of the side wager of Griffiths is that there is no provision for the player to be paid more than even money. That is, a player has no opportunity to receive a higher pay, even though certain outcomes would be less likely to occur. Additionally, the wager of Griffiths is, in some sense, difficult to accurately predict because a player is paid without regard to the quantity of cards dealt in the dealer's hand when the dealer busts.
Lofink, U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,888, also discloses a game in which a bonus is paid for receiving various combinations of cards that add to twenty-one, such as three sevens, three suited sevens, six-seven-eight, and so forth. However, bonus payouts will be infrequent in such a bonus scheme because the only bonus combinations disclosed add to twenty-one. Also, there is no added excitement for the player because a sum of twenty-one already guarantees the player at least a push.
An additional drawback to all of these games is that the bonus is paid on a separate basis from the base wager and the wager must be made at the beginning of the game, prior to receiving any information about the game. Thus, it can be seen that there is a need in the art for a method of conducting a card game in which the player receives some information about the dealer's hand prior to electing whether to place a supplemental wager resolved along with an initial wager.

Method and device for conducting a blackjack-type card game


The present invention includes methyltransferase (MTase)-defective recombinant viruses as live vaccine candidates for human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV3). Here the inventors provide the technical description for generating MTase-defective paramyxoviruses useful as immunogens, as well as related materials and methods.

Paramyxoviruses are the leading causative agents of acute viral respiratory tract infections. Among the paramyxoviruses, human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV3) account for more than 70% of acute viral respiratory diseases. All of three viruses cause similar clinical signs and symptoms, ranging from mild respiratory problems to sever coughs, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia. All three viruses cause acute respiratory tract disease in individuals of all ages, especially in infants, children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. In the United States, 60% of infants are infected during their first RSV season, and nearly all children will have been infected with the virus by 2-3 years of age. HMPV is a newly discovered human pathogen, first identified in 2001 in The Netherlands. Soon after its discovery, hMPV was recognized as a globally prevalent pathogen. Epidemiological studies suggest that 5 to 15% of all respiratory tract infections in infants and young children are caused by hMPV, a proportion second only to that of RSV. PIV3 is the third causative agent of viral respiratory infection in children and infants. All three pathogens are globally prevalent.
Despite the enormous economic losses and emotional burdens these viruses cause, vaccines and anti-viral drugs are currently not available. For decades, approaches to generate vaccines employing viral proteins or inactivated vaccines have failed either due to a lack of immunogenicity or the potential for causing enhanced pulmonary disease upon natural infection with the same virus.
Vaccination has been the most effective public health strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with viral infections. The increasing clinical significance of RSV, hMPV and PIV3 infections suggest that there is an urgent need for a safe and efficacious vaccine against these viruses, particularly for the populations at high risk such as infants, children, elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. An effective vaccine would not only prevent acute respiratory tract infection caused by these viruses, but also block transmission routes and thus improve human and public health. In the current inventions, the inventors developed a panel of live attenuated vaccines against RSV, hMPV and PIV3.
However, development of vaccine against human paramyxoviruses has met serious challenge. With the exception of the influenza virus, there is no FDA approved vaccine for other viruses that cause acute upper and lower respiratory tract infections in human. Generally, inactivated and live attenuated vaccines are the two most common strategies used in vaccines against infectious diseases. For safety, an inactivated vaccine is preferred. However, development of an inactivated vaccine for the paramyxovirus RSV turned out to be a problem. A formalin-inactivated RSV vaccine developed and tested in the 1960s not only failed to induce a protective immune response in human, but led to an enhanced respiratory disease upon natural infection with RSV. Eighty percent of the vaccinated children were hospitalized following natural RSV infection, and two children died. Enhanced respiratory disease following vaccination with inactivated vaccine has been observed in other paramyxoviruses such as PIV-3, hMPV and measles virus. A recent study showed that cotton rats immunized with inactivated hMPV vaccine were protected against infection, but developed increased lung pathology. These observations suggest that inactivated vaccines are not the primary choices for three paramyxoviruses: hMPV, RSV, and PIV3, all of which cause extensive morbidity and mortality in the same population, infants and children.
In contrast to inactivated vaccines, enhanced lung diseases have not been observed for candidate live attenuated RSV vaccines. Therefore, live attenuated vaccines are the most promising vaccine candidates for hMPV, RSV, and PIV3. However, it has been technically challenging to isolate a virus with low virulence that retains high immunogenicity. In paramyxoviruses, spike proteins (F and G proteins for RSV and hMPV) are major determinants of virulence. Therefore, traditional attenuation strategies have been focused on engineering mutations in these two glycoproteins. However, F and G proteins are also viral immunogenic antigens that are responsible for immune response. As a consequence, mutations in glycoproteins may impair the immunogenicity of the attenuated live vaccine. Therefore, exploration of new attenuation approaches is urgently needed.
This invention develops new attenuated viruses as live vaccine candidates for major human paramyxoviruses including hMPV, RSV and PIV3 by targeting viral mRNA cap methyltransferase (MTase). Paramyxoviruses share a common strategy for replication and gene expression. During RNA synthesis, paramyxoviruses yield capped, methylated, and polyadenylated mRNAs. Methylation of the mRNA directly impacts the stability of mRNA and subsequent translation of viral proteins, which in turn affects viral genome replication, virus assembly, and budding. The large (L) polymerase protein catalyzes the mRNA cap MTases. Recombinant virus defective in MTase can be recovered from cloned full-length viral cDNA by a reverse genetics system. Viruses lacking MTase would likely be attenuated without affecting immunogenicity, since the MTase is located in L protein, which is not a neutralizing antibody target. Thus, ablating viral mRNA cap methylation provides a new avenue to rationally attenuate these viruses for development of live attenuated vaccines.

Paramyxovirus immunogens and related materials and methods


An apparatus for making a length of insulated electrical cable in a metal tubing by providing a vertically extending pipe, a metal tubing positioned in the pipe, an enlarged extension tube and a crossover connected to the top of the tubing. A piston pig connected to an insulated wire is lowered by gravity and fluid pressure through the extension tube, crossover and metal tubing.

There is a need for long lengths of an insulated electrical conductor wire encased in metal tubing, for example, in wells for providing electrical power and/or making various measurements from various types of instruments. In such cases, the electrical cable may be of a long length, for example only, as much as 15,000 feet long. The manufacture of such cable is both expensive and difficult.
The present apparatus is particularly advantageous by manufacturing such a cable in a vertical position wherein various types of forces can be utilized such as gravity forces, vacuum forces, and pressure forces, to control the insertion of an electrical conductor into the inside of an outer metal tubing.

Apparatus for manufacturing an insulated conductor in metal tubing


The disclosure relates to a method for interaction. At least one card is presented in a UI of a launcher, each of the at least one card comprises content related items associated with a category of the card. A page is presented in response to a user input indicating switching from presentation of a card to presentation of the page, the page comprises content related items associated with a category of the page, the card is of the same category as the page and comprises a subset of the content related items of the page.

A desktop launcher provides a user interface (UI) for a user as a start point to operate at a computing device. For example, a launcher provides shortcuts to application programs in its UI, so that the user may start the application programs by operating the shortcuts. Examples of a mobile device launcher include open-sourced Android launcher, default launcher from iOS device or Windows Phone (WP) device.


A rolling contact bearing assembly includes a cage including two or more arcuate members each having a plurality of pockets defined therein for accommodating a corresponding number of rollers arranged consecutively in a circumferential direction to form a ring shaped assembly. The arcuate members are connected together by a retention ring, having an elasticity, over a circumference of the cage. The arcuate members are displaced radially outwardly against an elastic compressive force of the retention ring such that circumferential gaps are formed at joints between the neighboring arcuate members. The arcuate members are held in a condition movable in the circumferential direction by a distance equal to the size of the circumferential gaps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rolling contact bearing assembly utilizing a plurality of rollers and a cage, or a roller bearing, and, more particularly, to an improvement of the cage designed to avoid the occurrence of fretting and generation of obnoxious noises during the operation of the roller bearing.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the art that a cage equipped needle roller bearing is currently largely employed not only in automotive vehicles, but also in various industrial machines and equipments because it has light weight and compact features. For example, a transmission for use in an automotive vehicle makes use of the cage equipped needle roller bearing as an idler bearing. The cage equipped needle roller bearing is currently available in two types, one piece type and split type, and the split type is generally considered desirable particularly where prevention of fretting in bearing is of a prime concern.
More specifically, in the idler bearing of the kind referred to above, when speed change gears are engaged with each other, the speed change gear rotates together with a shaft and therefore, a relative rotation of the bearing becomes zero. For this reason, each of rollers tends to be loaded with a load always at the same circumferential position as an inner diametric surface of the gear and an outer diametric surface of the shaft, both of which define a raceway surface, accompanied by a faint quivering, which eventually leads to a wear. This wear in turn leads to formation of wavy dents at a pitch equal to the pitch of the rollers over the entire periphery of the raceway surface, accompanied by generation of a fretting wear.
If a cage is employed in the form of the split type cage, a relative rotation occurs in cage halves in a non-loaded condition in the presence of a circumferential gap left by the split, and as a result, the fretting can be prevented.
However, regarding the bearing of the type in which the cage is of the split type as hereinabove discussed, the two cage halves are required to be assembled separately even though they can be assembled in an axial direction. In addition, after the cage has been assembled on the shaft during the assembling work, there is the inconvenience that at the time of assemblage of, for example, the speed change gears, the cage may fall unless it is manually retained or fixed by a jig, and, hence, the work efficiency is worse. Also, the two cage halves are separate from each other, the number of component part is indeed many and, therefore, there is a problem in respect of storage and transportation.
In an attempt to alleviate the foregoing problems and inconveniences, the following suggestions have been made in the art concerned.
(1) The cage is split into a pair of cage halves, which are in turn bonded together by means of a bonding agent applied to circumferential ends of those cage halves, so that the bonding agent can be fused by the temperature then increasing as a result of the operation. In this respect, see the patent document 1 listed below.(2) The cage is split into a pair of cage halves, which are in turn temporarily connected together by means of a temporary joint member applied to circumferential ends of those cage halves. Material used for the temporary joint member has an affinity to a lubricant oil and is rendered to be a soluble resin. In this respect, see the patent document 2 listed below.(3) The cage is split into, for example, a pair of cage halves, which are in turn temporarily connected with each other at respective ends of the cage halves by means of a weld, so that temporarily connected portions may be destructed by stresses during the operation. In this respect, see the patent document 3 listed below.(4) The case is split into, for example, a pair of cage halves, which are in turn connected together in a fashion displaced axially relatively, so that during the assemblage a pressing force is applied to remove the axial displacement thereof. In this respect, see the patent document 4 listed below.


A method and apparatus for allowing a personal computer to receive data from a computer network such as the Internet via a broadcast channel of a cable or satellite television network, while transmitting data upstream to the computer network via a telephone line. A packet processing relay agent (PPRA) forwards data at the data link layer between a one-way network adapter, such as a cable modem that receives Internet data via a cable network, and a two-way return path adapter, such as a telephone modem that communicates with Internet servers and other users via a telephone network. The system provides compatibility with TCP/IP routing/addressing conventions by forwarding upstream IP packets with a cable modem source address over the telephone modem. The PPRA can enhance functionality by incorporating higher layer functions at the data link layer.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allowing a personal computer to receive data from a computer network such as the Internet via a broadcast channel, e.g., of a cable or satellite television network, while transmitting data upstream to the computer network via a telephone line.
The following acronyms are used:
ARPxe2x80x94Address Resolution Protocol;
CPUxe2x80x94Central Processing Unit;
DHCPxe2x80x94Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol;
HTTPxe2x80x94Hyper Text Transport Protocol;
IETFxe2x80x94Internet Engineering Task Force;
IETFxe2x80x94Internet Engineering Task Force;
IGMPxe2x80x94Internet Group Management Protocol;
IPxe2x80x94Internet Protocol;
IPCPxe2x80x94Internet Protocol Configuration Protocol;
ISPxe2x80x94Internet Service Provider;
LANxe2x80x94Local Area Network;
LMDSxe2x80x94Local Multi-point Distribution System;
MMDSxe2x80x94Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System;
MSOxe2x80x94Multiple Systems Operator;
PCxe2x80x94Personal Computer;
PPPxe2x80x94Point-to-Point Protocol;
PPRAxe2x80x94Packet Processing Relay Agent;
RFxe2x80x94Radio Frequency;
RFCxe2x80x94Request For Comments;
TCPxe2x80x94Transmission Control Protocol;
UDPxe2x80x94User Datagram Protocol;
UHFxe2x80x94Ultra High Frequency; and
WANxe2x80x94Wide Area Network.
Existing cable television networks deliver digital television signals to users"" homes via coaxial cable, or hybrid fiber and coaxial cable networks. Additionally, satellite distribution networks that transmit programs directly to a user""s home have also gained increased popularity. The digital signals transmitted to the user provide high-fidelity video and audio. Other types of data can also be transmitted to the user, such as closed captioning data, stock data, weather reports and the like. This data may be modulated onto an entire television signal channel, or a portion of the television signal channel, such as the vertical blanking interval, and recovered at a decoder in the user""s home.
Additionally, some cable networks provide an upstream communication path that allows a user to transmit signals to the headend, for example, to order pay-per-view programming, or to check on an account balance.
Furthermore, computer networks such as the Internet are growing rapidly in popularity, particularly among the general public who use the Internet for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes, and to communicate with other users. A user typically accesses the Internet via a PC and a telephone modem via a conventional duplex telephone line to download graphics, text and even audio and video data from various remote servers. Users may also communicate real-time with one another by transmitting data from a sender""s PC to the receiver""s PC. Thus, data is transmitted to and from the PC via the two-way telephone modem.
An important difference between telephone and cable or satellite television networks is bandwidth. Because telephone networks were built to carry only voice signals, the bandwidth is very limited, e.g., 3 KHz. In contrast, cable television and satellite networks are designed to deliver full-motion video and, as a result, have a much greater bandwidth, e.g., several hundred MHz or more.
Accordingly, the provision of Internet data services and the like on a cable or satellite network would be highly desirable due to the increased bandwidth available. Such an arrangement would greatly speed the response to the user""s PC, while providing additional marketing opportunities for cable and satellite network operators.
However, the provision of an upstream path is not feasible for satellite or terrestrial broadcast networks, including UHF, MMDS and LMDS. Moreover, many cable television networks are not configured for upstream communications, or any such provisioning may be limited and not suitable for handling transmissions from a larger number of users. In particular, network operators may prefer to maintain the available upstream path for significant revenue-enhancing activities such as pay-per-view orders.
Furthermore, since the cable/satellite channel is a broadcast channel, and the telephone line is a point-to-point channel, communication and addressing protocols that are available on a PC do not work seamlessly in the cable/satellite broadcast environment. Moreover, the communication and addressing protocols of a computer network are generally incompatible with cable and satellite television equipment.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system that allows a PC to receive data from a computer network such as the Internet via a downstream broadcast channel of a cable, satellite or terrestrial broadcast television network, while transmitting data to the computer network via an upstream telephone line. The system should provide compatibility with the routing/addressing conventions of the protocols stack used by the computer network.
In addition, the system should be designed so that packets with a cable modem source address are not rejected by the telephone network. Such rejection would occur if the telephone network provider uses anti-spoofing filters that reject packets with source addresses that are not recognized by the telephone network. Accordingly, the system should be designed to have the telephone network assigned source addresses on packets going through the telephone network.
The system should provide a logical path from a cable modem to a phone modem.
The system should provide a packet processing relay agent that implements functional enhancements including application level proxy, DHCP relay agent, IGMP proxy, IP encapsulation, IP filtering, data-link layer tunneling, data link layer filtering, and proxy ARP agents.
The present invention provides a system having the above and other advantages.
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allowing a personal computer, router/bridge or other device to receive data from a computer network such as the Internet via a broadcast channel of a cable, satellite or other terrestrial broadcast television network, while transmitting data upstream to the computer network via a telephone line. The invention thereby allows a user to quickly access and retrieve data from the computer network via a high bandwidth channel.
A particular method is presented for providing link layer forwarding from a one-way, receive-only adapter, such as a cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcast, or other wired or wireless modem, to the computer network using a two-way adapter, such as a telephone modem. Terrestrial broadcast systems, such as MMDS, employ line-of-sight terrestrial signals such as microwave signals. The one-way adapter receives data from a computer network via a first communication path, such as a cable television link or satellite link, and the two-way adapter receives data from, and sends data to, a service provider of the computer network via a second communication path, such as a telephone link. The service provider may be an ISP that allows a user to access a computer network such as the Internet.
A method for providing link layer forwarding from a one-way adapter to a two-way adapter includes the steps of: monitoring a data packet received at a data link layer driver of the one-way adapter, and determining whether the data packet is received from a higher protocol layer of the one-way adapter. The data packet is provided from the data link layer driver of the one-way adapter to the higher protocol layer if the data packet is not received from the higher protocol layer.
Essentially, if the data packet is not received from the higher protocol layer of the one-way adapter, it is likely received from a lower protocol layer, e.g., the physical layer comprising the one-way adapter. In this case, the data packet may include, for example, Internet data received via the first communication path.
The data packet is forwarded from the data link layer driver of the one-way adapter to a packet processing relay agent if the data packet is received from the higher protocol layer. The packet processing relay agent processes the data packet forwarded to it, then forwards the data packet to a data link layer driver of the two-way adapter. The data link layer driver of the two-way adapter provides the data packet for communication to the computer network via the service provider, e.g., by sending the packet upstream on the second communication path.
A further method in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of monitoring a data packet received at a data link layer driver of the two-way adapter, and determining whether the data packet is received from a higher protocol layer of the two-way adapter. The data packet is provided for communication to the computer network via the service provider if the data packet is received from the higher protocol layer.
The data packet is provided from the data link layer driver of the two-way adapter to the higher protocol layer if the data packet is not received from the higher protocol layer and is not addressed to the IP/network address of the one-way adapter. The data packet is forwarded from the data link layer driver of the two-way adapter to a packet processing relay agent if the data packet is not received from the higher protocol layer but is addressed to the IP/network address of the one-way adapter.
Essentially, if the data packet is not received from the higher protocol layer of the two-way adapter, it is received from a lower protocol layer, e.g., the physical layer comprising the two-way adapter. In this case, the data packet may include, for example, session initialization data received from the service provider.
The packet processing relay agent processes the data packet forwarded to it, then forwards the data packet to the data link layer driver of the one-way adapter.
The packet processing relay agent may process the data packet forwarded to it to provide functional enhancements including at least one of: application level proxy, DHCP relay agent, IGMP proxy, IP encapsulation, IP filtering, data-link layer tunneling, data-link layer filtering, and proxy ARP agent.
In one embodiment, in addition to the forwarding function, the packet processing relay agent processes the data packet forwarded to it by encapsulating the data packet as payload in a encapsulation packet. The encapsulation packet has a source address associated with the two-way adapter and a destination address associated with a decapsulation module. The decapsulation module may be at the cable operator""s network, or between the phone network (e.g., ISP) and the computer network (e.g., Internet). This allows the encapsulation packet to be recognized by the service provider even though the source address of the one-way adapter is not recognized by the service provider.
The decapsulation module, which is typically associated with the cable operator""s network, decapsulates the encapsulation packet to recover the data packet encapsulated therein. The recovered data packet has a destination address associated with a location in the computer network, and a source address associated with the one-way adapter. The recovered data packet is then forwarded to the location of the computer network, such as an Internet web site.
The packet processing relay agent is adapted to process the data packet forwarded to it to provide one or more of the functional enhancements mentioned above.
Corresponding apparatus structures are also presented.

Packet processing relay agent to provide link layer forwarding in one-way cable/wireless/satellite modems


A collector is used to collect and mix liquid from an overlying zone in a mass transfer column in which fluid streams are processed, such as to obtain fractionation products. The collector has two or more liquid collection regions and two or more sumps positioned about the perimeter of the liquid collection regions. A plurality of channels and deflectors are spaced apart within each liquid collection region and vapor passages are formed in the spacings between adjacent channels. The deflectors direct descending liquid into the channels and shield the vapor passages from the descending liquid. The channels within each liquid collection region are arranged into interspersed sets, with one set of channels preferentially directing collected liquid into one sump and another set of channels preferentially directing collected liquid into another sump. Preferably, roughly equal amounts of liquid from each liquid collection region are deliver to the two sumps so that liquid in the sumps is of a more uniform concentration and composition. One or more of the sumps includes a downcomer for directing the liquid from the sump to an underlying zone. By mixing the liquid within the collector, the use of a separate mixing device can be avoided. As a result, vertical space in the column that would normally be occupied by the mixing device can be filled with packing or other internals to increase the efficiency of the column.

This invention relates generally to mass transfer columns and, more particularly, to apparatuses and methods for collecting and mixing descending liquid for more uniform distribution to an underlying bed of packing or other devices within such columns.
Mass transfer columns, including heat exchange columns, typically include an upright shell and a plurality of zones within the shell where packing and/or horizontally disposed trays are used to facilitate mass or heat transfer between fluid streams flowing within the column. The fluid streams are normally one or more downwardly flowing liquid streams and one or more ascending vapor streams, although other combinations of fluid streams are possible. Liquid exiting the bottom of one zone may have different concentrations and compositions at different locations across the horizontal cross section of the zone. In order to reduce these concentrational and compositional maldistributions, the liquid is often collected and mixed before it is then distributed to an underlying zone. Separate components are frequently used to effect the desired collection, mixing and distribution of the liquid as it descends from one zone to another. The use of separate components, however, can be undesirable because the vertical spacing occupied by these components reduces the available area within the column for other processing of the fluid streams and may require that a taller column be utilized to provide the spacing needed to effect the desired processing operations.
A combined collector and mixer has been utilized in columns of the type described above in order to reduce the number of components and the vertical spacing required to collect and mix the liquid exiting from a zone within the column. This combined collector and mixer utilizes a plurality of rows of upwardly extending vanes that collect the descending liquid and feed it into sumps that in turn feed the liquid into a center downcomer. While this device is an effective mixer because all of the collected liquid flows to a single downcomer, mixing efficiency would be greatly reduced in applications where high liquid flow rates and/or large column diameters require the use of two or more downcomers. In such applications, liquid, which is fed from one area of the collector into one downcomer, can have a different composition than liquid flowing from the remaining area of the collector into the other downcomer. As a result, a need has developed for a combined collector and mixer that is not only capable of handling high liquid flow rates using two or more downcomers but is also effective in mixing liquid from different areas of the collector so that liquid entering the downcomers is of substantially uniform composition.

Combined liquid collector and mixer for mass transfer column and method employing same


A method for producing a polylactic acid includes the steps of (a) crystallizing polylactic acid pellets obtainable by direct polymerization of lactic acid or ring-opening polymerization of lactide; and (b) removing low-molecular components having a weight-average molecular weight of 1,000 or less in the resulting crystallized, solid polylactic acid pellets by gasifying the low-molecular components to obtain polylactic acids with substantially no low-molecular components. In this method, an apparatus for removing low-molecular components in polylactic acid pellets includes a crystallizing means for maintaining a temperature between equal to or higher than a glass transition temperature of polylactic acid pellets and equal to or lower than the melting point thereof, while fluidizing the polylactic acid pellets; and a reactor for allowing a heated inert gas and/or heated air to pass through the resulting crystallized, solid polylactic acid pellets obtained by the crystallizing means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing polylactic acid pellets substantially containing no low-molecular components, such as lactide, and an apparatus used therefor.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Polylactic acid is a biologically very safe polymer, and its degradated product, namely lactic acid, is absorbed in vivo. Having the above properties, polylactic acid is useful for medical purposes, including surgical sutures, sustained-release capsules in drug delivery systems, and reinforcing materials for bone fractures. Moreover, it is noted as a biodegradable plastic, because it is degraded under natural environmental conditions. It is also widely used for monoaxially and biaxially stretched films, fibers, extrusion products, and various other purposes.
Known methods for producing a polylactic acid are as follows: In one method, lactic acid is directly subject to dehydration condensation to give a desired product. In another method, a cyclic lactide of lactic acid, is first synthesized from lactic acids and then purified by such methods as crystallization, followed by ring-opening polymerization. Various procedures for synthesizing, purifying and polymerizing lactide are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,537, EP-A-261,572, Polymer Bulletin, 14, pp.491-495 (1985), Makromol. Chem., 187, 1611-1628 (1986), and other chemistry literatures. Also, JP-B-56-14688 discloses a method for producing a polylactic acid comprising polymerizing a bimolecular cyclic diester, as an intermediate, using tin octylate or lauryl alcohol as a catalyst. Also, polylactic acid can be produced directly from lactic acid by the methods as described in JP-7-33861, JP-59-96123, and The Proceedings of The Discussion on Macromolecules, vol.44, pp.3198-3199. The polylactic acid thus obtained is pelletized into various forms, such as spheres, cubes, columns, and disrupted pieces, in a size of from a rice grain to a bean, to facilitate its handling in the forming process.
However, polylactic acid having a high molecular weight of from 100,000 to 500,000 has a high melting point of from 175.degree. to 200.degree. C. Conventionally, when the final polymer product of the above polylactic acid is taken out from the reactor in a molten state and heated to a temperature equal to or higher than its melting point, the polylactic acid undergoes decomposition and coloration. Moreover, a large amount of lactide is generated in the polymer by heating to the above-mentioned temperature range, presumably owing to the fact that a polymer-lactide equilibrium is shifted toward the lactide side at the above temperature.
These lactide and decomposition products thereof are liable to sublime during injection molding or spinning of the polylactic acid pellets used as a starting material and undesirably adhere to dice or nozzles, and thereby the operation is hampered. Furthermore, the lactide and the decomposition products lower the glass transition temperature and the melt viscosity of the polymer, thereby resulting in drastic deterioration of moldability and thermal stability.
In view of the above problems, various methods for removing low-molecular components of the polylactic acids have been proposed, including Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-14829. This publication discloses that residual low-molecular components or low-molecular volatile components can be removed by keeping a polyester at a temperature between its melting point and 250.degree. C. and under a reduced pressure of 5 mmHg or less. It further discloses that when the temperature is lower than its melting point, substantially no unchanged monomer components become volatile. In this method the low-molecular components are removed in a molten state, the polymer-lactide equilibrium is therefore shifted toward the lactide side, thereby resulting in the regeneration of the lactide in the product polymers. Therefore, this method has notable limitation in the removal of the low-molecular components.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-255488 discloses a method for increasing a molecular weight of a low-molecular weight lactic acid polymer, comprising the steps of heating the starting low-molecular weight lactic acid polymer having an individual particle size of from 5 .mu.m to 5 mm at a temperature higher than its glass transition temperature and lower than its melting point, and carrying out condensation polymerization by dehydration reaction. However, in this method, the operation required about 240 hours according to the examples thereof, thereby making it impossible to carry out industrially. Moreover, this method was mainly intended to be applied to materials for medical use. Therefore, it has a feature of increasing the molecular weight without using a catalyst, and is never directed to reducing the low-molecular components.

Method for producing polylactic acid and apparatus used therefor


Data processing apparatus comprises one or more transaction issuing devices configured to issue data processing transactions to be handled by a downstream device and to receive a completion acknowledgement in respect of each completed transaction; each transaction issuing device having associated transaction regulator circuitry configured to allow that transaction issuing device to issue transactions subject to a limit on a maximum number of outstanding transactions, an outstanding transaction being a transaction which has been issued but for which a completion acknowledgement has not yet been received; in which the downstream device is configured to issue an indication to a transaction issuing device, to authorize a change by the transaction regulator circuitry of the limit applicable to outstanding transactions by that transaction issuing device.

This disclosure relates to data processing
Some data processing systems make use of one or more initiator devices (as examples of transaction issuing devices) issuing data processing transactions to one or more downstream devices. An example is where a system includes one or more processors (as example initiator devices in this context) and one or more memory controllers (as example downstream devices in this context), connected by interconnect circuitry. Such a system may be embodied as (or in), for example, a so-called System-on-Chip (SoC) or Network-on-Chip (NoC), or as multiple discrete devices.
In such arrangements, it can be appropriate to maintain the number of outstanding (issued but yet to be completed) transactions at a level which achieves a balance between low throughput or bandwidth (which can occur if the downstream device does not have sufficient queued transactions to fill its pipelines, for example) and worsened latency (which can occur if there are too many queued transactions such that there can be a long delay between an individual transaction joining the queue and being serviced).
An outstanding transaction can represent a demand on the resources of a system including the communication channels of the interconnect carrying the request and any data, the resources of the memory controller to service the request, and the return channels of the interconnect to carry the response and any data. Regulating outstanding transactions therefore attempts to regulate the use of all these system resources.
Outstanding transaction regulation can involve regulating transactions by allowing the initiator device to issue transactions subject to a limit on a maximum number of outstanding transactions.