A method for determining metrology sampling rates for workpieces in a process flow includes determining a current status of the process flow. Future processing of the workpieces in the process flow is simulated based on the current status of the process flow over a predetermined time horizon to predict sampling rates for the workpieces. During the simulating, sampling rules are implemented that consider capacity constraints of a metrology resource in the process flow. Actual workpieces in the process flow are sampled based on the predicted metrology sampling rates.

This invention pertains to automated manufacturing environments, such as semiconductor manufacturing, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining metrology sampling decisions based on fabrication simulation.
A semiconductor fabrication facility typically includes numerous processing tools used to fabricate semiconductor devices. The processing tools may include photolithography steppers, etch tools, deposition tools, polishing tools, rapid thermal processing tools, ion implantation tools, and the like. Wafers (or wafer lots) are processed in the tools in a predetermined order and each processing tool modifies the wafers according to a particular operating recipe so that a desired product is formed in or on the wafer. For example, a photolithography stepper may be used to form a patterned layer of photoresist above the wafer. Features in the patterned layer of photoresist correspond to a plurality of features, e.g. gate electrode structures, which will ultimately be formed above the surface of the wafer. When processing of the wafer is complete, the various features formed in or on the wafer, as well as features formed in or on layers that are deposited above the wafer, combined to form the desired product. Exemplary products include processors, memory elements, and the like.
The semiconductor fabrication facility typically also includes metrology tools for collecting data indicative of the physical state of one or more wafers before, during, and/or after processing by the processing tools. Data collected by the metrology tools may be used to characterize the wafer, to detect faults associated with the processing, or to determine the quality of the finished product. For example, a mean critical dimension associated with the various features may be indicative of a performance level of products formed on the wafer and/or the wafer lot. If the wafer state data indicates that the mean critical dimension associated with the feature, e.g., a gate electrode, is on the lower end of an allowable range for such feature sizes, then this may indicate that the product formed on the wafer may exhibit relatively high performance levels. For example, smaller feature sizes in a processor formed on the wafer may be associated with faster processing speeds. Higher performance products may be sold at a higher price, thereby increasing the profitability of the manufacturing operation.
High-volume manufacturing environments may be used to form the different products concurrently. For example, a single semiconductor fabrication facility may be used to form hundreds of different products including processors of varying processing speeds and/or architectures, memory elements of different types (e.g., EEPROM, flash memory, etc.) and/or sizes (e.g., 64 MB, 128 MB, etc), and the like. Wafers associated with each product are typically provided to at least one metrology tool to assess the performance of the products and/or to detect faults associated with processing. Because metrology tools are typically not provided in numbers sufficient to measure all wafers produced, a sampling approach is used.
Conventional metrology sampling plans are predetermined based on the process control information contained in each lot. In other words, lots including the same process control information are considered as a group. Sampling rates are based upon the groups. Product type is one component in the grouping. For example, if grouping A is expected to run 6 wafer lots per week, the metrology sampling plan associated with grouping A may be set to 100% so that all of the wafer lots associated with grouping A are sampled in the appropriate metrology tool. If grouping B is expected to run approximately 200 wafer lots a week, the metrology sampling plan may be set to a much lower value (e.g., 10-20%), so that fewer wafer lots associated with grouping B are provided to the metrology tools and the potential for bottlenecks at the metrology tools is reduced. The metrology tools may also be preconfigured to apply different business rules, filters, and/or weighting factors when performing metrology on grouping A or grouping B.
Changes in the anticipated processing volume associated with different products can cause serious problems for a semiconductor fabrication facility. For example, if demand for grouping A suddenly and/or unexpectedly increases and the semiconductor fabrication facility begins to run approximately 200 wafer lots per week to produce grouping A, the predetermined sampling plan will continue to indicate that 100% of the wafer lots associated with grouping A are to be sampled by the metrology tools. Consequently, a severe bottleneck may form at the metrology tools, which may reduce the production efficiency for grouping A, potentially resulting in lost profits for a product that is in high demand. Conversely, if the volume of wafer lots associated with grouping B drops, the lower sampling rate may not be sufficient to maintain the quality of grouping B and/or to detect faults that may occur during processing of grouping B.
In a conventional semiconductor fabrication facility, engineers typically change the predetermined sampling plans manually when the production volume associated with a product is expected to change. However, changing the sampling plans manually is typically time-consuming, labor-intensive, and may even require that production be halted while the new sampling plans are determined and implemented in the semiconductor fabrication facility. Moreover, engineers may not be able to anticipate all changes in the production volumes associated with different products and therefore may not be able to change the predetermined sampling plans to account for these unanticipated changes.
This section of this document is intended to introduce various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention described and/or claimed below. This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Determining metrology sampling decisions based on fabrication simulation


Both indirect and counterflow direct heating are utilized in a dryer to achieve improved efficiency with a reduced tendency to char or damage the treated material. A horizontal drum has a first segment of aluminum and a second section of stainless steel and is disposed within a heating chamber which is divided into two sections by a baffle. Hot combustion gases are introduced to the chamber and flow to the end of the heating chamber to the rear of the drum and enter the drum. The gases counterflow through the drum in a direction opposite to material moving through the drum to exchange heat. The gases remove moisture from the material and exit the drum into a preheat zone of the chamber where the moisture laden gases condense on the drum's surfaces. The exhaust gases then proceed up two stacks. The interior surfaces of the heating chamber and the preheat chamber are insulated to increase thermal efficiency.

Rotary dryers and heat exchangers are used to transfer heat from a hot gas, usually the product of combustion, to the sludge or granular material which it is desired to heat or dry. Rotary drum dryers are generally of two types. Both types employ a horizontal rotating drum through which the sludge or granulated material passes. The drum is generally slightly inclined from the infeed end to the outfeed end to cause the material being dried to progress down the drum as it rotates. Often mounted within the drum are lift flights of various types designed to agitate the material passing through the drum and/or to cast the material into a falling veil of material where it can interact with gases passing through the drum. One type of drum heater utilizes indirect heating wherein a furnace or manifold for hot gases surrounds the central portion of the drum, thus heating the exterior of the drum which in turn heats the material passing through the interior of the drum by conduction and radiation.
The other type of drum dryer employs direct heating wherein a burner or furnace at one end of the drum introduces hot combustion gases into the interior of the drum. The hot combustion gases directly transfer heat to and dry moisture from the sludge or granular material progressing through the drum. The directly fired drum heaters are divided into those in which the combustion gases flow in the same direction as the granular material through the drum, and those in which the combustion gases counterflow the granular material being dried or heated. The counterflow type dryers have the advantage of greater thermal efficiency. Counterflow dryers, because they bring the driest, warmest material directly into contact with the hot drying gases entering the dryer, have a tendency to overheat at least a portion of the material being dried. Parallel flow dryers, on the other hand, are less efficient but, because the hot drying gases first meet the cool, damp granular material being dried, are less subject to overheating the material.
Some materials such as rock aggregate are not adversely affected if a portion of the material is heated significantly above the average desired temperature of the particulate being heated. On the other hand, in the treatment of other materials which may be desirable to heat or dry in a rotating drum dryer such as recycled asphalt, wood chips, agricultural products and pulp mill sludge, overheating even a small portion of the material can result in charring which may adversely affect the product being heated and will often release large quantities of particulate matter and volatiles in the form of smoke. Where air quality is a concern, the cost of removing the particulate and particularly the volatile will often indicate the use of the less efficient parallel flow rotary drum dryer, which to a lesser extent is still prone to generating smoke from materials with low char temperatures.
Indirect rotary drum heaters can be used to supply a more uniform heating to the contents of a drum dryer, and may also be used where it is desirable not to contact the material being processed with combustion gases so as to avoid contamination of the processed material. Indirect rotary drum dryers, however, are limited in efficiency. It is more difficult to make the gases in the oven flow in counterflow to the material inside the drum, as the gases in the oven or manifold surrounding the rotating drum have a tendency to rise to the top and generally to be churned by the moving drum surface, thus preventing the heating gases from moving in uniform counterflow to the material inside the drum. Further, because the heating takes place through the drum, a significant temperature differential must be maintained between the external gases and the material moving through the drum to cause significant amounts of heat to flow from the gases into the materials, thus the exhaust gases of an indirectly heated drum necessarily carry with them considerable wasted energy.
One known type of drum dryer employed in drying pellets of carbon black utilizes an indirectly heated drum dryer with a jacket surrounding the center of the drum to which a heating medium such as combustion gases are supplied. This known drum heater also employs a small stream of hot gases moving in counterflow through the drum for the purposes of purging liquid vapor from the drum. Other known rotary drum dryers employ both indirect heating by means of a jacket or oven surrounding the drum and direct firing by means of a burner at one end of the drum. Still other known types of rotary drum dryers employ indirect heating by means of an oven surrounding the drum and by means of perforations in the drum which allow the entry of combustion gases from the oven into the drum along its length.
Dryers by their nature evaporate large quantities of water, an energy intensive process which absorbs approximately 1,000 btu's per pound of water evaporated. In many situations employing a rotary drum for heating or drying, the majority of the energy utilized goes into the evaporation of water. Known rotary drum dryers do not have any means for recovering any portion of the latent heat contained in the driven-off water vapors.
Further, known rotary drum dryers and heaters often require expensive pollution control equipment such as baghouses to control the emission of dust and smoke from the dryer.
What is needed is a rotary drum heater/dryer with large capability, high efficiency, uniform heating and minimized emissions.

Combined direct and indirect rotary dryer with reclaimer


A shower pan provides a shower floor adjoining a surrounding bathroom floor with no raised lip, curb or other obstruction between the two. This allows easy wheeled access for the disabled and comprises a drain plate in combination with an underlayment, which provide a gradual slope from a surrounding floor to a drain and supported on unmodified joists with upper surfaces in the same plane as surrounding bathroom floor joists.

Typically, shower floors or areas are set off or separated from surrounding floor surfaces such as bathroom floors by a curb or lip defining edges of the shower area and preventing water deposits, overflow, spray or the like on the adjacent or surrounding floor of a bathroom, for example. While of traditional construction, any such raised curb, lip, sill or the like constitutes an upstanding barrier between the shower floor and the surrounding or adjacent floor area such as the other floor surface in a bathroom.
While these barriers work well to contain water within the shower floor area, they constitute barriers to ingress and egress from the shower area, particularly for disabled persons. For example, if a person is confined to or must rely on a wheeled device for transfer into a shower area from an adjacent bathroom floor, that device must transit any upstanding lip, curb or sill. Frequently, these elements do not permit transfer of or block the wheeled device such as a chair or other support into or from a shower area.
In order to overcome this inherent difficulty, architects and builders attempt to install a shower floor with no lip, curb or sill. Typically, this is accomplished by "notching" or cutting out portions of the shower-underlying floor joists so a shower floor can be installed at a lower level, even with the surrounding floor and without an upstanding lip, curb or sill. Such a process entails the lowering of the subfloor to the notched-out joist tops and the provision of drain, tile and the like thereon. This permits a wheeled support device such as a wheelchair to be easily wheeled into and from the shower floor and to the surrounding bathroom floor.
Nevertheless, such process involves inherent disadvantages, severely limiting the possibility of such construction. First, "notching" the underlying floor joists by cutting away upper portions thereof can substantially weaken the underlying joists. Additional weight of any mud bed (mortar) further weakens such a floor.
Such a prior art construction is shown in elevational cross-section in FIG. 1 herein.
Such constructions are limited since builders use minimal dimension joists which cannot be notched without structural weakening and costly structural engineering involvement. Moreover, some builders are using engineered joists or joists of synthetic material which cannot be notched or cut out at the site.
Accordingly, it is one objective of the invention to provide apparatus and process for installing a shower floor without lip, curb, sill or other upstanding element between the shower floor and surrounding floor and without notching or weakening underlying support joists.
A further objective has been to provide a sloped water-draining shower floor extending from a surrounding floor without break or obstruction and without modifying underlying support joists.
A further objective has been to provide a sloped, water-draining shower floor extending from a surrounding floor without any raised obstruction and over supporting joists having upper edges at the same height as supporting joists underlying the surrounding floor.
A further objective has been to provide improved shower floor components and combinations thereof providing continuous smooth interfacing with surrounding floor areas without intervening lip, curb or sills and supported with standard, non-modified joists.


A method for the connection of components or component regions and a non-releasable connection produced in this manner. Two connection faces are partially welded to each other with an adhesive layer being incorporated between the two connection faces. The method including the following steps: arranging a welding base on a connection face, applying the adhesive layer to a connection face, moving the connection faces toward each other in such a manner that the welding base is applied against the other connection face, introducing welding current in the region of the applied welding base. A spacer is arranged between the connection faces before the connection faces are moved toward each other. The connection faces are spaced apart from each other in the region of the welding base by the extent that the welding base projects above the spacer.

Welding or bonding connections are used for the non-releasable connection of at least two components or component regions of an individual component. The objective is a permanent connection by means of the materially engaging joining thereof. In welding connections, the base material is initially partially molten by welding heat. The actual connection is formed only as a result of subsequent cooling when the molten phase is left. In principle, consequently, all materials which can be converted into a molten phase can be welded to each other. The material engagement can be brought about with or without a suitable welding filler in accordance with the welding method used.
In order to obtain the necessary welding heat, energy must be supplied from the outer side. In addition to the movement energy which is intended to be applied for this purpose during friction welding, this energy may also be produced, for example, by means of a suitable heat source. However, when metal materials are welded, the electrical resistance thereof can be used to obtain local heating directly as a result of welding current being introduced. Resistance spot welding has become established in particular in the case of thin-walled elements such as, for example, bodywork components. Welding is carried outusing welding tongs engaged around the metal sheets or metal sheet regions intended to be connected. The metal sheets, are locally pressed against each other by electrodes from opposite sides until an electrically conductive contact is produced between the regions to be welded. Subsequently, the welding current flows via the electrodes through the local contact region to form a welded connection.
In addition to the materially engaging connection of component faces by means of welding, purely bonding methods are also used in many cases. The bonding layer present between the component faces produces a non-releasable bonding connection.

Method for the non-releasable connection of components or component regions and non-releasable connection


Prepaid services include a multi-user prepaid services account as well as a prepaid balance associated with the account. A plurality of user records associated with the account each includes a quota. A service monitoring component may be configured to repeatedly draw down the prepaid balance by providing one or more allocations of the prepaid balance during a service period to a user associated with a respective user record.

Service providers may have the option to extend credit to customers for provided services with the expectation of payment at the termination of a service period. Alternatively, a service provider may require a customer to pay for services before they are provided. So-called prepaid services may allow a customer to purchase services prior to their provision and usage. Accordingly, a prepaid customer may maintain a positive monetary balance in a prepaid account held with the service provider. Alternatively, the customer may purchase units of service from the service provider for use over a period of time. In the example of a telephone network, a prepaid customer may purchase telephone services in units such as minutes.
The telephone network operator may establish a prepaid account for tracking the usage of any purchased minutes. In certain contexts, e.g., business customers and family calling plans, among others, it may be desirable to maintain a prepaid account that allowing multiple users to draw down a single account balance.

Prepaid services accounts with multi-user customers and individualized quotas


In a video display operable at multiple horizontal scanning frequencies, a synchronized high voltage generator is substantially undisturbed during synchronizing source selection or interruption. The generator comprises a controlled oscillator generating a drive signal. A source of pulses synchronizes the controlled oscillator and has a plurality of scanning frequencies. A high voltage generator is coupled to the drive signal and generates a display energizing supply. The scanning frequencies occur in two frequency bands, and when synchronized the oscillator generates the drive signal having a frequency only in a higher frequency band of the two frequency bands. In a further inventive arrangement a high voltage generator for a video display is operable at a plurality of horizontal scanning frequencies and is controlled such that the high voltage supply remains substantially constant during an interruption of horizontal scanning pulses from the source.

In a video display apparatus, scanning circuits are synchronized to a synchronizing component derived from the input video signal. Similarly the display device, for example a cathode ray tube has high voltage and heater supplies generated by the scanning circuitry. A video display which is capable of displaying, for example a standard definition, NTSC signal, a high definition, Advanced Television Standards Committee signal, or a computer generated SVGA signal, is capable of synchronizing to these signals which represent a range of horizontal frequencies in excess of 2:1. Although synchronized operation of deflection generated high voltage supplies is possible with the range of horizontal frequencies presented by the input selections, the complexity of design and material cost suggest that high voltage generation may be facilitated more efficiently by a high voltage generator which is separate from the deflection generation requirements of operability over the complete range of horizontal frequencies.
A high voltage power supply which is not part of a deflection generator may be synchronized with the input horizontal sync signal to reduce the visibility of power supply switching interference. However, since the input horizontal frequencies occupy nominally two frequency bands, with the higher frequency band more than double the frequency of NTSC, it is a requirement that a high voltage generator is not disturbed significantly when switching between such sync sources. Furthermore, when sync switching occurs, for example as a consequence of broadcast TV channel change or computer display resolution selection, the high voltage supply is required to remain substantially constant to avoid additional delay in the presentation of the newly selected picture source.


A delivery system for chemical concentrates, each in a separate container, includes, for each concentrate, a quick-disconnect coupling for a hand-operated valve connected to a pressurized water supply line. The coupling is connected to an air gap inductor including a mixing chamber into which the concentrate is metered. The diluted concentrate is then supplied to a user vessel or directly to a machine reservoir.

The present invention relates to apparatus for metering liquid in concentrate form from a container, and diluting it with water from a convenient, pressurized source, such as a pressurized utility water supply line commonly available in commercial, industrial and residential buildings.
Typically, industrial and commercial cleaning systems include a number of different chemical cleaners, each provided in a separate container in concentrate form. The chemicals in concentrate form may include a surface cleaner, commonly referred to as a "spray and wipe" cleaner, a floor cleaner, a degreaser, or a rug shampoo, as well as many others. There may be a different combination of chemicals particularly suited for different application situations. For example, the chemical concentrate sources for a hospital might be different than the combination of chemical concentrate sources for a contract commercial cleaning service, or a fast food restaurant. Thus, an ability to accommodate many different combinations of source containers is an important advantage of any metering or diluting system.
It is also desirable to avoid cross-contamination between one cleaner concentrate and another, as might occur if the same metering device is used to draw chemicals from different source containers simply by moving a single concentrate tube from one concentrate source container to another concentrate source container, using the same source of pressurized water.
It is also desirable to avoid any backflow of cleaner concentrate or other chemicals into the source of water, and this is conventionally provided by an induction device which, includes an isolating air gap upstream of a mixing chamber. The inductor syphons the concentrate through a metered, concentrate tube and into the mixing chamber, from which the mixture is disposed through a flexible delivery tube. The air gap is provided in the inductor upstream of the mixing chamber so that only water from the source under pressure can pass through the air gap; and concentrate or even diluted chemicals cannot pass from the mixing chamber upstream to the source of water.
It is also desirable to permit the operator to form a solution from a number of different concentrates quickly and reliably using a single source of pressurized water. The user may quickly yet reliably disconnect one concentrate from the water source and connect another concentrate without having to use tools or to "break" a threaded connection between male and female threaded members.
The present invention provides all of the above-mentioned advantages and, in some embodiments, adds still another advantage--namely, it permits the operator to actuate or stop the source of pressured water very quickly, without having to turn a threaded valve or other member, to provide convenience and accuracy in preparing the desired quantity of diluted cleaning chemical. As used herein, the terms "cleaning chemical" and "concentrate" are intended to be broadly construed to include all such chemicals as are normally provided in concentrate form and diluted prior to use by maintenance or cleaning personnel. Typically, such chemicals may include a general purpose cleaner/disinfectant, surface cleaner for windows, glass and other glossy surfaces, a heavy-duty cleaner for removing soap film, a foaming acid shower treatment for removing hard water scale and soap scum, a floor cleaner for daily use, a general purpose cleaner for water washable surfaces, degreasers, strippers, sanitizers, odor control agents, foaming degreasers, carpet extraction cleaners, carpet spotting and pre-spraying cleaners, dishwater liquid detergent, hard water cleaners and many others.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment accompanied by the accompanying drawing where identical reference numerals will refer to like parts in the various views .

Fluid metering system with quick disconnect and air gap inductor


A mechanism for multiplying rotation. The mechanism includes two armatures of differing lengths which rotate about different centers of rotation. The armatures are coupled together such that a rotation of one armature will produce a multiplied rotation in the other armature. The multiplying mechanism has particular application with a valve assembly of the type used in self-contained sanitary systems of recreational vehicles. The valve assembly includes a seal element having a sealing lip directed toward generally inward and downward of a fill opening a valve blade in the holding tank. The sealing lip terminates in a downwardly and outwardly oriented flange. The valve blade is actuatable through two movements. The first movement moves the valve blade generally vertically into and out of engagement with the seal element. The second movement moves the valve blade generally horizontally to a position out of registry with the fill opening.

This invention relates to a mechanism for multiplying rotary movement, and particularly to improvements in a valve assembly for the fill opening of a waste holding tank in the sanitary system of a recreational vehicle (RV).
Removable waste holding tanks adapted for use with toilets are typically positioned within an interior compartment of the RV. Waste is transported by the toilet structure to the holding tank where it is stored. The holding tank can be conveniently removed from the RV through an exterior access door and then transported to a waste disposal sight for emptying.
To enable the holding tank to accept waste products from the toilet of the sanitary system, a waste holding tank of the above mentioned type generally include a centrally disposed fill opening located within its top wall. A seal element surrounds the fill opening of the tank and includes an upper portion which seals against an outlet opening of the toilet bowl. So constructed, waste can be easily and sanitarily transferred into the holding tank.
To prevent the holding tank from leaking waste when it is removed from the RV and transported to the disposal site, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for securely closing the fill opening. Normally, a movable valve blade is mounted within the holding tank and is positioned to close off the fill opening. The valve blade may be actuated by an occupant of the RV to uncover the fill opening and thus enable the transferring of waste into the holding tank. The movable valve blade seals against a lower portion of the seal element thereby containing the waste within the holding tank and preventing odors from being vented into the RV.
An RV sanitary system incorporating the above structures is described within U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,885 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,631, both commonly assigned to the Assignee of the present application.
During actuation of the valve assembly, the valve blade is rotated or moved out of registry with the fill opening. The valve blade is coupled to an actuation arm which an operator of the assembly is required to rotate to open the valve assembly. The actual degree or amount of rotation required is determined by the width of the valve blade and the length of the actuation member. Generally, the shorter the length of the actuation member, the larger the required rotation. Because the valve blade most often requires operation in a restricted space, the length of the actuation arm is typically short and the degree of rotation is large.
When the holding tank is removed from the RV for emptying, the seal element and valve blade often become immersed in liquid waste and subjected to hydrostatic pressure. This often results in leakage problems. To prevent leaking, various seal elements for the fill opening have been developed to improve the tank's sealability.
The present invention is particularly directed to an improved inlet valve assembly which is not susceptible to the above leakage problems and which may be fully operated through a comparatively small rotation of the actuation arm.
Generally, the valve assembly includes a seal element and a valve blade which is actuated through two distinct movements. The first movement of the valve blade is substantially vertical and engages and disengages the valve blade with the seal element. The second movement is transverse or generally horizontal and moves the valve blade into and out of registry with the fill opening.
When opening a holding tank provided with the valve assembly of the present invention, the valve blade is first moved substantially vertically downward so as to disengage the seal element. The valve blade is then moved in a generally planar fashion out of registry with the fill opening thereby opening the holding tank. To achieve these two movements, the present invention uses two cooperating armatures which rotate about different centers of rotation. The armatures are coupled together in a novel fashion such that a rotation of one armature will produce a multiplied rotation in the other armature.
The seal element generally includes an annular lip which is oriented downwardly and inwardly of the fill opening and is adapted to engage the valve blade when the blade is in its closed position. The end of this lip is flanged and is doubled back or, in other words, is outwardly and downwardly flared. To ensure effective sealing of the fill opening, the flange of the seal element needs to be substantially vertically engaged by the valve blade. This prevents the flared end from moving out of its doubled back position.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Portable waste holding tank with improved inlet valve assembly


A cascading differential signal circuit. The processor outputs a differential signal. The data-bus transmits the differential signal. Each driving IC comprises a data receiving circuit, a terminal resistor, an output terminal and an analog-digital converter. The data receiving circuit is coupled to the data-bus for receiving the differential signals and encoding a digital signal. The terminal resistor is coupled to the data receiving circuit for acquiring an impedance match with the data-bus to transmit the differential signals. The output terminal is coupled to the terminal resistor for outputting the differential signals. The analog-digital converter is coupled to the data receiving circuit for converting the digital signal to an analog signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a driving integrated-circuit (IC). In particular, the present invention relates to a differential signal circuit and a driving circuit of a liquid crystal display (LCD) comprising driving ICs connected in serial.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows the conventional data-bus transmitting signal by differential-type signal. The processor 10 outputs differential signals to the driving ICs 14A˜14C through data-bus 12. Here, the differential signals are transmitted when the input impedance and the output impedance of both sides of the data-bus match. Thus, terminal resistor 16 is utilized for obtaining impedance matching between the data-bus 12 and the processor 10.
Each driving IC is respectively connected to the data-bus 12 in parallel to receive the differential signals output from the data-bus 12. The processor 10 is the timing controller when used in a liquid crystal display (LCD). The differential signals are transformed to data signals after being received by the driving ICs 14A˜14C, and the data signals are output to the data electrode driver of the LCD to drive the data electrode according to the synchronized pulses output from the data-bus 12.
FIG. 2 shows a circuit of the conventional driving IC 20. The data receiving circuit 22 transforms the data of the data-bus 12 to digital signals and outputs to the digital-analog converting circuits DAC1˜DAC384. The digital-analog converters DAC1˜DAC384 convert the digital signals to analog signals S1˜S384, then transmit the analog signals S1˜S384 to data electrode driver 24 to drive the data electrodes of the LCD 26. Here, the driving IC 20 comprising 384 channels is used as an example. The driving IC 20, however, may comprise 402, 420, or 480 channels.
The data transmitted to the driving IC from the data-bus 12, however, is video data, thus, the layout is complicated. For example, the layout of the nodes 18A˜18C of the driving ICs 14A˜14C and the data-bus 12 is very complicated. Thus, more layout space and potentially even more layers of IC board are required. Thus, the cost and the complication of layout increase.
In addition, the mass data lines between the driving ICs 14A˜14C and the data-bus 12 complicate the layout trace, causing electromagnetic interference.

Method and cascading differential signal circuit for receiving differential signals of data-bus, driving circuit of liquid crystal display and driving IC


A method for misbehaviour warnings in an intelligent transportation system (ITS) including determining at a network server that an ITS station is misbehaving. In response to determining that the ITS station is misbehaving, the network server transmits a misbehaviour warning message to the ITS station indicating that the ITS station is misbehaving. In response to transmitting the misbehaviour warning message and determining that the ITS station is continuing to misbehave, the network server includes information of the ITS station in a certificate revocation list (CRL) and transmits the CRL.

An intelligent transportation system (ITS) or a vehicle-to-everything (loosely termed "V2X") network provides information communications among ITS stations and network nodes (or network servers). For example, an ITS station can be deployed on a vehicle or an item of infrastructure (e.g., a traffic light, a traffic sign, or a building) and may have sensors to measure the ITS station's conditions or surrounding environment. An ITS station can also be a device having sensors carried by a pedestrian or a cyclist. An ITS station can have transceivers to communicate with other ITS stations and network nodes. For example, when a vehicle brakes, the vehicle can communicate with neighboring vehicles so that vehicles behind it can slow down. A vehicle can also communicate with a network node, e.g., report a car accident, so that the network can notify vehicles in the area of the car accident. The ITS or V2X network can improve road safety and transportation efficiency (e.g., reducing fuel consumption).
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Misbehaviour warnings in intelligent transportation systems


An electroluminescent element which is superior in luminescence properties and lifetime can be provided by forming a thin film with high controllability according to the invention. An electroluminescent layer is formed over a first electrode by applying a current density of from 0.4 to 1.5 mA/cm2 for from 0.8 to 3.0 seconds to a first electrode of the electroluminescent element in accordance with the fact that an electrolytic polymerization film can be formed over the surface of the electrode uniformly by keeping a current density and time for applying the current to the electrode within a predetermined range during electrolytic polymerization especially when the electrolytic polymerization film is required to be a thin film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electroluminescent element including an electroluminescent layer between a pair of electrodes.
2. Related Art
An electroluminescent element includes an electroluminescent layer interposed between a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode). The emission mechanism is as follows. Upon applying a voltage between the pair of electrodes, holes injected from the anode and electrons injected from the cathode are recombined with each other at luminescent centers within the electroluminescent layer to lead to formation of molecular excitons, and the molecular excitons return to the ground state while radiating energy to emit photon.
An electroluminescent layer in the electroluminescent element can be formed by a low molecular weight material or a high molecular weight material by vapor deposition (including vacuum vapor deposition), spin coating, ink jetting, dipping, electrolytic polymerization, or the like.
These methods are appropriately selected depending on properties of materials or a shape of a film. For example, electrolytic polymerization is used to pattern form a film formed by high molecular weight materials. (For example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-97679.)
However, sufficient planarity of a deposited film is not available through the conventional electrolytic polymerization at present.
By the fact that an electroluminescent layer used for an electroluminescent element is formed to have a thickness of approximately from 1 to 100 nm, the planarity of the deposited film influences device characteristics of an electroluminescent element such as luminescence properties or lifetime.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Manufacturing method of electroluminescent device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A microcomputer includes a rotation angular velocity computation section, a feedback gain determination section, and a dead time compensation amount determination section. The rotation angular velocity determination section computes the rotation angular velocity of a brushless motor. Based on the rotation angular velocity, the feedback gain determination section determines feedback gains. The dead time compensation amount determination section determines a dead time compensation amount. The greater the absolute value of the rotation angular velocity, that is, the higher the rotation speed of the brushless motor, the greater the feedback gains determined by the feedback gain determination section become, and the higher the responsivity of the feedback gains becomes. The greater the absolute value of the rotation angular velocity, the smaller the dead time compensation amount determined by the dead time compensation amount determination section becomes.

The present invention relates to a motor controller and an electric power steering apparatus.
Conventionally, a type of a motor controller has been used which converts direct-current voltage supplied from a direct-current power supply to three-phase (U, V, W) drive power using a PWM (pulse-width modulation) inverter, and supplies the three-phase drive power to a brushless motor.
As shown in FIG. 7, a PWM inventor is configured of three arms 52 in parallel as basic units. Each arm 52 corresponds to one of the phases and includes a pair of switching elements (for example, power MOSFETs) 51a, 51b in series. The motor controller alternately turns on and off the high voltage side switching element 51a and the low voltage side switching element 51b of each arm 52 at a predetermined timing, thereby supplying three-phase drive power to a brushless motor 53.
In such a motor controller, to prevent a short circuit (arm short circuit) between each high voltage side switching element 51a and the corresponding low voltage side switching element 51b, "dead time" is set when the switching elements 51a, 51b are turned on and off, in which "dead time" both switching elements 51a, 51b are off. However, the dead time causes errors to occur between a voltage command value and an output voltage of the PWM inverter. This in turn creates torque ripples, vibrations, and current distortion, which can cause sound noise.
In an electric power steering (EPS) apparatus, a motor, which is a driving source, is controlled through a feedback control based on a deviation of an actual current value from a current command value that is a control target of assisting force (assist torque). When the steering wheel is being turned slowly, that is, when the motor rotates slowly, the torque sensor is likely to pick up current noise. Particularly, during extreme steering, which causes a large current to pass through the PWM inverter, current noise is likely to be produced. Thus, rotation of the motor is influenced by current noise. Accordingly, unstable rotation of the motor significantly increases sound noise and vibration. Therefore, a feedback gain for low speed rotation of the motor is generally set to a small value. As a result, when the motor is rotating at a low speed, the influence of current distortion, which accompanies dead time described above, is likely to appear.
Accordingly, in conventional motor controls including motor controls used in EPS apparatuses, dead time compensation is performed to reduce errors between a voltage command value and an output voltage to suppress the occurrence of current distortion accompanying dead time.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a method has been proposed in which a dead time compensation amount β is added to or subtracted from a DUTY instruction value αx. The DUTY instruction value αx is compared with a triangular wave δ, which is a carrier wave, to determine the time of turning on and off the switching elements 51a, 51b. The dead time compensation amount β is set in advance according to the direction of current of the DUTY instruction value αx. See Hidehiko Sugimoto, Facts of Theory and Design of AC Servo Motor Systems, 6th edition, Denshi Shuppansha, August 2002, pp. 56–58.
More specifically, when the direction of a current of X-phase (X=U, V, W, the same applies hereinafter) that corresponds to one of the arms 52 is toward the brushless motor 53 from the arm 52, that is, when the direction of current is "positive" (see FIG. 7), the dead time compensation amount β is added to the DUTY instruction value αx. When the direction of current is toward the arm 52 from the brushless motor 53, that is, when the direction of current is "negative" (see FIG. 7), the dead time compensation amount β is subtracted from the DUTY instruction value αx. This equalizes a time in which the X-phase output voltage Vx becomes the power supply voltage Vb (t3+t4 or t5+t6) in a cycle T of the triangular wave δ with the corresponding time (t1+t2) in a case where no dead time is set (ideal voltage waveform). Thus, the voltage command value is caused to match the output voltage of the PWM inventor, so that current distortion due to dead time is prevented.
In recent years, software servo control performed by a microcomputer is most commonly used for controlling motors in steering systems. In software servo control, the output (renewal) of gate ON/OFF signals for performing a motor control that includes the above described dead time compensation, that is, the output (renewal) of gate ON/OFF signals for turning on and off switching elements of a PWM inverter, is performed in an interrupting manner at every predetermined cycle. That is, as the rotational speed of the motor is increased, the number of rotation of the motor per one output (renewal) of the gate ON/OFF signal is increased, that is, the motor control is made rougher.
Therefore, until the gate ON/OFF signal is renewed, a current zero cross point, which is the time at which the dead time compensation is switched, is displaced. That is, the switching time in the control and the actual switching time are deviated from each other. As a result, the dead time compensation amount β, which should be added to the DUTY instruction value αx, is subtracted from the DUTY instruction value αx in some cases. In other cases, the dead time compensation amount β, which should be subtracted from the DUTY instruction value αx, is added to the DUTY instruction value αx in other cases. In either case, current distortion is increased.

Motor controller and electric power steering apparatus


One embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for profiling an ion beam. The apparatus includes a current measuring device having a measurement region, wherein a cross-sectional area of the ion beam enters the measurement region. The apparatus also includes a controller configured to periodically take beam current measurements of the ion beam and to determine a two dimensional profile of the ion beam by relating the beam current measurements to sub-regions within the current measuring device. Other apparatus and methods are also disclosed.

In the semiconductor industry, various manufacturing processes are typically carried out on a workpiece (e.g., a semiconductor wafer) in order to achieve various results thereon. Processes such as ion implantation, for example, can be performed in order to obtain a particular characteristic on or within the workpiece, such as doping a layer on the workpiece by implanting a specific type of ion. Conventionally, ion implantation processes are performed in either a batch process, wherein multiple workpieces are processed concurrently, or in a serial process, wherein a single workpiece is individually processed.
In general, it is desirable to provide uniform implantation of the surface of the workpiece, (i.e. ensure that implant properties such as dose, angle, power density deposited, etc., are uniform across the surface). However, at the plane of the workpiece the current or charge of a typical ion beam can vary significantly across a cross-section of the beam, and such variation can lead to a potential non-uniform implantation of the workpiece in both batch processes and serial processes. Therefore, it is generally desirable to accurately measure a profile and/or trajectory of the ion beam as it would impact the workpiece (i.e., at the workpiece plane). Conventionally, such a profile measurement of the ion beam has been a cumbersome and/or time consuming process that is separate from the implantation process, and which requires additional hardware that is difficult to integrate into the implanter. Therefore, profiles are frequently not measured at all, but rather implantations are often merely based on assumptions of how the ion beam should appear for a given set of input parameters.
Therefore, a need currently exists for an apparatus, system, and method for determining a profile of an ion beam, wherein a charge distribution across the ion beam can be empirically determined in a highly efficient manner.

Method and system for ion beam profiling


The present invention is to provide a laser irradiation method for performing homogeneous laser irradiation to the irradiation object even when the thickness of the irradiation object is not even. In the case of irradiating the irradiation object having uneven thickness, the laser irradiation is performed while keeping the distance between the irradiation object and the lens for condensing the laser beam on the surface of the irradiation object constant by using an autofocusing mechanism. In particular, when the irradiation object is irradiated with the laser beam by moving the irradiation object relative to the laser beam in the first direction and the second direction of the beam spot formed on the irradiation surface, the distance between the irradiation object and the lens is controlled by the autofocusing mechanism before the irradiation object is moved in the first and second directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser irradiation method and more particularly to a laser irradiation method for controlling laser irradiation to an irradiation object by an autofocusing mechanism. Moreover, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device with the use of the laser irradiation method.
2. Related Art
In recent years, a technique to manufacture a thin film transistor (TFT) over a substrate has made a great progress, and application development to an active matrix display device has been advanced. In particular, a TFT formed using a poly-crystalline semiconductor film is superior in field-effect mobility to a TFT formed using a conventional amorphous crystal semiconductor film, and therefore high-speed operation is possible when the TFT is formed using the poly-crystalline semiconductor film. For this reason, it has been tried to control a pixel by a driver circuit formed over the same substrate as the pixel, which has been conventionally controlled by a driver circuit provided outside the substrate.
A substrate used in a semiconductor device is expected to be a glass substrate in terms of cost. However, the glass substrate is inferior in heat resistance and easy to change in shape due to the heat. Therefore, when the TFT using the poly-crystalline semiconductor film is formed over the glass substrate, laser annealing is employed to crystallize a semiconductor film formed over the glass substrate in order to prevent the glass substrate from changing in shape due to the heat.
Compared with another annealing method which uses radiant heat or conductive heat, the laser annealing has advantages that the processing time can be shortened drastically and that a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film over a substrate can be heated selectively and locally so that the substrate is hardly damaged thermally.
In general terms, the laser annealing to the semiconductor film is often performed by using an excimer laser. The excimer laser has advantages of its high output power and high repetition rate. Moreover, the laser beam emitted from the excimer laser has an advantage that it is sufficiently absorbed in a silicon film, which is often employed as the semiconductor film. In the laser irradiating step, a beam spot of the laser beam on the irradiation object is shaped into a linear spot (including rectangular and elliptical spots) by an optical system, and the beam spot is moved relative to the irradiation object in a short-side direction of the linear beam spot. By such laser irradiation, the laser annealing can be performed to the irradiation object effectively.
Moreover, a continuous wave laser (also referred to as a CW laser) can be used in the laser annealing step. When a laser beam emitted from the CW laser is shaped into a linear spot and the semiconductor film, which is the irradiation object, is moved relatively in the short-side direction of the beam spot on the irradiation object, a large crystal grain extending long in the moving direction can be formed in the semiconductor film. A TFT manufactured in accordance with the extending direction of the large crystal grain can have higher carrier-mobility than a TFT manufactured using the excimer laser. With the TFT having high carrier-mobility, the circuit can be driven at higher speed, and therefore a driver, a CPU, and the like can be manufactured.
The laser beam emitted from the CW laser to be generally used in the laser annealing has a wavelength of 532 nm because this wavelength is sufficiently absorbed in amorphous silicon (a-Si) and the conversion efficiency from the fundamental wave by the non-linear optical element is high. Usually, the shorter the wavelength of the laser beam is, the more a-Si absorbs the laser beam. Meanwhile, the shorter the wavelength is, the lower the power of the laser beam is.
A technique for forming the TFT with the use of the semiconductor film crystallized by the above method has been carried out in many fields.
When the power of the laser beam is low, the laser beam is condensed on one point in the irradiation object by a lens in order to increase the energy density or the power density of the laser beam. Moreover, even in the case of forming a pattern on the irradiation object directly by irradiating the irradiation object with the laser beam, the beam spot is condensed on the irradiation object by the lens. For example, when the semiconductor film is crystallized using the CW laser, the beam spot is shaped into an elongate spot such as a rectangular, elliptical, or linear spot on the irradiation object and condensed to have a length of several μm in the short-side direction by the lens in order to increase the throughput as much as possible. Furthermore, when a fine pattern is imaged directly to the irradiation object by the laser irradiation, the beam spot is narrowed further.
To narrow the diameter of the beam spot formed over the irradiation object by condensing the laser beam, it is necessary to use a lens having large numeral aperture (NA). Generally, NA and a focal depth Z satisfy the equation Z=±λ/2NA2 where λ is the wavelength of the laser beam. Therefore, when the lens has larger NA, the focal depth of the lens becomes shorter accordingly. For example, when using the CW laser, the focal depth needs to be adjusted to be approximately several μm.
However, when a substrate typified by a glass substrate becomes larger, the variation of the thickness of the substrate becomes more remarkable. The thickness may vary within the substrate by several tens μm. For example, when the semiconductor film formed over the glass substrate or the like whose thickness is not even is annealed by the laser irradiation, the distance between the lens and the irradiation object depends on the location in the substrate, and the beam spot shape changes depending on the location accordingly. For this reason, the crystallinity differs depending on the location even in the semiconductor film formed over the same substrate.

Laser irradiation method in which a distance between an irradiation object and an optical system is controlled by an autofocusing mechanism and method for manufacturing semiconductor device using the same


A plastic optical element for an optical system of an optical scanner includes a plurality of optical effective portions through which a plurality of light beams transmit, respectively, formed on at least one of an incidence surface and an exit surface in a sub scan direction, and an optical ineffective portion formed between neighboring optical effective portions not to allow the light beams to transmit therethrough, and including an area in which a local contraction occurs at a time of resin molding.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plastic optical element used in the optical system of an image forming device such as a laser copier, laser printer, facsimile machine, plotter, or complex machine with two or more functions. It also relates to an optical scanner including such a plastic optical element and an image forming device including such an optical scanner.
Description of the Related Art
To adapt for high-speed image outputs, a tandem-type, electrophotographic full-color image forming device in which four photoreceptor drums are arranged with a certain interval has been popular.
In such a tandem type image forming device, the light beams from light sources of an optical scanner or a laser write unit are deflected by a single optical deflector to concurrently expose the surfaces of photoreceptor drums via respective optical scan systems and generate latent images thereon. The latent images are visualized by develop units containing four colors of toner and the four color toner images are transferred onto a paper to form a full color image.
Recently, there have been demands for downsizing and cost reduction of such a tandem type image forming device and an optical scanner. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-15139 discloses an optical scanner configured to make two light beams incident obliquely on the surface of the optical deflector vertical to the rotation axis and exit from a single optical system to converge on the surfaces of two photoreceptor drums.
Thus, providing only two optical systems for four photoreceptor drums can contribute to reducing the size of the optical scanner.
The optical scanner in the above document includes a combined optical element having two optical effective portions and one optical ineffective portion between the optical effective portions not to allow light transmission. The optical effective and ineffective portions are set such that a distance from a line connecting the apexes of the two optical effective portions to the apex of the optical ineffective portion on the sub scan cross section is to be 1.0 mm or less.
A plastic optical element having two optical effective portions and an optical ineffective portion therebetween can be manufactured by injection molding of melted resin into a mold cavity. During the cooling process of the injection molding, the surface of the plastic optical element is likely to be pulled toward the center with a relatively high temperature due to resin contraction.
A part of the optical effective portions near the optical ineffective portion in sub scan direction is located closer to the center having a high temperature than the rest of the portions. Thus, this part of the optical effective portions is largely affected by thermal contraction of the center area. Because of this, a large local contraction occurs therein, which may cause degradation in mold transferability.
FIG. 15A schematically shows the side surface of a plastic optical element 100 in sub scan direction. The plastic optical element includes two optical effective portions 101, 102 and an optical ineffective portion 103 therebetween on an exit side. FIG. 15B is a graph showing a result of measuring transferability error in the position of the optical surface in sub scan direction. The transferability error refers to a difference between the surface shapes of a mold and a molded product. In FIG. 15B the abscissa axis shows the position of the optical surface in sub scan direction on the exit side (mm) while the longitudinal axis shows transferability error (mm). The position zero is the center of the optical ineffective portion 103.
In FIGS. 15A, 15B, a shift in the position of the optical surface from a mold to a molded product from the incidence side to the exit side is defined to be positive. FIG. 15B shows that resin contraction increases as the shift goes negative in the longitudinal axis. The transferability error is negatively large around the optical ineffective portion 103, that is, the area D in FIG. 15B. It is confirmed that the contraction amount of about the portion 103 is larger than the rest of the surface.
FIG. 16A schematically shows the side surface of a plastic optical element 100a in sub scan direction. The plastic optical element includes two optical effective portions 101a, 102a and an optical ineffective portion 103a therebetween on an incidence side. FIG. 16B is a graph showing a result of measuring transferability error in the position of the optical surface in sub scan direction. In FIG. 16B the abscissa axis shows the position in sub scan direction (mm) on the incidence side while the longitudinal axis shows transferability error (mm). The position zero is the center of the optical ineffective portion 103a.
In FIGS. 16A, 16B, a shift in the position of the optical surface from a mold to a molded product from the incidence side to the exit side is defined to be positive. FIG. 16B shows that resin contraction increases as the shift goes positive in the longitudinal axis. The transferability error is negatively large around the optical ineffective portion 103a, that is, the area D in FIG. 16B. It is confirmed that the contraction amount of about the portion 103a is larger than the rest of the surface.
In FIGS. 15B, 16B at the transferability error being zero, the element surface is in an ideal state.
To further downsize the optical scanner, the length of the optical ineffective portion of the plastic optical element in sub scan direction needs to be shortened. However, there is a problem that the optical characteristics of a potion of the optical effective portions near the optical ineffective portion deteriorates due to a decrease in mold transferability, which leads to a degradation in beam spot shape on a target scan plane.

Plastic optical element and optical scanner and imaging forming device including the same


A display unit displays at least a window from among a plurality of windows. A window switching unit switches a currently active window between windows among the plurality of windows in accordance with a corresponding voice-input, the voice-input comprising relationship command indicating a relationship between the currently active window and a window to be activated from the windows among the plurality of windows. The relationship command indicates a relationship concerning an arrangement of the plurality of windows, the relationship comprising a relationship between the currently active window and a window to be activated from the windows among the plurality of windows.

The present invention relates to a window (Such a term "window", in general, means, in applications and graphical interfaces, a portion of the screen that can contain its own document or message.) control apparatus and method, and particularly relates to a window control apparatus and method having a function for controlling a window in accordance with a voice-input other than input including a keyboard input or a pointing-device input; the voice-input control being executable as a result of recognizing voice-input. A computer system may employ such a window control apparatus and method so as to improve control efficiency thereof.
There are some examples, in related art, of applications of such a voice-input control system (called "voice recognition system") for computer control. In an example of such a voice recognition system according to the related art, a process of recognizing voice-input is executed in response to a corresponding command output by the computer. The voice recognition system of the above related art, after outputting to the computer a recognition execution result then waits for a next command.
In computer systems including, for example, a so-called personal computer and a so-called work station, a window system is used as a so-called graphical user interface. Such a graphical user interface, in general, is a type of display format that enables the user to choose commands, start programs, and see lists of files and other options by pointing to pictorial representations (icons) and lists of menu items on the screen.
However, there are only few examples in the related art of system using voice-input control system for controlling windows. The examples include an example disclosed in a reference "C. Schemandt, 6th Symposium on Human Interface 1321, p533-540 (1990, Tokyo)".
A computer system which employs such a window system, in general, has a construction comprising software and/or hardware, in which construction the control of such a window in the screen is, in general, close in relationship to the control of the operating system (OS) and it is thus difficult to control the window by means of voice-input. Thus, it is necessary for realizing a voice recognition process in the system that the system may provide a signal to the operating system (OS), which signal resulting from executing voice input, as if the input had been executed by the keyboard or the mouse (a mouse is used as a pointing device). The term pointing device, in general, means an input device used to control an on-screen cursor for such actions as "pressing" on-screen buttons in dialog boxes, choosing menu items, and selecting ranges of cells in spreadsheets or groups of words in a document. The most common pointing device is the mouse.
In the computer system of the related art, comprising the above mentioned construction, in a case where a voice-input operation is executed so as to control the window system, a method for activating particular windows may be, in general, easily devised such that a name is given to each window and then an operation of calling such a name results in a corresponding window being activated. In this computer system of the related art, reference voice patterns have to be registered as well as do names used for identifying particular windows. Then, after determining the names (comprising words) used for the particular windows by the user, the user's calling the name results in activating the corresponding window. However, it is troublesome for the user to register reference voice patterns as well as registering those name of the particular windows.
There are two reasons of the requirement that the user has to register his or her reference voice patterns as well as register words themselves in the voice recognition system. A first reason is that, because characteristics quantities of voice input vary depending on particular speakers, it may be technically difficult to accurately and uniformly recognize voice input regardless of differences between particular speakers. Thus, it may take time for finally reaching an accurate recognition without registering the reference voice patterns of the speaker. A second result ensures the above first result. By registering the reference voice patterns of the speaker, the voice recognition system may reach an accurate voice recognition relatively easily. Thus, it is possible that many and various words may be recognized by the system with relatively high speed.
Further, a pointing device such as a mouse is generally used for control of the window system. In using a mouse as a pointing device for control of the window system, troublesome operations are required for a desired window to be activated, following which a desired control command must be searched for and specified from among plurality of control commands provided for control of the window. (The search may be executed successively so that repeated selecting may be executed for tracing a tree construction or a hierarchy construction i.e. from a generic command to more specific commands.) The operations generally take up a considerable amount of time for activating the desired window from among a plurality of windows by accessing data concerning the window as a result of retrieval of data concerning the window, and then the operations for selecting the control command are still required. Thus, those operations are troublesome and time consuming for the user.
Furthermore, in the system of the related art system employing the voice-input system, all words concerning the plurality of windows have to be obtained by the system through recognition of voice-input, thus a degrading of the recognition efficiency occurs and a considerable amount of time is required for the recognition process. (A degrading of the recognition efficiency includes, for example, increase of the time required for finally reaching an accurate voice recognition result.)

Window control apparatus and method having function for controlling windows by means of voice-input


An engine test device for an engine lubricating system includes: a frame having hinge units at upper front and rear sides thereof and an installing die integrally formed with a front lower portion thereof; a rotary beam hinge-connected to the front and rear hinge units of the frame to be rotated leftward and rightward, and having a fixed beam vertically installed at a central portion thereof; a plate-shaped surface plate rotatably mounted to a center of the fixed beam to fix the engine; and a driving unit configured between the installing die and the rotary beam through a gear unit to control a rotation angle of the rotary beam through control of driving of a motor.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an engine test device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an engine test device for securing a stability of an engine lubricating system in advance in turn and rapid acceleration/deceleration conditions of a vehicle before an engine is mounted on the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, various tests are performed to inspect a performance quality of an engine before the engine is mounted on a vehicle.
In order to perform such a test, an engine test device for securing a stability of an engine lubricating system in advance in turn or rapid acceleration/deceleration conditions of a vehicle is provided.
A conventional engine test device inclines a surface plate mounted on an engine leftward and rightward along two guide rings provided on the left and right sides.
The surface plate and the guide rings are installed on a working die, and the working die is supported by two hydraulic pistons installed at front and rear lower sides thereof.
That is, the surface plate on which an engine is mounted is inclined forward and rearward through operations of the two hydraulic pistons.
Through the engine test device having the above-described configuration, a test for securing a stability of an engine lubricating system in advance before the engine is mounted on the vehicle is performed.
However, the conventional engine test device has large-sized equipment due to the sizes of the guide rings, and the working die is situated at a location distant from the ground by 1.5 m or more, causing a safety problem when the engine is installed.
Further, since the engine is located in the surface plate on the working die, the engine may not be visible from the control center due to its height, making it difficult to monitor the engine.
Further, during a leftward/rightward operation of the surface plate, operators who fix the surface plate at a specific location of the guide ring are necessary.
Further, when the surface plate is operated forward and rearward, at least two hydraulic pistons should be used due to the weight of the equipment, and accordingly, a balance should be accurately maintained when driving of the two hydraulic pistons is controlled.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


Promoting efficient communication among users. Uses having a symbol of the same network resource are led to the same virtual space. Specifically, intermediary server 2 converting ID of merchandise icon and ID of virtual space for chat is provided. When user terminal 1 obtained a merchandise icon reports merchandise icon ID to the intermediary server 2, ID of a virtual space corresponding to the merchandise icon is returned to the user terminal 1. A user can share information on each merchandise by participating in this virtual space. Namely, users having a common purpose can chat with each other.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to network-based information services, e.g. online shopping services and information search services, provided on the Internet or other networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Since utilization of the Internet is rapidly diffused, general users without expertise in computers routinely use network services such as information search and online shopping. By diffusion of mobile phones, Internet access from the mobile phones is also rapidly diffused. Usually Internet access is done by using various web browser. However, users not accustomed to operating computers have difficulty operating the web browsers because the web browsers have many menus. Conversely, it is difficult to viewably display web pages on screens of the mobile phone with limited space.
Therefore various technologies for easily operating browsers e.g. IP3 are provided. IP3 allows embedding of merchandise information or search result in image data and extraction of the embedded information. Search services for searching image information such as Infoseek (Registered Trademark) are provided. Since search results are displayed by icons, users can select necessary information by intuition.
Taking the state into consideration, it is expected that icons and images representing merchandise information (hereinafter referred to as merchandise icons) are distributed on the Internet.
Meanwhile, various shared-information types among users are provided on the Internet. For example, mailing list and electronic bulletin board are shared-information types.
Software allowing text-based chat among users browsing the same Web Page e.g. "gooey" is also provided. Furthermore, systems allowing chat among users entering the same virtual electronic meeting room such as IRC and "Web chat" are provided.
In case of "gooey," by chatting with a user browsing the same Web Page, one can share information with the user having the same hobbies and purpose, and therefore can effectively collect information and make friends. However, in case of information share per Web Page, users cannot always do chat fitting for their purpose because purposes of users accessing a Web Page is broad. Similar problems occur in other shared-information types.

Communication intermediating method, intermediating device, and communication device


A system for starting a point-to-multi-point serial communications system. The system includes a transmitter having a sync connection and a plurality of data outputs and a plurality of receivers, each of the plurality of receiver having a sync connection and a data input; the data input of each of the plurality of receivers being connected to a respective one of the plurality of data outputs of the transmitter; and the sync connection of the transmitter being connected, by a conductor, to the sync connection of each of the plurality of receivers, each of the plurality of receivers comprising a first impedance and a first switch, the first impedance and the first switch configured to establish, when the first switch is closed, a current path between the sync connection of the receiver and a first voltage source in the receiver.

1. Field
One or more aspects of embodiments according to the present invention relate to serial communication links, and more particularly to a system and method for reliably starting a point-to-multi-point link.
2. Description of Related Art
A video display, e.g., an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display or a liquid crystal display (LCD) may include drive electronics including a timing controller (TCON) and a plurality of driver integrated circuits (DICs). Each DIC may be responsible for controlling a portion of the display. The TCON may send data to each DIC, including video data defining the image to be displayed on the portion of the display for which the DIC is responsible. The data links from the TCON to the DICs may be high-speed serial links, forming a point-to-multi-point serial communications system including a multiple-output transmitter in the TCON and a receiver in each of the DICs.
The serial links may require a multi-state startup procedure to begin operation after power-up. For example, after power-up, the TCON may initially transmit a clock pattern on each serial data lane, to allow clock and data recovery (CDR) blocks in the DICs to be initialized. Once all of the PLLs are initialized, the TCON may begin to transmit data to the DICs. The time required for initialization of a CDR may vary depending on its initial state. The TCON may therefore transmit the clock pattern for an interval of time that is relatively long, to provide a high-likelihood that all DIC CDRs will be initialized when the TCON transitions to transmitting data, so that the display may start reliably. This approach results in a relatively slow start-up.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for starting a point-to-multi-point serial communications system quickly and reliably.

Method of startup sequence for a panel interface


An elevator (49) includes remote elevator monitoring equipment (50) (REM) connected by a communication linkage (52) to a central elevator monitoring and control station (51). Main, drive, and door controllers (56-58) are interconnected (5961) with the REM. Power-on-reset (POR) of controllers is caused internally (150) or by remotely-operable relays (63-65). An elevator expert at the remote station may order a POR (108), disable components (120), try various fixes (124), and/or order maintenance (115, 135) with instructions. In another embodiment, the controller (56a, 56b) includes elevator diagnostics (150) which can recognize an elevator malfunction and either cause a relay (63) to interrupt power for an interval or cause a reboot.

Remote elevator monitors (REMs) have become common. The status of various elements and various operational parameters of the elevator are typically sent by a communication link, which may be telephone or some other media, to a central monitoring and control station. Remote elevator monitoring of this sort may be as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,568,909, 4,622,538, 5,450,478, and more modern systems which have evolved therefrom.
A typical prior art response to an elevator malfunction that requires immediate attention is illustrated in FIG. 1. When a malfunction is reported by an elevator owner 23 or by a REM 24, a service mechanic is assigned 25, 26 to an urgent service call to the site of the elevator, referred to hereinafter as a "callback". When a service call is assigned to a callback mechanic, it is placed on his/her queue 27 with other service calls, without any knowledge of whether it is a five minute repair or a longer repair. Further, the emergency or harmful nature of the call may generally not be known; for instance, car or hallway doors may be continuously opening and closing in a repetitive fashion. Many times, the callback mechanic will arrive on site 30 and the elevator will be working 31, with no failure being apparent 32. If the callback mechanic can provide a repair 36 he will do so, and report the incident with a callback code 37. If nothing is to be done, he simply reports 39 that the elevator was running on arrival.
At times, the problem with the elevator is simply the fault of the electric power being supplied over the grid by a utility company. Frequently, the call will be answered without the necessary repair part, and at times, the callback mechanic will not have sufficient knowledge to determine what the problem really is; in such cases, a second callback is required to restore elevator service. In many cases, the callback mechanic may be able to perform some simple function on site to restore elevator operation, which does not justify the delay, waiting for the callback mechanic before restoring service, nor the time spent by the callback mechanic, including traveling. Service calls are also costly.

Elevator system and method including a controller and remote elevator monitor for remotely performed and/or assisted restoration of elevator service


An improved interconnection assembly is configured to couple to only one of a first daughter card having a first arrangement of connectors and a second daughter card having a second arrangement of connectors. The interconnection assembly includes a motherboard and motherboard connectors. The motherboard connectors are adapted to couple to one of the first arrangement of connectors of the first daughter card and the second arrangement of connectors of the second daughter card. The interconnection assembly further includes a stopper attached to the motherboard. The stopper is adapted to provide interference against the other of the first arrangement of connectors of the first daughter card and the second arrangement of connectors of the second daughter card to prevent the motherboard connectors from contacting the other of the first arrangement of connectors of the first daughter card and the second arrangement of connectors of the second daughter card.

Some electronic equipment manufacturers design different circuit board modules with common dimensions (e.g., the same heights, the same lengths, etc.). For example, suppose that a manufacturer wishes to offer a mid-range processing module having a first type of connector, and a high-end processing module having a second type of connector. The manufacturer may see advantages to using a similar circuit board layout for each module and thus want to keep the height and length of the two processing modules the same. Additionally, the manufacturer may see advantages using a single layout for an interconnect (e.g., a midplane, a backplane, etc.) to which either the mid-range processing module having the first type of connector, or the high-end processing module having the second type of connector, will connect.
If the mid-range processing module and the high-end processing module have the same general shape and appearance, it may be difficult for someone to distinguish the two modules from each other. Accordingly, the likelihood exists that the person (e.g., a technician) may inadvertently attempt to connect the mid-range processing module having the first type of connector to the high-end interconnect, or alternatively attempt to connect the high-end processing module having the second type of connector to the mid-range interconnect. A source of further complication is the fact that such a processing module typically engages an interconnect in a blind-mating manner thus preventing the person from simply making a visual comparison of the connector layout of the processing module with the connector layout of the interconnect.
To prevent that person from inadvertently connecting the wrong processing module to the wrong interconnect, the manufacturer may rely on that person to exercise extreme care when handling processing modules. For example, one approach to preventing connection of the wrong processing module to the wrong interconnect (hereinafter referred to as the labeling approach) involves placement of conspicuous matching labels on the mid-range processing module and the mid-range interconnect, and placement of different matching labels on the high-end processing module and the high-end interconnect. Accordingly, the person will be able to avoid inadvertent connection of a mid-range module to a high-end interconnect, or vice versa, by performing a close comparison of the labels.
Another approach to preventing connection of the wrong processing module to the wrong interconnect (hereinafter referred to as the sensing approach) involves training the person to physically sense when a processing module properly aligns with a correctly matching interconnect, and when the processing module improperly aligns the wrong interconnect. In particular, as the person moves the connectors of the processing module into contact with corresponding connectors of the interconnect, the person will be able to manually feel whether the processing module matches the interconnect. Specifically, if the person attempts to provide an extraordinary amount of force and the processing module fails to connect with the interconnect, the person knows that the person is attempting to connect the wrong processing module with the wrong interconnect and that the person should stop the attempt.

Techniques for controlling coupling between a motherboard and a daughter card