A method and apparatus for precharging a DC to DC power converter system is provided. The system includes a boost circuit for generating a boosted output voltage from an input voltage. The input voltage is monitored. A predetermined current limit is compared to a current in the boost circuit, and the current limited is increased when the input voltage is greater than a predetermined value.

DC to DC power converters are utilized in a number of different electronic devices to boost one DC voltage level to another. One exemplary use is in electric or hybrid automobiles. A DC to DC power converter can be utilized to drive a 320 volt bus from a 12 volt battery, which can be particularly useful to start an electric automobile. While conventional DC to DC power converters have been suitable for boosting the charge of a fully-charged battery to the necessary voltage, conventional DC to DC power converters can cause problems in a system in which a battery that is not fully charged. If the voltage of the battery in an electric automobile drops below a threshold value, it may be difficult to start the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for precharging boost converters in DC to DC power converter systems that reduce the rate of precharge in order to prevent the voltage of a voltage source from dropping below a threshold value. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Precharging boost converters in DC to DC power converters


A two-stage amplifier includes a first stage and a second stage that are DC-connected through a coupling capacitor Cp. A charge pump generates a bias voltage Vp that is applied across the coupling capacitor Cp leads to maintain the time average of the voltage across said coupling capacitor constant.

The invention relates to the field of amplifier circuits, and in particular to a two-stage amplifier that can amplify both AC and DC voltage signals.
Many digital integrated circuits have been fabricated in CMOS technology with 5-volt supply voltage. This has led to a large number of systems with a 5-volt supply on the printed circuit boards. However, as CMOS technology has developed the maximum allowable supply voltage of the digital IC's has dropped to 3.3-volts for 0.5 μm and 0.35 μm technologies. In addition, it is expected that this voltage will be further reduced as newer technologies are developed. Since IC manufacturers want to use modern CMOS processes for cost reduction, a supply voltage compatibility problem results.
The publication entitled "Embedded 5 V to 3.3 V Voltage Regulator for Supplying Digital IC's in 3.3 V CMOS Technology", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Volume 33, No. 7, July 1998, Page 956–962, discloses a fully integrated voltage supply in which a 5-volt supply voltage is reduced to 3.3 volts on the chip. The lower supply voltage of 3.3 volts is used to supply a CMOS digital circuit designed for lower current consumption. In an embodiment of the voltage supply, the gate connection of an n-channel output transistor is controlled by a comparator via a charge pump to create the required activation voltage. The comparator and the n-channel output transistor, which is connected as a source follower, form a two-stage amplifier with an inverting and a non-inverting input. The charge pump is a voltage doubler whose input variable is the output voltage of the comparator. Because the prevailing load on the amplifier output is not known for stability reasons, the fed-back voltage is tapped from a simulator directly from the amplifier output. A linear regulator is not used to control the voltage doubler and thus to control the amplifier, but the fed-back voltage is merely tested, in the manner of a two-point control, whether it is greater or smaller than a specified comparison value. Depending on the difference, the charge pump increases or decreases the gate voltage of the n-channel output transistor. This arrangement is not very well suited for general amplification purposes.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved two-stage amplifier that is suited for reduced supply voltages.


Handles for cutting instruments such as scissors are described, each handle being made of a relatively rigid plastics material and being provided in its finger-receiving hole portion (8;8') with a lining ring (15;15') of elastically deformable material, such as natural or synthetic rubber. Such elastically deformable ring permits the scissors to adapt itself to the fingers of the user, independently of their size or whether the user is right- or left-handed.

The present invention refers to plastic handles for cutting instruments such as scissors and to scissors using such handles.
It is known to manufacture scissors having steel blade members and plastic handles, for example from Brazilian patent 86447. It is also known, for example from Brazilian Utility Model patent 5500563 of Jun. 10, 1975 for dress makers scissors to have the plastic handles anatomically shaped to receive the user's fingers so as to maximise comfort and cutting control. Comfort in using the scissors depends not only on the shape but also on the extension of the surfaces of the finger-receiving holes that are contacted by the user's fingers since the sensation of effort in cutting is reduced as the area of finger contact is increased. For this reason and bearing in mind that it does not result in any appreciable increase in weight of the scissors, plastic handles may be made with shapes and sizes that are more comfortable to use and give the sensation of lightness in cutting even thick cloth.
It has been found, however, that perfect adaptability of the handles by varying their shapes and dimensions is not in practice possible due to the very variable characteristics of the hands of different individuals. An extreme example is the obvious difference between right-handed and left-handed persons.
The work "The Psychology of Everyday Things" by Donald A. Norman states: "In this case only special products help, such as scissors and knives for left-handed persons. But these special instruments sometimes do not work, for example when the same item has to be used by many different people. In such cases, the only solution is to make it ambidextrous, even if this makes it a little less efficient for each person in particular".
U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,539 to Tokuji Watanabe issued on May 30, 1978 discloses large size scissors without plastic handles but rather of a simple nature with each blade or cutting member formed with a finger-hanging hole portion by press moulding, such hole portion having then applied thereto an anatomically shaped plastic part. That patent shows how such specially shaped parts may be simply applied to the inner peripheries of the holes in the finger-hanging hole portions so as to provide inexpensive decorative large size scissors with inner protective rings in the finger holes. However, it is clearly shown that the scissors cannot be adapted for use by left-handed persons, such alternative scissors having a mirror image construction both as regards the cutting members and as regards the protective rings.
The solution of Watanabe, however, apart from not being applicable to scissors already manufactured with the larger more comfortable plastic handles, does not in any way solve the problems of variations in the characteristics of the hands of different right-handed or different left-handed people.
Other totally metallic scissors are known in which the finger holes are covered with rigid or soft plastic rings injected directly onto the metal parts or applied thereto mechanically. Examples are the products INCOLMA of Columbia (based on the product WOW ALEX of Japan), HUMMINGBIRD-PLUS of Japan, "PANDA" AMC of France, SHEFFIELD of the United Kingdom and H. W. BOKER of SOLINGEN (Germany).
Other types of scissors are known that plastic handles the "eyes" or finger holes of which are provided with hard plastic rings of different colours. Such an arrangement has a purely aesthetic purpose, an example being the product commercialised as BARRILITI by the company SOLINGEM of Germany.
Another inconvenience to be found in all known large size scissors having plastic handles and designed to be adapted specially to the hand (ergometrically designed scissors) is that, due to the bulkiness of the handles and the ergometrically formed portions of the finger holes, there is no well defined longitudinal plane of symmetry of each handle and, to the extent that such plane of symmetry could exist, it does not coincide with the cutting plane of the blade members. This makes cutting control difficult. An example can be found in the scissors commercialised by FISKARS.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a plastic handle for a cutting instrument such as scissors that automatically adjusts itself to the hand of the user, independently of the size of the hand or of whether he is right- or left-handed.

Plastic handles for a cutting instrument such as scissors and scissors having a pair of such handles


In a method for processing system events of a computing device, the computing device includes a basic input and output system (BIOS) and a baseboard management controller (BMC). The method allocates revised storage blocks in the BMC, for storing normal system events of the computing device, and a backup storage block in the BMC for storing error system events of the computing device. The method detects a error system event via the BMC, and records the error system event into the backup storage block of the BMC. The method obtains the error system event from the backup storage block of the BMC via the BIOS when the computing device is rebooted, and processes the error system event to reboot the computing device using a normal system event stored in the revised storage blocks of the BMC.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for processing system events of computing devices, and particularly to a computing device and a method for processing system events of the computing device.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known in the art that a computing device (e.g., a computer or a server) generates multiple system events during normal operation of the computing device. Each of the system events detects and records if various components (e.g., a CPU, a fan, a memory, or a power supply) of the computing device work normally. If a component (e.g., the memory) of the computing device malfunctions, an error system event may be generated immediately and recorded into a baseboard management controller (BMC) of a motherboard. In general, the error system event may be processed by a basic input and output system (BIOS) when the computing device is rebooted. However, it costs time for the BIOS to check all system events recorded in the BMC when processing the error system event, and thus increases booting time of the computing device. Therefore, there is room for improvement within the prior art.

Computing device and method for processing system events of computing device

ShenZhen Treasure City Technology Co., LTD.


A method and apparatus for operating a content addressable memory (CAM) and a ternary CAM (TCAM) are described including an encoding circuit for encoding an incoming CAM or TCAM word to produce an encoded CAM or TCAM word such that a one-bit mismatch between a comparand and the incoming CAM or TCAM word results in at least a M-bit mismatch between said encoded CAM or TCAM word and a similarly encoded comparand, a circuit for precharging a match line to a predetermined state before a comparison between the encoded CAM or TCAM word and said similarly encoded comparand and a memory storage location for storing the encoded CAM or TCAM word.

An essential semiconductor device is a semiconductor memory, such as a random access memory (RAM) device. A RAM allows a memory circuit to execute both read and write operations on its memory cells. Typical examples of RAM devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM).
Another form of memory is the content addressable memory (CAM) device. A conventional CAM is viewed as a static storage device constructed of modified RAM cells. A CAM is a memory device that accelerates any application requiring fast searches of a database, list, or pattern, such as in database machines, image or voice recognition, or computer and communication networks. CAMs provide benefits over other memory search algorithms by simultaneously comparing the desired information (i.e., data in a comparand register) against the entire list of pre-stored entries. As a result of their unique searching algorithm, CAM devices are frequently employed in network equipment, particularly routers, gateways and switches, computer systems and other devices that require rapid content searching, such as routing data or tables for data networks or matching URLs. The CAM words are loaded into the CAM by a system controller. These fixed tables reside in the CAM for a relatively long period of time. A word in a CAM is typically large and can be 96 bits or more.
In order to perform a memory search in the above-identified manner, CAMs are organized differently than other memory devices (e.g., DRAM and SRAM). For example, data is stored in a RAM in a particular location, called an address. During a memory access, the user supplies an address and reads or writes the data at the specified address. Every memory storage location contains a match word part and additional data associated with each match word, such as an output port routing index in a network. It may also store a bit to indicate whether the match word participates in the networking process.
Once information is stored in a memory storage location, it is located by comparing every bit stored in the match word part with data in a comparand register. When the contents stored in the CAM match word do not match the data in the comparand register, a local match detection circuit returns a "mismatch" indication. When the contents stored in the CAM match word match the data in the comparand register, the local match detection circuit returns a "match" indication. If one or more local match detect circuits return a match indication, the CAM device returns a "match" indication. Otherwise, the CAM device returns a "no-match" indication, usually with a priority encoding scheme to return the address of the most desirable match and it associated data. The most desirable match may be the highest address or the lowest address in the CAM device. If the CAM match word does not match the data in the comparand register, then the CAM device returns a "mismatch" indication. In addition, the CAM may return the identification of the address/memory storage location in which the desired data is stored or one of such addresses, such as a highest priority match address, if more than one corresponding CAM storage location contained matching data. Thus, with a CAM, the user supplies the data and receives the address if a match is found in memory.
For high CAM look-up throughput rates, the incoming data is compared with all CAM entries in parallel, resulting in high power consumption. In some power saving schemes, individual entries can be programmed to never match, or banks of entries can be enabled or disabled.
TCAMs are similar to CAMs except that each bit can also be programmed to match a 'don't care' or X value. When an incoming TCAM data word is compared with an entry, each match bit in an entry can be programmed to be one of a (0,1,X), where X is a 'don't care' match value that matches a 0 or 1 in the corresponding bit on the incoming TCAM word. Of course, all the other bits in a word have to match according to the (0,1,X) pattern before a TCAM word match occurs. For example, programming a TCAM entry with all X's causes the entry to match all possible inputs.
With each CAM or TCAM word match, time consuming electrical events occur. The first event is the pre-charging of each match line associated with a CAM storage location to indicate a match. Then the match between the bits of the incoming word/comparand and the bits of each CAM storage location occurs. If even only one CAM bit in the comparand fails to match a corresponding bit in a CAM entry, then the corresponding match line is discharged to indicate a mismatch at that entry. A match line is typically connected to many match circuits, so is relatively long and has significant wire and circuit loading capacitance. If M bits in a CAM word don't match the comparand, then the match line is discharged through M circuits, each able to drain a certain amount of current. If M=1, then the discharge is the slowest mismatch case. The resulting match voltage level is then sampled at a safe time for this worst-case discharge timing to occur. As a result, a CAM is relatively slow memory device.

Data encoding for fast CAM and TCAM access times


A circuit arrangement for voltage regulation comprises an output, a controllable output transistor connected to the output, an error detection circuit, and a monitoring control circuit. A voltage-regulated output potential can be tapped off the output, the controllable output transistor is connected to the output on a load side and the output transistor comprises a control terminal. The error detection circuit provides a regulating signal if a deviation between the output potential or a potential derived from the output potential and a desired value occurs. By means of the regulating signal the control terminal can be charged or discharged dependent on the deviation and the monitoring control circuit monitors the regulating signal and performs, if the regulating signal lies outside a predetermined range, an additional charging or discharging of the control terminal until the regulating signal lies within the predetermined range.

The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for voltage regulation.
For the operation of electrical and microelectronic circuits, DC voltages are required which have a voltage value that is complied with over the entire range of the power supply voltage fluctuations, load current fluctuations and temperature fluctuations that occur. For these reasons, a supply voltage is typically not directly suitable as operating voltage, but rather has to be stabilized and smoothed by means of a voltage regulator connected downstream that is provided specifically for this purpose.
Voltage regulators are available—according to the various applications—in a multiplicity of different embodiments and variants. With increasing integration of microelectronic circuits and also with the trend toward operating these microelectronic circuits with an ever lower voltage supply, there is increasingly a demand for voltage regulators having a very low voltage drop. Such voltage regulators are referred to in the relevant literature as so-called "low-drop" voltage regulators. Low-drop voltage regulators work correctly even when the voltage drop between the supply voltage and the regulated output voltage is less than 1 V and, in particular, corresponds to a fraction of a volt. The present invention and also the problem area on which it is based are described below with regard to low-drop voltage regulators, although without restricting the invention thereto.
An essential task of such low-drop voltage regulators is to provide a stabilized supply voltage for an electronic circuit or a corresponding load. In this connection it is desirable for the low-drop voltage regulator to have the best possible regulation characteristic, so that the stabilized output voltage that is regulated by said regulator and provided at the output is therefore as constant as possible. Furthermore, the low-drop voltage regulator should be able still reliably to regulate extremely low voltage drops. A further requirement is for the low-drop voltage regulator to provide a largest possible voltage range for the input voltage on the input side and for it to be able, in particular, to regulate both high and low input voltages. It is furthermore essential for the low-drop voltage regulator to have a minimum power consumption during operation and, moreover, a minimum power loss.
FIG. 1 of the drawing shows a circuit arrangement of a conventional low-drop voltage regulator, which in this case has a PMOS transistor 1 as output transistor. The PMOS 1 is arranged with its controlled path between a supply terminal 2 having a supply potential VDD and an output 3, at which a regulated output potential VOUT is present. The output potential VOUT is fed via a feedback path 8 to an amplifier 4, which compares the output potential VOUT with a reference potential VREF and generates, depending on this comparison, on the output side, a control potential for driving the PMOS transistor 1. What is problematic with this type of voltage regulation is the low stability of the regulating loop and a comparatively long response time, which can essentially be attributed to the use of the PMOS transistor 1.
It would be desirable, therefore, to use an NMOS transistor as output transistor since this component already has a very good regulation characteristic on account of its intrinsic properties. FIG. 2 shows a low-drop voltage regulator which has an NMOS transistor 5 connected in source follower connection as output transistor, that is to say which acts to a first approximation as a constant voltage source. In this case, the control terminal of the NMOS transistor 5 must be able to be charged to a voltage that is higher than the supply potential VDD. This can be realized in a simple manner by means of a charge pump 6, which charges the control terminal of the NMOS transistor 5. A discharging transistor 7 is furthermore provided, which, as necessary, discharges the control terminal of the NMOS transistor 5 again and thus switches off the NMOS transistor 5. The discharging transistor 7 can be driven by means of a signal derived from the output potential VOUT or a suitably chosen control signal. Such a low-drop voltage regulator is described in a similar form for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,241.
What is problematic about this type of a low-drop voltage regulator is the power consumption thereof. The energy efficiency of such a circuit arrangement is relatively poor, since, with this type of voltage regulation, the charge pump 6 supplies the NMOS transistor 7 with a permanent charging current, which is then reduced again by the discharging transistor 7. If the NMOS transistor 7 is not supplied with a permanent charging current, then although a more favorable energy efficiency results, this is at the expense of a significantly poorer regulation characteristic.
FIG. 3 shows a further low-drop voltage regulator such as is described, for example, in European patent No. 0 846 996 B1. The voltage regulator in this case has two regulating stages 10, 11. An essential constituent part of the first regulating stage 10 is a charge pump 6, which supplies the NMOS transistor 5 with a charging current on the output side. The regulation of this first regulating stage 10 is relatively slow, although it enables a high gain on account of the relatively high charging current. Relatively fast disturbances are corrected by means of the second regulating stage 11, which although it provides a very fast regulation, nonetheless has a relatively low gain. A constituent part of the second regulating stage 11 is an inverting amplifier 12, which continuously compares the output potential VOUT, which is divided down by means of a voltage divider 13, with a reference signal VREF and provides a regulating potential VR on the output side depending on the comparison. By means of a capacitor 14, the potential is then matched to the control terminal of the NMOS transistor. At the same time, said regulating potential VR is fed to the charge pump 6 as control signal via an operational amplifier 15.
What is problematic about this solution, however, is that two regulating stages 10, 11 are required for regulating the output potential VOUT, which regulating stages are coupled to one another and thus virtually mutually impede one another in their action. By way of example, either the first regulating loop 10 is dominant, as a result of which the functioning thereof is then impeded by the second regulating loop 11, however. Alternatively, fast voltage changes are intended to be corrected, with the result that the second regulating loop 11 is then dominant. However, said second regulating loop 11 is then impeded in its action by the first regulating loop 10, and vice versa.
For the stability of the entire voltage regulation it is necessary, therefore, to provide a greater or lesser circuit outlay in order that both the slow regulation with high gain and at the same time the fast regulation with low gain are coordinated with one another. This is extremely difficult in many applications, particularly if a highly dynamic, i.e. very fast, correction of very low voltage drops is involved. In reality, this typically leads to a relatively complex circuit arrangement of the voltage regulator, in particular as far as the coordination of the two regulating circuits 11, 12 with one another is concerned. As a result of this additional circuitry outlay, however, this type of a low-drop voltage regulator becomes more or less cost-intensive, which in many applications does not justify the advantage obtained by the two-stage regulation.
In a manner similar to that in the case of the circuit arrangement in FIG. 2, in the case of the circuit arrangement in FIG. 3 as well, the control terminal of the NMOS transistor 5 is charged permanently since the charge pump 6 supplies said control terminal with a permanent charging current. This is not very energy efficient—in a similar manner to that in the case of the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 2.
To compound matters, the charge pump 6 is a regulated charge pump which therefore provides a variable output voltage in a manner dependent on its input voltage. The provision of a regulated charge pump is relatively costly and complex in terms of circuitry and is not especially efficient for energetic reasons.

Circuit arrangement for voltage regulation


The present invention provides a vehicle lower portion structure having: a vehicle skeleton member that extends along a vehicle longitudinal direction at a vehicle transverse direction outer side of a vehicle front portion; a sub-frame that is provided at a vehicle lower side of the vehicle skeleton member, and that has a side portion extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction; plural joining members that join the side portion of the sub-frame to the vehicle skeleton member at two or more locations in the vehicle longitudinal direction; and a rotating mechanism that is provided at a mounting portion of a front side joining member that, among the plural joining members, is positioned at a front side in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and, when a load from a vehicle front side is applied to the vehicle skeleton member, the rotating mechanism rotates the front side joining member such that an upper side in a vehicle vertical direction of the mounting portion moves relatively toward a vehicle rear side as compared with a lower side thereof.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. H11-171046) discloses a structure in which a sub-frame (a suspension member) and a main frame are joined at the front side and the rear side in the vehicle longitudinal direction. In this structure, a bracket that joins the sub-frame and the main frame at the rear side is provided, and a slit is formed in the bracket so that the sub-frame can move toward the vehicle rear side relatively with respect to the main frame. Due thereto, at the time of a vehicle front collision, the sub-frame is made to drop-down from the open portion at the rear end of the slit formed in the bracket.
In the structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP-A No. 11-171046), the slit for causing the sub-frame to fall-out is formed in the bracket that joins the front sub-frame and the main frame at the rear side. However, a structure for facilitating dropping-out of the sub-frame is not provided at the joined portion that joins the front sub-frame and the main frame at the front side. Therefore, at the time of a vehicle front collision or at the time of a vehicle oblique collision, there is the possibility that the sub-frame will not be able to easily fall-out from the main frame.
In consideration of the above-described circumstances, an object of the present invention is to obtain a vehicle lower portion structure in which, at the time of a vehicle front collision or at the time of a vehicle oblique collision, efficiently rotates the rear portion side of a sub-frame toward the vehicle lower side with respect to a vehicle skeleton member.


Isolated polynucleotide molecules and peptides encoded by these molecules can be used in the analysis of alloantigen phenotypes, as well as in diagnostic and therapeutic applications, relating to human platelet Pen polymorphism. By analyzing genomic DNA or amplified genomic DNA, or amplified cDNA derived from platelet mRNA, it is possible to type glycoprotein GPIIIa with regard to the Pen polymorphism, for example, in the context of diagnosing and treating clinical syndromes associated with GPIIIa-related immune responses.

The present invention relates to isolated polynucleotide molecules useful for analyzing alloantigen phenotypes, to peptides encoded by these molecules, and to the diagnostic and therapeutic uses thereof relating to the "Pen" human platelet polymorphism. Among such uses is a method for typing platelet membrane glycoproteins which entails an analysis either of genomic DNA or of amplified cDNA produced from platelet mRNA.
Blood obtained from different individuals has been found to have different antigenic and immune properties, to the extent that antibodies in the blood of one person may react with antigens on red blood cells or platelets in the blood of another individual. These antigens are often found on membrane glycoproteins present on the surface of the cells. These membrane glycoprotein antigens can induce the production of antibodies against them when they are introduced as foreign proteins in transfused blood or in fetal blood. Human platelets and red blood cells contain dozens of identifiable membrane glycoprotein constituents, only some of which have been well characterized.
Membrane glycoproteins which induce antibody production in the same species are called "alloantigens." Alloantigens have been characterized for both red blood cells and platelets. Recognized classes of red blood cell and platelet alloantigens have been described, over the past 30 years, based on observations of antibody reactions occurring when patients have been exposed to blood from other individuals.
One system of alloantigens, consisting of the platelet Pen.sup.a and Pen.sup.b alloantigens, are carried by the human platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb-IIIa (GPIIb-IIIa) complex, which mediates platelet aggregation by providing functional receptors for fibrinogen on platelet surfaces. See Friedman & Aster, Blood 65:1412-1415 (1985). Further investigation has revealed that the Pen alloantigen system is located on GPIIIa. See Shibata & Mori, Proc. Japan Acad. 63:36-38 (1987).
GPIIIa is known to bear at least one other clinically important, alloantigenic determinant, Pl.sup.A, which is responsible for eliciting an immune response in two well-described clinical syndromes, post-transfusion purpura (PTP) and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NATP). See Kunicki & Newman in CURRENT STUDIES IN HEMATOLOGY AND BLOOD TRANSFUSION 18-32 (1986); Aster in ADVANCES IN IMMUNOLOGY AND BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION 103-118 (1984). While polymorphisms such as Pl.sup.A on GPIIIa and Bak located on GPIIb are most often implicated in PTP and NATP in Caucasian and black populations, the Pen alloantigen system is the most frequent cause of these disorders in oriental individuals. See Shibata & Mori, Proc. Japan Acad. 63:36-38 (1987); Furihata et al., J. Clin. Invest. 80:1624-1630 (1987).
There are two serologically defined allelic forms of the Pen alloantigen which are designated "Pen.sup.a " and "Pen.sup.b." The location of the Pen antigen system, like that of Pl.sup.A, has been shown to be associated with the GPIIIa molecule. See Shibata & Mori, loc. cite and Furihata et al. loc. cite. The gene frequencies for these two alleles in the Japanese population have been calculated to be 99.8% for Pen.sup.a and 0.2% for Pen.sup.b. See Shibata et al., Vox Sang. 51:334 (1986); Simon et al., Amer. J. Hematol. 29:38-40 (1988).
The immunological characteristics of blood group alloantigens have often been attributed to the extensive glycosylation of these proteins. Differences in glycosylation may be due to either generic variation among glycosylation enzymes, as in the ABO alloantigen system, or to amino acid-sequence polymorphisms among the alloantigens themselves, or to a combination of these factors as in the MN system. See Eisen et al., IMMUNOLOGY (2d ed. 1980). In particular, differences in specific sialic acid structures have been determined to contribute to the expression of actual allogenic epitopes. See Sadler et al., J. Biol. Chem. 254(6):2112-2119 (1979); Take et al., British J. Haematol. 76:395-400 (1990). The basis for the variations responsible for the relevant epitopes has not yet been reported for either the Pena or Pen.sup.b forms of the 100 kilodalton (kd) GPIIIa molecule.

Methods and kits for determining the pen polymorphism of human platelet membrane glycoprotein IIIA


The compressor apparatus comprises a radial compressor (35) for the compression of a gas and also an electric motor (31) for driving the radial compressor (35), wherein the radial compressor (35) and the electric motor (31) are arranged in a pressure housing (1) which is provided with a gas inlet duct (2) and also a gas outlet duct (3), and also comprises an encapsulated apparatus (4) arranged in the pressure housing (1), the inner space of the encapsulated apparatus being fluid conductingly connected to a pressure reducing apparatus (37).

It is known, for the pumping and/or compressing of gases to use a compressor apparatus comprising a radial compressor and also an electric motor which drives it. If the compressor apparatus is operated at a higher process pressure then it is additionally known to arrange the compressor apparatus within a pressure housing, in particular a common pressure housing, with the pressure housing being provided with gas inlet and gas outlet ducts.
A disadvantage of such a compressor apparatus operated in a higher process pressure is the fact that these are less suitable for the compression of contaminated gases or gases with corrosive components, because certain components of the compressor apparatus are subjected to an increased wear.

Compressor apparatus and method for the operation of the same


A clasp for use with both a brooch and a pendant has a support piece having a tip end bent is provided on one surface of a brooch main body, and a rear end of a needle-shaped latch supported on the tip end of the support piece to be free to rotate in a vertical direction. A leg of the needle-shaped latch protrudes from the vicinity of a pivot portion of the latch, and a space surrounded at least in part by the support piece forms a chain insertion portion. When a pendant chain is passed through the chain insertion portion of the support piece, and the tip end of the latch is latched by a latch receiver on the brooch main body, a lower end of the leg abuts against or comes close to one surface of the brooch main body, thereby closing the chain insertion portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clasp for use with both a brooch and a pendant which, when attached to a brooch, enables the brooch to be used as a pendant.
2. Description of the Related Art
People have conventionally enjoyed dressing up by attaching a brooch to their clothing or hanging a pendant from their necks. As shown in FIG. 16, at present a brooch is usually attached to a piece of clothing using a brooch clasp G fixed to the rear surface of a brooch main body F. This type of brooch clasp G is formed by supporting one end portion of a needle-shaped latch 12 rotatably on one end of the rear surface of the brooch main body F, and providing a latch receiver 13 for latching the sharp tip end of the latch 12 on the other end of the brooch main body F.
In the latch receiver 13, as shown in FIG. 17, a tubular portion 14 provided with a flange portion 14a on its rear end is fitted into the inside of a cylinder 13b, which has a mountain-shaped (triangular) cut-away portion 13a formed in one end side thereof, from the other end side thereof. The flange portion 14a is then moved (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 17) by gripping the flange portion 14a such that the tubular portion 14 is inserted into and removed from the cylinder 13b of the latch receiver 13, and thus the needle-shaped tip end of the latch 12 can be latched inside the tubular portion 14.
Meanwhile, the owner of a brooch may sometimes wish to use the brooch as a pendant. In a device for use in such a case, disclosed in the laying open of Japanese Utility Model Application H6-9512 and shown in FIG. 18, a through hole 20 through which a chain or the like can be passed is provided in a brooch pin 19 serving as a brooch clasp. Thus, when the brooch 22 is to be used as a pendant, a chain or the like is passed through the through hole 20 provided in the brooch pin 19 such that the brooch 22 hangs on the chain. The brooch 22 can then be used as a pendant.
In a further device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration Publication No. 3087633 and shown in FIG. 19, a rear surface side of a pendant 24 on a pin brooch 23 provided with a pendant is formed with a chain insertion formation 26 fixed to a rear surface plate portion 25 which is a part of the pendant 24. A chain insertion portion 27 is formed between the rear surface plate portion 25 and the chain insertion formation 26. A pin insertion tube 28 is welded to the rear surface plate portion 25, and a pin 29 is inserted into the pin insertion tube 28. A substantially U-shaped spring portion 30 is formed integrally with the insertion tube 28, and a spherical abutting portion 31 is formed on the tip end of the spring portion 30. The spherical abutting portion 31 abuts against the rear surface plate portion 25 so as to urge the rear surface plate portion 25. When the pin brooch 23 is to be used as the pendant 24, the pin 29 is removed, and a separately provided chain is passed through the chain insertion portion 27 and hung around the neck for use as a pendant.
However, in the former case, the through hole 20 for passing through a chain or the like is provided in a narrow location between the brooch pin 19, a bearing 21 for opening and closing the pin, and the brooch 22. Moreover, the through hole 20 for passing through a chain or the like is formed into a ring without the opening, and in reality, it is difficult to pass a chain through the through hole 20. Furthermore, only chains having a width that is equal to or less than the inner diameter of the through hole 20 can be passed through the through hole 20.
In the latter case, the chain insertion portion 27 required for use as the pendant 24, the pin insertion tube 28 required for use as a brooch, the pin 29, the spring portion 30, the spherical abutting portion 31, and so on must all be provided separately. Moreover, when the pin brooch 23 is to be used as the pendant 24, the pin 29 protrudes from the pendant 24, and hence the pin 29 must always be removed, which is tiresome.

Clasp for use with both a brooch and pendant


A tilt adjusting type steering apparatus for a vehicle, comprises a front column member fixed to a car body, a rear column member connected in a swayable manner to said front column member, a fixed gear formed on one of the front column member and the rear column member, a movable gear formed on the other of the front column member and the rear column member, a gear pressing lever swayed to effect fastening at a tilt adjusted position by making the movable gear mesh with the fixed gear or to effect releasing from the tilt adjusting position by disengaging the two gears from each other, and an operator lever for interlocking with and swaying the gear pressing lever while being swayed by an operation of an operator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilt adjustable type steering apparatus for a vehicle, which prevents a release of tilt adjusted position fastening at a secondary collision.
2. Related Background Art
A tilt adjustable type steering apparatus capable of adjusting a tilt angle of a steering wheel, corresponding to a physique, a driving posture, etc. of a driver is, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.11-198821, constructed such that a rear column member is so connected in a swayable or rockable manner to a rear side end of a front column member fixed to a car body (which is a so-called swing tilt).
FIGS. 12 through 14 illustrate the tilt type steering apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.11-198821 given above. FIG. 12 is a rear view (showing the front as viewed from the rear of the vehicle, wherein a partial sectional view therein shows a section taken along the line A—A in FIG. 13) of the tilt type steering apparatus for the vehicle in the prior art. FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view of the tilt type steering apparatus for the vehicle in the prior art. FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the tilt type steering apparatus for the vehicle in the prior art.
A steering shaft is divided into a front steering shaft 1 and a rear steering shaft 2, which are connected by a universal joint 3. The front steering shaft 1 and the rear steering shaft 2 are rotatably accommodated in a front column member 4 and a rear column member 5, respectively.
The rear column member 5 is connected in the swayable manner to a rear portion of the front column member 4 fixed to the car body. The rear column member 5 is so structured as to be swayable or rockable within a tilt adjustable range about a tilt center C. Note that the tilt center C is concentric with the universal joint 3.
A fixed gear 6 having a gear teeth portion 6a is fixed to an undersurface of the front column member 4. A movable gear 8 having a gear teeth portion 8a meshing with the gear teeth portion 6a of the fixed gear 6 is pivotally supported in the swayable or rockable manner around on a pivot 7 provided in the rear column member 5. Note that the respective gear teeth portions 6a, 8a are arranged circularly around the tilt center C.
A reaction member 9 is extended in a car-width direction below the movable gear 8. A wedge-shaped member 10 having a tapered surface 10a for pressing a rear tapered surface of the movable gear 8 in a way that abuts and slides on this rear tapered surface, is so disposed as to be movable in back-and-forth directions between the movable gear 8 and the reaction member 9.
A compression coil spring (a length-expansion coil spring) 11 is disposed between a rear side end of the wedge-shaped member 10 and an extended piece 8b extending from the movable gear 8. The compression coil spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11 gives a bias to the gear teeth portion 8a of the movable gear 8 through the wedge-shaped member 10 at all times in such a direction that the gear teeth portion 8a of the movable gear 8 and the gear teeth portion 6a of the fixed gear 6 mesh with each other. The compression coil spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11 has, however, a function of biasing the movable gear 8 through the extended piece 8b in a releasing direction when in tilt releasing.
A tilt lever 12 is formed integrally on both sides of the rear portion of the wedge-shaped member 10 and extends in the car-widthwise direction. The tilt lever 12 is swayable about a lever rotation center pin 12a provided on the rear column member 5.
Note that a support spring (a length-expansion coil spring) 13 is disposed between the front column member 4 and the rear column member 5. This configuration prevents descents of the rear column member 5, the steering wheel, etc. when the two gears 6, 8 disengage from each other.
Further, the fixed gear 6 is fixed to the front column member 4 by bolts 14, 15, whereby the gear meshing can be adjusted.
In a tilt lock mechanism constructed described above, when making a tilt adjustment, the tilt lever 12 is swayed or moved backwards of the vehicle, against the biasing force of the compression spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11, thereby retreating the wedge-shaped member 10 backwards.
As a result, the movable gear 8 which is assisted by the biasing force of the compression spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11 is thereby rotated and thus disengages from the fixed gear 6. With this arrangement, the tilt releasing can be attained.
The tilt adjustment is effected in a way that tilts the rear column member 5 within the tilt adjustable range adapted to driving of the vehicle.
After making the tilt adjustment, upon a release from the tilt lever 12, the tilt lever 12 is swayed forwards of the vehicle by the biasing force of the compression spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11, thereby moving the wedge-shaped member 10 forwards.
As a result, the gear teeth portion 8a of the movable gear 8 is pressed against and firmly meshed with the gear teeth portion 6a of the fixed gear 6 by dint of the wedge-shaped member 10 biased by the compression spring (the length-expansion coil spring) 11. This enables tilt fastening.
Incidentally, according to the tilt lock mechanism described above, the tilt lever 12 which is formed integrally on both sides of the rear portion of the wedge-shaped member 10, extends in the car-widthwise direction and is swayable substantially in the horizontal direction about the lever rotation center pin 12a provided perpendicularly to the rear column member 5.
In particular, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 14, a handle portion 12b, for an operator, of the tilt lever 12 is comparatively largely protrudes sideways of the two column members 4, 5. The tilt fastening/releasing operations are done by swaying this handle portion 12b substantially in the horizontal direction.
As a result, when the rear column member 5, etc. gets collapsed and this moves forwards of the vehicle upon a secondary collision of the vehicle, an instrument panel impinges on the handle portion 12b of the tilt lever 12 that protrudes sideways, and the tilt releasing might occur.

Tilt adjusting type steering apparatus for vehicle


A spark plug includes a center electrode, a ground electrode formed of a metal material containing 95% or more of nickel and a substantially cylindrical metal shell having a front end face to which one end of the ground electrode is welded. In the spark plug, the conditions: 0.15 mm≦BD≦0.40 mm; and (EW2−EW1)/EW1≧0.1 are satisfied where BD is a depth from the front end face of the metal shell to a portion of the ground electrode embedded most deeply in the metal shell; EW1 is a width of a portion of the ground electrode located closest to a portion of the ground electrode deformed by the welding; and EW2 is a width of the portion of the ground electrode deformed by the welding at the front end face of the metal shell.

In recent years, there has been a demand to increase the valve diameter of intake and exhaust valves for high-output performance of internal combustion engines. There has also been a demand to provide larger water jackets for efficient cooling of high-output internal combustion engines. In response to these demands, the installation spaces of spark plugs in the internal combustion engines are limited. It is thus required to decrease the diameter of spark plugs.
It is further required that the spark plugs have high ignition performance in order to cope with the strong demand for low emissions from recent internal combustion engines. For the above reasons, the spark plug has a ground electrode of as large dimensions as possible welded to a metal shell even when the metal shell is reduced in diameter. However, the fused joint between the metal shell and the ground electrode decreases in size as the thickness of the ground electrode increases with increasing dimensions and becomes close to the thickness of the metal shell (see for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-223968). This leads to a deterioration in the joint strength between the metal shell and the ground electrode.
In view of the above problems, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a spark plug capable of securing the joint strength between a ground electrode and a metal shell even when the spark plug is reduced in diameter.

Spark plug having ground electrode welded to metal shell


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for distributed tracking and mapping for extended reality experiences. An example method can include computing, at a device, a pose of the device at a future time, the future time being determined based on a communication latency between the device and a mapping backend system; sending, to the mapping backend system, the pose of the device; receiving, from the mapping backend system, a map slice including map points corresponding to a scene associated with the device, the map slice being generated based on the pose of the device, wherein the map points correspond to the predicted pose; and computing an updated pose of the device based on the map slice.

Pose estimation can be used in various applications, such as computer vision and robotics, to determine the position and orientation of a human or object relative to a scene or environment. This pose information can be used to manage interactions between a human or object and a specific scene or environment. For example, the pose (e.g., position and orientation) of a robot can be used to allow the robot to manipulate an object or avoid colliding with an object when moving about a scene. As another example, the pose of a user or a device worn by the user can be used to enhance or augment the user's real or physical environment with virtual content. However, the computational complexity of pose estimation systems can impose significant power and resource demands, and can be a limiting factor in various applications. The computational complexity of pose estimation can also limit the performance and scalability of tracking and localization applications that rely on pose information.


The present invention relates to a carrier system for fragrances, to the production thereof and to the use of the carrier system in various fields of industry.

The present invention relates to a carrier system for fragrances, to the production thereof and to the use of the carrier system in various fields of industry.
For protection of valuable chemical compounds such as dyes, medicaments and crop protection compositions, enzymes, but also fragrances or odorants, during storage before intended use, the use of microcapsules is increasingly being considered or is already being practiced. These microcapsules enable the valuable active ingredient to be provided already distributed relatively homogeneously in a use mixture, without having to expose it to the other constituents during storage. Suitable selection of the shell of the capsule also allows effects included retarded release to be achieved in this way.
For example, EP 0 457 154 describes a shell of polymer, more specifically of 30 to 100% by mass of alkyl ester of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid and 0 to 80% by mass of a bi- or polyfunctional monomer, and also 0 to 40% by mass of other vinylic monomers, for encapsulation of color carriers. These color carriers are notable for low volatility.
WO 05/105291 discloses a shell of polymer composed of 5 to 90% by mass of water-soluble monomers such as acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, 5 to 90% by mass of a bi- or polyfunctional monomer and 0 to 55% by mass of low water solubility monomers such as alkyl esters of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid. It serves for encapsulation of paraffins, i.e. likewise of nonvolatile substances, for coating of textiles directly in the spinning process.
WO 08/058,868 too, which discloses a shell of a polymer composed of 1 to 95% by mass of water-soluble monomers such as acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, 5 to 99% by mass of a bi- or polyfunctional monomer and 0 to 60% by mass of low water solubility monomers such as alkyl esters of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, serves to enclose a nonvolatile substance, namely a paraffin.
For use of microcapsules for preserving volatile chemical compounds, which include, for example, many fragrances or odorants, for applications in washing and cleaning compositions and for laundry and surface treatment, the capsules must enclose the volatile substance particularly efficiently. It was therefore an object of the present invention to provide a microcapsule with improved imperviosity for volatile substances.
The object is surprisingly achieved by the microcapsules according to claims 1 to 7; a chemical composition comprising them according to claims 8 and 9, and also the uses according to claims 10 to 13 and the articles comprising microparticles according to claims 14 and 15 form further constituent parts of the present invention.


The semiconductor device includes a substrate, a fin structure, a source/drain region, and a gate structure. The fin structure includes a first-stage fin region, a second-stage fin region, and a third-stage fin region. The second-stage fin region is under the first-stage fin region. The third-stage fin region is under the second-stage fin region. The source/drain region is on a top surface of the second-stage fin region. The gate structure is over the first-stage fin region and wraps around a top surface and sidewalls of the first-stage fin region. The top surface of the second-stage fin region is lower than the top surface of the first-stage fin region. A width of the third-stage fin region is greater than a width of the second-stage fin region, and the width of the second-stage fin region is substantially the same as a width of the first-stage fin region.

The electronics industry has experienced ever-increasing demand for smaller and faster electronic devices which are able to support a greater number of increasingly complex and sophisticated functions. Accordingly, there is a continuing demand for the semiconductor industry to manufacture low-cost, high-performance, and low-power integrated circuits (ICs). Thus these goals have been achieved in large part by scaling down semiconductor IC dimensions (e.g., minimum feature size) and thereby improving production efficiency and reducing associated costs. However, such down-scaling has also introduced increased complexity to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Thus, the realization of continued advances in semiconductor ICs and devices is dependent on similar advances in semiconductor manufacturing operations and technology.

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.


Computer implemented method and system for improving demand forecasting by estimating the hidden demand at an occurrence of a sellout using a single parameter probability distribution with a parameter assuming a forecasted mean demand value derived from a statistical seasonal causal time series forecasting model of count data on a new data set of sales values excluding truncated sales values at occurrences of sellouts. The present invention also provides for new more accurate performance evaluation techniques together with new performance metrics for evaluating an actual draw and for comparing a recommended draw to an actual draw.

One computer implemented approach for computing demand forecast information for a demand forecast application involves defining a so-called demand forecast tree capable of being graphically represented by a single top level node (00) with at least two branches directly emanating therefrom, each branch having at least one node, for example, bottom level node (11) (see FIG. 1). The demand forecast information is computed on the basis of time series of observations typically associated with bottom level nodes by a forecast engine capable of determining a mathematical simulation model for a demand process. One such forecast engine employing statistical seasonal causal time series models of count data is commercially available from Demantra Ltd, Israel, under the name Demantra™ Demand Planner.
One exemplary demand forecast application is the media distribution problem, namely, determining the number of copies of a daily newspaper to be delivered daily to an outlet to minimize two mutually conflicting indices commonly quantified for evaluating the efficacy of a distribution policy for a newspaper over an evaluation period: the frequency of sellouts, and the number of returns typically expressed in percentage terms of total returns over total draw. In this connection, it is a common practice in the industry that a draw for a newspaper at an outlet for a given day is greater than its demand forecast at that outlet for that day so to reduce the probability of a sellout but with the inherent downside that the probability of returns is greater. In the case of distribution systems for newspapers, the safety stock is typically intended to provide a level of safety of around 80±10% for a given probability function for the demand for the newspaper at the outlet.
The media distribution problem is a particular realization of the well-known single period stochastic inventory problem which has been the subject of considerable academic interest. It has been long recognized that occurrences of sellouts downwardly bias demand forecasts due to actual sales data reflecting stock availability levels as opposed to true demand. In view of this, researchers in the area of demand forecasting have developed procedures to cater for presence of sellouts by computing demand forecasts on adjusted sales data One exemplary approach is set out in an article entitled "Forecasting demand variation when there are stockouts", Bell, P. C., Journal of the Operational Research Society (2000) 51, 358-363.

Computer implemented method and system for computing and evaluating demand information


A method and device for capturing SO2 present in gases originating from cells for the industrial production of aluminum by igneous electrolysis, implemented over a group of at least two reactors passed through in parallel by a gas stream and supplied with a powdered sorption agent capable of adsorbing effluents present in the gas stream by placing the sorption agent in contact with the gas stream, each reactor having collection elements for collecting the sorption agent after contact with the gas stream, at least one of the reactors having discharge elements for discharging the sorption agent after contact with the gas stream to injection elements for injecting into at least another one of the reactors; and desorbing elements located between the discharge elements and the injection elements, for desorbing the SO2 adsorbed by the sorption agent before it reaches the discharge elements.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for capturing the SO2 present in the gases originating from cells for the industrial production of aluminium by igneous electrolysis. The method is implemented over a group of at least two reactors passed through in parallel by a gas stream and supplied at least partly in series with a sorption agent of the powder material type, in particular alumina particles, capable of adsorbing effluents present in the gas stream by placing the sorption agent in contact with the gas stream.

Process and device for improving the capture of SO2 in electrolytic cell gases


The intensity distribution of an optical image in a resist film is calculated (S1); the intensity distribution of the optical image is transformed through a Fourier transform in a periodic direction of the intensity distribution of the optical image (S2) and is transformed through a spectral transform in an aperiodic direction of the intensity distribution of the optical image by use of a base which satisfies a boundary condition (S3); a modulation function for modulating the intensity distribution of the optical image is transformed through a Fourier transform in the periodic direction (S4) and is transformed through a spectral transform in the aperiodic direction by use of the base satisfying the boundary direction (S5); a product of the post-transformed intensity distribution of the optical image and the post-transformed modulation function is computed (S6), is transformed through an inverse Fourier transform in the periodic direction (S7), and is transformed through an inverse spectral transform in the aperiodic direction by use of a base corresponding to the inverse transform of the spectral transform; and thereby a modulated intensity distribution of the optical image is calculated (S8).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and program both for simulating the intensity distribution of an optical image, and particularly relates to a simulation method and program used for calculating the intensity distribution of an optical image to estimate the shape of a resist pattern to be formed in a lithography step of semiconductor device manufacturing. In addition, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing semiconductor device using a pattern data generating method using this simulation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
When semiconductor devices are manufactured, a simulation technique is used to calculate the intensity distribution of an optical image to be formed in a resist film or the like on a substrate by photolithography. A lithography simulation calculates the intensity distribution of the optical image on the basis of optical conditions (for example, the wavelength of exposure light, the numerical aperture of a lens in a projection optical system, and an illumination shape) in the exposure system and information (for example, the indices of refraction and the thicknesses of films) on multiple films on the substrate. Moreover, the lithography simulation calculates the resist pattern in consideration of processes such as photoreaction, PEB (Post-exposure Bake) and development.
For the purpose of enabling the simulation to accurately calculate the intensity distribution of the optical image to be formed in the resist film, it is necessary to find a diffusant concentration distribution formed by a diffusant such as an acid diffusing in the resist film. A diffusion equation needs to be solved in order to find the concentration distribution. The diffusion equation is generally solved based on a solution using a difference method in which an arbitrary boundary condition can be used. If, however, the concentration distribution is intended to be found with high accuracy by use of the difference method, an associated problem is that the difference method consumes a larger amount of time for its calculation.
On the other hand, a proposal has been made on a method of fast and accurately solving the diffusion equation by use of a fast Fourier transform (see SPIE 2512-384, "A fast resist image estimation methodology using light intensity distribution," for example). However, the fast Fourier transform needs to be applied to a system that satisfies a periodic boundary condition. For this reason, in a case where the intensity distribution of an optical image satisfies no periodic boundary condition, the fast Fourier transform can not be applied to simulate the intensity distribution.
Furthermore, another proposal has been made on a technique of expanding a resist film area where an optical image is to be formed for the purpose of satisfying the periodic boundary condition (see SPIE 3051-522, "A practical 3D lithography simulation system," for example). A problem associated with this technique is that the application of the fast Fourier transform to the lithography simulation causes aliasing at the boundary part between the expanded resist film area and the original resist film area, and thus modulates the entire distribution. For this reason, the technique entails a problem that the application of the fast Fourier transform to such a lithography simulation is apt to decrease the accuracy.

Simulation method of optical image intensity distribution, program, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


An image measuring method according to an embodiment comprises a clock generating step, a noise reducing step, a data acquisition step, a digital data generating step and an image data generating step. In the clock generating step, clock signals are generated. In the noise reducing step, the noise of the generated clock signals is reduced to a predetermined threshold or lower. In the data acquisition step, analog data indicating the inner morphology of an object is acquired. In the digital data generating step, digital data is generated by sampling the analog data based on the clock signals with reduced noise. In the image data generating step, image data of the object is generated by performing data processing including Fourier transform on the generated digital data.

Optical coherence tomography (abbreviated OCT) is an example of an image measuring method. OCT is a technique in which interference light between a signal light via an object and a reference light is detected and a tomographic image of the object is formed. OCT is used in the medical field etc. due to the advantage that it provides high resolution images quickly and non-invasively.
The main advancement regarding this technique includes Fourier domain OCT (abbreviated FD-OCT). In FD-OCT, by means of using a Fourier transform method, measurement speed several tens to several hundred times faster may be accomplished compared to the conventional time domain OCT (abbreviated TD-OCT).
FD-OCT includes a spectral domain OCT (abbreviated SD-OCT) that spectrally resolves and detects interference light, along with a swept source OCT (abbreviated SS-OCT) that uses a swept source to obtain interference lights of various wavelengths.
Generally, the image measuring method uses electromagnetic waves etc. to acquire analog data indicating the inner morphology of the object and processes signals obtained by digitalizing the acquired data, thereby imaging the object. The image measuring apparatus for realizing this is mounted with a digital signal processing system such as a data acquisition system (abbreviated DAS).
Analog signal sampling and A/D transformation are executed with a sampling clock signal as the trigger thereof. In the image measuring method using a Fourier transform method, the stability of the sampling clock signal greatly affects the measurement results. Hereinafter, the sampling clock signal may be simply abbreviated as the clock signal.
To illustrate an example, a case of FD-OCT is explained. In FD-OCT, the detected spectrum, that is, the spectral interferogram (interference spectrum) is expressed by the following formula.
                    [                  Formula                                                              1                ]                                                                      I                                (            k            )                          =                              s                                      (              k              )                                ·                      (                                          I                R                            +                              I                S                            +                                                ∫                                      -                    ∞                                                        +                    ∞                                                                                2                                                                                I                        R                                                                                I                        S                                                                                cos                                                              (                                                                        k                                                                                z                                                +                                                                              ϕ                            0                                                                                (                            z                            )                                                                                )                                                                                ⅆ                    z                                                                        )                                              (        1        )
Where, k indicates the wave number, s(k) indicates the light source spectrum, z indicates the difference in optical-path-length between a sample arm and a reference arm, IR indicates the back reflection intensity of a reference light by a reference mirror, IS indicates the signal light intensity having passed the object, while φ0 (z) indicates the initial spectral phase term. Generally, IR and IS are low frequency signals or a background component (DC component), which may be easily removed. Thereby, the Formula (1) is simplified as follows.
                    [                  Formula                                                              2                ]                                                                      I                                (            k            )                          =                              ∫                          -              ∞                                      +              ∞                                                                    A                                            (                z                )                                                                cos                                            (                                                      k                                                                                z                                    +                                                            ϕ                      0                                                                                (                      z                      )                                                                      )                                                                ⅆ              z                                                          (        2        )
Where, A(z)=s(k)·2√(IRIS) indicates the amplitude of the interference signal proportionate to the back scattering intensity of the object at a depth z. By means of performing Fourier transform of I (k) based on Formula (2), the backscattering profile of the object at depth z, that is, an A-line profile may be reconstructed.
Regarding SS-OCT, the ideal morphology of a spectral interferogram waveform corresponding to depths z=d1, d2, and d3 as well as the ideal morphology of the signals obtained from performing Fourier transform on these are illustrated in FIG. 1. Meanwhile, an example of actually acquired signals is illustrated in FIG. 2. A signal 1000 includes a signal component 1001 corresponding to actual signals and an artifact component (side peaks) 1002. The artifact component 1002 restricts the dynamic range, causing deterioration of image quality.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, a clock signal 2000 includes a timing component 2001 indicating the timing of the trigger in addition to a noise component (clock noises) 2002. The artifact component 1002, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is generated by such clock noise 2002.
The method for generating clock signals is explained. For example, in SS-OCT, dedicated clock signals are used in order to linearly sample the spectral interferogram in a k-space. A configuration for generating these clock signals is illustrated in FIG. 4.
Light output from the swept source 3010 is input into an interferometer 3030 via an optical fiber 3020. The interferometer 3030 has a specific difference in optical-path-length. That is, an optical delaying part 3033 is, for example, configured with a fiber stretcher, providing a difference in optical-path-length between a path via the optical fibers 3032 and 3034 and a path via an optical fiber 3035.
Light input into the interferometer 3030 is divided into two by a fiber coupler 3031. One of the lights is lead to the optical delaying part 3033 via the optical fiber 3032 to receive a specified amount of phase delay, and then lead to the fiber coupler 3036 via the optical fiber 3034. The other light is lead to the fiber coupler 3036 via the optical fiber 3035. The fiber coupler 3036 causes the two lights to interfere. The generated interference light comprises a frequency corresponding to the amount of the phase delay. This interference light is detected by the photodetector 3050 via the optical fiber 3040.
Signals output from the photodetector 3050 are input to an amplifier 3070 via the signal line 3060. The amplifier 3070 amplifies the output signals of the photodetector 3050. The signals output from the amplifier 3070 are the clock signals 4000 illustrated in FIG. 5. The clock signals 4000 are used as the trigger signals for linear sampling of the spectral interferogram in the k-space.
As mentioned above, the interferometer 3030 comprises a constant difference Δz in optical-path-length. The difference Δz in optical-path-length is set in accordance with a request from the sampling resolution. The sampling resolution Δk is defined as the inverse number of the difference Δz in optical-path-length: Δk=1/Δz.
Moreover, the clock signal Sn corresponding to a sampling point is expressed as follows:Sn=A·cos(2π·Δz·kn+φ)=A·cos(2π·n+φ)=A·cos(φ).
As can be seen from this formula, the sampling of the spectral interferogram is preferably performed at the point where the instantaneous phase of the clock signal Sn becomes constant. Particularly, taking into consideration the fact that there are no affects due to signal amplitude and light intensity, it is believed that a zero-cross point of the clock signal is most preferable. Symbols 4010j (j=1, 2, 3, . . . ) in FIG. 6 illustrate the zero-cross points of the clock signal 4000. Such zero-cross points 4010j are zero-cross points at the rising edge of the clock signal 4000. In such case, the value of φ in the clock signal Sn becomes φ≡3π/2.

Image measuring method and image measuring apparatus


The present invention relates to a multicarrier direct sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) system using a turbo code with nonuniform repetition coding. In particular, it relates to a multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a turbo code with unequal diversity order in its code symbols instead of using a convolutional code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multicarrier direct sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) system using a turbo code with nonuniform repetition coding. In particular, it relates to a multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a turbo code with unequal diversity order in its code symbols instead of using a convolutional code.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent development in mobile communication technology, the analog communication technologies that have been used in prior art, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency division multiple access (FDMA), are being replaced by code division multiple access (CDMA), a digital communication technology.
CDMA is a method in which a code is assigned to digitized voice information with a broadened frequency band so that each user can transmit signals according to the code. With this method, a voice signal is first divided into bit units to be encoded, and thereafter inserted into communication frequency band. As a result, the accommodation capacity of each channel increases, and the number of users possibly assigned to the same frequency band is increased by 5–10 times compared with the conventional analog-type multiple access technologies. And thus, it is mainly used for mobile communication technology.
CDMA method is employed in IMT-2000 standard, which is being considered to be a standard for next-generation mobile communication such as voice/moving picture data transmission and/or Internet search. However, it has been pointed out that, in CDMA method, the communication quality could be degraded due to the excessive interference caused by different electric powers assigned to multiple users.
A multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a convolutional code has been proposed to prevent the above-described quality degradation in establishing a wideband CDMA system (Y. H. Kim, J. M. Lee, I. H. Song, H. G. Kim and S. C. Kim, "An orthogonal multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a convolutional code," J. of Korean Electro. Soc., vol. 37TC, no. 4, pp. 295–303, April 2000; D. N. Rowitch and L. B. Milstein, "Convolutionally coded multicarrier DS CDMA systems in a multipath fading channel-part II: narrowband interference suppression," IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 47, no. 11, pp. 1729–1736, November 1999). In this system, the available bandwidth is divided into a set of disjoint equiwidth subchannels, and narrowband DS/CDMA waveforms are transmitted in parallel over the subchannels.
The bit error rate of an orthogonal multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a convolutional code described above is relatively improved compared with that of a single-carrier DS/CDMA system in the case that a partial band-interference is being occurred.
In addition to the above-described multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a convolutional code, a multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a turbo code has been introduced to be a more advanced system (A. H. S. Mohammadi and A. K. Khandani, "Unequal error protection on turbo-encoder output bits," Electron. Letters, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 273–274, February 1997; Y. M. Choi and P. J. lee, "Analysis of turbo codes with asymmetric modulation," Electron. Letters, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 35–36, January 1999). In this system, different energies are assigned to the two kinds of outputs, information symbols and parity check symbols, of a turbo encoder in the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel to increase the Euclidean distance, and thus improve the communication quality
That is to say, by using a turbo code instead of a convolutional code, the bit error rate (BER; It indicates the system performance, i.e. communication quality.) is improved such that Eb/No becomes to be 0.7 dB at BER of 10−5 and rate of ½. Consequently, it provides a communication quality almost approaching the Shannon limit, and thus, a turbo code is generally used for error correction.
However, the prior multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a turbo code has a problem that a stronger signal energy given to one user causes a stronger interference occurring to the other users, and the communication quality is degraded thereby.
Besides, in case of inducing more energy to increase the Euclidean distance, the fading effect due to the fading channel cannot be reduced very much.

Multicarrier DS/CDMA system using a turbo code with nonuniform repetition coding

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


Articles including bonded metal structures and methods of preparing the same are provided herein. In an embodiment, a method of preparing an article that includes bonded metal structures includes providing a first substrate. A first metal structure and a second metal structure are formed on the first substrate. The first metal structure and the second metal structure each include an exposed contact surface. A bond mask is formed over the contact surface of the first metal structure. A second substrate is bonded to the first substrate through the exposed contact surface of the second metal structure. The bond mask remains disposed over the exposed contact surface of the second metal structure during bonding of the second substrate to the first substrate. A wire is bonded to the exposed contact surface of the first metal structure.

A system-in-package (SIP), also known as a chip stack, generally includes a number of integrated circuits packaged in a single module. In the SIPs, dies containing integrated circuits may be stacked vertically on a substrate, such as another die or a wafer. Unlike electrical connections within an integrated circuit stack, which are formed during fabrication of the integrated circuits themselves, the dies do not have pre-existing electrical connections to the substrate and such electrical connections between the die and the substrate are established after the dies are formed and during fabrication of the SIPs.
Various methodologies may be employed to electrical connect the dies to the substrate in the SIPs. For example, wire bonding or flip chip technology may be employed to electrically connect the dies to the substrate. With wire bonding, a bond pad that is electrically connected to die is connected to a bond pad on the substrate through a fine off-chip wire. Wire bonding generally offers excellent design flexibility, with a wide range of possibilities for bond pad locations while still enabling connection through the wire.
Flip chip technology, also known as controlled collapse chip connection, enables electrical connection of the die to the substrate through solder bumps that have been formed on the die. The solder bumps are formed on a top side of the die and, in order to mount the chip to external circuitry on the substrate (e.g., a circuit board on another die or wafer), it is flipped over so that its top side faces down, and aligned so that the solder bumps align with matching pads on the substrate. The solder is then reflowed to complete the interconnect. This is in contrast to wire bonding, in which the chip is mounted upright and wires are used to interconnect the chip pads to external circuitry. Flip chip technology offers more efficient electrical connection between the die and the substrate than wire bonding, with the possibility for simultaneously forming numerous electrical interconnects between the die and the substrate. However, design flexibility is compromised with flip chip technology due to the need to have the solder bumps and corresponding bond pads in alignment. However, wire bonding and flip chip technology are generally incompatible due to the uniform nature of solder bump formation across all bond pads on the die when flip chip technology is employed.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide articles including bonded metal structures and methods of forming the same in a manner that enables efficient electrical connection between the metal structures while also enabling design flexibility. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.


An electrode assembly for a glass melting furnace has an electrode body supported by two elongated steel tubes. Current is supplied to the electrode body by a current supply tube disposed between the two support arms. A holding fixture joins the two support arms to the electrode body. The tube extends through the holding fixture to connect with the electrode body, thus to provide a firm electrical connection with the tube and good mechanical connection with the support arms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode assembly for a glass melting furnace. The furnace may be an upwardly open chamber formed of a refractory material for containment of glass to be melted. The electrode assembly has an elongated electrode body preferably of molybdenum to deliver electrical current to the glass in the furnace to heat the glass to a molten condition. The invention relates particularly to means for supporting the electrode and cooling the electrode.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,591,709 to Lubatti relates to a furnace for melting metal, wherein the metal is heated by an electrode suspended from an elongated hollow arm structure above the metal surface. The arm structure is connected to an electrical current source for supplying current to the electrode. Current radiates from the electrode through the metal in the furnace to heat and melt the metal.
The Lubatti patent relates to water-circulation means for cooling a current-carrying arm; water flows through a small diameter pipe extending within the arm. Water is discharged from the small diameter pipe into the end of the arm structure connected to the electrode, whereby the water then flows in a reverse direction through the annular space between the small diameter pipe and the inner surface of the arm structure which is hollow. The flowing water cools the hollow arm structure, thereby preventing overheating of the arm structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,812 to Sorg, et al. relates to a variation of the Lubatti apparatus applied to a glass melting furnace. Sorg, et al. describes apparatus wherein a current supply arm structure is a steel tube having a copper lining. The steel provides mechanical strength, and the copper lining provides the current conductivity.
A disadvantage of the Sorg, et al. apparatus is that the weight of the electrode is transmitted to the steel portion of the tube through the copper lining. There is danger that the copper will be distorted and adversely affect the current-carrying function and service life of the tube structure. Another disadvantage of the steel-copper composite tube is that the steel increases the overall electrical resistance of the tube so that less current is available to the electrode (unless the copper lining has a very large wall thickness).
A further disadvantage of the steel-copper composite tube is that the steel acts as a barrier to the escape of radiant heat from the outer surface of the copper lining so that relatively large coolant flow is required to maintain the copper lining at a satisfactory temperature range with minimal temperature variation in the copper). A related disadvantage is that copper has a significantly higher coefficient of thermal expansion than steel, so that there can be produced thermally-induced stresses in the composite tube, with potentially shortened tube service life. Relatively high cost of the composite tube is a further disadvantage.

Electrode assembly for glass melting furnace


Various embodiments are described for skipping, filtering, or replacing content from an audio/video stream using text data associated with the stream, wherein the stream has segments of a show interspersed with commercial breaks. A method for processing the stream determines that a commercial break is currently being output for presentation, and monitors for receipt of a user-initiated command to skip the commercial break. When a user-initiated skip command is received during the commercial break, the method automatically skips to a location in the stream that is at or near an end of the commercial break, and seamlessly continues presentation of the stream from that location. If a skip command is not received during output of the commercial break, then output of the current commercial break continues as usual. This methodology is repeated for all subsequent commercial breaks in the stream.

Digital video recorders (DVRs) and personal video recorders (PVRs) allow viewers to record video in a digital format to a disk drive or other type of storage medium for later playback. DVRs are often incorporated into set-top boxes for satellite and cable television services. A television program stored on a set-top box allows a viewer to perform time shifting functions, (e.g., watch a television program at a different time than it was originally broadcast). However, commercials within the recording may be time sensitive, and may no longer be relevant to the user when they finally get around to watching the program. Thus, the user is essentially presented with commercials and other advertisements which are of little use to both the advertiser and the viewer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

User-initiated control of an audio/video stream to skip interstitial content between program segments