A method for producing a structured layer of a first material having at least one recess of a predetermined geometrical shape on a substructure formed of at least one second material that includes a metal oxide superconductor material with a high transition temperature which is sensitive to solvents containing acids includes the steps of: forming a first composite by applying a varnish layer to the substructure which is soluble in a first solvent that does not attack the substructure such that the varnish layer has a structure corresponding to the structure of the structured layer of the first material to be produced; cold depositing on the first composite an auxiliary layer of a third material that is soluble in a second solvent which does not attack the first and second materials; forming a second composite from the first composite by removing with the first solvent the varnish layer along with a part of the auxiliary layer resting thereon; applying a coating layer of the first material to the second composite at the elevated deposition temperature that is approximately between 150.degree. C. and 1000.degree. C. in an atmosphere containing oxygen; and removing with the second solvent a remaining part of the auxiliary layer remaining in the area of the at least one recess along with the portion of the coating layer resting thereon. The third material is chosen such that it cannot be attacked by the first solvent and does not enter into any reaction with the first and second materials at an elevated deposition temperature at which the first material is deposited, and further which is itself temperature resistant.

The present invention relates generally to a method for producing a structured layer of a first material and more particularly to a method for producing a structured layer of a first material having at least one recess of a predetermined geometrical shape on a substructure which may be structured, if necessary.
The substructure used in such a method includes at least one second material, with one of the materials being a metal oxide superconductor material having a high transition temperature and which is sensitive to solvents containing acids. The first material is to be applied to the substructure in an atmosphere containing oxygen at an elevated deposition temperature that is between 150.degree. C. and 1000.degree. C. Such a known method is disclosed, for example, in DE-OS 38 22 905.
Superconductive metal oxide compounds having high transition temperatures T.sub.c, particularly above 77.degree. K. which can therefore be cooled with liquid nitrogen, have been generally known for several years. Corresponding high-temperature superconductor materials, which will be herein referred to as "HTSC materials", are based, for example, on a system having at least four components of the type Me1-Me2-Cu-O, where the component Me1 contains at least a rare earth metal including yttrium and the component Me2 contains at least an earth alkali metal. The primary representative of this group is the system Y-Ba-Cu-O. In addition, phases of five-component cuprates, such as the system Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O or Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O, also exhibit transition temperatures T.sub.c above 77.degree. K.
For the production of multi-layer structures with thin films made of known HTSC materials, it is necessary to be able to form structured insulator layers and/or structured HTSC layers on a suitable substructure without damaging the HTSC material while adhering to the conditions necessary for epitaxis or at least texturization patterning. Known insulator materials suitable for use as HTSC materials include, for example, SrTiO.sub.3, LaAlO.sub.3, NdGaO.sub.3, MgO and ZrO.sub.2. Texturization of a corresponding insulator layer which grows epitaxially on an HTSC layer at a high temperature, for example at 800.degree. C., is practically impossible with chemical or physical chemical methods, such as wet chemical etching or reactive ion etching. This is because all known etchants which attack the insulator material also destroy the HTSC material. For example, the known superconductor material Y-Ba-Cu-O is so sensitive to acids that it can be structured with wet chemicals using phosphoric acid in an acid/water concentration of 1/100. Furthermore, all insulator materials known for use in HTSC technology which are capable of epitaxis are difficult to dissolve, or do not dissolve at all, even in concentrated acids.
Therefore, attempts have been made to structure insulator layers by means of ion beam etching. With such a method, however, it is very difficult to determine the etching time once the HTSC material is exposed. Furthermore, this etching process can only be used if the insulator layer has a uniform thickness throughout. Also, only etching masks that are resistent to ion beams, and particularly those made of metal, can be used. In addition, the technical effort required for the structuration step is relatively great, since the work has to be carried out in a high-vacuum chamber that has a large-area ion beam.
DE-OS 38 22 905, for example, which was mentioned above, discloses the method of vacuum evaporating the insulator material through a process mask to be applied to the HTSC material, more or less floating on it. In this case, the mask has to be fixed in place with great precision, which is in the .mu.m range, and it cannot slip or become damaged even when under very great thermal stress, such as occurs during the required temperature transition from room temperature to approximately 800.degree. C. Since masks which make contact change the local temperature of the layer underneath them, problems due to heat accumulation, which may lead to the destruction of the HTSC film, cannot be prevented.
The problem with the prior art is that no method can produce a structured layer of an HTSC material or an insulator material on a preselected, possibly structured substructure used in HTSC technology, without the occurrence of any damage or destruction of the HTSC material.

Method for the production of a structured composite with high-temperature superconductor material


Provided are a shift register unit and a gate driver circuit, which are configured to suppress output errors caused by the drifts in the threshold voltages and the interval existed in the operation of pulling the output terminal, and thus to enhance stability of the shift register unit. The shift register unit comprises: an input module, a first output module, a pull-down driving module, a pull-down module and a first output discharging unit. The pull-down driving module is connected to the first clock signal input terminal and the second clock signal input terminal, and configured to provide the first clock signal to a first pull-down node in response to the first clock signal, provide the second clock signal to a second pull-down node in response to the second clock signal, provide a first low voltage signal to the first pull-down node and the second pull-down node in response to the voltage signal at the pull-up node, provide the first low voltage signal to the second pull-down node in response to a voltage signal at the first pull-down node, and provide the first low voltage signal to the first pull-down node in response to a voltage signal at the second pull-down node.

Drivers in a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) mainly comprise a gate driver circuit and a data driver circuit. The gate driver circuit converts an inputted clock signal through shift register units and then supplies the converted clock signal on gate lines of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. The gate driver circuit can be formed on the LCD panel together with TFTs in a same process. The gate driver circuit comprises a plurality of stages of shift register units, and each stage of shift register unit is connected to a corresponding gate line and outputs a gate driving signal. The respective stages of shift register units are connected each other, a start signal is input to the first stage of the respective stages, and gate driving signals are output to the gate lines sequentially. An input terminal of a present stage of shift register unit is connected to an output terminal of a previous stage of shift register unit, and an output terminal of a next stage of shift register unit is connected to a control terminal of the present stage of shift register unit.
The above structured gate driver circuit is set on the LCD panel. At present, in a gate driver circuit design, a pull-down node is generally arranged to pull down the potential at an output terminal of a shift register unit not corresponding to a row to which a gate driving signal is output. However, if the pull-down node is in a direct current (DC) high level operation state for a long time, it would cause drifts in threshold voltages of relevant thin film transistors, which has a disadvantageous effect on noise reduction. On the other hand, if the voltage signal at the pull-down node is a alternate current (AC) signal, effect caused by the drifts in the threshold voltages may be reduced, however output errors may occur and in turn reading and writing errors may be generated since there is a interval in the operation of pulling down with the alternate current signal.

Shift register unit and gate driver circuit


A selector for a bicycle gear mechanism. The selector has a housing fastened to a portion of a bicycle frame, a cable inlet, and a rotatable drum having a control cable wound onto for effecting cable travel. The selector also includes a rotary bushing for operating the selector and a mechanism for superimposing a correction or overshift travel on the cable travel. The mechanism includes a pivoting lever for guiding the control cable and a correction cam having a profile configured to provide the requisite correction travel for each gear stage as the rotatable drum is rotated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to selectors for actuating bicycle gear mechanisms including hub gears or derailleur gears.
2. Description of the Related Art
EP-0 686 552 A2 discloses a rotatable grip for actuating bicycle gear shifts, in which the conversion of the rotational movement of the grip into a longitudinal movement of a control means is carried out in such a way that the control means is fastened to the grip, deflected in a helical manner about the bicycle handlebar or a sleeve encasing the handlebar, and guided in a longitudinal guide that is stationary in relation to the bicycle handlebar, at a sufficiently great distance, in the rotational direction of the grip, from the fastening of the control means to the grip. This means that the travel of the fastening point of the control means that is covered when the grip is rotated along a circular path is considerably greater than the travel of the control means in its longitudinal guide. The result is thus favorable conversion of wide angles of rotation at the grip into small longitudinal movements of the control means. The grip is fixed in the positions for the respective gear stages of the bicycle gear shift by a detent so that it is possible to vary the holding force and the necessary actuating force of the detent.
The above-mentioned rotary shift grip has a detent which must be oriented to the predefinitions in the respective gear mechanism of the bicycle. This condition leads to the situation in which different shift travels may result in the various gears, and individual gears may lie closer together and other gears may lie further apart from one another. Where the gears lie closely adjacent one another, shift stages may be skipped inadvertently if the rider does not pay close attention to shifting.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an ergonomic selector which is easy to use and simple to manufacture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a selector having approximately equally large shift travels, whose angles of rotation have a specific magnitude.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a selector having a mechanism which, on the one hand, permits correction of the total shift travel and/or the individual shift travels for the gear stages, while on the other hand, permits overshift travels of any magnitude for the individual gear stages.
In a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, the selector not only produces approximately identical shifting steps, but it is also possible for the total shift travel to be varied if the pulling-in of the cable which is produced by winding the control cable onto the drum does not correspond to ergonomic requirements. It is therefore possible to achieve a step-up or step-down between the pull-in of the cable, on the one hand, and the movement of the actuating elements, on the other.
That is not the whole story, however: the design of the selector proposed in the present invention also permits an overshift travel to be produced for each gear stage or for all gear stages, which is particularly desired when shifting the chain from a respectively smaller to a larger sprocket. This means that, during shifting, the derailleur is briefly shifted somewhat further than necessary, in order to make it easier for the chain to xe2x80x9cclimbxe2x80x9d upward. The proposed selector permits an individual overshift travel for each gear stage, if this is necessary, and permits operation which fixes the respective position of the gear stages without a reverse rotational movement of the actuating elements.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.


Techniques for implementing a secure graphics architecture are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a processor circuit and a graphics management module, and the graphics management module may be operative to receive graphics information from the processor circuit, generate graphics processing information based on the graphics information, and send the graphics processing information to a graphics processor circuit arranged to generate graphics display information based on the graphics processing information. In this manner, security threats such as screen capture attacks and/or theft of content protected media streams may be reduced. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

In a traditional computing system, graphics may be implemented using drivers run by a main processing circuit that also implements the application and operating system runtimes of the computing system. This may expose graphics operations to security threats, because malware may gain access to graphics memory space via the user mode and/or kernel mode graphics drivers run by the main processing circuit. For example, a system in which the graphics drivers are run by the main processing circuit may be subject to screen capture attacks and/or theft of content protected media streams. Accordingly, techniques for isolating graphics processing from the main processing circuit by implementing a secure graphics architecture are desirable.

Techniques for a secure graphics architecture


A lightweight constructed navigation buoy, and method for handling the same, is provided with waterborne stability comparable to the conventional and much heavier navigation buoys. The desired waterborne stability is achieved using a liquid-ballasting/-venting system in which a ballasting compartment and a connection cooperate to allow a liquid ballast to be added and/or removed from the ballasting compartment. The position-accuracy of said buoy can be improved by incorporating the liquid ballasted buoy with a high-strength, flexible, elastic tether providing a scope of between 1.5-to-1 and 1-to-1 at high water.

Thousands of buoys are employed as aids to navigation, serving, among other things, to indicate channel locations, warn of hazards to navigation, and announce speed or wake restrictions. Navigation buoys are constantly exposed to harsh environmental forces and occasional collisions from watercraft. Sturdy buoy construction and design is required. Additionally, to facilitate the visibility and/or operability of many buoys it is desired that the buoys have a relatively high height above the waterline while demonstrating minimal pitching and rolling during heavy seas, thus requiring the inertia of a heavy overall weight combined with substantial buoyancy and ballasting that achieves a low center of gravity.
To satisfy these requirements, navigation buoys are usually constructed of heavy gauge steel for durability and ballasted with solid ballast at a location below the waterline. Concrete is a commonly used ballast material. Buoys designed to fulfill these requirements are thus very heavy and difficult to handle.
Because of the substantial weight of navigation buoys, buoy retrieval and deployment typically requires relatively large ships with high capacity davits and other specialized equipment (buoy tenders). Even with such equipment, handling heavy buoys can be difficult and dangerous, particularly when high winds and seas complicate retrieval and deployment operations. The capacity of buoy tenders to store buoys once onboard may also be restricted by the heavy weight of the buoys. The stability and trim of buoy tenders may be adversely impacted if too many buoys are stored on deck.
Accordingly, it can be seen that there is a need for a lightweight navigation buoy to facilitate in the buoy's transportation, launching, and retrieval when not deployed that can be altered to exhibit the stability characteristics of the much heavier-constructed conventional buoys when deployed.

Lightweight marine buoy and method of handling the same


Tetrasubstituted coronenes are provided. Also provided are electronic devices in which the active layer includes a tetrasubstituted coronene.

Organic electronic devices that emit light, such as light-emitting diodes that make up displays, are present in many different kinds of electronic equipment. In all such devices, an organic active layer is sandwiched between two electrical contact layers. At least one of the electrical contact layers is light-transmitting so that light can pass through the electrical contact layer. The organic active layer emits light through the light-transmitting electrical contact layer upon application of electricity across the electrical contact layers.
It is well known to use organic electroluminescent compounds as the active component in light-emitting diodes. Simple organic molecules such as anthracene, thiadiazole derivatives, and coumarin derivatives are known to show electroluminescence. Such polycyclic aromatic compounds due to their rigid structures possess attractive properties such as high thermostability (e.g., melting points are often above 400° C.) and good stability to photo-oxidation, which lead to LED devices with longer lifetimes.
However, there is a continuing need for electroluminescent compounds.


A method for manufacturing a preform having steps of obtaining a plastic material by kneading silica powder, a binder, water, and a surfactant, and obtaining a porous preform by extrusion-molding the plastic material. According to this method, a porous preform, which can produce an optical fiber exerting high mechanical strength, can be efficiently manufactured without generating bubbles

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber preform to be used in the field of communication and optics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been performed a method using an extrusion molding as a method for manufacturing an optical fiber preform. In Japanese Patent Application No. 3-254412, the inventors of the present invention proposed a method for forming a core portion and a clad portion at the same time by use of a vacuum extrusion machine. According to this method, as a base material, there is used a material in which binder and water is added to silica powder for applying plasticity.
In the above method, since a vacuum extrusion machine is used, most of the bubbles in the plastic material are removed when the core and clad portions are formed. However, its deaeration effect is insufficient for the manufacture of the optical fiber preform. Due to this, in order to accelerate deaeration, molding is performed at a relative low speed, and the plastic material is retained in the extrusion machine as long as possible. However, deaeration is not sufficiently performed, and bubbles remain on the obtained preform. There is a disadvantage in the optical fiber, which is obtained by providing a degreasing process and a sintering process to the preform on which bubbles are left, and drawing the obtained optical fiber preform, in that the resulting optical fiber has low mechanical strength. Therefore, as a whole, the yield is worsened in the manufacture of the optical fiber.

Method for manufacturing optical fiber preform


Various methods for terrestrial transmission of digital broadcast signals as DVB, HDTV-T and DAB signals are known. One of these methods is the OFDM method, where the transmitted signal includes a multiplicity of modulated carriers. These carriers are separated in the receiver by means of a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). Before being transposed in the frequency domain by the FFT, the analog signal must be sampled. For this purpose a local oscillator controls the timing in front of the FFT. Oscillator imperfections like jitter and frequency offsets can degrade the accuracy of the sampling operation and therefore introduce intercarrier interferences after the FFT. A feedback loop combining the AFC and CPEE process has been designed in order to correct frequency deviations and to reduce jitter of the signal without introducing significant phase noise.

Various methods for terrestrial transmission of digital broadcast signals are known, having modulation types like OFDM, QPSK and QAM. Examples for such broadcast signals are DVB (digital video broadcast), HDTV-T (hierarchical digital television transmission) and DAB (digital audio broadcast) signals.
At the OFDM method (Orthogonaly Frequency Division Multiplexing) the transmitted signal includes a multiplicity of modulated carriers. These carriers are separated in the receiver by means of a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). Before being transposed in the frequency domain, the analog signal must be sampled. For this purpose a local oscillator controls the timing in front of the FFT. Oscillator imperfections (jitter, frequency offset) can degrade the accuracy of the sampling operation and therefore introduce intercarrier interferences after the FFT. The Automatic Frequency Control processing (AFC) and the Common Phase Error Estimation processing (CPEE) are suited to give estimates of the frequency errors in order to correct the oscillator imperfections.

Method for the frequency correction of multicarrier signals and related apparatus


The present invention provides a method of controlling a component concentration of a plating solution in continuously electroplating a metallic strip while controlling a metal ion concentration of the plating solution. In the control method, when a total amount of the plating solution flowing in the series of devices varies from a preselected target value of the total bath amount, a feedback control target value of the metal ion concentration is controlled by changing it to a corrected target value of the metal ion concentration computed on the basis of a preselected target value of the metal ion concentration and said variation in the total amount of the plating solution so that the acid concentration or pH of the plating solution is kept constant. This method is capable of continuously electroplating a metallic strip with high efficiency and high precision.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a component concentration of a plating solution in continuous electroplating which is preferably used for controlling the concentration of a plating solution in electroplating a metallic strip using an insoluble anode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A metallic strip is continuously electroplated by using a series of devices comprising a plating cell comprising an insoluble anode; a circulating tank for supplying a plating solution to the plating cell; a dissolution tank, connected to the circulating tank, for supplying to the circulating tank the plating solution in which plating ions are adjusted; a metal feeding device and an acid feeding device for feeding a metal and an acid, respectively, to the dissolution tank; and a plating system.
In this case, the concentrations of plating solution components such as metal ions, sulfuric acid, etc., which are dissolved in the plating solution, are controlled. In controlling the concentrations, in order to maintain the concentration of metal ions at a predetermined target value, the sum of an estimated metal consumption (feed forward control) computed by estimating the consumption by plating under plating conditions, and a deviation between a predetermined concentration target value and an actual concentration value is set as a feed of a metal (feedback control).
In regard to such a plating technology, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-217499 discloses as a method of controlling a concentration of the plating solution for alloy electroplating a technology in which the plating electricity supplied is measured, and the consumption of metal ions in a plating bath is computed based on the measurement of electricity so that at least one of metal ions, free acid and water is adjusted.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-320997 discloses as a method of controlling a concentration of metal ions in a zinc alloy electroplating solution a technology in which the amount of a metallic salt to be supplied is determined from the sum of a reference feed of the metallic salt computed on the basis of a plating current and a dragout amount of the plating solution (amount of the plating solution which flows to the outside of the plating system), and a corrected amount of the metallic salt supplied which is computed on the basis of the component concentrations and the pH value of the electroplating solution so that the concentration of the metal ions in the electroplating solution is controlled by supplying the determined amount of the metallic salt to the electroplating solution.
In both methods of controlling a concentration in electroplating disclosed in the above publications, the target value of feedback control is set to a value fixed as a predetermined target value.
However, in continuously electroplating a metallic strip, the plated metallic strip is washed with water at the outlet of the plating cell, and the washing water and the plating solution which adheres to the metallic strip are recovered to the circulating tank. Therefore, the whole washing liquid is diluted with the water which flows in from the outside of the system, and thus excess water is evaporated to the outside by an evaporator unit to balance the washing liquid.
Even in such a case in which electroplating is carried out while balancing the inflow of water in the system and the amount of evaporation to the outside of the system, one of both amounts becomes excessive and thus causes unbalance therebetween, thereby creating a variation in the total amount of the plating solution present in the system comprising the above-described series of devices. In this case, the application of the feedback control method comprising setting the control target value to a constant and canceling a difference between the target value and the actual value of the concentration of metal ions, as disclosed in the above publications, causes the following phenomenon.
For example, when the inflow of water is larger than the evaporation of water, as shown in FIG. 4A, since the total amount of the plating solution in the system is increased to dilute the plating solution, a metal is fed by feedback control in order to supply the metal in an amount corresponding to a decrease in the metal ions between times t.sub.1 and t.sub.2. Furthermore, in order to maintain the metal ions concentration of the metal at a constant target value, as shown in FIG. 4B, and to maintain the concentration of sulfuric acid, which is decreased due to the consumption by dissolution reaction between the fed metal and sulfuric acid, sulfuric acid is supplied.
Although the total molar concentration is used as the concentration of metal ions here, for example, when the plating solution contains at least two types of metal ions, as an alloy plating solution containing zinc and nickel, the total molar concentration represents the total of the concentrations of these metal ions.
In the above-mentioned plating, if the washing water of the strip is discharged to the outside of the system, the metal and acid need not be supplied. However, since the plating solution contained in the washing water is disposed of, the unit consumption of the metal and acid is diminished. When the washing water is discharged after treatment, and water is discharged to the outside of the system by evaporation, the amount of the plating solution is gradually decreased, thereby increasing the concentration of metal ions. Hence, the above method of balancing the amount of the water which flows in the system and the amount of water evaporated becomes effective.
However, when the control technologies disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2-217499 and 5-320997 are applied to the electroplating system comprising flowing in and out water, since the target value of feedback control is set to a constant target value, unbalance between the inflow of water from the outside and the evaporation of water to the outside causes the several problems.
The problems will be described with reference to FIG. 4. If the inflow of water from the outside is larger than the evaporation of water to the outside between times t.sub.1 and t.sub.2, thus diluting the plating solution, as described above, excess metal is supplied for canceling the dilution in order to keep the concentration of metal ions constant by feedback control. As a result, the excess metal supplied is dissolved in sulfuric acid by reaction formula (1) below, and thus sulfuric acid is also consumed and reduced in amount. EQU Zn+H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 .fwdarw.ZnSO.sub.4 +H.sub.2 .uparw. (1)
When the amount of sulfuric acid is reduced, as described above, sulfuric acid is supplied in order to maintain the sulfuric acid concentration of the plating solution at a target concentration by feedback control. As a result, at time t.sub.2 the total amount of the plating solution is at a maximum, but both the concentration of metal ions (total molar concentration) and the sulfuric acid concentration remain at the target values, despite the significant increase in the amount of the plating solution.
Since water is then discharged by evaporation between times t.sub.2 and t.sub.3, and plating is effected in order to maintain the concentration of the metal ions at the target value, at time t.sub.3 the total amount of the plating solution returns to the target value, but there is no escape of excess sulfuric acid supplied for dissolving the metal. This makes it impossible to return the sulfuric acid concentration of the plating solution to the target value, as shown in FIG. 4C, and thus causes a decrease in pH of the plating solution with an increase in the concentration of sulfuric acid.
This phenomenon will be described in further detail below with reference to the case of a zinc (Zn) metal as an example. In electroplating, since plating reaction (electrodeposition reaction) represented by the following reaction formulae (2) and (3) proceeds, the amount of sulfuric acid is balanced by an increase due to plating reaction represented by reaction formula (3) and a decrease due to reaction with the supplied metal represented by reaction formula (1). EQU Zn.sup.2+ +2e.sup.- .fwdarw.Zn .dwnarw. (2) EQU H.sub.2 O+SO.sub.4.sup.2- .fwdarw.H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +1/2O.sub.2 .uparw.+2e.sup.- ( 3)
FIG. 2 shows the conception of this relation with reference to pure zinc (Zn) plating as an example. The concentration of metal ions is shown on the ordinate, and the sulfuric acid concentration is shown on the abscissa. Both concentrations are controlled to be balanced at the intersection of both target values.
Namely, as is obvious from the above formula (2), since the excess metal supplied can be removed by consumption in plating, the concentration of metal ions can be controlled to the target value by performing plating at the same time as evaporation of water, as shown in FIG. 4B. However, in this case, at the same time, the amount of sulfuric acid is increased due to reaction represented by formula (3). Since there is no escape of the increased amount of sulfuric acid, as described above, the concentration of sulfuric acid in the plating solution is increased, i.e., the pH thereof is decreased, thereby causing various problems.
The same phenomenon is produced in alloy plating. Although contents will be partly duplicated, this alloy plating will be described below.
In the electroplating system for continuously plating a metallic strip, generally, water used for washing the surface of the plated metallic strip is recovered in the plating system, as described above. Since the plating solution is diluted with the water which flows in the system, excess water is removed by evaporation to the outside of the system by using an evaporator unit. However, the amount of evaporation cannot be continuously changed by the evaporator unit, and thus the actual value of the total amount of the plating solution (the total of the plating solution present in the plating system) inevitably varies by about 5 to 10% relative to the target value.
When the actual total amount of the plating solution is increased due to inflow of water from the outside of the system, as described above, the measurement of the concentration of metal ions (g/l! or mol/l!) is consequently decreased. Therefore, in this case, in order to keep the concentration of metal ions constant, it is necessary to counteract the decrease in metal ion concentration by feeding a metallic agent (for example, a metal itself, a salt thereof, an oxide thereof, or the like) containing the object metal into the plating solution.
This will be described with reference to a sulfuric acid plating solution for alloy plating as an example. In this case, it is necessary to feed Zn and Ni agents (metallic agents). In feeding such agents, when the Zn agent is ZnO, and the Ni agent is metallic Ni, the amount of sulfuric acid is decreased, i.e., the pH is increased, according to the reactions represented by the formulae (4) and (5). Thus, in order to maintain the concentration of sulfuric acid (or pH) at a constant value, sulfuric acid must be fed. EQU ZnO+H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 .fwdarw.ZnSO.sub.4 +H.sub.2 O (4) EQU Ni+H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 .fwdarw.NiSO.sub.4 +H.sub.2 .uparw. (5)
In electroplating Zn--Ni alloy, in general, metal (Zn, Ni) ions are consumed by electrodeposition reaction represented by the same formulae (6) and (7) below as the above formula (2) on the surface of a cathode (metallic strip), and at the same time, the amount of sulfuric acid is increased due to reaction represented by the same formula (8) below as the above formula (3) on the surface of an anode. In this alloy plating, therefore, the consumption of metal ions by plating reaction of formulae (6) and (7) is made up for by the reactions represented by the above formulae (4) and (5) so as to balance the concentration of metal ions and the concentration of sulfuric acid (or Ph). EQU Zn.sup.2+ +2e.sup.- .fwdarw.Zn.dwnarw. (6) EQU Ni.sup.2+ +2e.sup.- .fwdarw.Ni.dwnarw. (7) EQU H.sub.2 O+SO.sub.4.sup.2- .fwdarw.H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 +1/2O.sub.2 .uparw.+2e.sup.- ( 8)
Therefore, when the total amount of the plating solution is increased by the inflow of water from the outside of the system, feeding of the metallic agents and sulfuric acid in order to keep the component concentrations constant makes excessive both the metal ions and sulfuric acid at the time the total amount of the plating solution is then returned to the target value by evaporating water. Thus, the feeding of the metals and sulfuric acid must be stopped. In this case, since not only the supply of metal ions according to the above formulae (4) and (5) is stopped, but the metal ions are consumed by continuing plating according to the formulae (6) and (7), the amount of metal ions can steadily be reduced. However, since the amount of sulfuric acid is not reduced according to formulae (4) and (5), but it is increased according to the above formula (8) by continuing plating for returning the concentration of metal ions to an appropriate value, similarly, the concentration of sulfuric acid is further increased, and the pH is decreased.

Method of controlling component concentration of plating solution in continuous electroplating


An embodiment of the present invention is a technique to provide heat extraction for semiconductor devices. At least a thermoelectric film is fabricated onto a bare wafer. The backside of the bare wafer is bonded to an active wafer having at least a device. The bonded bare and active wafers are annealed.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of semiconductor, and more specifically, to heat extraction.
2. Description of Related Art
Heat extraction from, or cooling, microelectronic devices or processors is challenging due to their high average power dissipation and localized high heat flux areas, or hot spots. As operating frequency increases for high performance processors, heat extraction is becoming a fundamental design problem.
Existing techniques to solve the above problem are inadequate. Traditional techniques include the use of a heat sink to dissipate heat generated from the device or processor. Typically, the heat sink is attached to the silicon die via a heat spreader. This method has a number of disadvantages. First, the heat extraction is not efficient because of inefficient thermal interface between the heat sink and the silicon die. Second, there is no flexibility in localized control of cooling because the heat sink is attached to the entire silicon die. Third, the manufacturing process is inefficient because the heat sink is placed onto the silicon die after the die has been created.

Integrating thermoelectric elements into wafer for heat extraction


Nano-sized clay minerals enhance the viscosity of aqueous fluids that have increased viscosity due to the presence of viscoelastic surfactants (VESs). In one non-limiting theory, the nano-sized phyllosilicate mineral viscosity enhancers associate, link, connect, or relate the VES elongated micelles into associations thereby increasing the viscosity of the fluid, possibly by mechanisms involving chemisorption or surface charge attractions. The nano-sized phyllosilicate mineral particles, also called clay mineral nanoparticles, may have irregular surface charges. The higher fluid viscosity is beneficial to crack the formation rock during a fracturing operation, to reduce fluid leakoff, and to carry high loading proppants to maintain the high conductivity of fractures.

Hydraulic fracturing is a method of using pump rate and hydraulic pressure to fracture or crack a subterranean formation. Once the crack or cracks are made, high permeability proppant, relative to the formation permeability, is pumped into the fracture to prop open the crack. When the applied pump rates and pressures are reduced or removed from the formation, the crack or fracture cannot close or heal completely because the high permeability proppant keeps the crack open. The propped crack or fracture provides a high permeability path connecting the producing wellbore to a larger formation area to enhance the production of hydrocarbons.
The development of suitable fracturing fluids is a complex art because the fluids must simultaneously meet a number of conditions. For example, they must be stable at high temperatures and/or high pump rates and shear rates which can cause the fluids to degrade and prematurely settle out the proppant before the fracturing operation is complete. Various fluids have been developed, but most commercially used fracturing fluids are aqueous based liquids which have either been gelled or foamed. When the fluids are gelled, typically a polymeric gelling agent, such as a solvatable polysaccharide is used, which may or may not be crosslinked. The thickened or gelled fluid helps keep the proppants within the fluid during the fracturing operation.
While polymers have been used in the past as gelling agents in fracturing fluids to carry or suspend solid particles in the brine, such polymers require separate breaker compositions to be injected to reduce the viscosity. Further, the polymers tend to leave a coating on the proppant even after the gelled fluid is broken, which coating may interfere with the functioning of the proppant. Studies have also shown that "fish-eyes" and/or "microgels" present in some polymer gelled carrier fluids will plug pore throats, leading to impaired leakoff and causing formation damage. Conventional polymers are also either cationic or anionic which present the disadvantage of likely damage to the producing formations.
Aqueous fluids gelled with viscoelastic surfactants (VESs) are also known in the art. Certain surfactants in particular proportions and conditions will self-assemble into micelles. When the micelles are elongated or "rod-like", their entanglement increases viscosity of the fluid in which they reside. VES-gelled fluids have been widely used as gravel-packing, frac-packing and fracturing fluids because they exhibit excellent rheological properties and are less damaging to producing formations than crosslinked polymer fluids. VES fluids are non-cake-building fluids, and thus leave no potentially damaging polymer cake residue.
However, the same property that makes VES fluids less damaging tends to result in significantly higher fluid leakage into the reservoir matrix, which reduces the efficiency of the fluid especially during VES fracturing treatments. Increasing the viscosity of the VES-gelled fluids would reduce their tendency to leak into the formation. Thus, it would be desirable if methods or additives were developed to enhance or increase the viscosity of the VES-gelled fluids.

Use of nano-sized phyllosilicate minerals in viscoelastic surfactant fluids


An apparatus, method and system are provided for hand-off of a communication session utilizing directed call pick up with barge-in, in which the communication session of a mobile unit is transferred from a serving base station to a target base station. The preferred system includes a switch coupled to a serving base station and. a target base station, wherein the target base station includes instructions to generate a barge-in call path to a switch. The switch includes instructions to connect the barge-in call path to the communication session of the mobile unit to form a reverse three-way communication session. Following a provision for the mobile unit to communicate with the target base station for continuation of the communication session through the barge-in call path, the serving base station disconnects from the communication session. The barge-in call path. from the target base station to the switch is established through the transmission of various messages between the target base station and the switch. In one of the embodiments, the target base station includes instructions to transmit a call set up message to the switch, to transmit a first sequence of information messages to the switch requesting a directed call pick up with barge-in, and to transmit a second sequence of information messages to the switch specifying a first predesignated directory number associated with the communication session at the serving base station.

The present invention relates, in general, to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method and system for mobile wireless communication hand-off utilizing directed call pick up with barge-in.
Mobile wireless communication systems typically employ many base stations (such as cell sites) to provide wireless communication throughout a given geographic region. As a mobile unit may traverse the geographic region, the communication to and from the mobile unit may occur through one or more of these base stations. To maintain an ongoing communication session during such transitions between base stations, various hand-off methods have evolved to transfer the wireless communication to the mobile unit from one base station to another base station, while maintaining such an ongoing call or session.
In the prior art, for some of the various methods utilized during such hand-offs, the communication session may suffer from some degree of interruption, which may be noticeable to the consumer of wireless communication services. As a consequence, a need remains to provide for comparatively seamless hand-offs, which do not interrupt ongoing communication sessions and which are imperceptible to the consumer.
In addition, while other prior art systems may provide comparatively seamless hand-offs, such hand-offs typically utilize considerable network resources. In an Autoplex(copyright) system, for example, in addition to switches and base stations, another network entity referred to as an Executive Call Processor (xe2x80x9cCPxe2x80x9d) selects a server at the new cell site, while another network entity referred to as a Call Processing Database Node (xe2x80x9cDNxe2x80x9d) transmits various data link messages to the current and new cell sites, adding an additional path to the existing call, directing the new cell site to activate a wireless voice link, and directing the current (serving) cell site to direct the mobile to retune to the new wireless voice link at the new cell site.
As a consequence, a need remains for a wireless communication system to provide comparatively seamless and imperceptible hand-offs. In addition, such a wireless communication system should be reasonably efficient and capable of cost-effective implementation, eliminating or minimizing the use of additional network resources.
The wireless communication system of the present invention provides virtually seamless and imperceptible hand-offs of communication sessions of mobile units. The various embodiments of the present invention are reasonably efficient and capable of cost-effective implementation in existing communication equipment such as switches and base stations. The various embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented in either digital or analog communication environments. Moreover, the various embodiments of the present invention eliminate or minimize the use of additional network resources such as ECPs and CDNs, while being compatible with other intelligent network devices and systems.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus, method and system are provided for hand-off of a communication session utilizing directed call pick up with barge-in, in which the communication session of a mobile unit is transferred from a serving base station to a target base station. The preferred system includes a switch coupled to a serving base station and a target base station. When a hand-off of the communication is indicated, the target base station generates, as a separate call, a barge-in call path to a switch. The switch then connects the barge-in call path to the communication session of the mobile unit to form a reverse three-way communication session between the mobile unit (via the serving base station), the target base station, and the switch. The serving base station then directs the mobile unit to communicate with the target base station for continuation of the communication session through the barge-in call path, and the switch releases the serving base station from the communication session.
As a consequence, the communication session of the mobile unit has been handed off, seamlessly and without interruption, from the serving base station to the target base station. Such a hand-off has also occurred utilizing minimal network resources, the switch and the base stations, without involvement of other intelligent or supervisory network elements.
The barge-in call path from the target base station to the switch is established through the transmission of various messages between the target base station and the switch. The switch is correspondingly configured to acknowledge and connect the barge-in call path to the communication session upon receipt of these various messages. In one of the embodiments, the target base station includes instructions to transmit a call set up message to the switch, to transmit a first sequence of information messages to the switch requesting a directed call pick up with barge-in, and to transmit a second sequence of information messages to the switch specifying a first predesignated directory number associated with the communication session at the serving base station. As discussed in greater detail below, these various messages may be combined in a variety of ways.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings.

Apparatus, method and system for mobile wireless communication hand-off utilizing directed call pick-up with barge-in


A latch circuit for retaining and transmitting an input data value is disclosed, along with a memory, and a method for retaining and transmitting data. The latch circuit includes a primary input for receiving a data value, an output for outputting the data value, a data transmission path including a transmitting device for transmitting the data value from the primary input to the output, a feedback loop for retaining the data value, the feedback loop including the transmitting device and a further device. The further device is configured to turn on in response to assertion of an activating signal and to turn off in response to no assertion of the activating signal. The feedback loop not retaining data when the further device is turned off, and the feedback loop further including a multiplexer, and the multiplexer is configured to connect either the data transmitting device to the further device and form the feedback loop or to connect a secondary input to the further device and form a secondary data transmission path from the secondary input through the further device and the transmitting device to the output.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to latch circuits for transmitting and retaining data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Latch circuits provide a way of receiving, retaining and transmitting data values. They have an input for receiving a value, a data transmission path for transmitting the value to an output, and a feedback loop for storing the value.
FIG. 1a shows a latch circuit according to the prior art. This latch circuit has an input inverter 12 followed by a transmission gate 10. The transmission gate 10 is either open or closed, allowing or blocking access of an inverted input data value to the feedback storage loop 20. Feedback storage loop 20 comprises an inverter 22, and a tristate inverter 24. The tristate inverter 24 and transmission gate 10 are clocked by the same clock, such that when the transmission gate 10 is open, the tristate inverter 24 is off, and the latch circuit simply transmits data from the input via inverter 22 to the output. Inverters 12 and 22 act to invert the input value twice so that the input value is output.
When the transmission gate 10 is not conducting, the input is isolated from the feedback loop. At this point tristate inverter 24 switches on and the feedback loop becomes operational and retains the previously input data value. Thus, this value is held at the output until the transmission gate 10 switches on again whereupon the feedback loop is switched off, the previous value is no longer retained and a value at the input is received at the latch.
Latches of this type are designed with regard to the performance of the forward data path. If an additional input is required for a latch, for example, if the latch is required to be able to process both functional data and scan data, then this additional input can be provided by providing a multiplexer at the input to the latch, the multiplexer being able to select between either the scan input or the data input. A drawback of this is that this multiplexer lies on the forward data path and thus, will affect the performance of the latch when it is in functional mode.
It would be desirable to produce a latch with additional inputs while providing little impact on performance of the latch in functional mode.

Providing additional inputs to a latch circuit


The inventive concepts provide methods of forming a pattern. In the method, a block copolymer layer may be formed on a neutral layer having an uneven structure and then phase separation is induced. The neutral layer may have an affinity for all of a hydrophilic polymer and a hydrophobic polymer, so that vertical cultivation of phases of the block copolymer may be realized on the uneven structure. Thus, a self-assembled phenomenon may be induced.

1. Field
The inventive concepts relate to a method of forming a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to methods of forming a pattern and devices formed by the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As semiconductor devices are being increasingly integrated, finer patterning processes are demanded. A width of a photoresist pattern realized by an exposure process is determined depending on the following Rayleigh's equation.
[Rayleigh's Equation]R=k1×λ/NA
In Rayleigh's equation, "R" denotes a resolution, "k1" is a process constant, "λ" denotes a wavelength of a light source, and "NA (numerical aperture)" denotes an effective aperture of a lens. Thus, in order to lower the resolution R, the process constant k1 may be reduced, the wavelength λ of the light source may be reduced, and/or the effective aperture NA of the lens may be increased. Exposure processes using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) having a wavelength of 13.4 nm as a light source are demanded in order to lower the wavelength of the light source than a wavelength (248 nm) of currently used KrF or a wavelength (193 nm) of currently used ArF. However, exposure processes using the EUV need environments (e.g., a vacuum state and reflective photomasks, etc.) different from those of conventional exposure processes, and exposure apparatuses using the EUV as a light source are relatively expensive. Thus, it is relatively difficult to apply the exposure processes using the EUV to manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices.
As described above, there are limitations in reducing the wavelength of the light source. Research has been conducted for increasing the effective aperture NA of the lens in order to lower the resolution R. The effective aperture NA is proportional to n×sin θ where "n" denotes a refractive index of a medium between the lens and a photoresist. Thus, if the refractive index of the medium is high, the resolution may be lowered. An immersion lithography process using this principle has been proposed. The immersion lithography process uses a conventional light source and is performed in a medium having a greater refractive index than air in order to improve a resolution characteristic. For example, water having a refractive index of 1.44 greater than air having a refractive index of 1 is used as the medium.

Methods of forming a pattern and devices formed by the same


A vertical pipe deployment system that includes a flexible pipe deployed vertically in a non-linear manner. A first clamp couples to and supports the flexible pipe. A second clamp couples to the flexible pipe. The second clamp laterally changes a direction of the flexible pipe as the flexible pipe descends vertically between the first clamp and the second clamp.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Flexible pipe is useful in various environments, including in the oil and gas industry. Flexible pipe may be durable and operational in harsh operating conditions and can accommodate high pressures and temperatures. Flexible pipe may also be packaged into a coil or onto a reel to facilitate transport and use of the pipe. The flexible pipe may be transported as coils or reels to various sites for deployment (also referred to as uncoiling or unspooling). Flexible pipe is often deployed over long distances in a generally horizontal orientation. In a vertical orientation, however, flexible pipe may experience excessive tension over long distances. As such, flexible pipe may not have been considered suitable for deployment in vertical applications over such long distances.

Vertical pipe deployment system and method


A method and system of crosstalk mitigation in integrated circuits employs delay change curves (DCCs) and uses targeted transistor sizing and/or buffer insertion. Based on a timing graph, a longest path capable of being shortened may be shortened by victim strengthening or aggressor weakening when a setup requirement time violation occurs and the path is capable of being shortened. The process is repeated based on an updated timing graph until the longest path is not capable of being further shortened, or there is no setup requirement time violation. Additionally, the path may be lengthened where a hold requirement time violation has occurred and the path is capable of being lengthened, by victim strengthening or aggressor weakening, until the path cannot be further lengthened or there is no hold requirement time violation. Victim strengthening is performed by altering the critical path, and aggressor weakening is performed by altering the non-critical path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for mitigating crosstalk in integrated circuits, and more specifically, aggressor weakening and victim strengthening methods that reduce delay in setup violation cases and increases delay in hold violation cases.
2. Background of the Invention
Crosstalk in related art digital integrated circuits is becoming an increasingly important problem as geometries scale down.
The related art digital integrated circuits experience various problems and disadvantages due to crosstalk. For example, but not by way of limitation, in addition to causing functional failures due to glitching, crosstalk also causes delay changes resulting in both slowdown and speedup of circuit delays depending on the particular interaction of two simultaneously or near simultaneously switching signals.
As process geometries scale down in related art deep submicron processes, the problem of crosstalk is having a significant impact on gate level timing. The related art scaling process introduces closer metal pitches, taller and narrower lines, and accompanying increased operating frequencies, which increase the effects of coupling between lines. The ratio of coupling capacitance to total interconnect capacitance has grown to the point where the portion of interconnect capacitance attributable to coupling can now be as high as 80% for minimum pitch wiring.
Further, the increased coupling in the related art has the disadvantage of increasing crosstalk between wires. Crosstalk can have two substantially negative effects. First, crosstalk results in a functional effect called glitching that results in short pulses on quiet lines adjacent to switching lines. Glitches cause functional errors if they propagate logic level changes to latches.
Second, crosstalk results in a delay effect called dynamic delay (i.e., delay uncertainty), that results in either a slowdown or speedup in circuit delay when signals on adjacent lines switch at a substantially simultaneous time. At a 0.1 micron related art technology, the amount of dynamic delay can be +/−80% of nominal delay. When the effects of dynamic delay are considered in crosstalk aware static timing analysis (STA), setup and hold violations may occur if the aforementioned crosstalk are were not fully recognized in the design process.
Considering the aforementioned related art crosstalk problems, much related art research has been directed at mitigating the crosstalk problems. There has been related art work in crosstalk modeling, calculation of delay change due to crosstalk effects, and crosstalk aware STA. However, the related art work fails to address correcting the aforementioned related art dynamic delay problems of crosstalk.
It is well known in the related art that strengthening victims and weakening aggressors reduces dynamic delay. Commercial vendors refer to "noise balancing" where aggressors with a large "noise slack" (i.e., those aggressors that can absorb weakening without becoming a victim) are weakened, and victims with a small or no noise slack are strengthened.
However, the related art "blanket" approach previously described can worsen the dynamic delay problem, because there is no awareness of the critical path in the aforementioned related art technique. Further, delay change effects are significant even when aggressor and victim change relative switching time position with no strength change, which can happen for aggressors or victims on the critical path downstream from the site of strength change. The related art fails to reduce dynamic delay by using the results of crosstalk aware STA to guide dynamic delay reduction.
Coupling Effects
When signals on related art adjacent coupled lines switch at approximately the same time, there can be a significant effect on the delay of the signal whose driver is at a higher resistance at the time of switching. FIG. 1 illustrates how delays are calculated for an aggressor having an aggressor delay measurement point and a victim having a victim delay measurement point, as well as coupling effects. Victim and aggressor designations apply only to the current switching conditions and are not a permanent characteristic of certain wires. Thus, for different switching conditions, the victim and aggressor designations in FIG. 1 may be interchanged.
The difference in switching time between a victim and aggressor is referred to as skew. Input skew is the difference in switching times at the 50% switching points of victim and aggressor's input waveforms. The output skew is the difference in the switching times at the 50% switching points of aggressor and victim waveforms, measured at the input to the destination gate, as shown in FIG. 1. When aggressor and victim switch in opposite directions, the victim can be slowed down compared to the case of no proximate aggressor switching (i.e., a quiet aggressor line).
In FIG. 2, the victim is switching high and the aggressor low (i.e., dotted lines). The nominal (i.e., quiet aggressor) victim switching is shown as a dashed line. The solid line shows the case of a proximate switching aggressor, and the jag in the victim waveform shows the effect of slowdown. Since the aggressor is switching low, its lower (stronger) driver is turning on and going to low resistance. On the other hand, the victim's upper (weaker) driver is turning on. With a relatively strong aggressor and relatively weak victim, the point of maximum slowdown is when the aggressor switches slightly after the victim.
FIG. 3 illustrates the case of the aggressor and victim switching in the same direction. The proximate aggressor switching aids the switching of the victim by effectively removing the effect of some of the coupling capacitance that was slowing down the victim in the nominal case.
Various factors influence the amount of slowdown or speedup, including, but not limited to, the relative sizes of the aggressor and victim drivers, the output skew, the electrical characteristics of the nets involved, the amount of coupling between the nets, and the signal transition times of aggressor and victim (i.e., slew). In static timing analysis (STA), the switching directions of signals are not normally considered. Thus, for calculation of latest arrival time (LAT) in crosstalk aware STA, the signals switch in opposite directions to achieve the worst case switching time. Similarly, for calculation of the earliest arrival time (EAT), the signals switch in the same direction, to achieve the best case switching time.
DCC Curves
Related art approaches to STA where coupling between lines is represented by switch factors assume that when there is a possibility of coupling, the worst/best case (i.e., maximum delay for slowdown, or minimum delay for speedup) is used for calculating LAT or EAT. Those related art approaches have the disadvantage of over-constraining the design, and indicating longer clock periods than would be necessary if a more sophisticated analysis were performed. This related art approximation has been used in most recent approaches to crosstalk aware STA.
However, a newer related art approach based on a delay change curve (DCC) has been introduced for timing analysis, but not for crosstalk mitigation. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the related art DCC shows the amount of slowdown or speedup as a function of input skew. Input skew is considered negative if the aggressor switches before the victim, and input skew is zero if the aggressor and the victim switch simultaneously. The DCC curve is generated by fixing the victim and sweeping the aggressor from a large negative to large positive input skew. The range of input skews that cause a slowdown or speedup is referred to as the effective skew window. However, the related art use of the DCC is not for crosstalk mitigation, but only for timing analysis.
The related art DCC is a function of the above-listed parameters that affect slowdown and speedup, and is customized for the particular nets involved. Because there are too many parameters to allow full precharacterization of related art DCC curves, related art partial characterization or related art analytic generation are the only alternatives available in the related art. The generation of the related art curves is not within the scope of the present invention, and given an input skew, aggressor/victim strength, slew rate, the particular nets involved, and the coupling amount, the related art system returns the slowdown or speedup.
Further, the slope characteristics of the related art DCC curves are important. Based on empirical evidence, changes in input skew from large negative skew up to the skew producing the peak of the curve cause a relatively slow change in the rate of slowdown or speedup. As noted above, DCCs are not applied to crosstalk mitigation in the related art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Systems and methods are provided for determining a soil roughness measure. A transducer transmits an ultrasonic signal towards a soil surface and receives a first echo signal of the ultrasonic signal and a second echo signal of the ultrasonic signal. A first distance between the transducer and a first point on the soil surface is calculated based on the first echo signal of the ultrasonic signal. A second distance between the transducer and a second point on the soil surface is calculated based on the second echo signal of the ultrasonic signal. A soil roughness measure of the soil surface is determined based on a difference between the first distance and the second distance.

The present invention relates generally to quantifying soil roughness, and more particularly to determining a measure of soil surface roughness using ultrasonic sensors.
Soil roughness refers to the variations in the level of the surface of soil due to, e.g., rock fragments and soil particles and aggregates. Soil roughness is an important parameter in agriculture, which requires specific soil conditions depending on the task (e.g., seeding). In some conditions, coarser soil roughness is desired to reduce the amount of erosion due to water runoff. However, soil roughness that is too fine may not retain as much water, while surface roughness that is too coarse may not provide sufficient contact between soil and seed.
In one conventional approach, optical systems have been used for fixed soil roughness measurements. However, such optical systems have been found to be unreliable due to optical concerns resulting from dust and ambient lighting. Such optical systems are not practical for use on agricultural equipment, such as, e.g., tractors and cultivators. In addition, many conventional soil roughness measurement systems are configured to provide stationary measurements or measurements in a laboratory environment, and are not well suited for the harsh, dirty environment typically encountered by agricultural equipment.
In an approach described in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2017/158006, an ultrasonic sensor mounted on an agricultural implement is used to measure distances from a transducer to the ground as the agricultural implement travels over a field. The absolute distances from the transducer to the soil are used to calculate a statistical measure, such as an average variance, representing a roughness of the soil.

System and method for quantifying soil roughness


A flexible wiring plate includes a first wiring plate connected to a connector of a member of a fixed side (chassis), a second wiring plate connected to a connector of a member of a movable side (slide), and a third wiring plate connecting the first wiring plate to the second wiring plate, wherein an extended direction of the first wiring plate is parallel to the second wiring plate, the second wiring plate is curved so as to be able to bend in an opposite direction to the extended direction of the first wiring plate when the flexible wiring plate is provided, and a reinforcement part having an increased width is formed at a facing part of the second wiring plate that faces a gap formed between the member of the fixed side and the member of the movable side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to flexible wiring plates and electronic devices for recording and/or playing back information using the flexible wiring plates, and more particularly, to a flexible wiring plate and an electronic device for recording and/or playing back information using the flexible wiring plate, which is provided so as to curve and connect a fixed side and a movable side, so that the curved part moves as corresponding to movement of the moveable side.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording medium, for example a disk type recording medium (hereinafter "disk") such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM or the like, is provided in a disk device. It is demanded by users that notebook type personal computers in which the disk device is incorporated be made miniaturized and thinner. As a result, making the disk device itself thinner has been attempted. Thereby, space formed between a tray on which the disk is placed and a chassis that slideably supports the tray becomes narrower.
A turntable and an optical pick up are provided in the tray. The turntable rotationally drives the disk. The optical pick up irradiates a laser beam on a surface of the disk held by the turntable so that information recorded in the disk is read out. A substrate is provided inside of the chassis of the disk device. The tray as a movable side and the substrate provided inside of the chassis as a fixed side are connected by a flexible wiring plate.
Furthermore, the flexible wiring plate is formed so as to have a rectangular shape but not having one side of a plane configuration. A first end part of the flexible wiring plate is connected to a connector equipped at the substrate that is provided inside of the chassis. A second end part of the flexible wiring plate is curved so as to extend in an opposite direction to the extending direction of the first end part, so that the second end part of the flexible wiring plate is connected to the connector provided at the tray. Because of this, the curved part of the flexible wiring plate moves as corresponding to the movement of the tray, and thereby it is assured to move with the tray.
FIG. 1-(A) and 1-(B) show a disk device 102 in the related art. As shown in FIG. 1-(A), in a tray 106, which is included in the disk device 102, a turntable 134 on which the disk is placed and which rotates the disk, a pickup portion (not shown in FIG. 1-(A) and FIG. 1-(B)) that optically detects information recorded on the disk and so forth are provided.
A flexible wiring plate 110 is provided between the tray 106 and a chassis 104. The flexible wiring plate 110 is curved in accordance with a position relationship between the tray 106 and the chassis 104. Further, the flexible wiring plate 110 electrically connects a substrate 138 provided in the tray 106 with a substrate 140 provided in the chassis 104. When the tray 106 moves, a curved portion 110a follows the sliding movement of the tray 106 and moves in the chassis 104.
As shown in FIG. 1-(B), as a result of the disk device 102 becoming thinner, the inner space of the chassis 104 becomes narrow, and, thereby the flexible wiring plate cannot bend gradually. Accordingly, when the tray 106 is received by the chassis 104, the curved portion 110a of the flexible wiring plate 110 may come into contact with a ceiling plate 104a of the chassis 104. In this case, due to the frictional resistance occurring as a result of the contact of the curved portion 110a with the ceiling plate 104a of the chassis 104, the curved portion 110a does not slide so that the flexible wiring plate 110 is stopped from entering the chassis 104 and a portion 110b of the flexible wiring plate 110, which portion 110b cannot enter the chassis 104, projects from the gap between the tray 106 and the chassis 104.
Further, when the tray 106 continues to move into the chassis 104, the projecting portion 110b of the flexible wiring plate 110 is sandwiched between a rear end portion 106a of the tray 106 and a front end portion 104b of the chassis 104.

Flexible wiring plate and an electronic device for recording and/or playing back information using the flexible wiring plate


An assembly comprises a frame configured to mount an electronic device and assemble to a heat sink. The assembly further comprises at least one self-locking fastener adapted to lock into place and secure the heat sink to the frame on aligned compression of the heat sink toward the framed.

Economic and competitive conditions create incentive for business organizations to improve operations to reduce costs, including inventory costs. Operations can be improved in fields of advancing technology by focusing design and development resources in areas that improve competitive advantage while leveraging costs of other product aspects across multiple products.
Cost leveraging enables aggregation of component demand across possibly many products leading to improved economies of scale, aggregate volume discounts, and reduction of supplier prices. Component leveraging also can reduce supply chain, handling, and inventory costs since component sorting, labeling, and tracking are reduced.
Component leveraging can reduce costs in other areas. For example, usage of a particular component in multiple products can avoid duplication of research and development costs. A reduction in the number of components can reduce the incidence of confusion and errors by inadvertently including an incompatible component in a product.
In a high-volume producer, inventory handling and tracking costs can be reduced by millions of dollars simply by aggregating components among multiple products.
Products can be designed to facilitate materials handling of particular systems and/or assemblies.

Self-locking fastener adapted to secure a heat sink to a frame

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An apparatus and a system, as well as a method and article, may operate to share an energy conduit, such as an antenna, between first data communicated according to a first formatting mechanism and second data communicated according to a second formatting mechanism according to a first priority assigned to the first data and a second priority assigned to the second data. The first formatting mechanism may be different from the second formatting mechanism.

Various protocols, media definitions, and other formatting mechanisms may operate to determine how data may be communicated. Examples of these mechanisms include spread-spectrum techniques, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, and the Bluetooth Specification. Some communications devices, including wireless computing platforms, may use such mechanisms to communicate with other entities, using a single antenna or other wireless energy conduit.
Assuming an increasing consumer demand for multimedia communications, the need may arise to share a single energy conduit between two or more data streams, formatted according to a number of mechanisms (e.g., IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth) as the data is communicated from one device to another. For more information regarding some of the formatting mechanisms mentioned above, please refer to "IEEE Standards for Information Technology—Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems—Local and Metropolitan Area Network—Specific Requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY), ISO/IEC 8802-11: 1999" and "Bluetooth System Specification, Bluetooth Special Interest Group, Ver. 1.1, March 2001", and related amendments.

Conduit-sharing apparatus, systems, and methods


A scintillation detector according to an embodiment of the invention features a monolithic scintillation crystal and a plurality of optical fibers coupled to the scintillation crystal. The optical fibers are arranged to convey scintillation light to an optical sensor that is located exterior to the scintillation crystal. Because the optical fibers are extremely small in diameter, a multiplicity of them can be coupled to the scintillation crystal to provide the extremely high resolution of a pixelated scintillation crystal while the comparative manufacturing simplicity of a monolithic scintillation crystal is maintained. In preferred embodiments, the optical fibers are further arranged so that depth of interaction information can be obtained.

In PET imaging, positrons are emitted from a radiopharmaceutically doped organ or tissue mass of interest. The positrons combine with electrons and are annihilated and, in general, two gamma photons which travel in diametrically opposite directions are generated upon that annihilation. Opposing crystal detectors, which each scintillate upon being struck by a gamma photon, are used to detect the emitted gamma photons. By identifying the location of each of two essentially simultaneous gamma interactions as evidenced by two essentially simultaneous scintillation events, a line in space along which the two gamma photons have traveled (a "line of response," or "LOR") can be determined. The LORs associated with many million gamma interactions with the detectors are calculated and "composited" to generate an image of the organ or tissue mass of interest, as is known in the art.
Some of the earlier PET systems used monolithic scintillation detectors—i.e., detectors that were each made from a single, unitary crystal element—and photosensor elements (e.g., photomultiplier tubes (PMT's) or avalanche photodiodes (APD's)) coupled to them to detect the incoming gamma rays and generated scintillation photons, respectively. In such systems, the resolution of the system—i.e., the ability to localize the interaction event—was limited by the size and hence "packing" or "clustering" ability of the photosensor elements. Therefore, to improve the resolution, subsequent systems were constructed with pixelated scintillation detectors, i.e., detectors that were comprised of a multitude of much smaller, cubic scintillation elements. Because the scintillation elements were so much smaller than the photosensors, the gamma interaction and scintillation photon generation could be localized with much better accuracy. Fabricating pixelated scintillation detectors is, however, relatively labor intensive, and there is a limit to how small the scintillation elements could be made.
Furthermore, the known pixelated gamma detectors typically could be used only to determine the location of gamma interaction with the detector in two dimensions, which gave rise to parallax errors. More particularly, a conventional two-dimensional measurement of the spatial location of a detected gamma ray absorption event in the scintillating crystal is limited to a two-dimensional point in the X, Y plane of the crystal. However, because the number of scintillation photons reaching each photodetector element is dependent on the solid angle subtended by the area of that detector element to the point of the gamma ray absorption within the crystal, the amount of scintillation photons received by each detector is also a function of the depth of interaction (DOI) of the incident gamma ray within the crystal, i.e., along the Z axis of the crystal.
The DOI is an important parameter when applied to imaging detector geometries where the directions from which incident gamma rays impinge upon the crystal are not all substantially normal to the crystal surface. If incident gamma rays intersect the crystal from directions not normal to the crystal, the unknown depth of interaction of those gamma rays within the crystal will result in an additional uncertainty in the measured position of the interaction because of the parallax effect, if only a two dimensional (i.e., X, Y) spatial location is calculated for such an absorption event. A detailed explanation of the importance of and the problems associated with the DOI is provided in "Maximum Likelihood Positioning in the Scintillation Camera Using Depth of Interaction," D. Gagnon et al., IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 1993, pp. 101-107, incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a gamma detector that has the relative simplicity of construction of a monolithic crystal detector but that affords the improved resolution associated with a pixelated gamma detector. Moreover, such a detector suitably is configured such that parallax errors could be reduced by using depth of interaction (DOI) information to increase the spatial resolution of the system, i.e., to provide the location of gamma interaction in three dimensions in space.

Monolithic scintillators with optical fiber read-out


A home multimedia storage system includes an analog storing part for storing analog signal from a displayer in a video tape and playing the stored analog signal, and an analog/digital converting part for converting an analog signal from the displayer into a digital signal. A digital storing part is provided to store the digital signal converted by the analog/digital converting part and playing the stored digital signal. A digital/analog converting part also provided to convert the digital data output from the digital storing part into an analog play signal. A controller selects and transmits one of the analog signal stored in the analog storing part and the digital signal stored in the digital storing part to the displayer during a sound/image playback operation.

Generally, mobile stations are designed to display picture as well as text so that a variety of information can be displayed. Moving picture enhances the way in which information is presented and are most preferred by user. The moving picture transmitted to mobile stations are generally used for a waiting screen or an icon. A variety of pictures as well as texts can be displayed simultaneously. By using such picture information, an interface in the form of an icon can be presented to the user and a semi-moving picture can be displayed when the station is turned on or off. It is preferable for the waiting screen to have an editing function so that the user can alter the waiting screen to a preferable format. However, when the moving picture is used as the waiting screen, it is difficult to edit the moving picture to suit the user's taste. Although it is possible for the user to select what he/she likes from a variety of moving picture, in this case, the data capacity of the moving picture is too large to store in the memory of the mobile station.
In the mean time, services like SMS(Short Message Service), WAP(Wireless Application Protocol) or MMS(Multimedia Messaging Service) are used to display moving pictures.
WAP is a standard protocol and it is possible for wireless communications like cellular phone and pager to efficiently communicate electronic mail, web service, new group and IRC(Internet Relay Chat) by WAP.
SMS has been used to transmit a message to be displayed on a screen of a mobile station through wireless communications. The SMS is realized according to the IS-637 standard, which defines the transmission method for a short message of less than 256 bytes. The SMS allows for the transmission of a message from a station system to the mobile station even when the station system is not engaged with the mobile station. The transmitted message can be displayed on the screen or stored in the memory of the mobile station.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a general wireless communication system to transmit/receive wireless communication data. As shown in FIG. 1, wireless communication system consists of CS(Contents Server) for storing, making and providing wireless communication data, HLR(Home Location Register) for storing information of user and terminal and transmitting stored information to CS, MC(Message Center) for standardizing communication data transmitted from CS suitable for other communication devices and transmitting the standardized communication data to mobile station, MSC(Mobile Switching Center, not showed in FIG. 1) and BS(Base Station) for relaying communication data.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating communication way of a general wireless communication system. At first, CS requests terminal information from HLR, makes communication data suitable for terminal and stores formatted communication data. Then CS transmits formatted communication data to MC. MC receives the formatted data and transmits it to mobile station via MSC and BS.
Generally, there are many difficulties for prior wireless communications to efficiently transmit moving picture because the amount of communication data to transmit is so large that new communication algorithm, communication method and system are needed for efficiently communicating moving picture between wireless communications.
In addition, since data capacity of the moving picture is larger than that of the text data, encoding technology for effectively encoding the moving picture is required. However, the prior encoding technology is not suitable for mobile communication station which is designed to process moving picture.

System for moving image data using wireless communication and the method of the same


A nozzle assembly includes a first body having an upper and an inner surface; a first channel in the first body to receive a material; a second body having an upper and an inner surface; a second channel in the second body, in liquid communication with the first channel, and configured to receive the material from the first channel; a material outlet defined by the first and second bodies configured to discharge the material; a material inlet on the upper surface of the first body, in liquid communication with the first channel, and configured to receive the material into the nozzle assembly; and an upper lip extending from the first body toward the second body and partly defined by the upper surface of the first body. The upper lip includes a lip surface opposite the upper surface of the first body. The upper surface of the second body is configured to contact the lip surface of the upper lip.

Various applicator systems have been used in the past for applying patterns of viscous liquid material, such as hot melt adhesives, onto a moving substrate. In the production of disposable diapers, incontinence pads and similar articles, for example, hot melt adhesive applicator systems have been developed for applying a laminating or bonding layer of hot melt thermoplastic adhesive between a nonwoven fibrous layer and a thin polyethylene backsheet. In some existing systems, the hot melt adhesive applicator system is mounted above a moving polyethylene backsheet layer and applies a uniform pattern of hot melt adhesive material across the upper surface width of the backsheet substrate. Downstream of the applicator system, a nonwoven layer is laminated to the polyethylene layer through a pressure nip and then further processed into a final usable product.
Application of the material onto the various substrates can be controlled to have desired parameters. Such control can be achieved by adjusting the dispensing nozzle through which the material is discharged towards the substrate. During adjustment of the nozzle, components of the nozzle can shift with respect to other components of the nozzle or with respect to other components of the applicator assembly. Such shifts can result in undesired effects on the discharged material and/or on the discharging process.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved nozzle assembly that can be adjusted without resulting in undesirable effects on the dispensed material.


A standoff mooring bar for a vehicle such as a boat or a floating aircraft featuring an adjustable mooring bar body that is automatically locked at the desired mooring length when a guying rope and a mooring rope are tensioned. This body has an inner cylindrical tube telescoping within an outer cylindrical tube, and a pair of end caps closing the telescoping pair of tubes. The mooring rope extends through the pair of tubes by passing through openings located in both end caps. An automatic locking mechanism fixes the adjustable length of the telescoping pair of tubes when the tie ends of the mooring rope and guying rope are secured during mooring. When used in pairs on a craft, the guying ropes maintain the craft from moving forward or backward parallel to the docking structure; the locked telescoping tubes keep the craft from hitting and rubbing against the docking structure, or from moving away perpendicularly.

It is commonplace to moor a vehicle such as a boat or floating aircraft to a dock or to another vehicle. Water traffic or severe weather conditions, such as rough water or turbulent winds can buffet the vehicle excessively causing damage, or even loss of the vehicle. This invention relates to a telescoping bar for vehicles such as a boat which can be adjusted to moor a boat at various distances from a dock or to another craft and which is automatically locked at the adjusted length for mooring when the mooring and guying ropes are taut.
The prior art relating to devices for mooring a boat is extensive. This art includes bumpers or fenders which may be attached either to the boat or to a dock to prevent the boat from being damaged by hitting against the dock due to the action of wind and waves. However, these bumpers rub and scuff the boat often causing moderate but permanent damage to the boat.
Accordingly, mooring devices were developed which separate the boat from the structure to which it is moored. Most of these devices employ a rigid elongated body which is used as a separating bar to cause a boat to standoff from its dock. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,938,492, 3,224,404, 3,863,591, 3,878,808, 5,398,634, 5,634,421, and 6,561,113 disclose typical structures having bars of constant length. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,558,174, 3,406,651, 4,977,846, and 5,014,638 disclose mooring devices of several, discrete varying lengths produced by telescoping one element within another. However, these telescoping bars are not infinitely adjustable within the minimum and maximum lengths. Additionally, they are cumbersome to apply in certain docking situations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,145,461 and 6,422,169 require special attachments to the craft and are also of constant length.
The inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,442 discloses a standoff mooring bar which is infinitely variable between minimum and maximum lengths. This mooring bar employs an internal locking assembly to fix the adjustable length of a telescoping pair of tubes, however, the internal locking assembly utilizes a flexible rope affixed to the inner telescoping cylindrical tube. This connection to the inner cylindrical tube is more susceptible to failure which could cause collapse of the mooring bar and subsequent damage to the craft than is the proposed invention. This prior art also requires a separate guy rope whereas the new invention employs the continuation of the flexible locking rope as it passes outside the mooring bar becoming the guying rope thus eliminating the extra, separate rope and susceptible connection therein.