An assay for detecting molecules and compounds which specifically bind to sites which regulate cellular potassium channels, for use, inter alia, as a method for identifying drugs with activity specific for modulating K.sup.+ channels.

The concentration of intracellular free calcium (Ca.sup.2+) is a major determinant of smooth muscle contraction. The influx of Ca.sup.2+ through voltage-sensitive Ca.sup.2+ channels into cells is an important mechanism for increasing intracellular Ca.sup.2+ concentration. Voltage-sensitive L-type Ca.sup.2+ channels are opened when cells depolarize. In sum, depolarization of a smooth muscle cell correlates with its contraction via influx of calcium ions.
The tendency for potassium (K.sup.+) to exit out of a cell is responsible for the cell's resting membrane potential. The opening of K.sup.+ channels increases the net negative charge of a resting cell (or hyperpolarizes it), and thereby, tends to make it more difficult to depolarize. In fact, when K.sup.+ channels are opened, depolarized cells will repolarize. Thus, the opening of K.sup.+ channels counteracts cellular depolarization, and therefore, prevents or reverses smooth muscle contraction.
"K.sup.+ channel openers" are a chemically heterogeneous group of compounds that hyperpolarize cells and thereby decrease excitability and inhibit the influx of Ca.sup.2+ into cells. K.sup.+ channel openers have proven efficacy as antihypertensive agents (Edwards et al., 1990, Pharmac. Ther., 48:237), and are potentially useful in the treatment of diseases whose etiology is due to excessive membrane excitability or excessive intracellular calcium levels.
An intact tissue assay for binding activity of K.sup.+ channel openers has been reported. Bray et al., 1992, J. Biol. Chem., 267:11689, report the binding of a putative K.sup.+ channel opener in rings cut from rat aorta. Intact tissue assays involve the use of large numbers of live animals which have to be maintained and sacrificed each time such assays are performed. Such assays are, therefore, cumbersome.
Furthermore, intact tissue assays have large variability in results because of inherent problems in washing nonspecifically associated radioligand out of the test tissue. For example, the assay disclosed in Bray et al. exhibited high variability which necessitated the carrying out of measurements in quadruplicate.
Thus, there is a need in the art for more efficient assays for detecting compounds which modulate K.sup.+ channels. The present specification discloses for the first time, the specific binding of a K.sup.+ channel opener, (+)-N-(2-ethoxyphenyl)-N'-(1,2,2,-trimethylpropyl)-2-nitroethene-1,1-diami ne (hereinafter "CMPD-I"), to intact cells. The synthesis of the racemate (+/-) of this compound is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,188 issued to Niemers et al. (see FIG. 1). The preferred radioligand used in the present assays is the tritiated (+)enantiomer (hereinafter "[.sup.3 H]CMPD-I").


System and method for service pricing optimization enables analysis of multi-phased, multi-business unit, multi-process, multi-geo/country deal structure with its parts and phases having different pricing implications, and provides a flexible composite pricing schedule optimized for both service provider and receiver by gain and risk sharing. In one aspect, elementary pricing models and pricing parameters are established and a composite pricing model is constructed based on the elementary pricing models and pricing parameters. An optimizer optimizes the composite pricing model to minimize risk and maximize one or more selected criteria. Price is generated using the optimized composite pricing model.

Buyers and suppliers of information technology (IT) services today work with a variety of different pricing schemes to meet their individual project and business needs. Historically, the great majority of service contracts were billed on a time and materials basis. However, a recent market and business survey revealed that users and vendors are increasingly moving toward more flexible contract structures built around a combination of fixed-fee/fixed-bid service components and value-based/risk-reward mechanisms based on usage or defined service-level objectives.
Common approaches to pricing include cost-oriented pricing, competitive-oriented pricing, and value-based pricing approaches. In cost-oriented pricing, the seller determines the cost involved in providing a specific service and adds the desired profit margin to calculate price. The cost is set based on the internal cost to deliver the service and/or product plus a target margin on the cost. In competitive-oriented pricing, price is determined with reference to the prices of the competitors.
Value based pricing usually refers to the setting of price as a function of the expected value to be derived from the services and/or products. A set of value drivers in value-based pricing may vary from industry to industry. In a value based approach the price is based on the total value delivered to the client. Internal costs and target margins are only considered to ensure that the value-based price meets or exceeds the planned target margin. Value based pricing can provide greater negotiating leverage and ability to win the contract for services and/or products, and typically results in the higher profit margins. Thus, more and more projects are using value-based pricing model.
Different value-based pricing models focus on different aspects for providing value-based pricing. For instance, part fixed/part risk-reward pricing model is a form of value-based pricing models that links the price to clearly defined business value improvements, for example, economic value to the customer for the goods/services that is provided. This economic value can be measured in additional revenue, cost savings, improved cash flow, inventory turns, etc. The following formulas illustrate some examples of determining value-based price using economic values:
Base Fee+gain sharing on cost savings (e.g., −10% cost savings every year for 3 years);
Base Fee+gain sharing on completion date (e.g., +/−10% depending on defined implementation date);
Base Fee+gain sharing on added value (e.g., link price to efficiency business process improvement);
Base Fee+gain sharing on company level metrics (e.g., link price to corporate level metrics such as ROCE (Return on Capital Employed), ROA (Return on Assets); share price improvement of the client; KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) specified in balanced scorecard, meeting schedule, budget, and/or quality in project delivery; building capability in process and/or technology platform; client satisfaction).
Another example of value-based pricing model is self-funding pricing model. This model considers risks based on phased funding upon attainment of benefits. For example, first phase of work is funded based on the successful attainment of benefit for the next phases of work. Solution financing model provides yet another variation of value-based pricing model that includes complete or partial financing of an appropriate solution. Completely variable pricing is another value-based pricing model and links the price to clearly defined business value improvements and covers the entire project fee plus potential gain sharing based on some metrics. Utility/on-demand pricing is yet another example of value-based pricing model, in the form of "usage-based" feed, that is, price depending on usage of services, outsourced process performance, IT infrastructure usage.
While many IT services firms utilize the value-based pricing models, others have varied pricing determination depending on the state of client's business goals and individual projects. For instance, if client's underlying business goals and maturity of its internal processes are small and have poorly scoped engagements, time and materials pricing is seen as the appropriate pricing model. On the other hand, if the client has well defined projects drawn from previous project experience, fixed-fee pricing is viewed as more appropriate. Among trusted partners, where the responsibilities of each player are clear and agreeable, value-based pricing is preferred since outstanding results can be delivered if done properly.
In practice, deals may incorporate a variety of components and situations resulting in a hybrid deal structure. Thus, it is desirable to have an automated system and method that can take into account the various and hybrid characteristics of a project or business goal and provide an optimal pricing model, for example, that is based on different pricing models for different sets of characteristics found in the overall project or business goal.
Profitability can be extremely sensitive to changes in price. For instance, studies show that given a cost structure typical of large corporations, a 1% boost in price realization yields a net income gain of 12%. A pricing model that considers hybrid characteristics of a project and uses different pricing schemes and further optimizes the ratio of the usage of those different pricing schemes in the pricing model would provide better and more accurate pricing, and result in much improved profit.

System and method for composite pricing of services to provide optimal bill schedule

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for providing a vehicle with traffic information reflecting the real traffic condition in each traveling direction is provided, even if the vehicle travels in either branch direction in a branch point area including the branch point. A traffic information server collects information on the time required for traveling in the branch point area from an information providing vehicle and generates information on the time required for traveling in each traveling direction in the branch point area on the basis of the information. Upon receiving a request for providing the traffic information from a navigation system of a vehicle the traffic information server transmits the information on the time required for traveling in each traveling direction or the information on the time required for traveling on each route in the branch point area generated from the above information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for providing a car navigation system with traffic information, and more particularly to a traffic information providing system suitable for providing traffic information on an area around a branch point such as an intersection or a junction on an expressway.
2. Related Background Art
For the purpose of reducing traffic congestion, there is known a service offered by the vehicle information and communication system (VICS) center to a vehicle driver to provide VICS information (traffic congestion or other traffic information) via a car navigation system. Moreover, there has been suggested a method of collecting traffic information using the VICS or the like (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 2001-167385 and 9-318377).
By means of the VICS information obtained through the car navigation system, a vehicle driver can recognize, for example, that traffic congestion has occurred on a route that the vehicle is to pass through or can assess the time for passing through the route (the time required for traveling). Thereby, the vehicle driver can take measures to cope with the situation by changing the traveling route to his or her destination. Besides, the car navigation system can calculate a recommended route permitting the driver to avoid traffic congestion or the like on the basis of geographical information retained in the car navigation system and the VICS information given thereto and then to suggest it to the driver.
Incidentally, in the VICS information, a single piece of traffic information (for example, information such that the required time for traveling from a certain point A to a point B is a certain minutes) is assigned to a single route from the point A to the point B.
Meanwhile, if route "a" through the certain point A branches off in a plurality of routes "b" and "c" via a branch point X as shown in FIG. 2, the time required for traveling of the vehicle may depend upon whether the vehicle goes from the route a into the route b or into the route c. For example, in the shown example, the traffic lane of the route a toward the route b is in the traffic congestion, while the lane of the route a toward the route c is in a condition where vehicles are going smoothly. In this situation, the time required for the vehicle to go from the route a into the route b is longer than the time required for the vehicle to go into the route c.
The time required for traveling of the vehicle included in the traffic information on the route a provided by the VICS, however, is set to one value for the route a such as the time required for traveling on one of the lanes of the route a or an average of the time required for traveling on the lanes. In other words, a single piece of traffic information is assigned to the route a independently of which route is selected by the vehicle out of the routes a, b, and c.
Therefore, if the traffic congestion degree depends upon the route that the vehicle goes into from the route a as stated above, a large error often occurs in the time required for traveling determined from the VICS information. Moreover, if there are routes from the route a through the route b and from the route a through the route c to reach the final destination of the vehicle, the driver cannot determine which route is appropriate from the VICS information of the route a. As a result, occasionally the vehicle driver has selected an inappropriate route or the car navigation system has recommended an inappropriate route.


An apparatus and method for detecting a tilted disc, and an apparatus and method for reproducing data from the tilted disc are provided. The method for detecting a tilted disc comprises: radiating light on a predetermined location at the inner circumference of an optical disc and moving a pickup away from the optical disc; measuring a time T1 at which a focus error signal, generated when light is reflected from a recording layer of the optical disc, is output; radiating light on a predetermined location at the outer circumference of the optical disc and moving the pickup unit away from the optical disc; measuring a time T2 when a focus error signal, generated when light is reflected from the recording layer of the optical disc, is output; determining a tilt degree indicating value T which is a value for determining whether the optical disc is a tilted disc, using the measured times T1 and T2; and comparing the tilt degree indicating value T with a predetermined reference value R and determining whether the optical disc is a tilted disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a tilted disc and for reproducing data recorded on the disc, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for detecting a tilted disc using a focus error signal and for reproducing data recorded on the tilted disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical discs are designed to be manufactured in a flat shape in which the plain of the recording surface is supposed to be parallel to the horizontal axis of the disc. However, a slight tilt, i.e., an inclination angle of a recording surface can be found in most optical discs. This tilt is result of disc distortion occurring during the injection and curing operations of the manufacturing process. An optical disc in which the recording surface is not perfectly parallel to the horizontal axis is referred to as a tilted disc.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a tilted disc. An optical disc of with a recording surface that is offset in an upward direction with respect to a level reference surface, is referred to as a positive tilted disc. An optical disc with a recording surface that is offset in a downward direction with reference to a level reference surface, is referred to as a negative tilted disc. Positive tilted discs and negative tilted discs are referred to as a radial tilted discs.
Data cannot be correctly read from a tilted disc when the tilt degree exceeds a tolerance limit. If the tilt degree exceeds a tolerance limit when data is read from a tilted disc, the data cannot be correctly read. When an apparatus for reproducing data from an optical disc cannot recognize the optical disc due to excessive tilt data reproduction is not possible.

Apparatus method for detecting tilt at inner and outer circumference and determining tilt degree based on times when focus error signals are detected


A projector includes a housing, an image module for projecting onto a screen toward a front side, a detecting module for detecting distances from the projector to the front side and from the projector to the back side, a processor for adjusting luminance of the projected image from the image module based on the distances from the projector to the front side and from the projector to the back side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a projector, and more specially, to a projector capable of adjusting the screen size and luminance depending on various environments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conference briefings, the host can project the related materials or graphs on a screen with projectors to have the participants better understand the discussion. However, with the advance of video/audio equipment and storage media, such as high power stereos and large capacity DVDs, normal families can also enjoy the same real-time perceptive feeling as in a home theater through the extra-large screen projected from the projector with the combination of projectors and stereos, which makes the use of projectors gradually extend into normal families.
However, while the technology of optical engines and illuminating lightning goes further and further, the luminance which the projectors can achieve also gets stronger. However, power consumption becomes larger in the mean time. Yet, the operating environments and purposes often differ considerably; for example, the luminance of projectors required in briefings is stronger than that in families, and stronger luminance is needed in more open operating environments to grant the participants clearer vision. But the luminance of projectors mostly requires manual adjustment according to actual situation now, which is very inconvenient for users who are not familiar with the operation of projectors. Although there are some projectors, which can adjust its luminance automatically, such as the projector disclosed by Taiwan Patent No. 399742, which employs a photo diode to detect the ambient luminance of surroundings and according to which adjusts the luminance of projected beams automatically, such adjustment of the projector luminance according to the luminance detected by the diode is not correctly available because the luminance should change with the length of indoor space. For example, in spaces of large length, the projected luminance from projectors requires higher power to have the clear image on the screen. But, in spaces of shorter length, the projector only requires lower power for projected image with identical luminance. Therefore, the conventional projectors can only operate normally in spaces of specific fixed length but not correctly adjust projecting power with different indoor spaces. Besides, conventional projectors cannot calculate the position at which the projector should be arranged depending on indoor spaces, and notify the users how to adjust the position, either. Consequently, the users can only set up the projectors with personal subjective feelings, resulting in inexact arrangement position of the projector in indoor space.

Projector for adjusting a projected image size and luminance depending on various environments


A laminate tape useful for insulating pipes, lines and the like is constructed of a tacky first layer containing asphalt and an insulative filler such as granulated cork adhered to a flexible second layer that is less tacky. The flexible second layer contains a rubber such as butyl rubber.

Asphaltic compositions have found wide acceptance as protective coatings and sealants for many different types of surfaces. For example, asphaltic compositions have been utilized to protect metallic substrates and the like from the effects of weather, water, and corrosive vapors while also insulating such substrate surfaces. However, asphaltic compositions are typically quite sticky at room temperature and thus can be difficult to apply to the substrate without transferring portions of such compositions to the hands of the person applying the composition or to the tool used to apply the composition. Once in place, the coating formed from the asphaltic composition generally retains a sticky, soft outer surface that can be difficult to handle cleanly and which is prone to being contaminated by dirt and other debris. It would therefore be desirable to develop products capable of forming a protective, insulative coating of an asphaltic composition on a substrate surface without the aforementioned difficulties.


A method to provide directions to customers requesting information about the location of products in a store that brings the customer into the vicinity of other products in which the customer may have an interest to purchase receives customer identification data and product selection data, determines customer interest data from the customer identification data, and generates a customer path to a location corresponding to the product selection data that includes a location corresponding to the customer interest data. A customer following the generated path comes into the vicinity of one or more products in which the customer may have an interest to purchase. A customer may enter the identification data through a keypad or through a scanning device that reads a customer token. Preferably, the customer token may be a smart card or a card bearing a magnetic stripe. A keypad or touch screen may be used to provide product selection data. The location of a selected product and the location of the kiosk where the data was entered define an endpoint and a starting point for the customer's path, respectively. The customer identification data may be used to query a database for the customer's purchase history at the store or to ascertain demographic data. These data may be used to identify products that the customer may be interested in purchasing. The locations of these products are used to define a customer's path to the selected product. The display of this path is made without reference to the portions of the store containing other products not corresponding to the customer's interests. A system to implement the method is also disclosed.

In large stores, sometimes called 'big-box' stores, customers are presented with a vast collection of items and goods for purchase. These stores offer merchandise as diverse as groceries, clothing, hardware, and garden supplies. While this bewildering array of products facilitates 'one stop' shopping, it may frustrate customers who search in various departments without information as to where a product for which they are looking is located.
To assist shoppers in locating products, various systems and methods have been developed. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,724 to Vela et al. That system includes relay units mounted in shopping carts that wirelessly communicate with a central computer for information. To shop, a database of all items offered for sale in the store is downloaded to a relay unit in a cart when a customer activates the relay unit. The customer selects the items the customer wants to purchase from the list and these selected items are used to generate a shopping list of selected product records. A map of the store's layout may be generated on the display and the locations of selected products may be indicated on the map. Using this information, the customer directs the cart around the store alerted to the location of selected products.
While the system of Vela et al. does provide a customer with insight regarding the location of products, it has some significant limitations. For one, the customer has to wait while a database of all products is downloaded. Another limitation is that the customer has to construct a shopping list from the displayed database. Most customers come to a store with a list of items that the customer wants to purchase. Using that list to generate a list compatible with the system of Vela et al. is probably more tedious a task than most customers care to perform. This system also requires the use of a relay unit for each shopping cart and requires a customer to use a shopping cart in order to benefit from the system.
Another shopping cart system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,697 to Schkolnick. That system also uses computers mounted in shopping carts for communication with a central unit. The customer may request a map of the store's layout through the display for the computer mounted in the cart. The displayed map may indicate the location of on-sale or special interest items. Again, a customer must use a shopping cart to exploit the advantages of the system and each shopping cart must include a computer. Thus, the cost of implementing such a system may be prohibitive in stores maintaining an extensive number of shopping carts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,789 to Johnsen includes a floppy disk drive with the computer mounted in the shopping cart so the user may bring a shopping list. In the system of this patent, shopping lists may also be generated by customers manually identifying products through a keyboard, scanning bar codes from specially generated register tapes, and by downloading a list through telephone modem communications. Again, the system requires a computer unit to be mounted in each cart and customers must use a cart to access to the system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,064 to Malec et al. also requires a customer to use a cart having a computer mounted in it to receive a display of a map of the store layout.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,271 to Powell uses a kiosk that identifies the location of products that correspond to electronic discount coupons stored on a smart card. The smart card is inserted into the kiosk and the kiosk responds with a display of a map of the store layout with an indication of the locations of the discounted products. This system does not require a customer to use a cart having a computer mounted therein. However, the store is not able to use the kiosk or the card data to improve the revenue potential possible from the customer. Some of the systems noted above, such as Vela et al., do attempt to interest a customer in other unplanned purchases by displaying ads on the cart display when the customer brings the cart into the vicinity of the product that is the subject of the transmitted ad. However, this marketing system requires the relatively expensive cart communication system.
What is needed is a way of using a customer's interest in obtaining product information to increase the potential of purchases by the customer.
What is needed is a way for a store to enhance interest in the products on site without requiring portable cart communication devices.

System and method for directing customers to product locations within a store


A method of forming a meltblown web having meltblown fibers and particles is provided. The particles are heated to a temperature approximating that of the meltblown fibers as they are being extruded. As a portion of any heated particle impacts the skin of one or more solidifying meltblown fibers, that portion of any heated particle penetrates into one or more solidifying particles. Although a portion of any particle becomes embedded in and retained by one or more meltblown fibers, such surface penetration is generally slight desirably leaving a substantial amount of surface area of any particle available for interaction with any medium to which a web may be exposed.

This invention relates to methods of forming meltblown webs and in particular to methods of forming meltblown webs containing meltblown fibers and particulate
It has been desired to provide a method of forming particle-containing meltblown webs for a variety of purposes, wherein a predetermined amount of particles is held in the web while minimizing the amount of xe2x80x9cdustingxe2x80x9d (i.e., particles undesirably dropping out of the web) the web may suffer.
Various approaches to retaining particles within a web have been proposed. One such approach discloses a self-supporting durable flexible conformable low-pressure-drop porous sheet product that contains a uniform three-dimensional arrangement of discrete particles. The sheet product includes, in addition to the particles, a web of meltblown fibers in which the particles are uniformly dispersed. The particles are physically held, such as by mechanical entanglement, in the web even though there is only point contact between the meltblown fibers and the particles. (xe2x80x9cPoint contactxe2x80x9d occurs when preformed bodies abut one another. It is distinguished from xe2x80x9carea contact,xe2x80x9d such as results when a liquid material is deposited against a substrate, flows over the substrate, and then hardens in place.) Even though the particles are mechanically entangled within the interstices of the web, a portion of the particles still undesirably drop out of the web during handling.
Another approach discloses using adhesive polymers for forming the meltblown web. In addition to being physically entrapped in the web, the particles of this approach are also adhered to the surfaces of the meltblown fibers. Even though this may be viewed as an improvement over retaining particles within a web by point contact this approach accomplishes its objective with the use of expensive adhesive polymers.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved method of forming meltblown webs having particles substantially uniformly and homogeneously dispersed therethrough and retained therein by more than mere point contact or mechanical entanglement, wherein dusting is substantially eliminated without the addition of expensive adhesive polymers.
The present invention is directed to an improved method of forming meltblown webs having particles substantially uniformly and homogeneously dispersed therethrough that satisfies the need to substantially eliminate dusting without the addition of expensive adhesive polymers.
One embodiment of the present invention provides for a method of forming a meltblown web having at least one layer, the method including forming a first primary stream containing meltblown fibers. A first secondary stream is formed containing staple fibers and merged with the first primary stream so that the first primary stream includes the staple fibers entangled with the meltblown fibers. Thereafter, the first primary stream including the staple fibers entangled with the meltblown fibers is directed onto a moving forming surface to form a first layer having the staple fibers entangled with the meltblown fibers. After tie first layer is formed, this embodiment of the invention provides for forming at least one particle-containing layer by forming a second primary stream having meltblown fibers. A first tertiary stream is formed containing particles and merged with the second primary stream so that the second primary stream contains particle-containing meltblown fibers. A second secondary stream is formed containing staple fibers and merged with the second primary stream so that the second primary stream includes the staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers. Thereafter, the second primary stream including the staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers is directed onto the first layer on the moving forming surface to form a second layer having the staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers.
An alternative embodiment of the present invention provides for the formation of a meltblown web having at least one layer, the method including forming a primary stream of meltblown fibers. A tertiary stream containing particles is formed and merged with the primary stream so that the primary stream includes particle-containing meltblown fibers. Thereafter, the primary stream having particle-containing meltblown fibers is directed onto a moving forming surface to form a layer including the particle-containing meltblown fibers.
Still another embodiment of the present invention provides for forming a meltblown web having at least one layer, the method including forming a primary stream containing meltblown fibers. A tertiary stream containing particles is formed and merged with the primary stream so that the primary stream includes particle-containing meltblown fibers. A secondary stream having staple fibers is formed and merged with the primary stream so that the primary stream includes staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers. Thereafter, the primary stream having the staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers is directed onto a moving forming surface to form a layer having the staple fibers entangled with the particle-containing meltblown fibers,

Method of forming meltblown webs containing particles


The present invention provides an isolation structure for a semiconductor substrate and a method for manufacturing the same, as well as a semiconductor device having the structure. The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacture. The isolation structure comprises: a trench embedded in a semiconductor substrate; an oxide layer covering the bottom and sidewalls of the trench, and isolation material in the trench and on the oxide layer, wherein a portion of the oxide layer on an upper portion of the sidewalls of the trench comprises lanthanum-rich oxide. By the trench isolation structure according to the present invention, metal lanthanum in the lanthanum-rich oxide can diffuse into corners of the oxide layer of the gate stack, thus alleviating the impact of the narrow channel effect and making the threshold voltage adjustable.

With the development of semiconductor technology, the sizes of transistors continue to shrink, thereby causing the speed of devices and systems to increase. In a transistor with smaller sizes, the thickness of the gate dielectric layer such as a SiO2 layer becomes thinner. However, when the thickness of the SiO2 layer decreases to a certain degree, the SiO2 layer will not be able to provide a good insulation function, and it is easy to cause a leakage current from the gate to active regions. This substantially degrades the performance of the device.
A gate stack structure of high-K material/metal has been proposed to replace the conventional gate stack structure of SiO2/polysilicon. The high-K material is such a material, the dielectric constant K of which is larger than 3.9. For example, the high-K material may include HfO2, HfSiO, HfSiON, HfTaO, HfTiO, HfZrO, Al2O3, or La2O3, etc. The above-mentioned leakage current problem can be overcome by a great degree with the use of the high-K material as the gate dielectric layer.
It is known that the threshold voltage (Vt) of a transistor can be effectively reduced by adding materials such as La into the material of the gate dielectric layer. This facilitates improving the performance of the device. However, the effectiveness of the materials such as La in reducing the threshold voltage Vt is affected by many factors. For example, reference 1 (M. Inoue et al, "Impact of Area Scaling on Threshold Voltage Lowering in La-Containing High-k/Metal Gate NMOSFETs Fabricated on (100) and (110) Si", 2009 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 40-41) discussed the effect of La in detail and found that there is a strong narrow channel effect, in which the effect of La becomes lower as the width of the gate becomes narrower, and a strong corner effect, in which the effect of La is affected by the round corners of the channel region.
As the channel becomes narrower, the effectiveness of the gate dielectric layer is affected across the channel region, and thus it is necessary to adopt other measures to efficiently deal with the reduction of the threshold voltage Vt.

Isolation structure, method for manufacturing the same, and semiconductor device having the structure

INSTITUTE OF MICROELECTONICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


A universal remote control (10) is provided for wireless remote control of one or more devices (D1 . . . Dn) equipped for remote control by respective original remote controls having visual appearances different from one another. The universal remote control (10) includes: a memory (40) that stores one or more descriptions associated with one or more original remote controls that are selectively emulated by the universal remote control (10), the descriptions including information describing the visual appearances of the original remote controls that the descriptions are associated with; and, a graphical user interface (20) upon which is displayed a representation of one of the original remote controls selected for emulation by the universal remote control (10), the representation having a visual appearance substantially the same as the original remote control being emulated.

As is known, a variety of consumer electronics (e.g., televisions, radios, audio receivers, audio cassette decks, turn tables, compact disc (CD) players, video cassette records (VCRs), digital video disc (DVD) players, satellite receivers, cable boxes, other audio and/or video equipment, electronic appliances, lighting fixtures and/or ceiling fans, etc.) come equipped with wireless remote controls. A remote control (RC) of this type typically includes a keypad comprising a plurality of physical buttons or keys. The keypad is used by a user to effect wireless remote operation of the corresponding device, e.g., via an infrared or radio frequency interface. Notably, many RCs included with consumer electronics are designed to operate only the specific device or devices that they accompany.
Commonly, a user may have a plurality of devices and corresponding RCs. Users tend to find having an array of RCs burdensome. A collection of different RCs for multiple devices may be viewed as cluttering a user's living space, and users may find it confusing or undesirable to have to remember which RC operates which device. Occasionally, a manufacture may program a remote control to operate a plurality of associated devices provided by that manufacture. However, incompatibility between RCs and devices from different manufactures can be experienced.
RCs have been developed, commonly referred to as universal remote controls (URCs), that are capable of being programmed by a user to operate a variety of different devices provided by a variety of different manufactures. In effect, the URC replaces or mimics a plurality of otherwise distinct RCs. However, the previously developed URCs have been found to have certain limitations. Typically, they are only capable of supporting a small fixed number (e.g., 3 or 4) of specific related devices, e.g., a television, cable box, VCR and DVD player. That is to say, they are designed to replace or mimic a fixed set of specific RCs.
Additionally, the previously developed RCs often cannot or do not provide all the functions of the original RC it's replacing or mimicking. Commonly, the keypad of the URC is hard-wired with a fix configuration of physical buttons. Accordingly, a given URC may not contain all the buttons designated for every function on the original RC being replaced. Furthermore, where devices have similar functions, e.g., as may otherwise be associated with a button having similar or the same designations, operation of the URC can be confusing to the extent that the user may not readily recognize the device being controlled with that button.
Programming previously developed URCs can also be tedious, confusing and/or overly burdensome for users. For example, a code is entered for each original RC that the URC is replacing or mimicking or for each device the URC is to support. That is to say, the URC is programmed to mimic a fix number of specific original RCs. The entered codes then identify those original RCs (or their corresponding devices) that the URC is to replace. However, the URC in this case is limited to replacing or mimicking only those RCs for which the URC has the appropriate programming. That is to say, it is often the case that the URC is only capable of mimicking those RC from manufacturing years that precede the manufacturing year of the URC insomuch as the specifications of subsequently manufactured RCs and/or their associated devices were not available at the time the URC was initially programmed.
Another drawback to many previously developed URCs is a lack of user familiarity. A user may become accustom to the appearance, feel and keypad layout of the original RC provided with a particular device. Accordingly, it can be confusing and/or uncomfortable when the user employs a URC that does not have the same look or feel. Importantly, when the URCs keypad does not have the same layout and/or configuration as the original RC it is mimicking, the functions of particular buttons on the original RC have to be transposed to physical buttons on the URC that have dissimilar locations and/or dissimilar appearances. This can be confusing to users.
Accordingly, the present invention contemplates a new and improved universal remote control that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.


A backlight module includes a spacer, a light source and an ultraviolet rays light filter. The spacer is formed by a first plate and a second plate. The light source is disposed in the spacer and emits light, which spreads through the second plate and out of the backlight module. The light filter is disposed on the second plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module and in particular to a backlight module directly filtering ultraviolet rays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a backlight module is provided with light-filtering to prevent color distortion of the backlight module. In detail, the light tube of the backlight module is generally coated with a light-filtering material, such as magnesia, to filter out ultraviolet rays thereby preventing color distortion.
The disclosed method complicates production and is still unable to completely filter ultraviolet rays.


When the electrode potential of a charge control electrode above a wafer is reduced, image brightness is reduced. A point of change in the image brightness is a switching point between a positively charged state of the image and a negatively charged state of the image, showing the weakly charged state of the image. By setting this point of change as an inspecting condition, the amount of electric charges on the surface of the wafer can be reduced, and stable wafer inspection can be performed. It is estimated that an applied voltage V1 in FIG. 14 corresponds to the point of the change and is roughly included in the voltage range of a region enclosed by a broken line in the vicinity of the applied voltage V1. Within this voltage range, the influence of charge on an inspection under the inspecting condition can be reduced.

The present invention relates to an inspection technology for inspecting fine patterns in a semiconductor device, a photo mask, a liquid crystal device, and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to the inspection technology for inspecting circuit patterns floated on a wafer during the manufacturing step of the semiconductor device, using an electron beam.
The inspection technology for the semiconductor device, photo mask, and liquid crystal device having fine circuit patterns is a very important technology for improvement in a manufacturing yield thereof. An outline of the technology will be described below using the inspection technology for a semiconductor wafer as an example.
The semiconductor device and a liquid crystal display device, which will be hereinafter referred to as the semiconductor device, is manufactured by repeating the step of transferring a pattern formed on the photo mask on the semiconductor wafer using a lithography process and an etching process. Whether the lithography process, etching process, and other various processes are satisfactory or not and generation of foreign matter during the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device greatly affect the yield of the semiconductor device. It is therefore important to detect abnormality and occurrence of a fault early or in advance and feedback the result of detection to the manufacturing process. For this purpose, the method of inspecting a pattern on the semiconductor wafer during the manufacturing process has been traditionally carried out.
As the method of inspecting a defect that is present on a circuit pattern on the semiconductor wafer, a defect inspection apparatus that irradiates white light onto the semiconductor wafer, and makes comparison among the circuit patterns of the same type in a plurality of large integrated circuits (LSIs) using an optical image obtained by the irradiation has been proposed and put to practical use. As the inspection method that uses the optical image, for example, JP-A-3-167456 discloses a method in which an optically illuminated region on a substrate is imaged by a time delay integrating sensor, and the obtained image of the optically illuminated region is compared with design information input in advance, thereby detecting a defect.
JP-A-9-138198 discloses an inspection method in which laser light is irradiated onto the semiconductor wafer to detect diffracted light or scattered light, makes discrimination between the diffracted light from a regular circuit pattern and the scattered light from foreign matter or a defective portion of an irregular shape, thereby detecting the foreign matter or the defective portion alone.
With finer geometries of the circuit pattern, a more complicated shape of the circuit pattern, and diversification of materials, defect detection by the optical image has become difficult. Accordingly, a method in which an electron beam image having a higher definition than that of the optical image is used to make circuit pattern comparison, for inspection, has also been proposed. As a method of making pattern comparison for inspection using the electron beam, J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 3005-3009 (1991), J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 2804-2808 (1992), JP-A-5-258703, U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,306, and JP-A-10-234543 disclose the method in which the electron beam having an electron beam current of 10 nA or more, which is 100 times or more the electron beam current of an ordinary scanning electron microscope (SEM) is irradiated onto a conductive substrate such as an X-ray mask, one of secondary electrons, reflected electrons, and transmitted electrons that are generated by the irradiation are detected, and an image formed from a signal of the detected electrons is compared with an adjacent comparable pattern, thereby automatically detecting a defect.
The inspection method as described above will be referred to as an electron beam inspection method. In the electron beam inspection method, an image with a higher definition than that with an optical appearance inspection method or a laser inspection method can be obtained. Detection of minute foreign matter or a defect on a fine circuit pattern is thereby possible. In addition to that, it is also possible to detect conductivity or non/conductivity of the circuit pattern and an electric defect using potential contrast. The potential contrast indicates a surface potential difference which is caused by the influence of charge by electron beam irradiation and reflects the emission efficiency of the secondary electrons. The conductivity or non-conductivity of the circuit pattern and the electric defect such as a short circuit of wiring or a transistor is generated on the surface or the lower layer of the semiconductor wafer. The potential contrast and a technology that utilizes the potential contrast are described in the "Electron and Ion Beams Handbook" (THE NIKKAN KOGYO SHIMBUN, Ltd), pp 622-623.
By applying the optical appearance inspection, the optical inspection method, and the electron beam inspection method to various minute circuit patterns of the semiconductor device or the like, detection of various defects that could not be detected or discriminated by the shape of the semiconductor wafer surface as well as defects such as foreign matter and a defective pattern shape have become possible. Such defects include an electric defect such as an open circuit or a short circuit in various transistors, and a conduction fault of an opening pattern.
In the conventional electron beam inspection, the electron beam is irradiated during an inspection. Then, the secondary electrons or the reflected electrons generated by the irradiation are detected and converted into a signal, for the inspection. Irradiation of the electron beam is thus continued during the inspection. For this reason, when the surface of the wafer to be inspected is made of an insulating material and is easily subject to the influence of charge, or when a structure floated from the substrate is formed on the wafer to be inspected and charged electrons tend to be accumulated on the floated structure, the charged electrons resulting from the charge are accumulated on the insulating material during the process of the inspection. The charged potential of the surface of the wafer will therefore be changed from an initial state. When the charged potential is changed, the focusing position or irradiating position of the electron beam will be changed. Thus, a magnification for an electron beam image obtained during the inspection does not become accurate. Further, a positional drift or a focusing deviation is generated, so that the quality of the electron beam image obtained during the inspection will be changed. Hence, it has become difficult to continue the inspection with the same sensitivity and accuracy as those in the initial stage of the inspection.
Assume that an electron beam irradiating condition is changed in conjunction with the charged potential of the surface of the wafer to be inspected, when the charged potential changes. Then, the same electron beam image quality can be obtained. For this purpose, it is necessary to measure the charged potential of the wafer to be inspected real time during the inspection. It is therefore difficult to measure the charged potential real time based on the electron beam image alone. Further, it is possible to obtain the electron beam image of the same quality by correcting the focus and irradiating position of the electron beam irradiation whenever the quality of the electron beam image is changed during the inspection. However, when frequent suspension of the inspection and frequent focusing and positional alignment are performed on the wafer to be inspected, the time required for the inspection will become longer. Hence, speeding up of the inspection has become difficult, which leads to an increase in the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor device.
Further, by setting an inspecting condition that causes a less change in the charged potential when the inspecting condition is set, the inspection of the semiconductor device using a stable image becomes possible. However, to do so, a method of performing the inspection for a long time using the set condition, checking presence or absence of a drift in the image, and obtaining an optimal inspecting condition was employed. An enormous time was therefore required for determining the optimal inspecting condition.
In the conventional electron beam inspection, the electron beam is irradiated onto the wafer to be inspected during the inspection. Then, the secondary electrons or the reflected electrons generated by the electron beam irradiation are detected and converted into a signal, for the inspection. Irradiation of the electron beam is thus continued during the inspection. For this reason, when the surface of the wafer to be inspected is made of an insulating material and is easily subject to the influence of charge, or when a structure floated from the surface is formed on the wafer to be inspected and charged electrons tend to be accumulated on the floated structure, the charged electrons are accumulated on the insulating material during the process of the inspection. The quality of the electron beam image is not therefore stabilized. The conventional arts described above did not refer to a method of addressing this problem, or the method of obtaining the image without changing the charged state of the wafer during the inspection.

Method and apparatus for inspecting patterns


A method of constructing a link progressive meter system to increase participation and generate additional player excitement during a progressive type game. Each interface or monitor to a gaming machine or monitored point can act and process decisions independently of other monitors. Each monitor contains in computer data memory the status of the entire network and this is replicated throughout the entire network. A method for a bonus game that may be implemented upon an individual gaming apparatus or upon a link progressive network connecting a plurality of gaming machines is described.

The present invention is related generally to casino gaming systems and more specifically to casino gaming progressive meter systems and methods. Conventional progressive gaming systems are generally known in which multiple gaming devices are interconnected and bonus games and/or an incrementally varying jackpot amount based on a percentage of total amounts played can be won. Generally, the gaming devices report coin-in and game-win information, which enable jackpot increments to be generated for transmission back to the gaming devices. While progressive gaming systems have proved successful, the prospect for increased participation by current or additional players and increased generation of excitement continue to exist. A conventional progressive gaming system typically has a central controller that communicates with nodes at each gaming machine or input device to which the system is connected. A progressive meter system may typically have a node or monitoring device in a gaming machine that reads data from the gaming machine and communicates the data to a central controller for processing of the data. Decisions made upon the basis of the data by the central controller are generally of a predetermined nature and may be of a type to encourage and enhance player participation. Payment of a large award (progressive jackpot) upon a game upon a gaming machine arriving at a predetermined outcome is a common function of a progressive meter system. Amount of the large progressive jackpot is typically derived by assigning a percentage of each coin played upon any gaming machine being attached to the progressive system (the progressive link) for summation into the progressive jackpot that is then prominently displayed to players to enhance the playing experience. It is known that administrators of such conventional progressive systems have encountered difficulty in retrieving centrally stored data to accomplish proper functioning of the gaming system. This situation can occur, for example, when stored data becomes corrupt or becomes lost for any number of reasons; accordingly, multiple copies of data reside upon the central controller and are checked against each other frequently. Nevertheless, it is believed that such conventional gaming systems were popular not only because controller costs were generally high but also due to the increased complexity required to implement decentralized processing systems.
Gaming jurisdictions may require that any progressive jackpot displayed be available for win and that the probability of a winning outcome be the same from game to game on any gaming apparatus playing a progressive game. Consequently, display of a progressive jackpot available for win that is not correct (larger than actual value) can result in a large loss for an operator of gaming machines since many gaming jurisdictions will require that it be paid if won before the amount displayed can be adjusted downward.
There are three recognized categories into which a progressive meter system may be classified: stand-alone, link progressive and wide area progressive (WAP). A stand-alone progressive meter is connected only to a single gaming apparatus and performs its actions based solely upon data from the gaming apparatus to which it is connected. A link progressive system connects multiple gaming machines and data from all connected machines is processed at a central controller. A link progressive typically connects only machines that are locally present upon a gaming property. A wide area progressive (WAP) connects many gaming machines at many properties and may include local link progressive systems at properties connected to the WAP. An example of a WAP is Megabucks® which is registered, owned and operated by International Game Technology.
Generally link progressive meter systems and WAPs communicate with the central controller through known methods and protocols. In the case of a link progressive system, communication is normally by some sort of serial data link. In the case of a WAP, communication with the central controller is through leased telecommunications lines or channels. Every effort is made to communicate a major event to the central controller as quickly as possible. Generally the major event is the win of a large award by a player of a machine connected to the link progressive system, to the WAP or both. There is a great amount of concern that multiple games connected to a link could win a large progressive award simultaneously or at least within a few seconds of each other. Typically when a win of the progressive award occurs, the gaming apparatus attached to the link signals the central controller that the win has occurred, the gaming apparatus upon which the winning game was played is prevented from further play, the amount of award that is available for win by any other device connected to the link is adjusted to a predetermined amount (reset amount) and the reset amount is communicated by the central controller to all devices connected to the link. This procedure is common to all progressive meter systems. Payment of the large progressive win is normally made immediately to the player of the game that won the award. Therefore, there is a need to resolve one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages of conventional gaming systems and the present invention meets this need.

Progressive meter system architecture and method


The invention relates to a satellite-based positioning system in which a transmitter (2) emits electromagnetic radiation at least at N≧3 carrier frequencies (3, 4, 5). In order to resolve the phase ambiguity for said satellite-based positioning system, the electromagnetic radiation is received by a receiver (1), and K pseudo paths (3a, 4a, 5a, 6a) and L carrier phases (3b, 4b, 5b, 6b), especially at least two pseudo paths (3a, 5a) and at least two carrier phases (3b, 4b), are derived from the received radiation as M pieces of distance data, wherein M=K+L. In order to determine the position, the integer phase ambiguity is derived from the linear combination of a maximum of M≦2N−1 pieces of distance data.

For position determination, global or satellite-based positioning systems GNSS (e.g. GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, etc.) are currently being used for many applications and will be in the future. For this purpose, the satellites of the space segment emit electromagnetic radiation at a plurality of carrier frequencies. In general, one or more codes which serve for the transmission of data are superposed on these carrier frequencies by modulation.
The electromagnetic radiation is detected by a receiver and evaluated with regard to different variables for position determination. Thus, on the basis of the transit times of the signals from a satellite to the receiver, so-called pseudo-paths are determined, these deviating from the true distance owing to various influences, such as, for example, owing to the difference between true system time and the respective representations in the satellite and receiver clocks. These pseudo-path measurements are based on the code which is superposed on a carrier frequency by modulation and contains data about the time of emission of the signal by the satellite. The satellite signals are transmitted at a plurality of carrier frequencies which are designated, for example for the GPS system, by L1 (154·10.23·106 Hz), L2 (120·10.23·106 Hz) or L5 (115·10.23·106 Hz). In the case of GALILEO, for example, the corresponding frequencies are designated as E1-L1-E2 and E5a (L5), E6 at (125·10.23·106 Hz) being available as a third signal. Other frequencies can likewise be measured in the case of GALILEO.
A further possibility for distance determination consists in the use of carrier phase data of the signals. The measurement of the phase shift is carried out, the use of the carrier phases permitting a precise position determination. However, the disadvantage of the phase measurements is that their distance is determined only to a multiple of the wavelength used, which is designated as phase ambiguity. If these phase ambiguities were known, so-called phase paths as highly accurate equivalents to the pseudo-paths would have been available —based on the carrier phases. Phase paths are obtained by multiplication of the observations with the aid of the carrier phases in cycles with the wavelength applicable in each case.
By utilizing two frequencies, it was originally intended to correct ionospheric transit time delays, but special combination phases can also be generated by linear combinations, such as, for example, ionosphere- or geometry-free linear combinations. Such linear combinations, i.e. in general a summation of any desired multiples of n elements xi to be combined, i.e.
                    x        =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        n                                                                                a              i                                                  x              i                                                          (        0        )            with the associated positive or negative coefficients ai and optionally additive terms independent of the elements, may be generated for pseudo paths as well as observations of the carrier phases, i.e. the phase paths. For this purpose, the corresponding observations are multiplied by certain factors. For generating a geometry- or ionosphere-free linear combination, real-value factors are used. The real-value factors destroy the integral nature of the phase ambiguity for the exact determination in an algorithm. If integral factors are used in the linear combinations, the integral nature is retained for the determination within an algorithm.
The combination of carrier phases and pseudo-paths at both wavelengths for resolving so-called "wide lanes" was developed in the 1980s. A first, civil GPS receiver with pseudo-path measurement at both frequencies was on the market at that time. This receiver used the still unencrypted P-code, both at the L1 frequency and at the L2 frequency. The measured pseudo-paths were substantially more accurate than pseudo-path measurements with the aid of the C/A code (300 m wavelength), owing to the shorter code wavelength of about 30 metres. L1 and L2 pseudo-paths as well as L1 and L2 carrier phase measurements were recorded. In the case of the "wide lanes", only integral factors are used and hence the possibility of the advantageous determination of integral phase ambiguities is retained.
The principle of the combination of the observations of two frequencies consists in the elimination of the terms common to all observations, combinations of oblique paths to the satellite, troposphere and the like and of the dispersive, ionospheric term which has a different sign for pseudo-paths and phase measurements. While in general resolution is effected only for the advantageous wide lane, the method can be set up for any desired linear combinations of two frequencies. It should be noted here that the resolution of the wide lanes between a station and a satellite is possible only in theory. Between the frequencies, different clock errors in the satellite and the receiver hinder this possibility. For this reason, a resolution can be effected only after the formation of so-called double differences between two satellites and two receivers or the introduction of the respective clock differences.
This approach of using two frequencies and the measurements of the coordinated carrier phases and pseudo-paths combines the accuracy possible in principle with the carrier phase with the determination of the phase ambiguity, which is possible by the pseudo-path measurement. The so-called Melbourne-Wübbena approach, in which phase and pseudo-path measurement are combined in a system of equations to be solved permits a direct resolution. Here, the carrier phase measurements are stated as phase paths, i.e. in metric units instead of cycles otherwise usually used—the so-called phase path is obtained by multiplication with the wavelength of the respective carrier phase.
Another approach is based on the modeling of the phase paths for the two carrier frequencies according to
                              ϕ          1                =                  ρ          -                      I                          f              1              2                                +                                    N              1                                                  λ              1                                +                      ɛ                          ϕ              1                                                          (        1        )                                          ϕ          2                =                  ρ          -                      I                          f              2              2                                +                                    N              2                                                  λ              2                                +                      ɛ                          ϕ              2                                                          (        2        )            and the pseudo-paths according to
                              R          1                =                  ρ          +                      I                          f              1              2                                +                      ɛ                          R              1                                                          (        3        )                                          R          2                =                  ρ          +                      I                          f              2              2                                +                      ɛ                          R              2                                                          (        4        )            where, with i=1,2, φi designates a phase path coordinated with the i th carrier frequency, Ri designates the i th pseudo-path, ρ designates the geometric path between satellite and receiving unit, in particular including clock errors and non-dispersive error terms, I/fi2 designates an ionospheric influence for the i th carrier frequency, Ni designates a phase ambiguity for the wavelength λi coordinated with the i th carrier frequency, εφi designates a noise term for the phase path coordinated with i th carrier frequency and εRi designates a noise term for the i th pseudo-path. The solution of a corresponding system of equations includes the determination of the phase ambiguities Ni or a linear combination
      G              (              N        i            )        =      A    +                  ∑                  i          =          n                n                                                              b          i                                  N          i                    of the phase ambiguities Ni with a term A independent of the phase ambiguities so that a corresponding position determination is possible.
The direct, numerical combination of these four observations permits the resolution of the ambiguities of the difference between the two carrier phase measurements. Under certain circumstances, the results must be accumulated over a certain time in order to permit a unique resolution, i.e. the mean value of the calculated wide lanes is determined. This is because the pseudo-path measurements are generally too inaccurate. Another possibility consists in the use of a Kalman filter in which the observations are modeled in the simplest manner. Use of filters is explained, for example, in Euler, Hans-Jürgen and Goad, Clyde C., "On optimal filtering of GPS dual frequency observations without using orbit information", Bulletin Géodésique (1991) 65:130-143.
All these methods constitute a method for pre-processing the observations, i.e. the pseudo-paths and phase paths, these generally being used for the convergence of phase ambiguities. In general, these methods can be applied to raw undifferentiated observations or all differences described in the literature, such as double differences. If raw observations or a small differentiation level are used as the customary double difference between receivers and satellites, phase ambiguities in a double difference must be determined for a precise, differential position determination, since these integral values can be determined only in the double difference. This is necessary owing to still existing errors, for example satellite and receiver clock errors. By the combination of two carrier phase measurements, which are expressed as phase paths in equations (1) and (2), and the two pseudo-path measurements in equations (3) and (4) with subsequent double differentiation, the phase ambiguities can be determined and specified for widelanes without inclusion of the geometry, i.e. calculation of the position of the satellites and of the receiver. Here, the advantage of the widelane lies in this method. There, and as long as two identical satellites at two arbitrary locations are visible, the fixing can be carried out without actual determination of only locally correlating variables.
By using the two frequencies for the common derivation of all phase paths and pseudo-paths, the achievable accuracy is in principle limited to the two frequencies. An independent improvement or optimization of phase path or pseudo-path measurement cannot be performed. In addition carrier frequencies which are both coded and can be evaluated with respect to their phases with required accuracy are always required.
Owing to the observation types available in the system, corresponding methods of the prior art are always based on identical frequencies for pseudo-paths and phase paths. With the advent of discussions on extended or new satellite positioning systems and the greater number of available measurement frequencies, further methods were developed which in each case use pseudo-paths and phase paths of the frequencies appropriate in each case, i.e. always both these distance data.
A three-frequency method of the prior art is described, for example, in Vollath et al., "Analysis of Three-Carrier Ambiguity Resolution Technique for Precise Relative Position in GNSS-2", Navigation, Inst. of Nav., vol. 46, no. 1, pages 13-23. In this method, observations of three frequencies with the indices 1, 2 and 4 are used simultaneously for pseudo-paths and phase paths. The approach aims at splitting into geometry- and ionosphere-free multi-frequency solutions but always uses both variables measured per carrier frequency, i.e. pseudo-path and carrier phase.
US 2005/0080568 describes a method for resolving phase ambiguities, in which three GPS frequencies are likewise used. Here too pseudo-paths corresponding to the respective phase observations are always used.
A similar approach with phase paths and pseudo-paths based on identical frequencies is described in Jung et al., "Optimization of Cascade Integer Resolution with Three Civil Frequencies", Proceedings of the Inst. of Nav., 19.09.2000.

Phase ambiguity resolution method for a satellite based positioning system


A display apparatus displays information by changing a state of cholesteric liquid crystal with a first driver applying a bipolar voltage to the first electrode, and a second driver for applying a bipolar voltage to the second electrode, the bipolar voltage being of inverted characteristics of the bipolar voltage to be applied to the first electrode. The display apparatus includes a controller controlling the first driver to apply the bipolar voltage to the first electrode a plurality of times in a predetermined period and controlling the second driver to apply to the second electrode the bipolar voltage of the inverted characteristics of the bipolar voltage to be applied to the first electrode, at a same timing as an application of the bipolar voltage to the first electrode, whereby changing a state of cholesteric liquid crystal of a predetermined pixel to a predetermined state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus and a display method, and a liquid crystal driver circuit and a liquid crystal driving method, and more particularly to a display apparatus and a display method, and a liquid crystal driver circuit and a liquid crystal driving method, suitable for displaying information by using cholesteric liquid crystal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display apparatus utilizes, for example, TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal and STN (Super Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal of a simple matrix type, TFT (Thin Film Transistor) liquid crystal and MIM (Metal In Metal) liquid crystal of an active matrix type.
In the simple matrix type, X electrodes and Y electrodes are disposed in a matrix shape and these electrodes are turned ON/OFF at proper timings to drive liquid crystal in a cross portion. A liquid crystal display apparatus of the simple matrix type is generally lower in price than a product using the active matrix type, because of easy manufacture and a high yield resulting from a small number of electrodes and simple structure. However, since the electrode of a liquid crystal constituting a pixel is not independent, there is voltage interference and nearby cells are influenced so that each pixel is difficult to be displayed clearly. On the other hand, as different from the simple matrix type, the active matrix type switches between on and off for each pixel (an active element is added to each pixel to drive liquid crystal). As compared to the simple matrix type, although the active matrix type is excellent in the performances such as a faster response time, a small after-image and a broad angle of visibility, its manufacture cost is high.
In order to retain displaying information on a display apparatus utilizing the above-described liquid crystal, it is necessary to continue to apply voltage to the liquid crystal. As voltage is applied to the liquid crystal for a predetermined time, an after-image phenomenon called "burn-in" occurs. In order to prevent the burn-in, for example, frame inversion techniques are used which invert the voltage to be applied to a pixel electrode, at a predetermined period. If polarity inversion techniques such as frame inversion are adopted, an amplitude of voltage to be applied to a signal line is required to be twice as high as that of a monopolar drive. Common inversion techniques or the like are used in order to halve the voltage amplitude to be applied to the signal line.
In contrast to the liquid crystal display apparatus described above, in a liquid crystal display apparatus using cholesteric liquid crystal, the state transits (between a planar state and a focalconic state) depending upon an applied voltage. By using this, information can be displayed and the information once displayed can be retained without supplying a power (e.g., see "Liquid Crystal Device Handbook", published by the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd., Sep. 29, 1989, pp. 352 to 355).
Cholesteric liquid crystal selectively reflects light having a wavelength corresponding to a pitch of liquid crystal spiral layers in the planar state and becomes almost transparent in the focalconic state.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the structure of two electrodes of the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1.
Transparent column electrodes (ITO: Indium Tin Oxide) 12 are disposed in a stripe shape on a glass substrate 11-1 by vapor deposition (or sputtering), whereas transparent row electrodes (ITO: Indium Tin Oxide) 15 are disposed in a stripe shape on a glass substrate 11-1 by vapor deposition (or sputtering). Polyimide layers 13-1 and 13-2 of about several μm in thickness are disposed on the side of the glass substrates 11-1 and 11-2 where the transparent column electrodes 12 and transparent row electrodes 15 are vapor-deposited (or sputtered).
The glass substrates 11-1 and 11-2 are adhered together by a gap member or the like at a gap thickness of several μm (e.g., about 5 μm) in such a manner that the stripes of the transparent column electrodes 12 cross and face the stripes of the transparent row electrodes 15 via the polyimide layers 13-1 and 13-2. Cholesteric liquid crystal is injected into the gap between the glass substrates 11-1 and 11-2, for example, by a vacuum injection method to form a cholesteric liquid crystal film 14.
It is not necessary for the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 to orientate the polyimide layers and to mount a polarizing plate on the glass substrate, as in the case of generally used TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal.
A molecular structure of cholesteric liquid crystal is a special helical structure (spiral structure). Since the helical structure changes with the value of an applied bipolar pulse voltage, the state changes. As shown in FIG. 3, cholesteric liquid crystal can take two stable states of a focalconic state and a planar state, depending on the value of an applied bipolar pulse voltage. The planar state is the state that makes a specific wavelength range of light be subjected to interference scattering, and the focalconic state is the state that light is transmitted over a broad range.
Information can therefore be displayed on the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 in a first color determined by a wavelength range in which light is reflected in the planar state and a second color viewed through the liquid crystal display when liquid crystal is transparent in the focalconic state. Namely, for example, a monotone of a specific wavelength color and a black color can be displayed on the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 by making cholesteric liquid crystal irregularly reflect light in the specific wavelength range in the planar state and coloring a portion under the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 14 in black and making the black color to be transmitted and viewed in the focalconic state.
As shown in FIG. 3, a voltage Vps of a bipolar pulse voltage necessary for changing the state of cholesteric liquid crystal to the planar state is approximately a twofold of a voltage Vfs of a bipolar pulse voltage necessary for changing the state to the focalconic state.
As a bipolar pulse voltage is applied to a predetermined pixel electrode, the cholesteric liquid crystal takes the focalconic state or the planar state, and if a voltage is not applied thereafter, the state is maintained. As a bipolar voltage pulse is applied again if necessary, the cholesteric liquid crystal can change its state in accordance with the applied voltage value. Namely, the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 using cholesteric liquid crystal can retain the information displayed upon application of a bipolar voltage pulse, without being supplied with a power thereafter.
FIG. 4 shows examples of a drive voltage waveform to be applied to a pixel electrode when a display of a predetermined pixel of the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 is to be changed. If a bipolar pulse having a voltage Vps is applied to a predetermined pixel electrode in the focalconic state, the state is changed to the planar state so that the display color is the first color, whereas if a bipolar pulse having a voltage Vfs is applied to a predetermined pixel electrode in the planar state, the state is changed to the focalconic state so that the display color is changed from the first color to the second color.
In the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1, for example, as a bipolar pulse voltage having the voltage value Vps is applied to the whole panel, the whole display area enters the planar state and the displayed information is reset once, thereafter, as a bipolar pulse voltage of the voltage pulse Vfs is applied to a pixel electrode at a necessary position, predetermined information can be displayed and the displayed information can be retained without applying a voltage thereafter.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a typical liquid crystal driver circuit 21 of related art for driving cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1. Description will be made herein assuming that the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 displays n×m pixel information.
A column driver 31 is a driver which is supplied with a clock (CLK) signal and a data (DATA) signal representative of information to be displayed on the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1, connected to drive voltages ±V2 and GND (0 V), and applies predetermined voltages to column (signal) electrodes Y1 to Yn of the transparent column electrodes 12 of the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1, at predetermined timings to be described later with reference to FIG. 7.
A row driver 32 is a driver which is supplied with the clock (CLK) signal, connected to drive voltages ±V1 and the same GND as the GND supplied to the column driver 31, and applies predetermined voltages to row (scan) electrodes X1 to Xn of the transparent row electrodes 15 of the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1, at predetermined timings to be described later with reference to FIG. 7.
The drive voltages V1 and V2 have the voltage values satisfying V1+V2>Vps.
Next, description will be made on a specific example of displaying 3×3, 9 pixels in two colors (two colors, a specific wavelength color and a black color, for example, if the specific wavelength color is green, pixels are displayed in two colors of green and black).
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, description will be made on displaying six pixels (X1, Y1), (X1, Y2), (X2, Y2), (X2, Y3), (X3, Y2) and (X3, Y3) among 3×3, 9 pixels in black and the other pixels in the specific wavelength color. The specific wavelength color is displayed in the state that cholesteric liquid crystal in the planar state makes light of the specific wavelength color be subjected to interference scattering, whereas the black color is displayed by transmission through the transparent cholesteric liquid crystal in the focalconic state.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are timing charts illustrating the operations of the column driver 31 and row driver 32. FIG. 7 is the timing chart illustrating voltages and timings of a bipolar pulse applied to the column electrodes X1 to X3 by the column driver 31 and voltages and timings of a bipolar pulse applied to the row electrodes Y1 to Y3 by the row driver 32, in order to display information of 3×3, 9 pixels shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a timing chart illustrating bipolar pulses applied across pixel electrodes of (X1, Y1) to (X3, Y3) of 3×3, 9 pixels (across electrodes at cross points of the transparent column electrodes 12 and transparent row electrodes 15), by using the applied voltages described with reference to FIG. 7.
First, in order to reset presently retained information, as shown in FIG. 7 a bipolar pulse of a voltage V1 is applied to the column electrodes Y1 to Y3 and a bipolar pulse of a voltage −V2 is applied to the row electrodes X1 to X3. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, a bipolar pulse of (V1+V2) is applied across pixel electrodes corresponding to pixels (X1, Y1) to (X3, Y3). Since V1+V2>Vps, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 14 between two electrodes, the transparent column electrode 12 and transparent row electrode 15, enters the planar state and makes the specific wavelength light be subjected to interference scattering. Namely, the specific wavelength color is displayed on all pixels (X1, Y1) to (X3, Y3) (hereinafter called all planar reset).
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the row driver 32 sequentially scans the row electrodes X1, X2 and X3 and applies a bipolar pulse having a voltage V3 to select one of the row electrodes. In correspondence with the select timing of the row electrode, the column driver 31 selectively applies a bipolar pulse −V4 of inverted characteristics to the column electrodes Y1 to Y3. It is assumed herein that V3+V4>Vfs, V1>V3 and V2>V4.
As shown in FIG. 8, a bipolar pulse voltage of V3+V4>Vfs is applied to the six pixels (X1, Y1), (X1, Y2), (X2, Y2), (X2, Y3), (X3, Y2) and (X3, Y3) corresponding to the pixel electrodes of the row and column electrodes to which the bipolar pulses are applied at the same timing. Therefore, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer 14 between two electrodes of the transparent column electrode 12 and transparent row electrode 15 at the corresponding position enters the focalconic state and becomes transparent. Namely, the six pixels (X1, Y1), (X1, Y2), (X2, Y2), (X2, Y3), (X3, Y2) and (X3, Y3) are displayed in black.
Since V3+V4>Vfs and the voltage value Vps is approximately a twofold of the voltage value Vfs, V1+V2>V3+V4 is satisfied.
In this manner, information can be displayed on the cholesteric liquid crystal panel 1 by changing a desired pixel from a specific wavelength color to a black color after all planar reset.

Display apparatus, display method, liquid crystal driver circuit and liquid crystal driving method


An atomic layer deposition method is used to deposit a TiN or TiSiN film having a thickness of about 50 nm or less on a substrat. A titanium precursor which is tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium (TDMAT), tetrakis(diethylamido)titanium (TDEAT), or Ti{OCH(CH3)2}4 avoids halide contamination from a titanium halide precursor and is safer to handle than a titanium nitrate. After a monolayer of the titanium precursor is deposited on a substrate, a nitrogen containing reactant is introduced to form a TiN monolayer which is followed by a second purge. For TiSiN, a silicon source gas is fed into the process chamber after the TiN monolayer formation. The process is repeated several times to produce a composite layer comprised of a plurality of monolayers that fills a contact hole. The ALD method is cost effective and affords an interconnect with lower impurity levels and better step coverage than conventional PECVD or CVD processes.

The formation of contact holes or vias is a critical process during the fabrication of semiconductor devices. Metal wiring in a device forms vertical and horizontal interconnections that are shrinking in size and increasing in complexity as technology advances to 100 nm ground rules and beyond. Current contact interconnect technology that has a 130 to 150 nm minimum feature size is typically based on a tungsten (W) plug that is formed by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) comprising H2 and WF6 to produce a W layer that has good step coverage on a substrate. However, a Ti/TiN barrier layer is usually required to improve W adhesion to the substrate. Furthermore, a W nucleation layer is necessary to improve the W deposition process. Therefore, at least three deposition steps are employed in plug formation which adds complexity and cost to the device fabrication.
As depicted in FIG. 1a, a conventional plug formation process typically involves depositing a dielectric layer 3 on a substrate 1 containing a conductive layer 2. A contact hole 4 is patterned in dielectric layer 3. Next, a conformal Ti/TiN barrier layer 5 is deposited on dielectric layer 3 and within contact hole 4 by a CVD or plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) method. A W nucleation layer 6 is then grown on the barrier layer 5 followed by CVD or PECVD deposition of a W layer 7 on nucleation layer 6.
Referring to FIG. 1b, a planarization step such as a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process is used to lower the level of layers 5, 6, 7 so they are coplanar with the top of contact hole 4. In the case of a contact hole 4 that has a width w of about 100 nm or less, the conventional plug formation process does not adequately fill the contact hole 4. Note that an opening 8 still exists in contact hole 4 and this space is considered a defect that will degrade the performance of the final device. Therefore, an improved method is needed to fill a contact hole having a width of about 100 nm or less. Ideally, the most cost effective solution is a single material that can be deposited to completely fill the contact hole with good step coverage and without forming any voids.
A metal plug comprised of TiN is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,871. The TiN plug is used as an interconnect from a polysilicon electrode to an underlying conductive layer and is placed between Ti silicide layers that serve to reduce the resistance in the device. The method of TiN deposition is not specified.
A TiN contact that is deposited by a one or two step CVD or plasma enhanced CVD process is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,252. A two step method is necessary to achieve a 100% conformal layer on the substrate. While this technique is successful for filling contacts with a diameter in the 130 to 150 nm range, a problem similar to that depicted in FIG. 1 is anticipated for filling holes that have a width of 100 nm or less.
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a newer approach to filling contacts that involves depositing a monolayer of precursor on a substrate, purging the chamber, and introducing a reactant that reacts with the precursor to leave a monolayer of product. The cycle is typically repeated many times to build a layer with a sufficient thickness to be functional. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,613, a metal nitrate precursor such as Ti(NO3)4 is reduced with NH3 to yield a 5 nm thick film of TiN after 167 cycles. A slightly modified ALD technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,572 in which a precursor is injected twice to enable a more complete coverage of a substrate before a reactant is introduced into the ALD chamber. The reactant is then purged and reinjected to provide a precise stoichiometric composition. In this case a TiN film is grown at a rate of about 1 Angstrom per cycle using TiCl4 as precursor and NH3 as reactant. Using the same concept, a TiSiN thin film is formed by an ALD method in U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,924. Here, three different steps are used to introduce a Ti source gas, a N source gas and a Si source gas with a purge gas incorporated between each of the reactant gas pulses.
Since residual chloride is a contamination issue, an alternative means of introducing Ti into an ALD chamber is desirable. Although nitrates avoid the chloride contamination concern, they are highly flammable and explosive. Therefore, a Ti compound that is safer to handle than Ti(NO3)4 and which forms gaseous by-products is needed for an improved ALD method for filling small openings. In order to provide versatility in an interconnect scheme, alternative barrier layers containing a metal and nitrogen are needed. In some cases, a multi-element barrier layer could provide an advantage.

Method of manufacturing a contact interconnection layer containing a metal and nitrogen by atomic layer deposition for deep sub-micron semiconductor technology

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A highly efficient boiler made up of a housing containing upper and lower manifolds. Identical tubes connect the manifolds on the right and left sides to form a plurality of superimposed passages which the combustion gases must successively traverse laterally front to back and upwardly back to front.

Numerous designs exist in connection with this type of boiler: see, for example, Canadian Patent No. 1,182,698 to Cooke as well as 2,032,711 also to Cooke. However, these constructions, which mainly consist of upper and lower manifolds between which a plurality of serpentine liquid carrying tubes are mounted, do not permit the hot gases to pass laterally from passage to passage, the gases only rise.


A bearing scavenge system comprises a scavenging passage extending axially through a rotating shaft supported by the bearing assembly. Oil and air are drawn from an oil cavity of the bearing assembly and evacuated through the rotating shaft as the shaft rotates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to oil scavenging systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Proper scavenging of used oil in bearing assemblies is essential to prevent overheating and premature wear of gas turbine engine mechanical parts. The used oil is usually circulated to an oil treatment system to remove air and particles therefrom before being returned to the bearing assemblies.
Oil scavenging systems typically rely on a simple pressure imbalance to direct the used oil into collection tubes for transport to a main oil pump of the oil treatment system. More efficient systems have been devised, employing special pumps or spinning vanes to improve the used oil circulation. However, such special pumps and vanes increase the weight of the engine and thus the costs of operation.
Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient scavenge system for a bearing assembly that has a minimal weight.


Disclosed herein are a motor usable with a washing machine, which includes a drive shaft to enable supply of electric power to an electric device within a drum, and a washing machine having the same. The washing machine may include a cabinet, a tub placed within the cabinet, a drum rotatably placed within the tub and configured to accommodate laundry therein, at least one electric device mounted to the drum and configured to be operable by electric power, a motor including a ring-shaped stator mounted to a rear wall of the tub and a rotor placed around the stator so as to be rotated via electromagnetic interaction with the stator, the motor being driven by an external power source, and an electric power generating device including a power-generation unit to generate electric power to be transmitted to the electric device via driving of the motor.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a washing machine having a configuration to supply electric power to a drum of the washing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A washing machine serves to wash clothes using electric power. A general washing machine includes a tub to accommodate wash water therein, a drum rotatably installed within the tub, and a motor to enable rotational driving of the drum.
If the drum is rotated by the motor in a state in which laundry and wash water containing detergent are input into the drum, contaminants adhered to the laundry are removed via friction between the laundry, drum and wash water containing detergent.
Washing machines may be divided into indirect-drive type washing machines in which power of a motor is transmitted to a drum via a power transmission mechanism, such as a belt and a pulley, and direct-drive type washing machines in which power of a motor is directly transmitted to a shaft of a drum.
In a direct-type type washing machine, a motor includes a stator mounted to a tub, a rotor arranged around the stator to electromagnetically interact with the stator, and a drive shaft to transmit rotational power of the rotor to a drum.
The drum may be provided with an electric device to be driven by electric power, which may require a complex configuration for connection of an electric wire used to supply electric power to the electric device.
In addition, it may be necessary to mount an external power source to supply electric power to the electric device within a cabinet of the washing machine, which may increase the size of the cabinet.

Motor usable with washing machine and washing machine having the same