A cleaner of the present type disclosed is a water based, alkaline product that might contain solvents, surface active agents, chelating agents, antimicrobial agents and/or other materials such as builders, fragrances and dyes. The combination of solvents, chelating agents and antimicrobial agents used in the present aqueous solution produces a clear, stable product exhibiting no precipitous effects where the solvents are selected from the groups consisting of glycol ethers, or low molecular weight alcohols, the surface active agents are selected from the non-ionic surfactants' type, the chelating agents are selected from the group consisting of nitriloacetates, and the antimicrobial agents are selected from the group consisting of silicone quaternary ammonium salts.

Hard surface cleaners for kitchen and bath surfaces are generally water based, acid or alkaline products that might contain surface active agents, solvents, detergent builders, dyes and fragrances, to name a few examples of prior art components of such a composition. Some alkaline cleaners might also contain some form of chlorine or other agents that provide short term antimicrobial efficacy. These cleaners can be applied to a surface of intended use by manual means, for example, by use of a trigger spray or aerosol spray, and thereafter rubbed or scrubbed, and rinsed, to remove any soil present. The soil might consist of lime scale and other mineral deposits, soap scum, food residue, body oils and cosmetic residues. Such a surface substrate can be manufactured of tile, glass, grout, fiberglass or other polymeric materials that are conventionally used in kitchen and bathroom construction.
The prior art cleaners aforementioned have a serious drawback as they contain antimicrobial agents that provide short term antimicrobial activity. There are certain types of antimicrobial agents that provide extended antimicrobial activity but their use is incompatible with the usual components of hard surface cleaners. An unstable solution is formed that results in a precipitate. The precipitate extracts the antimicrobial agent from the solution eliminating its effectiveness as an antimicrobial and, to a lesser degree, as a cleaning agent as other components are removed as part of the precipitate. To the contrary, the combination of the chelating agents and the antimicrobial agents used in the present invention produces a clear, stable product exhibiting the cleaning and antimicrobial characteristics of these individual components.

Aqueous solution for tile, tub and grout cleaning


In accordance with one disclosed method, a first computing system may receive a message from an application hosted on a second computing system, the message being indicative of an event of the application. In response to receiving the message, the first computing system may generate a notification indicative of the event and send the generated notification to a client device. The first computing system may receive a response to the notification from the client device, and may process the response so as to cause the application to take an action responsive to the event.

Various systems have been developed that allow client devices to access applications and/or data files over a network. Certain products offered by Citrix Systems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., including the Citrix Workspace™ family of products, provide such capabilities. One feature of the Citrix Workspace™ is an intelligent activity feed for a user's many applications. Such an activity feed provides a streamlined mechanism for notifying a user of various application events in need of attention and allowing the user to efficiently act on such events, without requiring the user to switch context and separately launch the respective applications to take actions with respect to the different events.

Triggering event notifications based on messages to application users


A fuel pump assembly for an internal combustion engine includes a fuel pump housing, a cylindrical bore defined in the fuel pump housing, and a tappet assembly received in the cylindrical bore. The tappet assembly includes a one-piece shoe having a recess disposed in a bottom portion thereof, and a roller that is partially received within the recess and configured to rotate about a roller axis.

A fuel pump used to provide fuel to an internal combustion engine may be driven by a lobed camshaft that displaces a tappet assembly, within a cylindrical bore, with a roller that rolls along the cam lobe. The reciprocating motion of the tappet assembly generates fuel flow that is used by the internal combustion engine to generate power. These types of fuel pumps are popular in modern fuel systems, and are frequently used in common rail fuel systems applications where high fuel pressures are required. In the prior art discussed below, the motion of the tappet assembly within the cylindrical bore is guided using a guiding member.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,461, issued to Straub, discloses a high pressure fuel injection pump having a roller tappet that includes a follower body that is received in a lower portion of a generally cylindrical guide sleeve. The follower body is fitted in an inner wall of the guide sleeve, which limits lateral motion of the roller and moves within the pumping cylinder with the follower body.
U.S. Publication No. 2007/0071622, filed by Schoeppe, discloses a high pressure fuel pump assembly having a roller tappet that includes a roller that is received by a rectangular shoe. The shoe travels within a guide path formed by the walls of an insert having a rectangular inner surface. The outer surface of the insert is cylindrical so that the insert can be disposed within a cylindrical opening of the pump housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,087, issued to Shaull et al., discloses a fuel supply pump having a tappet structure body that includes a shell, a roller body, and a roller. The shell includes an opening (slit) within which a guide pin slides to guide the movement of the tappet structure body within a cylindrical space in the pump housing.


An integrated matrix of light emitting devices includes a plurality of isolated semiconductor LEDs positioned in a matrix of rows and columns on the surface of a substrate. A plurality of column buses, one each positioned adjacent each column of semiconductor LEDs, is provided with each of the column buses being connected to a first terminal of each semiconductor LED in the adjacent column of semiconductor LEDs and each of the column buses providing an exposed planar surface. A plurality of OEDs is positioned on the exposed planar surface of each column bus with a first terminal of each OED connected to the column bus.

Two dimensional arrays of visible light emitting devices, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are becoming very useful in displays for portable electronic devices, such as telephones, cellular telephones, two-way radios, pagers, etc. Generally, these two dimensional arrays include large numbers of light emitting devices, from 5000 to 80,000 or more, with a specific example being 144 rows by 240 columns.
One important factor in the quality of an image viewed on a given display, whether real or virtual, is the fill factor of the pixels within the emitting area. A high fill factor is desirable to obtain high quality images. For CRTs, the emission profiles of adjacent pixels actually overlap giving effective fill factors greater than unity, and producing a very smooth (not grainy) image. With matrix LED displays, however, it is not possible to achieve unity fill factors since there needs to be isolation between pixels. In addition, since conventional row/column matrix addressing schemes use metal row and column interconnects, there needs to be room for the column and row interconnect busses to pass through the pixel and to make contact to each electrode of the diode making up the pixel. For the columns, this interconnect component turns out to be the major component in the space required between pixels because of the minimum line width and alignment tolerances associated with this interconnect bus/contact processing.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,085, entitled "Electro-optic Integrated Circuit and Method of Fabrication", issued Jan. 9, 1996, and assigned to the same assignee, a method of fabricating LED arrays is disclosed utilizing implant technology for isolation and separation. As can be seen in the figures of the '085 Patent, one minimum dimension is needed for isolation, another for the column bus/cathode contact, and two alignment tolerances for placement of the metal. Generally, utilizing the present semiconductor fabrication techniques, 2 micron minimum line widths, spaces and alignment tolerances together with a 10 micron emission square for each diode give a minimum linear fill factor of 0.5 or an area fill factor of (0.5).sup.2 =0.25. The images produced by this display can be somewhat grainy as a result of this relatively low fill factor.
Another problem that is prevalent in the industry at the present time is the limitation on colors of LEDs that are available and/or practically manufacturable. When producing a full color display, for example, the three basic colors, red, green and blue, must be available. In many instances the colors generated by LEDs fabricated on one material system are far from the primary colors, resulting in less than desirable displays.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to provide light emitting device arrays which overcome these problems.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved light emitting device arrays.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved light emitting device arrays with a substantially improved fill factor.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved light emitting device arrays which require the same semiconductor chip area as prior arrays, for larger numbers of light emitting devices.
It is still another purpose of the present invention to provide new and improved light emitting device arrays with substantially improved color.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of fabricating light emitting device arrays.
It is a still further purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of fabricating light emitting device arrays which is simpler and more efficient than prior methods and which is easily adaptable to high production levels.

Color display with integrated semiconductor leds and organic electroluminescent devices


The present invention provides a method for testing performance of thin-film encapsulation. Through different combination designs of film layers, lateral water vapor intrusion paths of various thin films or encapsulation structures are formed, thereby obtaining a means to inspect a lateral water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity of thin films and provide a highly effective inspection means for encapsulation of display panels.

With development of display technology, flexible display devices have gained broader applications due to advantages such as light weight, thinness, bendability, wider viewing angles, etc. However, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials are very sensitive to water vapor and oxygen, and intrusion of a small amount of water vapor and oxygen will cause rapid attenuation of devices and affect a lifetime of OLEDs. In order to ensure a lifetime of flexible display devices, their encapsulation technology is particularly important.
In order to realize flexible display of OLEDs, thin-film encapsulation (TFE) is generally adopted to achieve protection of OLEDs. A conventional OLED TFE design generally adopts a stacked organic/inorganic film layer structure to achieve a purpose of blocking water vapor and oxygen. Wherein, a main effect of the inorganic film is blocking water vapor and oxygen, and the organic film mainly functions to encapsulates particles and mitigate stress.
Conventional TFE structures can effectively block water vapor and oxygen to a certain degree and ensure a lifetime of OLEDs. However, researches have found that OLED light-emitting materials often retract due to intrusion of water vapor at edges, leading to encapsulation failure. In fact, a non-light-emitting area of an OLED display screen is more prone to failure than a light-emitting area of the OLED display screen, which is mainly due to two reasons: first, because an organic film layer in TFE does not have a water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity, a non-light-emitting area does not have an organic film layer to mitigate stress and encapsulate particles, which makes particles at an edge area prone to cause water vapor intrusion, resulting in failure; second, water vapor and oxygen intrusion at an edge area is lateral, while water vapor and oxygen intrusion at a light-emitting area is vertical, and unsatisfactory film layer adhesion between TFE and an OLED layer may cause lateral water vapor intrusion more easily.
However, conventional technical approaches can only inspect a vertical water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity of thin films, and do not have an effective inspection approach for a lateral water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity of thin films and for a lateral water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity between thin films. In order to ensure effective encapsulation of OLEDs, the vertical water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity of thin films is equally important as the lateral one. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to develop an effective means for inspecting a lateral water vapor and oxygen barrier capacity of thin films and between thin films.

Method for testing performance of thin-film encapsulation

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A quantum dot container may include a body having a cavity and a phosphor disposed inside the cavity. The body may include a light transmitting portion and a bent portion connected to one end of the light transmitting portion and extending at a predetermined angle with respect to an extension direction of the light transmitting portion.

1. Field
Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a quantum dot container, and a display device that includes the quantum dot container.
2. Description of Related Technology
With the recent trend of low-carbon green economic growth all over the world, light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are regarded as a low-pollution eco-friendly product are being increasingly used as a backlight of various liquid crystal displays in order to reduce the energy consumption and the greenhouse gas.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a type of flat panel displays (FPDs), which is the most widely used these days. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal layer which is interposed between two substrates having electrodes, so that liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are rearranged upon applying voltage to the electrodes, thereby adjusting the amount of transmitted light.
A display device, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), may include a display panel for displaying an image and may include a backlight assembly for supplying light to the display panel. The backlight assembly may include a light source.
A set of substantially low-power high-efficiency light-emitting elements, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may be used as a light source in a backlight assembly. The LED light source may emit blue light.
The display device may include a thin pipe-shaped container filled with quantum dots ("quantum dot container") for converting the blue light from the LED light source to white light. The display panel may receive the white light for displaying various colors through, for example, color filtering.
This quantum dot container can be manufactured to have the maximum length of about 1000 mm and as the length of the quantum dot container is longer, it is difficult to be manufactured. For a large size display device, a plurality of quantum dot containers which are arranged in a low along an edge of a display panel is necessary to provide light to the large size display device. However, the quantum dot container inevitably includes a portion which does not include the quantum dots. Due to the portion of the quantum dot container which does not include the quantum dots, a non-emission area of the quantum dot container, the display device may have a substantially wide non-display bezel area. As a result, the size of the display device may be undesirably large.
It is to be understood that this background of the technology section is intended to provide useful background for understanding the technology disclosed and, as such, the technology background section may include ideas, concepts or recognitions that my not constitute a prior art.

Quantum dot container and related display device


A safety system for occupants of a vehicle having, e.g., acceleration sensors and/or pressure sensors for sensing a side crash. The safety system also includes a detector to detect the lateral velocity of the vehicle. The control of the restraining devices of the safety system is able to be influenced by the detected lateral velocity.

In addition to the acceleration sensors used in a central airbag control unit, at the present time peripheral acceleration sensors or pressure sensors are primarily used for sensing side crashes. The demands on crash detection are very high in the case of a side impact. Since the distance between the outer side of the vehicle and the vehicle occupant to be protected is very small, the decision about triggering or not triggering the side airbag or head airbag, for example, must be made in a very short time (e.g., 5-10 ms), so that these restraining devices can still inflate to provide protection. To achieve great robustness of the system with respect to unwanted triggerings of restraining devices, an additional, independent plausibilization circuit is used when detecting side crashes on the basis of signals from peripheral acceleration sensors. This is usually accomplished on the basis of the acceleration signal from a second acceleration sensor (e.g., positioned on the vehicle tunnel). Because of the acquisition of vehicle-dynamics data such as lateral acceleration, yaw rate, steering angle and wheel speeds possible today in vehicles having ESP (or other systems), the float angle as well as the longitudinal velocity and lateral velocity of the vehicle can be estimated. This information is also used for triggering reversible restraining devices, as well as the window lifters, the seat adjuster and the sunroof (pre-safe). However, the vehicle-dynamics information alone is not sufficient for triggering irreversible restraining devices.
German Patent Application No. DE 199 10 596 A1 describes a method and a system for controlling the triggering of restraining devices in a motor vehicle, provision being made to acquire actual values of the vehicle movement and to apply a triggering algorithm to the acquired actual values for generating triggering signals as needed for the triggering of at least one of the restraining devices. In so doing, the following steps are to be carried out: acquiring actual values of the vehicle movement; determining the setpoint state of the vehicle movement corresponding to the desired operating behavior of the vehicle; comparing an actual state of the vehicle movement, determined from at least a portion of the acquired actual values, to the corresponding setpoint state; parameterizing a triggering algorithm used for generating triggering signals, taking into account deviations between the actual state and the setpoint state of the vehicle movement; and application of the triggering algorithm to at least a portion of the acquired actual values for generating situation-adapted triggering signals as needed for triggering at least one of the restraining devices.
International Application WO 90/09298 also describes a method for triggering restraining devices in a safety system for vehicle occupants, in which an acceleration signal is measured, this acceleration signal is converted by time integration into a velocity, and in which at least one threshold value is specifiable for the velocity for forming a triggering criterion. In this method, the threshold value used as triggering criterion is moreover alterable as a function of one or more state variables or past state variables of the vehicle.


A guide assembly for a disc brake and method of mounting. The guide assembly may have a guide pin that includes a mounting portion and a guiding portion. A retaining bore of a brake carrier may receive the guide pin and retain the mounting portion. The guiding portion may protrude from an inboard-side of the brake carrier and may slidably support a brake caliper.

Disc brakes are commonly used for braking heavy vehicles such as trucks, buses and coaches.
Heavy vehicle disc brakes typically comprise a brake carrier, a brake caliper and a brake rotor. The brake carrier is arranged to carry brake pads on each side of the brake rotor. The brake caliper is slidably mounted on the brake carrier by at least one guide assembly, such that when the disc brake is actuated, the brake caliper is able to slide with respect to the brake carrier. As the brake caliper slides inboard, the brake pads are urged onto the opposing faces of the brake rotor in a clamping action and a braking action is affected.
The guide assembly comprises a guide pin. In use, the guide pin is mounted on the brake carrier and located in the sliding bore of the brake caliper so that the brake caliper can slide along the guide pin. Typically, each guide pin comprises a smooth outer guide sleeve along which the brake caliper slides and a guide bolt which extends through the guide sleeve and is screwed into a threaded receiving hole of the brake carrier to retain the guide pin.
This arrangement has been proven over many years of usage. However, the guide pin has multiple parts requiring precision manufacturing. The guide pin requires careful fitting to ensure it is it correctly located. The guide bolt tightening process can cause error. It has also been recognized that in certain testing conditions, specifically when a vehicle undergoes a significant number of forward and reverse movements, there is a risk that the guide bolt of the disc brake may rotate and loosen from the threaded receiving hole of the carrier. The cause of the loosening bolt problem is the rotation and/or translation of the guide sleeve and the rotation and/or translation of the guide sleeve being frictionally transmitted into rotation of the bolt.
The present teachings seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.

Meritor Heavy Vehicle Braking Systems (UK) Limited


A microlens for a multiple emitter laser diode consists of narrow slices cut out from molded aspheric lenses. Each slice is mounted in front of one emitter and the slice position is adjusted in the cross-emitter direction to have all emitter images aligned in a straight line, thus compensating for any lack of straightness in the multiple emitter diode.

Many high power laser diodes consist of a linear array of emitters. As the emitters have to be separated for thermal and optical reasons, it is not uncommon to have the emitter array extend beyond 10 mm. When mounting such an array onto a heat sink it is difficult to keep it flat, thus the emitters are no longer in a straight line. This deviation from straightness is known in the art as "smile". For a 10 mm wide diode the "smile" is typically from 1 to 10 microns. Due to the high divergence angle of laser diodes the focal length of the coupling lenses used (known as "microlenses") is very short. When a cylindrical lens is used as a fast axis microlens, as shown in FIG. 1, the slightest deviation from straightness prevents the image of the emitters from forming a straight line (or overlapping lines). For example, in FIG. 1 when using a cylindrical lens 4, having a focal length of about 1 mm, a 10 micron "smile" will cause the images of the emitters to bow by 1 mm when projected 100 mm from diode. Prior art methods such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,245 attempt to correct the "smile" by optical means, requiring extra optical elements and increasing the numerical aperture of the optics. The present invention corrects the "smile" in a simple manner. Other prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,722 bend the cylindrical lens to match the straightness error of the laser diode. Bending the microlens can provide corrections for simple deviations from straightness but not for complex curves.

Microlensing for multiple emitter laser diodes


An elongated conduit support to suspend a plurality of conduits from an overhead structure includes a generally flat, elongated central plate having with a plurality of closed-perimeter conduit holes to receive conduits therethrough. The elongated plate has strengthening flanges extending along its longitudinal edges of the central plate to prevent buckling of the central plate due to the weight of the conduits and suspension-receiving means including at least first and second passageways, each of which is generally parallel to the central plate and close to the plane of the central plate and perpendicular to the longitudinal side edges to hold the plate so that its plane is substantially vertical and to transfer the weight of the conduit support and the conduits thereon to the suspension means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conduit support to be attached to a building structure to support a plurality of conduits having electrical conductors enclosed in them. In particular, it relates to a conduit support that can be used either as a trapeze bar suspended from an overhead part of the building structure or as a support directly attached to a rigid part of the building structure.
2. The Prior Art
It is common in the wiring installations in commercial buildings to arrange a group of conduits so that they extend generally parallel to each other for relatively long distances in or close to the same plane. According to the National Electrical Code promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, such conduits must be supported at regular intervals.
A typical conduit supporting structure, commonly referred to as a trapeze because of its appearance, consists of at least two suspension members spaced apart from each other and extending downwardly from an overhead structure with a conduit support bar attached at or near the lower ends thereof to be held in a horizontal position by the bar. The conduit support bar must be strong enough to allow several conduits to be supported on it or suspended from it without appreciably bending it in response to the combined weight of the conduits and the conductors within them. The suspension members, while usually not flexible, are subjected only to longitudinal tensile stress and thus need not be as resistant to transverse stress as the support bar. It is important that the conduits be held in fixed, selected locations on the support bar, and this has been accomplished heretofore by individual clamping means that are individually attached to the bar as the trapeze is assembled.
One of the problems with such trapeze structures is that the bars are cut to the desired length on the job, not beforehand, and that the individual clamping devices that fit the bar and hold the conduits in place are selected and assembled with the bar and the conduits. This requires the electricians to spend time doing such cutting, selecting, and assembling of the components for each trapeze.


Methods are described to communicate source color volume information in a coded bitstream using SEI messaging. Such data include at least the minimum, maximum, and average luminance values in the source data plus optional data that may include the color volume x and y chromaticity coordinates for the input color primaries (e.g., red, green, and blue) of the source data, and the color x and y chromaticity coordinates for the color primaries corresponding to the minimum, average, and maximum luminance values in the source data. Messaging data signaling an active region in each picture may also be included.

Recommendation ITU-T H.265 [1] (also known as HEVC) for "coding of moving video," in Annex D, "Supplemental enhancement information" (SEI), and Annex E, "Video usability information" (VUI), describes the syntax for providing supplemental SEI and VUI information in a coded bitstream to enable a decoder to better map the decoded samples into a display.
In parallel with the MPEG/ITU standardization processes, the society of motion picture and television engineers (SMPTE) has also defined a number of Recommendations related to communicating metadata related to the color volume information for both the source video and a targeted display. For example, the SMPTE ST 2094 suite of documents (e.g., [5] and [6]) define metadata for use in color volume transforms of video content. These metadata may vary scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame. For example, such metadata may assist a decoder to present high-dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG) data on a display having a smaller color volume than that of the mastering display used for mastering the source images.
As used herein, the term "metadata" relates to any auxiliary information that is transmitted as part of the coded bitstream and assists a decoder to render a decoded image. Such metadata may include, but are not limited to, color space or gamut information, prediction parameters, reference display parameters, and auxiliary signal parameters, as those described herein.
While Annexes D and E of H.265 support a number of color volume related metadata, they do not carry all the required metadata for the most efficient display management of HDR content. In July of 2016, in the joint collaborative team on video coding (JCT-VC) meeting in Geneva, three proposals [2-4] were submitted on how to describe content color volume information using SEI or VUI messaging. Some of these proposals were influenced by SMPTE ST. 2094 [5], but they were considerably different in scope.
In [2], a content-SEI message is proposed to signal content color gamut in 2D, which describes the actual color distribution of the video content. In VUI, the variable colour_primaries is used to indicate the container color gamut instead of true source color gamut [1]. In [3], multiple primary expressions and spatial regions are proposed to be associated with the identified source characteristics. In [4], a content color volume SEI message is proposed to indicate the color volume occupied by the content. It uses an (x, y, Y) description of the color coordinates and has slices of luminance Y with associated polygons for each slice. These proposals have multiple shortcomings such as: provide information of little use to most display manufacturers, may add significant overhead, and may require too much computational overhead to generate. To improve existing coding and decoding schemes, as appreciated by the inventors here, improved techniques for generating and communicating source color volume information are required.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Source color volume information messaging

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


According to the present invention, a lower electrode is formed on a semiconductor substrate and overgrows upward to form one electrode of a capacitor having a mushroom-shaped section. An insulation film is formed so as to at least cover the lower electrode. An upper electrode is formed so as to oppose the lower electrode and to cover at least the insulation film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device for use in a memory cell capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional cell capacitor is shown in FIG. 1. After a P-type silicon substrate 1 is thermally oxidized to form a field oxide film 2 having a thickness of 5000 .ANG., an oxide film 3 having a thickness of 100 .ANG. is formed. Ions As.sup.+ are then implanted to form an N.sup.+ layer 4. A polysilicon 5 is deposited and patterned to serve as a plate electrode.
The cell capacitor having a plane structure as shown in FIG. 1 is simple to manufacture and has been widely applied to the extent of 1 M-bit dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Since the plane structure, however, reduces the area of a cell when the degree of integration of the cell is enhanced, the thickness of a gate oxide film (oxide film 3) needs to be thinned to retain stored charges to some extent, which degrades the reliability of the oxide film 3. The plane structure cannot be physically applied to a cell capacitor of a DRAM of 4 M-bit or more.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


An improved scanning station and method for a tray-fed scanning acoustic microscope has a vacuum system which at least assists in immobilizing loosely held parts in the trays during insonification by an ultrasonic beam generator.

This invention relates to scanning acoustic microscopes used in the non-destructive testing of microcircuit parts, and is addressed primarily to a system and method for enhancing the capability of such systems to immobilize the parts under test.
A scanning acoustic microscope typically has an ultrasonic beam generator that is traversed rapidly back and forth over a part under test. To traverse the entire part, either the beam generator is scanned in two dimensions, or in one dimension, as the part is translated through the beam in the orthogonal dimension.
The image output of the scanning acoustic microscope is employed for the non-destructive analysis of the internal physical characteristics of the part. The scanning acoustic microscope is able to penetrate through the part surface and image microscopic internal features in solids such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. Typical components tested include microelectronic components such as integrated circuits (IC's), multi-layer ceramic capacitors, and multi-chip modules. Faults typical of the parts tested include delaminations, cracks, tilts of discrete layers, disbonds, underfill coverage, and voiding.
Such components may be carried to the scanning station in trays known in the art as "JEDEC" trays. JEDEC trays are characterized by comprising an X-Y matrix of individual cells or pockets custom shaped and sized for the particular parts being carried.
It is a characteristic of high-frequency ultrasound that, while able to penetrate solids such as those described, high frequency ultrasound beams cannot pass through an air gap between the ultrasound beam generator and the part under test without severe attenuation. A fluid medium is therefore used to couple the high-frequency output of the scanning head of the ultrasonic beam generator to the part. The fluid medium is usually water, although alcohol and other fluids may be used. In one common approach, a coupling fluid is dispensed in a falling stream or an upwardly ejected fountain which surrounds the ultrasonic beam.
It is the inevitable design trend in microelectronics that parts such as IC's are becoming ever smaller. And as they diminish in size, the parts become more difficult to handle and manipulate, especially when tested in a production environment. In particular, a coupling fluid stream is very apt to agitate and even dislodge such small parts from the trays as they move through the scanning acoustic microscope.
It is important to understand that JEDEC trays were developed as a means to carry integrated circuits and other semiconductor products from one semiconductor fabrication step or station to another. As the individual parts may be removed from and placed in their individual pockets a number of times during the fabrication process, typically by vacuum "pickers", they must be loosely held in their pockets so that they may be easily removed and replaced without damage to the parts.
JEDEC trays were not designed to hold parts during inspection by a scanning ultrasonic microscope which requires that the parts be completely immobilized during inspection. The loose fit of part to pocket facilitates the basic transport function of JEDEC trays, but creates significant problems when trays of parts are inspected by a scanning ultrasonic microscope. One major problem is the dislodgement of parts, particular small parts, from the trays. A second significant problem is to immobilize the parts as they are being ultrasonically scanned.
If the parts are not immobilized during the insonification operation, the coupling fluid stream agitates the parts, causing them to move in their respective pockets as they are being interrogated by the scanned ultrasound beam. Movement of the parts during inspection distorts the inspection signals developed, producing errors which may be serious enough to vitiate the entire inspection process. For example, if the inspection process is intended to identify very fine cracks in a semiconductor die, the signal distortions introduced by part movement during ultrasonic interrogation may introduce errors of such magnitude that such cracks cannot be reliably detected.
Another problem with scanning JEDEC trays of parts is that the typically plastic trays may be warped as a result of defective manufacture or prolonged use or abuse. A warped tray changes the relative elevation and planarity of the parts in the two-dimensional array of parts which may result in inspection errors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,252 to Kessler et al., of common ownership herewith, addresses the dislodgement and immobilization problems, disclosing and claiming a tray-fed scanning acoustic microscope system in which trays of parts are each paired with an open mesh screen to hold the parts in the trays as they pass through the scanning station. The screens are removed from the trays after the scanning operation has been completed. This technique requires a large number of screens of various sizes and configurations to accommodate different tray sizes and configurations. The screens represent an added capital and maintenance expense, and their handling generates a labor cost and delay.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,136, also issued to the owner of the present application, teaches a solution to the problem of dislodged parts, and in some applications of part immobilization, by providing a single stationary hold-down structure between the ultrasound beam generator and the part-holding trays. The cost of multiple screens is overcome by the use of a single hold-down structure which prevents the coupling fluid from dislodging parts from their trays during the inspection process.
The system and method of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,136 functions best when used with JEDEC or other trays of parts in which height (thickness) of the individual parts (typically identical) being tested is greater than the depth of the pocket which holds the part. The stationary hold-down structure is thus able to physically engage the protruding parts and firmly immobilize them in their respective pockets during interrogation by the ultrasonic beam.
However, in applications in which the height of the inspected parts is less than the containing pocket depth, the stationary hold-down structure, while still effective to prevent part dislodgement, is not as effective in immobilizing the contained parts during inspection. To combat the inspection accuracy problem, it is necessary in certain applications to slow the scanning rate, however this reduces the inspection throughput rate.

Tray-fed scanning microscope system and method primarily for immobilizing parts during inspection


A plasma display panel includes barriers arranged in a striped form on a front plate, a sustaining electrode formed over the entire surface of a backing plate, insulating layers coated on the sustaining electrode in a matrix form, first electrodes formed on the first insulating layers in a striped form, second insulating layers coated on the first electrodes in a striped form, and second electrodes formed on the second insulating layers. In the driving method, a pulse train having a predetermined period, generated so as to have an amplitude equivalent to a second voltage subtracted from a first voltage and riding on the second voltage, is applied to the sustaining electrode; one pulse generated so as to have an amplitude equivalent to a fourth voltage subtracted from a third voltage, is applied to the first electrodes when the pulse train equals the second voltage and rides on the fourth voltage; sequential pulses generated so as to have an amplitude equivalent to a sixth voltage subtracted from a fifth voltage, is applied to the second electrodes also when the pulse train equals the second voltage; a voltage for creating discharge is equivalent to the sixth voltage subtracted from the third voltage and greater than a discharge firing voltage; and a voltage for maintaining discharge once created while suppressing the discharge if not created, is equivalent to the fifth voltage subtracted from the first voltage and greater than a minimum discharge sustaining voltage but smaller than the discharge firing voltage.

The present invention relates to a structure and driving method of a plasma display panel, and more particularly to the structure and driving method of a plasma display panel having three electrodes.
Generally speaking, a plasma display panel (PDP) is a matrix-type display device and adopts a line-sequence driving method which lengthens the light-emission time, to double the number of signal lines of a dot-sequence driving method. An extended light-emission time enhances luminance. However, for DC color PDPs, the device itself is inefficient when compared with that used for a monochrome PDP. Therefore, luminance suffers when adopting the line-sequence driving method to a DC color plasma display panel, which is typically used only for monochrome plasma display panels.
To overcome the luminance deficiency, PDP driving methods have been proposed which protract the light-emission time for one field. One example of such a method is a so-called memory type driving method, wherein, if a cell is turned on once, it stays on for one field or one sub-field. In other words, while a plasma display panel using the line-sequence scanning method performs writing and erasing operations during every horizontal scanning period, in the memory type PDP, cells turned on for one horizontal scanning period stay illuminated for the duration of the next horizontal scanning period. Here, if the memory-type plasma display panel is operated using space charge, the panel is classified as a DC panel, and if the panel uses wall charge, it is classified as an AC panel.
FIG. 1 is a conventional plasma display panel showing the structure of a DC pulse, memory-type plasma display panel disclosed by NHK of Japan.
Referring to FIG. 1, the plasma display panel has a front plate 1 and a backing plate 2. Two writing anodes 3 and one auxiliary anode 4 are alternately and horizontally (or vertically) arranged in striped form on front plate 1. Backing plate 2 has a plurality of cathodes 5 vertically (or horizontally) arranged in striped form and a plurality of barriers 6 which surround both a writing discharge area 7 for discharge with writing anode 3 and an auxiliary discharge area 8 for discharge with auxiliary anode 4.
FIG. 2 shows waveforms applied to the respective electrodes of the plasma display panel in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, when cathodes K.sub.1, K.sub.2, K.sub.3 are sequentially scanned, an auxiliary discharge cell is discharged to continuously supply charge particles to a main discharge area. Here, if a main discharge should be created, a writing pulse is loaded before a sustaining pulse so that a cell of cathode K.sub.1 generate discharge. Then, the sustaining pulse is continuously applied to maintain the discharge. The sustaining and scanning pulses should not coincide with each other, so that cells in which a writing-discharge is created stay on, while those in which a writing-discharge is not created stay off. That is, the auxiliary anode supplies charge particles, while the main anode is used for the writing and sustaining of discharge and the cathode is used for erasing the discharge.
However, the structure and driving method of the above plasma display panel has the following disadvantages:
First, writing discharge cells and auxiliary discharge cells (not used for writing) are disposed on the same plane. This is unfavorable for high resolution displays.
Secondly, since sustaining as well as writing discharges are performed by the main anode, its line resistance comes into question. In memory type panels, if the line resistance is great, all the cathodes under the main anode may be turned on, resulting in high current flow through the main anode and thus a large voltage drop. This would reduce operating margin. In practice, indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and Ni each have line resistances high enough to cause the above problem. The use of Au or Ag reduces line resistance, but since mercury adhering to the cathodes' surface is used in such cases to suppress damage thereto due to ion bombardment in DC memory-type PDPs, electrical opens may develop.
Thirdly, when a plurality of cells under one anode are turned on, the output impedance of a driving circuit should be low, such that the necessary driving waveforms are complicated.

Structure and driving method of a plasma display panel


A heating and/or cooling device having one or more thermoelectric threads. The thermoelectric thread includes a plurality of individual thermoelectric elements, each thermoelectric element having a first side and a second side. A set of first side electrodes connects at least some of the thermoelectric elements at the first side, and a set of second side electrodes connects at least some of the thermoelectric elements at the second side. An electrically insulative covering at least partially surrounds the plurality of individual thermoelectric elements. The electrically insulative covering is configured to be woven into or otherwise integrated with a fabric.

During exercise, the human body produces a lot of heat. Depending on the intensity, and the environment in which it is performed, exercise can elevate the body's core temperature from a nominal 37° C. to in excess of 40° C. Given the drastic consequences of an elevated body core temperature (e.g., decreased performance, exhaustion, stroke, and even death), this body heat should be dissipated rapidly. Dissipation pathways include convection (air-movement), conduction (cool-contact), evaporation (sweat), and radiation (electromagnetic). As the surrounding temperature increases, heat dissipation via these pathways can be challenging. Wearable devices that can assist an athlete's body in thermoregulation during exercise can be beneficial. A complementary problem can also exist for athletes (e.g., mountain climbers, figure skaters, divers, swimmers, etc.) that are in near-rest modes of activity in very cold environments. Existing commercial heating and cooling applications such as seats, clothing, etc. do not adequately address these heating and cooling needs of users, such as athletes to cite one example, as they often require bulky heating or cooling elements to be integrated with the particular temperature-controlled item.

Thermoelectric thread for a heating and/or cooling device

The Regents of the University of Michigan


An optical cable comprising an optical core and an external sheath surrounding the optical core, wherein the external sheath comprises an inner layer circumferentially enclosing the optical core and an outer layer circumferentially enclosing the inner layer and comprising at least one longitudinal cavity accessible from outside the external sheath and extending through at least a portion of the outer layer thickness. The inner and outer layers of the external sheath are made of a first material having a first tensile strength, while the cavities in the outer layer are filled with a second material having a second tensile strength lower than the first tensile strength.

As known, an optical cable typically comprises an optical core including one or more optical fibers and an external sheath enclosing the optical core. The external sheath is typically made of a polymeric material and has the primary function of protecting the optical core from the mechanical point of view.
Within the external sheath, the optical fibers may be arranged in various ways. In particular, in the so-called "loose tube cables", the optical fibers are loosely arranged within one or more buffer tubes. Each buffer tube typically contains multiple fibers, and the individual fibers are free to move relative to one another within the buffer tube. In the so-called "central loose tube cables" (briefly, CLT cables), all the optical fibers of the cable are loosely arranged within a single buffer tube, which is in turn enclosed by the external sheath. In the so-called "multi loose tube cables" (briefly, MLT cables), the optical fibers are instead divided into multiple units (e.g. 3, 4 or 6 units), the optical fibers of each unit being loosely arranged within a respective buffer tube. The buffer tubes are then stranded according to an open helix or S-Z arrangement, typically about a central strength member. A binder may also be provided around the buffer tubes for retaining them. Both in CLT cables and in MTL cables, the external sheath may comprise two side strength members (typically made of steel or fiber reinforced resin) embedded within the sheath's thickness and placed at diametrically opposed positions.
Loose tube cables are typically used for applications where the optical fibers must be individually extracted from the cable and spliced, e.g. in FTTH and FTTP applications. For instance, drop cables of FTTH or FTTP networks are typically implemented as CLT or MLT cables with a particularly reduced diameter (less than 10 mm).
When optical cables are intended for aerial installation or buried underground installation, their external sheath shall be designed to provide high abrasion resistance (e.g. due to rubbing against tree branches, in case of aerial installation in the proximity of trees) and high crush resistance. To this purpose, the cables are typically provided with high thickness sheaths, namely sheaths whose thickness typically ranges from about 1.0 mm to about 2.0 mm. Besides, high hardness materials are typically used for the cable sheath, such as HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene).
WO 2015/014386 in the name of the same Applicant discloses a cable with an optical core and an external sheath which comprises sections made of two materials with different fracture toughness values, e.g. HDPE and LDPE. The section(s) made of the material with the lowest fracture toughness value (e.g. LDPE) are accessible from outside the cable and extend substantially through the whole sheath's thickness.


An apparatus for iteratively estimating a channel in a receiver of a wireless communication system is provided. The apparatus includes a channel estimator configured to estimate a first channel value by using a pilot symbol included in a received signal, a demodulator configured to demodulate the received signal by using the first channel value, a decoding unit configured to decode the received signal demodulated by the demodulator, a feedback determining unit configured to determine whether to iteratively estimate the channel, and a feedback device configured to feed back an input value of the decoding unit when the feedback determining unit determines to iteratively estimate the channel, wherein when the feedback determining unit determines to iteratively estimate the channel, the channel estimator estimates a second channel value by using at least one of the pilot symbol included in the received signal and a data symbol received from the feedback device.

An Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme transmits data by using a multi-carrier. The OFDM scheme is a form of Multi-Carrier Modulation (MCM) scheme that converts a serial input symbol sequence into parallel symbol sequences and transmits the same through respective orthogonal subcarriers.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a pilot structure according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, in the OFDM scheme, a transmitter may dispose pilot symbols in a two-dimensional structure of a time (symbol) axis and a frequency (subcarrier) axis. Accordingly, as compared with other systems, a receiver is advantageous in estimating a channel having multipath fading characteristics.
The receiver demodulates and decodes a data symbol by using channel information estimated by using a pilot symbol included in a signal received from the transmitter. Accordingly, a channel estimation performance improves as the number of pilot symbols increases. However, in the wireless communication system, since the number of data symbols decreases as the number of pilot symbols increases, the number of pilot symbols allocatable to signals is limited.
When the channel estimation performance degrades due to a limited number of pilot symbols, the performance of the wireless communication system may degrade. Therefore, the wireless communication system requires a scheme for reducing a channel estimation error.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Apparatus and method for estimating channel in wireless communication system


A system for supporting display panels from an overhead support, comprising: two or more spaced-apart, elongated, hollow, extruded fixed rails which are attachable to an overhead support together with one or more spaced-apart, elongated, hollow, extruded moveable rails. A plurality of connectors are slidably disposed within the fixed rails, the connectors having a projection extending though an elongated gap in the moveable rail and into slidable receipt in the fixed rail. The moveable rails provide support for a display supporting clip.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to alignable overhead support systems for hanging displays such as signs and panels or other objects from ceilings or overhead rails or the like, which support system is fully adjustable in a plane normal to the vertical axis.
2. Prior Art
Commercial establishments always need overhead display support for signage, merchandising, and the like. The signage which is intended to be hung from such overhead arrangements typically needs to be changed on a regular basis.
Often, such signage or support members may need to be attached to an overhead ceiling which does not have any structure to attach to, such as grid, as in the case of plaster ceilings.
It is an object of the present invention, to provide a system of supports which are moveable, and may overcome any surface irregularities in the overhead support structure.
It is a further object of the present invention, to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is still yet a further object of the present invention, to provide an overhead support system which is adjustable, maneuverable, and readily changeable, permitting the objects that they support, to be readily changed and/or accommodated as needed.

Overhead adjustable track support arrangement


A system for supporting translation of virtual IP addresses to Ethernet/MAC addresses in a multi-Virtual Network environment, in which address resolution tables are generated and maintained by Virtual Networking Devices. Virtual Networking Device (VND) sends and/or receives Virtual Network-specific ARP traffic. The Virtual Network-specific ARP traffic includes ARP requests or responses that map a MAC address to an IP address in the private IP address space of an associated Virtual Private Network. The disclosed Virtual Networking Devices can therefore operate in configurations in which multiple independent entities operate on separate Virtual Networks, and where servers may be accessible via virtual IP addresses within the private IP address spaces of associated Virtual Networks.

The present invention relates generally to computer networks and communication systems, and more specifically to a system and a method for extending the address resolution protocol (ARP) for use in Internet Protocol (IP) Virtual Networks.
A Virtual Network is an allocation of networking resources that enables independent networking operation over a physical network of devices on which it is configured. In other words, a Virtual Network may be configured over a core set of networking devices, such as devices commonly referred to as switches and/or routers, to enable a geographically distributed group of hosts to interact and be managed as a single logical network. Some Virtual Networks are referred to as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The "private" aspect of a Virtual Network may refer to the use of procedures to ensure secure communications over the Virtual Network, by providing confidentiality, message integrity and authentication among participating users and hosts. Virtual Networks may also be private in the sense that they are accessible only to associated sets of users. Accordingly, any Virtual Network with controlled access may be considered a Virtual Private Network. Various existing carrier services provide such controlled access Virtual Networks, including Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based services.
As it is generally known, MPLS integrates what is generally referred to as "Layer 2 information" describing individual network links in terms of their bandwidth, latency, and/or utilization, into the Internet Protocol (IP) Layer 3 of an autonomous network, such as a router core operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). When packets enter an MPLS-based network, Label Edge Routers (LERs) give them a label (identifier). These labels not only contain information based on the routing table entry associated with the received packet, (i.e., destination, bandwidth, delay, and other metrics), but also refer to the source IP address, Layer 4 socket number information, and differentiated service attributes. Once this classification is complete and mapped, different packets are assigned to corresponding Labeled Switch Paths (LSPs), in which Label Switch Routers (LSRs) place outgoing labels on the packets. By use of these LSPs, network operators can divert and route traffic based on data-stream type and Internet-access customer, thus effectively creating a limited access Virtual Network.
In various types of Virtual Networks, including MPLS provided Virtual Networks, an independent, associated IP address space may be associated with each Virtual Network. Such a Virtual Network may be referred to as a Virtual IP Network. For the purposes herein, the term Virtual Networking Device (VND) will be used to refer to a networking device capable of simultaneously handling traffic on multiple Virtual IP Networks.
As it is generally known, the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), as defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 826, provides mappings between IP addresses and Ethernet (MAC) addresses within a network. As it is generally known, IP addresses are layer 3 addresses in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. Layer 3 addresses are also referred to as Network layer addresses. The Network layer is concerned with knowing the address of the neighboring nodes in the network and selecting routes through the network. Routers are typically considered to be layer 3 devices, and the routing of packets through a network is often based on layer 3 addresses contained within packets.
In existing systems, when a router wishes to send data to another device connected via Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet link, it issues an ARP request containing the IP address of that device. The ARP request is then broadcast to all devices on a shared physical link to which the router is connected. The destination device, seeing its own IP address in the request, then responds with an ARP reply containing its own Ethernet address. The original sender can then store the mapping of the IP address to the Ethernet address internally and use it to generate Ethernet headers for outgoing data traffic having that IP address as a destination address. This approach breaks down when devices are capable of being connected to multiple Virtual IP Networks at the same time, since hosts on separate Virtual Networks that share a physical link may both wish to use the same IP address.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system for translating IP addresses to Ethernet/MAC addresses that operates correctly in the case where a networking device is connected to multiple Virtual IP Networks.

Extension of address resolution protocol (ARP) for internet protocol (IP) virtual networks


A new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant named ‘Oscopet2’, characterized by its upright and outwardly spreading plant habit; moderately vigorous growth habit; narrow leaves; star-shaped purple-colored flowers; and relative tolerance to low temperatures.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petunia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Oscopet2'.
The new Petunia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new cold-tolerant Petunia cultivars with small leaves and attractive flower coloration.
The new Petunia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in March, 2004 in Asakura-city, Fukuoka, Japan of a proprietary selection of Petunia×hybrida identified as code number peku34, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Petunia×hybrida identified as code number peku72, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Petunia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Asakura-city, Fukuoka, Japan in May, 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Petunia plant by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Asakura-city, Fukuoka, Japan since August, 2005, has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A control device of a hybrid vehicle causing a first electric motor to apply an engine reduction torque for reducing a rotation speed of an engine at the time of stopping a rotation of the engine, when it is determined that an output torque of a second electric motor is in a predetermined torque range near zero including zero during transition to stopping the rotation of the engine with the engine reduction torque applied by a first electric motor at the time of stopping the rotation of the engine being set to a predetermined engine reduction torque, the engine reduction torque is changed from the predetermined engine reduction torque.

A hybrid vehicle is well known that includes an electric differential portion having a differential mechanism distributing power from an engine to a first electric motor and an output rotating member and a second electric motor coupled to the output rotating member in a power transmittable manner such that a differential state of the differential mechanism is controlled by controlling an operating state of the first electric motor. For example, this corresponds to a hybrid vehicle described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-012726. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-012726 discloses that an engine is subjected to the action of negative torque by the first electric motor to forcibly reduce the engine rotation speed in the process of stopping the engine, thereby shortening a time of passage through a resonance rotation speed range (i.e., a resonance rotation speed range in which the frequency of engine vibration matches the resonance frequency of a power transmission system (a power transmission path, a drive system, a driveline)) on the side lower than the idling rotation speed of the engine.


The present invention provides a vehicle slide door apparatus including an opening formed on a side portion of a vehicle body; a slide door which opens and closes the opening by moving in the fore-and-aft direction; an upper rail extending along an upper side of the opening; and an upper arm having one end guided by the upper rail in the fore-and-aft direction and the other end fixed to the slide door, wherein an engaging device provided on the upper arm and an engaged device provided on the vehicle body engages in case of side collision of the vehicle so as to effectively secure the safety for passengers by decreasing the deformation if collided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle slide door apparatus for opening and closing an opening formed on a side portion of a vehicle body by a slide door which moves in a fore-and-aft direction.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, in a motor vehicle of one-box type or the like, the one in which an opening formed on a side portion of a vehicle body is opened and closed by a slide door is in common use. The slide door is adapted to be guided in the fore-and-aft direction by three rails provided in parallel (for example, see JP-A-11-157339). An upper rail and a lower rail of the three rails are provided on the vehicle body, and a remaining center rail is provided on the slide door.
The upper rail and the slide door are connected by an upper arm which extends substantially in a lateral direction, and the lower rail and the slide door is connected by a lower arm which extends substantially in the lateral direction. The upper rail and the lower rail extend in the fore-and-aft direction along an upper side and a lower side of the opening of the vehicle body so as to guide one end of each arm in the fore-and-aft direction. The other end of each arm is fixed to a pillar section of the slide door.
In case of side collision of the vehicle, a load is applied to a vertical center portion of the slide door in the direction toward a cabin, and hence the center portion thereof is bent and deformed so as to project toward the cabin. Since the slide door is guided by arms which can move freely in the fore-and-aft direction with respect to the vehicle body, the door body cannot be arrested sufficiently by the vehicle body in case of the side collision in comparison with a door which is guided by a hinge fixed to the vehicle body side. Accordingly, an intrusion amount of the slide door toward the cabin increases, and hence a safety securement of a passenger becomes relatively difficult. Therefore, a structure stiffness of the door body and the vehicle body portion around the door is increased to secure the safety of the passenger, and consequently, there arises such a problem as a weight of the vehicle body and a manufacturing cost increases.


A method of determining a redundancy solution for a semiconductor memory under test (DUT) having redundant rows and columns is disclosed. The method includes the steps of first testing the DUT in a first environment with a first tester to generate a first fail data set. The first fail data set is then transferred to a second tester where the DUT is test in a second environment to generate a second fail data set. The first and second failure data sets are then merged to create a merged fail data set. A highly optimized redundancy solution is then determined based on the merged fail data set.

The invention relates generally to automatic test equipment and more particularly a method and apparatus for carrying out an optimal redundancy analysis on a multi-tester system.
Semiconductor memory manufacturers employ a variety of processes to fabricate memory devices or xe2x80x9cchips.xe2x80x9d Each process attempts to optimize the requirements for high yields and high throughput in order for the manufacturer to remain competitive.
One of the more critical processes involves automated testing of each chip at the wafer level with automatic test equipment. The testing, among other things, generally involves reading data to and writing data from each chip according to pre-programmed test patterns, and detecting the addresses of failed memory cells.
To optimize yields in the test process, memory chips typically include spare rows and columns that can be implemented to replace faulty rows and/or columns detected in the device by the test equipment. Since only a limited number of spares are available to repair the chip, the tester generally determines a xe2x80x9csolutionxe2x80x9d, or arrangement where a minimum number of spares can repair a maximum number of failed cells in order to bring the device within acceptable tolerances. One significant method for generating such a solution is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,797, hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Recently, chip makers have recognized the need to test wafers in different environments, such as under high and low temperatures. This is because those skilled in the art have found that failures may occur at some addresses in a particular portion of the memory array, while different failures may occur in the same portion of the array at low temperature.
Conventionally, testing wafers at different temperatures involves employing two separate testersxe2x80x94one for high temperature testing, and the other for low temperature testing. The wafer is first tested at high temperature, and the failure data processed to determine a high temperature solution for the available spare rows and/or columns. FIG. 2 illustrates the high temperature solution whereby spare columns C1, C2 and C3, and spare rows R1 and R2 repair the memory array 30.
The solution, represented electronically by far less data than the first fail data set, is then transferred to the low temperature tester, where the wafer is re-tested. The fails detected from the low temperature tester are then analyzed and a solution is determined with respect to any remaining spares not already allocated by the first solution. As further shown in FIG. 2 with the same memory array 30, two additional fails in the same column were detected at low temperature. However, because all of the column spares are allocated, with only one spare row remaining, the fail at 35 cannot be repaired. As a result, the chip would most likely fail testing, thereby contributing to a decrease in the yield of acceptable devices on the wafer.
While the conventional multi-tester method of carrying out a redundancy analysis is beneficial for its intended applications, it does not always provide the optimal solution. This is most likely due to the undesirability of transferring the large amount of bit-image data representing the high temperature fails to the low temperature tester. For conventional testers, transferring such large amounts of data to a second tester takes too much time, thereby reducing throughput.
What is needed and heretofore unavailable is a method and apparatus for carrying out a highly optimized redundancy analysis that maximizes yields while simultaneously maintaining high throughput through a multi-tester testing system. The method and apparatus of the present invention satisfies these needs.
The redundancy analysis method of the present invention provides a highly optimized way of determining a multi-tester redundancy solution without sacrificing wafer throughput. This minimizes costs associated with the test process to help a semiconductor manufacturer remain competitive.
To realize the foregoing advantages, the invention in one form comprises a method of determining a redundancy solution for a semiconductor device under test (DUT) having redundant rows and columns. The method includes the steps of first testing the DUT in a first environment with a first tester to generate a first fail data set. The first fail data set is then transferred to a second tester where the DUT is test in a second environment to generate a second fail data set. The first and second failure data sets are then merged to create a merged fail data set. A highly optimized redundancy solution is then determined based on the merged fail data set.
In another form, the invention is implemented in a process for manufacturing a semiconductor memory (DUT) organized into rows and columns of memory cells. The invention comprises a method of replacing faulty memory cells with redundant rows and columns. The method includes the steps of first selecting rows or columns to replace with redundant elements according to the steps of first testing the DUT in a first environment with a first tester to generate a first fail data set. The first fail data set is then transferred to a second tester where the DUT is test in a second environment to generate a second fail data set. The first and second failure data sets are then merged to create a merged fail data set. A highly optimized redundancy solution is then determined based on the merged fail data set. After the solution is determined, the redundant rows or columns selected in the selecting step are allocated to replace the selected rows and/or columns.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Redundancy analysis method and apparatus for ATE


A control circuit for switching converter has a chopping amplifier, a sample-hold circuit, a first comparator, an oscillator and a logic circuit. The chopping amplifier generates an amplified error signal based on a reference signal and a feedback signal. The sample-hold circuit generates a sample-hold signal based on the amplified error signal. The first comparator generates a first logic signal based on a comparison result between the sample-hold signal and a current sensing signal representing a current flowing through a power switch in the switching converter. The oscillator generates a clock signal. The logic circuit generates a control signal based on the first logic signal and the clock signal, the control signal is used to control the power switch.

Switching converters are widely used due to their high efficiency and simple internal structure. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a prior art switching converter 10. The switching converter 10 comprises a control circuit 100 and a switching circuit 110. The switching circuit 110 comprises at least a power switch M1. The power switch M1 has a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal. The switching circuit 110 converts an input voltage VIN to an output voltage VOUT according to a control signal CTRL. The switching circuit 110 may apply different types of topology, such as buck converter, boost converter, buck-boost converter, fly-back converter, and other switching converters.
The control circuit 100 comprises an error amplifier 101, a comparator 102, a logic circuit 103, a current sensing circuit 104 and an oscillator 105.
The error amplifier 101 has a first input terminal, a second input terminal and an output terminal. Based on a reference signal VREF received at the first input terminal and the output voltage VOUT received at the second input terminal, the error amplifier 101 is operable to generate an amplified error signal VEAO at the output terminal. In another embodiment, the error amplifier 101 generates the error signal VEAO based on the reference signal VREF and a feedback signal indicating a load current IOUT of the switching converter 10.
The comparator 102 has a first input terminal, a second input terminal and an output terminal. The comparator 102 generates a first logic signal VL1 at the output terminal based on a comparison result between the error signal VEAO received at the first input terminal and a current sensing signal RFLTI received at the second input terminal. The current sensing signal RFLTI could reflect a current flowing through the power switch M1 or the inductor L. In the illustrated embodiment in FIG. 1, the current sensing signal RFLTI is generated by a current sensing circuit 104 that is configured to detect the current flowing through the power switch M1.
The logic circuit 103 has a first input terminal, a second input terminal and an output terminal. The logic circuit 103 generates a switching signal CTRL at the output terminal based on the first logic signal VL1 received at the first input terminal and the second logic signal VL2 received at the second input terminal. In the illustrated embodiment in FIG. 1, the second logic signal VL2 is a clock signal provided by the oscillator 105.
DC-DC converter 10 could provide a stable output voltage since the error amplifier 101 regulates the output voltage VOUT to a value substantially equal to the value of the reference signal VREF. In some applications, the value of the reference signal VREF may be relatively low (e.g. 200 mV) while an offset voltage (OFFSET) of the error amplifier 101 could be dozens of mill volts (e.g. 50 mV). So, the error of the output voltage VOUT or load current IOUT may be up to 25%. In addition, the noise of the input transistor of the error amplifier 101 would be amplified and reflected on the output voltage VOUT or load current IOUT. Reducing the error of the output voltage caused by the offset voltage or noise of the error amplifier 101 becomes a big challenge.

Control circuit with chopping amplifier for switching converter

CHENGDU MONOLITHIC POWER SYSTEMS CO., LTD.


Neoplastic cells which over-express CD44, including especially non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma cancer cells, are treated with antisense oligonucleotides to control CD44 expression. Test results show that the claimed oligonucleotides significantly decreases cell growth in a CD44 sequence specific manner of lung cancer or melanoma cells, or both, but are largely non-toxic to normal cells. Examples of dosing in a clinical setting are provided.

CD44 is a polymorphic family of membrane glycoproteins expressed by many different kinds of cells. CD44 is found, for example, on circulating lymphocytes where it acts as a lymph node homing receptor, and on epithelial cells where it is involved with cell-cell adhesion (1). CD44 is also found in the lungs, on basal cells of the upper bronchi, pulmonary macrophages, alveolar lymphocytes and activated type II alveolar pneuomocytes, where it again functions in cell-cell adhesion (2). CD44 has a high affinity binding site for hyaluronan receptors, and CD44-hyaluronan interactions are used to anchor the cells in place (3).
Within a single cell CD44 may be expressed as two or more variants, presumably depending on the changing needs of the cell. The polymorphic diversity of the variants is generated by alternative splicing of the CD44 mRNA, which occurs when the various coding sequences (exons) of CD44 genes are transcribed (expressed) in different combinations. Protein products of splice variants (isoforms) of CD44 vary widely in size (from 110 kDa to more than 250 kDa) and in function. The extracellular domain of CD44 protein is known to involve cell-cell adhesion and the binding of extracellular matrix components including hyaluronic acid, fibronectin and collagen, while the intracellular domain of CD44 has been associated with ankyrin cytoskeletal proteins critical for CD44-dependent cellular mobility. CD44 has also been found to function in hematopoiesis and in lymphocyte infiltration into general circulation (4, 5, 6). The various functions of CD44 are intriguing because they can be used to explain similar behaviors between activated lymphocytes and metastasizing tumor cells. Both types of cells have relatively high expression of CD44, and both show invasive behavior, cell migration involving reversible adhesive contacts, accumulation and expansion in lymphoid tissue, and release into general circulation (6). The association with lymphoid tissue is especially interesting in that both lymphocytes and metastasizing tumor cells use CD44 variants to bind a specific ligand residing either in the extracellular matrix of the lymph nodes or on the surface of dendritic or other cells of the lymphoid tissue. Moreover, following growth and differentiation in the lymph nodes, both lymphocytes and tumor cells are synchronously released into the efferent lymphatic vessels in the general circulation. The release process requires a complex series of interactions between the lymphocytes and tumor cells, the extracellular matrix component and surrounding cells, and probably involves adhesion receptors, proteolytic enzymes, growth factors and growth factor receptors. These processes may be dependent upon clipping of the CD44 molecules, and specificity in the process may be mediated by tissue-specific ligands interacting with CD44 isoforms. Expression of CD44 in malignant cells is therefore an important factor in primary tumor growth, local invasiveness and metastatic proclivity (7,8,9).
The CD44 gene locus in human genome is on chromosome 11p13 (10). Recently, most of the genomic structure of the human CD44 gene has been established (11). Over a length of about 60 kilobases (kb), at least 20 exons are distributed. Ten of these encode sequences for the standard form of CD44 (exons 1-5 and 16-20). Between exons 5 and 16, at least ten further exons are localized, which are subjected to alternative splicing (exons 6-15). In humans as in other species, the CD44 gene codes a variety of alternatively spliced proteins having different sizes and functions. Several CD44 isoforms have been purified and characterized to date, including an 89-90 kDa glycoprotein referred to as the "standard" or "hematopoietic" isoform (CD44s), and 180 kDa or more glycoproteins referred to as "epithelial" or variant isoforms (CD44v). Isolation and characterization of cDNA clones encoding the standard and epithelial isoforms have shown that the protein sequences are identical except that the epithelial isoforms contain additional sequences of 134 or more amino acids arising from at least ten exons (v1-v10 ) which code for extra-cellular domain, and the epithelial isoforms are more heavily glycosylated (12, 29). While it is now recognized that the CD44 standard form plays a key role in the control of cell migration, the precise functions of the alternatively spliced CD44 variants, which predominate in most cell types are unknown.
The literature is not conclusive on the issue of whether CD44 expression, either in standard or variant forms, can be generally associated with metastatic potential in human tumors. A 1993 article, for example, points out that such a correlation has never been established (13). On the other hand, it is known that cells which express the highest levels of CD44 variant isoforms tend to be the cells that most often undergo malignant transformation. The uncontrolled growth of these cells coupled with the expression of CD44v isoforms and possibly other adhesion molecules might render them more invasive and metastatic. Also, numerous studies have found associations between malignant transformation or cancer metastasis and the expression of CD44 variant isoforms. For example, a 1994 article gives evidence that certain CD44 variants may help mediate human glioma cell adhesion and invasion (14,15). It has also been shown that uterine cervical carcinomas show strong expression of epitopes encoded by exons v7 and v8, which have not been detected in normal cervical epithelium (16). In another study, specific CD44 variants were shown to be over-expressed at particular stages of colorectal tumor progression, and an unfavorable prognosis has been suggested for colorectal tumors expressing CD44v isoforms previously associated with tumor metastasis (17, 18).
In some studies over-expression of only particular variants has been associated with cancers. For example, expression of variants containing exon v6 sequences occurs in the advanced stages of the development of some tumors, but some CD44 variants without exon v6 sequences appear at the earliest stage of tumorigenesis and in early adenomas. Screening of gastric adenocarcinoma has revealed CD44v expression in all tested specimens, with intestinal type adenocarcinomas expressing variant exons v5 and v6, and diffuse-type adenocarcinomas predominantly expressing only exon v5. Normal stomach mucosa has shown exon v5 expression within the foveolar proliferation zone and on mucoid surface epithelium (19). The same pattern of expression has been confirmed for exon v11 abundantly present in well differentiated intestinal tumors in comparison with diffuse type cancer tissues. Normal gastric mucosas have demonstrated significantly lower expression of exon v11 splice forms . CD44 presence has been associated with tumor recurrence and increased mortality during follow-up averaging 14 months.
There is indication in the literature that over-expression of CD44 has long term clinical significance. In one group of patients with positive expression of exon v6 in 87% of primary breast tumors and 100% auxiliary lymph node metastasis, poor overall survival correlated with the presence of CD44v epitopes (20, 21). Another group found similar results, but suggested that the effect diminishes with time. In a study on gliomas, invasiveness was highly inhibited in two cell lines and completely arrested in five other cell lines by a CD44-specific antisense oligonucleotide which inhibited CD44 expression (15).
To our knowledge, CD44 antisense therapy has never been applied against human lung cancer or melanoma, and it as never even been established that one or more variants of CD44 are associated with either of these types of neoplasm. The problem is exacerbated with respect to lung cancer because there are at least two major types, small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). SCLC comprises approximately one-fourth of the cases, expresses neuroendocrine markers, and generally metastasizes early to lymph nodes, brain, bones, lung and liver. NSCLC comprises the majority of the remaining lung tumor types, and includes adeno-carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. NSCLC is characterized by epithelial-like growth factors and receptors, and is locally invasive. In 1994 Penno and colleagues reported that transcription and translation of CD44 standard form is consistently high among non-small cell tumors and squamous metaplasia of the lung, but is rare in small cell tumors and resting type II pneumocytes (2).
Melanocytes and melanoma cells have been widely studied as a model to investigate changes involved in malignant transformation, including the search for genes expressed in malignant, but not normal, melanocytes. Melanoma cells, unlike normal melanocytes, can proliferate in the absence of exogenous growth factors. This independence apparently reflects the production of growth factor and cytokines for autocrine growth stimulation (22).
Melanoma cells secrete a variety of growth factors including TGF-.alpha., TGF-.beta., platelet-derived growth factor A and B chains, basic fibroblast growth factor, IL-6, IL-1, granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, and MGSA. These growth factors, expressed either constitutively or subsequent to induction with various cytokines, may contribute to the development of the transformed melanoma phenotype either by acting as autocrine growth factors or by modulating host response to the tumor cells (23, 24).
To produce metastasis, melanoma cells must detach from the primary tumor, invade through host stroma to gain entrance into the circulation, disseminate via the blood stream, and survive to reach distant capillary beds where they must attach, extravasate into the organ parenchyme, and proliferate into secondary growths. The growth of cells in distant sites occurs when the tumor cells produce autocrine growth factors or when the tumor cells respond to paracrine growth factors produced by host cells (22).
Approximately 95% of familial malignant melanomas and 40% of sporadic melanomas arise from precursor lesions. There are three types of melanocytic lesions: congenital, common acquired and dysplastic nevi. Congenital and common acquired nevi represent focal proliferations of normal melanocytes. In contrast, dysplastic nevi consist of a heterogenous population of normal melanocytes and melanocytes showing increased pigmentation, nuclear pleomorphism and mitotic atypia. For this reason, melanocytes of dysplastic nevi are considered to represent precursor lesions of human malignant melanoma. Human melanoma can be classified into three stages: i) melanoma in the radial growth phase; ii) melanoma in the vertical growth phase; and iii) metastatic melanoma. Primary melanoma in the radial and vertical growth phase and metastatic melanomas demonstrate significant biological, biochemical and karyotypic differences from normal human melanocytes and from melanocytic precursor lesions (23).
Human melanoma provides a well-suited model system because cells isolated from different stages of tumor progression can be cultured and studied in the laboratory. The human melanoma Hs294T (ATCC) used in the experiments discussed below was established from lymph node metastasis, and is a highly metastatic melanoma cell line (25). Taken in conjunction with the NSCLC experiments, the Hs294T experiments are thought to be predictive of the general effectiveness of the claimed therapies on neoplasms which over-express CD44.

Control of CD44 gene expression for therapeutic use


Methods, systems, and techniques for facilitating access to content stored remotely, for example, as part of a virtual machine infrastructure or elsewhere in a networked environment, using a uniform mechanism are provided. Example embodiments provide an Enhanced Virtual Desktop Management Server/System with a Content Abstraction Layer which enables users to access their data stored as part of a virtual machine environment, or replicated otherwise on a network, using a generic API. The API can be incorporated into a web browser or other third party interface to provide access to the users' data without needing to remote a bitmap representation of a virtual desktop display. Accordingly, users can access their data, applications, and settings regardless of the type of access device and regardless of whether the corresponding virtual desktop is running in the data center, provisioned in the datacenter but running on a client device, or not running at all.

The benefits of computer virtualization have been recognized as greatly increasing the computational efficiency and flexibility of a computing hardware platform. For example, computer virtualization allows multiple virtual computing machines (VMs) (or "guests") to run on a common computing hardware platform (referred to as a "host") even when the software components, such as the guest operating systems of each virtual machine, differ. Similar to a physical computing hardware platform, virtual computing machines include storage media, such as virtual hard disks, virtual processors, guest physical memory, virtual devices, and other system components associated with a computing environment. In a typical virtualized machine architecture, a virtual hard disk stores a guest operating system, data, and application files for a virtual machine. Virtualization software receives disk read and write requests from guest software running on the virtual machine and maps the requests to a disk image file containing an image of the virtual disk on a datastore accessible by the host. The disk image file is block-based, and contains file segments that map to disk blocks of the virtual disk. Thus, when the virtual machine reads a particular disk block, that request is mapped to a read of the corresponding segment of the disk image file, the contents of which are supplied to the virtual machine in a manner consistent with an ordinary disk read.
Server-based computing, such as available using computer virtualization architectures, allows a networked client computing system, remotely situated with respect to a server computing system, to access computing resources on the server. For example, a client computing system can use a remote desktop protocol such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Virtual Network Computing (VNC), or PCoIP to access a desktop remotely. A virtual desktop is a virtual computing system that operates as a desktop or workstation computer that an end user can interact with using the remote desktop protocol and client software and/or hardware. The client software and/or hardware transmits user input such as keyboard or mouse input to the remote system to be processed there, and receives display and other data, such as sound, for presentation to the user.
Server-based computing facilitates centralized management of computing resources. However, one drawback is that the user must have the client system remain connected to the network while accessing to the user's desktop stored on the server.
As an alternative to server-based computing, client-side computing allows the user to be located away from an enterprise network and in offline mode, i.e., not connected to a network or the Internet. From an enterprise management standpoint, however, client-side computing leads to undesirable inefficiencies when it comes to such tasks as updating operating systems and applications, enforcing security, licensing compliance, locking information, forcing adherence to various enterprise or corporate policies, and data backup.
Some of the challenges described above have been addressed by extending the server-based desktop-virtual machine architecture to a client machine by allowing a user to "check out" a virtual desktop such that it can be accessed on the client machine while offline. At the time of check out, a copy of the virtual disk of the user's virtual desktop is instantiated on the client machine and accessed by a (new) virtual machine started on the client system. The user is then able to access his or her virtual desktop without being connected to a network. Later, upon "check in," the changes to the virtual disk are synchronized to the virtual disk maintained in the server system.
Others have addressed the above challenges by running a virtual desktop in the datacenter (on the server system) and, using a "thin" (display only) client, to cause the server system to stream down only needed portions of the virtual disk upon each access (for example, using a limited cache).
In all these cases, the actual desktop virtual disk image is provisioned, maintained, and/or monitored in the datacenter. Accordingly, all of the user content stored on the virtual disks by a virtual desktop is also maintained by the virtual computing infrastructure executing on the servers. To access the data, a user must start a virtual desktop, load or otherwise gain access to the data to perform desired functions, and then exit the virtual desktop.
In recent years, the computing experience has changed due to the wide spectrum of devices are capable of running the Internet on handheld devices. Different form factors, capacities, permissions, etc., make the delivery and running virtual desktops difficult on these devices.

Independent access to virtual machine desktop content