A level shifter comprises a voltage converting circuit, a voltage pull-up circuit, and a control signal generating circuit. The voltage converting circuit is configured to receive an input signal of a first voltage level and to output an output signal of a second voltage level. The voltage pull-up circuit is coupled to the voltage converting circuit and configured to expeditiously pull up a voltage of an output node of the level shifter to the second voltage level in response to a control signal. The control signal generating circuit is configured to receive the input signal and to provide the control signal to the voltage pull-up circuit. The control signal generating circuit includes three transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a level shifter circuit that can switch voltage levels expeditiously.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor integrated circuit typically contains a large number of circuit units with different functions. These circuit units may operate on various voltage levels. To interface circuit units operating on different voltage levels, a level shifter circuit is used to receive an input signal of a first voltage level V1 and to produce an output signal of a second voltage level V2. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate two types of traditional level shifter circuits. Both types primarily comprise two PMOS transistors and two NMOS transistors but connect differently.
FIG. 1A shows the first type of a traditional level shifter circuit which comprises a first PMOS transistor P1, a second PMOS transistor P2, a first NMOS transistor N1, and a second NMOS transistor N2. The first PMOS transistor P1 is connected in series with the first NMOS transistor N1. The second PMOS transistor P2 is connected in series with the second NMOS transistor N2. The gate of the first PMOS transistor P1 is connected to the node B, the common node of the second PMOS transistor P2 and the second NMOS transistor N2. The gate of the second PMOS transistor P2 is connected to the node A, the common node of the first PMOS transistor P1 and the first NMOS transistor N1. The gate of the first NMOS transistor N1 is connected to a voltage, which is at the lower voltage level of V1 and V2, to turn on the first NMOS transistor N1. The source of the second NMOS transistor N2 is connected to a third voltage Vss, for example, the ground. An input signal of a first voltage level V1 (logic high) or third voltage level Vss (logic low) is provided to the drain of the first NMOS transistor N1 and the gate of the second NMOS transistor N2. The sources of the first PMOS transistor P1 and the second PMOS transistor P2 are connected to the power supply terminal of the second voltage level V2. An output signal of the second voltage level V2 (logic high) or the third voltage level Vss (logic low) is generated from the node B. The output signal is in the inversed state of the input signal. When the input signal is at logic high of the first voltage level V1, the output signal is at logic low of the third voltage level Vss, for example, the zero voltage. When the input signal is at logic low of the third voltage level Vss, for example, the zero voltage, the output signal is at logic high of the second voltage level V2.
Originally, the input signal is at logic high of the first voltage level V1 and the output signal is at logic low of the third voltage level Vss. When the input signal is switched to the logic low of the third voltage level Vss, the node A receives the third voltage Vss because the first NMOS transistor N1 is turned on. The third voltage Vss is also transmitted to the gate of the second NMOS transistor N2 to turn it off. However, the second PMOS transistor P2, upon its gate receiving the third voltage Vss, is turned on to gradually pull up the voltage of the node B to the second voltage level V2. After the voltage of node B is pulled up, the first PMOS transistor P1 is turned off and the voltage of the node A remains at the third voltage Vss. The output signal from the node B reaches the voltage level V2 with a time delay after the input signal is switched from the logic high to the logic low.
Similarly, when the input signal is switched from the logic low back to the logic high of the first voltage level V1, the node A receives the first voltage V1 because the first NMOS transistor N1 is turned on. The first voltage V1 is also transmitted to the gate of the second NMOS transistor N2 to turn it on. The voltage of the node B is gradually pulled down from the second voltage V2 to the third voltage Vss. After the voltage of the node B is pulled down, the first PMOS transistor P1 is turned on and the voltage of node A becomes at the second voltage V2. The output signal from the node B reaches the third voltage level Vss with a time delay after the input signal is switched from the logic low to the logic high.
In addition, at the moment the second NMOS transistor N2 is turned on by the input signal of the first voltage level V1, the second PMOS transistor P2 has not been completely turned off. As a result, a leakage current flows from the power supply terminal of the second voltage level V2 to the third voltage Vss terminal, for example, the ground.
FIG. 1B shows the second type of a traditional level shifter circuit which comprises a first PMOS transistor P1, a second PMOS transistor P2, a first NMOS transistor N1, a second NMOS transistor N2, and an inverter I1. The first PMOS transistor P1 is connected in series with the first NMOS transistor N1. The second PMOS transistor P2 is connected in series with the second NMOS transistor N2. The gate of the first PMOS transistor P1 is connected to the node B, the common node of the second PMOS transistor P2 and the second NMOS transistor N2. The gate of the second PMOS transistor P2 is connected to the node A, the common node of the first PMOS transistor P1 and the first NMOS transistor N1. The sources of the first NMOS transistor N1 and the second NMOS transistor N2 are connected to a third voltage level Vss, for example, the ground. An input signal of the first voltage level V1 is provided to the gate of the second NMOS transistor N2. The input signal of the first voltage level V1 is inversed through the inverter I1 and the inversed input signal is provided to the gate of the first NMOS transistor N1. The sources of the first PMOS transistor P1 and the second PMOS transistor P2 are connected to the power supply of the second voltage level V2. An output signal of the second voltage level V2 is generated from the node B. The output signal is in the inversed state of the input signal. When the input signal is at logic high of the first voltage level V1, the output signal is at logic low of the third voltage level Vss. When the input signal is at logic low of the third voltage level Vss, the output signal is at logic high of the second voltage level V2. The second type of the traditional level shifter circuit operates in a similar manner to the first type of the traditional level shifter circuit. Thus, it also causes problems of time delay for the output signal to reach the second voltage level V2 and the current leakage. FIG. 2 is the waveforms of the traditional level shifter circuits to show the time delay for the output signal to reach the second voltage level V2. After the input signal is switched from the logic high of the first voltage V1 to the logic low of the ground voltage, it takes more than 80 ns for the voltage of the output signal to reach the second voltage level V2.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show revised level shifter circuits which comprise one or two additional NMOS transistors to reduce the time delay and the leakage current. A third NMOS transistor N3 can be connected parallel to the second PMOS transistor P2 of either type of the traditional level shifter circuit to assist the pull-up of the voltage at the node B to reach the second voltage level V2. In addition, a fourth NMOS transistor N4 can be connected parallel to the first PMOS transistor P1 of either type of the traditional level shifter circuit to assist the pull-up of the voltage at the node A to reach the second voltage level V2.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the third NMOS transistor N3 in response to a control signal at the first voltage level V1 is added. The drain of the third NMOS transistor N3 is connected to the source of the second PMOS transistor P2. The source of the third NMOS transistor N3 is connected to the drain of the second PMOS transistor P2. The gate of the third NMOS transistor N3 is connected to receive the input signal of the first voltage level V1 through an inverter I2. When the input signal is switched from the logic high of the first voltage level V1 to the logic low of the third voltage level Vss, the third NMOS transistor N3, upon receiving the first voltage V1 through its gate, is turned on to assist the pull-up of the voltage at the node B to reach the voltage level V2 faster than the traditional level shifter circuit.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the third NMOS transistor N3 and the fourth NMOS transistors in response to control signals at the first voltage level V1 are added. The third NMOS transistor N3 is connected and operated in the same way as described above. The drain of the fourth NMOS transistor N4 is connected to the source of the first PMOS transistor P1. The source of the fourth NMOS transistor N4 is connected to the drain of the first PMOS transistor P1. The gate of the fourth NMOS transistor N4 is connected to receive the input signal of the first voltage level V1. When the input signal is switched from the logic low of the third voltage level Vss to the logic high of the first voltage level V1, the fourth NMOS transistor N4, upon receiving the first voltage V1 through its gate, is turned on to assist the pull-up of the voltage at the node A to reach the second voltage level V2 faster than the traditional level shifter circuit.
FIG. 4 is the waveforms of the revised level shifter circuits to show the time delay for the output signal to reach the voltage level V2. After the input signal is switched from the logic high of the first voltage V1 to the logic low of the ground voltage, it takes more than 20 ns for the voltage of the output signal to reach the second voltage V2.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,145,363 describes a level shifter circuit similar to the revised level shifter circuits shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. However, both the traditional and revised level shifter circuits are not satisfactory in resolving the problems of time delay and current leakage. For traditional level shifter circuits, because the second voltage V2 is high, the threshold voltage of the second PMOS transistor P2 has to be high enough to avoid the damage. As a result, the driving force of the second PMOS transistor P2 is weak and the time delay is very long. For revised level shifter circuits, because the voltage of the control signal for the third NMOS transistor is not high enough, its effect to reduce time delay is very limited. The industry desires level shifter circuits which can further reduce time delay and current leakage.

Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology, Inc.


A method, system and medium is provided for enabling improved control systems. An error, or deviation from a target result, is observed for example during manufacture of semiconductor chips. The error within standard deviation is caused by two components: a white noise component and a signal component (such as systematic errors). The white noise component is, e.g., random noise and therefore is relatively non-controllable. The systematic error component, in contrast, may be controlled by changing the control parameters. A ratio between the two components is calculated autoregressively. Based on the ratio and using the observed or measured error, the actual value of the error caused by the systematic component is calculated utilizing an autoregressive stochastic sequence. The actual value of the error is then used in determining when and how to change the control parameters. The autoregressive stochastic sequence addresses the issue of the effects of run-to-run deviations, and provides a mechanism that can extract the white noise component from the statistical process variance in real time. This results in an ability to provide tighter control, for example in feedback and feedforward variations of process control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns computer-implemented and/or computer-enabled methods, systems, and mediums for enabling improved control of errors during process control. More specifically, one or more embodiments of the present invention relate to distinguishing a variance due to white noise from a statistical process variance measured during process control, particularly in connection with semiconductor manufacturing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Detecting and controlling errors during a manufacturing process is an important goal. This is particularly true in connection with the process of manufacturing semiconductors. During the manufacturing process, various measurements are made in order to detect and/or determine errors, e.g., to detect when an observed value differs significantly from an intended target result. When the difference is sufficient, the manufacturing process control system will attempt to control (e.g., compensate for) the error so as to continue to produce products (e.g., chips) that are within acceptable ranges or tolerances from the target result.
In general, it has been observed that semiconductor devices processed in connection with a semiconductor manufacturing process will inevitably include at least some error or some deviation from the intended target result or specification. In order to determine when it is desired to perform additional control in order to make an adjustment during processing, conventional systems utilize a threshold value as a trigger. Whenever the additional control is triggered and the adjustment is made, however, the result following the adjustment still will usually deviate from the intended target result. Further, there are tolerances within which a tighter adjustment of a control does not effectively cause the material to be processed closer to specification, since the control is simply not capable of a sufficiently fine adjustment.
Conventionally, control of an error is attempted when one or more preconditions assigned to a tolerance range for the target specification, are evaluated using a statistical approach and are satisfied. The conventional statistical approach employs a standard deviation. Nevertheless, even when the process control system uses standard deviation as the threshold value, there is always a lack of precision, or a tolerance range within which it is not truly possible to control more tightly.
A significant reason often preventing tolerance ranges from being controlled more tightly is that some portion of the measurement, including the amount of observed value which is determined to be error, may actually be due to "white noise". White noise does not necessarily represent an "error". White noise represents an uncontrollable (and typically temporary) fluctuation in measurement. One example of white noise in a semiconductor manufacturing system is a sudden and temporary disturbance in ambient temperature, which is neither measured nor controlled, but would result in a change in thickness of the product. When determining whether an error occurred and/or how much (and whether) to compensate for any difference from the desired target result and/or to control an error that may occur during the manufacturing process, white noise should be taken into account.
The true amount of white noise occurring during manufacturing processes is not easily determined. In order to accommodate or adjust for white noise, the semiconductor industry conventionally utilizes a statistical process variance, or standard deviation, determined at optimal conditions, as an estimation of white noise. Thus, statistical process variance that is used as a substitute for what would otherwise be a truer (e.g., more real world) measurement of a general type of white noise is measured while the process, material to be processed, and processing device conditions are at an atypically pristine state. This type of measurement of white noise at pristine conditions yields a measurement during a best looking steady state performance, reflecting what cannot be controlled even at the best of conditions. The measurement at these atypical conditions is then utilized as an estimation of the white noise occurring throughout the manufacturing process under consideration.
The problem with the aforementioned conventional use of measurements at pristine conditions as a white noise estimate, despite its industry acceptance, is that it is not a reasonably accurate reflection of white noise that occurs during real manufacturing conditions. One of many reasons that measurements at pristine conditions do not reasonably reflect true conditions is that materials such as wafers processed in most front and back end processing devices in the semiconductor industry have relationships with or effects on subsequently processed wafers. Accordingly, for example, conditions applied to wafers that were previously processed in a processing device will have residual effects on wafers that are currently being processed in that processing device. An estimation of white noise derived from measurements taken while the processing device is at a steady state, consequently, does not reflect the fluctuations introduced during real-world run-to-run processing.
Regarding the aforementioned conventional techniques, statistical use of standard deviation in connection with observed deviation is illustrated, for example in "Statistical feedback control of a plasma etch process", P. Mozumder et al., IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1994) (incorporated herein by reference). The statistical variance Sk at the kth run is calculated using the standard deviation as:
                              s          k                =                                            1                              n                -                1                                                                [                                                                    ∑                                          i                      =                      1                                        n                                                                          X                                          k                      -                      i                      +                      1                                        2                                                  -                                                      n                                                              (                                              X                        _                                            )                                                        2                                            ]                                                          (        1        )
where
n=number of samples
X=deviation of observed value from predicted value
As can be seen, the standard deviation calculation does not distinguish between systematic variation and white noise variation components of the error. Hence, conventionally both the systematic and white noise variations are controlled together, rather than separately.
The conventional process control system thus compares this observed "combined" standard deviation to a threshold in order to determine if the deviation is unacceptable. Once the standard deviation greater than the threshold is detected, a tuning procedure in the process model is invoked in order to appropriately control the deviation. In essence, standard deviation-based methods only act to control when the standard deviation range is outside a particular threshold or trigger. In the conventional process control method, the standard deviation is used to determine the level for the threshold or trigger. Within the threshold, it is assumed that the deviation cannot be sufficiently controlled.
Therefore, there remains a need to have improved control, particularly within a tolerance range associated with a target specification. There also remains a need to address the effects of run-to-run conditions on such measurements.

Process control by distinguishing a white noise component of a process variance


A distributing machine—spreading machine and/or sowing machine includes a container, receiving material to be distributed, supported by a support frame, an outlet opening on the base of the container, a metering element downstream of the outlet opening, a motor-driven metering slide displaceable relative to the outlet opening, and a distributing element downstream of the metering element, for distributing the material. For adjusting a speed of the metering slide, while providing a compact design, the metering slide of the metering element includes a threaded spindle that is mounted axially fixed and is driven in rotation by a motor rotary drive having an axially fixed output shaft. Along the threaded spindle, a spindle nut is guided that engages with the threaded spindle. The spindle nut is connected to the metering slide, or to a lever arm arrange thereon, to actuate the metering slide by rotation of the threaded spindle.

Distributing machines of the aforementioned type are known principally, on the one hand, in the form of agricultural spreading machines for spreading powdered or particulate material such as, in particular, fertilizer or seed, in a multiplicity of designs, thus for example as a towed model, or as a model received by a three-point linkage of a towing machine, such as a tractor. Such distributing machines comprise a container, which receives the material to be distributed and arranged on the base of which there are usually one or two outlet openings, a metering element being assigned to the respective outlet opening for the purpose of removing the material to be distributed, in the desired quantity—or, more precisely: at the desired mass flow rate—from the container. The metering element frequently comprises a metering slide that can be displaced—whether translationally or, in particular, rotationally—in relation to the outlet opening, and that, by means of a suitable actuator, in the form of a hydraulic or electric cylinder, can be controlled to open and close to enable the desired mass flow rate to be set according to a desired distribution width and a required spread quantity of the material to be distributed per unit of area on the ground, according to a travel speed and according to the physical properties of the material to be distributed, such as, for example, its flowability. Beneath the metering element there is a distributing element, by means of which the material to be distributed is distributed over the desired working width. Some distributing machines are furthermore equipped with a means for adjusting the point at which the material to be distributed is fed to the distributing element, which in particular is formed by a distributor disk fitted with projection vanes, the feed point being adjustable radially (in particular for the purpose of enlarging/reducing the spread fan) and/or in the circumferential direction (in particular to the purpose of rotating the spread fan, for instance about the axis of rotation of the distributor disk) in relation to the distributor disk. Such an agricultural distributing machine is known, for example in the form of a dual-disk spreader, from DE 10 2005 015 228 A1.
On the other hand, there are known distributing machines of the generic type in the form of winter service spreading machines, on which the container serves principally to receive grit and/or road salt, normally in granular form, the functioning of such a winter service spreading machine largely corresponding to that of the agricultural spreading machine described above.
Normally, during spreading of the material to be distributed—whether in the form of fertilizer or seed on a field, or in the form of grit or salt on a road—large quantities of particles of soil, sand, dust and the like are swirled up, which in particular can reach the metering elements, arranged beneath the container, and their actuating cylinders, with the result that, depending on the nature and size of the particles, functioning can be impaired if, for example, larger particles, including small stones, become wedged there. Moreover, in particular, the material to be distributed, which is also in the form of a powder or particles, frequently tends to accumulate on the metering elements located beneath the container, or on the actuating cylinders that serve to actuate their metering slides, most solid fertilizers, as well as road salt, being of a hygroscopic nature, such that they agglomerate in combination with air humidity or even rain, or snow (slush), and increasingly adhere in agglomerates of greater or lesser hardness to the aforementioned functional parts as spreading progresses. This applies in particular—if not exclusively—when the distributing elements are formed by spreading or distributor disks that spin the powdered or particulate material radially past the metering elements.
EP 2 727 449 A1 addresses this problem, in the case of a distributing machine of the generic type, with a cleaning means that is arranged beneath the container and equipped with a plurality of fluid nozzles. Although this offers crucial advantages—including in respect of cleaning of the metering elements themselves or of the distributing elements—the increase in the accumulation of dirt on the actuating cylinders that occurs between the performed cleaning operations also represents a problem in respect of their functional and maintenance reliability, and their necessary robustness.
If these actuating cylinders, provided to drive the metering slide of the metering elements, are hydraulic cylinders, of which the translational movement of the piston rod into and out of the cylinder is converted, by means of appropriate levers (lever systems), into a translational or rotational movement of the metering slide, such as are frequently used because of the ease of connecting them to the hydraulic system of a tractor, on the one hand it is also necessary, because of the aggressive ambient conditions, for the piston rods of the hydraulic cylinders to be produced from very hard and chemically resistant materials, such as chrome-plated high-grade steel; on the other hand, the requirements for the sealing elements used to seal the piston rods with respect to the cylinder are very stringent, since during operation the piston rods are continuously, if only slightly, pushed out of and into the cylinder, with the resultant risk of foreign bodies adhering to the piston rod, and/or moisture being pulled into the inside of the hydraulic cylinder. Furthermore, to ensure that hydraulic cylinders operate properly and with little wear, there should be a film of oil on their piston rod, but on the other hand the film of oil, because of its adhesive nature, increases the risk of dirt accretions becoming caked-on, and thus being pulled into the internal oil circuit. Moreover, the piston rod, when at least partly drawn out from the hydraulic cylinder, can also be exposed to aggressive ambient conditions over months outside of the period of operation—which, in the case of distributing machines of the generic type, is usually seasonal—such that corrosion occurs, despite the expensive and inert materials. DE 10 2013 104 024 A1 attempts to counteract this problem, for example, with a protective housing of the hydraulic cylinder, but here, likewise, there is the difficulty of a perfect tightness of seal, and the above statements apply to the necessary materials and the robustness of the hydraulic cylinder itself.
Finally, in the case of metering elements of the generic type having a metering slide that can be displaced relative to the outlet opening of the container serving to hold the material to be distributed, if the metering slide is driven by means of a hydraulic cylinder there is a further problem in that, to set a desired metering rate (corresponding to a particular opening position of the metering slide relative to the outlet opening) by means of a scale and a fixing system, it is necessary to set a stop, corresponding to the desired opening position of the metering slide, against which the hydraulic cylinder can then stop. In this way, although a particular metering rate, or a particular mass flow rate of material to be distributed can be set, this cannot be altered if, for example, the travel speed changes with respect to the speed originally provided for (and a higher or lower metering rate would be required as a result).
For this reason, instead of using hydraulic cylinders to drive the metering slides of the metering elements, modern distributing machines frequently use electric cylinders, of which the translational movement of the piston rod into and out of the cylinder is converted into a translational or, in particular, a rotational movement of the metering slide by means of suitable levers (lever systems), in a manner corresponding to that of hydraulic cylinders. Such electric cylinders are frequently equipped with displacement sensors in order to sense, and in particular to use for control purposes (DE 40 12 826 A1), the exact extension position of the piston rod in relation to the cylinder, which position is representative of the opening position of the metering element.
However, in the case of electric cylinders, likewise, the aggressive dusts or particles of mineral fertilizer, salt, or also other dirt accretions, that act from the outside upon the actuating elements of the metering elements in the case of distributing machines according to the invention constitute a not inconsiderable functional problem. Thus, for example, when the piston rod is being drawn into or pushed out of the electric cylinder, an overpressure or partial vacuum, respectively, is produced inside the cylinder, which pressure can be compensated outwardly by means of suitable valves in the case of applications not of the generic type, but this is difficult to achieve in the case of distributing machines, because ambient dust and/or moisture could enter the cylinder through the vale and result in corrosion. On the other hand, the partial vacuum prevailing inside the cylinder when the piston rod is in the extended state in turn presents the risk of dust and/or moisture being drawn in, such that—as also in the case of hydraulic cylinders—it is necessary to ensure very high sealing tightness, which in practice is achievable only with very expensive special seals. If encrusted or hardened agglomerates have formed on the piston rod, they also have to be safely broken down and removed by effective mechanical scrapers, in order not to damage such special seals and to maintain the high sealing tightness. The high sealing tightness in this case is also extremely important in this respect especially in the case of electric cylinders, because the displacement sensor system, for sensing the current extension position of the piston rod, is usually accommodated inside the cylinder. In the case of ingress of—solid and/or liquid—dirt accretions, however, such displacement sensors suffer damage, whether as a result of mechanical impairment or as a result of corrosion, such that the position sensing becomes inaccurate or completely ineffective, and consequently there are malfunctions in respect of the metering rate.
The same applies to a very large extent to the case of electric-motor spindle drives for displacing the metering slide of the metering element, which drives likewise use parts that telescope into each other, and with which the spindle that can be moved translationally into and out of the motor housing again runs the risk of drawing particulate or fluid dirt accretions into the motor housing and damaging the electric motor itself or its sensors, the said dirt accretions being deposited in a particularly intractable manner in the spiral spindle thread, and being practically no longer separable with continued operation, or with continued insertion and retraction of the spindle into and out of the motor housing. Such an electric-motor spindle drive, provided with a transmission, of a rotatably mounted metering slide of a metering element of a disk spreader can be found in DE 41 05 059 C2, wherein coupled in an articulated manner to the free end of the translationally displaceable spindle is a lever that connects the latter to the metering slide, and in addition a position sensing sensor, arranged inside the motor housing that carries the spindle, is assigned to the electric-motor spindle drive. A similar spindle drive of a rotatably mounted metering slide of a metering element for disk spreaders is known from DE 36 17 302 A1, in which the one end of a lever that carries the metering slide is again coupled in an articulated manner to the adjusting spindle that can be inserted into and extended out of the motor housing, the lever additionally being connected to a displacement transducer for sensing its current position.
All the functional impairments caused by the above problems necessarily result in a stoppage of the working of the distributing machine, which generally can be put only with difficulty, or cannot be put at all, into a kind of manual emergency operation. However, since use of distributing machines of the generic type is almost exclusively seasonal, and there is usually only a short time window available for their use (whether in the case of seasonal fertilizer application at a predefined crop state, or whether in the case of a sudden snowfall), such outages of the distributing machine must be avoided insofar as absolutely possible.
Another, further, problem of the electric cylinders that are used to actuate the metering slide of metering elements of the generic type and that have parts that telescope into each other is that, owing to increasing size (or increasing working widths) and increasing travel speeds, as well as increasing automation processes, there is a need for ever greater speeds of retraction and extension of the piston rod, or of the adjusting spindle, into and out of the electric cylinder. Since the efficiency of electric cylinders is relatively low, owing to the considerable expenditure of force for what is usually friction-intensive operation, there is consequently an ever greater demand for available electrical power. This is disadvantageous, not only with regard to a high electrical energy consumption, but also, in particular, with regard to the fact that electric cylinders of distributing machines of the generic type normally have to be supplied with power from the electrical system of the towing vehicle, with generally only a 12 V power system being available, both in agricultural vehicles and in conventional road vehicles. If the distributing machine is one that has electrical or electronic open-loop and/or closed-loop control of a plurality of functions of the distributing machine, there may be up to six electrical actuating drives (two for each of the metering elements, the possibly present means for adjusting the feed point, and for possibly present agitators) that, when operating simultaneously together with the open-loop/closed-loop control electronics themselves, and with an operator control unit that is usually assigned to the latter, require very large amounts of electrical power. This can result in very high amperages, up to a collapse of the vehicle electrical system, or up to an emergency shut-down by means of the fuses, such that there is a need to improve the poor efficiency of electrical actuating cylinders.
As already mentioned, frequently distributing machines of the generic type are equipped with means for adjusting the point at which the material to be distributed is fed to the adjusting elements, in respect of the structural design of which means substantially three embodiment variants are known, which comprise                a rotatable mounting of a base provided with the outlet opening from the container;        a mounting, which is coaxially rotatable with the distributing element, of a sleeve that is arranged downstream of the metering element and that has a radial feed opening to the distributing element; or        a rotatably, or also translationally, movable mounting of a chute or channel arranged downstream of the metering element. With regard to the first-mentioned alternative, EP 2 057 876 A1, for example, describes a distributing machine in the form of a dual-disk spreader, assigned to both distributor disks of which is a respective means, for adjusting the feed point of the material to be distributed, each comprising a respective rotatable base that are each provided with an outlet opening of the container. The rotatable bases are driven by means of a respective electric cylinder, which can be actuated separately from each other, or by means of a common electric cylinder and a corresponding lever system. With regard to the second alternative, for example EP 1 145 614 B1 discloses a distributing machine, again in the form of a disk spreader, which comprises a sleeve that is arranged directly above the surface of the distributor disk and that is coaxially rotatable with the latter, by means of an electric cylinder. The material to be distributed is supplied to the sleeve by means of the metering element and fed, via a radial feed opening of the sleeve, onto the surface of the distributor disk, in the central region thereof. Depending on the rotary position of the sleeve, its feed opening is shifted in the circumferential direction of the distributor disk such that—in a manner similar to that of the first alternative, described above—the feed point is adjusted in the circumferential direction of the distributor disk. With regard to the third alternative, there are known from EP 0 489 674 B1, EP 0 682 857 B1 or EP 2 454 928 B1, for example, distributing machines, in the form of disk spreaders, in which the material to be distributed is fed by means of the metering element or a rotatably mounted chute or channel. As a result of the chute being rotated, by means of its assigned electric cylinder, its free end is shifted relative to the distributor disk, which is mounted in a stationary manner, in order to adjust the point at which the material to be distributed is fed there—usually both in the radial and in the circumferential direction thereof—to the distributor disk.

Distributing machine and metering element suitable for said distributing machine


A detector for detecting the presence of a memory tag, the detector comprising a radio frequency source operable to generate a radio frequency signal and a detector resonant circuit part connected to the radio frequency source, the detector resonant circuit comprising an antenna, the detector further comprising a power monitor responsive to the power of a reflected signal returned from the detector resonant circuit part, the power monitor being operable to generate an output in response to the power of the reflected signal, wherein a decrease in the power of the reflected signal indicates the presence of a tag in the vicinity of the antenna.

Memory tags in the form of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are well known in the prior art, and the technology is well established (see for example: RFID Handbook, Klaus Finkenzeller, 1999, John Wiley & Sons). RFID tags come in many forms but all comprise an integrated circuit with information stored on it and a coil which enables it to be interrogated by a read/write device generally referred to as a reader. Until recently RFID tags have been quite large, due to the frequency they operate at (13.56 MHz) and the size of coil they thus require, and have had very small storage capacities. Such RFID tags have tended to be used in quite simple applications, such as for file tracking within offices or in place of or in addition to bar codes for product identification and supply chain management.
Much smaller RFID tags have also been developed, operating at various frequencies. For example Hitachi-Maxell have developed "coil-on-chip" technology in which the coil required for the inductive link is on the chip rather than attached to it. This results in a memory tag in the form of a chip of 2.5 mm square, which operates at 13.56 MHz. In addition Hitachi has developed a memory tag referred to as a "mu-chip" which is a chip of 0.4 mm square and operates at 2.45 GHz. These smaller memory tags can be used in a variety of different applications. Some are even available for the tagging of pets by implantation.
Although it is known to provide tags with their own power source, in many applications the tag is also powered by the radio frequency signal generated by the reader. Such a known system is shown in FIG. 1 where a reader is indicated generally at 10 and a tag at 12. The reader 10 comprises a radio frequency signal generator 13 and a resonant circuit part 11, in the present example comprising an inductor 14 and a capacitor 15 connected in parallel. The inductor 14 comprises a antenna. The resonant circuit part will have a particular resonant frequency in accordance with the capacitance and inductance of the capacitor 15 and the inductor 14, and the frequency signal generator 13 is operated to generate a signal at that resonant frequency.
The tag 12 similarly comprises a resonant circuit part generally illustrated at 16, a rectifying circuit part generally indicated at 17 and a memory 18. The resonant circuit part 16 comprises an inductor 19 which again comprises in this example a loop antenna, and a capacitor 20. The resonant circuit part 16 will thus have a resonant frequency set by the inductor 19 and capacitor 20. The resonant frequency of the resonant circuit part 16 is selected to be the same as that of the reader 10. The rectifying part comprises a forward-biased diode 21 and a capacitor 22 and thus effectively acts as a half-ware rectifier.
When the reader 10 is brought sufficiently close to the tag 12, a signal generated by the frequency generator 13 will cause the resonant circuit part 11 to generate a high frequency electromagnetic field. When the resonant circuit part 16 is moved within this field, a current will be caused to flow in the resonant circuit part 16, drawing power from the time varying magnetic field generated by the reader. The rectifying circuit part 17 will then serve to smooth the voltage across the resonant frequency part and provide a power supply storage. The rectifying circuit part 17 is sufficient to supply a sufficiently stable voltage to the memory 18 for the memory to operate.
There are many uses to which such memory tags may be put. For example in EP 1 076 316 A2 an application is described whereby a memory tag is attached to a print of a photograph and contains data about the print concerned.
For some uses the RFID tags are attached to the rear of sticky labels, which may be printed on the front with data, such as for example a bar code, or other product identifiers. Apparatus for applying RFID tags to the rear of labels is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,544 B1, where the front of the labels are printed and then the tags are applied to the rear. The apparatus further includes a read station down stream of the tag being applied to the rear of the label, where the operation of the tag is checked before the label is dispensed from the apparatus for use.
In such prior applications, the tag is easy to locate with a read/write device since the tag itself is physically large enough to be found, and/or is in a constant position, for example when applied to a label, and in many cases the range of the read/write head is sufficiently large, for example tens of centimetres at least. Where the tag is miniaturised and of comparatively low power however, a problem then arises in locating a read/write device sufficiently close to the tag for reading and/or writing of data to or from the tag to occur. An aim of the invention is to reduce or overcome the above problem.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


When a counter-electromotive force generated by an inductive load is applied to the drain of a switch element, the gate of the switching element may pull the gate potential toward the direction opposite to its original potential due to capacitance coupling of the drain-gate capacitance, and this may cause a malfunction. To cope with this, a switch element that pulls the potential to the reverse direction is provided and controlled to turn on at timing at which the counter-electromotive force is applied.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a circuit device and an electronic apparatus or the like.
2. Related Art
A technique of controlling the number of revolutions of a motor by controlling a chopping current is known as a technique for a motor driver that drives a DC motor. In this technique, a current flowing to an H-bridge circuit is converted to a voltage by a sense resistor, and the resultant voltage is compared with a reference voltage, to detect a chopping current. The detection result is fed back to a control circuit, to perform PWM control of a drive signal for the bridge circuit, thereby rotating a motor at a fixed rate. As such techniques for a motor driver, the techniques disclosed in JP-A-2003-189683 and JP-A-2008-042975 are known.
The H-bridge circuit of the motor driver has first to fourth transistors (switching elements) for driving, where the first and fourth transistors, and the second and third transistors, are connected electrically diagonally with respect to the motor. During the charge period, the first and fourth transistors are on, whereby the positive-side (+) terminal of the motor is set to a high-potential voltage and the negative-side (−) terminal is set to a low-potential voltage. During the decay period, the second and third transistors are on, whereby the positive-side terminal of the motor is set to a low-potential voltage and the negative-side terminal is set to a high-potential voltage.
When the period is switched from the charge period to the decay period as described above, an abrupt voltage change occurs at a node of a terminal of the motor. In this case, a gate capacitance (gate-drain capacitance) is present in a transistor for driving. It has been therefore found that, when an abrupt voltage change occurs at a node of a terminal of the motor, this voltage change is conveyed to the gate node of the transistor for driving via the gate capacitance, raising an abnormal condition such as that so-called self-turn-on occurs causing flow of a through current.


A multi-band antenna with a reflector, comprising a box-shape reflector, wherein the box-shape reflector includes a base plate, a surrounding sidewalls and an extending plate, wherein the extending plate and the base plate are respectively attached on both sides of the surrounding sidewalls, thereby forming a box-shape with a receiving area on an inner surface of the base plate, and the extending plate is substantially parallel to the base plate; and a radiation unit coupled to the inner surface and substantially parallel to the base plate.

Various types of antennas are rapidly improvement along with the development of the communication technology. The IC technology is also developed with fast pace to provide a product with smaller size and lighter weight. The volume fact is one of important considerations to the antenna used for transmitting and receiving signal. One goal of the manufacture is to achieve the small product with light weight.
Antenna is employed to transmit or receive EM wave for communication technology. The characters of the antenna can be obtained from the operating frequency, radiation pattern, return loss and antenna Gain. Small size, good performance and low cost are the most important facts for the current antenna to share larger marketing.
I general, the antennas employ a reflector to reflect the EM wave transmitted by the antennas for directing the EM wave towards a pre-determined direction. In order to constrain the EM wave direction, the reflector is configured with a spherical shape or other curved surface, generally. The waves reflected from the above reflector may propagate towards a direction so as to improve the directivity and gains.
However, the well-known reflectors are shaped as spherical shape or parabolic shape or other curved surface. In order to precisely control the focus location of the reflector, it leads to the manufacture procedure is complicated; therefore, the cost is high. Further, it is also unlikely to minimize the size of such reflector.
Further, the conventional reflector is adapted to single one band only, it is impossible to be applied to the wireless transmission standard such as IEEE 802.11a and European HYPERLAN standard (4.9 GHz˜5.9 GHz), IEEE 802.11b (2.4–2.5 GHz). Therefore, the conventional one is not only inconvenient, but also expensive.
Thus, what is desired is to develop a multi-band antenna to meet the requirement of improved reflection effect, easy to manufacture and is adapted to the IEEE 802.11a/b and European HYPERLAN standard.


A device retrieval system in a network system including a plurality of devices each having at least one attribute. The retrieval system includes: a plurality of device registration units, a device retrieval unit and an identity judgment unit. The device registration unit registers at least a part of the devices and attributes thereof while associating the devices with the attributes respectively. The device retrieval unit retrieves devices and attributes thereof from the devices and the attributes registered in the device registration units. The identity judgment unit judges identity as to whether a device retrieved from one of the device registration units is identical to a device retrieved from one of the others of the device registration units, based on common points of attributes of the retrieved devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device retrieval system and a method thereof for retrieving devices connected to a network and for performing predetermined processings respectively.
2. Background Art
Service for providing devices providing various functions such as scanning and printing (such devices will be hereinafter referred to as devices in a lump) through a network has been put into practical use.
When a wide variety of devices are connected to a network, it is convenient that users can retrieve what device and what processing provides.
To satisfy such a request, there have been hitherto proposed a large number of systems for allowing users' computers to retrieve devices by use of a database.
Here, the number of databases for device retrieval is not limited to one on the network, but a plurality of databases may be provided on the network.
Even if there are a plurality of databases on the network, the range of device choice maybe narrowed when users are allowed to gain access to only one of the databases.
On the other hand, even when users are allowed to gain access to a plurality of databases, it takes much time and effort for users to select devices using the plurality of databases.
To solve such problems, for example, "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 232154/1999 (Document 1)" discloses a method for retrieving devices from a plurality of databases in a lump and presenting a result of retrieval to users so as to submit the result for users' device choices.
However, even if retrieval is performed thus on a plurality of databases in a lump, a common device may be registered and administered among a plurality of databases. In such a case, it is not always recognized among the plurality of databases that one device in one database is identical to another in another. In addition, attributes of devices are not always registered and administered in one and the same format among the databases.
In such a case, due to the difference in data format among the databases, there can exist a device which is one device in fact but is presented to users as if it were a plurality of devices. Thus, the users may be confused when making choices of devices.

Device retrieval system on the basis of device attributes and method thereof


An ultraviolet light monitoring system includes first and second electrodes, an evaluation subject film and a power source. The first and second electrodes are opposingly disposed and attract holes which are generated in accordance with irradiation of ultraviolet light. The evaluation subject film is formed in a vicinity of the first and second electrodes, and is a subject of evaluation of damage caused by the irradiation of ultraviolet light. The power source, at times of monitoring of the ultraviolet light, applies a predetermined bias to a series path formed by the first electrode, a gap between the first and second electrodes, and the second electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultraviolet light monitoring system that quantitatively and in real time monitors damage caused by ultraviolet light from plasma or the like in a semiconductor fabrication step (process) or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the progress of miniaturization of element structures, thinning of layers and formation of three-dimensional structures in, for example, semiconductor devices, ultraviolet light irradiation damage, when ultraviolet light is emitted from a plasma which is used in a step of forming an interlayer insulation film, wiring or the like and reaches a boundary surface of a semiconductor element, has become a significant problem.
As a countermeasure, technologies have been developed for ultraviolet light monitoring systems (for example, a plasma monitoring system) which monitor ultraviolet light irradiation damage in real time at actual patterns on wafers. Methods and evaluation results of these technologies are presented in detail in documents such as, for example:
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-282546 (below referred to as document 1);
JP-A No. 2005-236199 (below referred to as document 2);
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, Vol. 23, No. 6, November/December 2005, American Vacuum Society, pp. 1509-1512 (below referred to as document 3);
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, Vol. 23, No. 1, January/February 2005, American Vacuum Society, pp. 173-177 (below referred to as document 4); and
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, Vol. 22, No. 6, November/December 2004, American Vacuum Society, pp. 2818-2822 (below referred to as document 5); and the like.
FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing a conventional plasma monitoring system which is described in, for example, FIG. 6 of the document 2 and FIG. 2(a) on page 174 of the document 4. FIG. 8A is a schematic structural diagram, and FIG. 8B is a diagram showing problem. FIG. 9 is a schematic plan diagram showing an electrode of FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B.
The plasma monitoring system shown in FIG. 8A is provided with a plasma processing device 10. The plasma device 10 is a device which generates plasma 12 in a plasma chamber 11, which is in a vacuum state, by application of a high frequency (RF) bias voltage, and implements etching, film formation or the like on a monitoring subject 20 which is placed on a stage 13. Wiring 14 is connected to the monitoring subject 20. This wiring 14 leads out to outside the plasma chamber 11. A voltage supply 15, for applying a negative bias voltage (for example, −30 V) to the monitoring subject 20, and an ammeter 16, for measuring an induction current flowing in the monitoring subject 20, are connected in series with the wiring 14 that has been led out to the outside.
The monitoring subject 20 has a structure in which an electrode (for example, a polysilicon electrode 22 formed as a film with a substantially rectangular shape in plan view) insulated by a silicon dioxide film (SiO2 film) is formed on a wafer (for example, a silicon (Si) substrate 21), and a film to be used for an actual semiconductor device (for example, a silicon dioxide film 23) is formed on the polysilicon electrode 22. A portion of the silicon dioxide film 23 is opened up and a portion of the polysilicon electrode 22 is exposed, and the wiring 14 is connected to this exposed location via a wiring connection portion 24.
At a time at which monitoring of ultraviolet light UV is to be performed, when plasma processing of the monitoring subject 20 is being implemented by application of the RF bias voltage, pairs of holes h and electrons e are generated in the silicon dioxide film 23 on the polysilicon electrode 22 by the ultraviolet light UV emitted from the plasma 12. The negative bias voltage is applied to the polysilicon electrode 22 by the voltage supply 15, and thus the holes h are measured in real time by the ammeter 16, as an induction current. This induction current is monitored as a quantitative indicator of damage to the silicon dioxide film 23 that is caused by the ultraviolet light UV.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2(b) on page 174 of the document 4, a structure may be employed in which a surface of the silicon dioxide film 23, including the opening portion, is covered with an aluminum (Al) based metal film, in order to eliminate effects of ions i, electrons e or the like as much as possible.
As shown in FIG. 8B, when the monitoring subject 20 is exposed to the plasma 12, the plasma 12 has been separated into positive ions, and the electrons e and holes h act to electrostatically charge up the silicon dioxide film 23. Here, because the electrons e are much lighter than the holes h, the electrons e have higher speed, and large amounts of the electrons e are accumulated on the silicon dioxide film 23. As a result, a negative potential is generated at the top of the silicon dioxide film 23 by this electron charging. Then, the slower holes h having opposite charge to the electrons e reach the top of the silicon dioxide film 23, but amounts approximately canceling out the previously charging electrons e do not cause charging. Therefore, although the negative electrons e and positive holes h from the plasma 12 both eventually reach the top of the silicon dioxide film 23 and cause charging, an initial charging amount by the negative electrons e is large. Hence, a potential at the top of the silicon dioxide film 23 is in a stable state, and is a negative potential. This negative potential is referred to as a self-aligning bias Vdc.
Thus, it is known that usually, in a plasma processing process, a self-aligning bias Vdc is generally formed with a negative potential at a pattern surface. This potential varies greatly in value depending on conditions of the plasma processing. If the self-aligning bias Vdc is, for example, −80 V, when the feed-in bias is constant (−30 V in this case), a portion of the holes h that are generated in the evaluation subject silicon dioxide film 23 by the ultraviolet light UV will be attracted in a direction toward the surface of the silicon dioxide film 23 rather than the polysilicon electrode 22, and accurate measurement of induction currents is not possible, which has been a problem.


A semiconductor manufacturing process is provided. First, a substrate is provided, wherein a patterned conductive layer, a dielectric layer and a patterned metal hard mask layer are sequentially formed thereon. Thereafter, a portion of the dielectric layer is removed to form a damascene opening exposing the patterned conductive layer. Afterwards, the dielectric layer is heated to above 200° C. Thereafter, a plasma treatment process is performed on the damascene opening, wherein the gases used to generate the plasma include hydrogen gas and inert gas. Afterwards, a conductive layer is formed in the damascene opening to fill therein.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing process. More particularly, the present invention relates to a damascene process.
2. Description of Related Art
With the progress of integration of semiconductor devices, the use of multi-metal interconnects are becoming wide spread. Usually, the lower the resistance of the metal layer of the multi-metal interconnects is, the higher the reliability of elements is, and the better the performance of the element can be. Among metal materials, the copper is suitable to be used for the multi-level interconnects because the resistance of copper is low. However, as it is difficult to pattern the copper in the conventional photolithographic etching technique, a dual damascene process has been developed.
The dual damascene process is a technique that involves forming a trench and a via opening in a dielectric layer and then refilling a metal to form a metal wire and a via. Typically, several material layers such as the liner layer, the dielectric layer and the metal hard mask layer are sequentially formed over the substrate having the patterned conductive layer thereon and then a portion of the dielectric layer is removed to form the dual damascene opening, exposing the patterned conductive layer, in the dielectric layer. However, the stress variation and unbalanced stress between the metal hard mask layer, the dielectric layer and the liner layer lead to the unexpected shrinking or distortion of the dual damascene opening after it has been formed. Thus, the critical dimension of the dual damascene is smaller than expected. On the other words, the dual damascene formed with the use of the metal hard mask layer would confront the problem of the line distortion, which leads to the difficulty of performing the metal refilling process. Furthermore, the structure of the dual damascene will have the defects of via open or high resistance.


A reusable, portable attachment for coupling in between a baby bottle top and a baby bottle container that comprises a container compartment for storing powdered formula separately from water prior to feeding, a hollow compartment, a removable seal therebetween, and a release actuator for releasing the seal to mix the powdered formula and water.

Infants require a specific amount of nutrients at specific times throughout the day. Often times such nutrients are delivered through formula. Formula is a powdered substance containing nutrients that is mixed with water to create liquid formula, which can then be fed to an infant.
There are times when mixing formula is inconvenient, such as outings away from home. Formula may be pre-mixed but it is typically recommended that pre-mixed formula be consumed within one hour of mixing, as the shelf life of mixed formula is about two hours. This can lead to wasted formula if the infant is not hungry within an hour of mixing.
Therefore, feeding formula either requires the transportation of powdered formula, water and a baby bottle separately, or the use of a device that stores baby formula into which water can be added to create formula. These devices are often expensive, complicated to manipulate, requiring finesse to use, and are difficult to clean.

Portable system of preserving and instantly mixing baby formula


A dry sprinkler installation and sealing device for a cold environment is disclosed. The dry sprinkler installation includes a supply conduit having a first end adapted to communicate with a fire retardant fluid source and a second end supporting a sprinkler head. The supply conduit is dimensioned to extend through an opening in a wall of a cold environment, e.g., a freezer ceiling. A flexible sealing device is positioned about the supply conduit adjacent an exterior surface of the cold environment. A first end of the sealing device is secured about the supply conduit and a second end of the sealing device is secured to an exterior surface of the cold environment. The flexible sealing device allows for radial and axial adjustments to the supply conduit and sprinkler head without compromising the integrity of the sealing device.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to dry sprinkler installations and, more particularly, to a sealing device for use with a dry sprinkler freezer installation.
2. Background to Related Art
Dry sprinkler installations for use in fire protection systems are well known. Typically, dry sprinkler installations include a fluid supply conduit having a first end supporting a sprinkler head and a second end communicating with a fluid main. The sprinkler head includes a thermally responsive device which when activated allows water, nitrogen or other fire retarding agent to flow through the fluid supply conduit and exit the sprinkler head.
The use of dry sprinkler installations in cold environments such as freezers is well known. Typically, in a dry sprinkler installation for a cold environment, the sprinkler supply conduit extends through a hole or opening in the ceiling of the cold environment and an annulus between the supply conduit and the inner diameter of the opening is filled with a spray-foam type of insulation. Thereafter, when the spray-foam insulation hardens or solidifies, it becomes rigid and brittle and does not allow for any movement of the supply conduit or sprinkler head. As a result, any adjustments to the supply conduit or sprinkler head can produce cracks in the spray-foam insulation. If the spray-foam insulation does crack, the thermal insulation properties of the spray-foam insulation are compromised and warm air is able to travel into the cold environment. This can be problematic to the dry sprinkler installation. More specifically, because warm air outside the cold environment generally has a higher relative humidity than the cold air within the cold environment, the cold temperature in the cold environment causes the moisture in the warm air to condense. As the moisture condenses, water droplets form and can accumulate around and on the sprinkler head. As these droplets freeze, ice may accumulate on the sprinkler head. A significant accumulation of ice on the sprinkler head may impair the operability of the sprinkler head such as to delay or prevent operation of the sprinkler head in the event of a fire or effect premature operation of the sprinkler head in absence of a fire.
Accordingly, a continuing need exists in the sprinkler installation art for an apparatus and a method for installing a dry sprinkler installation in a cold environment which provides adequate sealing yet allows for adjustments and/or maintenance to be performed on the sprinkler head and/or supply conduit.

Method of installing a dry sprinkler installation


A tile and mounting mat assembly comprises at least one tile and a mounting mat which is able to receive four tiles. The tile has at least one hole on the back thereof. The mounting mat includes four side walls and a plurality of primary ribs. Two neighboring walls of the four side walls have a plurality of pairs of snap feet and the other two neighboring walls of the four side walls have a plurality of connecting hooks. The primary ribs are crossed within the side walls so as to define at least a first intersection point and partition the mounting mat into at least four frames. Each of the frames has a plurality of secondary ribs. The plurality of secondary ribs are crossed so as to define a plurality of second intersection points, wherein a plurality of positioning posts are respectively formed at each of the second intersection points so as to fit into the holes of a tile when the tile and the mounting mat are assembled, whereby at least four tiles are mounted on the mounting mat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tile and mounting mat assembly, particularly to a tile and mounting mat assembly which is employed for facilitating replacement of a used tile with a new one.
2. Prior Art
Nowadays, a mixture of cement and water is still needed for affixing tiles to a floor. This conventional method for laying tiles on a floor requires a special technique. Usually a professional carpenter is hired to do the job. Meanwhile, a relatively long time is needed for the cement to dry. Therefore, the conventional method is costly and time-consuming. In addition to the above disadvantages, remodeling the floor for a new layout of color tiles is difficult. In the process of remodeling, all of the tiles are inevitably destroyed. Therefore, remodeling the floor is not only difficult to perform but also wasteful of tiles.


Heterolayered thin films having ferroelectric/piezoelectric layers of alternating crystal structures and methods of their preparation are provided. In the ferroelectric/piezoelectric thin film, a first layer has a rhombohedral crystal structure and a second layer adjacent the first layer has a tetragonal crystal structure. The layers have a (100) preferred orientation with α-axis normal to the surface of the film. The first layer can be a Zr-rich lead ziroconate titanate layer (e.g., PbZr0.8Ti0.2O3) and the second layer can be a Ti-rich PZT layer (e.g., PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3). Heterolayered ferroelectric/piezoelectric thin film comprising a plurality of such first and second layers in alternating sequence exhibits particularly improved electrical properties.

Lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin films are technologically important and useful due to their excellent ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. They exhibit large piezoelectric coefficients, large polarizations and desirable dielectric permittivity. Therefore, PZT thin films are employed in a wide variety of technologically demanding applications such as in microelectromechanical systems, dynamic random access memories, and non-volatile ferroelectric random access memories.
The crystal structures and hence the ferroelectric and piezoelectric behaviours of a PZT film (i.e., Pb(ZrxTi(1-x)O3) are dependent on the stoichiometric ratio of Zr/Ti in the film (i.e., x/(1-x), hereinafter referred to as Zr/Ti ratio) (B. Jaffe, W. R. Cook and H. Jaffe, Piezoelectric Ceramics, New York, Academic, 1971). They also vary with temperature. For example, at room temperature, PZT of a low Zr/Ti ratio is tetragonal in structure while that of a high Zr/Ti ratio is orthorhombic or rhomobohedral, depending on the value of the Zr/Ti ratio. The ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of PZT thin films are also dependent on the film texture and orientation.
Several processing techniques have been used to form PZT films, including pulsed laser deposition, chemical vapour deposition, radio frequency (RF) sputtering, sol-gel processing, and other chemistry-based processing techniques. Among these techniques, sol-gel processing provides flexibility in controlling the film texture and thickness, and is also relatively inexpensive.
In a typical sol-gel process for PZT thin films, a precursor solution is prepared and then spin-coated on a suitable substrate, such as silicon wafer or other ceramic substrates of either single crystal or polycrystal or metal substrates. The precursor film is then baked and annealed at high temperatures to form a crystallized PZT layer on the substrate. The structure and properties of the resulting PZT thin films can be varied to a certain extent by using different substrate materials. For instance, PZT film can grow epitaxially from a single crystal substrate, which often dictates the growth orientation of the PZT film. Several different dopants have also been added to PZT thin films, in order to tailor their structure and electrical properties.
The electrical properties of PZT thin films can be further improved by depositing PZT layer on a specifically designed functional layer. For example, it has been shown that depositing a PZT layer with a LaNiO3 buffer layer on metal substrates can improve dielectric properties of PZT thin film (Q. Zou, H. E. Ruda and B. G. Yacobi, Appl. Phys. Lett.; 78, 2001, p1282).
While conventional PZT films exhibit good electrical properties and can be prepared by several existing techniques, there is a need for developing novel ferroelectric/piezoelectric thin films that have improved properties and methods for forming the same.

Heterolayered ferroelectric thin films and methods of forming same


An apparatus and method for routing data among multicores that is capable of reconfiguring the connection among the multicores are provided. The apparatus includes a configuration information generating unit and at least one switching unit. The configuration information generating unit is configured to generate configuration information that indicates a local network connection among the multicores based on a program counter received from each of the multicores. The at least one switching unit is configured to change a data transfer path among the multicores based on the configuration information.

1. Field
The following description relates to a multi-core system, and more particularly, to an apparatus for effectively routing data among multiple cores included in the multi-core system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A direct memory access (hereinafter, referred to as DMA) controller may be used to perform data transfer from a memory to a peripheral device or from a peripheral device to a memory, independent of the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer system. In general, according to the DMA controller, predetermined data may be directed to be transferred from a source location to a destination location. However, when the DMA controller is used in a multi-core environment to transfer data between the cores, the DMA controller needs to be provided in plural. This plurality may complicate the bus system architecture between the cores. In addition, in order to change a data transfer path in a bus system between the cores, an additional operating system is needed.

Apparatus and method for routing data among multiple cores


An antenna (1) in accordance with the present invention includes a ground plate (11) and an antenna element (12) provided on an identical plane or on different planes parallel to each other, and is suitable for use in a wireless tag (2). The antenna (1) in accordance with the present invention further includes a shortening capacitor (14) that bridges the ground plate (11) and an end part (12B) of the antenna element (12), the end part (12B) being opposite to the power feed-side end part.

In recent years, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system has been widely used for various purposes. The RFID system includes a wireless tag and a reader, and performs various functions via wireless communications between the tag and the reader.
The wireless tag for use in the RFID system is categorized into a passive tag that contains no battery and an active tag that contains a battery. The passive tag is used as a wireless tag for wireless communications between itself and a reader that is close to it (e.g., for use as a pre-paid card). On the other hand, the active tag is used as a wireless tag for wireless communications between itself and a reader that is not close to it (e.g., for use as a tag carried by a user in a presence management system or as a tag attached to a commercial product in an inventory management system). The presence management system is disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1.
It is necessary that the wireless tag include an antenna for wireless communications between itself and a reader. As the antenna included in the wireless tag, a small loop antenna is often used regardless of whether the wireless tag is an active tag or a passive tag. However, the active tag including a small loop antenna has too small a radiative power that it may cause a problem in wireless communications between the tag and a reader that is not close to the tag.
One way to solve such a problem is to use a small dipole antenna or a small monopole antenna instead of the small loop antenna. It should be noted here that the small dipole antenna and the small monopole antenna mean a dipole antenna and a monopole antenna, respectively, each having an antenna element whose total length ρ is much smaller than its resonant wavelength λ (i.e., ρ<<λ). The radiative power of the small loop antenna is proportional to (ρ/λ)4, whereas the radiative power of each of the small dipole and monopole antennas is proportional to (ρ/λ)2. That is, the radiative power of each of the small dipole and monopole antennas is greater than the radiative power of the small loop antenna. However, both of these small antennas, which satisfy ρ<<λ, can only achieve a limited level of radiative power.
On the other hand, a half-wave dipole antenna satisfying ρ=λ/2 and a quarter-wave monopole antenna satisfying ρ=λ/4 are known to have better radiation efficiencies than the above-mentioned small antennas. An active tag including a half-wave dipole antenna is, for example, one that is disclosed in Patent Literature 2. The active tag disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes a planar half-wave dipole antenna and thereby achieves a sufficient radiative power and also achieves a small thickness.


The instant invention provides a system for avoiding or reducing exposure to toxic gases. More specifically, the instant invention includes a base module having a first transceiver securable within a structure, and most preferably within the garage of a home. The base module is constructed and arranged to communicate with a remote module having a second transceiver to alert the user of a dangerous condition within the structure prior to entry thereto. In a most preferred embodiment, the remote module is also a garage door opener that can be carried by a person or within a vehicle. In operation, the remote module sends a signal to the base module. In response, the base transceiver checks the level of a toxic gas such as carbon monoxide within the dwelling, if the level is below a predetermined limit the base module sends a signal to the garage door opener to open the door, if the level of the gas is above the predetermined limit an alarm will be sent to the remote transceiver and the door will not be opened.

In general, carbon monoxide (CO) is hazardous to a person's health. When breathed, carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in the bloodstream. Mild carbon monoxide poisoning results in flu-like symptoms, while more serious poisoning leads to difficulty in breathing and even death via suffocation.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is believed to be the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States. On the average, approximately 5,000 deaths occur, and over 20,000 illnesses result each year from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas that is a by-product of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. This makes it difficult for an individual to recognize the presence of excessive carbon monoxide. In the home, heating and cooking equipment are common potential sources of carbon monoxide. Furnaces are another source of carbon monoxide. Furnaces may be installed at various areas within a home such as, the basement, the attic or within a closet. Any of theses installations could infiltrate the house with carbon monoxide in the event of a malfunction. A mechanical failure such as a fractured heat exchanger may force carbon monoxide through the duct-work of the house to create a toxic condition. Motor vehicles also produce carbon monoxide that can reach dangerous levels when left running in a closed or poorly ventilated garage. This carbon monoxide can infiltrate into a home from an attached garage that may reach toxic levels.
As a result, carbon monoxide detectors are well known in the art. Current carbon monoxide detectors typically monitor carbon monoxide levels in one of three processes. The first process is based on electrochemical technology that uses three platinum electrodes in an electrolyte solution that generate energy when they react with the carbon monoxide, thereby setting off an alarm. The second process uses metal oxide semiconductor technology that is heated every few minutes to react with carbon monoxide and determine levels of that gas. The third process uses bio-mimetic technology that is designed to mimic the hemoglobin response to carbon monoxide, which is to change to a darker color as the level of carbon monoxide increases.
These conventional detectors are generally provided with an internal audible alarm that sounds when the presence of carbon monoxide is detected, similar to common household fire and smoke detectors, with the intention of alerting occupants of a building to enable evacuation and/or take other corrective measures as appropriate.
However, such audible alarms are ineffective when the homeowners are away from the home, at work, running errands, vacation etc. The homeowner may unknowingly return to the home contaminated with CO. The audible alarms are generally muffled so that they cannot be heard from an automobile approaching the home or entering the garage.
There have been attempts in the art to improve the performance of carbon monoxide detectors by causing them to open garage doors, operate fans or turn off devices that are producing carbon monoxide. For example, Hayashi, U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,180, discloses a ventilation fan system with smoke detector speed control. The device includes an electronic circuit that is actuated when a detecting element detects the existence of any smoke or gas in an enclosed area while a fan is in a manually selected slow rotating mode of operation or in a stand-by stopped position. Upon detection of smoke or a gas such as carbon monoxide; the fan is automatically put into full rotation mode in order to expel the smoke or gas. The device expels the smoke or gas through a window that includes solenoid operated shutters that are also controlled by the device.
Kelly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,675, discloses a sensing system for use in a garage or other similar enclosure having an automatic door operator for automatically opening a garage door responsive to a lack of sufficient oxygen therein. The device includes a gas detector located within the enclosure responsive to actuate a detection relay which in turn will close a normally open detection switch. The closing of the detection switch causes operation of the door opener to allow oxygen to enter into the enclosure through the door opening.
Duhame, U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,801, discloses a home security and garage door operator system. The system includes a gas sensor for detecting the level of toxic gas in the garage. When the gas level exceeds a predetermined threshold the garage door is automatically opened.
Vole, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,551 discloses a safety system for smoke and fumes. The system includes a detector unit for detecting fumes, including carbon monoxide. The device is located in a garage, and circuitry controlled thereby automatically opens the garage door, or operates an exhaust blower, or both upon detection of carbon monoxide.
Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,739, discloses a carbon monoxide safety system. The system measures noxious gas concentration in an affected space and controls the device producing the noxious gas for decreasing the concentration of the gas in the affected space. The invention is particularly described in relation to measuring carbon monoxide concentration in an automobile garage and for controlling the garage door opener circuit to open the garage door in response to a preselected concentration of carbon monoxide. Also described in particular is a system for deactivating a furnace operating circuit to turn off the furnace in the event of excessive carbon monoxide concentration.
Czeck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,814, discloses a garage carbon monoxide venting system. The gas venting system includes an electrically operated exhaust fan used in an enclosed garage to expel unwanted gases, especially carbon monoxide, to outside the garage and away from an attached residence.
Meneely, Jr., U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2002/0111132 and 2003/0087600 disclose a carbon monoxide ventilation system, comprising a carbon monoxide sensor, a fan, and a vent. The carbon monoxide sensor supplies power to the fan when a threshold level of carbon monoxide is detected. The fan includes a motor and a propeller which draws air into the fan unit, and expels the air through the vent.
Dazurko et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0212681, discloses a garage monitoring system for use with an automatic garage door opening mechanism that includes a carbon monoxide detector configured to sense the presence of carbon monoxide within the garage and generate an audible alarm when carbon monoxide reaches a predetermined level in the garage.
Winters et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0020619, discloses a proactive carbon monoxide protection system that includes a carbon monoxide detector connected to a control module adapted to turn off the source of carbon monoxide, sound a central alarm, and alert an off-site monitoring station upon detection of carbon monoxide by the detector.
While these devices may be effective in some instances for reducing CO in a garage or home, they may also create additional problems for the home owner. For example, opening the garage door while the owner of the home is away breaches the security of the home by allowing easy entry to at least the garage and possibly the home itself. Automatic garage door operation may additionally trigger an alarm system. Absent a special signal to the alarm company, indicating high CO level, the police may be forced to unknowingly enter the home filled with dangerously high levels of CO in search of a burglar. Still yet, turning off an appliance such as a furnace without supervision can have devastating consequences to the home owner should he/she be away from the home. The pipes as well as other portions of the home could be frozen and permanently damaged causing extensive damage to the home.
Often high CO levels are associated with an automobile. Vehicles are often left running in the garage of a home for various reasons. Warming up the vehicle, talking on a cell phone, and going back into the home to retrieve a forgotten item are just a few of the reasons why an automobile may be left running in the garage. In the case of a town-home or apartment, a failed appliance or running vehicle may cause high CO levels in the adjacent dwellings.
Thus, there is a need for a new and improved monitoring and protection system that addresses the drawbacks and disadvantages of such prior CO monitoring devices. The system should monitor CO levels within the home and/or garage and upon the attempted opening of the garage door for entry to the home an internal monitor having a first transceiver should send a signal to a remote transceiver in the vehicle to indicate whether or not the building is safe to enter. The device may include one mode for when people are in the home and a second mode for when people are away from the home. The first mode should provide an audible alarm in addition to automatic opening of the garage door to vent gasses if the gas levels are high in the garage. In the second mode, a base monitor should send a signal to the remote transceiver to notify the person of a problem prior to entry into the dwelling. In addition the remote transceiver should continuously monitor the air conditions within the vehicle itself to alert the driver and/or passengers in the event the air becomes unsafe.

Carbon monoxide safety system for preventing entry into a dwelling containing toxic gases


A base form for use in making decorative baskets and other art form arrangements has a plastic grid sheet on which is sewn a series of concentric circles of loops made from narrow strips of a thin plastic film. The loops are formed with their bases abutting and the bases sewn to the plastic grid sheet. The grid sheet is formed to fit the particular application. Flowers and other decorative notions may be inserted into the grid material and loops to form a pleasing arrangement.

This invention relates generally to a base form to replace "Easter grass" in baskets and for use in making decorative arrangements of flowers, crafts and the like. More specifically it relates to a prefabricated assembly of a base form and decorative loops of strip material secured on one surface thereof which may be used by florists, crafters and others to construct decorative basket arrangements of flowers, wall hangings, table decorations and other decorative items using flowers, craft items, notions, balloons, etc.
Florists and craft people have used plastic/wire grids; blocks of styrofoam and "Oasis"; needle point blocks; and other base materials in constructing bouquets, wall hangings, table centerpieces, and other attractive decorative items for many years. Each base form has been particularly suited for a specific end use and usually served its purpose well. For certain applications several base forms had to be combined to yield the desired end result.


An asymmetric Fabry-Perot reflectance modulator (AFPM) consists of an active region between top and bottom mirrors, the bottom mirror being affixed to a substrate by a buffer layer. The active region comprises a strained-layer region having a bandgap and thickness chosen for resonance at the Fabry-Perot frequency. The mirrors are lattice matched to the active region, and the buffer layer is lattice matched to the mirror at the interface. The device operates at wavelengths of commercially available semiconductor lasers.

Optical devices can replace purely electronic components in communications and signal processing applications to enhance both the flexibility and performance of information systems. Replacement of electronic components by optical components motivates the modification of standard optical devices for enhanced performance in new applications.
An example of the modification of a standard optical device for novel applications involves the classical Fabry-Perot cavity. This device usually consists of an optical cavity formed by symmetric partially reflecting mirrors, and it is commonly used to define laser cavities (optical resonators) and for tunable spectrometers. A variation of the Fabry-Perot cavity has been designed by M. Whitehead, et al. (Electronics Letters 25, 566 (1989)); and fabricated by M. Whitehead, et al. (op. cit. 984), and also by R. H. Yan, et al., (Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, 1946 (1989)) to create an electrically controlled single-crystal Asymmetric Fabry-Perot (AFP) reflectance modulator.
The classical Fabry-Perot cavity has no reflection at those wavelengths for which the mirror spacing corresponds to an integral number of half wavelengths. Whitehead and Parry predicted, and their co-workers later demonstrated, that an electric field applied to a cavity which contained a multiple quantum-well (MQW) active region with an appropriate bandgap could produce large changes in the reflectivity of the Fabry-Perot resonator. These changes occur because the field shifts the MQW bandgap, thereby altering the wavelength-dependent absorption and the index of refraction of the active region. This bias-dependent modification of the bandgap occurs through the quantum-confined Stark effect. By electrically altering the properties of the optical cavity, the net reflectivity of the cavity is controled.
The Whitehead and Parry AFP modulator used doped semiconductor mirrors to form a p-i-n structure, so the required reverse bias could be applied to generate the necessary electric field across the quantum-well active region. Also, different periods of semiconductor dielectric mirrors are used to define a Fabry-Perot cavity with a different reflectivity for the top-surface mirror than for the bottom- surface mirror. Through the application of a reverse bias, the bandgap of the quantum wells is reduced, so that photons which previously penetrated the structure are absorbed. Thus, at the appropriate wavelength, the light reflected from the higher reflectivity bottom mirror can be attenuated until its reduced intensity matches that of the light reflected from the lesser reflectivity top mirror. For the proper mirror spacing at the appropriate wavelength, the light reflected from the bottom mirror will be 180 degrees out of phase with that from the top mirror, leading to an electrically controlled cancellation, and thus reduced reflectivity for an appropriate applied bias and cavity design.
The Whitehead and Parry Asymmetric Fabry-Perot device has been realized in AlGaAs/GaAs materials system by R. H. Yan et al., and also in the InGaAs/GaAs system by Pezeshki, et al., (Photonics Technology Letters, 2, 807 (1990)). The AlGaAs/GaAs devices of Whitehead, et al., and of Yan et al., are limited to operating wavelengths in a narrow (20 nm) band near 870 nm for room-temperature operation. Because the GaAs substrate is opaque at the quantum-well wavelengths, the AlGaAs/GaAs AFP devices mentioned above also exclude any applications which require light to be transmitted through the substrate.
The design of Pezeshki, et al. allows the use of wavelengths from 0.87 to 1.0 .mu.m in an Asymmetric Fabry-Perot cavity structure. At these longer wavelengths the GaAs substrate is transparent. However, the manner in which Pezeshki, et al., strain the required, multiple layers of InGaAs to match the in-plane lattice spacing shared by the GaAs substrate and the GaAs and AlGaAs epitaxial layers results in a design that is not thermodynamically stable (e.g., G. A. Vawter and D. R. Myers (J. Appl. Phys., 65, 4769 (1990)). The metastable (i.e., not thermodynamically stable) Pezeshki design can only be realized by highly nonequilibrium growth, and degrades when exposed to energetic ions or to temperatures much above the growth temperature. Additionally, because even the most modern growth technique allows only finite deviations from the limits imposed by equilibrium thermodynamics, too great an indium mole fraction in the quantum wells will lead to dislocation formation during growth, thereby degrading the electrical performance, efficiency, and maximum reflectivity of the device. Pezeshki, et al. do not disclose a device that can operate at 1.06 .mu.m and longer wavelengths.

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy