A distinct cultivar of Anthurium plant named xe2x80x98Snowyxe2x80x99, characterized by its upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant habit; freely clumping growth habit; durable dark green leaves; white-colored spathes with very light orange-colored spadices that are positioned above and beyond the foliage on strong and erect scapes; freely flowering habit; and good inflorescence longevity.

Anthurium andreanum.
xe2x80x98Snowyxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Anthurium plant, botanically known as Anthurium andreanum, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Snowyxe2x80x99.
The new Anthurium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Schipluiden, The Netherlands. The objective of the program is to create and develop new freely clumping and freely flowering Anthurium cultivars with strong roots, dark green leaves, attractive spathe color, and good inflorescence longevity.
The new Anthurium originated from a cross by the Inventor on or about Nov. 27, 1997 of the Inventor""s proprietary Anthurium andreanum selection code number 97-002 as the female, or seed, parent with the Inventor""s proprietary Anthurium andreanum selection code number 97-013 as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Snowy was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Schipluiden, The Netherlands in 2000.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by meristem culture in a laboratory in Belgium has shown that the unique features of this new Anthurium plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
The new Anthurium has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of the cultivar Snowy. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Snowyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely clumping growth habit.
3. Durable dark green leaves.
4. White-colored spathes with very light orange-colored spadices that are positioned above and beyond the foliage on strong and erect scapes.
5. Freely flowering habit.
6. Good inflorescence longevity.
Plants of the new Anthurium can be compared to plants of the female parent, the selection 97-002. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the selection 97-002 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium were taller than plants of the selection 97-002.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium had smaller leaves than plants of the selection 97-002.
3. Spathe color of plants of the new Anthuriums was white whereas spathe color of plants of the selection 97-002 was pink.
Plants of the Anthurium can be compared to plants of the male parent, the selection 97-013. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the selection 97-013 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium were more compact than plants of the selection 97-013.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium were not as bushy as plants of the selection 97-013.
3. Spathe color of plants of the new Anthuriums was white whereas spathe color of plants of the selection 97-002 was pink.
Plants of the new Anthurium can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Cynthia, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,454. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Schipluiden, The Netherlands, plants of the new Anthurium differed from plants of the cultivar Cynthia in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Anthurium had smaller and more durable leaves than plants of the cultivar Cynthia.
2. Plants of the new Anthurium had smaller and more durable spathes than plants of the cultivar Cynthia.


A micro-fabricated chip having a stationary structure and a movable structure with a gimbal structure allows pitch and roll motion of the movable structure with respect to the stationary structure. One embodiment of the gimbal structure includes a dimple surface making a rolling-type contact with the stationary structure, and a center bar and a plurality of bar members. An alternative embodiment of the gimbal structure includes a plurality of torsion bar members. Another alternative embodiment of the gimbal structure includes a plurality of flexible members. The micro-fabricated chip can be a passive chip structure or, alternatively, a microactuator having a movable structure that moves in a rotational direction or a translational direction with respect to the stationary structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of disk drives. In particular, the present invention relates to a microactuator for a disk drive that reduces off-track motion of a read/write element.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary high-RPM hard disk drive (HDD) 100 having a magnetic read/write head (or a recording slider) 101 that includes, for example, a tunnel-valve read sensor, that is positioned over a selected track on a magnetic disk 102 using, for example, a two-stage servo system for reading data stored on disk 102. The two-stage servo system includes a voice-coil motor (VCM) 104 for coarse positioning a read/write head suspension 105 and may include a microactuator, or micropositioner, for fine positioning read/write head 101 over the selected track. As used herein, a microactuator (or a micropositioner) is a small actuator that is placed between a suspension and a slider, and moves the slider relative to the suspension.
FIG. 2 depicts a conventional suspension and microactuator arrangement 200. Suspension and microactuator 200 includes a suspension 201, a microactuator 205 and a slider 209. Suspension 201 includes a load beam 202, a dimple 203 and a flexure 204. Suspension 201 imparts a loading force (gram-load) to slider 209. Suspension 201 also provides pitch and roll freedom of motion to the parts attached to suspension 201 by using dimple 203, which is a hemispheric-shaped bump that is made on load-beam 202 and makes a point contact to flexure 204. Flexure 204 is designed to have an extremely low stiffness in roll and pitch direction, and to have an accurately defined free-state both in roll and pitch directions, usually referred to as Pitch Static Attitude (PSA) and Roll Static Attitude (RSA).
Microactuator 205 includes a substrate 206, a microactuator structure 207, and at least one flexure element 208. Substrate 206 is the stationary structure of microactuator 205. Microactuator structure 207 is the movable structure of microactuator 205. Microactuator 205 is usually designed to move horizontally (either rotational or translational) so that the position of slider 209 attached to microactuator 205 can be changed. Microactuator 205 must be designed to have very high stiffness in the z-axis direction and in the pitch/roll direction. These requirements are usually fulfilled by designing a spring structure 208 inside microactuator 205 that is especially anisotropic.
Slider 209 includes a read/write element 210 and is identical to the sliders that are typically used in non-microactuator-type HDDs.
One problem associated with conventional microactuators is that external forces, such as airflow, cause movement of the microactuator in the roll directions, thereby causing read/write element tracking inaccuracies. FIG. 3 depicts movement of microactuator 200 in roll directions 311 under the influence of external forces, such as airflow, as microactuator 200 moves over disk 312. Movement in roll directions 311 causes tracking inaccuracies, as depicted by arrow 313.
Another problem associated with conventional microactuators is that the electrical connections between a suspension and a microactuator are particularly difficult to make. There are two conventional ways for making the electrical connection. First, a bent-lead connection technique can be used, or second, a sidewall-bonding-pad connection technique can be used.
FIG. 4 depicts a conventional bent-lead connection technique for making an electrical connection between a conventional microactuator and a suspension. The microactuator structural arrangement shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the suspension and microactuator structural arrangements shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A dimple 403 is formed on a suspension 401 and makes a point contact to a flexure (not shown in FIG. 4). A microactuator 405 is attached to the flexure. A slider 409 is attached to microactuator 405. A bent lead 415 is electrically connected to a solder ball 416 and a bonding pad 417 to microactuator 405. Another solder ball 418 is shown for one of the connections to read/write head (not shown in FIG. 4) on slider 409 for another bent-lead connection that is not visible in FIG. 4.
The problems associated with a bent-lead connection technique includes that a bent-lead suspension is expensive and difficult to make. It is also difficult to control PSA and RSA after the terminations are made. Further, the solder-bump connections must be made from the opposite side and the terminations cannot be formed from leading-edge side of the microactuator and slider otherwise pitch stiffness becomes too high.
FIG. 5 depicts a conventional sidewall-bonding-pad connection technique for making an electrical connection between a conventional microactuator and a suspension. The microactuator structural arrangement shown in FIG. 5 also corresponds to the microactuator structural arrangements shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A dimple 503 is formed on a suspension 501 and makes a point contact to a flexure (not shown in FIG. 5). A microactuator 505 is attached to the flexure. A slider 509 is attached to microactuator 505. A side-wall-bonding pad 515 is electrically connected through a solder ball 516 to microactuator 505. Another solder ball 518 is shown for one of the connections to read/write head (not shown in FIG. 5) on slider 509 for another side-wall bonding pad connection that is not visible in FIG. 5.
The problems associated with a sidewall-bonding-pad connection technique includes that it is extremely difficult to make bonding pads on the sidewall of a microactuator.
There is a difficulty in controlling PSA/RSA and dimple-contact position that is commonly experiences with conventional non-microactuator Head Gimbal Assemblies (HGAs). Currently, the PSA/RSA of a suspension and dimple-contact position must be controlled very accurately using conventional sheet-metal machining techniques, such as stamping and folding, for properly maintaining the fly-height of the slider. The dimple is usually hemispherically shaped and has a large diameter so it is very difficult to define the contact point of the dimple tip to the flexure. This problem is particularly acute when a contact slider having a very low stiffness is used.
Yet another problem with conventional microactuators occurs when the vertical distance between the dimple-contact point (at the center of rotation) to the Read/Write element is relatively large, the off-track motion caused by disk tilt (usually caused by disk vibration) becomes proportionally larger. When a conventional microactuator is used, the vertical distance increases by the thickness of a microactuator. Accordingly, the off-track motion increases.
What is needed is a suspension and microactuator arrangement that overcomes the drawbacks of a conventional suspension and microactuator, such as PSA/RSA of the suspension and microactuator arrangement, dimple-contact position and electrical connections between the suspension and the microactuator.

Microactuator for a hard disk drive with an integrated gimbal function

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


In an acoustic wave detection probe provided with a light guide section that guides measuring light such that the measuring light is outputted toward a subject and an acoustic wave transducer that detects a photoacoustic wave generated in the subject by the projection of the measuring light, the light guide section includes a homogenizer that flat-tops an energy profile of the measuring light entered from the upstream side of the optical system, a light condensing member that condenses the measuring light transmitted through the homogenizer, and a bundle fiber which includes a plurality of optical fibers and is disposed such that the measuring light transmitted through the light condensing member enters from an entrance end of the bundle fiber.

The photoacoustic spectroscopy is a method in which a pulsed light having a predetermined wavelength (e.g., wavelength range of visible light, near infrared light, or mid-infrared light) is projected onto a subject and a photoacoustic wave, which is an elastic wave generated as a result of absorption of the energy of the pulsed light by a specific substance in the subject, is detected, thereby quantitatively measuring the concentration of the specific substance (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-012295). For example, the specific substance in the subject may be glucose, hemoglobin, or the like included in the blood. The technology that detects a photoacoustic wave in the manner described above and generates a photoacoustic image based on the detected signal is called photoacoustic imaging (PAI) or photoacoustic tomography (PAT).
There has conventionally been a problem described herein below in the measurements using the photoacoustic spectroscopy described above (photoacoustic measurements). That is, the intensity of the light projected onto the subject is significantly attenuated due to absorption and scattering in the process of traveling through the subject. The intensity of a photoacoustic wave generated in the subject based on the projected light is also attenuated due to absorption and scattering in the process of propagating through the subject. Consequently, it is difficult to obtain information of a deep portion of the subject by the photoacoustic measurements. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable that, for example, the magnitude of generated photoacoustic wave is increased by increasing the amount of light energy projected into the subject through the use of high energy light.
In the case where high energy (1 mJ or more) light required in photoacoustic measurements is guided by an optical fiber, it is highly likely that the end face of the optical fiber is damaged and a durability problem of the optical fiber may possibly occur. Generally, when light is inputted to an optical fiber, the end face of the optical fiber is placed adjacent to the focal position of the condenser lens so that the beam diameter of the light fits into the core diameter of the optical fiber. Here, when the light is condensed by the condenser lens, however, the light is focused too narrowly and the energy is locally concentrated, whereby end face damage of the optical fiber may progress from the energy concentrated point as the origin.
In the meantime, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-193267 discloses that transmission of high energy light is realized by the use of a bundle fiber whose entrance end is fusion processed (fused bundle fiber) to efficiently reduce the light energy incident on a unit area.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Acoustic wave detection probe and photoacoustic measurement apparatus provided with the same


A dual belt conveyor having a pair of long plates provided with a plurality of edge rollers brought into contact with both lateral belt edges. The long plates are arranged against both lateral belt edges of two superimposed conveyor belts, along the direction of belt travel in the vertical part, so that both long plates are opposite each other. Two link plates are rotatably attached to the long plates on one side of each link plate, and connected with each other through a central pin on the other side of each link plate. A pair of the long plates are engaged with each other through the two link plates in at least three points. The central pins are rotatably attached to an apparatus frame in at least two points. An adjusting member provided on the apparatus frame is connected with one of the central pins at the remaining point.

(1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dual or sandwich belt conveyor system in which material to be conveyed, which is placed between two superimposed conveyor belts, is conveyed in the direction of from the lower part to the upper part of the conveyor system, or in the reverse direction, and particularly a dual belt conveyor system in which work for adjusting edge rollers brought into contact with belt edges of two superimposed conveyor belts can be made easily, and maintenance efficiency of rollers disposed in a looped part of the dual belt conveyor system can be improved.
(2). Description of the Prior Art
A dual belt conveyor system is known in which material to be conveyed, for example, massive material such as ore and limestone, granular material typified by beans, and powdery material such as sugar and flour, and other material with various properties, is conveyed in the vertical direction by being placed between two superimposed conveyor belts. In this dual belt conveyor system, higher tensile force, as compared with an ordinary conveyor system, is applied to two superimposed conveyor belts so that material to be conveyed can be carried between two superimposed conveyor belts by exerting a force on the conveyor belts which tends to force each belt into contact with the other.
Carrier rollers are arranged in horizontal conveying parts disposed at the upper part and at the lower part of the conveyor system, respectively, and looped conveying parts are connected to the respective horizontal conveying parts with a vertical conveying part so that one conveyor belt or two superimposed conveyor belts are supported by the carrier rollers. In a different embodiment, a plurality of edge rollers are arranged in a vertical conveying part so that two superimposed conveyor belts are supported by the edge rollers, which are brought into contact with both lateral belt edges of two superimposed conveyor belts.
The above-mentioned edge rollers are staggered against and brought into contact with both lateral belt edges in the vertical conveying part in such a manner that the material-carrying surface areas of two conveyor belts (namely surface areas of two superimposed conveyor belts which confront each other and carry material to be conveyed therein) move in essentially the same straight line. Therefore, with conveyor belts being worn away, edge rollers are apt to leave both lateral belt edges of conveyor belts and sufficient support of conveyor belts, therefore, becomes impossible. In this case, it is necessary to adjust the position of individual edge rollers in such a manner that each roller is brought into contact with the conveyor belts.
However, adjusting individual edge rollers in such a manner that each individual roller is brought into contact with conveyor belts is very time consuming, since the number of the above-mentioned edge rollers abounds in a vertical conveying part (in the case of the height of a vertical part being 15 m, the number of edge rollers is about 240). In order to solve this problem, Japanese utility model laid-open No. 42967 of 93 (Heisei 5) is provided. This art discloses a pair of parallel frames, in which these frames are moved relatively in opposite direction of each other so that adjustment is made in which individual rollers mounted on the frames are brought into contact with the conveyor belts.
In the above-mentioned art, where new conveyor belts are used, individual edge rollers can be brought into contact with the conveyor belts at nearly equal spaces in the direction of belt travel. However, when conveyor belts are worn away, spaces between edge rollers in the direction of belt travel become varied and the conveyor belts are not supported uniformly at nearly equal spaces. In this case, material to conveyed leaks from the lateral belt edges of the two traveling superimposed conveyor belts.
Further, since the outer surface of used carrier rollers for supporting belts become worn, a change of worn rollers for new rollers is needed. When worn carrier rollers are changed for new rollers, it is first necessary to remove a base plate on which a stand for bearing each individual carrier roller is fixed from an apparatus frame (not shown). This work is carried out by first removing bolts for fixing the base plate and, thereafter, removing the base plate from the apparatus frame with the base plate being laid on the side. However, since this work is difficult, various arts are proposed.
In carrier rollers disclosed, for example, in Japanese utility model laid-open No. 50214 of 1989 (Showa 64), each individual carrier roller is supported on a roller frame which is formed individually, and each individual roller frame is secured to a base frame, so that carrier rollers can be easily exchanged by removing each carrier roller individually. Further, as disclosed in Japanese utility model laid-open No. 145222 of 1990 (Heisei 2), a foundation part is put over the conveyor belts in the lateral direction of the belts, an inner supporting part for supporting the center rollers is secured to the foundation part, and an outer supporting part for supporting the outside of the slide roller is detachably attached to the foundation part.
The above-mentioned arts relate to carrier rollers used for dual belt conveyors in which material such as ore is placed and conveyed on one continuously traveling belt. In the case where the carrier rollers are exchanged, loads which act on carrier rollers are nearly equal to the sum of the weight of the belt portion between adjacent carrier rollers and the weight of the material to be conveyed which is placed on the belt portion, in which burden loads acting on carrier rollers are not so heavy. Accordingly, an exchange of used carrier rollers for new carrier rollers can be easily made by supporting the lower part of the belt by other supporting members.
However, since high tension acts on both belts in a dual belt conveyor, loads according to the tension applied to the belt by the weight of the material to be conveyed act on carrier rollers which are disposed on a circular arc forming a looped conveying part. Therefore, when exchanging carrier rollers, it is necessary to apply a force in the normal direction of the loop forming the looped conveying part to two conveyor belts by means of a chain block. Accordingly, problems arise relating to the strength which is caused by applying partial tension to belt, and a decrease in the working efficiency of exchange of carrier rollers.
Further, even when carrier rollers in accordance with the conventional art are applied to a looped conveying part having the above-mentioned problems, the above-mentioned problems are solved. Namely, since in conventional carrier rollers an axis has two chamfered parts formed on a part of the axis in the longitudinal direction, and the roller stand has on the upper end side thereof a groove with the same length as the above-mentioned two chamfered parts, it is necessary to insert a part of the axis with the two chamfered parts into the groove from the upper end of the roller stand, and is, therefore, also necessary to raise the axes to a higher position than the upper end of the roller stand. Therefore, there is the problem that it is also necessary to apply a force in the normal direction of the loop forming the looped conveying part to two conveyor belts by means of, for example, a chain block.


A roller knee pad having a hard shell supported by a plurality of swiveling casters. The inside of the hard shell is lined with a cushioning material to absorb shock when kneeling and to cushion against minor shape disparities between the wearers knees and the inside of the hard shell. A plate is attached to the exterior portion of the hard shell to provide mounting locations for a plurality of casters. The casters are capable of swiveling through a 360 degree range. Ideally three casters are used to support the knee pad allowing the pad to be self supporting and allowing the wearer to easily balance on the knee pad without exerting undue pressure on his/her toes. A rolling knee pad is strapped to each of the wearers knees allowing the user to kneel without concern about placement of the knee pad. Once the knee pads are engaged to the floor surface, the wearer may move laterally in any direction while still on his/her knees. If desired, the user may rise, walk to another location and then re-kneel without having to engage one hand with carrying the knee pads. Both hands are thus free to carry tools and materials when rising and kneeling on the invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relate to devices used to protect the knees of persons who spend time on their knees. More particularly, the present invention relates to rolling knee pads that not only protect and cushion the knee but also provide mobility to the wearer while still on his/her knees.
2. Description of the Related Art
Simple knee pads are designed to cushion and protect the wearers knee when the wearer knees contact the ground plane. Some types of knee pads comprise a wear resistant surface layer that contacts the ground plane and a cushioned inside layer that contacts, directly or indirectly, the wearers knee. Other types of knee pads merely comprise a cushion layer to cushion the knee against a hard surface.
Still other types of knee pads have a mechanism to facilitate rolling the knee pad along a surface. These rolling knee pads or cushions may be designed to protect the knee while also providing the wearer with a degree of mobility while the wearer is in the kneeling position. In this type of knee pad, comfort and easy mobility are important to the wearer. It is desirable that the rolling knee pad be easily moveable and that the wearer be able to rise and kneel back upon the knee pad without having to orient the knee pad with his hands because the wearers hands are often engaged, either in grasping tools or materials, or at some other endeavor.
Holsey, U.S. Pat. No. 1,296,522 shows an early design offering a combination rolling feature in a pad that is strapped to the wearers knee. In the Holsey pad, the wearer is supported by one roller and a bar.
Davidson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,547,166 is a more advanced rolling knee pad having two rollers and a support cushion for the knee. The device is again strapped to the wearers knee.
Ashbridge, U.S. Pat. No. 1,382,883 shows a kneeling support that allows the user to kneel on a padded cushion attached to a rolling dolly. The rolling dolly is not attached to the wearers knee.
Martinez et al., U.S. Pat. No. Des. 353,702 shows another rolling knee support. This design has two support pads joined by two rods. Each pad is supported by four wheels. There are no provisions for attaching this roller knee pad to the users knees.
The above devices work well for many applications. However, no device allows the wearer full freedom to rise and resume kneeling without having to position the pad when kneeling and still have full kneeling mobility in any lateral direction. Holsey and Davidson allow the wearer to rise and resume kneeling without having to position the knee pad when kneeling but they only allow kneeling mobility in one direction, ie. perpendicular to the roller axis.
Ashbridge and Martinez et al. allow kneeling mobility in two directions but do not allow the user to rise and then kneel without having to worry about placement of his/her knees on the device.
What is needed is a device which allows the user to rise and resume kneeling without having to pay attention to the placement of the rolling knee pad. At the same time, many users would like the rolling knee pads to easily move laterally in any direction. This combination of features would be valuable for persons who demand extensive lateral movement in any direction when on their knees and who must often rise and re-kneel when moving quickly across large spaces or to retrieve tools and materials.


A computer-implemented method processes a simple object access protocol (SOAP) command. The method includes interpreting an XML script to perform a function contained in the XML script, the XML script containing the SOAP command, parsing the SOAP command from the XML script, and passing the SOAP command to a SOAP interpreter for execution.

An apparatus may contain an embedded controller or agent software to monitor and control its operation. Any type of apparatus may have an embedded controller or agent including, but not limited to, home appliances, office equipment, medical devices, and industrial tools. Other examples include robots, blood analyzers, multifunction copiers, and air conditioners.
Embedded devices are often connected to an internal network, such as a local area network (LAN), with an interface to the Internet. Other devices on the internet network may communicate with an embedded device over the internet network. However, the embedded device is not generally addressable from the Internet. To address this problem, the embedded device may initiate communications with an addressable external device. That is, the embedded device may access the external device (e.g., a server) periodically to obtain necessary data.
SOAP is a standard for encoding function calls, such as remote procedure calls (RPCs), in XML. SOAP defines rules, i.e., a syntax, for encoding the function calls in XML. The body of a SOAP command is defined, at its start, by <SOAP-ENV:BODY> and, at its end, by </SOAP-ENV:BODY>. Code in between these two commands includes the function to be performed by the SOAP command. A SOAP command may include other data as well, such as header information.


A dynamic short range free-space optical (FSO) communication system that is specially designed for use in dynamically moving targets that are within a short range of distance (e.g., 0-50 meters) is provided herein. Using specially designed transmitters and/or receivers, the dynamic short range FSO communication system may facilitate high-bandwidth communication, while allowing several line of sight alignment options that may be useful for somewhat unpredictable vehicle movement.

The present disclosure relates generally to data transfer, and more specifically to systems for providing high-bandwidth and short distance data transmission to vehicles via a dynamic short range free-space optical transmission system.
Generally, vehicles are objects used to transport people and/or goods. As vehicles become increasingly sophisticated, complex data-dependencies may exist to facilitate an increasing amount of functionality for the vehicles. For example, one type of vehicle may be an autonomous/partially-autonomous automobile that is able to self-govern certain driving functions, such as lane-changing, fully automatic driving to a provided destination, or the like. As may be appreciated, autonomous functions may be highly data-dependent, relying on provision of up-to-date driving rules and/or road conditions to facilitate their actions.
In another example, amusement park-style rides may include ride vehicles that carry passengers along a ride path, for example, defined by a track. Over the course of the ride, the ride vehicles may be tasked with performing various effects, such as actuating movement in a cabin of the ride vehicle, independent from an underlying transport system of the ride vehicle. Further, the ride vehicles may be tasked with triggering presentation of lighting, audio, video, or the like and/or may be tasked with other actions as well, such as providing interactive features, such as electronic games, etc. As may be appreciated, these functions of the ride vehicle may rely heavily on electronic data provided to the ride vehicle.
Unfortunately, as the data-dependent functionalities of vehicles increase, the amount of data that the vehicle is dependent upon may increase. Further, traditional mechanisms for providing data to these vehicles are burdensome and time consuming. For example, in systems that rely on hard wired connections (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) or other physical connection) and or machine-readable medium (USB drives, Digital Video Disc (DVD), etc.) data transfers may require complex robotic intervention and/or human intervention, which may be quite burdensome. Further, traditional wireless technologies used to transmit data over short ranges (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) may lack sufficient bandwidth for the increased data load requirements of the vehicles.


Compression, stretch, and crush resistant cables which are useful for welibores. The cables include insulated conductors, a compression and creep resistant jacket surrounding the insulated conductors, a filler material and compression resistant filler rods placed in interstitial spaces formed between the compression and creep resistant jacket and the insulated conductors, and at least one layer of armor wires surrounding the insulated conductor and compression and creep resistant jacket. The filler material may be a non-compressible filler material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wellbore armored logging electric cables, as well as methods of manufacturing and using such cables. In one aspect, the invention relates to compression, stretch, and crush resistant cables which are dispatched into wellbores used with devices to analyze geologic formations adjacent a well before completion and methods of using same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, geologic formations within the earth that contain oil and/or petroleum gas have properties that may be linked with the ability of the formations to contain such products. For example, formations that contain oil or petroleum gas have higher electrical resistivity than those that contain water. Formations generally comprising sandstone or limestone may contain oil or petroleum gas. Formations generally comprising shale, which may also encapsulate oil-bearing formations, may have porosities much greater than that of sandstone or limestone, but, because the grain size of shale is very small, it may be very difficult to remove the oil or gas trapped therein. Accordingly, it may be desirable to measure various characteristics of the geologic formations adjacent to a well before completion to help in determining the location of an oil- and/or petroleum gas-bearing formation as well as the amount of oil and/or petroleum gas trapped within the formation.
Logging tools, which are generally long, pipe-shaped devices, may be lowered into the well to measure such characteristics at different depths along the well. These logging tools may include gamma-ray emitters/receivers, caliper devices, resistivity-measuring devices, neutron emitters/receivers, and the like, which are used to sense characteristics of the formations adjacent the well. A wireline armored logging cable connects the logging tool with one or more electrical power sources and data analysis equipment at the earth's surface, as well as providing structural support to the logging tools as they are lowered and raised through the well. Generally, the wireline cable is spooled out of a drum unit from a truck or an offshore set up, over pulleys, and down into the well.
Wireline cables are typically formed from a combination of metallic conductors, insulative material, filler materials, jackets, and armor wires. The jackets usually encase a cable core, in which the core contains metallic conductors, insulative material, filler materials, and the like. Armor wires usually surround the jackets and core. The insulated conductors are typically placed at or near the core. Commonly, the useful life of a wellbore electric cable is typically limited to only about 6 to 24 months. In the downhole environment, wireline cables are subject to pressures that can exceed 25,000 psi and temperatures in excess of 450° F. At such high pressures, insulating material on conductors can creep due to the high compression force, leading to potential conductor failure. Also, in typical wireline cable construction, cotton yams are cabled into the interstitial spaces between the conductors to expedite the cable core assembly process and provide a close to cylindrical surface to permit easy extrusions or helical laying of metallic wires, although these yams are compressible as well. When a typical cable is placed under high compressive forces, the yam compresses and contributes to deformation of the cable core containing the insulated conductors.
Commonly, polymeric jackets are placed over the cores of wireline cables. These polymeric jackets protect the core and the electrical transmittance media from the hostile chemical environment that the wireline logging cables encounter during deployment. Under high hydrostatic pressures and tension, the jacket material potentially creeps into spaces formed between the armor wires, and between the armor wires and cable core, and does not return to its original shape or position. After the cable is retrieved from the wellbore, the core becomes permanently deformed, and the insulation on helical conductors may creep into the armor wires, significantly diminishing, or eliminating, the electrical transmittance capability of the cable. Also, as the cable becomes deformed, it may also be more prone to damage from crushing as the cable, for instance, is dispatched from the spool into the wellbore over a sheave or at crossover points on the drum at high tension.
Protection against cable compression damage is typically achieved by minimizing space in the core between insulated conductors using filler materials. Unfortunately, these design approaches still result in cables which are prone to compression damage, as most compression damage is still related to the performance of cotton yarn and highly flowable polymeric jacket materials. Compression and tension forces coupled with weakness of the yarn and/or polymeric jacket material may result in flow of the filler material, and thus cable deformation.
Thus, a need exists for wellbore electric cables that are resistant to compression, stretch, and crush damage as well as being resistant to material creep at both elevated temperatures and pressures. An electrical cable that can overcome one or more of the problems detailed above while conducting larger amounts of power with significant data signal transmission capability would be highly desirable, and the need is met at least in part by the following invention.


A data processing system, circuit arrangement, integrated circuit device, program product, and method reduce the memory access latency of sequences of memory access requests by processing at least one request in a sequence out of order relative to another request based upon whether the other request is likely to be for data maintained in the same organizational block (e.g., a cache line) as data requested by an earlier memory access request in the sequence. Given that multiple requests for data in the same block will collectively hit or miss a given level of memory, whenever a miss occurs as a result of an earlier request, the later requests for data in the same block would otherwise stall until processing of the miss was complete. Thus, by attempting to process other requests prior to processing all of the requests to the same block, overall memory access latency often improves since potentially productive operations can be performed during periods that would otherwise be wasted waiting for a common block of data to be retrieved from a lower level of memory. Among other implementations, request reordering may be used to improve the performance of complex memory instructions that use multiple memory access requests to access a range of contiguous words that span more than one organizational block.

The invention is generally related to data processing systems and processors therefor, and in particular to retrieval of data from a multi-level memory architecture.
Computer technology continues to advance at a remarkable pace, with numerous improvements being made to the performance of both microprocessorsxe2x80x94the xe2x80x9cbrainsxe2x80x9d of a computerxe2x80x94and the memory that stores the information processed by a computer.
In general, a microprocessor operates by executing a sequence of instructions that form a computer program. The instructions are typically stored in a memory system having a plurality of storage locations identified by unique memory addresses. The memory addresses collectively define a xe2x80x9cmemory address space,xe2x80x9d representing the addressable range of memory addresses that can be accessed by a microprocessor.
Both the instructions forming a computer program and the data operated upon by those instructions are often stored in a memory system and retrieved as necessary by the microprocessor when executing the computer program. The speed of microprocessors, however, has increased relative to that of memory devices to the extent that retrieving instructions and data from a memory can often become a significant bottleneck on performance. To decrease this bottleneck, it is desirable to use the fastest available memory devices possible. However, both memory speed and memory capacity are typically directly related to cost, and as a result, many computer designs must balance memory speed and capacity with cost.
A predominant manner of obtaining such a balance is to use multiple xe2x80x9clevelsxe2x80x9d of memories in a memory architecture to attempt to decrease costs with minimal impact on system performance. Often, a computer relies on a relatively large, slow and inexpensive mass storage system such as a hard disk drive or other external storage device, an intermediate main memory that uses dynamic random access memory devices (DRAM""s) or other volatile memory storage devices, and one or more high speed, limited capacity cache memories, or caches, implemented with static random access memory devices (SRAM""s) or the like. In some instances, instructions and data are stored in separate instruction and data cache memories to permit instructions and data to be accessed in parallel. One or more memory controllers are then used to swap the information from segments of memory addresses, often known as xe2x80x9ccache linesxe2x80x9d, between the various memory levels to attempt to maximize the frequency that requested memory addresses are stored in the fastest cache memory accessible by the microprocessor. Whenever a memory access request attempts to access a memory address that is not cached in a cache memory, a xe2x80x9ccache missxe2x80x9d occurs. As a result of a cache miss, the cache line for a memory address typically must be retrieved from a relatively slow, lower level memory, often with a significant performance hit.
Some conventional cache designs are xe2x80x9cpipelinedxe2x80x9d, which permits the caches to start subsequent missed memory access requests prior to completion of earlier missed memory access requests. Pipelining reduces memory access latency, or delay, since the handling of cache misses for subsequent memory access requests often does not need to wait until the processing of an earlier miss is complete.
One limitation to cache pipelining arises from the fact that oftentimes memory access requests that are issued closely in time are for data stored in a narrow range of memory addresses, and often within the same cache line. As a result, pipelining may still not effectively reduce memory access latency in some instances because multiple memory access requests may be waiting on the same cache line to be returned from the cache, thus preventing requests for other cache lines from being processed by the cache.
For example, many processors support the use of complex memory instructions that in essence request data from a sequential range of memory addresses. Conventional processor designs typically handle a complex memory instruction by sequentially issuing memory access requests for each memory address in the range specified by the instruction. Moreover, conventional processor designs typically have request queues that are finite in length, so that only a limited number of requests may be pending at any given time.
In many instances, complex memory instructions request data spanning across more than one cache line. A significant performance hit can occur, however, when a portion of the requested data is stored in a cache line other than the first requested cache line, and when that portion of the requested data is not currently stored in the cache. Specifically, with a fixed length request queue, a request for a subsequent cache line may not be issued until after a first cache miss has been completed. No pipelining of the cache misses occurs, and as a result, performance is degraded.
Put another way, assume a complex memory instruction generates a sequence of memory access requests for 0 . . . N words of data starting, for example, at the beginning of a cache line, and that each cache line is capable of storing n words of data. A conventional processor would issue the 0 . . . N memory access requests as follows:
0, 1, 2, . . . , nxe2x88x921, n, n+1, n+2, . . . , 2nxe2x88x921, 2n, 2n+1, 2n+2, . . . N.
Assuming that memory access request 0 misses the cache, all other memory access requests in the same cache line (requests 1 . . . nxe2x88x921) will also miss. As a result, the request queue will typically fill up with requests that are waiting on the same cache line to be retrieved, thereby stalling the processor until the cache miss is completed. Once the cache line is retrieved, the requests can then be handled in sequence, until such time as the first request for the next cache line (request n) can be issued. Assuming also that this request also misses the cache, the next cache line will need to be retrieved. However, given that the request could not be issued until after the first cache miss was completed, pipelining of the cache misses would not occur. As a result, memory access latency increases and overall performance suffers.
Therefore, a significant need exists in the art for a manner of reducing the memory access latency associated with sequences of closely-spaced memory access requests, particularly with respect to complex memory instructions and the like.
The invention addresses these and other problems associated with the prior art by providing a data processing system, circuit arrangement, integrated circuit device, program product, and method that reduce the memory access latency of sequences of memory access requests by processing at least one request in a sequence out of order relative to another request based upon whether the other request is likely to be for data maintained in the same organizational block (e.g., a cache line) as data requested by an earlier memory access request in the sequence.
Embodiments of the invention attempt to increase the overall throughput of memory access requests by attempting to process certain memory access requests during times in which other memory access requests might otherwise be stalled. For example, in a multi-level memory architecture where data is passed between memory levels in organizational blocks such as cache lines, it is known that whenever a particular memory access request misses a higher level of memory, any other memory access requests that request data in the same organizational block will likewise miss that level of memory. Consequently, any such other memory access request cannot be processed until the block containing the data requested by the first request is retrieved from a lower level of memory. Therefore, by attempting to process other memory access requests prior to one or more requests directed to data in the same organizational block as a particular request, the likelihood increases that other memory access requests can be processed during any dead time that would otherwise result if that particular request resulted in a miss.
As a result, request throughput and memory access latency are often improved since productive operations can be performed during time periods that would otherwise be wasted while multiple requests were waiting on the same block of data. Moreover, in embodiments that support pipelined processing of misses, processing other memory access requests prior to requests directed to the same organizational block as a particular request oftentimes further reduces memory access latency. In such embodiments, should an out of order request also result in a miss, that later miss can be processed concurrently with the first miss so that the data requested by the out of order request is returned more quickly than would otherwise occur if the out of order request could not be processed until after processing of the first miss was complete.
Among other implementations, request reordering consistent with the invention may be utilized to improve the performance of complex memory instructions that request a plurality of contiguous words spanning more than one organizational block in a multi-level memory architecture. In such implementations, a complex memory instruction may be processed by processing a memory access request for a word in a block other than the first block before processing the memory access requests for all of the words in the first block. Consequently, in the event that any memory access request to the first block results in a miss, the memory access request for the word in the other block is more likely to be processed prior to completion of the processing of the miss, thereby potentially reducing the memory access latency of that request.
These and other advantages and features, which characterize the invention, are set forth in the claims annexed hereto and forming a further part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, and of the advantages and objectives attained through its use, reference should be made to the Drawings, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is described exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Memory access request reordering to reduce memory access latency

International Business Machines Corporation


A nonvolatile memory device includes a substrate, an elongate isolation region including a field insulation film disposed in a trench in the substrate, and a word line crossing the insulation region and including a tunneling insulation layer on an active region of the substrate adjacent the isolation region, a charge storage layer on the tunneling insulation layer and a blocking insulation layer on the charge storage layer. A first plane index of a bottom surface of the trench has a first interface trap density and a second plane index of a sidewall of the trench has a second interface trap density equal to or less than the first interface trap density. In some embodiments, the first plane index may be (100) and the second plane index may be (100) or (310).

The inventive subject matter relates to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to non-volatile memory devices.
It is generally desirable for a NAND flash memory device for a mobile product to have low power consumption. To this end, it may be desirable for a cell transistor used in the NAND flash memory device to have a low operating voltage. However, increasing the integration level of the cell transistor may cause a short channel effect.
Conventional techniques for obtaining a sufficient amount of cell current adjusting a cell Vth implant in a gate region and an LDD implant in a source/drain region. In a 20 nm cell array structure, however, accurate implant adjustment may be difficult to achieve, which may make it difficult to obtain a cell current level sufficient to meet product performance requirements. In addition, there may be an increasing difference in the cell current level between cell transistors.

Nonvolatile memory devices with aligned trench isolation regions


An orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal transmitting apparatus executes a time-division multiplexing process that inserts a reference signal at a predetermined interval based on reference signal position information into an information signal to be transmitted. The transmitting apparatus generates an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal by digital-modulating the time-division multiplexed signal to radiate into a spatial transmission line. An orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal receiving apparatus receives the signal from the transmitting apparatus to get the reference signal by demodulating the signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal transmitting apparatus, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal receiving apparatus and an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal transmitting/receiving system, which employ an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system and also employ the transmitted data having the packet structure to execute the data transmission like a burst and, more particularly, an insertion of a reference signal used to compensate amplitude and phase characteristics of the spatial transmission line.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the remarkable development of the multimedia network with the Internet taking the key media is attained and information revolutions containing IT (Information Technology) as the central revolution are in progress in all the countries of the world.
At present, the multimedia network is advanced mainly by using the computers that are coupled via the cable. In order to achieve the user's convenience, the coupling of the networks via the radio is important. Thus, the products a part of terminals of which is connected by utilizing the radio have been developed, and are available on the market.
Then, initially the character data are main as the information that are dealt with by the multimedia network, and shortly the image data, the video data, the sound data are also transmitted. As for the video data, the request to transmit the video data having high resolution like the normal TV image is increased.
In such circumstances, the realization of the radio network system that has the transmission rate of 20 Mbit/second or more is studied.
In this system, the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system is employed in the sub-millwave band of 5 GHz, for example, and the packet type suitable for the radio LAN (Local Area Network), i.e., the burst communication system is employed to transmit the information.
As the burst communication system, for example, there are IEEE 802.11a (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11 activities) that is standardized recently, HYPER LAN 2 of ETIS (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), MMAC (Multimedia Mobile Access Communication; wideband mobile access) system that is discussed in the interior, etc. The studies of all systems are put forward to realize the communication system that is suitable for the radio transmission of all multimedia.
This OFDM system is the digital modulation system that is employed in the digital terrestrial broadcastings in Japan and Europe, and is known to have the strong transmitting characteristic with respect to the multipath. In addition, it is possible to transmit the information signal having the higher transmission rate by executing the sufficient estimation of the transmission line to compensate the characteristic of the spatial transmission line.
Such estimation of the transmission line is carried out, for example, by providing the preamble data period to the head of the data formulated in the packet structure that is transmitted at a burst, then defining a part of the preamble data, which are transmitted together with a plurality of packets, as the symbol assigned to the reference signal, and then executing the compensation of the transmission line characteristic on the receiver side based on the reference signal transmitted in this manner (referred to as the "reference symbol" hereinafter).
Then, as the second method of executing the compensation of the transmission line characteristic, there is the method of defining the particular sub-carrier of a plurality of sub-carriers, which transmit the data formulated in the packet structure, as the pilot carrier transmitting carrier, then transmitting the data of the packet structure, then examining the characteristic of the transmitted and received pilot carrier on the receiver side, and then compensating of the transmission line characteristic based on the resultant examined characteristic.
In addition, as the third method of executing the estimation of the transmission line characteristic, the method of transmitting the reference symbol every predetermined period if the period in which the data are transmitted is long, etc. may be employed.
FIG. 1 shows major parameters of OFDM data symbols for the multimedia mobile access, in which the data packeted by the OFDM system whose discussion is in progress in IEEE 802.11a, HYPER LAN 2, MMAC, etc., are transmitted like a burst.
In the main parameter specifications of these OFDM data symbols, the OFDM signal is generated by using IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) whose order is 64.
The transmitted information signal that is formulated as the packet structure is supplied to IFFT as the burst signal, the header signal called the preamble being attached to the head of the burst signal, and the reference signal called the reference symbol and used to decode the data being inserted into a part of the preamble signal.
IFFT generates 53 sub-carriers consequently. Then, 48 sub-carriers of 53 sub-carriers are assigned as the data carrier, and then these data carriers are digital-modulated by BPSK (Bi-Phase Shift Keying), QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying), 16 QAM (16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) or 64 QAM based on the information signal to be transmitted.
In the above respective standards, it is decided that the reference signal is inserted in the preamble period and also transmitted in the data period subsequent to the preamble period. That is, particular four sub-carriers of 53 sub-carriers are defined as the pilot carrier (reference carrier), and the decoding reference signal is transmitted by using the pilot carrier. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the remaining one sub-carrier is the zero (center) carrier.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a sub-carrier transmitted from the transmitting apparatus.
As described above, 4 sub-carriers of 53 sub-carriers are used as the pilot carrier, in other words the decoding reference signal is always transmitted, and the data carrier is decoded based on the transmitting characteristic, which is transmitted by the decoding reference signal, on the receiver side.
By the way, IFFT outputs 53 sub-carriers as 64 time-series sampling point signal. At this time, in order to reduce the multipath distortion in the transmission line, the last 8 or 16 sample signal of the 64 sample signal is inserted prior to the 64 sample signal as the guard interval signal.
FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the signal generated by IFFT and the guard interval.
Meanwhile, in the transmission of the decoding reference signal by using the reference symbol and the pilot carrier in the apparatus in the prior art, if respective data carriers have the transmission characteristic with the frequency selectivity due to the multipath characteristic of the spatial transmission line, or if the transmitting amplitude characteristic with the frequency selectivity is varied with the time, or if the transmitted burst data length is long, it is difficult to execute the sufficient estimation of the transmission line by using these reference symbols and four pilot carriers. Thus, the false data are caused frequently depending on the characteristics of the transmission line.
Then, in HiSWAN (High Speed Wireless Access) as one standard specification in the MMAC promoting conference, it is defined that, in the downward communication executed from the master apparatus to the terminal apparatus, the reference symbol signal in addition to the above pilot carrier is applied periodically. Thus, since the transmission line compensation for all carriers can be carried out with respect to the data signals having the long burst period every predetermined interval by employing the inserted reference symbol signal, the good transmission characteristic can be obtained.
However, if all sub-carriers which are transmitted in the particular symbol period are used as the reference signal, the reduction in the symbol period used in the data transmission is caused, which brings about the reduction in the data transmission efficiency with the reduction of the symbol period.
In summary, in the transmission of the reference signal in the prior art, the data transmission with the predetermined performance can be carried out in the good spatial transmission line that is not subjected to the influence of the multipath distortion, however the data error rate is increased under the circumstances in which the multipath distortion characteristic of the spatial transmission line is bad, so that it is impossible to assure the sufficient communication path.
In such manner, there is the method of inserting the reference symbols periodically to execute the sufficient compensation of the transmission characteristic even in the spatial transmission line that has the large multipath distortion. In this case, the data error rate can be improved, but there is the drawback that reduction in the data transfer rate is brought about.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal transmitting apparatus, orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal receiving apparatus, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal transmitting/receiving system


A composite structure includes a stepped portion formed by laminating a plurality of plies with end surfaces thereof being shifted from each other. The composite structure includes a body portion which includes a first structure portion where a first ply is laminated on a top layer of the first structure portion, a second structure portion where a second ply is laminated on a top layer of the second structure portion, and the stepped portion disposed between the first structure portion and the second structure portion, the second ply being positioned at a distance from the first ply in a lamination direction, and a first cover ply which includes a covering portion covering the stepped portion, one end portion, and the other end portion and is formed so as to cover only a part of a surface of the first ply or a part of a surface of the second ply.

A composite obtained by combining heterogeneous materials can gain a high specific strength which cannot be achieved with a single material and thus is used for, for example, a structural material or the like of an air plane. Patent Document 1 discloses that composite layers are laminated in a center portion where a pair of main wings and main wings of an air plane are connected, a thick portion is formed by laminating the composite layers, and the thick portion is generated gradually.
In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses a composite structure including a so-called plowing-in stepped portion. That is, FIG. 1 of Patent Document 2 discloses the composite structure in which the stepped portion is formed by arranging a plurality of sub plies between a plurality of main plies to be plowed therein. Each of the plurality of sub plies is smaller than each of the plurality of main plies. The plurality of main plies are laminated so as to cover entire skin. The end surfaces of the plurality of sub plies arranged between the main plies are shifted from each other, thereby forming the stepped portion.


A light transmission device includes a semiconductor laser for emitting a laser flux, an optical fiber for transmitting the laser flux emitted from the semiconductor laser, and a device that prevents the laser flux, reflected at an incident end surface of the optical fiber, from returning to the semiconductor laser. In particular, the preventing device may be a slanted incident end surface of the optical fiber, such that the reflected laser flux at the incident end surface is directed away from the semiconductor laser. The preventing device may also be an optical isolator that is disposed between the semiconductor laser and the incident end surface of the optical fiber.

The present invention relates to a light transmission device that transmits a light flux via an optical fiber. In particular, the present invention relates to a light transmission device in which reflected light does not return to a light emitting element.
In a particular example, a multi-beam scanning optical device is provided with a light transmission device that includes a plurality of semiconductor lasers and a plurality of optical fibers. Light fluxes emitted from the semiconductor lasers enter into respective optical fibers, and are transmitted from exit ends of the optical fibers. The light fluxes exiting from the optical fibers are deflected by a polygon mirror and converged on an image surface through a scanning lens to form a plurality of scanning lines per scan.
However, in a conventional system, a part of a light flux emitted from a semiconductor laser may return back to an semiconductor laser due to reflection by the incident end surface of the optical fiber, causing the oscillation of the semiconductor laser to be unstable.
In particular, the oscillation mode of the semiconductor laser may change from a mono-mode to a multi-mode or the width of the oscillation wavelength may widen. Since a scanning optical system is generally not corrected for chromatic aberrations due to the generally limited wavelength of the semiconductor laser emissions, a change of the oscillation wavelength may result in a loss of the desired diameter of the beam spot on the image surface due to longitudinal chromatic aberration and may result in a change in the length of the scanning line due to lateral chromatic aberration. Variations in the diameter of the beam spot and the length of the scanning line decrease the accuracy of the image formed by the scanning lines, particularly at high resolutions.

Light transmission device using optical fiber


The present invention pertains to a method of instruction and simulated training and competitive play or entertainment in an activity that couples cognitive and motor functions, in particular, the playing of the game of hockey. The invention includes a computer used to view and to control images of hockey players on a computer screen. An image of a hockey player controlled by the user is juxtaposed to or superimposed upon the image of an instructive, ideal or master hockey player(s). The user manipulates the controlled image of a hockey player in an effort to approximate the movements of the instructive or ideal player via an input device such as a keyboard, joystick, or virtual reality device. The invention also includes means by which the user's performance in approximating the instructive or ideal player may be measured. The user can also control an image of a hockey player on the computer screen so that the image engages in performing offensive and defensive drills in opposition to an ideal or another opponent or team.

Technology that has been designed for sports and other activities involving motor skills is generally dedicated to improving strength, swing, motion, balance, speed, and agility. Accordingly, for golf and other sports, swinging motion trajectory is emphasized. For the most part the focus has been on developing aids for the individual athlete to improve a particular physical skill. Relatedly, technology for hazardous or potentially jeopardizing work, such as airplane piloting, is generally directed to practice in a simulated environment. In both areas mentioned above (motor skills and dangerous or jeopardizing work) the emphasis is on the individual taking action, i.e., making movements that imitate real circumstances. The prior art related to sports and physical actions is generally aided by technology directed to biomechanics and locomotion, i.e., to executing motor skills.
There is little technology that is used for instruction or simulation in playing sports such as ice hockey. Commonplace instructional aides include stopwatches, plastic orange cones (used for skating drills), parachutes (pulled to increase leg strength), 2".times.4" boards (used for jumping in agility, speed, and balance drills), and surgical tubing harnesses (to increase strength and force the skater to skate while bent forward at the waist). None of the devices noted above provide the student with instructive and cognitive information concerning principles, tactics, maneuvers, skills and strategies used in physical activities such as playing ice hockey. In addition, these devices do not enable the player to receive quantitative feed-back concerning his/her progress in learning and mastering the cognitive aspects of the sport.

Method and apparatus for tutorial, self and assisted instruction directed to simulated preparation, training and competitive play and entertainment


A separating device (1), in particular for a crankcase venting device of an internal combustion engine, includes an inlet (25) supplying a fluid containing particles to be separated, a baffle plate (22) separating the particles from the fluid, several nozzles (21) oriented toward the baffle plate (22), and a pivotable flap (15) that, as a function of its pivot position, fluidically connects a first number of nozzles (21) with the inlet (25) and fluidically separates from the inlet (25) a second number of nozzles (21).

In operation of an internal combustion engine, blow-by gasses are generated in the crankcase. These blow-by gasses comprise an oil-air mixture. From this mixture the oil is to be separated and collected while the air is to be supplied to an intake manifold of the internal combustion engine.
For example, DE 10 2009 035 742 A1 describes an oil separating device for a crankcase of an internal combustion engine. The known separating device comprises a tubular inner part and an outer part surrounding it. The outer part has a baffle wall. The gas jets existing from gas passages in the interior part impinge on this baffle wall. A spherical valve element controls the volume flow that is impinging on the baffle wall. The oil that is separated at the baffle plate is collected while the air is supplied to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine.


A process for forming a microtip cathode structure on a field emission display panel which avoids the need of vacuum depositing a lift-off layer for the microtip deposition overstructure in specially equipped reactors to accomplish a deposition at a grazing angle, by co-patterening the lift-off layer together with an underlying metal grid layer using a succession of different etching steps through the openings of a grid definition mask. According to an embodiment, nickel is used as lift-off material and is either wet-etched or sputter-etched before performing a plasma etch of the underlying grid metal layer. According to an alternative embodiment, the masking resist layer is used as lift-off material.

This invention relates to a device for limiting and making uniform the current through microtips of a cathodic structure for flat panel displays (FPD) of the field emission type (FED). More in particular, the process of the invention relates to the formation of microtips of a refractory metal by sputtering in preformed wells and removing the deposition overstructure.
The continuous evolution towards portable electronic products such as laptop computers, personal organizers, pocket TVs and electronics games, has created an enormous market for monochromatic or color display screens of small dimensions and reduced thickness, having a light weight and a low dissipation. The first two requirements of small dimensions and reduced thickness cannot be met by conventional cathode ray tubes (CRT). For this reason, among the emerging technologies, in addition to those related to liquid-crystal-displays (LCD), flat panel field emission display technology has been receiving increased attention by the industry.
Over the past few decades, remarkable research and development work has been carried out on field emission displays (FED) employing a cathode in the form of a flat panel provided with a dense population of emitting microtips co-operating with a grid-like extractor essentially coplanar to the apexes of the microtips. The cathode-grid extractor structure is a source of electrons that are accelerable in a space, evacuated for ensuring an adequate mean free-path, towards a collector (anode) constituted by a thin and transparent conductor film upon which are placed luminescent phosphors excited by the impinging electrons. Emission of electrons is modulately excitable pixel by pixel through a matrix of columns and rows, constituted by parallel strips of the population of microtips and parallel strips of the grid-like extractor, respectively. The fundamental structure of these display systems, the main problems related to the fabrication technology, including reliability, durability, and those concerning the peculiar way of exciting individual pixels of the display system, and the various proposed solutions to these problems, are discussed and described in a wealth of publications on these topics. Among the pertinent literature, the following publications may be cited and are hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,259; Cathey, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,844; Browning PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,172; Lee, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,472; Casper, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,780; Meyer PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,396; Spindt PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,916; Borel, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,161; Borel, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,442; Wasa, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,559; Spindt, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,704; Spindt, et al. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,241; Spindt, et al.
"Beyond AMLCDs: Field emission displays?", K. Derbyshire, Solid State Technology, November 1994; PA1 "The state of the Display", F. Dawson, Digital Media, February-March 1994; PA1 "Competitive Display Technologies", 1993, Stanford Resources, Inc.; PA1 "Field-Emission Display Resolution", W. D. Kesling, et al., University of California, SID 93 DIGEST 599-602; PA1 "Phosphors For Full-Color Microtips Fluorescent Displays", F. Levy, R. Meyer, LETI--DOFT--SCMM, IEEE 1991, pages 20-23; PA1 "Diamond-based field emission flat panel displays", N. Kumar, H. Schmidt, Solid State Technology, May 1995, pages 71-74; PA1 "Electron Field Emission from Amorphic Diamond Thin Films", Chenggang Xle, et al., Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, Tex.; University of Texas and Dallas, Richardson, Tex.; SI Diamond Technology, Inc., Houston, Tex.; PA1 "Field Emission Displays Based on Diamond Thin Films", Natin Kumar, et al:, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, Tex.; Elliot Schlam Associates, Wayside, N.J.; SI Diamond Technology, Inc., Houston, Tex.; PA1 "U.S. Display Industry on the Edge", Ken Werner, Contributing Editor, IEEE Spectrum, May 1995; PA1 "FEDs: The sound of silence in Japan", OEM Magazine, April 1995, pages 49, 51; PA1 "New Structure Si Field Emitter Arrays with low Operation Voltage", K. Koga, et al., 2.1.1, IEDM 94-23. PA1 low dissipation; PA1 same color quality of traditional CRTs; and PA1 visibility from any viewing angle.
The major advantages of FEDs compared to modern LCDs include:
FED technology has been developed on the basic teachings contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,665,241; 3,755,704 and 3,812,559 of C. A. Spindt and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,442 of K. Wasa, et al. FED technology connects back to conventional CRT technology, in the sense that light emission occurs because of the excitation of the phosphors deposited on a metallized glass screen, which is bombarded by electrons accelerated in an evacuated space. The main difference is the manner in which electrons are emitted and the image is scanned.
A concise but thorough account of the state of modern FED technology is included in a publication entitled "Competitive Display Technologies--Flat Information Displays" by Stanford Resources. Inc., Chapter B "Cold Cathode Field Emission Displays". A schematic illustration contained in that publication which gives a comparison between a conventional CRT display and a FED (or FED array) is reproduced in FIG. 1. In a traditional CRT, a single cathode 100 in the form of an electron gun 110 (or a single cathode for each color) is provided and magnetic or electrostatic yokes 120 deflect the electron beam for repeatedly scanning the screen 130, whereas in a FED, the emitting cathode 150 is constituted by a dense population of emission sites 160 distributed more or less uniformly over the display area. Each site is constituted by a microtip 170 electrically excitable by means of a grid-like extractor 180. This flat cathode-grid assembly is set parallel to the screen 190, at a relatively short distance from it. The scanning by pixel of the display is performed by sequentially exciting individually addressable groups of microtips 170 by biasing them with an adequate combination of grids and cathode voltages.
As shown in FIG. 2, a certain area of the cathode-grid structure containing a plurality of microtips and corresponding to a pixel of the display is sequentially addressed through a driving matrix organized in rows and columns (in the form of sequentially biasable strips, into which the cathode is electrically divided and of sequentially biasable strips into which the grid extractor is electrically divided, respectively).
A typical scheme for driving a pixel of the cathodic structure of a FED is shown in FIG. 3. This figure illustrates the driving scheme of a fragment of nine adjacent pixels through a combination of the sequential row biasing pulses for the three rows R1, R2, R3, relative to a certain bias configuration of the three columns C1, C2 and C3.
A typical cross-sectional view of a FED structure is shown in FIG. 4. The microtip cathode plate generally comprises a substrate of an isolating material such as glass, ceramic, or silicon 400, onto which is deposited a low resistivity conductor layer 410, for example, a film of aluminum, niobium, nickel, or a metal alloy, eventually interposing an adhesion layer of, for example, silicon 420 between the substrate 400 and the conductor layer 410.
The conductor layer 410 is photolithographically patterned into an array of parallel strips each constituting a column of a driving matrix of the display. A dielectric layer 430, for example, an oxide, is deposited over the patterned conductor layer 410. Another conductor layer 440, from which the grid extractor will be patterned, is deposited over the dielectric layer 430.
The grid structure is eventually defined in parallel strips, normal to the cathode parallel strips 410. According to a known technique, micro-apertures or wells that reach down to the surface of the under-lying patterned conductor layer 410 are defined and cut through the grid conductor layer 440 and through the underlying dielectric layer 430. Onto the surface of the conductor layer exposed at the bottom of the "wells", are fabricated microtips 450 that constitute the many sites of emission of electrons.
On the inner face of a glass faceplate 460 of the display is deposited a transparent thin conducting film 470, for example, a mixed oxide of indium and tin upon which is deposited a layer of phosphors 480 (monochromatic phosphor or color phosphors) excitable by the electrons accelerated toward the conducting layer 470 and acting as a collector of the electrons emitted by the microtips 450. Emission is stimulated by the electric field produced by suitably biasing the grid conductor 440 and the cathode tips 450.
In order to improve color resolution, the realization of a "switched" anodic (collector) structure for separately biasing adjacent strips, each covered with a phosphor of a different basic color, has been suggested in a publication entitled: "Phosphors For Full-Color Microtips Fluorescent Displays" by F. Levy and R. Mayer, LETI-DOFT-SCMM, Grenoble-Cedex-France.
According to a known process for fabricating the cathodic structure of a FED, after completing the formation of the grid of niobium, or of any other self-passivating metal, and employing the etching solutions normally used in the fabricating process, a lift-off layer is deposited on the grid. This lift-off layer is generally constituted by a metal that is easily and selectively wet-etchable through its exposed edges so to allow the removal (lift-off) of the cone deposition overstructure. This deposition process is carried out by sputtering at a normal incidence with the panel surface, a metal (usually a refractory metal such as molybdenum) that is also capable of resisting the etch conditions during the lift-off to form deposition cones within the wells that have been formed through the grid openings layer and an underlying dielectric layer.
The bottom of the deposition wells of the cones is constituted by a substantially conductive layer and, more preferably, by a special conductive layer purposely having a high resistivity, superimposed to the highly conductive material of the selectable cathodic conductors or strips.
Prevention of lift-off material deposition inside the wells is of paramount importance.
At present, this critical requisite of the fabrication process is fulfilled by using deposition techniques of the lift-off layer that avert deposition onto the bottom of the wells. Commonly, a lift-off layer of nickel is deposited by vacuum evaporation, while maintaining an extremely small angle of incidence of the impinging nickel (i.e. at grazing angle). Of course, the panel under fabrication must be rotated around its own axis while maintaining a minimum angle of incidence with respect to the impinging flow so as to obtain a deposition of uniform thickness. This requires the presence of complex and inevitably encumbering organs for rotating the panel in the vacuum deposition chamber, considering that the panels can reach dimensions of 27.times.36 cm. All of this increases the costs of fabrication of these panels. The criticality of this stage of the fabrication process also has negative repercussions on production yields.
Confronted with this state of the art technique, an improved fabricating procedure that substantially obviates the above-mentioned critical aspects of well known processes embodies the present invention. The process of preferred embodiments of the invention does not require the use of special grazing-angle-deposition devices, and reduces the manufacturing costs while improving the yield.
Basically, the preferred process of the invention, different from well known processes, does not contemplate a complete pre-definition of the grid structure, rather a corrosion-resisting metallic material, from which the grid structure will be defined, is deposited onto a matrix layer. In addition, a layer of a lift-off material that can be easily and selectively etched is deposited prior to forming the grid apertures and the corresponding wells, inside which the cathodic microtips will be eventually formed.
The lift-off material can be the same masking resist or, if of another type of material, such a layer is contextually defined with the grid matrix layer and the underlying isolation dielectric layer during the etching that is performed to form the grid apertures angle and the corresponding wells.
According to a first embodiment of the invention, a lift-off layer constituted by a thin layer of nickel or of another easily dissolvable metal can be used. The lift-off layer can be deposited by vacuum evaporation or sputtering at a normal incidence directly onto the surface of a grid metal matrix (still unpatterned) layer whose thickness is generally greater than the thickness of the lift-off layer. The grid matrix layer can be, for example, niobium, tungsten, chromium, or tantalum, or alloys or stacked layers thereof deposited by vacuum evaporation, or it can be an adequately doped polycrystalline or amorphous silicon.
Parallel strips orthogonal to the cathodic conductors can optionally be predefined before depositing of the nickel or similar lift-off material. Subsequently, circular apertures with a diameter of about 1.0-1.5 micrometers, densely and uniformly distributed over the surface of each strip, are thereafter defined through a masking step.
The etching of the stack through the apertures of the resist mask, that comprises the thin lift-off layer of nickel or similar metal, the grid matrix layer of corrosion resistant metal, and the underlying dielectric layer, typically of silicon oxide, can be conducted in different phases.
The known difficulty of dry-etching (i.e. plasma etching) of the nickel, consisting of the formation of non-volatile nickel compounds is overcome by resorting to an ion-milling technique or the like. The etching of the thin top layer of nickel or similar metal through the apertures of the mask can be carried out by a sputter etch with Argon ions. Nickel is the preferred metal due to the fact that it shows a relatively high yield to sputtering.
The possibility of carrying out a "sputter etch" in an Argon plasma is generally offered by standard deposition plasma reactors. This feature is normally available for allowing the removal of possible superficial (native) oxide layers before starting the vacuum deposition. However, this feature may be easily included in other common apparatuses, such as in the same R.I.E. reactor that is used for eventually etching the grid matrix layer and the underlying isolating oxide. For example, the R.I.E. Precision 5000 or Centura models, both by Applied Materials Corporation, can be easily equipped to permit the carrying out of an Argon sputter etch.
In the above-identified R.I.E. etcher, a preliminary Argon sputter etch phase can be carried out with a power of 300 W (corresponding to a plasma voltage of about 500V). The removal of a thin lift-off layer of nickel, whose thickness is typically on the order of 15-20 nanometers (nm), would require a treatment of about two to three minutes. In a case such as this, it is convenient to use, as a grid matrix material, a doped polycrystalline or amorphous silicon layer or a tungsten layer, because both of these materials are characterized by a sputter yield markedly lower than that of nickel. Therefore, they provide for advantageous conditions for implementing an automatic stop of the sputter etching of the nickel layer, according to well known techniques.
The anisotropic plasma etching of the grid matrix layer (for example, polycrystalline silicon, tungsten, or niobium) and the subsequent etching of the underlying oxide or similar dielectric layer that isolates the cathodic structure from the grid, can be carried out in sequence by the same etcher, using different chambers thereof, with different plasma compositions, specifically suited for the progression of the etching through the different materials that make up the "stack" to be etched, until the surface of the high resistivity layer (for example, doped polycrystalline silicon), of the cathodic structure is exposed.
Alternatively, the lift-off layer of nickel can be preliminarily etched through the masking apertures, by carrying out a wet-etching step in an appropriate etching solution, for example, a solution of hydrochloric acid, in a controlled manner so as to avoid overetching the nickel layer underneath the edges of the resist mask. The two types of etchings can be alternated in order to ensure a complete removal of the nickel from the unmasked areas without undercutting the nickel under the mask.
After completing the etching through the stack and removing the resist mask, a suitable refractory and etch-resistant metal, for example molybdenum, is deposited by "vertical" or "quasi-vertical" sputtering, according to a common technique. This phase of construction of the microtips comprises a plurality of steps. For example, it can comprise a first stage during which a thin film (in the order of some hundreds of Angstroms) of an adhesion (for example, chromium, tantalum or similar material) material having a relatively good crystallographic affinity with the base material, typically a high resistivity doped polycrystalline silicon layer, is deposited. Obviously, several layers of different materials can be deposited prior to a final deposition step.
During the last deposition step, the shielding effect of the walls of the preformed wells determines the formation of cones of deposition inside the wells, whose sharp vertex approximately reaches the level of the grid before an eventual occlusion of the deposition window in the deposited overstructure that grows over the lift-off layer.
Through an electrochemical etching of the lift-off layer, left exposed at the rims of the wells, the deposited overstructure of molybdenum is removed (lifted-off), thus leaving the deposition cones inside the wells cut through the isolating dielectric layer in correspondence with the grid openings.
The dissolution of the lift-off layer is accelerated by anodically biasing the nickel in an acid bath, commonly with a pH ranging between 2.5 and 3.
The lift-off etching of the nickel layer can be performed in an aqueous bath containing ammonium chloride, nickel chloride and boric acid and using a biasing counterelectrode (cathode) of nickel. The anodic biasing of the lift-off nickel layer can be arranged by contacting the front of the panel, that is, the deposited conductive overstructure. In this lift-off step of the deposition overstructure of molybdenum or of a stack of superimposed etch-resistant-metals through an anodic dissolution of the underlying nickel layer, the FED panel preformed cathodic structure is suitably left floating to prevent any possibility of corrosion of metallic components of the cathodic structure, and in particular, of the microtips themselves. Moreover, the relative corrosion resistance of the molybdenum tips and of the tungsten and/or niobium grid, is also ensured by a lower electronegativity of these metals as compared to that of nickel, and by the ability of these so-called valve metals to passivate themselves under anodic polarization conditions, thus impeding any further flow of corrosion current.
Similar wet etch resistance properties are also possessed by the polycrystalline silicon of the bottom layer of the wells onto which the cones of deposition are grown. By contrast, the end edges of the cathodic conductors, when they are realized with an easily corrodible metal such as nickel, must be appropriately protected during the lift-off wet-etching step. Obviously, if the cathodic conductors are made of a non-corrodible material, such as mixed indium and tin oxides, these precautions will not be necessary.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and prior to depositing a thin lift-off layer (for example, nickel), the grid matrix layer (for instance, a doped polycrystalline or amorphous silicon, tungsten, chromium or niobium), can be patterned in parallel strips, orthogonally oriented to the cathodic conductors through a first masking and etching step. In this first patterning step of the grid structure in the form of a plurality of parallel strips, the etching is not continued through the underlying dielectric.
By performing such a preliminary patterning in parallel strips of the grid structure, prior to defining the wells into which the cones will be formed, "steps" are produced that interrupt the continuity of the grid matrix layer along a direction orthogonal to the orientation of the strips into which the grid is subdivided. This advantageously increases the number and extension of the exposed edges of the lift-off layer, which has a thickness lower than the patterned strips of the grid matrix layer, through which electrochemical etching will occur. In this way, the lift-off etching can proceed more rapidly and uniformly throughout the panel.
According to an alternative embodiment, the lift-off layer may be constituted by the residual layer of masking resist employed for defining the grid apertures during the etching of the grid conductor layer and of the underlying dielectric.
According to this embodiment, a first patterning step using an appropriate resist and a successive anisotropic etching, for example by R.I.E., defines circular apertures of a diameter ranging approximately between 1.0-1.5 micrometers, densely distributed over the surface of the grid matrix layer. These circular apertures (holes or wells) are formed through each grid strip and through the underlying dielectric layer, typically silicon oxide, until reaching the surface of a high resistivity layer, for example, doped polycrystalline silicon, for limiting the emission current through the microtips.
Without removing the residual resist layer of the mask, a suitable etch-resistant and refractory metal such as molybdenum is deposited via "vertical" or "quasi vertical" sputtering, according to a standard technique. The shielding effect of the walls of the preformed wells determines the growth of deposition cones in the wells whose sharp-pointed vertexes reach approximately the level of the grid layer before an eventual occlusion of the corresponding deposition window through the overstructure that grows above the resist layer.
By using a resist particularly resistant to high temperature and eventually hardened after development by exposure to UV radiation and/or heat (for example, the same type of resist commonly used for shielding drain and source implantations for defining the grid apertures and the corresponding wells), the resist mask layer that remains at the completion of the anisotropic plasma etching of the grid apertures and of the corresponding wells can be used as a lift-off layer for removing the deposition overstructure of the conductive cones grown by sputtering.
The deposition overstructure is lifted-off by etching this residual layer of masking resist in an oxygen plasma, which can precede or follow a wet-softening of the resist with, for example, organic strippers, such as EKC265, that are composed of chemically activated organic solvents having a medium boiling temperature.
The definition of the grid into parallel strips orthogonal to the cathodic conductors can take place in a quite customary manner, through a distinct masking step.
In either one of the above described embodiments of the invention, carrying out depositions at a "grazing" angle of incidence requiring the use of special devices to ensure an acceptable uniformity of the deposit is avoided. Moreover, any accidental deposition of lift-off material inside (on the bottom) of preformed wells is positively prevented, thus eliminating the consequent critical aspects of the known processes.

Process for fabricating a microtip cathode assembly for a field emission display panel