Circuit and method aspects for translating acceptable voltage levels from an external device to acceptable voltage levels of an internal device are provided. These aspects include coupling an input receiver between the external device and the internal device, the input receiver including a clamp device, and coupling a bias generator to the input receiver at the clamp device, wherein the bias generator ensures proper translation of a high level input signal from the external device by the input receiver. The bias generator further ensures that a predetermined maximum device voltage of the clamp device is not exceeded.

As the development of computer systems proceeds, increases to the processing speed are continually desired. Typically, reduction in device geometries of system components is sought to help increase speed and density. Associated with the reduction in device size is a reduction in power supply voltage requirements. For example, it is possible for normal operating voltages in the processor to range between 0 volts (V) and 1.8 V.
Further, advances in processor technology is occurring at a much faster pace than in typical input/output (I/O) devices. Off chip receivers (OCRs) of processors interface with many different external devices, such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), SRAMs (static random access memories), etc. These external devices tend to be designed in earlier technologies and thus use higher core voltages, which in turn results in their driving higher voltages. For example, normal operating voltages range between 0 V and 3.3 V The higher voltages driven by the external devices potentially damage FET (field effect transistor) devices in the input stage of the OCRs by violating the gate-source/drain voltage limitations of the processor technology.
For example, some fabrication techniques impose a relatively low predetermined limit on a maximum safe difference between a voltage level at a transistor's gate and a voltage level ar a source/drain region of the transistor. In such a situation, if the transistor's source/drain region has a voltage level that differs from the voltage level at the transistor's gate by more than the predetermined limit, then the transistor's gate oxide could be damaged in a manner that destroys the transistor's operability.
The OCR design therefore has to be voltage level compatible with these existing external support devices. Usually, this results in OCRs being designed for use with a higher power supply voltage than that of the core processor logic. Additional design challenges regarding thin gate oxide protection and circuit performance thus result. Accordingly, what is needed is improved thin gate oxide protection and circuit performance for OCRs, thereby providing improved design margins and device reliability.

Circuit and method for voltage level translation utilizing a bias generator


A master slice semiconductor IC has a SOI substrate and a plurality of basic cells arranged in a matrix on the SOI substrate. The basic cell includes a two-input NAND gate and a diode forward biased between one of power supply lines and the NAND gate. The diode has a P-N junction extending between the top surface of a semiconductor layer and the insulator layer underlying the semiconductor layer. The diode reduces the supply voltage by the forward drop voltage thereof to reduce power consumption in the NAND gate, and the SOI structure of the basic cell prevents reduction of integration density and operational speed.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a master slice semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) and, more particularly, to a master slice semiconductor IC wherein a gate array or standard cells are formed on a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate.
(b) Description of the Related Art
The application specific IC (generally referred to as ASIC) is increasingly used in the art. FIG. 1 shows a typical ASIC in a plan view wherein the CMOS SOG (a gate array) has a plurality of basic cells each implemented as a two-input NAND gate. FIGS. 2A and 2B are sectional views taken along E--E and F--F lines, respectively, in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram for the basic cell in FIG. 1. Each basic cell 401 has an N-well contact region 402, P-well contact region 407, a pair of PMOS transistors 416a and 416b including P.sup.+ -diffused regions 403a, 403b and 403c and pMOS gate electrodes 405a and 405b, and a pair of nMOS transistors 417a and 417b including N.sup.+ -diffused regions 404a, 404b and 404c and nMOS gate electrodes 406a and 406b.
Source potential (Vdd) is applied to N-well contact region 402 and P.sup.+ -diffused regions 403a and 403c via source line 408 and contact hole. Ground potential is applied to P-well contact region 407 and N.sup.+ -diffused regions 404a via ground line 409 and contact hole 412. The common drain 403b of the pair of parallel pMOS transistors 416a and 416b having sources 403a and 403c connected to source lines is coupled via output line 411 to the drain 404c of one of serial nMOS transistors 417a and 417b, namely nMOS transistor 417b, having a source maintained at the ground potential. A pMOS gate electrode 495a is coupled to nMOS gate electrode 406a via input line 418, PMOS gate electrode 405b is coupled to nMOS gate electrode 406b via input line 419 to thereby constitute the two-input NAND gate. The basic cell in a conventional CMOS SOG is generally implemented as a two-input NAND gate in this manner or a two-input NOR gate. Input lines 418 and 419 are implemented by a first layer aluminum alloy film and connected to interconnects implemented by a second layer aluminum alloy film not shown in the drawings.
With the advance of CMOS ASIC technology to a higher speed and a higher integration, the basic cell as shown in FIG. 1 has been developed toward a finer pattern. In addition, a technique for reducing power consumption is especially required for the CMOS ASIC in view of the wide use of portable communication systems. This technology greatly increases the continuous use of portable communication systems that operate with a battery.
Power consumption P(watt) in the CMOS logic circuit is expressed in terms of operating frequency f(Hz), source voltage Vdd(volts) and load capacitance C(farad) as follows: EQU P=0.5.times.C.times.f.times.Vdd.sup.2 (1)
As understood from equation (1), the power consumption is proportional to a square of the source voltage, and reduction of power consumption is most effectively achieved by reduction of the source voltage. The reduction of the source voltage in an internal circuit can be achieved by a circuit configuration using a forward voltage drop of a diode as described in, for example, Patent Publication No. JP-A-01-246861. FIG. 4A shows a circuit arrangement in a plan view wherein the technique described in the publication is directed to the basic cell shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 4B and 4C are circuit arrangements wherein the technique is applied to a source line and a ground line, respectively, for the basic cell.
In FIG. 4B, source voltage Vdd is applied, while reducing the same by a forward drop voltage of diode 502a, to CMOS inverter including pMOS transistor 516a and nMOS transistor 517a. Specifically, N.sup.+ -diffused region 504b and nMOS gate electrode 506a of a basic cell 501 are coupled to source line 508, and P-well contact region 521 is coupled to ground line 509, thereby implementing the diode 502a. Further, pMOS gate electrode 505f and nMOS gate electrode 506d of the adjacent basic cell are coupled by input line 510a, N-well contact region 520 is coupled to source line 508, P.sup.+ -diffused region 503i is coupled to N.sup.+ -diffused region 504a via line 527a, N.sup.+ -diffused region 504f is coupled to ground line 509, and P.sup.+ -diffused region 503h is coupled to N.sup.+ -diffused region 504e via output line 511a, thereby implementing a CMOS converter. The configuration that pMOS gate electrode 505e is coupled to source line 508 and nMOS gate 506c to ground line 509 prevents the channels underlying these gate electrodes from conducting, which might otherwise occur due to the potential of output line 511a.
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4C, diode 502b implemented by a pMOS transistor and interposed between the CMOS inverter and ground line also reduces power consumption in the CMOS inverter. Specifically, P.sup.+ -diffused region 503a of a basic cell is coupled to pMOS gate electrode 505b thereof via ground line 509, and N-well contact region 520 is coupled to source line 508, thereby implementing diode 502b. Further, pMOS gate electrode 505c and nMOS gate electrode 506e of the adjacent basic cell are coupled together via input line 510b, P-well contact region 521 is coupled to ground line 509, P.sup.+ -diffused region 503c is coupled to N.sup.+ -diffused 504g region via line 527b, P.sup.+ -diffused region 503d is coupled to source line 508, P.sup.+ -diffused region 503e is coupled to N.sup.+ -diffused region 504h via output line 511b, and P.sup.+ -diffused region 503e is coupled to N+-diffused region 504h via output line 511b, thereby implementing a CMOS inverter. The configuration that pMOS gate electrode 505d is coupled to source line 508, and nMOS gate electrode 506f to ground line 509 prevents the channel regions underlying these gate electrodes conducting, which might otherwise occur due to the potential of output line 511b.
As described above, although a low power consumption can be realized in the CMOS basic cell formed on a bulk substrate, the CMOS basic cell used in this purpose also reduces the integration density of the ASIC due to use of the additional basic cell. In addition, the P-N junction between the source region of the nMOS transistor or pMOS transistor implementing the diode and the P-well or N-well, which is maintained at the ground potential or source potential for reverse biasing, can retard a high speed operation. In addition, the large parasitic capacitance requires a large charge/discharge current, which impedes the reduction of power consumption.
Another method for reduction of source voltage is to incorporate a devoted P-N junction into a basic cell. FIG. 5A shows such a configuration wherein a twin-well CMOS process is effected to a P-type bulk substrate to layout a mixture of a CMOS transistor and a diode having an anode or cathode which is neither maintained at a source potential nor ground potential in the substrate and coupled to the circuit by metallic lines. FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram wherein diode 602a is interposed between a source line and a CMOS inverter, FIG. 5C is a circuit diagram wherein diode 602b is interposed between ground line and a CMOS inverter, and FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views taken along G--G and H--H lines, respectively.
FIGS. 6A and 6B show the diode formed in the N-well 622a adjacent to PMOS transistors and the diode formed in the P-well 623a adjacent to nMOS transistors, respectively. The diodes have cathodes implemented by N.sup.+ -diffused regions 604d and 604e in N-well 622b and 622d and anodes implemented by P.sup.+ -diffused regions 603d and 603e. The P-type silicon substrate is maintained at the ground potential.
In FIG. 6A, a pair of PMOS transistors are implemented by N-well contact region 620, P.sup.+ -diffused regions 603a, 603b and 603c, and pMOS gate electrodes 605a and 605b. N-well 622a for the pair of pMOS transistors is applied with source potential via source line 608, contact hole 612 and N-well contact region 620. P-well 623c is provided to separate N-well 622a from N-well 622b maintained at the same potential as the cathode of the diode.
In a current CMOS transistor process using a 0.5 .mu.m design rule in gate length, the width for P-well 623c is about 2 .mu.m at a minimum. It is also necessary to secure the distance between P-well 623c and the anode of the diode implemented by P.sup.+ -diffused region 603d at about 1 .mu.m and the distance between P-well 623c and N-well contact region 620 at about 1 .mu.m. Accordingly, the separation region for the diode should have width about 4 .mu.m around the diode, which reduces the integration density of the IC.
The diode shown in FIGS. 5a and 6a has cathodes implemented by N.sup.+ -diffused regions 604d and N-well 622b. The parasitic capacitance associated with the cathode is a sum of the P-N junction capacitances between the same and P.sup.+ -diffused region 603d constituting the anode, between the same and P-wells 623c and 623d, and between the same and P-substrate 613. The large parasitic capacitance of the cathode consumes a larger power during the potential change thereof compared to the source or drain region of the MOS transistor provided that the cathode and source or drain region occupy an identical amount of area.
In FIG. 6B, the pair of nMOS transistors are implemented by P-well contact region 621, N.sup.+ -diffused regions 604a, 604b and 604c, and nMOS gate electrodes 606a and 606b. P-well 623a for the pair of nMOS transistors is maintained at the ground potential by ground line 609, contact hole 612 and P-well contact region 621. In this case, a separating region similar to the separation region for the diode is provided for assuring the rectangular area for the basic cell arranged in a matrix, although the separating region is not required to have a constant width such as required for the separation region in FIG. 6A.
In addition, the parasitic capacitance associated with the cathode terminal in FIG. 6B is a sum of P-N junction capacitances between the same and P.sup.+ -diffused region 603e constituting the anode, between the same and P-well 623a, 623b and 623c and between the same and P-substrate 613, similarly to the case of FIG. 6A.
The large capacitance of the cathode terminal requires a larger power consumption during the potential change thereof compared to the case of source or drain region provided that the cathode and source or drain region occupy an identical amount of area. In short, the use of a diode basic cell for the CMOS basic cell is inferior to the use of CMOS basic cell itself in integration density, operational speed and power consumption.

Silicon on insulator master slice semiconductor integrated circuit


A surgical instrument is described that incorporates bipolar electrodes on opposing shearing members for passing a high frequency current through the tissue for causing hemostasis of the tissue and for cutting the tissue. An electrically insulating material is interposed between the shearing members so that the electrodes are spaced apart from 0.002 to 0.050 inches and the current passes between the opposing electrodes through the tissue and not between the opposing shearing surfaces. The insulating material has a higher hardness than the opposing members to reduce wear of the insulation and provide a self-sharpening feature. Methods of simultaneously causing tissue and severing tissue are also provided. The use of a constant voltage high frequency power supply to deliver current to the tissue to cause hemostasis is described in conjunction with those methods.

The control of bleeding during surgery accounts for a major portion of the time involved in an operation. In particular, bleeding that occurs when tissue is incised or severed can obscure the surgeon's vision, prolong the operation, and adversely effect the precision of cutting. Blood loss from surgical cutting may require blood infusion, thereby increasing the risk of harm to the patient.
Hemostatic surgical techniques are known for reducing the bleeding from incised tissue prior to, during, and subsequent to incision. One such technique uses a heating element to transfer heat to the severed tissue to thermally reform collagen. Heat transferred from the instrument to the tissue produces a thin collagenous film which seals over the severed blood vessels and capillaries, thus reducing bleeding. Localized application of heat reduces tissue necrosis or damage that may retard healing.
Electrosurgical techniques that pass a high frequency or radio frequency current through the patient's tissue between two electrodes for both cutting and causing hemostasis tissue also are known. The current passing through the tissue causes joulean (ohmic) heating of the tissue as a function of the current density and the resistance of the tissue through which the current passes. Such heating denatures the tissue proteins to form a coagulum that seals the bleeding sites.
Monopolar electrosurgical devices employ a small electrode at the end of a handle in the surgeon's hand and a large electrode plate beneath and in contact with the patient. Only one of the two electrodes required to complete the electrical circuit is manipulated by the surgeon and placed on or near the tissue being operated on. The other electrode is the large plate beneath the patient. The electrosurgery power supply impresses high frequency voltage spikes of thousands of volts between these two electrodes, sufficient to cause an electric arcing from the small operating electrode the surgeon holds to the most proximate tissues, then through the patient to the large electrode plate beneath the patient. In the patient, the electrical current becomes converted to heat; hottest in the tissues immediately below the small hand-held electrode where the currents are most concentrated.
A principal disadvantage of monopolar electrocautery is that current flows completely through the patient. These high voltage electrical currents may arc from the small electrode to nearby non-targeted vital structures, or follow erratic paths as they flow through the patient's body, thus causing damage to tissues both near and at some distance from the electrode.
Another drawback of monopolar electrosurgical devices is the excessive tissue damage caused by the high voltage arc, including carbonization of the tissue, which compromises wound healing. Furthermore, monopolar devices typically create vision obscuring smoke, which must be evacuated from the surgical site.
In bipolar electrosurgical devices, two electrodes are closely spaced together and have the same surface area in contact with the tissue. The current flow is thus locally confined to the tissue that is disposed between and electrically connects the electrodes.
One difficulty encountered with prior art electrosurgical devices is that of controlling the current flow through the patient's tissue to obtain hemostasis in localized areas, without also heating and causing undesirable trauma to adjacent tissue. Although the introduction of bipolar electrosurgical devices has helped to localize current flow, previously known bipolar electrosurgical devices present difficulties in selectively applying the current flow.
For example, Hildebrandt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,811 and Soviet Union Patent Certificate 575,103 describe bipolar electrosurgical scissors having opposing cutting blades forming active electrodes. These devices enable a surgeon to sequentially coagulate the blood vessels contained in the tissue and then mechanically sever the tissue with the scissor blades. However, these devices apparently require the surgeon to cycle the power supplied to the electrodes during separate steps of obtaining hemostasis in the tissue and then cutting the tissue. In particular, these previously known devices require the surgeon to first energize the electrodes and grasp the tissue to cause hemostasis. Once the blood vessels contained within the tissue are coagulated, the electrodes are deenergized so that the scissor blades may be closed completely to sever the tissue mechanically. The scissors are then repositioned for another cut, and the power supply to the scissors cycled on and off again to congeal the tissue. Neither of these devices appear to permit the surgeon to maintain the electrodes in a continuously energized state, because the power supply would be shorted out or damaged if the blades were permitted to contact each other while energized.
Accordingly, a major drawback of previously known hemostatic bipolar electrosurgical cutting devices is that they have neither recognized the existence of, nor resolved the problem of, selectively delivering a current to obtain hemostasis at one location in the tissue, while simultaneously allowing already hemostatically heated tissue to be severed. It would therefore be desirable to provide a bipolar electrosurgical instrument that automatically and continuously adjusts the current delivery location so that it precedes the cutting point, without shorting the electrodes and interrupting the current providing hemostasis of the tissue.
Another drawback of previously known bipolar electrosurgical devices is the tendency for coagulum to build up on the electrode surfaces. Such buildup may impede the cutting ability of the device, cause sticking of the tissue to the device, and interfere with the surgeon's ability to manipulate the device at the surgical site.
Another related drawback is the tendency in previously known bipolar electrosurgical devices to experience some current leakage near the electrodes, which mat result in coagulum buildup on the non-active surfaces of the electrosurgical instrument as well.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an electrosurgical instrument wherein coagulum buildup on the surfaces of the instrument is reduced, thereby improving maneuverability of the instrument at the surgical site and reducing trauma to adjacent tissue.
Heretofore, no bipolar electrosurgical instrument for cutting and causing hemostasis of planar tissue areas has recognized or overcome the aforementioned problems. A continuing need for improved hemostatic electrosurgical scissors-like devices for simultaneously causing hemostasis in tissue and severing that tissue therefore exists.

Hemostatic bi-polar electrosurgical cutting apparatus and methods of use


A gas shutoff valve having a ball normally residing in a first seat, wherein sufficient disturbance of the valve causes the ball to escape the first seat and settle into a second seat wherein a flow of gas is blocked. The first seat is on an upper surface of a seating ball held in a base portion of the valve. The seating ball is held in place by a plate and is adjustable to compensate for gas line angles away from vertical. Adjustments to the seating ball may be made using a leveling tool inserted through a tool port in the base portion and inserting into a tool seat in the seating ball.

The present invention relates to earthquake actuated shutoff valves and in particular to earthquake actuated gas shutoff valves including a ball and seat.
There is world wide concern regarding the effects of earthquakes. In recent years, earthquakes occurring around the world resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Although modern building codes drastically reduce the human harm resulting from earthquakes, there is still a significant likelihood that deaths will occur even in modern countries. Although building codes have been successful in reducing the catastrophic collapse of structures, there is often substantial secondary damage resulting from gas fires, broken electrical wiring, and the like. Various devices have been developed to turn off gas lines and the like, either directly through a mechanical action, or indirectly through actuation of an electrical switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,507 for "Acceleration Responsive Tripping Mechanism," describes a ball sitting on a pedestal. When motion occurs, the ball falls off the pedestal into a surrounding chamber (or dish), causing the chamber to lower against a spring, and to trip a micro switch. Disadvantageously, the device of the '507 patent includes a number of moving parts including a spring, vertically moving piston, and levers. Devices such as this are generally mounted, and forgotten. There is typically little to no inspection or maintenance, and as a result, such complexity is an invitation to failure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,379 for "Vibration/Temperature Sensitive Valve Operating Apparatus," describes a ball siting in a cup. Motion causes the ball to fall out of the cup, and the cup raises slightly, this motion releases a trigger which results in the desired actuation. Unfortunately the '379 patent also includes substantial mechanical complexity, including several arms, springs, and pins. Such mechanical complexity is undesirable for the reasons cited above.
A simpler valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. RE38,220 for "Earthquake Actuated Automatic Gas Shutoff Valve" filed by the present applicant. The '220 patent describes a simple but effective valve using a solid elastomeric ball or a ball coated with an elastomeric outer coating. While the valve of the '220 patent provides many advantages over previous valves, there are instances where the valve is connected to gas lines which are not sufficiently vertically aligned to provide proper ball and seat interaction. The '220 patent is herein incorporated by reference.


A system and method for finding and tracking the location of a subject's eyes. This system and method employs an imaging apparatus which produces digital image frames including the face and eyes of a subject. An eye position finding and tracking apparatus is also included to average the intensity representing pixel values within respective M.sub.x by M.sub.y pixel blocks of a digitized image frame to create elements of output matrices. Then, elements of the output matrices are compared to various threshold values. These threshold values are chosen so as to identify which matrix elements correspond to a M.sub.x by M.sub.y pixel block potentially representing an image of the subject's pupil and at least the portion of the subject's iris (i.e. a potential eye location). Once the flagged matrix elements have been determined, any M.sub.x by M.sub.y pixel block corresponding to a flagged matrix element can be designated as an actual subject eye location. However, it is preferred that further steps be taken to confirm the actual eye location, as well as to track the changing position of the subject's eye. Accordingly, the preferred system and method include a provision for tracking the location of a center of each M.sub.x by M.sub.y pixel block representing a potential eye location in each subsequent image frame produced from the imaging apparatus. Further, a provision is included to detect a blink at the location. Such a blink confirms the potential eye location is an actual eye location.

1. Technical Field:
This invention relates to a system and method for finding and tracking the location of a subject's eyes.
2. Background Art:
Eye finding and tracking devices are employed for many purposes. For example, such devices are often used in vehicle operator drowsiness and intoxication detection systems. When a person is responsible for operating a vehicle, such as an automobile, it is critical that the person be capable of demonstrating basic cognitive and motor skills that will assure the safe operation of the vehicle. Lack of sleep, boredom or consumption of drugs or alcohol can impair a vehicle operator's ability to safely operate the vehicle. Therefore, it is important when designing an impaired driver detection system to continuously evaluate an operator's ability to control the vehicle. Impaired driver detection systems are useful because they avoid or reduce personal injury and property damage by preventing accidents.
An example of a known apparatus for eye finding and tracking which is employed in a vehicle operator drowsiness detection system employs two images of a driver's face. One of the images is obtained by illuminating the driver's face from a first direction, and the other is obtained by illuminating the driver's face from another direction. The two images are processed to detect three-dimensional positions of the driver's eyes. In another, example of a known eye finding and tracking system, an image of a vehicle driver's head is processed to determine the widest portion of the driver's face. From this determination, calculations are performed based on an analysis of the image and assumed geometric relationships of the eyes to the widest portion of the operator's face to define two rectangular regions which should include the operator's eyes.
Eye finding and tracking devices are also useful for other applications. For instance, these devices can be employed in systems designed to monitor the attentiveness of a machine operator, or a person working at a control console such as an air traffic controller. Another example where eye finding and tracking can be useful is in conjunction with an identification system which employs iris pattern matching techniques.
Although systems employing current eye finding and tracking devices work reasonably well for their intended purpose, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved eye finding and tracking system which can determine the location of a subject's eyes within an image of his or her face and thereafter track the changing locations of the subject's eyes in subsequent images with greater accuracy than has been achieved in the past.


A signal processing IC unit performs image processing with respect to an output from a camera. A recognition processing IC unit performs recognition processing based on the output from the signal processing IC unit. A control IC unit outputs a control signal based on the output from the recognition processing IC unit. A first terminal is electrically connected to the recognition processing IC unit. A second terminal is electrically connected to the control IC unit. The signal processing IC unit, the recognition processing IC unit, and the control IC unit are disposed on a board. The first terminal and the second terminal are provided on an edge portion of the board.

The technique disclosed herein relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-47694 discloses a vehicle control device. This vehicle control device outputs either a first control signal generated based on self-driving control information or a second control signal generated based on relative information between the vehicle itself and a surrounding object to a drive. This vehicle control device outputs the second control signal in place of the first control signal to the drive when an abnormality is detected in the self-driving control information.

Vehicle control device and vehicle control system


A vertical conduction Schottky device having a reverse voltage rating in excess of 400 volts uses an aluminum barrier metal in contact with an N.sup.- epitaxial silicon surface. A diffused P.sup.+ guard ring surrounds the barrier metal contact and is spaced therefrom by a small gap which is fully depleted at a low reverse voltage to connect the ring to the barrier contact under reverse voltage conditions. Lifetime killing is used for the body of the diode.

Schottky diodes are very well known and normally employ a high work function material which is in contact with an epitaxially grown N silicon surface. The Schottky diode has the advantage over a P/N junction diode of very high speed reverse recovery, permitting their use in very high frequency applications. Higher voltage prior art Schottky diodes frequently employ a P.sup.+ guard ring diffusion which encloses and contacts the contact metal. Such prior art devices, and a process for their manufacture, are typically shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,199 to Herbert Gould. The guard ring, at lower voltage, causes low leakage current and a very sharp avalanche breakdown characteristic.
Presently known Schottky diodes are usually rated at less than about 200 volts. However, as the reverse voltage increases, a higher resistivity epitaxial silicon is needed. Thus, the forward current can cause a resistive voltage drop in the epitaxial silicon higher than a diode drop (about 0.7 volts). This then causes the N.sup.- /P.sup.+ junction to be forward biased to inject minority carriers during forward conduction. The main advantage of high speed turn-off is then lost.

High voltage power schottky with aluminum barrier metal spaced from first diffused ring


A system and method of Evoked Sodium Magnetic Resonance Imaging (ESMRI) for three-dimensional localization and measurement of sodium currents in the brain during neuronal activity is disclosed. The system measures neuronal activity in response to a stimulus. The sodium MRI measures changes in the sodium concentration due to the influx of sodium into neurons during the generation of synaptic and action potentials. The system measures primarily extracellular sodium which is distinguished from intracellular sodium on the basis of different spin-spin relaxation rates (T2) for these two compartments. Repeated measurements of sodium concentrations are used to produce and display the changes in concentration cinematically. The technique of the present invention is noninvasive and produces three-dimensional brain images with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to allow three-dimensional visualization of the sequence of neuronal activation in the brain during processing of sensory, motor, cognitive and other tasks.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to techniques for localization and measurement of the dynamics of neuronal activity associated with information processing in the brain, and more particularly to systems and methods for using sodium-23 magnetic resonance imaging to measure evoked neuronal activity in the brain.
2. Discussion
The pursuit of methods for measurement and 3-D localization of neuronal activity associated with information processing in the brain has inspired much research in electrophysiology, radiology, nuclear medicine, biophysics, scientific visualization, and other disciplines. Such methods provide important uses in many areas including basic research into the functioning of the brain; early diagnosis of brain diseases; and assessment of post-therapeutic and postoperative brain functions. Nevertheless, present day technologies still fall short of realizing these goals. There remains no satisfactory technique to visualize in 3-D the sequence of activation of brain nuclei and cortices during the processing of various sensory, motor, cognitive, and other tasks.
Current techniques for measurement of brain activity generally fall into two categories: direct and indirect measurement techniques. Direct approaches include Electroencephalography (EEG), Evoked Potentials (EP) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG). Indirect techniques include Positron Emission Tomography (PET) of glucose metabolism or Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT).
The direct techniques of EEG and EP are widely available and represent a relatively inexpensive technology for measurement of brain potentials. These techniques use scalp or depth implanted electrodes to acquire the signal. A major shortcoming is that they do not allow for unambiguous localization of the intra-cranial potential generators. Rather, scalp EEG/EP at best provide a temporal sequence of 2-D maps each of which represents the momentary spatial distribution of the brain potentials as they appear on the scald, whereas depth EEG/EP provide very localized measures of the potential in the vicinity of implanted electrodes. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a relatively new and expensive technology (systems may cost up to $3,000,000) for remote sensing (non-invasive measurement) of the magnetic fields associated with the electric currents produced during neuronal activity. MEG uses SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometers to detect weak magnetic fields outside the brain.
EEG and MEG are complimentary since they measure two manifestations of the same physical phenomenon--the ionic currents underlying neuronal activity. (EEG measures the electric fields, whereas MEG measures the magnetic fields generated by these currents.) However, when used to determine the intracranial localization of field generators, both techniques require solving what is known as the "inverse problem". This is an ill-posed problem of reconstruction of the location and strength of the generators in the brain from data measured on the surface of the brain. The limitations with this method are: (1) current compartmental models make many simplifications about the dielectric properties of the brain which may compromise the accuracy of the solution; (2) even if there were accurate models, there is not a unique solution to the inverse problem. That is, any given scalp EP field distribution could theoretically be generated by an infinite variety of intracerebral source distributions.
The indirect techniques for observation of neuronal activation such as PET and SPECT have their own drawbacks: (1) these techniques have insufficient temporal resolution, which is at best in the range of 60 seconds; (2) these techniques measure indirect correlates of the neuronal activity, such as blood flow or glucose metabolism. These variable have dynamics which lag behind the neuronal activity which evoke them by at least 1 second or more. Also, the response is smeared in time and has non-linear relation to the underlying neuronal activity.
Besides the unsatisfactory results for localization of neuronal activity, all of the above techniques present additional disadvantages. For example, EEG and EP are invasive, since they require attachment or implantation of electrodes. PET and SPECT require the administration of radionucleotides (e.g., 18-FDG, 15-O water., IMP, 133-Xenon). Further, 3-D brain imaging has not been possible with the techniques of EEG and MEG. An additional disadvantage with techniques such as PET, SPECT and MEG is that they require a large investment in equipment thus posing a serious barrier to their widespread implementation.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for simultaneously visualizing neuronal activity in all areas of the brain. Also, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for visualizing the sequence of activation of brain nuclei and cortices which underlie various sensory, motor, cognitive and other tasks. In addition, it would be desirable to provide such a technique which has sufficient temporal resolution to resolve rapidly changing neuronal activity. Further, it would be desirable to provide such a technique for localization of neuronal activation in the brain which directly measures this activity as opposed to measuring indirect correlates. It would also be desirable to provide such a technique which is not invasive and which does not require administering any substances into the brain. Further, it would be desirable to provide such a technique which provides sufficient spatial resolution to resolve fine spatial details within the brain. Also, it would be desirable to provide a technique with these features which produces brain images which are three-dimensional. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide such a system which can be implemented at a reasonable cost.

Evoked 23NA MR imaging of sodium currents in the brain


A printer apparatus in which a multi-nozzle print head can be produced at low cost and which can deal with changes caused with lapse of time. With the printer apparatus, effective resolution can be improved and a more accurate gradation level in picture printing can be achieved for assuring uniform printing quality. The printer apparatus has a shading correction unit 14 for correcting the picture printing data signal for printing using shading correction data previously found and stored in the EE-PROM 10 and shading correction data entered from a man/machine interfacing unit 2 and for generating a head impression signal for driving a print head 16 based on the corrected picture printing data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a printer apparatus capable of varying the ink dot diameter on a recording paper sheet or the mixing density of the ink and a dilution solution for representing the half tone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among conventional printer apparatus, there is a so-called on-demand type ink jet printer configured for discharging ink liquid droplets via a nozzle responsive to recording signals for recording on a recording medium, such as paper or film sheets. This type of printer is recently coming into widespread use because it lends itself to reduction in size and cost.
On the other hand, computerized document formulation known as desk top publishing has come into use extensively above all in an office. Recently, there is an increasing demand for outputting not only a letter or a figure but also a colored natural image, such as a photograph, along with the letter or the figure. For printing the natural image with high image quality, representation of the half tone is crucial.
In an ink jet printing head used for this on-demand type ink jet printer, a system of employing an electrostrictive oscillator, such as a piezo-element, or a heating element, is generally used as a system for discharging ink liquid droplets. The ink jet printing head is referred to hereinafter as a print head.
The print head exploiting displacement of the electrostrictive vibrator, such as a piezo element, causes ink liquid droplets to be discharged from the nozzle by deforming the piezo element for thereby pressurizing the ink.
As the printer head utilizing displacement of the electrostrictive vibrator, such as the piezo-element, there is so far known such a printer head having a structure of, for example, a vibrating cylinder type, a flat plate vibrating type or a "stemine" type printer head.
Referring to FIG. 1, a flat plate vibrating type printer head, for example, includes a flat plate type electrostrictive vibrator 517, a vibrating plate 518 bonded to the flat plate type electrostrictive vibrator 517 for constituting a so-called bimorph element, a nozzle unit 511 having the bimorph element, an ink chamber 515 defined by the interior of the nozzle unit 511, an ink supply port 514 fed with ink charged into the ink chamber 515, a nozzle 513 and an orifice 516 for discharging the ink as ink liquid droplets 519, and a voltage generator for generating a voltage applied across the bimorph element. The ink droplets 519 are discharged due to volumetric changes in the ink chamber 515 produced by applying the voltage from the voltage generator 512 across the bimorph element.
In the printer head of the on-demand type ink jet printer, the above-described system of employing the heating element, among the systems for emitting the ink liquid droplets, discharges the ink liquid droplets by taking advantage of the phenomenon of vaporization of the ink solution caused by the heating element.
Referring to FIGS. 2A to 2D, the printer head employing the heating element is designed and constructed so that an electric power is applied to a heating element 537 provided in a nozzle 533 provided in a nozzle unit 531 for instantly vaporizing the ink in the nozzle 533 under the resulting heat energy for discharging ink droplets 539 from an orifice 536 under volumetric changes produced under the pressure of bubbles produced due to ink vaporization.
The liquid ink droplets in the printer head employing the heating element are discharged by the following sequence of operations: If the power is applied across the heating element 537, the ink in contact with the heating element 537 is heated to ebullition to form a large number of small-sized bubbles, as shown in FIG. 2A. These small-sized bubbles coalesce to a large-sized bubble 540 and the ink in the nozzle 533 is extruded from the orifice unit 536 under the abrupt pressure rise in the bubble 540, as shown in FIG. 2B. The power supply to the heating element 537 is then discontinued. This diminishes the size of the bubble 540 abruptly such that the pressure in the nozzle 533 is decreased abruptly, as shown in FIG. 2C. The ink extruded from the orifice 536 is separated in this manner from the ink within the nozzle 533 so as to be discharged as the liquid ink droplet 539 as shown in FIG. 2D.
If, in the above-described on-demand type ink jet printer, the half tone is to be represented, the voltage applied to the electrostrictive vibrator, such as the piezo-electric element, or the heating element, or the pulse width, is changed for varying the size of the printing dot formed on the recording sheet for representing the gradation. Alternatively, each pixel is constituted by, for example, a 4.times.4 dot matrix, without varying the picture printing dot diameter, and gradation is represented using a so-called dither method on the matrix basis.
Meanwhile, the above-described conventional on-demand type ink jet printer is frequently constructed by a so-called multi-nozzle structure in which plural nozzles are arranged within a nozzle unit of the printer head.
In the multi-nozzle structure, it occurs frequently that the effective resolution becomes lower than the theoretically feasible resolution, as a result of manufacture tolerances of the respective nozzles, while the picture printing gradation level becomes inaccurate such that printing with uniform printing quality cannot be achieved. In addition, similar problems arise due to deterioration of the nozzle in use with lapse of time. There is also constraint imposed on the individual nozzle structure due to the necessity of reducing the adverse effects caused by deterioration with lapse of time. In addition, it is necessary to make strict control on the characteristics of the ink in use, thus unavoidably raising the cost.


In a method for displaying information on a screen, information configured as a first element and a second element, in a separate space from the latter, for simultaneous display on the same screen page is supplied. The first element and the second element are separated from one another again in a second step and are then displayed on a screen at separate times.

The prior art uses programming to detect advertising banners automatically and to modify the display of the Internet page as appropriate, such that there is only content information and no longer advertising appearing on the screen page. This technology is available, by way of example, from Siemens AG under the keyword "Web-Washer". This "Web-Washer" is a supplementary program for an Internet browser which can speed up navigation on the Internet. This software runs on PC and server. It automatically removes advertising from web pages which are retrieved. Pop-up windows, animated images and the like are automatically filtered, so that web pages are loaded more quickly and bandwidth can be saved on the network.
Normal Internet pages are also configured for display on a PC monitor. That is, on a monitor having a screen diagonal of 14″ or 15″, for example. However, there is also a trend for displaying Internet pages, for example, on much smaller screens. By way of example, one practice known to have started is that of displaying Internet pages on the display of a mobile radio, such as a GSM telephone, which has the function of a terminal for the Internet network. An example of a GSM telephone having an Internet browser function is, by way of example, the mobile telephone available from and sold by the company Nokia under the name "Communicator". With a display as small as in mobile radios, for example, the display becomes overloaded and possibly even illegible when advertising banners and content information are displayed in a separate space but simultaneously.

Method and terminal for displaying information on a screen


Provided herein are methods for generating an estimated coagulation test result from an underfilled sample tube.

When damage to blood vessels and capillaries occurs, the body controls blood loss via physiological processes referred to as hemostasis. In vivo, hemostasis depends on an interaction between the plasma-based coagulation cascade, platelets, and the vessels themselves. In the clinical laboratory, in vitro analytical assays are available for performing a variety of measurements on samples of blood obtained from the patient, thereby providing useful clinical information with respect to the body's hemostatic capabilities.
Clinicians frequently order coagulation tests, such as the prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and thrombin time (TT), to assess blood clotting function in patients. These laboratory tests may be helpful in elucidating the cause of unexplained bleeding, and/or may be useful in determining whether or not a subject is eligible for a particular treatment. Of particular note, there are a number of clinical situations, most urgently in the case of patients with recent onset of stroke symptoms, for whom delays in obtaining the results of such coagulation testing can result in denial of anti-thrombotic therapies that might otherwise have resulted in significant amelioration of functional impairment attributable to the stroke.

Coagulation testing in underfilled patient samples


An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible stretcher. The stretcher comprises: a mattress section having a rectangular shape, the mattress section being made of a material, which is capable of absorbing air, the mattress section being capable of spreading by absorbing air and being wound from a longitudinal end when air is discharged; a cover section for accommodating the mattress section, the cover section having a rectangular shape; belt holders being provided on both longitudinal edges of the cover section; and a belt being run through the belt holders, the belt being formed into a loop. Having the windable and light mattress section and no long shafts, the stretcher can be easily and rapidly managed even in narrow places.

The present invention relates to a stretcher and a bed.
A conventional stretcher, which has a pair of shafts and a cloth section stretched between the shafts, has been well known. A man to be carried. e.g. a patient, is laid down on the cloth section, and carrier persons rip end sections of the shafts so as to lift and carry him.
However, the conventional stretcher has following disadvantages:
Firstly, the conventional stretcher is bulky, and a large accommodation space is required because the shafts are not collapsible. Further, with such long shafts, it is difficult to go up and down stairs and to turn at a narrow entrance or on a narrow aisle. Practically, the conventional stretcher can not be used in such narrow places.
Secondly, a plurality of carrier persons are required to manage the conventional stretcher. Therefore, it is impossible to carry a patient by one carrier person.
Thirdly, the cloth section of the conventional stretcher has no elasticity, so a patient must be transferred from the stretcher to a mattress on a bed after the a patient is carried to a destination. To transfer the patient to the bed is troublesome, and the mattress must be previously set on the bed.


Disclosed are a novel catalyst system which is a catalyst system for selectively oligomerizing olefin including ethylene and may trimerize and tetramerize olefin, different from the catalyst system for olefin oligomerization reported until now, and a method for preparing an olefin oligomer using same. The present invention provides a catalyst system for olefin oligomerization, including a ligand compound represented by Formula 1; a chromium compound; and a metal alkyl compound, and a method for preparing an olefin oligomer using same.

Linear alpha-olefins are important materials used in a comonomer, a cleansing agent, a lubricant, a plasticizer, etc., and are commercially widely used, and particularly, 1-hexene and 1-octene are used a lot as comonomers for controlling the density of polyethylene during preparing linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE).
Particularly, in the preparation process of LLDPE known before, copolymerization of ethylene with a comonomer such as an alpha-olefin including 1-hexene and 1-octene was performed to control density by forming branches at a polymer backbone. Accordingly, in preparing LLDPE having the high comonomer content, the price of the comonomer is a large part of the manufacturing cost. Therefore, various attempts have been conducted for reducing the unit cost for preparing the comonomer. In addition, since the alpha-olefin has different application field and market size depending on the kind thereof, technique for selectively producing a specific alpha-olefin is commercially very important. Recently, research on chrome catalyst technique for preparing 1-hexene, 1-octene, etc. with high selectivity through selective ethylene oligomerization, is conducted a lot.
For example, Philips Co. disclosed in 1994 (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,612) an ethylene trimerization catalyst system with high activity and high selectivity, using a trivalent chromium compound, a pyrrole compound and non-hydrolyzed aluminum alkyl, as a catalyst system for polymerizing olefin such as ethylene to prepare 1-hexene, etc., and after that, based on the catalyst system, 1-hexene has been commercially produced from 2003. A catalyst system using tris(2-ethylhexanoate) chromium(III) (Cr(EH)3, EH=O2C8H15) among various trivalent chromium compounds, showed particularly excellent catalyst activity, and a catalyst system using Cr(EH)3 has been intensively studied and commercialized.
Such a catalyst system using Cr(EH)3 may be prepared by, for example, in an unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent by injecting a mixture solution of triethylaluminum and ethylaluminum dichloride to an unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent (toluene, etc.) in which Cr(EH)3 and 2,5-dimethylpyrrole are mixed. Usually, the trimerization reaction of olefin is performed in a saturated hydrocarbon solvent such as cyclohexane, and it is required that the unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent of the catalyst system thus prepared is removed under a reduced pressure in vacuum and the catalyst system is dissolved again in a saturated hydrocarbon solvent such as cyclohexane and used, or the catalyst system prepared in an unsaturated hydrocarbon solution phase is used for trimerization reaction and the unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent used for preparing a catalyst is separated and removed after finishing the reaction. In addition, during preparing a catalyst using Cr(EH)3, black precipitate is formed as by-products while forming a catalyst activating species and requires a removing process using a filter (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,312). Such a removing process of an unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent such as toluene, a filtering process, etc. may act as a burden during commercialization. If the catalyst system is prepared in an aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent such as cyclohexane, in which trimerization reaction is performed to omit the removing process of the unsaturated hydrocarbon solvent, the thermal stability of the catalyst thus prepared is degraded, and accordingly, a catalyst may be deactivated during trimerization reaction or catalyst selectivity may be degraded, and a large amount of by-products other than olefin trimer may be produced (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,312). Therefore, in the catalyst system of Phillips Co. etc., unsaturated hydrocarbon is included as an essential component.
Accordingly, International Laid-open Patent No. WO2015/133805 disclosed a raw material compound of a catalyst system in which by-products are not produced during preparing a catalyst, a filtering process is not necessary, and the preparation of a catalyst system in a saturated hydrocarbon solvent is possible, and a catalyst system having excellent catalyst activity during olefin polymerization (trimerization).
However, all prior art patents have limitations of selectively performing only trimerization in an olefin oligomerization process.

Catalyst system for olefin oligomerization and method for preparing olefin oligomer using same


A semiconductor memory device includes a first signal generation unit configured to sequentially generate first and second delay signals in response to a first column control signal, the first and second delay signals having reflected a delay time and a multiplied delay time selected from a plurality of delay times in correspondence with an arrangement location of a unit memory region, through data is input/output, respectively, and a second signal generation unit configured to generate a second column control signal delayed by the selected delay time as compared with the first column control signal, to determine an activation time point of the second column control signal in response to the first delay signal, and to determine a deactivation time point of the second column control signal in response to the second delay signal.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a semiconductor memory device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) performs a write operation to store data or a read operation to read stored data.
The write operation may be performed in a stater in which a word line (WL) has been activated by an active command. In the write operation, data loaded on a global input/output line GIO is transferred to a local data input/output line (LIO) by a write driver (WD), the data loaded on the local input/output line (LIO) is transferred to a bit line (BL) selected based on a column selection signal, and then the data loaded on the bit line is stored in a memory cell by a bit line sense amplifier (BLSA).
Meanwhile, the read operation may also be performed in a state in which a word line (WL) has been activated by an active command. In the write operation, data stored in a memory cell is amplified through the bit line sense amplifier (BLSA) through a bit line (BL), the amplified data is transferred to the local input/output line (LIO) based on the column selection signal, and then the data on the local input/output line (LIO) is amplified and transferred to the global input/output line (GIO) by an input/output sense amplifier (IOSA).
As described above, to exchange the data between the local input/output line (LIO) and the bit line sense amplifier (BLSA), the column selection signal for selecting the corresponding bit line (BL) is used. That is, data access timing is determined by the column selection signal.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a column path control signal generation circuit of a conventional semiconductor memory device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the column path control signal generation circuit 10 includes an inverter chain, and generates predetermined signals BWEN, YI_S, and IOSTBP after respective delay times in response to a source signal BCS. The source signal BCS is activated after each predetermined latency when a write command or a read command is applied.
The column path control signal generation circuit 10 generates a write enable signal BWEN by delaying the source signal BCS by a predetermined delay time in a write operation, and delays the write enable signal BWEN by a first delay time to generate a column source signal YI_S. The write enable signal BWEN is input to a write driver (not illustrated), and the write driver transfers data loaded on a global input/output line GIO to a local input/output line (LIO) based on the write enable signal BWEN. The column source signal YI_S is input to a column decoder (not illustrated), and the column decoder generates a column selection signal (not illustrated) based on the column source signal YI_S and a column address (not illustrated). Hereinafter, for the purpose of convenience, the column source signal YI_S is referred to as "a column selection signal".
The column path control signal generation circuit 10 generates the column selection signal YI_S by delaying the source signal BCS by a predetermined delay time in a read operation, and delays the column selection signal YI_S by a second delay time to generate a read enable signal IOSTBP. The read enable signal IOSTBP is input to an input/output sense amplifier (not illustrated), and the input/output sense amplifier (IOSA) transfers data loaded on the local input/output line (LIO) to the global input/output line (GIO) based on the read enable signal IOSTBP.
Hereinafter, an operation of the column path control signal generation circuit 10 having the configuration as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.
FIG. 2A is a timing diagram for explaining the operation of the column path control signal generation circuit 10 in the write operation, and FIG. 2B is a timing diagram for explaining the operation of the column path control signal generation circuit 10 in the read operation.
Referring to FIG. 2A, a write command (not illustrated) is applied and the source signal BCS is activated after predetermined latency. Then, the column path control signal generation circuit 10 generates the write enable signal BWEN by delaying the source signal BCS by a predetermined delay time, and delays the write enable signal BWEN by a first delay time D1 to generate the column selection signal YI_S.
Referring to FIG. 2B, a read command (not illustrated) is applied and the source signal BCS is activated after predetermined latency. Then, the column path control signal generation circuit 10 generates the column selection signal YI_S by delaying the source signal BCS by a predetermined delay time, and delays the column selection signal YI_S by a second delay time D2 to generate the read enable signal IOSTBP.
The aforementioned column path control signal generation circuit 10 in the conventional art sequentially controls column paths, thereby writing and reading valid data.
However, the column path control signal generation circuit 10 having the configuration as described above may have the following concerns.
The column selection signal YI_S generated by the column path control signal generation circuit 10 has not considered delay correction according to the arrangement location of a memory area. For example, when the memory area is assumed to include a plurality of unit memory regions (mats), as a mat is arranged far away from the write driver, driving force of data transmitted through the local input/output line (LIO) is reduced. This is because a delay factor (or line loading) to be reflected in the local input/output line (LIO) is increased in the mat arranged far away from the write driver. Thus, data to be written is delayed in the mat arranged far away from the write driver, but the column selection signal YI_S having reflected a constant delay time D1 regardless of the arrangement locations of the plurality of mats is generated. In such a case, since the column selection signal YI_S is generated later or earlier than a transmission time point of write data based on the arrangement location of the unit memory region, a write recovery time tWR may be lost or invalid data may be written.
Due to the aforementioned reason, the read enable signal IOSTBP may be also generated late or early. In such a case, an address access time tAA may be lost or invalid data may be read.
Furthermore, since the inverter chain typically includes transistors, the inverter chain is sensitive to a process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variation. For example, in a high power supply voltage high VDD environment, a delay time through the inverter chain is reduced, and in a low power supply voltage low VDD environment, the delay time through the inverter chain is increased, so that the column selection signal YI_S may not be normally generated at a desired timing due to a change in a delay amount by a voltage variation. As a consequence, due to the PVT variation, invalid data may be written or read.

Semiconductor memory device with sequentially generated delay signals


The disclosure relates to a method for state of charge compensation of a battery having a plurality of battery units. The method comprises the steps of calculating a depth of discharge of each battery unit after the battery units have been charged, calculating an available charge of each battery unit before the battery units are charged, calculating a state of charge compensation requirement value on the basis of the calculated depth of discharge and the calculated available charge for each battery unit, and discharging each battery unit on the basis of the calculated state of charge compensation requirement value. The disclosure also relates to a method for charging a battery which has a plurality of battery units. Also specified are a computer program and a battery management system set up to perform the method, and a battery and a motor vehicle having a drive system connected to such a battery.

The disclosure relates to a method for state of charge compensation of a battery which has a plurality of battery units.
The disclosure also relates to a method for charging a battery which has a plurality of battery units.
The disclosure also relates to a computer program and a battery management system, which are set up to perform the method, and to a battery and a motor vehicle, the drive system of which motor vehicle is connected to such a battery.
It is known that individual states of charge (SOC) of battery units in a battery pack can drift apart from one another. A method for state of charge compensation of vehicle batteries is known, for example, from DE 10 2008 002 190 A1, wherein the state of charge compensation is performed during the driving operation by, firstly, the state of charge of individual cells being calculated and then, for at least two of said cells, an amount of charge which the cells should discharge being determined. The cells are discharged according to the calculated amount of charge.
A so-called resistive balancing method is also described in DE 10 2009 002 466 A1. In that document, so-called inductive cell balancing is also described as an alternative, wherein the circuit concept for compensation of the cell voltages involves inductive intermediate storage of the electrical energy transported in that case.
The reasons for the states of charge of the battery units drifting apart from one another are, for example, different self-discharge rates of the battery units, different charging efficiencies or different capacities. These effects need not be coupled to one another. It is therefore possible that a battery unit has a high self-discharge during operation, that is to say during discharging, but also has a high charging efficiency during charging, that is to say can take on more charge of the charge current as usable charge than other cells. In this case, the two effects partially compensate for one another by themselves. Present state of charge compensation methods do not take these effects into account and must therefore compensate more charge than necessary.

Method for state of charge compensation of a battery and method for charging a battery


A sensor system includes a substrate with a reference plane, a plurality of kinesthetic-sense sensors disposed on the substrate, each of the plurality of kinesthetic-sense sensors being configured to output signals of three axial directions corresponding to an orthogonal-axis direction orthogonal to the reference plane and two axial directions parallel to the reference plane, respectively, according to an external force from an object received at a force receiving part, a control unit configured to determine whether or not a value of each of the signals is larger than a predetermined threshold, and calculate a pressing force in the orthogonal-axis direction or a moment around the orthogonal axis received from the object based on a result of the determination, and an output unit configured to output a result of the calculation.

The present disclosure relates to a sensor system, a robot hand, a method for calibrating a sensor system, and a program.
Development of a kinesthetic-sense sensor that detects pressures in a plurality of axial directions and moments around a plurality of axes has been underway. Further, there has been a proposal that a sensor system be constructed by using a plurality of such kinesthetic-sense sensors and applied to robot hands and the like.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-158404 discloses a physical-quantity derivation apparatus and the like capable of deriving information about a physical quantity acting on a contact member of a kinesthetic-sense sensor in the horizontal direction.

Sensor system for calculating pressing force or moment based on signals output by kinesthetic-sense sensors, robot hand including the sensor system, and method for calibrating the sensor system


There is provided an electricity demand regulating system which estimates a load amount of an individual equipment whose measurement information can not be acquired and improves estimation accuracy of an electricity demand amount in a power system. The electricity demand regulating system for managing electric energy used by a consumer according to an operation state of the power system includes a storage part to store measurement information of a consumer equipment, and a generation part to generate a load pattern indicating a load amount tendency from the measurement information of the equipment stored in the storage part. A load amount of an equipment whose measurement information is not stored in the storage part is estimated from the load pattern generated by the generation part, and an electricity demand amount of the consumer is obtained based on the measurement information and the estimated load amount.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for regulating a demanded electric energy in a power system.
2. Background Art
Hereafter, in addition to photovoltaic generation and wind generation using renewable energy, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles become popular in large quantities, and therefore, it is prospective that a power flow mode is remarkably changed, and a load applied to a facility equipment such as a distribution substation or a pole mounted transformer becomes large. When the load exceeding a specified threshold is applied to the facility equipment, a breaker of the distribution substation is erroneously operated, and a blackout occurs in an area or the pole mounted transformer is burned out, and the power system can not be stabled. In order to solve such circumstances, some techniques to control the load are known.
For example, a technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (JP-A-2010-204833) is an energy management system having a demand side management function in which an energy load side is a control target. The system includes a load adjustment range prediction part to output a prediction result of a load adjustment range based on history data stored in a load operation/adjustment history database, and controls the load based on the prediction information. According to this technique, demand prediction can be performed based on the past storage data and outside conditions (weather etc.), and the load can be controlled so as not to exceed a specified threshold.
Besides, a technique disclosed in Patent Literature 2 (JP-A-2009-077498) relates to a load reduction plan decision system including demand prediction means for predicting electricity demand of an electric power receiver, demand prediction means for predicting demand which is electric energy required to be supplied from an electricity company, and plan decision means for deciding a load reduction plan which is an order plan of load reduction among plural loads. This technique includes a load reduction classification index to specify a load reduction order under a different weather condition, and weather prediction means for predicting weather of a plan day. The load reduction plan is decided based on the predicted weather of the plan day and the load reduction classification index, and the electricity demand can be regulated based on the decided load reduction plan.
However, according to the techniques disclosed in the above literatures, a load amount of an individual equipment having no past performance data (measuring means is not provided or measurement information can not be acquired) is not estimated, and accordingly, the dispersion is large as compared with actual load amount, and the accuracy of the demand prediction is low.
Besides, in an area where infrastructure environment is not developed, there are many cases in which the measurement information can not be acquired. Thus, also in such cases, more accurate electricity demand of the consumer equipment is required to be grasped.

Electricity demand regulating system and demand adjustment executive system


Embodiments include an apparatus comprising an execution unit coupled to a memory, a microcode controller, and a hardware controller. The microcode controller is to identify a global power and performance hint in an instruction stream that includes first and second instruction phases to be executed in parallel, identify a local hint based on synchronization dependence in the first instruction phase, and use the first local hint to balance power consumption between the execution unit and the memory during parallel executions of the first and second instruction phases. The hardware controller is to use the global hint to determine an appropriate voltage level of a compute voltage and a frequency of a compute clock signal for the execution unit during the parallel executions of the first and second instruction phases. The first local hint includes a processing rate for the first instruction phase or an indication of the processing rate.

The demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications is growing exponentially. AI applications often involve deep learning, which is a type of machine learning that uses a layered structure of algorithms, known as deep neural networks (DNNs), to learn and recognize patterns from data representations. DNNs are generally presented as systems of interconnected "neurons" that can compute values from inputs. DNNs have emerged as an effective solution for intuitive human/device interactions that improve user experience, a new computation paradigm known as "cognitive computing." Among other usages, DNNs can be used for imaging processing, voice and object recognition or natural language processing. Applications using neural networks parse huge amounts of data and require powerful processing capabilities outside the reach of typical computer processing units (CPUs). Additionally, AI applications are often restricted by finite capability of system power supplies and associated thermal dissipation capabilities. Thus, solutions are needed to satisfy the insatiable appetite for higher and higher compute performance for AI applications within the power and thermal budgets.


A lithographic press includes a plate cylinder having an outer surface which includes a first outer section and a second outer section, and at least one printing plate disposed around one of the first and second outer sections in parallel to a rotational axis of the plate cylinder. The other of the first and second outer sections is uncovered and exposed to the ambient environment. The lithographic press also includes an ink supplying device which feeds ink to the at least one printing plate and the other of the first and second outer sections, and an ink removing device having a contact member which contacts the other of the first and second outer sections of the plate cylinder and removes ink therefrom. A method for removing ink from the other of the first and second outer sections includes removing the ink by way of contact between the ink removing device and the other of the first and second section of the outer surface of the plate cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a printing system and printing method using a lithographic press. More specifically, the present invention relates to a paricular type of printing system, such as a newspaper printing system, which includes a plurality of printing rollers arranged in parallel to the axis of a plate cylinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that a lithographic printing method utilizes the typical repulsion phenomenon that occurs between water and oil ink, or between silicone and oil ink, to form various printing images. In such a method, image areas are non-image areas and formed on a substantially similar plano-surface of a printing plate, and then oil ink is supplied to the image sections to print the image on any required material, such as paper.
For example, many newspaper printing factories employ a double sized rotary press capable of printing on four pages at once. See for example, "Newspaper Manufacturing Technical Words", pp. 358, (conventional Art 1), published by Nippon Newspaper Association on Jun. 11, 1990. One typical structure of this type of printing apparatus is shown in FIG. 5 and includes a plurality of printing plates P, each of which has a thickness of about 0.3 mm and a width accommodating single or double pages. The printing plates P are securely arranged in parallel to the axis of a plate cylinder PC regardless of the existence of images. Ink is supplied to all the printing plates P at the same time from an ink dispenser 1. In the drawing, D, BC, IC and W represent a dampening means, a blanket cylinder, an impression cylinder, and a paper web, respectively.
Methods for washing/cleaning printing cylinders are well known as reflected in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publications No. 63-288754/1988 entitled "Cleaning Device for Cylinders in Printing Apparatus" (Conventional Art 2) and No. 2-141241/1990 entitled "Cleaning Device for Plate Cylinder and/or Blanket Cylinder" (Conventional Art 3).
The device disclosed in the conventional art 2 is designed so that the circumferential surface of the cylinder is cleaned by a cloth when the surface is soiled during a continuous printing operation, and is provided with a system which automatically detects any gaps such as grooves, openings, and the like in the cylinder. This gap detecting system prevent any gaps from being soiled by the cleaning cloth which is itself soiled during the cleaning operation.
The conventional art 3 discloses a cleaning device for removing any dirt, dust, or remaining ink from the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder and/or blanket cylinder. This cleaning device can perform the cleaning operation over several portions and/or broad areas, at the same time.
In the above mentioned newspaper press, especially in a color printing operation, a page with a non-image sometimes appears adjacent to a page printed with images. Since an ink dispenser feeds ink to all the plate cylinders, every cylinder is provided with a printing plate regardless of the presence of images, to prevent the surface of the plate cylinders from adhering with the supplied ink. If the plate cylinder corresponding to the page with non-image is not covered with a printing plate, the supplied ink will easily be transferred to the paper web from the cylinder surface. In this system the printing plate without images is used only for protecting the paper web from being soiled with ink during the printing operation, and therefore prevents the wasting of ink. This system increases manufacturing costs because it requires plate producing work, in addition to the plate itself.
The lithographic printing system, which uses the repelling function between oil ink and water, requires a dampening means for feeding water to the non-image area of each printing plate, thereby ensuring that the non-image area is free from ink. This dampening water may flow back to an inking dispenser, thus decreasing ink concentration, which may cause stripping; i.e., an inking roller of the inking system may repel ink, thereby interfering with the printing operation. A non-image printing plate, needs more dampening water, in comparison with normal printing plates that include images, and non-images. Accordingly, a lithographic such non-image printing plate may produce poorly printed sheets for a long time.
The above described devices shown in the conventional arts 2 and 3, also require the use of printing plates corresponding to blank pages. It is apparent that these two conventional devices can not resolve the problems described above.

Ink removing device for a lithographic press and a method for removing ink from a lithographic press


In operation of an electronics device, audio based on asynchronous events, such as game playing, is intelligently combined with audio output nominally generated in a predictive manner, such as resulting from media playback. For example, an overall audio output signal for the electronic device may be generated such that, for at least one of audio channels corresponding to predictive manner processing, the generated audio output for that channel included into the overall audio output signal is based at least in part on configuration information associated with a processed audio output signal for at least one of the audio channels corresponding to asynchronous events based processing. Thus, for example, the game audio processing may control how audio effects from the game are combined with audio effects from media playback.

Portable electronic devices for media playback have been popular and are becoming ever more popular. For example, a very popular portable media player is the line of iPod® media players from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. In addition to media playback, the iPod® media players also provide game playing capabilities.

Intelligent audio mixing among media playback and at least one other non-playback application


An apparatus is disclosed for a fuel control system of a turbine engine powerplant. Various construction details have been developed which provide means to generate a backup command current for controlling the fuel flow rate to the turbine engine powerplant. In one embodiment, a means to generate a backup command current includes means to convert a fuel flow derivative to a backup command current using known hardware characteristics and an estimated null bias signal. The backup command current is input to a switch along with a command current generated by comparing a reference signal to a feedback signal from a metering valve. The switch responds to means for failure recognition which detects failures in the sensing of the feedback signal. The switch responds to a failure of the feedback signal by inputting the backup command current to a torque motor for controlling a metering valve position.

In a typical fuel control system of a gas turbine powerplant for an aircraft, a fuel control system modulates the fuel flow to the powerplant in response to the operator's demands. The operator's thrust demands are input to an electronic engine control (EEC) which monitors various engine parameters to determine the amount of fuel flow required to meet the operator'thrust demand. The main objective of the fuel control system is to be responsive to the operator's thrust demand while at the same time prevent engine stall, engine surge, or inefficient operation of the powerplant.
The EEC receives the operator's thrust demand and calculates a desired engine parameter which correlates to the thrust of the powerplant. Engine pressure ratio, referred to as EPR, is one such engine parameter although others, such as shaft rotational speed, may be used. EPR is the ratio of engine output pressure to engine inlet pressure. An EPR reference signal, which corresponds to the EPR required to meet the operator's thrust demand, is produced by the EEC. EPR reference is compared to a sensed or actual EPR taken from pressure sensors mounted at the inlet and outlet of the powerplant. The comparison generates an EPR error signal. EPR error is manipulated by the control system to generate a metering valve position reference referred to as a requested degrees resolver signal (DR). DR is compared to a sensed or actual DR to generate a degrees resolver error (DRE) signal. DRE corresponds to the amount of displacement of the metering valve required to meet the operator'demand. A torque motor mechanically positions the metering valve in response to a command current signal. The command current signal is generated by the fuel control system and correlates to the DRE.
In essence, the fuel control system is comprised of two feedback loops. The major loop includes a comparison of the sensed EPR to the EPR reference to produce the EPR error. The minor loop includes the comparison of the sensed metering valve position to the DR to produce the DRE. A failure in the minor loop results in the fuel flow being switched to a fail-safe fuel flow. For safety reasons, the fail-safe position for aircraft powerplants is a minimum flow position. The minimum flow position of the metering valve may result in an in-flight shut-down (IFSD) of the engine. It is desirable to minimize the IFSD rate by minimizing the likelihood of a failure in the fuel control system.
The above art notwithstanding, scientists and engineers under the direction of Applicants' Assignee are working to develop fuel control systems which result in a minimal in-flight shut-down rate for gas turbine powerplants used on aircraft.

Fuel control system with fuel metering valve fault accommodation


Embodiments of the disclosure relate to an MIO substrate with integrated jet cooling for electronic modules and a method of forming the same. In one embodiment, a substrate for an electronic module includes a thermal compensation base layer having an MIO structure and a cap layer overgrown on the MIO structure. A plurality of orifices extends through the thermal compensation base layer between an inlet face and an outlet face positioned opposite to the inlet face, defining a plurality of jet paths. A plurality of integrated posts extends outward from the cap layer, wherein each integrated post of the plurality of integrated posts is positioned on the outlet face between each orifice of the plurality of orifices.

As electronic modules are designed to operate at increased power levels, they generate high heat flux due to the demands of electrical systems. This requires that bonds between the electronic device and the substrate in the electronic module be able to withstand higher temperatures and thermally-induced stresses due to mismatch of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the electronic device and the substrate. Some bonding layers, such as transient liquid phase (TLP) layers are brittle and can crack due to this CTE mismatch. Conventional heat sinks are unable to adequately remove sufficient heat to effectively lower the operating temperature of the electronic modules to acceptable temperature levels. Further, conventional heat sinks and cooling structures require additional bonding layers and thermal matching materials (e.g., bond layers, substrates, thermal interface materials). These additional layers add substantial thermal resistance to the overall assembly and make thermal management of the electronic modules challenging.

Metal inverse opal substrate with integrated jet cooling in electronic modules

TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.


Tibial component (10) of a knee-joint endoprosthesis with a flat tibial bearing surface (11), a bearing body (12) that is slidably seated thereon and comprises two concave bearing dishes (13) in which a femoral component can be movably seated, and with a rotational guide means that guides the rotation of the bearing body (12) on the tibial bearing surface (11) about an axis (14) perpendicular thereto. The guide means comprises a bearing post (15) in the form of a regular cylinder that stands upright on the tibial bearing surface (11) and has at least one projection (16, 17) extending radially outward. The bearing post so constructed can be inserted into a post receptacle (19) that is formed on the underside of the bearing body (12) with a receiving groove (20) corresponding to the post projection (16, 17). The at least one post projection (16, 17) extending radially outward is spaced apart from the free end (24) of the post.

A tibial component of this kind has been disclosed in the patents EP 0 864 306 A1 and WO 99/13804.
A feature common to these known tibial components is that on the exposed end face of the bearing post are disposed projections that extend radially outward. On the basis of this construction, to ensure that the only movement of the bearing body allowed on the associated tibial platform is rotational, it is necessary to provide a separate fixation screw as proposed in the document WO 99/13804; this prevents the translational movement of the bearing body on the tibial platform that is allowed in the original design. In the proposal according to WO 99/13804, so that the fixation screw can be screwed into the bearing post it must pass through the end face of the bearing body. Therefore, according to the state of the art, a separate component is needed to block translational movement, which makes the construction as a whole considerably more complicated and thus correspondingly more expensive. An additional disadvantage of the state of the art according to WO 99/13804 is that the fixation screw must pass through the bearing body, i.e., it must be screwed into the bearing post from the femoral side. This involves a not inconsiderable weakening of the bearing body. Furthermore, particles that have been detached by abrasion can migrate through the bearing body in both directions, from the tibial side to the femoral side and the reverse.

Tibial component of a knee-joint endoprosthesis


The present invention relates to a system and method for creating customized products using a product identification device. In some embodiments, the process involves receiving an aggregate order for yearbooks, creating a master list associated with the aggregate order and including single orders, associating at least one number with each single order, manufacturing a first portion of a yearbook for each single order with a first identifier associated with that portion and also being associated with the at least one number, manufacturing a second portion of the yearbook for the single order with a second identifier associated with that portion and also being associated with the at least one number, and combining the first portion with the second portion.

Consumer products are being offered with common and customized portions. A challenge with manufacturing such products is associating the correct customized portions with corresponding common portions. For example, in yearbooks, a large portion of the yearbook is common to a school with students or parents being offered the opportunity to incorporate customized pages, a customized cover, and other customized elements to create a customized yearbook. In manufacturing such customized yearbook, the correct customized elements should be associated with the correct common yearbook.

System and method for creating customized products


The present invention relates to pivoted tools such as scissors, pliers, pruners, and the like. More particularly, this invention is concerned with tools having a force applying end with formed handles, and opposed working ends disposed across a pivotable joint. In these tools, the pivotable joint, which is formed concurrently with the handles, is an integral part of one of the handles.

Pivoted implements having elongated members disposed for cooperative engagement about a pivotable joint are widely used by those desiring to transmit a force through the pivotable joint to a working piece engaged by the working surfaces of the implement. In particular, pivoted tools such as scissors generally comprise two elongated members, typically made of stamped or forged metal or other suitable material, disposed for cooperative engagement about a pivotable joint. To facilitate operation of the implement by the user, handles conforming to the fingers or hands of the user are preferably molded onto the force applying end of each elongated member, or in the case of anvil-type implements, the entire elongated member is typically made of molded material.
Conventional molding operations used to form the handles onto the force applying ends consist of positioning one elongated member in a suitable space in a die casting mold wherein the member is fixed in position with respect to the mold. A pin or the like going through the pivot point aperture in the member secures the member with respect to the mold. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,122 to one of the present inventors, the space receiving the elongated member communicates with a mold cavity for the handle portion. The cavity is subsequently filled with a fluid plastic material or the like, whereby the plastic material partially surrounds the force applying end (also called tang portion) of the elongated member so that the handle is molded onto the tang. The same operation is separately repeated to form the handle on the other elongated member. The final step in the manufacturing of scissors or other pivotable tools as described above, whether elongated members of such items have earlier been provided with molded handles, consists of bringing the apertures of the two elongated members into registration and installing the pivot member to maintain the elongated members in cooperative assembled relationship about the pivotable joint.
On the other hand, die cast articulated tools produced by the intercasting technique, such as for example those manufactured in accordance with the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,524 to Hannes et al., require several casting and adjusting operations. In particular, although the intercasting method eliminates the need to later insert a separate pivot member and screw, in such tools a pivot pin which is integrally formed with a first cast elongated member serves as a mold for the subsequent casting of the other member and pivot connection. Accordingly, more than one casting operation is required. As also disclosed in Hannes, the second casting operation is preferably followed by an appropriate adjustment of the pivot to reduce binding.
From the foregoing, it can be readily recognized that prior art methods used to manufacture pivoted tools having elongated members, such as scissors or the like, have certain disadvantages. These prior art methods typically require assembling two members which have previously been separately manufactured, or sequentially casting two members of different configuration, thereby increasing material handling requirements which generally translate into higher unit cost. Thus, it appears desirable to provide pivoted tools such as scissors or the like which can alleviate the problems associated with conventional manufacturing methods, i.e., which are engineered to lend themselves to functional assembling during, as opposed to subsequent to, the manufacturing process, or which otherwise reduce the number of operations required to manufacture these pivoted tools.

Pivoted tool having integral pivot member and method of producing same


A transformer assembly in which an isolation transformer and two additional inductor elements of a series/parallel resonant converter are physically integrated in a cost and space-efficient design. The transformer and two inductors are integrated through the simultaneous control of the leakage inductance and the magnetizing inductance of the assembly. The primary and secondary windings of the transformer are wound in a prescribed manner on a closed-path ferromagnetic core, the magnetizing inductance of the unit being determined by the desired inductance of second inductor, and the leakage inductance of the unit being determined by the inductance of the first inductor, which predominates the total series inductance of the tank circuit. The desired magnetizing inductance is achieved by controlling an air gap disposed in the magnetic flux path of the core, while the desired leakage inductance is achieved by winding a certain portion of the secondary turns on a loosely coupled leg of the core. A non-magnetic housing and spring clamp hold the assembly and maintain the air gap constant.

A transformer-coupled resonant converter can be generally defined as a converter in which a DC or rectified AC source is switched at a controllable frequency across the series and/or parallel combination of two or more reactive elements (a tank circuit) and in which the tank current is coupled to a load circuit through an isolation transformer. The simplest of resonant converter topologies is a two-element series converter in which the tank circuit comprises the series combination of a capacitor and an inductor. Additionally, a second inductor may be advantageously connected in parallel with the primary winding of the isolation transformer to provide boost capability--that is, allowing the converter to produce an output voltage higher than its input voltage.
Physical mechanization and packaging of the above-described converter circuits present a significant challenge, particularly when cost and package size are to be minimized. In a converter incorporating the above-described elements, for example, the circuit layout must accommodate an isolation transformer and two additional inductors. Clearly, a design the minimizes package size and cost is desired.

Series resonant converter transformer assembly having integral inductor tank elements


A current transformer assembly has an annular transformer encompassing a busbar where it projects through the wall of equipment. The assembly has an electrically-insulative housing bolted to the equipment wall. The housing has a rear wall with an aperture through which the busbar extends, the transformer being located in a recess between the rear wall of the housing and the front of the equipment wall. The housing is open on its front and has a removable cover plate. The busbar is bolted to the upper surface of a plinth in the housing, which also supports the end of a cable entering through the front wall and bolted to the busbar.

This invention relates to current transformer assemblies.
Current transformers are often used to monitor current flow in a circuit, such as to detect excessive power consumption and provide a warning signal or disconnect power supply. Current transformers take the form of a toroid having a number of turns of a wire. The central aperture of the transformer is threaded onto the current-carrying conductor and the output current is taken from flying leads attached to the toroid winding. This can create a problem because it is necessary to break the current-carrying conductor when the transformer needs to be replaced.

Smiths Industries Public Limited Company