A launch monitor system including a support structure, a first light-reflecting element disposed on this support structure, a lighting unit and an camera unit. A computer receives signals generated by light patterns received by the camera unit and computes a variety of flight characteristics for the object. The system may be moved back and forth to vary the field-of-view of the camera unit. The system also computes and displays object trajectories from the computed flight characteristics which account for the characteristics of the object and the atmospheric conditions.

Apparatus for measuring golf ball flight characteristics are known (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,063,259; 4,375,887; 4,158,853; and 4,136,387). Techniques of detecting golf club head position and golf ball position shortly after impact using photoelectric means to trigger a flash to permit a photograph to be taken of the club head have been disclosed (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,063,259 and 4,375,887). Golf ball or golf club head movement has been determined by placing reflective areas on a golf ball along with use of electro-optical sensors (U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,387). The electro-optical sensing of light sources on both the golfer""s body and club has also been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,566). In addition, apparatus for monitoring a golfer and the golf club being swung has also been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,566).
One particularly troublesome aspect of past systems for measuring golf ball flight characteristics relates to their lack of portability. In this regard, prior systems have generally required cameras, sensors and strobe lights set up in various positions about the golfer. In addition, past systems have not had the ability to be utilized outdoors but have had to be set up indoors under less than ideal or realistic golfing conditions. As prior golf ball and/or golf club monitoring systems have not been portable and have not been capable of practical use outdoors, the systems have not been usable in the most desirable teaching or club fitting locations, e.g., on an outdoor driving range. Also, while the systems disclosed in the related applications and patents mentioned above, which are incorporated herein by reference) are portable and are capable of use outdoors, further improvements related to increased portability would be desirable to allow easier transportation of the unit between sites and easier movement of the unit at any particular site.
One additional area that has not been adequately addressed by past golf ball launch monitoring systems relates to the area of predicting flight path differences based on different physical characteristics of golf balls and/or different atmospheric conditions that a golfer may encounter after being tested by the launch monitor system. It would therefore be desirable to provide a system which measures the launch or flight characteristics of a golf ball having a particular construction, such as a two-piece construction and under ideal atmospheric conditions and then provide the golfer with revised golf ball flight results based on computer predictions for golf balls having different physical characteristics (such as a three-piece golf ball) and different atmospheric conditions (such as higher elevations, higher humidity or more adverse wind conditions).
Broadly, the present invention comprises method and apparatus for measuring the speed, direction, and orientation of a golf ball and from such data computing the flight path of the golf ball.
It is a feature that the method and apparatus particularly apply to golf equipment and that the present invention provides a golfer with data relating to the variables of his swing useful in improving the swing and in selecting advantageous equipment for use, including the types of golf balls.
In particular, the present invention contemplates a launch monitor system for measuring launch characteristics of a golf ball from data taken when the golf ball is in a predetermined field-of-view. The system preferably includes a support structure, which is a single, portable support structure, light-reflecting elements disposed on the support structure, a lighting unit, and camera units. The lighting unit includes a light source directed at the light-reflecting elements for reflecting light into the predetermined field-of-view, and the electro-optical units, disposed on the support structure in proximity to the light-reflecting elements, are directed toward the predetermined field-of-view. The light-reflecting elements include an aperture and the camera units are disposed to monitor the predetermined field-of-view through the aperture.
This allows, for example, the system to be used outdoors in a grassy area and for the hitting area to be slightly varied to move the player away from divots, etc. The support elements may include slide pads, wheels, or combinations of both. The support elements may be height-adjustable to vary the orientation and direction of view of the system and, specifically, the camera units. As an additional aspect of the invention, a distance calibrator is provided for calibrating the distance between the camera unit or units and the predetermined field-of-view.
It is an object of the system to measure launch characteristics of an object after it is struck by a striking instrument.
It is a further object of the invention to provide computing means to calculate the trajectory of the object from the launch characteristics and information on the environmental conditions and the object""s characteristics and to generate statistics on these object trajectories.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a control means to manage the tasks performed by the system including camera activation, shutter control, image capture, calculation of launch characteristics, calculation of object trajectories, and generation of object trajectory statistics.

Method and apparatus to determine golf ball trajectory and flight


An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) executes a program including a step of detecting a driver's preference potential Hdr, a step of calculating a target engine output Ptgt using Hdr when a deceleration request is detected, a step of calculating a target slippage tsl using Hdr, a step of calculating a target engine speed tne, a step of calculating a target ISC (Idle Speed Control) opening tidle from Ptgt and tne, a step of assigning a guard value to tidle when tidle is smaller than the guard value, a step of calculating a current engine output Pnow and a step of calculating a motor output (regeneration quantity) Phv from (Ptgt-Pnow).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device of a vehicle provided with a power train having an engine and an automatic transmission, and particularly to a control device of a vehicle that can achieve deceleration matching with a driver's preference.
2. Description of the Background Art
In generally, an automatic transmission connected to an engine of a vehicle is automatically controlled by determining a transmission gear ratio depending on an operation amount of an accelerator pedal by a driver and a vehicle speed. During ordinary driving, the gear ratio is increased with decrease in accelerator pedal operation amount or with increase in vehicle speed.
Therefore, during downhill driving or the like, a driver releases the accelerator pedal to decrease the accelerator pedal operation amount, and the gear ratio is controlled to increase so that the control is performed to decrease an engine braking effort of the vehicle. Thereby, the driver may feel unnecessary acceleration, and/or may operate a brake more times so that acceleration feeling requested by the driver cannot be achieved in some cases.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-095252 has disclosed a vehicle drive power control device that changes an engine braking force in response to a driver's manual operation even when automatic engine brake control is active during downhill driving. This control device controls a drive force of a vehicle provided with an engine and an automatic transmission connected to the engine, and operates as follows. When a throttle is fully closed, a target deceleration resistance that matches with a target deceleration corresponding to the vehicle speed is set depending on a transmission range selected in an automatic transmission, calculation is performed to obtain a running resistance externally applied to the vehicle and a target drive resistance of the vehicle to be added to the running resistance for obtaining a target deceleration resistance, calculation is performed to obtain a range or area that can generate a vehicle drive resistance depending on the gear ratio of the automatic transmission, the gear ratio of the automatic transmission is controlled to keep the target drive resistance in the range that can generate the drive resistance, and a negative output of the engine is controlled to generate the target drive resistance with the controlled gear ratio.
According to this vehicle drive power control device, when the throttle is fully closed, the target deceleration resistance (=(vehicle mass)×(target deceleration)) that matches with the target deceleration corresponding to the vehicle speed is set depending on the transmission range selected in the automatic transmission. Also, the calculation is performed to obtain the running resistance that is externally applied to the vehicle and includes a gradient resistance, an air resistance and/or a rolling resistance, and the target drive resistance of the vehicle to be added to the running resistance is calculated to satisfy the target deceleration resistance. Although a relationship of ((target deceleration resistance)=(running resistance)+(target drive resistance)) is established, the running resistance takes a negative value (assuming that the deceleration direction is positive) when a descent gradient is large so that the target drive resistance becomes larger in absolute value than the target deceleration resistance by the magnitude of the running resistance. The vehicle drive resistance changes within a predetermined range between the maximum and minimum values under control of the negative output of the engine, and this predetermined range changes according to the gear ratio of the automatic transmission. Therefore, calculation is performed to obtain a range that can generate the vehicle drive resistance corresponding to the gear ratio of the automatic transmission, and the gear ratio of the automatic transmission is controlled such that the target drive resistance thus calculated may enter the range allowing generation of the vehicle drive resistance. As described above, the gear ratio is controlled to keep the target drive resistance within the range that can generate the vehicle drive resistance as described, and further the negative output of the engine is controlled to provide the drive resistance of the vehicle matching with the target drive resistance. Thereby, the target drive resistance is obtained, and the vehicle is decelerated with the target deceleration. When a driver changes a transmission range of the automatic transmission with an operation lever or the like, a new target deceleration resistance is set, and thereby the drive resistance of the vehicle is controlled to change according to the change in target drive resistance. Therefore, the engine braking force can reliably change in such an expected manner that the engine braking force changes according to the transmission range selection of the driver.
Although a vehicle drive force control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-095252 can achieve the target drive resistance, there is doubt about whether the achieved target drive resistance matches with the deceleration requested by the driver or not. More specifically, there is a technique that a driver's preference (sporty preference allowing rapid acceleration/deceleration and a large lateral G (Gravity), or a comfort preference for enjoying gentle driving) is estimated or is set by the driver to achieve the vehicle's behavior matching with the driver's preference. Since such driver's preference is not reflected in the calculation of the target drive resistance, the vehicle drive force control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-095252 does not reflect the driver's preference. Consequently, the driver's preference is not reflected in the deceleration operation, and the driver feels the deceleration caused by unexpected engine braking.


Provided is an electronic component box for a vehicle. The electronic component box for a vehicle, the electronic component box including a housing formed of a plastic material and manufactured through plastic injection molding, the housing having an opened top surface, a top cover formed of a plastic material and manufactured through the plastic injection molding, the top cover covering the opened top surface of the housing, a base cover seated on a bottom surface of the housing, an electronic component set seated on a top surface of the base cover, and an inner cover accommodated within the housing, the inner cover covering the electronic component set to shield an electromagnetic wave emitted from the electronic component set.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic component box for vehicles.
Recently, technologies with respect to electric vehicles driven by using electricity that is green energy are being rapidly developed. Most of electric vehicles include a motor generating torque, a battery supplying a power to the motor, an inverter controlling the number of revolution of the motor, a battery charger charging electricity into the battery, and a low voltage DC/DC converter for vehicles.
The electronic components generate a large amount of heat and a lot of electromagnetic waves or noises that have an influence on operations of other electronic components during the operation thereof. To solve the above-described limitations, the electronic compounds are accommodated within an electronic compound box that has an air cooling type or water cooling type heat-dissipation structure and a shield function shielding EMI electromagnetic waves to satisfy electro magnetic compatibility (EMC).
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic component box for a vehicle according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic component box 1 for a vehicle according to the related art includes a bottom cover 2 having a cooling passage in a top surface thereof, a housing 3 fixed to the top surface of the bottom cover 2 to accommodate all sorts of electronic components therein, a top cover 4 covering an opened top surface of the housing, an upper sealer 6 disposed between contact portions of the top cover 4 and the housing 3 to perform a sealing function, and a lower sealer 5 disposed between contact portions of the bottom cover 2 and the housing 3 to perform a sealing function.
The above-described electronic component box according to the related art adopts a water cooling type heat-dissipation method. Here, a cooling passage through which coolant flows is defined in an outer bottom surface of the housing 3 by the bottom cover 2.
Also, the housing 3 and top cover 4 is formed of a steel plate cold commercial (SPCC) or aluminum steel to shield the electromagnetic waves to improve cooling efficient and EMS stability.
However, in the case of the electronic component box product according to the related art, since the housing shielding the electronic components are formed of metallic materials including iron or aluminum to increase a weight of the electronic component box and reduce fabricating price competitiveness. Furthermore, when the electronic component box is increased in weight, a self-weight of the vehicle is increased to increase an electrical energy consumption.


A mapping processor is configured to receive a current PAT from the input data stream, and to compare input program numbers in the current PAT to known program numbers in the stored format table. If the input program numbers in the current PAT are the same as the input program numbers in the stored format table, then another data stream is output having output program numbers from the stored format table. If the input program numbers in the current PAT are not the same as the input program numbers in the stored format table, then another data stream is output having reassigned output program numbers. The reassigned output program numbers may be from another stored format table in the memory, if the other stored format table has input program numbers that match the input program numbers in the current PAT. If not the reassigned output program numbers may be newly generated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of content data distribution networks, especially broadcast of digital audio and video data. The invention automates the remapping of transport streams received in a first format into a second format, as is executed at a cable TV system head end. In particular, the invention relates to automated accomodation of transmittal format changes, including mapping changes.
2. Related Art
For digital video, audio and data content, most distribution systems commonly work according to common familiar concepts. Multiple content data streams are divided into packets, multiplexed, transmitted, demultiplexed and routed for use to various end user displays. The MPEG2 protocols are illustrative of the class, and characteristic of the embodiments discussed herein. Other protocols such as MPEG1 or DSS are alike in function although they vary in detail.
The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) is the expert group of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that has defined the MPEG-2 standard (ISO/IEC 13818), which is incorporated by reference herein. This MPEG-2 standard protocol defines one protocol that can be used to encode, multiplex, transmit and de-multiplex and decode video, audio and data bitstreams.
Video compression is an important part of the MPEG standards. Additionally, MPEG-2 includes a family of standards involving different aspects of digital video and audio transmission and representation. The general MPEG-2 standard is currently divided into eight parts, including systems, video, audio, compliance, software simulation, digital storage media, real-time interface for system decoders, and DSM reference script format.
The video portion of the MPEG-2 standard (ISO/IEC 13818-2) sets forth the manner in which pictures and frames are defined, how video data is compressed, various syntax elements, the video decoding process, and other information related to the format of a coded video bitstream. The audio portion of the MPEG-2 standard (ISO/IEC 13818-3) similarly describes the audio compression and coding techniques utilized in MPEG-2. The video and audio portions of the MPEG-2 standard therefore define the protocol with which audio or video information is represented.
At some point, the video, audio, and other digital information must be multiplexed together to provide encoded bitstreams for delivery to the target destination. The Systems portion of the MPEG-2 standard (ISO/IEC 13818-1) defines how these bitstreams are synchronized and multiplexed together. It does not specify the encoding method. Instead, it defines only the resulting bit stream. Typically, video and audio data are encoded at respective video and audio encoders, and the resulting encoded video and audio data is input to an MPEG-2 Systems encoder/multiplexer. This Systems multiplexer can also receive other inputs, including control and management information such as authorization identifiers, private data bitstreams, and time stamp information. The resulting coded, multiplexed signal is referred to as the MPEG-2 transport stream. Generally, a data transport stream is also the format in which digital information is delivered via a network to a receiver for display.
The video and audio encoders provide encoded information to the Systems multiplexer in the form of an "elementary stream". These elementary streams are "packetized" into packetized elementary streams which are comprised of many packets. Each packet includes a packet payload corresponding to the content data to be sent within the packet, and a packet header that includes information relating to the type, size, and other characteristics of the packet payload.
Elementary stream packets from the video and audio encoders are mapped into transport stream packets at the Systems encoder/multiplexor. The transport packets differ from the elementary stream packets in that transport stream packets are a uniform size; 188 bytes. Each transport stream packet includes a payload portion which corresponds to a portion of the elementary packet stream, and further includes a transport stream packet header. The transport stream packet header provides information used to transport and deliver the information stream, as compared to the elementary stream packet headers that provide information directly related to the elementary stream.
Each transport packet header includes a packet identifier (PID) to identify the elementary stream to which the packet belongs. The PID is a 13-bit field that identifies the transport packet, and defines the type of payload in the transport packet payload.
Each transport stream typically transports multiple programs for display. Programs are comprised of the coordinated display of a video elementary bitstream of data, one or two audio steams of data, and sometimes a data stream for closed captioning, weather, stock or other information. The transport stream is a multiplex containing each of these different packetized elementary streams for each of the plurality of programs being transported. A typical MPEG2 transport stream carries on the order of 250 elementary streams, which may correspond to approximately 100 programs.
When the various packetized streams are de-multiplexed, the elementary stream packets must be organized so that all packets corresponding to a common program are output as coherent content. Tables are used to do this. The tables are sent as separate packets in the transport stream. They have their own PIDs that are different than the content data PIDs. They are called Program Association Tables and Program Map Tables.
A program of content data may be, for example, movies aired by HBO, news aired by NBC, or a sporting event aired on pay-per-view. Usually, each program is a synchronized composite of a video elementary stream and two audio elementary streams. Each elementary stream is identified with a unique PID. All the packets in that elementary stream contain the same PID in their headers. Separately, each program is assigned a number, which is referred to as a program number. A program numbers are allotted a 16 bit field in the program association section of an MPEG2 transport stream, see ISO/IEC 31818-1; § 126.96.36.199. Although this enables as many as 8,000 different program numbers, in practice, for reasons both technical and human, often just numbers between 1 and 500 are used by content providers to designate programs. Although program numbers may be made to correspond to a "channel" number seen by an end user on her television, usually the programs numbers are arbitrary. Significantly, program numbers can be and often are changed. The changes are also often arbitrary and frequently unannounced, as will be discussed below.
Program Association Tables assign the proper elementary streams to the programs they represent. The Program Association Table (PAT) is a simple two column table listing the program numbers and next to each a PID for a Program Map Table (PMT) that is unique to that program. Program Association Tables are transmitted periodically in the transport stream for access by de-coders. Program Association Tables are always PID 0, and they are one of the first items referenced by a decoder when it powers up. The decoder uses the PAT to look up a PID for the PMT of the program that has been selected by a viewer. The decoder isolates that PID in the transport stream and reads the PMT from the data payload portion of the packet. Within each Program Map Table is the listing of the PIDs of the elementary streams that together comprise that program. The decoder then isolates the packets identified by the proper PIDs and routes them to a TV for display.
For example, if ABC programming has been assigned program number 22, "Survivor" and "Monday Night Football" will be transmitted under that number in the Program Association Table. The Program Association Table will list the PID of the Program Map Table that is unique to that programming. Within that Program Map Table will be listed the video elementary stream 101 (for example), audio stream 151 and audio stream 152 and, perhaps, data stream 73 for closed captioning. As the transport stream continues to be received, packets with those PIDs are routed for display, until a viewer selects a different program.
The Data Transport Stream
FIGS. 1 through 5 illustrate the make up of an MPEG data transport stream. FIG. 1 graphically depicts one transport packet. It is divided into a 4 byte header and a 184 byte payload. The payload is depicted as a variable amount of data bytes and a variable amount of adaptation bytes called "stuffing" bytes, which are more fully described below.
The header carries information necessary for proper reading and routing of the payload data. Among this information, whose nature and purpose are known, is the PID, or packet identifier. Each part of the header is routinely isolated and routed from the transport stream for processing at various stages of the data distribution. Insofar as is relevant to the present invention, PIDs are acted upon at a low, routine level by packet processors.
PATs and PMTs are carried as payloads. They are found, isolated and routed according to their PIDs. PATs are always PID 0. PMT PIDs are assigned in the PATs.
FIG. 2 illustrates relevant portions of the MPEG syntax for a PAT. FIG. 4 is a detail of a packet payload comprising a PAT. The PAT is transmitted in up to 256 sections. This information from these sections is combined to crate the whole PAT. Each section has the structure shown in FIG. 4. The table id is a value of 00H, which indicates that this is a PAT section. The CRC32 field is a checksum which shows whether there is an error in the section. The useful PAT information is contained in the N loop area. This is a series of repeated fields which recites the PNs and their PIDs. As can be seen, a 16 bit field is used to assign a program number. The PAT further associates the assigned program number with a PMT by assigning a PID for the packet containing the PMT.
FIG. 3 illustrates relevant portions of the MPEG syntax for a PMT. FIG. 5 is a detail of a packet payload comprising a PMT. As can be seen, another 16 bit field is used to record the program number associated with the particular PMT. The PMT further assigns PIDs of the elementary streams comprising the programming for the associated program number, the elementary stream PIDs being in another 13 bit field. The table id has a value of 02H, which indicates that it is a PMT. The N-loop-descriptors area which follows program-info-length, contains various optional technical information about the program. The N-loop area contains a repeated group of fields, each of which gives the PID of an Elementary Stream (ES) of the Program. The PMT identifies the type and PID number of each ES for the program.
Looking at the entry detail shown for one elementary stream, we find an 8-bit field for stream type. For example, a value of 01H indicates video, while 04H indicates audio encoded according to ISO 13818-3 compression. The 13-bit PID locates the elementary stream data. The 12-bit elementary stream-info-length field gives us the total length of the following N-loop-descriptors. These descriptors give various optional technical information about the elementary system. The data for a single program number is not usually allowed to span multiple sections.
Like any digital data, MPEG transport streams may be modulated for transmission in a wide variety of means. Quadratic Amplitude Modulation is common. RF carrier frequencies over the air and/or through cables are used. The transport modes used include satellite transmission, traditional over the air broadcasting by land antennas, cable or fiber optic networks or the Internet. A variety of programming content data providers send content data including satellite transmission distributors and traditional over the air broadcasters.
Satellite transmission RF carrier frequencies are allocated in channels with a preconfigured capacity or bandwidth. A standard channel bandwidth is 19.3 Mb/s, which transmits one MPEG transport stream. Any given satellite may transmit on the order of 30 channels and transport streams.
Cable systems, usually limited to distribution in a certain geographic portion of a metropolitan area, typically use an output RF carrier with a capacity of 38.8 Mb/s or 26.97 Mb/s, depending on whether it uses 256 QAM or 64 QAM. Multiple outputs are common. What is output over these cable systems is also an MPEG transport stream.
The hardware at cable system head ends is typically capable of and configured to receive transport streams from multiple sources simultaneously. These would likely include satellite transmission input, over the air broadcasting and perhaps Internet or other network inputs. They may be input as Asynchronous Serial Interfaces or not. Each cable system requires control of the designation of program numbers for the programming that it distributes in its output transport streams.
There is no coordination of program number designations among the various providers of content data transport streams. Received program numbers usually do not match program numbers assigned by cable systems, and often conflict with the program numbers of other providers as well. This requires at least a check and most often a reconfiguration of the program numbers received by a cable system head end before retransmission over the cable system. This process is called mapping or re-mapping. It involves checking the Program Association Tables in the input transport streams and changing those PATs and their associated PMTs for the output streams. This has heretofor been a manual task, executed by a human operator.
Even more problematic is the fact that individual providers of content data often change their transmission formatting. For a variety of reasons, coordination between providers and cable systems has been historically poor with regard to scheduling or even notice of provider formatting changes. The operators of cable system head ends must remap program numbers due to provider format changes on a regular basis, often with little or no notice. The consequence of tardy remapping is the disappearance of certain programming from view, until the necessary remapping is done.
Provider format changes are made according to provider decisions about what programming to provide at what times, and also about how best to fit that programming in the bandwidth available to them. The situation is best illustrated in light of recently available High Definition (HD) television data streams. Such elementary streams may consume most or all of a transport stream and channel's bandwidth. A single provider may change from filling a particular 19.3 Mb/s channel with one 18 Mb/s HD stream, to truncating the HD signal to 12 Mb/s and adding a Standard Definition (SD) data stream and a 1.5 Mb/s weather radar image, or change again to six SD data streams and no HD stream. This frequently happens in a single day. If these changes change the program numbers, or if the same streams keep their program numbers but arrive on different channels, again remapping must occur. Again, the consequence of tardy remapping is the disappearance of certain programming from view, until the necessary remapping is done.
There is a need in the art for automatic remapping that is rapidly responsive to such format changes, especially unannounced changes.
Two increasingly important technologies further exacerbate a need for automated and "intelligent" remapping. The first has been mentioned; multiple HD signals often will not fit in a single transport stream output onto the cable system. There is a need in the art for automatic remapping that accommodates HD TV. The second is statistical multiplexing.
Statistical multiplexing is a known technique that is particularly suited to MPEG transport stream multiplexing because it allows for transmission of elementary streams having varying data bitrates. In digital video in general and MPEG in particular, a series of video frames showing little or no movement requires a low overall data bit rate, because the pixels are not changing. A portion of video with a great deal of movement, such as a panning shot or action sequence for example, requires a great deal of data to be transmitted. Statistical multiplexing is a technique to accommodate this variability of data flow and still maintain the uniform overall data flow rate necessary for smooth transmission of all the multiplexed elementary streams through buffers and other hardware.
Statistical multiplexing uses known or calculated average bit rates and maximum bit rates to populate a transport stream with an appropriate number of elementary streams. Constant data flow is achieved by filling underutilized packets with fixed bytes called "stuffing bytes." Packets representing a relatively still video sequence contain less that the allotted 184 video data bytes. Therefore it is filled out with the stuffing bytes, which are ignored by receiving display hardware. When one program shows a large amount of movement, its elementary stream reaches a peak bit rate. The buffering hardware at a statistical multiplex uses buffer space that is available due to the deletion of stuffing bytes in other elementary streams, and thereby handles the peak data flow of the high demand stream.
When all the programming elementary streams reach peak rates at once, however, the available capacity may be overwhelmed and data may be lost or degraded. This is called "oversubscribing." Oversubscription response techniques include transfer of an elementary stream to another channel, and transcoding, which selectively deletes some data to maintain throughput of sufficient data.
Incoming transport streams have been managed by their providers to occupy a transport stream with an appropriate number of elementary streams to optimize bandwidth use while minimizing the risk of over subscription. Remapping at a cable system head end must likewise manage the statistical multiplexing of output transport streams. Routing too many high demand elementary streams onto the same transport stream should be avoided. This too is currently done manually. An automated remapper adapted for use with statistical multiplexing is also needed.

Automated transport stream apparatus and method


A spin column device, which contains a rigid porous filter that retains its shape during centrifugation, chromatography methods using the device to isolate a desired substance, e.g., a biological molecule, from other substances in a mixture, and kits containing the device with one or more reagents for use in the method.

Frequently in chemical, biological or materials assay procedures it is necessary to isolate or purify a desired substance/s from other substance/s. Column chromatography of various types are commonly used for such procedures. In particular, a simple form of chromatography, namely spin-column chromatography is frequently employed to enrich for analytes, to reduce or remove interferences or combinations of these purposes. Such spin-columns are of simple design and usually contain a separation media such as cross-linked dextrans or polyacrylamides, ion-exchange resins or silica gels of various types.
Generally, the spin-column devices are prepared by having the separation media suspended in a buffer or organic solvent within the spin-column. Before centrifugation the separation media has an essentially uniform distribution in the spin column and when viewed perpendicular to its surface has a circular cross section. Usually, the spin-column is pre-spun in a centrifuge, preferably equipped with a "swinging-bucket" rotor to keep the bulk mass of the separation media within the column from slanting and to maintain a uniform flow path for the suspension media and sample material that is parallel to the walls of the column. Following centrifugation in a "swinging bucket" rotor the separation media has an essentially uniform distribution in the spin column and when viewed perpendicular to its surface has a circular cross section. A fixed angle rotor is sometimes used, but the column media shifts and forms an angled surface. Following centrifugation in a "fixed angle" rotor the separation media has an uneven distribution in the spin column and when viewed perpendicular to its surface has an elliptical or ovoid cross section. Applied samples then flow at an angle through the separation media and not parallel to the column walls.
Regardless of the type of rotor used, the applied sample must preferably be loaded to the center of the media. Frequently, the spin-column is pre-spun to force the liquid suspending the separation media through the column to remove excess liquid from the spin-column and compact the separation media. The sample is then carefully loaded onto the top center of the separation media in the spin-column and the spin-column is centrifuged in a collection tube and the desired material is collected in the collection tube. When spin-columns have been pre-spun, care must be taken that the spin-column is in the identical orientation as it was during the pre-spin, otherwise the media and applied sample will be redistributed during centrifugation and the desired separation/filtration will be inadequate or compromised.
In some cases, the desired material is retained on the separation media within the spin-column and is subsequently eluted, sometimes after washes to remove undesired materials, with the desired material being displaced from the separation media within the spin-column by some alteration of conditions facilitating its release from the column separation media, and sometimes the desired material is not bound and interferences are bound to the separation media.
There are many examples of the use of spin-columns, for example to accomplish buffer exchange of proteins, such as antibodies, or to separate unincorporated radioactive nucleotides from polynucleotides which have incorporated the radiolabel, for example, following radioactive phosphorylation of DNA for use as probes from γ-32P-ATP. There are many other examples well known in the art and described in many manuals or web sites describing molecular biology, labeling or purification protocols or other techniques. See for example, CSH Protocols at Cold Spring Harbor Protocols Online or the Wikipedia location on the world wide web, entitled "Spin column-based nucleic acid purification," for a description of minicolumn DNA preparation.
Other useful guides are: Protein analysis and purification: benchtop techniques, by Ian M Rosenberg, Birkhäuser, Boston® 2005, 2nd ed pp 337-339, which describes use of spin columns to accomplish buffer exchange; Affinity Chromatography: Methods and Protocols, by Michael Zachariou, Springer, N.Y., 2007, pp. 156-157, which describes affinity purification from cell lysates using spin columns by centrifuge and by vacuum; Hoyt P R, Doktycz M J, Warmack R J, Allison D P., Spin-column isolation of DNA-protein interactions from complex protein mixtures for AFM imaging, Ultramicroscopy. 2001 January; 86(1-2):139-43; and Nickoloff J A, Sepharose spin column chromatography. A fast, nontoxic replacement for phenol:chloroform extraction/ethanol precipitation. Mol Biotechnol. 1994 February;1(1):105-8.
Often, to obtain proper separation, the spin-column devices must be centrifuged in a swinging bucket type of rotor to keep the media from slanting and distorting the separation process. When spun in a fixed angle rotor the separation media becomes distorted or becomes slanted and the applied sample material and liquids experience various separation path lengths or channeling through the column, with the sample material in the lower aspect of the slanted media experiencing a short separation path and the sample material at the high end of the slope experiencing longer separation paths. This behavior of the applied sample material is in conflict with good separation performance. Ideally, as is well known in chromatography theory and practice, the separation media should have similar effective separation paths across the diameter of the separation media and along the length or depth of the separation media; however, channeling or significant distortions of the separation path greatly compromises and significantly alters and adversely affects the performance of the separation process. There is therefore a need for more convenient, efficient and effective spin column devices that overcome the problems of channeling, special centrifuge rotors, centered sample loading, and single purpose utility of present spin column devices.

Devices and methods for the purification, isolation, desalting or buffer/solvent exchange of substances


Methods and systems input an energy consumption profile for each of a plurality of different sleep modes available for a device, and input a probability distribution of interjob times for the device. The methods and systems then compute the optimal time-out period for each sleep mode based on the energy consumption profile of each sleep mode and the probability distribution of interjob times. Further, such methods and systems monitor the usage of the device to determine the current interjob time, and switch between sleep modes to relatively lower power sleep modes as the current interjob time becomes larger.

Embodiments herein generally relate to using power saving sleep modes in devices and more particularly to methods and system for optimizing the use of such power saving modes.
The reduction of energy consumption is becoming a major issue in many areas. In addition to high quality solutions, customers are expecting "greener" products. This is particularly true for Managed Print Services contracts where the goal is to minimize the energy consumption of fleets of printers, but also for other types of devices such as air conditioning systems for facilities or ticketing devices for public transportation.
In view of this, manufacturers of devices, such as printing devices, are making greater use of power-saving modes to allow their devices to consume less power. Power savings modes are reduced-power modes that use less power than ready modes; however, in power saving mode, most device functions are not available. When entering power-saving modes, most devices disconnect the power being supplied to all but a few devices needed to recover from the power saving mode.
For example, an "active mode" (sometimes referred to as an operational mode) can be defined as the mode in which the device, while connected to a power source, is producing useful work. To clarify, the low end or minimum power draw of active mode is idle. The high end of active mode would be the maximum power draw capable by the device. The "idle state" (sometimes referred to as a ready mode, idle mode, standby mode, etc.) is the state in which the operating system is operational and warmed-up, the machine is not asleep, and activity is limited to those basic functions that the device starts by default. Idle state is considered a subset of the active mode. A "sleep mode" (sometimes referred to as a reduced-power mode) is a lower power state that a device enters automatically after a period of inactivity or by manual selection. A device with sleep capability can quickly "wake" in response to inputs. Devices may have more than one sleep mode. The lowest power consumption mode which cannot be switched off (influenced) by the user and that may persist for an indefinite time when the device is connected to the main electricity supply and used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions is an "off mode."
Thus, power saving sleep modes only supply power to a few device elements to save power, yet allow the device to return to full operational mode (active mode) more quickly when compared to the time needed to reach full operational mode from a full off condition (where substantially all systems are disconnected from the power supply). The active power mode is one that provides the fastest operation, provides availability of all features, and consumes the most power. Different power saving modes consume different amounts of power, but all power saving modes consume less than the active mode, which consumes the most power. Such power saving sleep modes are begun when the device has not received any input from users or other devices within a specific time period (referred to commonly as a "time-out" period). Such sleep modes generally start a routine that saves certain information in the storage device, selects which items will be disconnected from the power supply, resets various flags, etc., and then disconnects the power supply from selected elements of the device that will not be powered during the sleep mode.

Multi-mode device power-saving optimization


A memory circuit that generates a positive temperature correlated clock frequency is described. One embodiment includes a voltage reference having a voltage determined at least in part by a diode or transistor having a negative temperature coefficient. A clock generator generates a clock having a frequency that is based at least in part on the voltage reference voltage so that the clock frequency has a positive temperature correlation. A memory charge pump is enabled at least in part by the clock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to clocking circuits, and in particular, to methods and apparatus for a refresh clock generator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flash Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (flash memory or Flash EEPROM memory) is a nonvolatile memory including EEPROM cells, wherein an EEPROM cell retains a programmed value, such as a logical one or a logical zero, even when power is removed from the circuitry. Flash memory conventionally utilizes a floating gate MOS field effect transistor having a drain region, a source region, a floating gate, and a control gate. Conductors are respectively connected to the drain, source, and control gate for applying signals to the transistor.
A standby charge pump is conventionally utilized to generate a wordline voltage for a read operation. The sustained capacitance can be made up from gates, junctions and wells. However, the capacitance charge tends to leak over time, such as when in a power down or stand by mode. For example, the reverse bias junction diode and well have leakage current, where the leakage current is temperature dependent. At times it may be necessary to periodically re-fill the sustaining capacitor for the leaked charge after a period of time or when coming out of a power down or stand by mode, wherein the timing can be set by a refresh clock generator.
Because of the leakage, and resulting low wordline voltage, conventionally the first read after coming out of a power-down or standby mode may disadvantageously fail. While there have been attempts to compensate for such temperature dependencies in leakage current using a variety of circuits, these compensating circuits often rely on a resistor having a negative temperature coefficient that forms the resistor portion of an RC (resistor-capacitor) circuit used in a clocked circuit to control the clock period. However, it is difficult to fabricate a resistor from polysilicon having the desired large and controllable negative temperature coefficient using many common processes, and so such a compensation circuit may not be practical to implement for many applications.

Temperature compensated refresh clock circuit for memory circuits


A method for controlling a portable device including first and second display units at opposing surfaces of the portable device. The method includes detecting one of a first unlock command for switching a state of the first display unit to an active state and maintaining a state of the second display unit in a locked state or a second unlock command for switching the state of the first display unit to the active state and switching the state of the second display unit to a ready-to-activate state; switching the state of the first display unit to the active state and switching the state of the second display unit to the ready-to-activate state when the second unlock command is detected; detecting an unlock trigger for switching the second display unit, which is in the ready-to-activate state, to the active state; and switching the second display unit, which is in the ready-to-activate state, to the active state according to the detected unlock trigger.

As the use of portable devices has increased, users can now use various services such as web surfing and electronic financial transactions as well as communication between individuals and music listening using portable devices. Services, which have been provided through computers, are now also provided through portable devices to allow users to use such services regardless of time and place.
However, since the portable device provides a limited-size display in order to increase portability, there is inconvenience in using various services. Thus, a double-sided-display portable device includes a display unit at the front side and a display unit at the rear side to increase user convenience compared to the conventional portable device. Since the double-sided-display portable device includes two display units, there is a need to provide a method for unlocking a plurality of display units.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Portable device and method for controlling the same


Access to remotely located components for developing programs is provided with an interface that is launched from directly within an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The interface is configured to access one or more desired component repositories through a web service. A programmer can use the interface to query the component repositories for one or more desired components. The interface can also provide additional information that is known about the identified components, as obtained from the web service hosting the component repositories. Once the one or more desired components are identified, the interface can also be used to download and install the components directly into the component toolboxes of the IDE for immediate use. The components may include various files that are contained in a modified dynamic loadable library (DLL) file format or another format that allows the files to be authenticated.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general field of computing systems and, more particularly, to the development of integrated development environments utilized by computing systems and, even more particularly, to accessing components for use by the integrated development environments.
2. Background and Relevant Art
There are many different types of systems and environments that can be used by a computer programmer to develop code and create computer programs. These systems and environments are collectively referred to herein as Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). IDEs typically include graphical interfaces comprising toolboxes of components for developing code. Non-limiting examples of programming components include controls, IDE extensions and plugins.
A RAD (Rapid Application Development) system, for example, provides visual tools that can be selected by a programmer to build programs very quickly, without having to author every line of code. Non-limiting examples of RAD systems include Visual Basic, Delphi, Eclipse, Dreamweaver and Netbeans. RAD systems historically emphasized the programming speed at which code could be developed at the expense of generating efficient code. However, they can now be used to produce code quickly and without compromising the efficiency of the code.
Other traditional programming environments have also made improvements that enable them to utilize many of the visual tools and graphical interfaces that were previously available only in a RAD system. Accordingly, the line between RAD systems and non-RAD systems is somewhat blurred. Accordingly, embodiments within the scope of the present application extend broadly to any IDE that can be utilized to develop code with the use of IDE type components.
As mentioned above, an IDE typically includes toolboxes of components that can be used to develop code. However, the toolboxes that are provided with an IDE do not always include all of the components that a programmer wishes to use. Accordingly, some programmers have found it useful to develop customized components that can be used to enhance the IDE in which they are programming. ASP.NET, by Microsoft, Inc., for example allows third party developers to create new and interesting components that can be integrated into an IDE to program code.
If a programmer desires to utilize a component that does not currently exist within an IDE, the programmer can independently create or locate the desired component and install it. This, however, may not be very efficient. In particular, there is no convenient way to search for, compare, or share newly created components. Accordingly, the programmer may be unaware that the desired component already exists and may unknowingly recreate the desired Z>component, thereby 'reinventing the wheel'.
Even when the programmer knows that the desired component exists, it can still be difficult to track down and integrate the component into the IDE. In particular, even when the programmer knows exactly where the desired component resides, existing development environments do not enable the programmer to access the desired component directly from within the IDE. Rather, the programmer must utilize other applications to access the desired component for installation into the IDE.

Integrated development environment access to remotely located components


A communication terminal under the control of a wireless base station recursively has wireless base station capabilities in a parent network, constructs a daughter network within a scope of resources of the apparatus assigned by the wireless base station, and assigns the resources to an other communication terminal under the control of the communication terminal having base station capabilities. This constitution allows to configure two or more networks guaranteed not to interfere each other, thereby allowing the coexistence of a plurality of personal area networks on the same frequency channel. At the same time, the constitution allows expanding a network area without increasing the scale of equipment.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a wireless communication system, a wireless communication control apparatus and a wireless communication control method, and a computer program which realize mutual communication between a plurality of wireless stations and, more particularly, to a wireless communication system, a wireless communication control apparatus and a wireless communication control method, and a computer program which realize the construction of a network under the control of a particular control station.
To be more specific, the present invention relates generally to a wireless communication system in which a plurality of wireless networks exist at the same time, a wireless communication control apparatus and a wireless communication control method for controlling the communication operation in each of a plurality of contending wireless networks, and a computer program. Still more specific, the present invention relates to a wireless communication system in which a plurality of wireless networks contending with each other at a same frequency band exist at the same time, a wireless communication control apparatus and a wireless communication control method for controlling the communication operation in each of a plurality of wireless networks contending with each other at a same frequency band, and a computer program. (It should be noted that the "same frequency band" referred to herein includes UWB (Ultra Wide Band) wireless communications technology by which data are transferred as spread over ultra wide band.)
2. Background Art
Configuring a LAN (Local Area Network) by interconnecting a plurality of computers allows the sharing of information such as files and data, the sharing of peripheral devices such as printers, and the exchanging of information such as electronic mail and content data.
Conventionally, it is a general practice to perform LAN connections in a wired manner based on optical fibers, coaxial cables, or twisted-pair cables. This requires line laying work, making it difficult to construct networks with ease and making cable wiring complicated. After the construction of a LAN, the moving range of apparatuses is limited by the cable lengths, thereby making it inconvenient to use the constructed system. To free the users from the conventional wired LAN systems, wireless LANs have been attracting attention of those who are concerned. According to wireless LANs, most of, the cables laid in offices and other work spaces can be left out, thereby making it comparatively easy to move communication terminals personal computers (PCs).
Recently, because of their enhanced transmission speeds and reduced costs, wireless LAN systems have been increasingly in high demand. Especially, it is a recent trend that the communication of information is performed by constructing small-scale wireless networks among plural personal electronic devices, so that researches are being made into the introduction of a personal area network (PAN). For example, PAN specifies different wireless combination systems based on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, which do not require the license from authorities concerned.
For example, the IEEE 802.15.3 standardizes personal area networks having transfer rates higher than 20 Mbps. This IEEE section is mainly promoting the standardization based on the PHY layer mainly using signals of 2.4 GHz band.
In these wireless personal networks, one wireless communication apparatus operates as a control station called a "coordinator" around which a personal area network is constructed within a range of about 10 meters. The coordinator transmits a beacon signal at a predetermined period and this beacon period is specified as a transmission frame period. At every transmission frame period, the time slots to be used by the wireless communication apparatuses of the wireless personal network are assigned.
For the time slot assigning, methods called "guaranteed time slot (GTS)" and "dynamic TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)" for example are used in which a communication method is assumed for dynamically assigning transmission time slots while guaranteeing a predetermined transmission capacity.
For example, the MAC layer standardized by the IEEE 802.15.3 prepares the contention access period (CAP) and the contention free period (CFP). For asynchronous communication, the contention access period is used to exchange short data and command information. For stream communication, dynamic time slot assignment is performed by the guaranteed time slot (GTS) in the contention free period, thereby performing guaranteed time slot transmission.
The MAC layer portion standardized by the IEEE 802.15.3 is specified so that it is applicable as the standard specifications of the PHY layer in addition to the PHY layer based on 2.4 GHz band signal. Also, the standardizing activities have begun for the application of the PHY layer standardized by the IEEE 802.1.5.3 to other PHY layers than the PHY layer based on 2.4 GHz band signal.
Recently, wireless LAN (Local Area Network) systems based on SS (Spread Spectrum) technologies have been put into practical use. Also recently proposed is the UWB (Ultra Wide Band) transmission scheme based on the SS intended for applications such as PAN.
The DS (Direct Spread) scheme, which is one of SS schemes, multiplies an information signal by a random code sequence called PN (Pseudo Noise) to spread the occupied band and transmits the resultant signal on the transmitting side; on the receiving side, the received spread information signal is multiplied by the PN code for de-spread to reproduce the information signal. In the UWB scheme, this information signal spread rate is maximized by which a high-speed data transmission is realized by performing to transmit/receive data such that the data is spread over an ultra high frequency band of 2 GHz to 6 GHz for example.
In the UWB scheme, an information signal is configured by use of impulse signal trains each having a period of as short as several 100 picoseconds and this signal train is transferred. Its occupied band width is in GHz order so that the value obtained by dividing the occupied band width by its center frequency (for example, 1 GHz to 10 GHz) becomes about 1, which is a ultra wide band as compared with the band widths commonly used in wireless LANs based on so-called W-CDMA, cdma 2000, SS (Spread Spectrum), and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) schemes.
Referring to FIG. 20, there is shown an example of the data transmission based on the UWB scheme. Input information 901 is spread by a spread sequence 902. In some systems based on UWB, the multiplication of this spread sequence is left out.
An information signal 903 resulted from the spectrum spread is demodulated by use of the impulse signal (wavelet pulse) of the UWB scheme (905). This modulation is based on PPM (Pulse Position Modulation), biphase modulation, or amplitude modulation for example.
The impulse signal used on the UWB scheme is an extremely thin pulse, so that the UWB scheme uses extremely wide band in terms of frequency spectrum. Consequently, the inputted information signal has only a power that is lower than the noise level in each frequency area.
A received signal 905 is mixed with noise, but it can be detected by computing the correlation value between the receive signal and the impulse signal. In addition, because signal spread is performed in many systems, many impulse signals are transmitted for one bit of transmit information. Hence, a receive correlation value 907 of each impulse signal may be integrated by the length of spread sequence (908), thereby further facilitating the detection of the transmit signal.
The signal spread by the UWB transmission scheme has only a power lower than the noise level in each frequency area, so that it is comparatively easy for each communication system based on the UWB transmission scheme to coexist with communication systems based on other communication schemes.
When a communication environment is considered in which, with the recent popularization of information devices such as personal computers (PCs) and installation of many various devices in offices, these devices are interconnected by two or more wireless networks packed in a narrow work environment, thus causing plural wireless networks coexist in same frequency band. The "same frequency band" herein includes the UWB wireless communication scheme, which transfers data by spreading them over a very wide frequency band.
The PHY layer specifications using the 2.4 GHz band signal standardized by the above-mentioned IEEE 802.15.3 must consider the coexistence with other plural wireless communication systems existing in the same frequency band.
Especially, in the case of the UWB wireless communication network, data are transferred by spreading them over an extremely wide band, so that it is highly possible for this network to contend with adjacent wireless communication networks.
On the other hand, an impulse signal train used in the UWB wireless communication scheme has no particular frequency carrier, so that it is difficult to perform a carrier sense operation. Therefore, if the UWB wireless communication scheme is applied as the PHY layer of the IEEE 802.15.3, the carrier sense standardized by this section cannot be used for access control because there is no particularly carrier signal, thereby having to resort to the access control based on time division multiplexing.
If a small-scale wireless network system such as PAN is put into consideration, each network (or base station) is not always fixed, so that, if a new network is constructed in the same space or a network is moved to the same space from another space for example, the problems of the contention between networks and the dynamic assignment of time slots (or resources) must be solved.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-299670 assigned to the applicant hereof discloses a network system, by assigning at least one of plural divided slots to a control slot, which transmits the information suitable for the network status and the contents of information to be transmitted.
The above-mentioned disclosed network system is based on a method in which each terminal station reports interfered slots to the control station and the control station circumvents these interfered slots to use the network.
However, this method in which each terminal station reports to the control station requires a means for reporting to the control station from time to time, thereby presenting a problem of increasing the frequency of reporting if there are plural adjacent networks.
In addition, the above-mentioned method, because the usage status of each slot is known by detecting a predetermined synchronous signal, all frame structures used by other networks cannot be understood.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2,660,189 discloses a method and apparatus capable of dynamically assign a bandwidth to plural cells within a cellular network. However, according to this application, the disclosed method and apparatus must organize plural cell groups called "super cells" such that the interference between cells is minimized. The request for channel band widths is performed in accordance with the user request in each cell, namely, the request from the mobile stations (MS) belonging to each base station (BS). In other words, if plural networks coexist in the same space, the request for channel bandwidths has no relationship with how to solve the problem of contention between the base stations. Further, the above-mentioned Japanese patent publication does not solve the problems of the contention between networks and dynamic assignment of time slots (or resources) in the case where a new network is constructed in the same space or a network moves to this same space from another space.
Japanese Translations of PCT for Patent No. 2001-518766 (WO99/17575) discloses a method in which, by dynamically dividing the data transmitting resources by plural networks, each network divides the assigned resources among its users in accordance with its own channel assigning method. This application is based on the concept in which the operators mutually accommodate the plural frequency channels existing in the same space to operate the network, thereby realizing the dynamic assignment of frequency channels by borrowing the (frequency) bands of different operators in a cellular network.
However, the above-mentioned application treats the problem of dynamic assignment of the transmitting resources between the base stations which are arranged in a fixed manner, so that it is presumed that a minimum time slot be prepared for each network (or base station) from the very start. Further, each network (or base station) arranged in a fixed manner requires the minimum resource assignment for accommodating the users, so that there is no state in which no resource is assigned to the network. In other words, the above-mentioned application does not propose any scheme, procedure, and method for a network newly constructed in the same space or moving thereto from another space to get resources from the state in which no resource is assigned to the network. The above-mentioned application does not refer to any scheme, procedure, and method for a network already constructed in a space to assign resources to a network that newly appears in the same space.

Wireless communication system, wireless communication control apparatus and wireless communication control method, and computer program


A game system including: a music reproduction section which reproduces given music data stored in a storage section; a display control section which performs display control of changing a relative positional relationship among a direction mark which directs an operation to be performed by a player using an operation section, a special direction mark for the second game and a reference mark for timing judgment of the operation in association with a reproduction state of the music data to cause the direction mark and the reference mark to come closer; a timing acquisition section which acquires operation timing when the player operates the operation section for the direction mark; and a game calculation section which performs calculation processing of a first game of comparing the acquired operation timing with timing criteria and calculation processing of a second game differing from the first game based on operation information of the operation section for the special direction mark.

The present invention relates to a game system, a program, and an information storage medium.
Conventionally, a music game which allows a player to perform an operation input in association with reproduction of music and evaluates the operation input has been known. Such a music game is generally evaluated by the operation input timing.
However, when the player makes progress in the operation skill, the operation input in exact timing becomes complicated, whereby the player loses interest in the game. Therefore, a technology which improves playability of the music game has been demanded.

Game system, program, and information storage medium


In a vehicle dynamics control (VDC) system for a four-wheel-drive vehicle employing a brake control system regulating braking forces applied to road wheels independently of each other and a differential mechanism controlling a differential motion between front and rear wheel axles, a VDC controller controls a braking force of each road wheel depending on whether the vehicle is in oversteering or understeering. The VDC controller includes a braking-force compensation section that compensates for a braking force of at least one of a first wheel, which is subjected to vehicle dynamics control, and a second wheel to which a transferred braking force is transferred from the first wheel through the differential mechanism, to reduce a braking force of the second wheel and to prevent the braking force of the second wheel from exceeding a lateral grip limit of the second wheel during the vehicle dynamics control.

In recent years, there have been proposed and developed various vehicle dynamics control systems that control vehicle dynamic behavior concerned with the movements of automotive vehicles, such as acceleration, braking, and turning. In order to improve the vehicle stability, in particular the turning behavior, this type of vehicle dynamics control system often uses a yaw rate as a state variable of a turning behavior of a motor vehicle. For instance, when an oversteer tendency starts to develop on turns, a yawing moment by which the outward drift at the front of the vehicle occurs, is produced by applying a braking force to the outside front wheel in the turn. On the contrary, when an understeer tendency starts to develop on turns, a yawing moment by which the outward drift at the rear of the vehicle occurs, is produced by applying a braking force to the inside rear wheel in the turn. On four-wheel-drive-vehicles (4WDs) employing (i) a vehicle dynamics control system using a yaw rate as a state variable of a vehicle's turning behavior and (ii) a differential mechanism (such as a center differential) between front and rear wheel axles that permits the front axle to turn at a different speed than the rear axle while transmitting power from the propeller shaft to the front and rear wheel axles, suppose a braking force is applied to the outside front wheel in the turn so as to suppress oversteer tendencies during vehicle dynamics control. The outside front wheel in the turn, which is subjected to vehicle dynamics control, is hereinafter referred to as a "VDC controlled wheel". If the braking force is applied to the VDC controlled wheel to suppress oversteer tendencies on turns and additionally the differential motion between front and rear wheel axles is limited by means of the differential mechanism, a braking force substantially corresponding to the braking force applied to the VDC controlled wheel is transferred from the VDC controlled wheel through the differential mechanism to each of rear wheels. Each road wheel, on which the transferred braking force acts, is hereinafter referred to as a "VDC noncontrolled wheel". Owing to the transferred braking force, a lateral grip force of each VDC noncontrolled wheel (each rear wheel) on the road tends to reduce, thus undesirably increasing the oversteer tendency of yaw. In the same manner, suppose a braking force is applied to the inside rear wheel in the turn so as to suppress understeer tendencies during vehicle dynamics control. In this case, the inside rear wheel in the turn, which is subjected to vehicle dynamics control, is a "VDC controlled wheel". If the braking force is applied to the VDC controlled wheel to suppress understeer tendencies on turns with the differential mechanism held in active operation, a braking force substantially corresponding to the braking force applied to the VDC controlled wheel is transferred from the VDC controlled wheel through the differential mechanism to each front wheel (each VDC noncontrolled wheel). Owing to the transferred braking force, a lateral grip force of each front wheel on the road tends to reduce, thus undesirably increasing the understeer tendency of yaw. Assuming that the driver depresses the brake pedal during vehicle dynamics control executed for suppressing oversteer or understeer tendencies on turns, there is an increased tendency for the lateral grip force of each of the aforementioned VDC noncontrolled wheels on the road to reduce due to the transferred braking force. To avoid this, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2000-344077 (hereinafter is referred to as "JP2000-344077") corresponding to European Patent Application No. 1 059 216) has taught the inhibition of vehicle dynamics control (vehicle behavior control) or the braking force compensation at each individual wheel during vehicle dynamics control, when a differential motion between front and rear wheel axles is limited by a differential mechanism (e.g., with a central differential locked up).


A porous membrane for separation of carbon dioxide from a fluid stream at a temperature higher than about 200° C. with selectivity higher than Knudsen diffusion selectivity. The porous membrane comprises a porous support layer comprising alumina, silica, zirconia or stabilized zirconia; a porous separation layer comprising alumina, silica, zirconia or stabilized zirconia, and a functional layer comprising a ceramic oxide contactable with the fluid stream to preferentially transport carbon dioxide. In particular, the functional layer may be MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, La2O3, CeO2, ATiO3, AZrO3, AAl2O4, A1FeO3, A1MnO3, A1CoO3, A1NiO3, A2HfO3, A3CeO3, Li2ZrO3, Li2SiO3, Li2TiO3 or a mixture thereof;                wherein A is Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba;        A1 is La, Ca, Sr or Ba;        A2 is Ca, Sr or Ba; and        A3 is Sr or Ba.

The invention relates generally to membranes and methods for separating a gas from a gas stream, and particularly for separating CO2 from a gas stream.
The separation of CO2 from a gas stream is a critical step in the reduction of greenhouse emissions from fossil fuel-based combustion processes. An amine process is used commonly in power plants to scrub the fuel or exhaust gas stream. However, this approach is both energy and capital intensive because the amine process involves cooling the gas stream before scrubbing. Membranes capable of separating CO2 at temperatures above 200° C. could be used in lieu of the amine process in existing plants. They could also be used in advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants to improve efficiency. To be successful, a membrane must meet two sets of requirements. First, the membrane must be able to selectively separate CO2 from a gas stream. In particular, it is desirable to separate CO2 from H2 in the fuel gas stream or to separate CO2 from N2 in the exhaust gas stream. To achieve separations with a porous membrane, it is often preferable to have reverse selectivity. Reverse selectivity is selectivity in which the heavier gas is enriched relative to the level expected for Knudsen selectivity. Second, the membrane must have an operating temperature above 200° C.
For example, a high temperature membrane having reverse selectivity in separating CO2 and H2 must exhibit mechanical and functional stability up to 500° C. and CO2/H2 selectivity greater than 10. In addition, CO2 permeabilities of at least 1000 Barrer are desirable. There are no membranes currently available that meet these requirements.
Since CO2 is heavier than the other components of interest in the gas stream, Knudsen diffusion is not a viable mechanism for separation. Knudsen diffusion describes the flow of gas through a membrane in which the pore size is small compared to the mean free path of the gas. The Knudsen diffusion rate is inversely proportional to the molecular weight of the gas. A membrane relying only on Knudsen diffusion would have a CO2/H2 selectivity of 0.21. Instead, transport must occur through alternate mechanisms that enable the desired selectivity. For example, the most promising polymer membranes are based on a facilitated transport mechanism in which CO2 is selectively transported via amino groups. Those membranes exhibit selectivity of about 10 and permeability of 2000 Barrer at 180° C., but performance rapidly degrades above 180° C. due to dehydration of the membrane. Therefore, polymer membranes are not suitable at higher temperature.
Porous inorganic membranes have the capability for high temperature applications, and selectivity can be endowed through the mechanism of preferential adsorption and surface diffusion of CO2 along the pore walls. Based on this approach, CO2/N2 selectivity of ˜10 have been reported for zeolite, silica, and activated carbon membranes with permeabilities as high as ˜104 Barrer (at room temperature). Recent efforts to develop reverse selective membranes using this strategy have resulted in silica membranes having a measured selectivity of ˜5 to 7 with permeability of about 1000 Barrer at 40° C. (Moon, J. H., et al., Kor. J. Chem. Eng., 21, 477-487 (2004)). Up to this point, efforts to develop membranes with enhanced surface transport have focused on identifying a porous material which itself has suitable surface transport properties. The problem with this approach is the limited number of compositions available that satisfy both the structural requirement (well-defined pores) and the transport requirement (fast surface diffusion of CO2). Kusakabe et al. have prepared barium titanate (BTO) layers on porous alumina supports and found a CO2/N2 selectivity of 1.2 at 500° C. (J. Membrane Sci., 95, 171-177 (1994)). The expected selectivity from Knudsen diffusion is 0.8. However, the membranes contained structural defects in the form of 100 nm pinholes that limited CO2 selectivity.
Accordingly, there remains a need for membranes that can achieve CO2/H2 selectivity significantly higher than that achievable through Knudsen diffusion mechanisms at high temperatures.

Functionalized inorganic membranes for gas separation


One method disclosed includes, among other things, covering a top surface and a portion of the sidewalls of a fin with etch stop material, forming a sacrificial gate structure above and around the fin, forming a sidewall spacer adjacent the sacrificial gate structure, performing at least one process operation to remove the sacrificial gate structure and thereby define a replacement gate cavity, forming a counter-doped region in the fin below an upper surface of the fin and below the channel region of the device, wherein the counter-doped region is doped with a second type of dopant material that is of an opposite type relative to the first type of dopant material, and forming a replacement gate structure in the replacement gate cavity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to the fabrication of integrated circuits, and, more particularly, to various methods of forming a FinFET semiconductor device so as to reduce punch-through leakage currents and the resulting semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modern integrated circuits, such as microprocessors, storage devices and the like, a very large number of circuit elements, especially transistors, are provided and operated on a restricted chip area. In integrated circuits fabricated using metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology, field effect transistors (FETs) (both NMOS and PMOS transistors) are provided that are typically operated in a switching mode. That is, these transistor devices exhibit a highly conductive state (on-state) and a high impedance state (off-state). FETs may take a variety of forms and configurations. For example, among other configurations, FETs may be either so-called planar FET devices or three-dimensional (3D) devices, such as FinFET devices.
A field effect transistor (FET), irrespective of whether an NMOS transistor or a PMOS transistor is considered, and irrespective of whether it is a planar or 3D FinFET device, typically comprises doped source/drain regions that are formed in a semiconductor substrate that are separated by a channel region. A gate insulation layer is positioned above the channel region and a conductive gate electrode is positioned above the gate insulation layer. The gate insulation layer and the gate electrode may sometimes be referred to as the gate structure for the device. By applying an appropriate voltage to the gate electrode, the channel region becomes conductive and current is allowed to flow from the source region to the drain region. In a planar FET device, the gate structure is formed above a substantially planar upper surface of the substrate. In some cases, one or more epitaxial growth processes are performed to form epi semiconductor material in recesses formed in the source/drain regions of the planar FET device. In some cases, the epi material may be formed in the source/drain regions without forming any recesses in the substrate for a planar FET device. The gate structures for such planar FET devices may be manufactured using so-called "gate-first" or "replacement gate" (gate-last) manufacturing techniques.
To improve the operating speed of FETs, and to increase the density of FETs on an integrated circuit device, device designers have greatly reduced the physical size of FETs over the years. More specifically, the channel length of FETs has been significantly decreased, which has resulted in improving the switching speed of FETs. However, decreasing the channel length of a FET also decreases the distance between the source region and the drain region. In some cases, this decrease in the separation between the source and the drain makes it difficult to efficiently inhibit the electrical potential of the source region and the channel from being adversely affected by the electrical potential of the drain. This is sometimes referred to as a so-called short channel effect, wherein the characteristic of the FET as an active switch is degraded.
In contrast to a FET, which has a planar structure, a so-called FinFET device has a three-dimensional (3D) structure. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an illustrative prior art FinFET semiconductor device "A" that is formed above a semiconductor substrate B that will be referenced so as to explain, at a very high level, some basic features of a FinFET device. In this example, the FinFET device A includes three illustrative fins C, a gate structure D, sidewall spacers E and a gate cap F. The gate structure D is typically comprised of a layer of insulating material (not separately shown), e.g., a layer of high-k insulating material or silicon dioxide, and one or more conductive material layers (e.g., metal and/or polysilicon) that serve as the gate electrode for the device A. The fins C have a three-dimensional configuration: a height H, a width W and an axial length L. The axial length L corresponds to the direction of current travel in the device A when it is operational. The portions of the fins C covered by the gate structure D is the channel region of the FinFET device A. In a conventional process flow, the portions of the fins C that are positioned outside of the spacers E, i.e., in the source/drain regions of the device A, may be increased in size or even merged together (a situation not shown in FIG. 1A) by performing one or more epitaxial growth processes. The process of increasing the size of or merging the fins C in the source/drain regions of the device A is performed to reduce the resistance of source/drain regions and/or make it easier to establish electrical contact to the source/drain regions. Even if an epi "merger" process is not performed, an epi growth process will typically be performed on the fins C to increase their physical size. In the FinFET device A, the gate structure D may enclose both sides and the upper surface of all or a portion of the fins C to form a tri-gate structure so as to use a channel having a three-dimensional structure instead of a planar structure. In some cases, an insulating cap layer (not shown), e.g., silicon nitride, is positioned at the top of the fins C and the FinFET device only has a dual-gate structure (sidewalls only). The gate structures D for such FinFET devices may be manufactured using so-called "gate-first" or "replacement gate" (gate-last) manufacturing techniques.
Unlike a planar FET, in a FinFET device, a channel is formed perpendicular to a surface of the semiconducting substrate so as to reduce the physical size of the semiconductor device. Also, in a FinFET, the junction capacitance at the drain region of the device is greatly reduced, which tends to significantly reduce short channel effects. When an appropriate voltage is applied to the gate electrode of a FinFET device, the surfaces (and the inner portion near the surface) of the fins C, i.e., the vertically oriented sidewalls and the top upper surface of the fin, form a surface inversion layer or a volume inversion layer that contributes to current conduction. In a FinFET device, the "channel-width" is estimated to be about two times (2x) the vertical fin-height plus the width of the top surface of the fin, i.e., the fin width (for a tri-gate device). Multiple fins can be formed in the same foot-print as that of a planar transistor device. Accordingly, for a given plot space (or foot-print), FinFETs tend to be able to generate significantly higher drive current density than planar transistor devices. Additionally, the leakage current of FinFET devices after the device is turned "OFF" is significantly reduced as compared to the leakage current of planar FETs, due to the superior gate electrostatic control of the "fin" channel on FinFET devices. In short, the 3D structure of a FinFET device is a superior MOSFET structure as compared to that of a planar FET, especially in the 20 nm CMOS technology node and beyond.
For many early device technology generations, the gate structures of most transistor elements (planar or FinFET devices) were comprised of a plurality of silicon-based materials, such as a silicon dioxide and/or silicon oxynitride gate insulation layer, in combination with a polysilicon gate electrode. However, as the channel length of aggressively scaled transistor elements has become increasingly smaller, many newer generation devices employ gate structures that contain alternative materials in an effort to avoid the short channel effects which may be associated with the use of traditional silicon-based materials in reduced channel length transistors. For example, in some aggressively scaled transistor elements, which may have channel lengths on the order of approximately 10-32 nm or less, gate structures that include a so-called high-k dielectric gate insulation layer and one or more metal layers that function as the gate electrode (HK/MG) have been implemented. Such alternative gate structures have been shown to provide significantly enhanced operational characteristics over the heretofore more traditional silicon dioxide/polysilicon gate structure configurations.
Depending on the specific overall device requirements, several different high-k materials—i.e., materials having a dielectric constant, or k-value, of approximately 10 or greater—have been used with varying degrees of success for the gate insulation layer in an HK/MG gate electrode structure. For example, in some transistor element designs, a high-k gate insulation layer may include tantalum oxide (Ta2O5), hafnium oxide (HfO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), titanium oxide (TiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), hafnium silicates (HfSiOx) and the like. Furthermore, one or more non-polysilicon metal gate electrode materials—i.e., a metal gate stack—may be used in HK/MG configurations so as to control the work function of the transistor. These metal gate electrode materials may include, for example, one or more layers of titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN), titanium-aluminum (TiAl), titanium-aluminum-carbon (TiALC), aluminum (Al), aluminum nitride (AlN), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), tantalum carbide (TaC), tantalum carbonitride (TaCN), tantalum silicon nitride (TaSiN), tantalum silicide (TaSi) and the like.
One well-known processing method that has been used for forming a transistor with a high-k/metal gate structure is the so-called "gate-last" or "replacement gate" technique. The replacement gate process may be used when forming planar devices or 3D devices. FIGS. 1B-1F simplistically depict one illustrative prior art method for forming an HK/MG replacement gate structure using a replacement gate technique on a planar transistor device. As shown in FIG. 1B, the process includes the formation of a basic transistor structure above a semiconductor substrate 12 in an active area defined by a shallow trench isolation structure 13. At the point of fabrication depicted in FIG. 1B, the device 10 includes a sacrificial gate insulation layer 14, a dummy or sacrificial gate electrode 15, sidewall spacers 16, a layer of insulating material 17 and source/drain regions 18 formed in the substrate 12. The various components and structures of the device 10 may be formed using a variety of different materials and by performing a variety of known techniques. For example, the sacrificial gate insulation layer 14 may be comprised of silicon dioxide, the sacrificial gate electrode 15 may be comprised of polysilicon, the sidewall spacers 16 may be comprised of silicon nitride and the layer of insulating material 17 may be comprised of silicon dioxide. The source/drain regions 18 may be comprised of implanted dopant materials (N-type dopants for NMOS devices and P-type dopants for PMOS devices) that are implanted into the substrate 12 using known masking and ion implantation techniques. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that there are other features of the transistor 10 that are not depicted in the drawings for purposes of clarity. For example, so-called halo implant regions are not depicted in the drawings, as well as various layers or regions of silicon/germanium that are typically found in high performance PMOS transistors. At the point of fabrication depicted in FIG. 1B, the various structures of the device 10 have been formed and a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been performed to remove any materials above the sacrificial gate electrode 15 (such as a protective cap layer (not shown) comprised of silicon nitride) so that at least the sacrificial gate electrode 15 may be removed.
As shown in FIG. 1C, one or more etching processes are performed to remove the sacrificial gate electrode 15 and the sacrificial gate insulation layer 14 to thereby define a gate cavity 20 where a replacement gate structure will subsequently be formed. Typically, the sacrificial gate insulation layer 14 is removed as part of the replacement gate technique, as depicted herein. However, the sacrificial gate insulation layer 14 may not be removed in all applications. Even in cases where the sacrificial gate insulation layer 14 is intentionally removed, there will typically be a very thin native oxide layer (not shown) that forms on the substrate 12 within the gate cavity 20.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1D, various layers of material that will constitute a replacement gate structure 30 are formed in the gate cavity 20. The materials used for the replacement gate structures 30 for NMOS and PMOS devices are typically different. For example, the replacement gate structure 30 for an NMOS device may be comprised of a high-k gate insulation layer 30A, such as hafnium oxide, having a thickness of approximately 2 nm, a first metal layer 30B (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride with a thickness of about 1-2 nm), a second metal layer 30C—a so-called work function adjusting metal layer for the NMOS device—(e.g., a layer of titanium-aluminum or titanium-aluminum-carbon with a thickness of about 5 nm), a third metal layer 30D (e.g., a layer of titanium nitride with a thickness of about 1-2 nm) and a bulk metal layer 30E, such as aluminum or tungsten.
Ultimately, as shown in FIG. 1E, one or more CMP processes are performed to remove excess portions of the gate insulation layer 30A, the first metal layer 30B, the second metal layer 30C, the third metal layer 30D and the bulk metal layer 30E positioned outside of the gate cavity 20 to thereby define the replacement gate structure 30 for an illustrative NMOS device. Typically, the replacement metal gate structure 30 for a PMOS device does not include as many metal layers as does an NMOS device. For example, the gate structure 30 for a PMOS device may only include the high-k gate insulation layer 30A, a single layer of titanium nitride—the work function adjusting metal for the PMOS device—having a thickness of about 3-4 nm, and the bulk metal layer 30E.
FIG. 1F depicts the device 10 after several process operations were performed. First, one or more recess etching processes were performed to remove upper portions of the various materials within the cavity 20 so as to form a recess within the gate cavity 20. Then, a gate cap layer 31 was formed in the recess above the recessed gate materials. The gate cap layer 31 is typically comprised of silicon nitride and it may be formed by depositing a layer of gate cap material so as to over-fill the recess formed in the gate cavity and thereafter performing a CMP process to remove excess portions of the gate cap material layer positioned above the surface of the layer of insulating material 17. The gate cap layer 31 is formed so as to protect the underlying gate materials during subsequent processing operations.
One problem that is encountered in forming FinFET devices relates to preventing leakage currents underneath the fin structures. This is sometimes referred to as so-called "punch-through" leakage currents. One prior art effort to eliminate or reduce such undesirable punch-through leakage currents involved forming counter-doped regions that were positioned at approximately the intersection between the fin and the remaining portion of the substrate. However, obtaining an accurate doping profile that is properly positioned underneath the active fin is very difficult to accomplish, especially given that the additional thermal heating processes that are involved in subsequent process steps will further drive dopant diffusion and make it harder to control the location of the anti-punch-through doping. If dopant diffuses into the fins during subsequent annealing processes, it would cause threshold voltage fluctuation because of the random amount of the dopant diffused into the fins of different devices, which would severely compromise the circuit performance. If a punch-through implant region is formed before the dummy gate structure is formed, there is a good chance that dopant materials will be lost and/or migrate or diffuse to undesirable locations. Trying to form halo implant regions (counter-doped) regions by performing an angled ion implantation process is very difficult given the height of the dummy gate structure and the very small spacing between fins.
Additionally, fabrication of FinFET devices may involve formation of stressed layers of insulation material in an effort to induce a desired stress on the channel region of the FinFET device, e.g., a tensile stress for N-type FinFET devices and a compressive stress for P-type FinFET devices. Such stressed channel regions are formed in an effort to improve the electrical performance characteristics of the N-type and P-type FinFET devices. Thus, an effort at reducing the undesirable punch-through leakage currents must not unduly detract from the benefits achieved by virtue of the formation of the stressed materials that induce the desired stress in the channel region of the FinFET devices.
The present disclosure is directed to various methods of forming a FinFET semiconductor device so as to reduce punch-through leakage currents and the resulting semiconductor device that may avoid, or at least reduce, the effects of one or more of the problems identified above.

Methods of forming a FinFET semiconductor device so as to reduce punch-through leakage currents and the resulting device

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