A microfabricated capillary electrophoresis chip which includes an integral thin film electrochemical detector for detecting molecules separated in the capillary.

Electrochemical detection has been employed in liquid chromatography and in capillary electrophoresis (CE). It has been demonstrated that electrochemical detection is very sensitive and can measure 10.sup.-16 to 10.sup.-19 moles of sample with typical detection volumes from nL to pL.sup.1,2. Electrochemical methods have also been used to detect DNA,.sup.3-5 single cells,.sup.6,7 and even single molecules..sup.8 The operation of these electrochemical detectors is typically based on the use of three electrodes called the working, counter, and reference electrodes. There are three configurations which have been used to detect CE separations: on-column,.sup.9 where the electrodes of the detector are placed within the capillary; end-column,.sup.10,11 where the electrodes are placed directly at the end of the separation capillary; and off-column,.sup.6,12,13 where the electrodes are electrically isolated from the electrophoresis voltage by a grounded porous glass tube. On-column electrochemical detection of CE separations has been performed by fixing two platinum wires through diametrically opposed holes drilled by a laser in a capillary tube. This structure is very difficult to manufacture and align, and the placement of the detection electrodes within the high voltage region of the separation column is problematic. In this format, one is trying to detect small currents or voltages while applying many kV to the separation column. The mechanical instability and poor definition of the electrode alignment can lead to significant electrical pickup or fluctuation in the background, making the desired signal very difficult to detect. The presence of high voltage gradients and significant electrophoretic currents in the column near the electrodes can induce stray signals. The end-column and off-column detection formats are important because they minimize the influence of the electrophoresis voltage. In the end-column format, one wants to place the detection electrodes as close to the end of the electrophoresis channel as possible so the detection is performed as close to ground potential as possible. This is very difficult to do with conventional manufacturing techniques. The electrodes must be placed with micron precision at the end of the capillary. Any error in the placement will cause loss of analyte signal if the electrodes are too far from the opening or high voltage pick up if the electrodes are placed within the separation column. Furthermore, fluctuations in electrode placement or electrode--electrode gap can cause severe fluctuations in the background signal producing noise. Typically, one must use micromanipulators and a microscope to assemble the detector. Furthermore, the engineering of the electrical isolation by connection of the separation and detection capillary tubes with a grounded porous glass tube in the off-column format is rather difficult to assemble and operate, and the junction can be mechanically unstable and poorly defined. In one case, although Slater and Watt (17) photolithographically fabricated electrodes on a substrate, because they did not make a fully integrated separation and detection device, they were forced to use said undesirable junctions to couple their detector to a conventional cylindrical capillary.
There is a need for a microfabricated capillary electrophoresis chip with integral thin film electrochemical detector and electrophoresis leads which can be easily connected to associated electrical electrophoresis and detector apparatus.

Electrochemical detector integrated on microfabricated capillary electrophoresis chips

The Regents of the University of California


A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel which is configured to hold a liquid crystal layer between an array substrate and a counter-substrate. The array substrate includes a pixel electrode which is connected to a switching element, and a counter-electrode which is opposed to the pixel electrode via an interlayer insulation film. The pixel electrode includes a plurality of slits. The slit is formed in a substantially parallelogrammatic shape, and includes, at a corner portion with an acute interior angle, an arcuate recess portion which is recessed toward an outside of an edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device of a transverse electric field driving mode, and a method of manufacturing a pixel electrode which is applied to this liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat-panel display devices have vigorously been developed, and liquid crystal display devices, above all, have attracted attention because of advantages of light weight, small thickness and low power consumption. In particular, in an active matrix liquid crystal display device in which a switching element is provided in each of pixels, attention has been paid to the structure which makes use of a transverse electric field (including a fringe electric field) of an in-plane switching (IPS) mode or a fringe field switching (FFS) mode (see, for instance, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-107535 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-139295).
The liquid crystal display device of such a transverse electric field driving mode includes a pixel electrode and a counter-electrode which are formed on an array substrate and are opposed via an interlayer insulation film, and liquid crystal molecules are switched by generating a transverse electric field that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the array substrate. In addition, polarizer plates, which are disposed such that their absorption axes intersect at right angles, are disposed on the outer surfaces of the array substrate and the counter-substrate.
By this disposition of the polarizer plates, the display of a black screen is realized, for example, at a time of non-application of voltage. With the application of a voltage corresponding to a video signal to the pixel electrode, the transmittance (modulation ratio) gradually increases and the display of a white screen is realized. In this liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal molecules rotate in a plane that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate. Thus, since the polarization state is not greatly affected by the direction of incidence of transmissive light, there is the feature that the viewing angle dependency is low and a wide viewing angle characteristic is obtained.
In particular, in the FFS mode liquid crystal display device, the pixel electrode is disposed to be opposed to a counter-electrode via an interlayer insulation film. The pixel electrode has a slit which is opposed to the counter-electrode. The liquid crystal molecules are driven by an electric field which is generated between the pixel electrode and the counter-electrode via the slit.
In the pixel electrode having this shape, there may be a case in which the directions of electric fields are not uniform in the vicinity of both end portions of the slit. Hence, in the vicinity of both end portions of the slit, the directions of alignment of liquid crystal molecules, which are driven by electric fields in non-uniform directions, also become non-uniform. Specifically, at a time of voltage application (at a time of white screen display), an alignment defect of liquid crystal molecules occurs in the vicinity of both end portions of the slit, and the transmittance in this part (domain) lowers, resulting in a dark line. There is a tendency that the domain in which such an alignment defect has occurred grows along the edges of the slit, and a further decrease in transmittance may occur. Thus, there is such a problem that an adequately high luminance cannot be obtained when a white screen is displayed.

Liquid crystal display device and method of manufacturing the same

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


Disclosed is a port system for facilitating mixed solid/liquid content discharge from a portable tank especially vacuum tank trailer, discharge system. The system provides an enlarged sloped tank outlet system that overcomes the deficiencies of convention systems.

1. Field
Portable tanks, especially vacuum tank trailer, discharge system. A port discharge system for facilitating mixed solid/liquid content discharge from a portable tank.
2. Background
Vacuum tank trailers (and trucks) are increasing engaged in uses in hauling liquids contents with significant solid content. Such trailer are in heavy use in oil and gas operations where high solid content materials are transported to and from well sites. Liquid with solid contents (mud and the like) are often difficult to remove from the tank.
It is customary to discharge tank contents through one or more nominal 4 inch pipe outlets located at the rear bottom of the tank. Generally the contents must be flushed out by water hose from the top opening of the tank. This procedure is time consuming and therefore expensive since it ties up the tank and driver for longer than necessary.
Some trailers tilt as in a dump truck to aid in discharge of the solids containing liquid but they are considerably more expensive than non-tilting tanks.


An amusement-type vehicle is provided particularly for doing so-called wheelies having a short wheel base upon a platform-type base with at least two side by side wheels forwardly and one wheel rearwardly upon which wheelies are performed and having a central handle by which the vehicle may be controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to both manually or rider propelled and motorized or self-propelled recreational vehicles for use primarily by children and other young at heart persons, and more particularly to recreational vehicles capable of performing a wheelie maneuver or stunt.
2. Preliminary Discussion
Balancing a vehicle momentarily on a single wheel with the other wheel or wheels held off of the ground, thus performing a so-called "wheelie," is an old and well-known maneuver, or stunt, most often performed on a bicycle or motorcycle. To perform a wheelie on a bicycle, the rider pedals along at a comfortable pace, leans forward so that his or her body weight is removed from the seat and held more or less over the handlebars, and then pedals a half stroke while sitting down in essentially the same movement, without stopping pedaling. This causes the front wheel of the bicycle to lift off of the ground, with the rider balancing on the rear wheel. Performing such stunt on a bicycle requires practice and balance, and once mastered may be combined with hopping or other stunts. In addition to performance on bicycles and motorcycles, wheelies are also routinely performed on skateboards, wherein by shift of the rider's weight the front two wheels are lifted off of the ground and the rider is balanced on the two rear wheels. A skid plate on the bottom side of the rear of the skateboard is also usually provided, which may also be used as a braking means by skilled riders.
While it is possible for riders to learn to perform wheelie maneuvers on a motorcycle or bicycle, and while, as illustrated below, there are known a number of auxiliary support wheels for attachment to cycles or scooters to enable one to hold a basic wheelie position longer and more easily, there are few if any vehicles known that are designed principally to perform wheelies. In fact, most attention is paid to engineering a wheeled vehicle that is difficult to raise on to a single wheel, since in most cases the intended rider desires to maintain his or her balance on the vehicle rather than to perform wheelie maneuvers or stunts. For example, most such vehicles have a long wheel base, and the handle bars are located above the front wheel so that the majority of the riders weight is centered near the middle of the vehicle, increasing its overall stability.
3. Description of Related Art
The following prior art patents related to recreational or amusement-type vehicles incorporating concepts related to the present invention are known by the inventor. None of these references teaches a recreational or amusement vehicle assembly as conceived by the present inventor whereby a riding vehicle specifically designed to perform wheelie-type stunts or maneuvers is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,585,258 issued to A. Moore on May 18, 1926 entitled "Pole Monocycle" discloses a monocycle having a standing platform extending over both sides of a bicycle-type wheel and supported on a yoke. An upwardly extending pole having a handle bar on its upper end is mounted to the yoke, so that a rider may stand on the platform with the wheel positioned between his or her lower legs and with the handlebars directly in front of his or her body. The Moore monocycle is propelled by a ratchet wheel mechanism operated by rocking the handle back and forth. When the handlebar is rocked forwardly, the ratchet engages and turns the wheel forwardly and when the handle is rocked rearwardly the ratchet is not engaged. Simultaneously as the handlebar is rocked forwardly it is stated the footrest is raised slightly, and when the handle bar is rocked rearwardly, the footrest is lowered slightly which movement may be attractive to users. The device may also be propelled by the foot of the user on the ground, or simply by jumping forwardly on to the standing platform and the rider's momentum causing the wheel to roll. While the Moore reference broadly discloses a wheeled vehicle having a standing platform and an upwardly extending handle, such vehicle is not capable of performing a wheelie stunt as it only has one wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,652,934 issued to P. E. Gillespie on Dec. 13, 1927, entitled "Toy," discloses another single-wheeled vehicle having a yoke attached to the wheel axle. A single footrest or stirrup is attached on one side of the vehicle, while an upwardly extending handle is connected above the wheel to the yoke. The vehicle is manually propelled by placing one foot on the ground and pushing forwardly while the other foot is placed in the stirrup. Such vehicle also has a single wheel and therefore is incapable of performing a "wheelie."
U.S. Pat. No. 1,697,994 issued to J. C. Moore, Jr. on Jan. 8, 1929, entitled "Coaster," discloses a vehicle having a pair of axially aligned wheels and having a foot pedal similar to a conventional bicycle pedal positioned between the wheels, as well as an upwardly extending handle. The coaster is propelled with one foot on the pedal and the other foot pushing generally forwardly against the ground. While the use of two wheels on opposite sides of the pedal makes the Moore coaster more stable and laterally balanced, and the balancing effort of the rider is thus forward and rearwardly aided by free rotation of the single step pedal, the device is not designed to perform a wheelie as the wheels are in parallel.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,773 issued to C. C. McKissick on Feb. 14, 1961, entitled "Pogo Monocycles," discloses another single wheeled vehicle having pedals or footrests on either side of such wheel, as well as an upwardly extending height adjustable handlebar. McKissick also discloses a rearwardly extending braking mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,798 issued to S. Siegel on May 19, 1970, entitled "Skate Board Device," discloses an amusement device comprised of a wing-shaped standing platform having a central hole in which a proportionately large spherical member is mounted on an axle, while four smaller stabilizing wheels or balls are provided spaced on the underside of the device, which wheels are elevated from the ground slightly. In use, when a certain speed or balance is attained, a user standing or balanced on the platform will be propelled forward with only the large sphere, or ball, touching the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,535 issued to D. M. Sidlauskas on May 22, 1973, entitled "Tricycle Having Driving Energy Storing Arrangement," discloses a tricycle designed to perform a wheelie having a pair of large rear wheels and a smaller steerable front wheel. Coil springs connected to the rear wheel axle are wound on the axle and store up driving energy as the bike is pedaled and moves forward. Pulling back on the handle bars releases the springs, causing a forward energy to be transmitted to the rear wheels. The springs are used to help propel the vehicle forwardly fast enough so that the front wheel is easily lifted off the ground to perform a wheelie stunt. Also provided along the rear side of the seat is a leaf spring having a small wheel on the end of the spring that contacts the ground surface when the wheelie is performed. Sidlauskas discloses a manually powered tricycle specifically designed to do wheelies. However, the tricycle has a completely different structure from the present inventor's vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,817 issued to D. R. Cohen on Jun. 20, 1978, entitled "Wheelie Skateboard," discloses a skateboard having a regular set of wheels and in addition having a third set of wheels on the upwardly angled rear or tail section so that the board may be flipped into a wheelie maneuver and balanced on the rear wheels and third set of wheels. Cohen therefore teaches a device that enables one to maintain a wheelie position more easily, but in the process actually prevents a real or traditional wheelie from being performed, because the skateboard is still balanced on two pairs of axially aligned wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,786 issued to E. R. Talbott on Aug. 15, 1978, entitled "Recreational Vehicle For Use On Sloping Terrains," discloses a circular platform having a large single central wheel and a handle at the front. A rider shifts their weight in riding the device including scraping rear runners on the ground as a braking means, but does not perform wheelies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,390 issued to A. M. Skolnik on Jul. 2, 1985, entitled "Toy Vehicle," discloses a three-wheeled vehicle having a triangular wheelbase and pyramid-shaped frame formed of tubular members and having a steering fork with handle bars connected to the front wheel. A standing platform is provided between the spaced apart rear wheels. Such vehicle is arranged so that the handlebar is generally close to the axis of the rear wheels, making it easier for a rider to tilt the vehicle rearwardly on to the rear wheels and then balance in such position, thereby performing a wheelie maneuver. Structurally, the Skolnik scooter is different from the present inventor's vehicle in several respects, such as that the wheels are not all mounted to the same platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,884 issued to S. T. Chang on Nov. 24, 1987, entitled "Foldable Handle for a Skateboard," discloses a skateboard having an upwardly extending foldable handle, making it more similar to a scooter and making it easier to maintain one's balance when riding the skateboard. Of course, skateboards are typically used to perform wheelies wherein the two front wheels are raised off the ground. However, the arrangement other for the use of a handle is not dissimilar to the usual skateboard arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,181 issued to R. B. Armstrong on Jan. 3, 1989, entitled "Skateboard," discloses a modified skateboard having a V-shaped board, a large centrally-located wheel, and pairs of front and rear wheels. The skateboard is arranged so that the central wheel is in contact with the ground when either the front or rear wheels are in contact with the ground, but when the front wheels are in contact with the ground, the rear wheels are off the ground. It is also possible for the center wheel to be the only wheel touching the ground. A brake assembly is also optionally connected to the center wheel. The Armstrong skateboard is therefore technically capable of riding on a single wheel wherein the front and rear wheels are lifted off of the ground at the same time. However, such position would not be considered a conventional wheelie position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,091 issued to W. J. Badsey on Jun. 27, 1989, entitled "Two-Wheeled Recreational Motor Vehicle," discloses a two-wheeled self-propelled vehicle having a handle bar with brakes and a platform on which the user stands when operating the vehicle. The wheels are wide so that the device is generally stable enough for a rider to stand on the platform without tipping when the vehicle is not in use. In addition, the balance of the vehicle is also such that a rider standing on the platform may shift his or her weight back to rear lip to perform wheelies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,436 issued to M. J. Jez et al. on Oct. 13, 1992, entitled "Wheeled Riding Apparatus," discloses a hybrid scooter/skateboard apparatus having an upwardly extending handle, a flexible board supported by a leaf spring, and an upwardly curved rear tail section of the type found on most skateboards and usually intended to provide an area for the user to press downwardly on with his or her foot to perform a wheelie. The Jez et al. vehicle is apparently meant to be operated with all four wheels on the ground, however.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,871 issued to D. Wyman et al. on Jun. 16, 1998, entitled "Children's Riding Toys," discloses a Big Wheel® type tricycle having a fourth wheel connected centrally behind the standard rear wheel axle of the tricycle. The fourth wheel is provided and angled so that when the rider tips the front wheel upwardly, a wheelie maneuver is performed balancing on the rear wheels and the auxiliary fourth wheel. Wyman et al. is another example of an invention meant to make performing a wheelie type stunt easier, although by doing so eliminates the skill required to maintain one's balance in a wheelie position, not to mention the fun and satisfaction resulting from performing and maintaining a wheelie without such fourth auxiliary wheel attachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,612 issued to J. G. Beleski, Jr. on Apr. 24, 2001, entitled "Cambering Vehicle and Mechanism," discloses a manually propelled vehicle having a front wheel connected to a foldable handlebar, as well as to a pair of rearwardly extending arms having similarly sized wheels on their ends comprising the rear wheels of the three-wheeled vehicle. Footrest platforms are provided directly above each of the rear wheels. The Beleski vehicle is a "cambering" type vehicle wherein generally forward movement of the vehicle is provided by shifting of one's weight from side to side on the vehicle so that the vehicle travels in a sinusoidal path. Beleski does not indicate that the vehicle is properly balanced to perform wheelie maneuvers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,828 issued to L. Mandic on Apr. 9, 2002, entitled "Recreational Board Vehicle," discloses another skateboard or scooter type vehicle having an upwarding extending handlebar. A brake assembly is also provided, as is a wheelie assembly on the rear end of the board so that rather than skidding on the bottom of the board as with a regular skateboard, the board may be balanced on the rear wheels and the wheelie wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,562 issued to H. S. Kuo on May 14, 2002, entitled "Scooter Having Changeable Steering Mechanism," discloses a scooter having a single steerable front wheel connected to an adjustable handle, a front board, a pair of centrally located wheels, a rear board, and a single smaller rear wheel. The scooter platform is comprised of the front board extending between the front and center wheels, and the rear board extending between the center and rear wheels. The front and rear boards are slightly angled with respect to each other so that when the front and center wheels are touching the ground, the slightly smaller rear wheel is off the ground. This in effect allows the user to perform wheelie maneuvers, although strictly speaking not in the same manner as the traditional wheelie which performs a wheelie by temporary rearward balancing on rear wheels not designed for such maneuvers.
U.S. PAT. APP. PUB. NO. 2002/0030339 filed by R. H. Powers and published on Mar. 14, 2002, entitled "Scooter," discloses a two-wheeled scooter having a steerable front wheel, a handle bar, and a standing platform situated between the front and rear wheel assemblies. A brake pedal is provided on the rear of the platform to enable the user to better control the speed of the scooter, as well as to perform wheelie maneuvers.
U.S. PAT. APP. PUB. NO. 2002/0096849 filed by R. M. Bang and published on Jul. 25, 2002, entitled "Trick Bar For Foot Scooter," discloses a wheeled platform for connecting behind the rear wheel of a conventional two-wheeled scooter. The platform includes a foot bar and a pair of wheels and basically is designed to enable the user to perform wheelie-type movements on the scooter.
U.S. DES. Pat. D326,290 issued to W. J. Badsey on May 19, 1992, entitled "Motorized Scooter," discloses an ornamental design for a scooter the same or closely similar to the scooter discussed above with reference to Badsey's '091 utility patent.
U.S. DES. Pat. D444,184 issued to H. Kettler on Jun. 26, 2001, entitled "Scooter," discloses an ornamental design for a scooter having a steerable large front wheel and handlebars, and a platform with two small wheels extending rearwardly from the large front wheel on which the user stands.
While the prior art, therefore, has provided a large number of platform type wheeled vehicles or other wheeled vehicles of relatively small dimensions for various purposes, none has provided a short wheelbase platform-type vehicle having a single rear wheel or an effectively single rear wheeled vehicle having a handle for control of the vehicle both while riding and when dismounted or dismounting. By "effectively single wheeled" it is meant that there is only a single wheeled at the rear upon which wheelies are performed or alternatively there is a pair of ganged wheels mounted close together to in effect act as or in the place of a single rear wheel of a large diameter or more weight capacity. For example, a pair of ganged wheels may be mounted upon a short axle between axle mountings or mounted upon short separate axles mounted upon a single support similar to the ganged wheels customarily used by relatively large aircraft.


A system and method for reducing the update package size used to convert an original image into a new image based on the differences between the two images. From comparison of original and new images, an update package is generated which includes ADD and COPY operations. This design introduces a RELOCATE operation. The update encoder attempts to re-express submitted COPY operations with one or more RELOCATE operations whose total length exceeds that of the original COPY. If this is the case, the RELOCATE operation(s) have progressed further through the images than the original COPY operation, thus producing a smaller update package. Each individual RELOCATE operation includes a number of instructions and a number of data items to be relocated.

Recent years have seen the rapid advancement and proliferation of electronic devices, which devices often require the updating of the resident firmware, operating code, applications or other software loaded thereon, collectively, "binary images", or simply "images". Moreover, installing and updating of such binary images is becoming more routine as advancements applicable to a particular device far outpace the rate at which it is desirable to retire the unit and replace it with an entirely new unit.
Moreover, for many devices for which updating the binary image is desirable, these same devices may be remotely located and it is not practical for many reasons to return or collect the device in order that it can be directly connected to a host updating machine or system.
Additionally, with limited memory on the device itself, whether it is a mobile phone, PDA, pager or any other variety of small form factor portable device, delivery of an entire new image is often infeasible due to the capacity limitations of the device. Also, even if the device is not memory or other resource constrained, and thus not limiting the size or application process for installing an update, delivery of a complete new image may still be infeasible because the connection used by the device may be intermittent and/or of a limited capacity.
Accordingly there is a need for an efficient, effective and reliable system and method for providing an update to a device that does not require the unit to be returned to a service center for update and instead uses an update package that can modify the binary image in-situ, and is significantly smaller than the full image.
A known manner in reducing the size of a new image update is to use a differencing algorithm or Binary Differencing Engine (BDE) to compare the original or existing binary image with the new binary image to produce a list of differences, herein referred to as an 'update package'. Such differences, in a general sense, are typically output or expressed as sequences or sets of ADD and COPY operations such that the new image can be created by combining together binary sequences copied from the original image resident on the device (a COPY operation) and interlacing them with binary sequences from the new image (contained within the update package) for which a suitable copy sequence was not available in the original image (an ADD operation). The ADD operation specifies a list of bytes that must be copied from the update package into the new image at the current location, and the COPY operation specifies a number of bytes to be copied from a given location in the original image to the current update location in the new image.
ADD or COPY operations identified by the BDE, or candidate operations where more than one is possible at a given location within the image, are supplied to an Update Encoder which is responsible for selecting preferred candidate operations, possibly combining additional available encoding information, and for ultimately producing the final binary update package. This process may involve finding the smallest encoding for each of the required operations together with a final compression phase. One efficient approach to generating update packages is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/676,483 entitled "Efficient System and Method for Updating a Memory Device", filed Sep. 30, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
One implication of modifying an original image to create a new image (whether to add new functionality, fix errors or otherwise) is that even small changes to the original image may cause large portions of the image to move in the microprocessor's address space. This effect can cause even logically small changes to create large numbers of alterations in addressing and reference pointers. Thus, though large portions of the original image may only have been moved, the BDE in general may not be able to generate a set of simple COPY operations because of how the embedded transfers of control (e.g. branch or jump instructions) are expressed within the processor's instruction set. The BDE will typically find a very large number of small changes to the image interspersed with short sections of unmodified or purely moved content. Even though the functional change to the image was minor, the resultant detailed changes to the image require the BDE to generate a large number of small modifications (i.e. ADD) to the image interspersed with short sections of purely copied content (i.e. COPY) in order to resolve and reflect the new location for transfers of control. This can result in large update packages even where the functional change to the image was small.
Accordingly, a system or method that can effectively accommodate these changes to control transfers and addressing issues, thereby reducing the size of the resultant update packages would be desirable. More directly, what is needed is an approach to recognize large portions of the original image being moved in the processor's address space. The ability to efficiently express the effect of moving this code/data structure through the address space is key to reducing the update package size.
The need therefore is for a system that reduces the size impact of systematic image changes on the final update package by optimizing the size and number of operations to produce the smallest update package for any given original image and new image. The resulting update package size thus reflects the size of the functional change made to the image rather than its impact at the raw binary level.

Method for reducing binary image update package sizes


An acoustic signal encoding device for down-mixing at different ratios to encode a multichannel signal with a small number of channels, and an acoustic signal decoding device for decoding the signal encoded by the acoustic signal encoding device. In these devices, weighting means (103) in the acoustic signal encoding device (100) weights input signals of two channels individually according to a down-mixing coefficient thereby to calculate the level difference of the signals of two channels weighted by a level difference calculation unit (104). A separating unit (202) in the acoustic signal decoding device (200) separates the down-mixed signals into signals of two channels with the level difference information weighted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configurations of conventional acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10 and acoustic signal decoding apparatus 20. Here, the case will be described where multichannel signals are assumed to be two-channel signals and acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10 down-mixes the two-channel signals to one channel.
First, acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10 will be explained. In FIG. 1, down-mixing coefficient storage section 11 stores a down-mixing coefficient indicating a down-mixing ratio and outputs the down-mixing coefficient to down-mixing section 12.
Down-mixing section 12 mixes the input two-channel signals (multichannel signals) according to the down-mixing coefficient and thereby outputs the down-mixed signal as a one-channel down-mixed signal to multiplexing section 14.
Level difference calculation section 13 receives the same two-channel signals that have been inputted to down-mixing section 12 as input, calculates a level difference between the inputted two-channel signals and outputs the calculated level difference (level difference information) to multiplexing section 14.
Multiplexing section 14 multiplexes the one-channel down-mixed signal outputted from down-mixing section 12 with the level difference information outputted from level difference calculation section 13, forms a bit stream and outputs the formed bit stream from acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10.
Next, acoustic signal decoding apparatus 20 will be explained. In FIG. 1, demultiplexing section 21 extracts the down-mixed signal and the level difference information from the bit stream outputted from acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10 and outputs the extracted down-mixed signal and level difference information to separation section 22.
Separation section 22 forms two-channel signals from the one-channel down-mixed signal outputted from demultiplexing section 21 using the level difference information likewise outputted from demultiplexing section 21.
Here, separation section 22 is described as separating the signal into two-channel signals only using the level difference information, but it is possible to use correlation information and phase information of the two-channel signals in addition to the level difference information.
In this way, according to above-described acoustic signal encoding apparatus 10 and acoustic signal decoding apparatus 20, a multichannel signal can be encoded with a fewer number of channels (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).
Non-Patent Document 1: "Text of ISO/IEC 14496-3:2001/FPDAM2 July, 2003 of (Parametric Audio)"

Acoustic signal encoding device, and acoustic signal decoding device


Methods and apparatus for processing frames in wireless networks. In one implementation, the method includes predicting, before transmission of a first frame, a source address and a destination address of a second frame that is to be transmitted after the transmission of the first frame, generating a predictor field that includes information associated with the predicted source address and the predicted destination address of the second frame, and appending the predictor field in the first frame. The method further includes a first wireless device transmitting the first frame.

Contention based multiple access is increasingly being used in various types of wireless networks. For example, a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol may use contention based multiple access. The CSMA protocol may be utilized for a wireless network, where a data packet is addressed or intended for a recipient, and where any other unintended recipient of the data packet in the wireless network stops transmission of its own data packets to reduce chances of collision. A medium access control (MAC) layer protection is usually used in a CSMA protocol, in which a device may reserve a time period for transmission, during which no other device within the network may transmit any data packet.
The CSMA protocol may be used in various types of wireless networks, including a wireless local area network employing, for example, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocols, e.g., IEEE 802.11b protocol released on 1999, IEEE 802.11g protocol released on 2003, IEEE 802.11n protocol expected to be released on 2009-2010, or any other appropriate IEEE 802.11 protocol. The CSMA protocol may also be used in other types of wireless networks, e.g., a wireless personal area network (WPAN), or the like.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary wireless network 100 including a plurality of wireless devices (e.g., device 1, . . . , device 5). The wireless network 100 may employ a CSMA protocol (e.g., any appropriate IEEE 802.11 protocol) to wirelessly communicate between the wireless devices 1, . . . , 5. Individual devices in the wireless network 100 transmit and/or receive data packets from one or more other devices in the network. For example, the wireless network 100 may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) employing an appropriate IEEE 802.11 protocol, and the device 1 may be an access point of the WLAN network. Devices 2, . . . , 5 may comprise computing devices (e.g., personal computers, laptops, etc.) that communicates with the access point of the network. Although only 5 wireless devices are illustrated in FIG. 1, any number of wireless devices may be included in the wireless network 100.
FIG. 2a illustrates an exemplary frame 200 transmitted by a wireless device (e.g., any of the wireless devices illustrated in FIG. 1). The frame 200 includes a preamble field 204, a signal field 210 (identified as Sig 210 in FIG. 2a), and a payload field 216. The preamble field 204 is used to indicate a start of the frame, and includes information that may be used by a recipient of the frame to perform a frequency and/or timing synchronization, automatic gain control (AGC), channel estimation, and/or the like.
The signal field 210 acts as a physical header for the frame, and includes one or more physical layer parameters of the frame. For example, the signal field 210 may include a modulation and/or coding scheme of the frame, a length of the payload, channel estimation information, and/or the like. The payload field 216 includes data, which may be modulated using one or more parameters indicated in the signal field 210. The payload field 216 may comprise a data packet.
Several other types of frame formats (e.g., non-high throughput (HT) format, HT mixed format, HT Greenfield format) may also used in a CSMA protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.11n protocol), as is known to those skilled in the art. For example, FIG. 2b illustrates an exemplary frame 200b, utilizing a non-high throughput format. The frame 200b may be used in a wireless network that utilizes, for example, IEEE 802.11n protocol. Similar to the frame 200, the frame 200b includes a payload field 216 and a signal field 210. The frame 200b also includes a preamble field comprising of a legacy short training field (L-STF) 220a and a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 220b.
Referring again to FIG. 1, device 1 transmits a frame (e.g., frame 200 or 200a) addressed to, for example, device 3. Device 3 (i.e., the intended recipient), along with one or more of the other devices (e.g., devices 2, 4 and/or 5) in the network 100, receives the frame. That is, although a frame may be addressed to an intended device, one or more other devices in the network may also receive the frame.
Upon receiving a frame, a device (e.g., device 3) may not immediately know if the device is an intended recipient of the frame (e.g., if a destination address in the frame is the same or different from the device address). A destination address of the current frame may be included in a MAC header in the payload field 216.
Device 3, upon receiving the frame, extracts synchronization information, automatic gain control settings, and/or channel estimation information from the preamble field 204 of the frame. Device 3 also updates one or more physical parameter settings (e.g., synchronization parameters, automatic gain control parameters, channel estimation parameters, etc.) based on the extracted information from the preamble field 204 of the current frame. Device 3 decodes the signal field 210 to extract one or more physical layer parameters (e.g., length) of the frame. Once device 3 identifies a length of the frame (and the corresponding time needed to transmit the entire frame), device 3 generally does not transmit any of its own frames (e.g., to avoid chances of collision with the current frame).
Upon decoding the physical layer parameters, device 3 transmits these parameters, including a MAC header, to the MAC layer. The MAC layer of device 3 detect the destination address (e.g., included in the MAC header) of the frame. If device 3 determines that device 3 is the intended recipient of the frame (e.g., the destination address of the frame matches the address of device 3), device 3 further processes the payload data in the frame. Otherwise (e.g., if device 3 detects that it is not the intended recipient), device 3 disregards the frame and/or stops further processing of the data in the frame.
Two consecutive frames that are from the same source (e.g., the same transmitter) generally have one or more similar physical layer parameter (e.g., similar channel estimations). However, even if two consecutive frames (e.g., a first and second frame) are from the same source, a device may not know that the second frame has the same source address as the first frame until the device has already decoded one or more physical layer parameters from the second frame, and passed the decoded parameters to the MAC layer. Accordingly, each time a device receives a frame, the device generally needs to decode the one or more physical layer parameters from the frame, update its physical layer parameter settings, decode and transmit the MAC header (by decoding the payload field) to the MAC layer, and subsequently, the MAC layer determines the source and destination addresses of the frame. And if the frame is not addressed to the device, the device discards the physical layer parameter settings and stops further processing of the frame.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an exemplary receiver system 300 included in one of the devices (e.g., device 3) in the wireless network 100 of FIG. 1. The receiver system 300 includes two antennas 304a and 304b configured to transmit and/or receive wireless packets and frames to and/or from other wireless devices in the wireless network 100. Antennas 304a and 304b are operatively coupled to respective carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b. The respective carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b are also operatively coupled to channel estimation modules 312a and 312b, respectively. The channel estimation modules 312a and 312b are operatively coupled to a signal and payload demodulation/decoding module 320. The carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b are also coupled to a joint carrier sense (CS), synchronization, and AGC module 316. Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is a frame 324, which may be similar to the frame 200b of FIG. 2b, and which includes a preamble field (including legacy short training field (L-STF) 220a and legacy long training field (L-LTF) 220b), signal field 210 and a payload field 216.
In operation, the two antennas 304a and 304b receive a frame (e.g., frame 324), and the carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b extract frame and time synchronization information and a start of the frame indication from the preamble fields (e.g., L-STF field 220a and L-LTF field 220b) of the frame 324. The joint CS, synchronization, and AGC module 316 uses the extracted information from the carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b to provide a joint carrier sense, carrier synchronization and/or automatic gain control for the receiver system 300. The joint CS, synchronization, and AGC module 316, thus, combines information received from both the antennas 304 and 304b to achieve a relatively better performance. The channel estimation modules 312a and 312b perform channel estimation of the frame 324 (using, for example, information in L-LTF field 220b), and output the frame to signal and payload demodulation/decoding module 320 for further processing (e.g., demodulating and/or decoding the signal field 210 and/or the payload field 216).
The joint CS, synchronization, and AGC module 316 uses extracted information from carrier sense and synchronization modules 308a and 308b, thereby at least partially gaining from the antenna diversity or redundancy. However, the joint CS, synchronization, and AGC module 316 may not be able to fully exploit the advantages offered by multiple antenna diversity. This is because the joint CS, synchronization, and AGC module 316 may not have channel estimations of the receive frame.
In summary, as discussed with respect to FIG. 2a, until a device decodes the payload field 216 of a received frame and transmits the MAC header included in the payload field to the MAC layer of the device, the device may not know if the device is an intended recipient of the frame. Moreover, each time a device receives a frame, the device needs to extract one or more physical layer parameters from the frame and update the device's physical layer parameter settings. However, if the device is not the intended recipient of the frame, the device discards most of the decoded data and stops further processing of the frame. This generally results in waste of device resources, for example, device power. Also, as discussed with respect to FIG. 3, in a multi-antenna system, as the module 316 does not have access to channel estimation of a received frame, the module 316 may not be able to fully exploit advantages of multiple antenna diversity.

Prediction of future frames in a wireless network


An organic-inorganic hydrophilic polymer-oxide hybrid proton conducting membrane (PCM) is produced from a host organic polymer, a filler inorganic oxide, and a proton-source with a pKa less than about 5. Usually, the subject invention comprises PCMs containing host polymer-x-strong acid-y-filler oxide, wherein x is between about 1 and about 10 (with “x” as the molar ratio of acid anion to polymer repeat unit) and y≦about 50% (with “y” the weight percentage of filler oxide in the composite).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to novel proton conducting membranes (PCMs). Novel PCMs are disclosed that comprise a host polymer, one or more oxide fillers, and a strong acid (pKa less than about 5). More particularly, the subject invention comprises PCMs containing Polymer-x-strong acid-y-filler oxide and like composites, wherein x is between about 1 and about 10 (with x as the molar ratio of acid anion to polymer repeat unit) and y≦about 50% (with y the weight percentage of filler oxide in the composite). More particularly, the host polymer is PVP or equivalent polymer, the strong acid is phosphoric acid or an equivalent acid with a pKa less than about 5, and the filler oxide comprises SiO2 or similar oxides.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, the subject invention is utilized as a major component of a polymer electrolytic fuel cell (PEFC). PEFCs are generally comprised of three major components: the anode; the proton conducting membrane (PCM, the subject invention area); and the cathode. The PCM plays a critical role of transporting a proton from the anode to the cathode. It has to be highly proton conductive and also mechanically, thermally, and chemically stable. Water is produced at the interface between the cathode and the membrane. This water can be problematic, as discussed below, in operation of a PEFC. Lack of suitable membrane availability has been hindering the commercialization of PEFC. Water management is one of the most difficult issues in operating a PEFC. The water in the PEFC is produced as a product at the cathode side in PEFC. A breakdown in water balance between production and loss of water at the cathode side often results in water flood, while the anode interface with the membrane may suffer from water depletion due to water transportation toward the cathode side. Both the flood and the depletion may increase the cell over-potential which results in loss of power. Furthermore, the most commonly used PCMs are based on sulfonated perfluoropolymers that need to be fully humidified to be functional during the operation of the PEFC. Thus, these sulfonated perfluoropolymers not only require a humidifier, but also need an even distribution of water across the membrane which becomes an additional concern because of the membrane's high dependence on water.
Dry operation of PEFC may alleviate some of the water management problems. In fact, there is a strong demand in the auto industry as well as the distributed power generation industry for PEFC functional under low relative humidity (RH) (<50% RH)[Mathias, M.; Gasteiger, H.; Makharia, R.; Kocha, S.; Fuller, T.; Xie, T.; Pisco, J. Preprints of Symposia-American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry 2004, 49(2), 471–474] Currently, no commercially available PCM meets this demand. NAFION, the industrial standard PCM by DuPont, is widely used in PEFC; yet it is sensitive to humidity, a very undesirable characteristic. Other existing proton conducting membranes, commercially available or under development, are as good or even better than NAFION under fully humidified condition, but very few outperform NAFION under low humidity conditions.
One existing PCM is disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymer (BPSH) developed by McGrath and coworkers[Wang, F.; Hickner, M.; Kim, Y. S.; Zawodzinski, T. A.; McGrath, J. E. J. Membr. Sci. 2002, 197, 231] Though BPSH is thermally stable and mechanically durable, and widely used as one of the most advanced alternative PCM, its proton conductivity under low RH (<80%) is lower than that of NAFION. Lack of membranes capable of functioning under low RH, (i.e., maintaining high conductivity, ˜10−1 Scm−1) has been an obstacle to bringing PEFC to market. The challenge for the industry is how to improve the conductivity of PCMs, where water plays a vital role in proton transportation, under dry condition.
A typical approach previously attempted to improve the conductivity of PCMs under low RH has been to increase the degree of sulfonation in the PCM in an attempt to increase the overall conductivity. [Tchatchoua, C.; Harrison, W.; Einsla, B.; Sankir, M.; Kim, Y. S.; Pivovar, B.; McGrath, J. E., Preprints of Symposia-Am. Chem. Soc., Div. of Fuel Chem. 2004, 49(2), 601] The problem with such an approach is that the membrane tends to swell more with a higher degree of sulfonation, which is detrimental in operation of fuel cell since the dimensional stability of the PCM is a key to the operation. Also, there is synthetic difficulty associated with increasing degree of sulfonation. Furthermore, there is a theoretical limit to the conductivity due to the sulfonyl groups (—SO3H) in the membrane.
An existing alternative approach to improve proton conductivity is a fabrication of composite membranes based on the conventional water-based PEM and inorganic/organic additives including SiO2 and heteropolyacids (HPA). [Shao, Z-G.; Joghee, P.; Hsing, I-M. J. Membr. Sci. 2004, 229, 43] Especially, HPA has been widely used to improve the performance of proton conducting membranes[Herring, A. M.; Turner, J. A.; Dec, S. F.; Sweikart, M. A.; Malers, J. L.; Meng, F.; Pern, J.; Horan, J.; Vernon, D. Abst. 228th Am. Chem. Soc. National Meeting, Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 22–26, 2004 FUEL-053] The problems with HPA, however, are that it is water-soluble, thus leaches out, and the proton conductivity is sensitive to humidity. [Katsoulis, D. E. Chem. Rev. 1998, 98, 359] Hence, immobilization of HPA in a membrane is a particularly important issue. [Kim, Y. S.; Wang, F.; Hickner, M.; Zawodzinski, T. A.; McGrath, J. E. J. Membr. Sci. 2003, 212, 263]
An existing and more radical approach to improve proton conductivity is to replace water altogether. PCM with low volatile solvents such as imidazole have been utilized to replace water. [Kreuer, K. D.; Fuchs, A.; Ise, M.; Spaeth, Maier, M. J. Electrochim. Acta 1998, 43, 1281] Though the proton conductivity of 10−2 Scm−1 has been achieved at high temperatures, imidazole is known to poison the Pt catalyst and also is subject to diffusing out of the membrane, which is currently fixed through chemical attachment to a host polymer. [Schuster, M. F. H.; Meyer, W. H.; Schuster, M.; Kreuer, K. D. Chem. Mater. 2004, 16, 329.] Also, work exists in which a polybenzimidazole membrane was doped by H3PO4 (PBI/H3PO4). [Fontanella, J. J.; Wintersgill, M. C.; Wainright, J. S.; Savinell, R. F.; Litt, M. Electrochimica Acta 1998, 43, 1289.] Yet, H3PO4 is known to be leached out by water on the cathode side. Improvement of the performance of a PBI/H3PO4 membrane has been achieved through the use of polyphosphoric acid, however, the poor performance at low temperature and leaching out of H3PO4 by water condensation remain unsolved. [Zhang, H.; Chen, R.; Ramanathan, L. S.; Scanlon, E.; Xiao, L.; Choe, E-W.; Benicewicz, B. C. Prep. Div. Fuel Cehm. Am. Chem. Soc., Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 22–26, 2004, 49, 588.] In another approach to replace water, inorganic solid acids such as CsHSO4 have been used. [Haile, S. M.; Boysen, D. A.; Chisholm, C. R. I.; Merle, R. B. Nature (London, United Kingdom) 2001, 410, 910.] However, there are concerns regarding this solid acid: reduction of the sulfur in the CsHSO4 electrolyte may occur over time, the reaction with hydrogen forms hydrogen sulfide, and also a poisoning to the Pt catalyst may occur. Other solid acids may be less problematic, but the stability of the materials remain problematic since the operation temperatures for these solid acids are close to their thermal decomposition temperatures. Thus, anhydrous (non-water) membranes have not reached a practical stage for operation of PEFC.
Additionally, four existing membrane works should be mentioned. The first concerns poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-H3PO4-silica hybrid membranes. [Carriere, D.; Barboux, P.; Chaput, F.; Spalla, O.; Boilot, J. P. Solid State Ionics 2001, 145, 141] The hybrid membrane was prepared in a manner vaguely related to the subject invention (i.e., a polymer/H3PO4 blend is integrated in a silica network). The proton conductivity reported was 5×10−3 Scm−1 under 20% RH at 30° C. when 0.2 mols of H3PO4 was mixed for every repeating unit of PVDF. The conductivity found in that membrane is lower than the best performance of the subject invention (see Example 2 below), but the content of H3PO4 is lower than with the subject invention.
The second membrane work is by Honma et al., who have presented reports on hybrid membranes based on a silica network. [Honma, I.; Nomura, S.; Nakajima, H. J. Membr. Sc. 2001, 185, 83 and Honma, I.; Nakajima, H.; Nishikawa, O.; Sugimoto, T.; Nomura, S. J. Electrochem. Soc. 2003, 150, A616] Their membranes were comprised of a polymer such as poly(ethylene oxide), poly(propylene oxide), and poly(tetramethylene oxide), 12-phosphotungstic acid, and SiO2. It is critical that all of their membranes needed to be fully humidified to give high conductivity, ˜10−2 Scm−1, and lost conductivity under low humidity conditions.
The third previously reported membrane work is by Chen et al. who reported a blend membrane of PVP and PVDF which achieved the conductivity of 1 0–2 5 cm−1 at room temperature, yet the membrane was fully humidified. [Chen, N.; Hong, L. Solid State Ionics, 2002, 146, 377]
Lastly, PVP has also been used as a PCM in combination with polyphosphoric acid. [Bozkurt, A.; Meyer, W. H. J. Polym. Sci. 2001, 39, 1987] However, the conductivities at room temperature and 120° C., 10−3 and 5×10−3 Scm−1, respectively, were both lower than the subject invention produced at room temperature.
It is noted and stressed that the subject approach is not to shun a way from water, the best medium for proton conduction, nor increasing the degree of sulfonation or using HPA. One of the host polymers, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), is very unique in that it has an amphipathic character (i.e., both hydrophilic and hydrophobic) due to the highly polar amide group and the carbonyl group for the hydrophilic portion and the non-polar hydrocarbon groups for the hydrophobic portion. It is known to form solid-state complexes with a wide variety of substances and the complexes are molecularly dispersed, suggesting this polymer is an ideal host polymer. [Carriere, D.; Barboux, P.; Chaput, F.; Spalla, O.; Boilot, J. P. Solid State Ionics 2001, 145, 141 and Honma, I.; Nomura, S.; Nakajima, H. J. Membr. Sc. 2001, 185, 83] Its high affinity toward acids, can accommodate a large amount of acid such as H3PO4 in the system and yet the acid is very tightly held in the interpenetrating network formed by the polymer, and associate oxide, such as SiO2. This leads to a high proton conductivity of the membrane and also to very little loss of the acid out of the membrane. The subject system (with one preferred example having PVP/H3PO4/SiO2 components, may vaguely resemble the PBI/H3PO4 system above. Yet, the subject system membrane is fundamentally and dramatically different in that it uses water, and also the acid, such as, but not limited to, H3PO4, for proton conduction, and thus maintains a high conductivity even at relatively low temperatures, <20° C., at which PBI/H3PO4 shows a poor performance. Furthermore, a fuel cell with the PBI/H3PO4 membrane needs to be maintained at high temperatures, >160° C., at which new concerns arise such as corrosion of the electrode. In other words, the subject invention allows for fuel cell operation at moderately low and high temperatures without external humidification and without presenting the problems associated with the currently available alternative PCMs. Further, it is stressed that the subject invention utilizes the filler oxide (e.g. SiO2) to form an interpenetrating network which is one of the fundamental differences from the PBI/H3PO4 system, in addition to using H2O. In the PBI/H3PO4 system, H3PO4 is also trapped in the network. Furthermore, the subject invention PVP-H3PO4—SiO2 even functions at subzero temperatures, which is another advantage over the PBI/H3PO4 system.
It is recorded that SiO2 has been used previously by mixing its particles in a PCM. [Shao, Z-G.; Joghee, P.; Hsing, I-M. J. Membr. Sci. 2004, 229, 43] However, the subject invention uses oxides, such as SiO2, to form a interpenetrating network in the membrane. This network not only enhances the mechanical property of the membrane, but also traps the selected acid, such as H3PO4, to avoid leaching out of the acid.
The subject hybrid membrane has higher conductivity than the prior arts. This is because the subject membrane has a different host polymer, PVP, which is a more desirable host polymer for H3PO4 due to PVP's extreme high affinity to the acid, thus having a higher uptake of H3PO4, leading to a higher conductivity even under low humidity. Also, it forms a very transparent, well dispersed membrane with very few pores.
In relation to Chen et al. [Chen, N.; Hong, L. Solid State Ionics, 2002, 146, 377], the subject invention uses H3PO4 as an extra proton carrier to facilitate the proton conduction and H3PO4 is imbedded in the silica network.
Hence, in the subject invention the host polymer, such as PVP, has a strong interaction with the selected acid, such as H3PO4, thus having a large intake of the acid. The acid is immobilized in the interpenetrating network formed by condensation of silica in the membrane to avoid leaching out. The membrane is flexible, transparent, and ductile. Because of a large amount of acid, such as H3PO4, already imbedded in the membrane, a small amount of water can significantly facilitates the proton conduction, thus leading to a high conductivity under a low humidity. The conduction mechanism is a proton being transferred between acid molecules or between an acid molecule and a water molecule or between water molecules in a combination of a Grotthus-type mechanism (i.e., the protons are transferred within adjacent hydrogen bonds) and a vehicular mechanism.
An approach to produce an effective PCM is based on organic-inorganic materials generated by sol-gel and has recently gained increasing interest in view of obtaining new composite compounds with unique properties that result from intimate mixing of various components on a molecular level. In the sol-gel process organic groups are introduced by co-condensation of alkoxides (of silicon, aluminum, titanium, zirconium, tin, etc.) with reactive organic functionalities followed by organic cross-linking reactions, thus providing the advantages of the polymers, while the inorganic network gives an amorphous structure and good thermal, mechanical and chemical stability. Some of the membranes investigated so far are: 1) NAFION/alkoxide composite membranes, such as, NAFION/SiO2—P2O5—ZrO2 [M. Aparicio, F. Damay, L. C. Klein, "Characterization of SiO2-P2O5-ZrO2 sol-gel/NAFION composite membranes", Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 26(1/2/3) (2003), p. 1055–1059 and Aparicio, M.; Klein, L. C.; Adjemian, K. T.; Bocarsly, A. B., "SiO2-P2O5-ZrO2 sol-gel/NAFION composite membranes for PEMFC", Ceramic Transactions, 127 (2002), p. 167–176], NAFION/silicon oxide [Jung, D. H.; Cho, S. Y.; Peck, D. H.; Shin, D. R.; Kim, J. S., "Performance evaluation of a Nafion/silicon oxide hybrid membrane for direct methanol fuel cell", Journal of Power Sources, 106 (2002), p. 173–177 and Kim, Haekyoung; Lim, C.; Chang, H., "Fabrications and direct methanol fuel cell applications of Nafion based organic-inorganic hybrid membrane", Proceedings-Electrochemical Society (2001), 2001–4(Direct Methanol Fuel Cells), p14–28], NAFION/glass [Nogami, M.; Usui, Y.; Kasuga, T., "Proton conducting organic-glass composites", Fuel Cells, 1 (2001), p. 181–185], NAFION/silica [Miyake, N.; Wainright, J. S.; Savinell, R. F., "Evaluation of a sol-gel derived Nafion/silica hybrid membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications 11. Methanol uptake and methanol permeability", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 148 (2001), A905–A909 and Miyake, N.; Wainright, J. S.; Savinell, R. F., "Evaluation of a sol-gel derived Nafion/silica hybrid membrane for proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications 1. Proton conductivity and water content", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 148 (2001), A898–A904], NAFION/TiO2 [Uchida, Hiroyuki; Ueno, Yoshihiko; Hagihara, Hiroki; Watanabe, Masahiro, "Self-humidifying electrolyte membranes for fuel cells", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 150 (2003), A57–A62], NAFION/Cs+ ions [V. Tricoli, "Proton and methanol transport in poly(perfluorosulfonate) membranes containing Cs+ and H+ cations", J. Electrochem. Soc. 145 (1998), p. 3798–3801], and NAFION/alkoxides of Ti, Al, Zr and organoalkoxysilanes [V. Tricoli, "Proton and methanol transport in poly(perfluorosulfonate) membranes containing Cs+ and H+ cations", J. Electrochem. Soc. 145 (1998), p. 3798–3801]. It was found that the incorporation of inorganic phase in NAFION led to improvements in its thermal stability, reduction of methanol crossover, and higher performance at elevated temperature. However, the proton conductivity in the hybrid membrane was lower than, or equal to, that in unmodified NAFION membranes if the inorganic phase was not P2O5 [M. Aparicio, F. Damay, L. C. Klein, "Characterization of SiO2-P2O5-ZrO2 sol-gel/NAFION composite membranes", Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 26(1/2/3) (2003), p. 1055–1059, Nogami, M.; Usui, Y.; Kasuga, T., "Proton conducting organic-glass composites", Fuel Cells, 1 (2001), p. 181–185, and Miyake, N.; Wainright, J. S.; Savinell, R. F., "Evaluation of a sol-gel derived Nafion/silica hybrid membrane for proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications 1. Proton conductivity and water content", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 148 (2001), A898–A904], which favored proton migration based on the Grotthus-type mechanism [T. Yajima and H. Iwahara H. Uchida, "Protonic and oxide ionic conduction in BaCeO3-based ceramics—effect of partial substitution for Ba in BaCe0.9O3— with Ca", Solid State Ionics, 47 (1991), p. 117–124, N. Bonanos, B. Ellis, K. S. Knight and M. N. Mahmood, "Ionic conductivity of gadolinium-doped barium cerate perovskites", Solid State Ionics, 35 (1989), p. 179–188, and H. Iwahara, H. Uchida, K. Morimoto, "High temperature solid electrolyte fuel cells using perovskite-type oxide based on barium cerium oxide (BaCeO3)", J. Electrochem. Soc., 137 (1990), p. 462–465]. The studies suggested that inorganic network led to increased close "channel" in film formation, thus decreased the ionic conductivity. 2) Polymer/heteropolyacid composite membranes [Chu, Young-Hwan; Lim, Jung-Eun; Kim, Hyun-Jong; Lee, Chang-Ha; Han, Hak-Soo; Shul, Yong-Gun, "Proton conducting silica mesoporous/heteropolyacid-PVA/SSA nano-composite membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell", Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 146 (2003), (Nanotechnology in Mesostructured Materials), p. 787–790, Honma, I.; Nakajima, H.; Nishikawa, O.; Sugimoto, T.; Nomura, S., "Family of High-Temperature Polymer-Electrolyte Membranes Synthesized from Amphiphilic Nanostructured Macromolecules", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 150 (2003), A616–A619, Honma, Itaru; Nakajima, Hitoshi; Nishikawa, Osamu; Sugimoto, Toshiya; Nomura, Shigeki, "Proton conducting electrolyte membranes synthesized through amphiphilic organic/inorganic hybrid macromolecules", Electrochemistry (Tokyo, Japan), 70 (2002), p. 920–923, Honma, Itaru; Nakajima, Hitoshi; Nomura, Shigeki, "High temperature proton conducting hybrid polymer electrolyte membranes", Solid State Ionics, 154–155 (2002), p. 707–712, Honma, I.; Nakajima, H.; Nishikawa, O.; Sugimoto, T.; Nomura, S., "Amphiphilic organic/inorganic nanohybrid macromolecules for intermediate-temperature proton conducting electrolyte membranes", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 149 (2002), A1389–A1392, Honma, I.; Nishikawa, O.; Sugimoto, T.; Nomura, S.; Nakajima, H., "A sol-gel derived organic/inorganic hybrid membrane for intermediate temperature PEFC", Fuel Cells, 2(1) (2002), p. 52–58, Nakajima, Hitoshi; Honma, Itaru, "Proton-conducting hybrid solid electrolytes for intermediate temperature fuel cells", Solid State Ionics, 148(3,4) (2002), p. 607–610, Lavrencic Stangar, U.; Groselj, N.; Orel, B.; Schmitz, A.; Colomban, Ph., "Proton-conducting sol-gel hybrids containing heteropoly acids", Solid State Ionics, 145(1–4) (2001), p. 109–118, and Honma, I.; Takeda, Y.; Bae, J. M., "Protonic conducting properties of sol-gel derived organic/inorganic nanocomposite membranes doped with acidic functional molecules", Solid State Ionics, 120(1–4) (1999), p. 255–264]. By doping heteropolyacid like 12-phosphotungstic acid (PWA) into the network and through sol-gel processing of bridged polysilsesquioxanes, amphiphilic organic/inorganic nano-hybrid membranes were synthesized. The membranes show large proton conductivity at intermediate temperature up to 140° C. and flexible as well as thermally stable due to the temperature tolerant inorganic frameworks. 3) Other organic/inorganic hybrids, such as, PVA/silica [Kim, Dae Sik; Shin, Kwang Ho; Park, Ho Bum; Rhim, Ji Won; Lee, Young Moo., "PVA/silica hybrid membrane containing sulfonic acid group for direct methanol fuel cells application", Membrane, 13(2) (2003), p. 101–109], polyethylene glycol/SiO2 [Chang, H. Y.; Lin, C. W., "Proton conducting membranes based on PEG/SiO2 nanocomposites for direct methanol fuel cells", Journal of Membrane Science, 218(1–2) (2003), p295–306 and Honma, I.; Hirakawa, S.; Yamada, K.; Bae, J. M., "Synthesis of organic/inorganic nanocomposites protonic conducting membrane through sol-gel processes", Solid State Ionics, 118(1,2) (1999), p. 29–36], 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy-silane/P2O5 [Tadanaga, Kiyoharu; Yoshida, Hiroshi; Matsuda, Atsunori; Minami, Tsutomu; Tatsumisago, Masahiro, "Proton conductive inorganic-organic hybrid membranes as an electrolyte for fuel cells prepared from 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and orthophosphoric acid", Electrochemistry (Tokyo, Japan), 70(12) (2002), p. 998–1000], perfluorosulfonic acid/SiO2 [Adjemian, K. T.; Srinivasan, S.; Benziger, J.; Bocarsly, A. B., "Investigation of PEMFC operation above 100° C. employing perfluorosulfonic acid-silicon oxide composite membranes", Journal of Power Sources, 109(2) (2002), p. 356–364], and polypropylene glycol/SiO2 [Honma, I.; Nomura, S.; Nakajima, H., "Protonic conducting organic/inorganic nanocomposites for polymer electrolyte membrane", Journal of Membrane Science, 185(1) (2001), p. 83–94]. In general the composite membranes have higher mechanical and thermal stabilities and are more robust than the control membranes (unmodified membranes), which degrade after high operation temperature and thermal cycling. However, the ionic conductivity of the membranes is very dependent on the content of sulfonic acid group that works as a donor of hydrophilic SO3H group.

Hydrophilic polymer-oxide-phosphoric acid compositions for proton conducting membranes

The Regents of the University of California


A rotary cage press provided internally with a deformable flexible membrane having the form of a half of the cage, this press being characterized in that the elements of recovering the

Already known, notably through the French patent applications 2 812 235 and 2 873 617, is such a press which comprises:                a cage presenting a cylindrical lateral wall and two flanges closing said cage respectively at one end and at the other end of said lateral wall;        means of mounting said cage to rotate about its axis in a position where the latter is positioned horizontally, comprising a chassis;        means for selectively controlling the rotation of said cage about its axis;        a deformable flexible membrane positioned in said cage, fixed in a seal-tight manner to the lateral wall of the cage along two opposite longitudinal edges and fixed in a seal-tight manner to the flanges along two respective transversal edges each situated between an end of one longitudinal edge and an end of the other longitudinal edge so that said membrane separates the internal volume of said cage into a pressing chamber delimited by said membrane, by a first half of said lateral wall situated between said two opposite longitudinal edges and by a first half of each of said flanges situated, relative to the respective transversal edges, on the side of the first half of the lateral wall, and into a control chamber delimited by said membrane, by the second half of said lateral wall and by the second half of said flanges, said flexible membrane, at rest, having almost the form of half of the cage;        means of admitting a pressure agent into said control chamber and means of sucking said pressure agent out of said control chamber;        at least one door blocking or revealing an opening provided in said first half of the lateral wall of the cage;        drainage means equipping said first half of the lateral wall of the cage; and        means of recovering said liquid part of the matter leaving the pressing chamber via said drainage means.
Before filling the pressing chamber with matter such as the grape harvest, means of sucking the pressure agent out of the control chamber are actuated, so that a vacuum is produced therein and the membrane is against the second half of the lateral wall and the flanges of the cage.
To produce the pressing, once filling is complete, means of admitting a pressure agent into the control chamber are actuated, so that the matter that is present therein is applied against the drainage means and pressurized, with the result that the liquid part of this matter flows through the drainage means. In general, several phases of pressing the matter such as grape harvest are carried out, the pressing phases being separated by press-cake breaking-up phases in which the cage is rotated about its axis to dislodge the cake of matter that is formed under the effect of the pressure.
To empty the cage once the pressing is complete, the door is opened and the cage rotated so that the solid part remaining in the pressing chamber is gradually evacuated through the orifice revealed by the door.
To avoid damaging the membrane, the vacuum is formed in the control chamber in the press-cake breaking-up phase and in the emptying phase.

Presses for matters such as the grape harvest

Abstract: liquid part of the matter include on the cage, at least one external racking device, and a connection unit through which opens out the outlet orifice of the racking device; and on the chassis, a liquid taking device including a telescopic tubular unit allowing a retracted position in which the telescopic unit presents no obstacle to the rotation of the cage and an extended position in which the telescopic unit is adapted, when the cage is in a predetermined pressing angular position, to come against the connection unit bearing in a seal-tight manner around the outlet orifice of the racking device.


A portable adhesive tape cutting device includes a main body, a cutting unit fixedly on the main body, a handle pivotally connected to two side walls of the main body, and a cover pivotally connected to the handle. The present invention can be used quickly and conveniently for cutting a desired length of adhesive tape. The portable adhesive tape cutting device is provided with the handle for the user to change the position of the portable adhesive tape cutting device conveniently.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive tape cutting device, and more particular to a portable adhesive tape cutting device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional adhesive tape cutting device comprises a base 1. A rotatable wheel 3 is pivotally provided in a recess 2 of the base 1. A roll of adhesive tap 4 is fitted on the rotatable wheel 3. A blade seat 5 with a blade 6 is provided at the front end of the base 1. When in use, the adhesive tape is cut by the blade 6. After cutting, the front end of the roll of adhesive tape is adhered on the blade 6 for next use. There is no need to find out the front edge of the roll of adhesive tape every time.
However, when the user wants to change the position of the conventional adhesive tape cutting device, he/she must hold the two sides or the bottom of the base 1 with both hands. The surface of the base 1 is smooth. Sometimes, the adhesive tape cutting device may fall out of the user's hands by accident. Furthermore, during use, the adhesive tape cutting device may slide because of applying an improper force. It is necessary to adjust the position of the adhesive tape cutting device again, so it is difficult to change the position of the adhesive tape cutting device. Besides, the blade 6 protrudes out of the adhesive tape cutting device. It may hurt the user when in use. The roll of adhesive tape will lessen during use to change the angle of the adhesive tape to extend out, which causes that the roll of adhesive tape cannot be adhered certainly. Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems.


Apparatus and methods for locating faults in inductively coupled wired drill pipe while drilling. In one embodiment, apparatus includes a drill string and a wired drill pipe fault monitor. The drill string includes a plurality of wired drill pipes. Each wired drill pipe includes an inductive coupler at each terminal end. The wired drill pipe fault monitor is coupled to the wired drill pipes. The fault monitor includes an impedance measuring system and a fault locator. The impedance measuring system is configured to measure, while drilling the borehole, an input impedance of the wired drill pipes. The fault locator is configured to determine a propagation constant for the wired drill pipes, and to analyze the measured input impedance and determine, as a function of the measured input impedance and the propagation constant, a location of a fault in the wired drill pipes.

While drilling a wellbore in subsurface formations it is advantageous for measurement and command information to be transferred between the surface and the drilling tools in a timely fashion. Some drilling systems employ a high-speed communication network including communication media embedded in the drill pipe to facilitate timely information transfer between surface and downhole systems. Such drill pipe, known as "wired drill pipe" (WDP), includes communicative couplers at each end of each pipe joint and the aforementioned communication media extending between the couplers.
A system employing WDP for communication may include hundreds of individual wired drill pipes connected in series. Repeater subs may be interspersed among the WDPs to extend communication range. If one WDP (or repeater sub) has an electrical fault, then the entire communication system may fail.
In one particularly problematic scenario, an intermittent fault occurs while drilling, but disappears as the drill string is removed from the borehole. Such intermittent faults may be due to downhole pressures, downhole temperatures, shocks, rotating and bending, or other environmental effects that are not present when the drill pipe is retracted from the wellbore. If the fault cannot be traced to within a few joints of WDP, then large sections of WDP may have to be replaced. For example, if the repeater subs are spaced apart by 500 meters, then an intermittent fault may only be locatable to within the 500 meter section below the lowest repeater sub known to be operational. This uncertainty in the location of the fault may require large numbers of WDP joints to be available on the drilling rig. Each failure might require 500 meters of drill pipe to be replaced. If the fault only occurs under drilling conditions, then it may be impossible to identify exactly which drill pipe is failing at the rig site. Therefore, it is desirable to locate an intermittent fault while drilling, that is—while the WDP is in the borehole.

System and method for determining fault location


The invention is a method for objects selection at a location comprising the steps of using a mobile computer having a bar code reader, a display, an audio output device, an audio input device, a tactile input device, text to speech software, a voice recognition software, objects selection applications software, and radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, wherein said mobile computer is adapted for communication between an order systems server and a user and the order systems server is adapted for communication between the mobile computer and at least one external computer system.

Current methods for loading objects onto a transport vehicle are slow and subject to error. Loaders tend to make numerous mistakes. The most costly mistakes are not locating the correct object to load onto the transport vehicle and not identifying the location an object was placed on the transport vehicle. Other errors include loading the objects onto the transport vehicle in the wrong sequence and loading the transport vehicle too slowly.
A need has existed to overcome the above problems, efficiently and economically.


Disclosed is a new polyolefin catalyst and preparation therefor. Specifically, disclosed is a catalytic system comprising a new complex of iron, cobalt, nickel, palladium, and platinum. In the presence of the catalytic system, oily polyethylene can be efficiently obtained from simple olefins such as ethylene under mild conditions, highly branched oily alkane mixture is then obtained after hydrogenation. The alkane mixture can be used as a processing aid and a high-performance lubricant base oil. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the catalyst, a method for preparing the highly branched oily alkane mixture and a method for preparing functional polyolefin oil.

The base oil for industrial lubricants is obtained by oil cracking or α-olefin oligomerization. Among them, as very important lubricating base oil with excellent performance, poly-α-olefin (PAO) is obtained by α-olefin oligomerization, and main raw materials are expensive α-olefins such as α-octene, α-decene, α-dodecene, etc.
Therefore, currently, the premise for obtaining high-quality base oil PAO is to catalyze the ethylene oligomerization of α-olefins firstly, especially α-decene, and the selective production technology of C6 or higher α-olefin is not yet mature, thus resulting in its high price. Direct production of high performance base oils from cheap olefins such as ethylene, propylene and butene has the advantages of being economical and efficient. However, due to the lack of efficient catalytic systems, there has been no significant progress in this field yet.
Prior to 1995, nickel complexes were considered to act only as catalysts for catalyzing olefin oligomerization. For example, well-known SHOP catalysts could catalyze the high activity of ethylene to obtain a series of α-olefins in accordance with Flory distribution. On 1995, Brookhart et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 6414.) for the first time proved that ethylene polymerization can be achieved by nickel complex catalytic through changing the ligand structure to control the nature of the active center by using α-diimine nickel complexes, thereby obtaining branched high molecular weight polyethylene, wherein the melting point of the polymer (Tm) is 39-132° C. Du Pont Company has filed several patent applications for this technology (WO96/23010, WO98/03521, WO 98/40374, WO99/05189, WO99/62968, WO00/06620, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,103,658, 6,660,677) in order to protect this type of polymerized products. The oily polyethylene can be obtained from the corresponding cationic palladium system, and the polyolefin has a high branching degree, but the catalyst is difficult to prepare, expensive and of low catalytic activity.
The morphology and performance of polyethylene closely relates to its branching degree, and the catalyst structure is the core of controlling polyethylene structure. The polyethylene prepared by Brookhart et al. from nickel catalyst possesses certain branching degree, but still can not meet the requirements in which the product is solid state at room temperature. In 2011, the applicant has filed application CN201110126431.9, where the use of novel α-diimine nickel complexes has achieved high activity in catalyzing simple olefin polymerization such as ethylene to obtain highly branched oily polyesters and other oily polymers.
In general, although polyolefin oil has a huge potential application value, there are few catalyst technologies being able to achieve low-cost manufacture of the product. In particular, it is desirable in the practical application that the polyolefin structure contains certain polar groups to organically complex with other materials. Therefore, there is an urgent need in the art for the development of new and efficient catalytic systems for the preparation of low cost high performance oily polymers.


A system and method for controlling plasma. The system includes a semiconductor chamber comprising a powered electrode, another electrode, and an adjustable coupling to ground circuit. The powered electrode is configured to receive a wafer or substrate. There is at least one grounded electrode configured to generate an electrical connection with the powered electrode. At least one of the grounded electrodes is electrically coupled to the adjustable coupling to ground circuit. The adjustable coupling to ground circuit is configured to modify the impedance of the grounded electrode. The ion energy of the plasma is controlled by the adjustable coupling to ground circuit.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is related to semiconductor fabrication. More particularly, the invention is related to plasma processing during semiconductor fabrication.
2. Description of Related Art
In the fabrication of semiconductor based devices (e.g. integrated circuits or flat panel displays) layers of material may alternately be deposited onto and etched from a wafer or substrate surface (e.g., the semiconductor wafer or the glass panel). As is well known in the art, the etching of the deposited layer(s) may be accomplished by a variety of techniques, including plasma-enhanced etching. In plasma-enhanced etching, the actual etching of the wafer or substrate takes place inside a plasma processing chamber. During the etching process, a plasma is formed from a suitable etchant source gas to etch areas of the wafer or substrate that are unprotected by a mask, leaving behind the desired pattern.
There are two types of plasmas that are employed in plasma-enhanced etching, namely, confined plasmas and unconfined plasmas. Unconfined plasmas touch the plasma processing chamber walls and may contaminate the wafer or substrate by re-depositing atoms from the chamber walls on to the wafer or substrate. Typically, the plasma processing chamber walls are made of materials that are incompatible to the wafer or substrate. With confined plasma, there is little or no contamination since the plasma is stopped by some means from reaching the chamber walls. Thus, confined plasmas provide a level of cleanliness that is not provided by well-known unconfined plasmas.
In prior art systems plasma can be prevented from reaching the chamber walls by establishing a variety of repulsive fields, either electric or magnetic in nature. By way of example, the plasma is confined by a plurality of confinement rings resident within the chamber walls and by means of draining charge out of the plasma just before it can reach the inner limits of the confinement rings. Since the confinement rings are made from an insulating material they will charge to a potential comparable to that of the plasma. Consequently, a repulsive electric field will emanate from the leading edge of each confinement ring that will keep plasma from protruding any further out toward the chamber walls.
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown an illustrative prior art system 100 having a process chamber that generates a capacitively coupled RF plasma. By way of example and not of limitation, the illustrative system is an EXELAN system manufactured by Lam Research Corporation. The illustrative system 100 includes a parallel plate plasma reactor such as reactor 100. The reactor 100 includes a chamber having an interior 102 maintained at a desired vacuum pressure by a vacuum pump 104 connected to an outlet in a wall of the reactor. Etching gas can be supplied to the plasma reactor supplying gas from gas supply 106. For example, a medium density plasma can be generated in the reactor by a dual frequency arrangement wherein RF energy from RF source. 108 is supplied through a matching network 110 to a powered electrode 112. The RF source 108 is configured to supply RF power at 27 MHz and 2 MHz. Electrode 114 is a grounded electrode. A wafer or substrate 116 is supported by the powered electrode 112 and is etched with plasma generated by energizing the etch gasses into a plasma state. A plurality of confinement rings 120a and 120b confine the plasma. Other capacitively coupled reactors can also be used such as reactors wherein RF power is supplied to both electrodes such as the dual frequency plasma etch reactor described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,304, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown a cross-sectional view of the interior 102 of the plasma processing chamber 100. The interior 102 includes confinement rings 120a and 120b. Although only two confinement rings are shown, any number of confinement rings may be provided. Within the interior 102 of plasma processing chamber 100, there is shown a powered electrode 122 on which is adapted to receive a wafer or substrate 124. The powered electrode 124 can be implemented with any suitable chucking system, e.g. electrostatic, mechanical, clamping, vacuum, or the like, and is surrounded by an insulator 126 such as a quartz focus ring. During etching, RF power supply 128 can communicate RF power having a frequency of about 2 MHz to about 27 MHz to powered electrode 122. Above wafer or substrate 124, there is disposed a grounded electrode 130, which is coupled to confinement rings 120a and 120b. Another grounded electrode 132 abuts the insulator ring 126 and is located near the powered electrode 122. In operation, RF power supply 128 communicates RF power to powered electrode 122 that is electrically coupled to grounded electrode 130.

System and method for controlling plasma with an adjustable coupling to ground circuit


A process for producing low molecular weight polymers, the process comprising partially hydrogenating an unsaturated polymer to form a partially hydrogenated polymer, and reacting the partially hydrogenated polymer with an acyclic alkene in the presence of a metathesis catalyst.

Known methods of depolymerizing polydienes with metathesis catalysts produce very low molecular weight oligomers, i.e. less than 7,500 grams per mole. These methods also result in a high proportion of the end groups being non-functionalized cyclic species. It is difficult, using known methods, to control the molecular weight of the product of the depolymerization.
Low molecular weight functionalized polymers, i.e. 7,500 to 100,000 grams per mole are very desirable. For example, they could be useful in sealant or adhesive compositions, or as compatibilizing agents or plasticizers. Therefore, a method for preparing low molecular weight polymers, particularly those that are functionalized, would be desirable.

Method for preparing low molecular weight polymers


A semiconductor memory module includes a memory printed circuit board (PCB) that includes first connectors, a second connector, and a third connector configured to be connectable with an external device, memory devices that are mounted on the memory PCB and are connected with the first connectors, and a power management integrated circuit that is mounted on the memory PCB, receives a first voltage through the second connector, generates a second voltage from the first voltage, and supplies the second voltage to the memory devices. The power management integrated circuit adjusts the second voltage depending on a difference between a signal received through the third connector and the second voltage.

Power management integrated circuits (PMIC) that reduce power consumption by adjusting levels of voltages are being developed responsive to an increasing demand for devices having lower power consumption. Many recent computing devices have been designed such that a power management integrated circuit is mounted thereon.
Dual-in memory modules (DIMM) are being used as main memory in computing devices. By mounting various volatile memories or nonvolatile memories on a DIMM, the DIMM may provide a storage space for a main memory to computing devices.
A dual data rate 5 (DDR5) synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) is being developed as an example product of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). A DIMM for the DDR5 SDRAM is also being developed for the purpose of corresponding with a characteristic of the DDR5 SDRAM and supporting functions of the DDR5 SDRAM. The DIMM for the DDR5 SDRAM is being designed such that the power management integrated circuit is mounted thereon.

Semiconductor memory modules including power management integrated circuits