The present invention is a toner for developing electrostatic charge image containing a wax derived from a plant cholesterol, an electric charge-controlling agent, a coloring agent and a binding resin. The toner is suited for use in the electromagnetic induction-heated fixing system which is capable of heating the heating member up to a predetermined fixing temperature in a short period of time, makes it possible to maintain images free of irregular luster or fouling for extended periods of time and is, further, suited for being fixed at a low temperature.

In an image-forming processing based on the electrophotographic system, the electrostatic latent images are formed on an inorganic photosensitive material such as selenium, selenium alloy, cadmium sulfide or amorphous silicon or on an organic photosensitive material formed by using a charge-generating agent and a charge-transporting agent. The thus formed electrostatic latent images are then developed with a toner, and the toner images formed on the photosensitive material are transferred onto a transfer sheet such as paper or plastic film, and are fixed thereon so as to obtain visible images.
The photosensitive material is positively charged or is negatively charged depending on its constitution. A toner that is electrically charged to a polarity opposite to that of the photosensitive material is used for the normal developing in which the photosensitive material that is electrically charged on the whole surface thereof is exposed to light, and the toner image is formed on the portions that have not been irradiated with light. On the other hand, a toner that is electrically charged to the same polarity as that of the photosensitive material is used for the reversal developing in which the photosensitive material is exposed to light, and the toner images are formed on the portions irradiated with light.
The toner is constituted by using a binder resin, a coloring agent, a wax and, as required, any other additives. Specifically, a charge control agent is, usually, added to impart desired charging properties (speed of charge, level of charge, stability in the charge, etc.), aging stability, and environmental stability. Addition of the charge control agent greatly improves the properties of the toner.
As the known charge control agents that can be positively charged upon friction, there can be exemplified Nigrosine dye, azine dye, copper phthalocyanine pigment, quaternary ammonium salt and a polymer having a quaternary ammonium salt on the side chain thereof. Further, as the charge control agents that can be negatively charged upon friction, there have been known a metal complex of monoazo dye, metal complexes of salicylic acid, naphthoic acid and dicarboxylic acid, copper phthalocyanine pigment, and resin containing acid components.
It is expected that there will be an increase in the demand for the colored toners. The charge control agents used for the colored toners must have a light color or no color so will not to affect the hue of the images. As the charge control agents, there can be exemplified metal complex compounds of hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives (e.g., see patent document 1), metal salt compounds of aromatic dicarboxylic acid (see patent document 2), metal complex compounds of anthranilic acid derivatives (see patent document 3), organoboron compounds (see patent document 4), biphenol compounds (see patent document 5), calix(n)arene compounds (see patent document 6), and cyclic phenol sulfides (see patent document 7), which are for use with the negatively charging toners. As the charge control agents for use with the positively charging toners, there can be exemplified quaternary ammonium salt compounds (see patent document 8).
As for the method of fixing toner images on the transfer sheet, the most widely used method may be the one based on the heat-melting. The heat-melting method can be roughly divided into the one of the contact type and the one of the non-contact type. Specifically, the heated roll fixing system of the contact type has a good heat efficiency and is capable of executing high-speed fixing, and has now been widely used in the copiers and printers for business use. However, the heated roll fixing system is accompanied by a problem in that a long time (stand-by time) is required for heating the roll up to a predetermined fixing temperature. As a means for solving this problem, an induction heating system was proposed and has now been put to practical use in some fields.
A representative example of the induction heating system is an electromagnetic induction heating system. The electromagnetic induction heating system, usually, uses an endless heating belt as the heating member in addition to using a heating roll. The heating belt uses a thin heat-resistant resin as a base layer, has a heat capacity smaller than that of the heating roll, and can be heated in a period of time shorter than that for the heating roll. In order to prevent the shading in the luster of image caused by a temperature difference, there has been proposed a method of preventing the occurrence of temperature difference by exchanging heat by bringing a metal roll into contact with the circumferential surface of the pushing roll that is installed facing the heating belt (see patent document 9).

Toner for developing electrostatic charge image


A memory cell and a method of fabricating the same. A first conductive layer on a substrate is provided and a first type doped semiconductor layer is then formed on the first conductive layer. The first type doped semiconductor layer and the first conductive layer are patterned into a first line. A dielectric layer is formed on the substrate with an opening exposing the first line. A column comprising a second diode component, a buffer layer, and an anti-fuse layer is formed in the opening. A second line is formed connecting the column on the dielectric layer running generally perpendicularly to the first line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor technology, more particularly to a one-time programmable anti-fuse memory cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Memory arrays that use an anti-fuse layer to store digital data are well known to those skilled in the art. Vyvoda, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,218, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a digital memory method and system for storing multiple bit digital data. The memory arrays include three-dimensional memory cell arrays. Each memory cell includes a diode and an anti-fuse layer. The anti-fuse layer acts initially as an insulator, blocking forward current through the memory cell. The memory cell can be programmed by sending a write voltage/current through the memory cell to disrupt the anti-fuse layer, thereby lowering the resistance of the memory cell. The contents of the memory cell can be read as logic 1 if the memory cell resistance is in a lower range, indicating that the anti-fuse layer has been disrupted, and as logic 0 if the resistance is at a higher initial level.
Johnson, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,953 and in publication No. 2003/0064572, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describe an exemplary vertically-stacked, field-programmable, nonvolatile memory and a method of fabricating the same.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional one-time programmable memory cell of the background art with an anti-fuse layer. The memory cell has two explicit terminals, a word line 10 and a bit line 11. Between these terminals, the memory cell contains a pillar 12 of layers comprising a p-type doped silicon layer 13, an n-type doped silicon layer 14, and an anti-fuse layer 16. The anti-fuse layer 16 acts initially as an insulator, and in this state no diode is formed. When the anti-fuse layer 16 is disrupted, at least part of the first diode component consisting of the p-type doped silicon layer 13 contacts the second diode component consisting of the n-type doped silicon layer 14, thereby forming a PN diode 12 serving as a switch.
Once formed, the PN diode 12 is a device with a strongly asymmetric current-versus-voltage characteristic, i.e., it conducts current more readily in one direction than in the other. The purpose of the PN diode 12 is to ensure that current flow through the memory cell is substantially unidirectional. This unidirectional behavior enables the memory decoders to establish a unique circuit path to each individual memory cell, allowing it to be individually accessed for reads and for writes regardless of the state of all other cells.
One of the shortcomings of the related art is that the fabrication of the pillar PN diode 12 is difficult. Neither the word line 10, nor the bit line 11, nor the pillar 12 of layers is formed in the planar substrate. Typically, the pillar PN diode 12 is formed by layer deposition and subsequent patterning to define the pillar 12. The reduction in memory size accompanying an increased number of devices, results in a more narrow process window for patterning the deposited layers by etching. Additionally, the pillar PN diode 12 is highly susceptible to lifting and collapsing.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


An apparatus (78) for the real-time calculation of local variance in an array of digital signals includes a first squaring device (80) arranged to receive an input signal, the input signal being one of a plurality of signals within a window defined in the array. The first squaring device (80) squares the value indicated by the input signal and provides a signal indicative of the squared value to a first recursive sum device (84). The first recursive sum device (84) uses a recursive sum method to calculate the sum of the squares of a plurality of values indicated by the plurality of digital signals. The input signal is also received by a second recursive sum device (86). The second recursive sum device (86) uses a recursive sum method to calculate the sum of the plurality of values. The second recursive sum device (86) outputs a signal indicative of this sum to a second squaring device (82), which, in turn, provides a signal to a first dividing device (88). The signal output from the first dividing device (88) is indicative of the square of the sum of the plurality of values in the window, divided by the number of digital signals in the window. In the first subtracting device (94), this value is subtracted from the value indicated by the signal from the first recursive sum device (84). Finally, in the second dividing device (92), the value indicated by the signal from the first subtracting device (94) is divided by the number of digital signals in the window. The resulting value is the variance for the plurality of values. A signal indicative of this value is output from the second dividing device (94).

This invention relates to the field of image processing, and in particular to the calculation of local variance in coherent images such as ultrasound images used in medical and non-destructive testing applications.
Ultrasound imaging systems for medical diagnostics scan a subject with ultrasound beams in a sector or rectangular shape and provide a two-dimensional display of the scanned field. The imaging system includes a transducer that emits and focuses the ultrasound beams along certain linear directions (scan lines). The emitted beams are refracted, absorbed, dispersed and reflected within the target subject. Those beams that are reflected back to the transducer are converted to analog electrical signals. These signals undergo a number of processing steps such as filtering, amplification, analog to digital conversion, beamforming, and demodulation. These processing steps produce a two-dimensional array of digital data representative of the acoustic properties of the material at various points in the scanning field. This array is then processed by image processing circuitry. The image processing circuitry removes imperfections and improves the desired features of the image. The image processing circuitry also encodes the beam-formed formed data into picture elements (pixels). The pixels are then converted to an analog signal for output to a viewing device, such as a CRT monitor. The resulting B-mode image (brightness image) is a gray scale image in which the range of darker-to-lighter gray-scale shades correspond to increasing strength of the reflected signal (echo).
An ultrasound image contains innumerable imperfections including electronic and acoustic noise, misplaced information due to refraction and scatter of ultrasound beams and, under some circumstances, gaps in the image which contain no genuine ultrasound information. Several types of image processing methods have been devised to manipulate the digital data, permitting improvement in the final displayed image. In some image processing methodsxe2x80x94such as filtering for speckle reduction in ultrasound imagesxe2x80x94it is necessary to calculate various local statistical characteristics at each datum in the image. Local statistical characteristics are those statistical characteristics calculated using the data contained in a rectangular window around the sample of interest, as opposed to global characteristics which are calculated using all the data in the array.
Two of the most common local characteristics used in image processing applications are the mean and the variance, defined mathematically by the formulas:                               MEAN                      n            ,            m                          =                              1                          H              *              V                                                                    ∑                              p                =                0                                            V                -                1                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                  ∑                                  q                  =                  0                                                  H                  -                  1                                                                          xe2x80x83                                                          S                                                      n                    +                    p                                    ,                                      m                    +                    q                                                                                (        1        )                                          VAR                      n            ,            m                          =                              1                          H              *              V                                                                    ∑                              p                =                0                                            V                -                1                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                  ∑                                  q                  =                  0                                                  H                  -                  1                                                                          xe2x80x83                                                                            (                                                            S                                                                        n                          +                          p                                                ,                                                  m                          +                          q                                                                                -                                          MEAN                                              n                        ,                        m                                                                              )                                2                                                                        (        2        )
Where, as described for FIG. 1, xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d are the horizontal and vertical size (in samples) of the rectangular window in which the statistics are calculated, xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cmxe2x80x9d are the line (vertical) and column (horizontal) indexes of the origin of the window relative to the origin of the array, xe2x80x9cpxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cqxe2x80x9d are the vertical and horizontal position indexes relative to the window origin, and Sij is the sample at position (ij).
Typically these characteristics are calculated sequentially for every sample Sij in the image, starting at the origin of the image (j=0,i=0) then moving the window one sample position at a time in the line (xe2x80x9cjxe2x80x9d ) direction until the local characteristics are calculated for every sample in the line. The window is then returned to the start of the lines (j=0) and moved down one position in the column direction (xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d) to begin calculating the local characteristics for every sample in the next line. This pattern is repeated until the local characteristics are calculated for every sample in the image.
The characteristics have to be calculated in xe2x80x98real-timexe2x80x99. In other words, the characteristics have to be calculated at the same rate that the samples are generated in order to display typically several tens of images per second. Since the number of samples in each image is generally large (tens or hundreds of thousands), the real-time sample rate tends to be high, on the order of tens of millions per second. This leads to a large computational load for the apparatus used to compute the local characteristics. In order to keep the cost of the apparatus reasonably low, it is necessary to devise methods to calculate the characteristics with as few and as simple operations as possible.
Unfortunately, with the aforementioned algorithm, the direct calculation of the mean using formula (1) requires H*Vxe2x88x921 additions, and the direct calculation of the variance using formula (2) requires H*Vxe2x88x921 additions, H*V subtractions and H*V squaring operations; for example, if H=V=10, direct calculation of the mean would require 99 additions and the direct calculation of the variance would require 199 addition/subtractions and 100 squarings. Because these calculations have to be performed for each sample in the image, the direct calculation of mean and variance cannot be performed in real-time at a reasonable cost with the current technology.
Recursive sum algorithms are known and have been used for a long time for reducing the number of computations necessary to calculate the local mean. In these algorithms the window is moved over the array one sample position at a time and the sum of samples for the new window position is calculated from the sum of the previous position by subtracting the samples which drop out of the window and adding the new samples which enter the window. No calculations are needed for the samples belonging to both the old and the new window position. Therefore, only two additions and two subtractions per window position are performed for a 2-dimensional window of any sizexe2x80x94a considerable saving when compared with the 99 additions for the 10 by 10 window in example above.
However, it is not possible to directly implement the recursive sum algorithms to the calculation of local variance using formula (2). This is because, in formula (2), all terms in the summation   (            ∑              p        =        0                    V        -        1                        xe2x80x83                          ∑                  q          =          0                          H          -          1                                  xe2x80x83                                    (                                    S                                                n                  +                  p                                ,                                  m                  +                  q                                                      -                          MEAN                              n                ,                m                                              )                2              )
change with every change in the window position. All the terms depend not only on the values of the samples in the window, but also on the mean, which changes with the window position.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the apparatus and method for the real-time calculation of local variance in images of the present invention. In an exemplary embodiment, a method of calculating local variance in an array of digital signals includes defining a window for moving within the array of digital signals, with the window having a size to include at least two digital signals. First, the window is moved to a first position where the window includes first and second digital signals, with the first and second digital signals indicative of first and second values. At this first position, the first and second values are added to obtain a first sum. The square of the first and second values are also added to obtain a second sum. A variance value is then determined for the first window position using the window size, the first sum, and the second sum. Next, the window is moved to a second position where the window includes the second digital signal and a third digital signal, with the second digital signal indicative of the second value and the third digital signal indicative of a third value. At the second position, the first sum and the third value are added, then the first value is subtracted to obtain a third sum. The second sum and the square of the third sum are added, then the square of the first sum is subtracted to obtain a fourth sum. Finally, a variance value for the second window is determined using the window size, the third sum and the fourth sum.
In an alternate embodiment, the method of calculating local variance in an array of digital signals includes defining a window for moving within an array of digital signals, with the window having a size to include at least two digital signals. A plurality of values indicated by a plurality of signals within the window are recursively summed to obtain a first window sum. The plurality of values within the window are squared, and the squares of the plurality of values are recursively summed to obtain a second window sum. The first and second window sums are then used to determine a variance value for the window position. The variance value is determined by, first, dividing the square of the first window sum by the size of the window to obtain a first interim value. Next, the first interim value is subtracted from the second window sum to obtain a second interim value. Finally, the second interim value is divided by the size of the window to obtain the variance value for the window position.

Apparatus and method for the real-time calculation of local variance in images


The transmission band of an analog signal to be transmitted is notched, including sub-carriers to be modulated from digital modulation coefficients respectively associated with the sub-carriers. The method includes providing an initial digital signal from successive frequency-domain groups each containing the digital modulation coefficients respectively associated to the sub-carriers. The initial signal is filtered with a frequency resolution greater than the frequency resolution of the frequency-domain groups to remove frequencies corresponding to the sub-carriers to be removed. The filtered signal is windowed using a windowing mask having a representation in the frequency-domain including a main lobe and secondary lobes. The power spectrum of the lobes decrease faster than the inverse of the frequency squared.

Wireless personal area networks based on OFDM and UWB technologies like the MB-OFDM standard will directly interfere with narrowband interferers that are close to such wide band devices. At present, no specific interference mitigation techniques are implemented in the UWB standard based on OFDM.
Orthogonal frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a method of digital modulation in which a signal is split into several narrowband channels (sub-carriers) at different frequencies. To avoid in-band spectral interference, it is proposed to reach a given attenuation level within a given transmission band of the interfering signal.
For example, one method includes modulating (or zeroing) the transmitted sub-carriers located within the given transmission band to try to cancel the signal energy found in this given band. However, because of side lobe amplitudes of the remaining transmitted sub-carriers, it is generally difficult to reach relatively high attenuation levels within a given band of the transmitted OFDM symbol. These side lobes are produced by the sin(x)/x shape spectrum of each transmitted sub-carrier.
In particular, in the coexistence perspective of MB-OFDM systems with other wireless systems, and particularly with WiMax, notches of as much as −30 dB with respect to the OFDM sub-carriers transmission power are requested.
Another type of method permitting one to obtain relatively high attenuation levels within a given band of a transmitted signal is disclosed in "Active Interference Cancellation Technique for MB-OFDM Cognitive Radio," Hirohisa Yamaguchi, 34th European Microwave Conference—Amsterdam 2004.
More precisely, according to this method, the band between sub-carriers s1 and s2 of an OFDM symbol is notched by: 1) zeroing every sub-carrier between s1 and s2, 2) modulating sub-carriers s1 and s2 using coefficients computed as a function of the OFDM symbol transmitted data, with the target of minimizing the energy in the band s1-s2.
However, such a method is relatively complicated to implement.

Method and device for notching the transmission band of an analog signal, in particular an MB-OFDM signal


A computer-implemented method for preventing false positive malware identification may include (1) identifying a set of variants of a trusted software program, (2) characterizing, for each variant in the set of variants of the trusted software program, at least one common property of the variants, (3) clustering the set of variants of the trusted software program based on the common property of the variants, and (4) creating a signature capable of recognizing variants of the trusted software program. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

In recent years, authors of malicious software ("malware") have attempted to proliferate malware by generating thousands or potentially millions of variations of malicious files. For example, unique versions of malware code may be created with each new infection, or the malware program may modify itself each time it propagates to a new computer system, or even every time it runs (so-called "polymorphic malware"). Unfortunately, because many existing antivirus technologies detect malware by detecting or identifying unique digital signatures or fingerprints associated with known-malicious files, malware authors may avoid detection by only distributing new (i.e., unique) or repacked versions of malicious files.
In light of this, some security-software vendors have begun investigating and implementing reputation-based security systems. In a reputation-based security system, a security-software vendor may attempt to determine whether a file represents malware by collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data from potentially millions of user devices within a community, such as the security-software vendor's user base. For example, by determining a file's source, age, and prevalence within the community, among other details, a security-software vendor may gain a fairly accurate understanding as to whether the file represents malware.
Some legitimate software publishers and distributors, however, also distribute many unique variants of a program. For example, a software developer may customize each copy of a program it distributes to personalize the user experience for each customer, or to facilitate detection of unauthorized copying of the software. A software distributor may also repackage freeware or "adware" programs with advertisements uniquely selected for each customer.
Unfortunately, malware detection systems that rely on signature-based detection may not recognize customized versions of a legitimate program as variants of a single program. In addition, reputation-based systems may incorrectly identify unique or similar versions of a program with low prevalence and unknown origin or age as potential polymorphic threats. These mistakes, known as "false positives," may be extremely disruptive and costly for an enterprise since they can result in the deletion or removal of legitimate, and potentially essential, files and software from computing devices within the enterprise. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for preventing false-positive malware identification.

Systems and methods for preventing false positive malware identification


The present invention is a method and system for accessing digital content stored on a computing device. An agreement between a subscriber and a content provider allows the subscriber to lease the digital content from the content provider, and download the digital content from a content server operated by the content provider. The method retrieves a service ticket for the computing device, and retrieves content rights for the digital content. The service ticket includes authorization data, and a session key, where the authorization data include authorized subscription services for the computing device. The content rights include required subscription services for the digital content and are delivered authenticated with the session key. The method allows access to the digital content when the authorized subscription services included with the authorization data match the required subscription services included with the content rights.

A typical content leasing scenario involves a subscriber and a content provider. The subscriber agrees to pay the content provider for the right to access and use digital content associated with a service provided by the content provider. The digital content includes digital media such as audio, video, and images, or any combination thereof. The content provider agrees to allow the subscriber to download and use the digital content on her playback devices, such as a computer, telephone, mobile device, or the like, as long as she is subscribed to the service provided by the content provider. When the subscriber cancels the subscription, digital rights management (DRM) technology renders the digital content issued under the subscription agreement, and that she downloaded to her playback devices, unusable. There is a need for a content leasing system that allows the subscriber to reinstate a canceled subscription agreement so that the digital content issued under the canceled subscription agreement, and downloaded to playback devices, becomes usable once again by the subscriber.
A prior art solution to allow the digital content to become playable once again implements this content usage model with the help of "root" and "leaf" content licenses. A root license represents a subscription, while a leaf license represents an individual piece of stored content. Since a leaf license "chains" to a root license, license verification requires the validation of both the leaf license and the root license. If the root license is expired, then all leaf licenses that chained to it also expire. Thus, when a user renews her subscription, she obtains a new root license. The advantage of this prior art solution is that it does not require the user to re-acquire every single "leaf" license for every piece of content when she renews the subscription. However, this prior art solution only works when the infrastructure (e.g., a license server) is aware of a license identifier for at least the root licenses stored on the device because that license identifier would allow leaf licenses to chain to the root license.
Internet Protocol Rights Management (IPRM) is a prior art DRM ticket-based architecture that delivers digital content over an Internet Protocol (IP) network as described in U.S. Published Patent Application Number 2003/0093694 (granted as U.S. Pat. No. 7,243,366), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In an IPRM architecture, the infrastructure is not aware of content license identifiers. An IPRM content server (i.e., license server) securely supplies a set of content rights, including a content key, and the device itself locally creates and encrypts content rights with a rights identifier that is unique only within that one device. So, another solution is needed for use within IPRM that takes advantage of the existing IPRM ticket-based architecture and does not require additional messaging to be defined or additional new objects to be stored on a device just to implement this feature.
Thus, there is a demand for a system and method for accessing digital content stored on a computing device. The presently disclosed invention satisfies this demand.

Ticket-based implementation of content leasing


In an optical disc in/from which data is recorded or reproduced by irradiating a storage area on the optical disc with a laser, information containing recording velocity information (RVI) for recording/reproduction, which represents a linear velocity different from the standard linear velocity, and write strategy information (WSI) corresponding to the recording velocity information is stored in a land pre-pit or the like on the optical disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc such as a DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc Recordable), DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disc Rerecordable), or DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory), an optical disc recording/reproducing method, and an optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a recording linear velocity in recording information on an optical disc such as a DVD is defined at a predetermined value. For example, the recording linear velocity for a DVD-R or DVD-RW is defined at 3.49 m/s by a standard book (DVD-R BOOK or DVD-RW BOOK). Recording at a higher linear velocity is not presumed.
However, a method of recording information at a different recording linear velocity has been proposed as a prior art. In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-113458, information representing that a given disc is capable of recording at a velocity different from the standard recording linear velocity (3.49 m/s) is stored in that disc. An optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus can record data at a recording linear velocity such as a ×2 or ×4 read rate by reading that information. Hence, data recording processing can be executed not only at the standard linear velocity but also at a linear velocity such as a ×2 read rate in accordance with the velocity given by the optical disc.
In this prior-art apparatus, however, information such as a write strategy or recording power in recording at a velocity other than the standard linear velocity cannot be given by an optical disc. Hence, an appropriate write strategy and the like corresponding to a desired linear velocity must be prepared on the optical disc recording apparatus side, or the user must arbitrarily check and give appropriate values. If the optical disc recording apparatus or the user has no know-how about such information, recording at a recording linear velocity other than the standard velocity cannot be appropriately performed.

Optical disc, optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus, and optical disc recording/reproducing method


In a method and a device for redundant transmission of protection commands between remote tripping devices (1, 8), useful information which represents a protection command or a rest signal is transmitted by a first remote tripping device (1) in at least two time slots via a first interface (2) to a first multiplexer (3), and is transmitted via different transmission paths (4, 5) by the multiplexer (3) based on the time slots. A second multiplexer (6) receives the useful information via the different transmission paths (4, 5), and transmits each useful information item via a time slot, which is allocated to the respective transmission path (4, 5), in a second interface (7) to a second remote tripping device (8).

Remote tripping devices or protection signal transmission devices are used for transmitting protection or switching commands in electrical high-voltage and medium-voltage networks and systems, for example for distance protection. Protection commands result, by way of example, in direct or indirect opening of a circuit breaker, and hence in electrical disconnection of a part of the network or of the system. Conversely, other protection commands result in the opening of a circuit breaker being blocked. In a rest case, that is to say when no protection command is being transmitted, a rest signal or guard signal is transmitted continuously instead of this.
Protection commands need to be transmitted, for example, from one section of a high-voltage line to another. To do this, a transmitter in a remote tripping device produces digital signals on the basis of the protection commands, which digital signals are transmitted via a digital signal connection, for example using an E1 (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, SDH) or T1 (SONET) communication standard. A receiver in another remote tripping device detects the transmitted signals, and determines the corresponding number and nature of the protection commands. In order to ensure transmission despite channel failures, redundant transmission means are provided. In this case, by way of example, the receiver receives on a first channel and, if the channel is interrupted, is switched to a second channel. The switching time which is required for this purpose is, however, 20 ms to 50 ms, which is too long for protection signal transmission. A solution in which each protection device uses two interfaces to separate transmission paths is too complex.

Redundant transmission of protection commands between remote tripping devices


A mechanical end face seal for sealing between a housing and a relatively rotating shaft which seal includes a pair of relatively rotating annular rings having seal faces in sealing contact with each other to define a seal interface, with one of the rings adapted to be secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, and the other fixed relative to the housing and one being axially movable toward the other. A generally annular flexible metal diaphragm secured between the axially movable ring and either the housing or shaft includes a generally radial disc-like central portion which defines a plurality of annular convolutions formed by protrusions extending in opposite axial directions. The diaphragm is pressed onto a cylindrical surface on the ring at about the center of mass of the ring. The surface includes a coating of a compound including PTFE, grit and a binder. In one form, the seal utilizes a second seal ring pressed into fluid tight relation with its associated carrier at about the center of mass of the ring. In another form, a seal ring is provided which is secured to its associated carrier in fluid tight relation utilizing welding techniques. The associated methods are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mechanical end face seals for sealing between a housing and a relatively rotating shaft and more particularly to such seals having a metal diaphragm which provides axial loading of the seal rings and also acts as a secondary seal between one of the seal rings and its associated housing or shaft.
2. Background Art
Mechanical end face seals which provide a fluid-tight seal between a housing and a relatively rotating shaft find general application to a variety of devices, such as liquid pumps, slurry pumps, dry mixers and numerous other devices. Low cost end face seals are used, for example, in a number of high volume applications such as automobile water pumps. Applications involving other process fluids are also common.
Face seals usually comprise two seal rings, having opposed sealing faces, one of which rotates relative to the other. A biasing force is normally provided to urge one seal ring toward the other and to bring the two sealing faces into sealing relation. Secondary seals in some form seal each ring to its associated shaft or housing.
An example of a seal using a coil spring to provide the biasing force can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,235. A seal using a wave spring is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,981. These seals use some type of elastomeric component for providing the secondary sealing function. The latter seal is unitized, in that it can be installed into a pump as a unit or sub-assembly.
Seals are known in which the axial bias and the secondary seal between the movable ring and its associated housing or shaft is provided by an annular metal diaphragm or bellows. Such seals generally have higher temperature capability than those using an elastomeric secondary seal as well as potentially having better uniform circumferential loading. Examples of such seals are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,189,197; 3,203,704; 3,332,692 and 3,575,424.
Seals using diaphragms of formed metal are not without complexity. The diaphragm or bellows must be connected to the seal ring and the housing or shaft with which it is associated in fluid-tight relation. These connections pose manufacturing and assembly problems.
Formed metal bellows have traditionally taken the shape of a truncated cone which, when the seal is installed, is placed in compression. Such shapes generally provide a high spring rate which can necessitate high initial face loading with consequent wear. Such seals may experience short life due to loss of adequate closing force as face wear progresses. Also, face loading varies significantly depending on diaphragm deflection. Leakage sometimes results from relaxation of the diaphragm through axial seal ring movement.
Simplicity of installation and removal of seals often dictate cartridge type arrangements which allow all of the seal elements to be preassembled and installed as a unit. There is also the desire to minimize the axial length of the seal assembly thereby minimizing the overall length requirement of the shaft. Reduction in shaft length simplifies bearing requirements and reduces the overall length of the pump or other device in which the seal is utilized.
The present invention incorporates an annular metal diaphragm in a seal assembly such that axial loading of the axially movable seal ring is applied by placing the diaphragm in tension. The diaphragm configuration provides greater flexibility and a resultant spring rate which insures adequate closing force over an acceptable range of axial displacement. This flexibility permits lower initial preload and therefore accommodates a narrow face width configuration. The narrow face width configuration, in turn, avoids potential thermal distortion problems.
The relationship of the component parts results, if desired, in a cartridge configuration. This embodiment utilizes a sleeve and retainer, each associated respectively with one of the seal rings. The metal diaphragm forms one closure wall of the cartridge. The entire seal assembly is essentially defined by the axial extent of the metal body of the primary ring retainer with the seal rings contained between a wall of the retainer and the metal diaphragm.


An urinary incontinence device for use by a male includes an undergarment worn closely to the body and including an opening or hole through which the penis passes and is kept upright and close to the body by a flap across the opener in the undergarment. The flap may include an occlusion device integrally incorporated therein and aligned with the opening to be positioned between the base of the shaft of the penis and the scrotum to occlude the urethral passage of the penis. The occlusion device is designed to apply sufficient pressure to occlude the urethral passage without cutting off circulation of blood within the penis through the dorsal vein. The flap design maintains and retains an optimum position of the penis and occlusion of the urethral passage to prevent urine discharge in a form fitting undergarment that allows significant freedom of movement by the wearer. The occlusion device has alternative embodiments where there is no integral undergarment, such as a bands and stretchable wraps that include the occlusion device. One alternative embodiment includes an occlusion device having an adjustably expandable chamber and pump. A method for using the urinary incontinence device of the present invention is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an urinary incontinence device for use by a male to prevent urine discharge and to eliminate the necessity for any type of diaper. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a device that will maintain a position of the penis to prevent urine discharge as well as comfortably occlude the urethra of the penis to prevent urine from being uncontrollably evacuated in an undergarment and pants. The present invention can be made independent of the undergarment or may be integrally incorporated in the undergarment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many male adults, young and old, urinary incontinence is a very sensitive yet serious problem. Generally, incontinence is the inability of a person to control their bladder or bowel functions. More particularly, there is a serious problem of male penile urinary incontinence. Penile incontinence is very troublesome since the glands penis, when flaccid, allows urine to flow under gravity from the bladder through the prostatic urethra, the membranous urethra and the penile urethra into an undergarment and pants resulting in visual wetting. This means that urine is continuously dripping into the undergarment of the incontinent male. Laughing, sneezing and coughing greatly exacerbate the problems associated with urinary incontinence.
Urinary incontinence can result from old age, prostate or bladder surgery, spinal cord injuries, as well as diseases such as priapism and Pyronie's. No matter what the cause of the urinary incontinence, several differing techniques have been developed to either correct or ameliorate the symptoms resulting from penile incontinence.
Some urinary incontinence may be corrected using surgical techniques. Surgical techniques include the plication of the bulbocavernosus muscle; the Marshall-Marchetti technique for women; and sling techniques such as the Cooney and Horton technique for males where two strips of fascia are cut from the aponeurosis and are freed from the rectus fibers and positioned over the pubis and under the bulb of the urethra through a tunnel and tensioned to create a restriction in the urethra.
For males who may not have elective surgery possibly due to health complications or old age, and for those males where the urinary incontinence cannot be surgically corrected, there are very few options. If surgery is not an option for an adult incontinent, then there only remains the use of adult diapers to soak up the discharging urine. However, diapers are very annoying, costly, unsightly and obtrusive. For an active person, diapers are a nuisance. For any adult, having to wear a diaper can be unpleasant and embarrassing.
Diapers are also very undesirable because they are unsanitary. Despite significant research and development, diapers still allow the excreted fluid to remain in contact with the skin until a new diaper is applied. However, this is a serious problem for an incontinent person who is continuously excreting small amounts of urine. It would be necessary to continuously change the diaper to avoid rashes and skin irritations completely.
Some attempts have been made to minimize the problems associated with changing the diaper of an incontinent male. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,853, to Bryant, discloses a male incontinent diaper that is designed to minimize the exposure to wetness by not having adjacent body portions come in contact with the wet diaper. Accordingly, the diaper covers only the end of the penis and is secured to the shaft. Similar to the Bryant patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,716, to Smith that also discloses a penis diaper.
The problem with these devices is that they allow the penis to continue to drip urine that will continue to contact the skin and cause rashes and irritation. Therefore there will necessarily be contact with a wet diaper.
It is also known in the prior art to use both inner and external catheters connected to bags for collecting the urine. Examples of these types of devices are shown in the products offered by ConvaTec, a Bristol Myers Squibb Company. This information is available via the internet at http://www.convatec.com. However, catheters, internal and external, as well as their appended baggage are sightly and troublesome. Furthermore, catheters are very constrictive and do not allow the wearer an active life style.
It should also be noted that it is possible to simply supply a "pinching" device which closes the urethral passage. A primitive example of this type of device is the human hand pinching the penis between the forefinger and the thumb. However, this is not very useful to an active person. A slight improvement over the human hand is the URO Flow Control device available from FDC, Inc. and shown on the internet at http://www.flashdistributor.com/uroflow.html. The URO Flow device is essentially a simple, plastic, u-shaped ring having a threaded screw and press plate. The u-shaped section is placed around the penis and a flat portion closes the legs of the u-shaped section. The press plate moves into the bight portion of the u-shaped section of the device via the threaded screw connected to the flat portion.
The URO Flow device has many drawbacks and potential safety problems. If the URO Flow device is tightened too much, circulation of blood within the penis can be unduly restricted. Furthermore, the URO Flow device does not allow for changing penis sizes in the event of arousal or thermal changes. Finally, the URO Flow device must be made with different size u-shaped sections to accommodate different size males. This adds significant cost to the product due to additional capital being required.
Accordingly, the prior art is lacking in many respects. In particular, the prior art nowhere discloses or teaches a device that will prevent the discharge of urine by occluding the urethra, without penile damage, in an incontinent male. Furthermore, the prior art nowhere discloses a device that can be used by an incontinent male who is active in sports and other endeavors. The prior art does not disclose or teach a device that is not sightly or complicated in its solution to the problem of urinary incontinence.


A synthetic human glucagon (hGlu) binding protein designated hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein is cloned, expressed and used in an in vitro assay to screen for compounds that bind to the synthetic binding protein, including compounds that specifically stimulate or inhibit the binding of glucagon to the synthetic receptor. The invention includes the assay, the synthetic binding protein used in the assay, DNA encoding the synthetic binding protein, cells expressing the synthetic binding protein, and compounds identified through the use of the synthetic binding protein.

Glucagon is a major counterregulatory hormone that attenuates the inhibition of liver glucogenesis by insulin. Glucagon receptors are found primarily in liver, although their presence has been documented in kidney and adipose tissue. Type II diabetics have elevated levels of plasma glucagon and increased rates of hepatic glucose production. In fact, the rate of hepatic glucose production positively correlates with fasting blood glucose levels in type II diabetes. Therefore, antagonists of glucagon have the potential to improve insulin responsiveness in the liver, decrease the rate of gluconeogenesis and lower the rate of hepatic glucose output resulting in a decrease in the levels of plasma glucose.
Glucagon action is mediated by a G protein-coupled receptor that stimulates cyclic AMP accumulation via activation of Gs. G-protein coupled receptors are characterized by the ability of agonists to promote the formation of a high affinity ternary complex between the agonist, the receptor and the G-protein. The .alpha. subunit of the G-protein contains a guanine nucleotide binding site that, in the high affinity ternary G protein-receptor-agonist! complex, is occupied by GDP. In the presence of physiological concentrations of GTP, the GDP molecule in the guanine nucleotide binding site of the G protein is displaced by a GTP molecule. The binding of GTP dissociates the .alpha. subunit of the G protein from its .beta. and .gamma. subunits and from the receptor, thereby activating the G-protein to stimulate downstream effectors (adenylyl cyclase in the case of the glucagon receptor) and propagating the intracellular signal. Thus, the ternary complex is transient in the presence of physiological concentrations of GTP. Because the affinity of the agonist for the receptor-G protein complex is higher than its affinity for the uncomplexed receptor, one consequence of the destabilization of the ternary complex is a reduction in the affinity of the receptor for the agonist. Thus, the affinity of agonists for G-protein coupled receptors is a function of the efficiency with which the receptor is coupled to the G-protein. In contrast, antagonists bind with the same affinity to the receptor in the presence or absence of G-protein coupling.
G protein-coupled receptors such as the glucagon receptor are predicted to have seven transmembrane domains linked by hydrophilic loops. Extensive modeling and mutagenesis experiments show that the binding domain for small molecules is within the transmembrane helical domains, although peptide agonist binding also involves the hydrophilic extracellular domains. However, the intracellular loop domains are involved in coupling of receptor to G-proteins. Deletion of either the amino terminal or carboxyl terminal sections of the third intracellular loop led to loss of functional coupling of the .beta.-adrenergic receptor to Gs. However, these altered receptors maintained high affinity for agonist. The amino acids of the intracellular portions of the Glucagon receptor are shown as follows: loop 1, positions 167-173; loop 2; positions 250-262, loop 3, positions 332-349; and the carboxyl end, positions 404-477; of SEQ ID NO:3. Subsequent amino acid replacements in the third intracellular loop confirmed the role of this region in G protein interaction.
A human glucagon receptor has been cloned and expressed (D. MacNeil et al., 1994, Bioch. Biophys. Res. Comm. 198:328-334). We have characterized a mutant of the human glucagon receptor in which residues 252 to 259 in the second intracellular loop are deleted. The mutant protein is designated hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein. When hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein is expressed in COS cells, glucagon does not stimulate cAMP accumulation, suggesting that the hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein does not couple to Gs upon agonist binding. However, the hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein has higher affinity for glucagon than the wild type receptor, suggesting that the mutation locks the hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein into a conformation with high affinity for agonist. Thus, hGlu.DELTA.252-259 binding protein is a high affinity glucagon binding protein that does not function as a glucagon receptor (ie., it does not transduce a signal).


A screen assembly for a vibratory screening machine including a frame in the nature of a plate having spaced apertures therein, spaced frame members on opposite sides of the apertures, a screen formed in an undulating shape having substantially parallel ridges with downwardly sloping sides, troughs formed between the downwardly sloping sides for conducting material which is being screened, undersides on the troughs, bonds for securing the undersides of the troughs to the spaced frame members which are located on opposite sides of the apertures, and channels at the sides of the plate for securing the frame to a vibratory screening machine.

The present invention relates to an improved screen assembly for a vibrating screening machine and to an improved method of screening material.
By way of background, in the screening of material on conventional flat screens which are mounted on a curved bed of a vibratory screening machine, the material being screened tends to migrate toward the lower sides of the screens. This lessens the efficiency of the screening operation.

Screen assembly for vibrating screening machine


The invention comprises an integrated circuit arrangement (1) with several internal-related function blocks (such as 42) and edge-related bond pads (2 . . . 2k; 3 . . . 3k), whereby each of several selected pads is equipped with a test cell (2' . . . 2k'; 3' . . . 3k'); a first test cell for incoming signal structures at a first set of pads; and a second test cell (3k') for outgoing signal structures at a second set of pads. The test cells can, through internal connecting conductors, be connected to at least one function block (42). Each second test cell (3k') is equipped with a multiplexer (31), which can be controlled by means of a mode-selecting signal (32) to pass along either a signal pattern (43b1) that relates to a function block, or a signal pattern (33) that is received from a selected function block, in the form of a test signal. Each second test cell (3k') is equipped with an added multiplexer (38) where the output is, directly (or indirectly), connected to a test signal-related input of said multiplexer (31). A test signal (42b1), which originates from a function block that has been selected to be tested, is connected to at least one input of said added multiplexer (38). Said added multiplexer (38) may also be controlled by means of a mode-selecting signal (38a).

With regards to the features of the present invention, it is true that various kinds of integrated circuits are previously known where each input pad, output pad, and/or I/O-pad is equipped with, or coacts with, a test cell, thereby making it possible to test the complete integrated circuit.
Tests of this kind are performed either by applying required testing vectors to the input pads of the integrated circuit, or by applying necessary testing vectors through available test cells; for example, BS-cells.
The results of processing test vectors within the integrated circuit are observed at the output pads of the integrated circuit or through BS-output cells.
Regarding the illustrated embodiments in the description that follows, it can be mentioned that the circuit connections of the test cells may be of a standardized BS-structure.
Various circuit arrangements for the applications described above, and for the BS-cells that are connected to one other in order to form a Boundary-Scan-loop, hereafter called a BS-loop, are known and were previously shown through the publication IEEE Standard 1149.1 under the heading "IEEE Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture".
Taking further notice of the feature of the present invention, and the primary application of a test cell or an output cell with an output pad, it can be mentioned, as an example of prior art, what was shown and described through the U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,646.
This publication is relevant since it describes a BS-output cell that is based on the basic circuit connection principally shown and described in FIG. 1 in the present application.
This circuit connection shows a BS-output cell with supplementary details such as a multiplexer 12; a selecting element 14; a shift register 16; and a hold element 18. The multiplexer 12 samples either critical data from a system logic that is separated from the BS-output cell through the control circuit 20, or test data from an earlier BS-output cell.
A first test-controlling circuit 19, in the form of an AND-gate, is connected to the selecting element 14.
With regards to supplementing prior art, it must also be mentioned that through the U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,520 it was previously made known that a BS-cell may be supplemented for activation connection (Enable Cell), and to connect a first test-controlling circuit 21 to the selecting element 14 while using several logical elements 24-28 in the form of NAND-gates.
What was shown and described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,222,068; 5,042,034; 5,056,094 and 5,084,874 also belongs to prior art.
What was shown and described in the European patent publications 0,358,365; 0,358,371; 0,358,376; 0,514,700 and 0,589,223 also belongs to prior art.
The content of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,940 make known the requirements for creating, within an integrated circuit, the conditions for enabling, by means of multiplexers, a direct connection between the input nodes that belong to a selected integrated function block and the input pads that belong to the integrated circuit and a corresponding connection for the output nodes and pads.
The ability to test individual and selected function blocks through multiplexers is shown here. As shown, the connection of multiplexers gives access to the input and output nodes of internal function blocks through the input and output pads of the integrated circuit. However, because said multiplexers are a part of the functional signal path, they will cause an extra time-lag for the signals that appear at the functional signal path in question.
The publication does not indicate the use of test cells.
What was shown and described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,331,571; 5,377,144; 5,195,050; 5,221,865; 5,230,000 and 5,225,834 also belongs to prior art.
With respect to the general tendencies within this technical field, it is clear that developments are such that the integrated circuit arrangements, which are available through producers and suppliers, are increasing in size (expected development of one million or more useable gate equivalents) with increasingly large and more complex function blocks and more complex coaction between the function blocks.
At the same time, testing systems and methods are growing in size and complexity, being accompanied by a rapid increase in the complexity and number of testing vectors that will be required.
Since the time for testing integrated circuits is valuable, and must therefore be kept short, great efforts are required to develop testing methods and testing vectors that can provide an accurate test of integrated circuits whose gate equivalents are growing in number.
Practical experience shows that the development of testing methods and vectors requires more time, where the increase in time is proportionally larger than the increase in the number of gate equivalents.


A document processing system includes a feeder stage and a transport stage. The document track assembly includes at least one feedback section forming a document return path that extends from an exit point at one part of the document track to a reentry point at another part of the document track further back, upstream. The document track assembly is configured to allow the selective rerouting of a document through the document return path to make a repeat pass through a processing station located between the document track reentry point and the document track exit point. This provides increased reliability in document processing, particularly when processing involves checks, obtaining electronic images of checks, and check truncation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to document processing systems. The invention further relates to increasing the reliability of document processing, particularly when processing involves checks, obtaining electronic images of checks, and check truncation.
2. Background Art
An existing document processing system for feeding and transporting documents includes a feeder that separates and feeds documents singly, in order, from a document stack. The remainder of the system is the transporting portion of the system, and includes a number of roller pairs and/or belts that convey the documents, one at a time, through a track past other processing devices that perform operations on the documents.
The processing devices include a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) reader for reading any MICR digits that appear on the document, and include imaging devices for capturing images of the document. Additional processing devices may also be included in the system, depending on the application. For example, one or more optical edge detectors may be employed for determining the length of a passing document. Finally, a multi-pocket stacker module is provided for the actual sorting of documents into pockets.
FIG. 1 illustrates an existing document processing system for feeding and transporting documents at 10. System 10 includes a primary feeder 12 and a secondary feeder 14. Cabinet 16 houses a computer running software for system 10. System 10 further includes removal knee well panel 18. The feeders act to separate and feed documents singly, in order, from a stack. The remainder of the system is the transporting portion of the system.
As shown in FIG. 1, a number of processing devices are located in the transporting portion of the system 10. Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) reader 20 and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) reader 22 are located in the document track following secondary feeder 14. As well, upstream imaging devices 24 and 26 image each passing document. The operator display is indicated at 28.
With continuing reference to FIG. 1, system 10 further includes a post-read view station 30, and a low-speed document encoder 32. As well, a Multi-Jet Endorser (MJE) is located at 34. Further down the document track, an amount-only or full-field, high-speed encoder 36 and downstream imager 38 process the passing documents. Finally, a twelve-pocket stacker module 40 is provided for the actual sorting of the documents into pockets.
Traditionally, document processing is a one-pass operation where each document makes a single pass through the document track, and the operation is either successful or not successful. If a document is not processed successfully, the document is either sent to a reject pocket in the stacker module or the machine is stopped to allow the operator to physically find the problem document, which typically could be located several feet away, and then correct the problem. In certain applications, it is necessary to maintain the exact order of the documents in the track.
Although existing document processing systems have been successful, the disruptions in the normal document flow and the operation time lost due to document processing problems affect overall system performance in a way that is not insignificant. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved document processing system having increased reliability.

Document processing system with track allowing selective reprocessing of documents


Systems and techniques are provided for obscured routing. A computing device may send stacks of identifiers to neighbor computing devices in a network. Each stack of identifiers may include a unique identifier for the neighbor computing device to which it is sent. The computing device may send a notification identifying a destination computing device to the neighbor computing devices. The computing device may receive stacks of identifiers from the neighbor computing devices. The received stacks of identifiers may include completed routes to the destination computing device. Each completed route may be specified by unique identifiers added to the stack of identifiers by computing devices in the network. A unique identifier in each stack of identifiers may not be resolvable to an address by the computing device. The computing device may send a message a neighbor computing device based on a unique identifier in a chosen stack of identifiers.

Routing in some types of network may require that an originator of a message in the network know the route the message will take through the network before sending the message. The originator of the message may need to generate a listing of the entire route, including any intermediary nodes in the network. This may ensure that the originator of the message is certain that the message will be able to reach its destination before the message is sent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


To provide a method of removing a catalyst element from a crystalline silicon film obtained by solid phase growth using the catalyst element promoting crystallization, phosphorus is implanted selectively to the crystalline silicon film having the catalyst element whereby a portion of the silicon film implanted with phosphorus is made amorphous, and when a thermal annealing treatment is performed and the silicon film is heated, the catalyst element is moved to an amorphous portion implanted with phosphorus having large getting capacity by which the concentration of the catalyst element in the silicon film is lowered and a semiconductor device is fabricated by using the silicon film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making a silicon semiconductor film having crystalline performance, for example, a polycrystal silicon film, a single crystal silicon film or a microcrystal silicon film. A crystalline silicon film fabricated by using the present invention is used in various semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as TFT or the like) using a thin film semiconductor. TFT is constituted by forming a thin film semiconductor, particularly a silicon semiconductor film on a substrate and by using the thin film semiconductor. Although TFT is utilized in various integrated circuits, TFT attracts attention particularly as a switching element provided to each pixel of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device and a driver element formed at a peripheral circuit portion thereof. Further, TFT attracts attention as a technology indispensable also in a multiple structure integrated circuit (three-dimensional IC).
Although it is convenient to use an amorphous silicon film for a silicon film utilized in TFT, electric properties thereof are far lower than those of a single crystal semiconductor film used in a semiconductor integrated circuit. Accordingly, TFT has been used only in a limited usage such as a switching element of an active matrix circuit. A silicon thin film having crystalline performance may be utilized for promoting the properties of TFT.
A silicon film having crystalline performance is referred to as a polycrystal silicon film, a polysilicon film, a microcrystal silicon film or the like other than a single crystal silicon film. To provide such a silicon film having crystalline performance, an amorphous silicon film is firstly formed and thereafter, the film is crystallized by heating (thermally annealing) the film. The process is referred to as solid phase growth process since an amorphous state is transformed into a crystalline state while maintaining a solid state.
However, in the solid state growth of silicon, a heating temperature of 600° C. or higher and a time period of 10 hours or more are needed and an inexpensive glass substrate is difficult to use as a substrate. For example, Corning 7059 glass used in an active type liquid crystal display device is provided with the-strain point of glass of 593° C. which is problematic in performing thermal annealing at 600° C. or higher when large area formation of the substrate is considered.
According to a research conducted by the inventors on such a problem, it has been found that when a certain kind of metal element of nickel or the like is piled up on the surface of an amorphous silicon film by a small amount and thereafter the film is heated, the crystallization can be performed at 550° C. for a processing time period of about 4 hours. Naturally, a silicon film having a further excellent crystalline performance can be provided by performing the annealing process at 600° C. for 4 hours. (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-6-244103).
In order to introduce such a small amount of metal element, there are a method of piling up a film of a catalyst element or a compound thereof by a sputtering process (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-6-244104),a method of forming a film of a metal element or a compound thereof by means of spin coating (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-7-130652), a method of forming a film by decomposing a gas including a metal element by thermal decomposition, plasma decomposition or the like (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No JP-A-7-335548) and the like which may be used according to the respective characteristic.
Further, it is possible to introduce a metal element selectively at a specific portion and to expand crystal growth from a portion where the metal element is introduced to surroundings by heating (lateral growth process or horizontal growth process). Crystal silicon provided by such a method has an orientation of crystallization and therefore, extremely excellent properties are shown in accordance with the orientation.
Further, it is also effective to further improve crystalline performance by irradiating strong beam such as laser beam or the like after a crystallizing step using a metal element (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-7-307286). Further, according to the above-described lateral growth process, it is effective to perform thermal oxidation in succession thereto (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-7-66425).
When crystallization is performed by using a metal element in this way, a crystalline silicon film having excellent quality is provided at a lower temperature in a shorter period of time. A temperature of heating treatment is preferably falls in a range of 450 through 650° C., particularly preferably, in a range of 550 through 600° C., although strongly dependent on the kind of an amorphous silicon film.
However, the most serious problem in the method is removal of metal element. It cannot be disregarded that a metal element introduced in a silicon film effects adverse influence on the electric properties and reliability. Particularly, in the step of crystallization using a metal element, as the mechanism of step, the metal element remains in the film mainly as a conductive silicide which constitutes a significant factor of defect.
It is generally known that a metal element (particularly, nickel, palladium, platinum, copper, silver or gold) can be removed by a heating treatment in an atmosphere of hydrogen chloride at high temperatures. However, a high temperature treatment at about 1000° C. is needed therefor which is against the thought of low temperature process using a metal element. The present invention has been carried out in view of the above-described problem and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method effective in removing a metal element by providing conditions preferable for gettering.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to a method for decorating a drinking or eating vessel, the method comprising: a. providing: i. a drinking or eating vessel, wherein the vessel comprises an inner surface that defines a volume for receiving a liquid or a solid food and an outer surface comprising a polymeric coating; and ii. a transfer sheet, wherein the transfer sheet comprises a printed decoration; and iii. a supporting means comprising a recess for receiving the vessel; and b. arranging the vessel within the recess of the supporting means thereby defining a lower portion of the outer surface of the vessel occluded from contact with the transfer sheet and an upper portion of the outer surface of the vessel for contacting the transfer sheet; and contacting the upper portion of the outer surface of the vessel and the supporting means with the transfer sheet under at least a partial vacuum, wherein the printed decoration is transferred from the transfer sheet to the upper portion of the outer surface of the vessel, and wherein the supporting means reduces stretching of the transfer sheet from the upper portion of the outer surface of the vessel to the lower portion of the outer surface of the vessel. Also described are associated uses, an apparatus, and drinking or eating vessels obtainable by the methods of the invention.

The present invention relates to methods of decoration, in particular decoration of drinking or eating vessels under at least partial vacuum conditions. Also encompassed are drinking or eating vessels obtainable by such methods.
Drinking and eating vessels made from hard surface substrates such as ceramic or glass are often decorated, for example with a decorative pattern or image such as a graphic image or photographic image. Known decoration processes include silk screen printing, either directly to the substrate or via decals. However, these decoration processes require large runs to justify the set-up costs.
Another known decoration process is vacuum sublimation printing. Said process employs the use of a transfer sheet which is printed using inks capable of sublimation. Typically, the transfer sheet is applied to the object to be printed under vacuum and heat (at least 200° C.) allowing sublimation of the ink (and thus decoration) to said object.
Conventional decoration methods however do not allow for full coverage, high quality printing of drinking or eating vessels that have appendages, such as handles and the like. Moreover, when the present inventions attempted to use vacuum dye sublimation to decorate drinking or eating vessels they encountered (and had to overcome) numerous problems associated with said method, including breakage (e.g. shattering) of the drinking or eating vessel under vacuum and/or over-stressing of the transfer sheet (leading to delamination and/or bursting and/or vacuum loss) and/or poor quality decoration of the drinking or eating vessel and/or poor forming of the transfer sheet around the drinking or eating vessel and/or blistering of the transfer sheet and/or poor alignment and/or edge-to-edge consistency of the transferred decoration.

Vacuum decoration of a drinking or eating vessel


Determining whether a station is at the edge of wireless local area network (WLAN) coverage. In an IEEE 802.11 wireless network comprising one or more access points (APs) which may optionally be connected to one or more controllers, with wireless clients connected to those APs. Station S connected to AP A collects reports such as beacon reports which contains information on all APs station S can hear, including signal strengths. AP A collects a neighbor report which contains information on all APs in its neighborhood including signal strengths. These reports from A and S are observed and compared over time to determine when S is at or is moving to the edge of WLAN coverage. For example, if the only entry in the beacon list for client S is AP A to which it is connected, and the signal strength is decreasing over time, S is at the edge of WLAN coverage and is moving away from the WLAN. The process may be implemented at a controller, at a client, or both.

The present invention relates to wireless digital networks, and in particular, to the problem of determining when a station is at the edge of wireless local area network (WLAN) coverage.
Wireless digital networks are becoming ubiquitous in enterprises, providing secure and cost-effective access to resources. Those networks usually have one or more controllers, each controller supporting a plurality of access points (AP) deployed through the enterprise. WiFi networks operating in accordance with IEEE 802.11 standards are examples of such networks.
Also increasing in popularity are dual-mode handsets, which are handsets supporting not only a cellular/wireless wide area network (WWAN) interface, for example, GSM, CDMA, 3G or 4G, but also a wireless interface such as IEEE 802.11 WiFi. Such dual-mode handsets when used with properly configured and operating wireless local area networks (WLANs) offer the use of WiFi connections while the handset is within the enterprise, and cellular connections while outside the enterprise.
Handover of voice calls and data sessions between cellular and WLAN networks is a key concern for handset users and the designers of the WLANs they use.
In order to aid the timely handover of calls and sessions from a WiFi network to a WWAN, it is important to recognize when a dual-mode handset that is using WiFi is approaching the edge of WLAN coverage and is at risk of losing that coverage so that the required signaling can be completed between the WLAN and the WWAN to transition calls and/or data sessions before WLAN coverage is completely lost.
Being on the edge of WLAN coverage is a property of a client associated to a WiFi network. A initial assessment of this property may be made by identifying those APs along the edge of the WLAN; clients associated to one of these edge APs are on the edge of the WLAN. But association with an edge AP is not sufficient. Two clients may be associated with the same edge AP and be in different states. As an example, one client may be moving away from the edge AP and into the interior of the network. The other client may be moving away from the edge AP and away from the WLAN network entirely.
What is needed is a way of better identifying client devices on the edge of WLAN coverage in the network.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A manned, mobile traffic enforcement platform with aimable violation detection and documentation devices, employing digital video and still images, incorporating contextual information as well as data input by the system operator and driver, with numerous commercial-off-the-shelf components and a physically integrated composite display. The mobile enforcement platform (MEP) is operated by trained system operators, typically sworn-officers, who apply pre-determined criteria, protocols, procedures and routines to generate conclusive, court-acceptable violation documentation. MEP supports detection, identification, and documentation of violations in any lane behind or in front of the moving MEP vehicle or from the roadside. MEP captures most types of moving violations, including aggressive driving, in readily retrievable documentation formatted for later mail citation and court use. MEP increases police and court productivity, reduces police officer paperwork and court time, increases enforcement credibility, reduces crash costs and fatalities, improves highway safety, and augments homeland security capabilities.

The disclosed invention relates generally to mobile, integrated systems for highway traffic violation enforcement, and more specifically to a system modularly installed in a vehicle (together constituting a Mobile Enforcement Platform or MEP) for acquiring, integrating, displaying, archiving, and transmitting or downloading images and data that document multiple types of moving traffic violations as identified and determined by the trained and authorized MEP operator (generally assumed to be a police officer) from multiple lanes of moving vehicles while MEP, itself, is either moving or stationary. MEP enhances and automates the violation documentation process, which feeds into a citation-by-mail process, reducing police officer paperwork and the court-time per citation issued. MEP's capabilities also are suitable for certain mobile monitoring and documentation requirements supporting homeland security programs, objectives, and activities as well as other surveillance requirements.
Traffic violation enforcement typically has been and is an increasingly costly, inefficient, labor-intensive, labor-limited, and frequently ineffective process. Limited police resources are assigned across numerous competing duties and priorities, leaving relatively few police personnel for traffic enforcement where violators greatly outnumber the sparsely distributed enforcers.
Over the years, devices have been introduced to improve the detection, documentation, and prosecution of traffic violations. The use of radar and laser devices to detect and record vehicle speed began in the 1950s, first with fixed, manned systems at the roadside or in makeshift tower structures erected in the median. Later, the speed detection device was mounted on the police vehicle, initially for stationary use and subsequently for mobile use, permitting detection and pursuit by the same officer. Video cameras were introduced to capture sequential images to document violations and the apprehension/citation process, both to support the prosecution of the accused and to provide evidence in the event of legal counter-proceedings by the accused against the accusing officer. Computers were installed in police vehicles to improve the data access, communications capabilities, and integrated teamwork and use of mobile, field, and station personnel and equipment. However, all the devices and processes still required that an officer would identify, stop, detain, and process each violator sequentially, clearly establishing an upper limit on an officer's productivity.
Most recently, unmanned, fixed systems for detection and documentation of speeding and red-light running have been installed to monitor all traffic continuously and to generate and store the necessary composite visual and digital data imagery to support traffic violation citation processes. These devices develop documentary evidence, which is processed later by police, government, or private contractor personnel, producing citations, which are mailed to the registered owner(s) of the cited vehicle based on the associated license plate and vehicle images.
Global positioning satellite system data can be acquired and displayed via a monitor to show the map coordinates for the approximate location of the acquiring receiver and display monitor, essentially replacing the old LORAN system aid to navigation with a modern, more useful system. This technology has had little application in traffic enforcement because either the officer writes the approximate location on the citation or the detection and documentation device is at a fixed, known location.

Mobile enforcement platform with aimable violation identification and documentation system for multiple traffic violation types across all lanes in moving traffic, generating composite display images and data to support citation generation, homeland security, and monitoring


According to the frequency multiplier of the present invention, an output clock signal of multiplied frequency is emitted from an exclusive NOR circuit which enters an input clock signal and a signal obtained by delaying the input clock signal via a first delay circuit. To the first delay circuit, second and third delay circuits are sucessively cascaded to delay the input clock signal. A circuit which comprises two flip-flops is supplied with the input clock signal and the output of the third delay circuit to emit a set signal when the rise in output of the third delayed circuit becomes faster than the fall of the input clock signal due to change in the delay time caused by the external conditions. Further, another circuit, which also comprises two flip-flops, is supplied with the input clock signal and the output of the second delay circuit, and emits a set signal when the rise in output of the second delay circuit becomes more delayed than the fall of the input clock signal due to the above change in the external conditions. These set signals can operate a blocking flip-flop circuit to block the output clock signal so that the fluctuation of the duty factor of the output clock signal, due to the change of the delay time of the first delay circuit, may be restricted within a predetermined range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency multiplier, and particularly to a frequency multiplier for multiplying the frequency of an input signal by utilizing one or more delay circuits and an exclusive logic circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating the arrangement of a conventional frequency multiplier of this kind, in which input clock signal 300 and an output of delay circuit 302 for delaying signal 300 are utilized to obtain output clock signal 303 whose frequency is doubled by means of exclusive OR circuit 301.
The duty factor (the ratio of the H level period of time of output clock signal 303 to its single cycle time) of output clock signal 303 for the above frequency multiplier is determined by the delay time of the delay circuit.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating the relationship between input clock signal 300, the output signal of delay circuit 302 and output clock signal 303. In order to set the duty factor of output clock signal 303 to 50%, as shown in the same figure, assuming that the cycle and the duty factor of input clock signal 300 are T.sub.i and 50%, respectively, it is necessary to set delay time T.sub.D of delay circuit 302 to T.sub.D =T.sub.i /4.
However, if this delay circuit is arranged with a semiconductor integrated circuit, then, as shown in Table 1, depending on power voltage V.sub.DD, ambient temperature T.sub.a and the manufacturing condition of the transistor (threshold voltage: V.sub.TP, V.sub.TN), delay time T.sub.D causes errors of approximately -50% to +100% relative to its design value.
Accordingly, if the frequency multiplier is designed with the circuit arrangement of FIG. 1, then the duty factor of the waveform of the output clock signal is changed as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 3 shows an output waveform when delay time T.sub.D changes by -50%, and FIG. 4 shows an output waveform when the delay time changes by +50%. If delay time T.sub.D changes by +100%, the output waveform remains fixed to the high level.
Therefore, if such an output clock signal is externally used, then a drawback results in that the multiplier malfunctions due to the fluctuation of the duty factor.