A portable information device includes: a first chassis, a second chassis adjacent to the first chassis, and a hinge device that relatively rotatably connects the first chassis and the second chassis. The hinge device includes: a first torque generating part that generates a rotation torque in relative rotation of a first base plate and a first link plate by sliding resistance between the first base plate and the first link plate, and a second torque generating part that generates a rotation torque in relative rotation of a second base plate and a second link plate by sliding resistance between the second base plate and the second link plate.

In recent years, portable information devices, such as a tablet PC and a smartphone having a touch panel type liquid crystal display and not having a physical keyboard, have rapidly spread. The display of this kind of portable information device has been desired to be large in use but has been desired to be miniaturized in carrying. Then, the present applicant has proposed a portable information device in which not only a chassis but also a display is configured so as to be foldable by the use of a flexible display, such as organic EL (Electro Luminescence) (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 6,507,183).
The portable information device as described above can be used in multiple modes according to a rotation angle between right and left chassis. For example, when the rotation angle between the chassis is set about between 120 degrees and 140 degrees, the portable information device can be used like a typical laptop PC. In addition, when the rotation angle between the right and left chassis is set to, for example, 180 degrees, the portable information device can be used like a typical tablet PC. A hinge device used in this type of portable information device needs to be able to generate an optimal rotation torque according to the rotation angle between the chassis and improve the stability and handleability of the chassis in each mode.

Portable information device and hinge device


A barrier layer is included in an integrated circuit capacitor, between a conductive plug and a lower capacitor electrode. The barrier layer includes refractory metal and grain boundary filling material. The grain boundary filling material preferably is Ce, Zr, Y, Th, Hf, La, Al and/or oxides thereof, and is preferably less that 20 atomic percent of the barrier layer. The barrier layer can reduce and preferably prevent diffusion of oxygen, and can thereby reduce the leakage current and oxidation of the integrated circuit capacitor.

Capacitors are widely used in integrated circuit devices, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices. As DRAM devices become more highly integrated, various approaches for increasing the capacitance within a defined cell area have been proposed. For example, one approach is to thin the dielectric film. A second approach is to make the capacitor three-dimensional to increase the effective area thereof. A third approach is to use a material having a high dielectric constant. These approaches can also be combined.
Unfortunately, in the first approach, when the thickness of the dielectric film is 100 .ANG. or less, the reliability may deteriorate due to Fowler-Nordheim currents. This may limit the ability to fabricate ultra-thin dielectric films.
In the second approach, complicated processes and high product cost may result when fabricating a three-dimensional capacitor, such as a cylindrical type or a pin type capacitor. This may limit the advantages of three-dimensional capacitors.
For the third approach, various proposals for increasing capacitance using a high dielectric contact material have been made. For the high dielectric constant material, ferroelectric materials such as SrTiO.sub.3 Ba(Sr, Ti)O.sub.3 (BST), Pb(Zr, Ti)O.sub.3 (PZT), Pb(La, Zr)TiO.sub.3 and Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 may be used.
A metal of the platinum group or an oxide thereof has been used for an electrode material of the high dielectric capacitor. It will be understood that the platinum group metals include the following six metals, all of which are members of Group VIII of the periodic system: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum. The platinum group metals have an excellent oxidation resistance, so they are not oxidized even where they contact the high dielectric layer. Further, platinum has an excellent leakage current characteristic. That is, platinum (Pt) has a work function higher than that of high dielectric material such as BST, SrTiO.sub.3 and PZT, so that a Schottky barrier is formed at an interface with the high dielectric material, which can provide excellent leakage current characteristics.
However, platinum may react with polysilicon at a temperature of 300.degree. C. or higher, to thereby form silicide. Accordingly, it is known to form a barrier layer for preventing silicide formation, at a lower portion of a platinum electrode. Unfortunately, materials commonly used for the barrier layer, for example metal nitrides such as TiN, TaN or WN.sub.1-x, may be oxidized during a subsequent heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere.
In particular, the platinum electrode formation generally is performed at a high temperature so that the surface of the electrode is smooth. Subsequently, a high dielectric constant layer is deposited in an oxygen atmosphere at a high temperature. Unfortunately, oxygen may flow into the barrier layer along a grain boundary of the platinum electrode, and then it may additionally diffuse during the subsequent heat treatment. As a result, nitrogen contained in the barrier layer may be replaced with oxygen, which may cause the barrier layer to peel off.
In order to overcome the above problem, it has been proposed to use a conductive oxide layer such as RuO.sub.2 or IrO.sub.2 for the capacitor electrode. In FIG. 1, a high dielectric constant capacitor having this structure is shown.
Referring to FIG. 1, reference numerals 10, 11 and 12 indicate an integrated circuit substrate such as a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer and a conductive plug, respectively. Reference numerals 13, 14 and 15 indicate an ohmic layer, a barrier layer and a lower electrode, respectively. Reference numerals 17 and 19 indicate a high dielectric constant layer and an upper electrode, respectively.
In FIG. 1, the conductive plug 12 is formed of polysilicon, and the barrier layer 14 is formed of a metal nitride such as TiN. Also, the lower electrode 15 is formed of a conductive oxide layer, for example, RuO.sub.2. The high dielectric constant layer 17 can be formed of a high dielectric constant material such as BST, PZT, PLZT or Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5, and the upper electrode 19 can be formed of a metal of the platinum group or an oxide thereof.
Unfortunately, although the conductive oxide layer forming the lower electrode 15 can prevent oxygen diffusion more effectively than platinum, it has a work function similar to that of the high dielectric constant layer, which can cause inferior leakage current characteristics. In order to improve the leakage current characteristics, the contact area between the lower electrode 15 and the high dielectric constant layer 17 can be reduced, for example, by reducing the thickness of the lower electrode 15. However, there may be a limit as to how thin the lower electrode 15 can be made. This is because the lower electrode 15 also functions as an oxygen diffusion barrier layer.
Accordingly, it has also been proposed to thin the lower electrode by forming a sacrificial layer comprising a platinum group metal, between the lower electrode layer and the barrier layer. The sacrificial layer can prevent oxidation as will now be described in connection with FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 shows a high dielectric constant capacitor including a sacrificial layer. Referring to FIG. 2, reference numerals 200, 201 and 203 indicate an integrated circuit substrate such as a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer and a conductive plug, respectively. Reference numeral 205 indicates an ohmic layer formed of TiSi.sub.x, and reference numeral 207 indicates a barrier layer formed of a TiN layer. Also, reference numerals 209 and 211 indicate a sacrificial layer for preventing oxidization and a lower electrode, respectively. Reference numerals 213 and 215 indicate a high dielectric constant layer and an upper electrode, respectively.
The sacrificial layer 209 for preventing oxidization can be formed of a platinum group metal, for example, Ru. Ru reacts with oxygen which flows into the Ru layer during a subsequent processing performed under an oxygen atmosphere at a high temperature, thereby forming RuO.sub.2. Accordingly, the sacrificial layer 209 for preventing oxidization blocks oxygen from flowing into the barrier layer 207, which can prevent oxidation of the barrier layer 207.
However, in the above-described high dielectric constant capacitor, the leakage current characteristics may still be inferior. Specifically, it is difficult to prevent oxygen from flowing from the sidewall of the barrier layer 207. Accordingly, oxidization of the barrier layer 207 may not be sufficiently prevented.

Integrated circuit capacitors including barrier layers having grain boundary filling material


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that supports cross-component references in an object-oriented programming system. During operation, the system makes a first attempt to obtain a name for a referenced object through a cross-component reference between a referencing object and the referenced object. This first attempt involves attempting to obtain the name for the referenced object from the referenced object, which involves attempting access the referenced object through an identifier for the referenced object within the cross-component reference. If this first attempt fails, the system makes a second attempt to obtain the name for the referenced object, which involves obtaining a pathname for the referenced object from the cross-component reference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems that facilitate manipulating objects within an object-oriented programming system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method and an apparatus for supporting cross-component references within an object-oriented programming system.
2. Related Art
Object-oriented programming systems enable programmers to create, modify and manipulate objects, which contain both code and data. These objects are often organized into related groups, which are referred to as "components".
To facilitate the use of components, object-oriented programming systems often provide mechanisms to ensure that objects within components remain consistent with each other as they are updated.
Additionally, many object-oriented programming systems support "loose coupling", which enables programmers to concurrently modify related components. Moreover, loose coupling allows applications to be developed by larger development teams. However, loose coupling also makes it harder to manage consistency between components.
For example, a problem can arise when a referenced object is deleted and re-imported. Suppose there exists a database table (component) called "EMP", with columns "ID" and "DEPT_ID". Also suppose that the column EMP.DEPT_ID contains a foreign-key which refers to the column "ID" in another database table (component) "DEPT". Furthermore, suppose that the column ID is the unique-key for database table (component) DEPT. Note that if DEPT is deleted, its unique-key will also be deleted. However, because of loose coupling, the foreign-key contained in column EMP.DEPT_ID may not be updated to reflect this deletion. Moreover, if DEPT is subsequently re-imported, the foreign-key may still not be updated. Consequently, even after re-importing DEPT, the foreign-key contained in column EMP.DEPT_ID may continue to refer to a non-existent object.
Upon subsequent validation of the EMP object, the database may report an error because the foreign-key in column EMP.DEPT_ID does not refer to a valid unique-key. Consequently, the user may have to either delete the foreign key or change it to refer a new unique-key.
Similarly, problems can arise when a component is updated. For example, an update can cause information within a referencing component to be inconsistent with associated information in a referenced component.
Unfortunately, existing loosely coupled systems do not check for such inconsistencies, which can cause the system to fail. As a result, such inconsistencies are typically detected when it is too late, e.g., after a system failure.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for managing consistency between components thereby avoiding the problems described above.

Supporting cross-component references in an object-oriented programming system


A tube stop for cooperation with a tube and fin furnace wall and a horizontal buckstay which includes first and second generally parallel generally planar spaced plates, apparatus for attachment of the first and second generally parallel generally planar spaced plates to the associated tube wall. A U-shaped plate has first and second opposed generally planar generally parallel space side walls, the first and second side walls being respectively disposed in spaced relation generally parallel relationship to the first and second generally parallel generally planar spaced plates, apparatus for coupling the first and second walls of the U-shaped member respectively to the first and second generally parallel generally planar spaced plates, and apparatus for rigidly coupling the U-shaped plate to the to the associated horizontal buckstay.

The invention relates to vapor generation apparatus generally and more specifically to a tube stop structure used to transmit loading due to seismic disturbances or strong winds that act on such apparatus. Seismic disturbances produce a horizontal load that is a function of the weight of the boiler.
Typical furnace constructions have horizontal buckstays disposed in bands around the perimeter of the furnace tube walls at vertically spaced intervals (often between 15 and 40 feet) throughout the height of the furnace wall. Tube stops are typically disposed between two or three of the horizontal buckstays and the tube wall. Unlike the stirrup connections between the spiral tube wall and the horizontal buckstay the tube stop must transfer a shear load.
While the invention has particular application to furnaces having a spiral tube wall construction. The spiral wall furnace design increases the mass flow per tube by reducing the number of tubes needed to envelop the furnace without increasing the spacing between the tubes. This is done by arranging the tubes at an angle and spiraling them around the furnace. For instance, the number of tubes required to cover the furnace wall can be reduced to one-half by putting the tubes at a 30 degree angle. The angle chosen for the particular application ordinarily will vary between 7 and 30 degrees. An advantage of the spiral wall construction is that every tube is part of all of the wall which means that each tube acts as a heat integrator around the four walls of the combustion chamber.
Conventional tube stop constructions heavy, thick weldments that are welded to the furnace tube walls. Such constructions cause thermal stresses that result in cracking and failure of the furnace tube wall.
Spiral tube wall furnace power boilers are capable of extremely quick changes in power output. These quick changes in power output result in extremely quick changes in the tube wall temperatures. Because of this, apparatus such as the tube stop in accordance with the invention must be designed with particular attention to thermal stress problems.
Another design consideration is field fit-up problems during final assembly. The furnaces to which the present invention has particular application are partially assembled in a shop and then final assembly is completed at a job site. Because of the relatively large size of the apparatus tolerance build-up problems are particularly acute.

Spiral tube wall furnace seismic/wind tube stop


A phase lock loop operates independent of temperature and process variation by digitally loading a VCO until reaching the desired operating frequency. The VCO reaches a high output frequency even under worst case processing by controlling multiple current mirrors to increase inverter switching current without slowing the response of the VCO to changes in loop node voltage. An Initialize-to-VDD circuit sets the loop node voltage to V.sub.DD so that the load control circuit need only increase loading to slow down the VCO to the desired operating frequency. A frequency range detector monitors the output frequency of the VCO and passes control signals to a load control circuit to activate digital loads and slow down the VCO to the desired operating frequency.

The present invention relates in general to phase lock loops and, more particularly, to a high frequency voltage controlled oscillator with digital controlled loads operating independent of temperature and process variation.
A conventional phase lock loop (PLL) generally includes a phase detector for monitoring a phase difference between an input signal and an output signal of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The phase detector generates an up control signal and a down control signal for a charge pump to charge and discharge a loop filter at a loop node at the input of the VCO. The loop voltage developed across the loop filter determines the output frequency of the VCO. The up and down control signals driving the charge pump set the proper loop filter voltage at the input of the VCO to maintain a predetermined phase relationship between the signals applied to the phase detector, as is well understood.
PLLs are widely used in data communications, local area networks in computer applications, microprocessors and data storage applications to control data transfers. PLLs are often implemented with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology to provide low cost and low power operation allowing a system designer to extend the tracking range and frequency-aided acquisition. As the operating frequency of PLLs continue to increase to meet the demand for higher communication data rates, the system designer must deal with problems of temperature and manufacturing process variation affecting the operation of the PLL. The VCO is the primary temperature and process sensitive component affecting high frequency PLL operation.
A typical maximum operating frequency for a conventional VCO is 100 MHz under worst case processing. It is desirable for the VCO to operate at least 200 MHz with the loop node voltage at its maximum (V.sub.DD), even under worst case processing and high temperature conditions based on operating environment and wafer characteristics. However, under the best case temperature and processing conditions, the same VCO design may operate at a much higher frequency, say 860 MHz, with the same loop node voltage V.sub.DD. In fact, the entire frequency-gain curve (MHz/volt) of the VCO operation is affected by temperature and processing conditions. For example, the VCO frequency gain under worst case processing may be 17 MHz/volt at 200 MHz, while under best case processing conditions, the VCO frequency gain is 365 MHz/volt. Thus, the uncertainty in VCO output frequency as a function of temperature and process parameters given a loop node voltage, effects accuracy, stability, jitter and tuning range of the PLL.
Hence, a need exists for a high frequency VCO operating at a known frequency given a loop node voltage independent of temperature and process variation.

Voltage controlled oscillator operating with digital controlled loads in a phase lock loop


A substantially neutral filter across the white-light spectrum is obtained by minimizing the wavelength-dependent effects of filtering components and of reflective coatings on surfaces. The incoming light is captured by a first prism and directed toward the interface formed by the optical contact of a second prism with a face of the first prism, where the light is partially reflected internally and partially transmitted into the second prism. The reflected light is further reflected internally and directed toward the image surface out of the first prism. The fraction of light transmitted into the second prism is reflected back and redirected out of the system toward the incoming beam. The amount of energy directed toward the image plane is controlled by the judicious selection of the refractive indices in the two materials at the contacting interface of the first and second prisms. The second prism consists of a retro-reflector element adapted to reflect substantially all light transmitted at the interface with the first prism back along the optical path of the incoming beam.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high-quality neutral-density filters and, in particular, to a neutral white-light filter constructed with a novel prism arrangement that is particularly suited for telescopic applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In telescopic solar astronomy, objects must be observed using optical filters that reduce the intensity of the light, especially at infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. The human eye is particularly susceptible to damage from exposure to IR and UV wavelengths because they produce extremely harmful chemical and thermal effects on the retina, respectively. Therefore, when human observation of an incoming image is desired in an instrument such as a telescope, it is necessary to attenuate these wavelengths below acceptable levels. In the case of white light, attenuation by a factor of at least 10−5 is considered safe. Thus, the use of appropriate filters is extremely important for observation of very bright objects such as the sun
Neutral-density filters are defined as filters capable of attenuating a wavefront uniformly across the spectrum of visible light. In practice, these filters are implemented with combinations of optical components, each affecting a different spectral range, which therefore can only approximate neutral-density performance. In telescopes, where attenuation is desired throughout the entire white-light spectral range, it is usually obtained using a Herschel wedge in combination with additional filtering elements. As is well known in the art, a Herschel wedge operates in reflection, diverting about 5% of the incoming light toward the optical path of the observable beam, which is then further attenuated with filters to achieve a safe level for human observation. The transmitted beam, which constitutes about 95% of the incoming light, is either absorbed as heat by the telescope mass, typically in a refrigerated heat-sink component, or is dumped as an outgoing beam through an opening in the housing of the telescope.
Thus, the Herschel-wedge solution is unsatisfactory in at least two respects. From a functional viewpoint, the use of additional filters in the optical path of the observable beam to attenuate it to safe levels introduces undesirable spectral and optical non-uniformities; that is, the cumulative filter effect is not spectrally neutral and the quality of the image-forming wavefront is degraded. In addition, since most neutral-density filters use metallic layers (such as aluminum, silver or gold coatings) which heat up during use, the wedge assembly is not thermally stable. From an operational point of view, the fact that most of the energy of the incoming light has to be absorbed by the system increases the thermal-stability problems and requires expensive and cumbersome cooling units. When the transmitted beam is dissipated in the surrounding environment, the highly concentrated energy dumped by the beam represents a serious health hazard to anyone accidentally encroaching and blocking its path in the vicinity of the telescope.
Therefore, any filter capable of producing a neutral attenuation of a light beam across the white-light spectrum (for the purposes of this disclosure defined as the spectral range from about 200 to about 1,600 nm) and operable without excessive thermal effect would represent a very desirable advance in the art. This invention achieves these goals with optical filters based on a variety of prism arrangements adapted to split the incident light into a useful portion directed toward the observer (or image-plane surface) and a rejected portion reflected toward the incoming beam.


The disclosed systems and methods for encoding, by a polar encoder, K message bits into an encoded message bits sequence C(M) using polar codes, where K and M are integer values and M is greater than or equal to K; rearranging, by an interleaver, the encoded message bits sequence C(M) to rearranged encoded message bits sequence C′(M) such that a C(i)th bit and a

Typically, forward error correction codes (FECs) are used for channel encoding of communication systems to provide a reliable communication by adding redundancy. There are many techniques for designing FECs and we have many different types of FECs (e.g., Algebraic Code, convolutional turbo code, Low-density parity-check (LDPC) code and Turbo product codes (TPC)). A relatively new channel encoding method called "polar coding" is a coding technique that forms polarized virtual "bit-channels" using a class of block codes that contain polar codes. The bit channels are categorized into "good channels" or "information bit channels" in which information may be transmitted with high reliability, and "bad channels" or "frozen bit channels" which are considered or determined to be low reliability channels.
A polar coding method may substantially achieve the Shannon channel capacity, i.e., the highest information rate achievable with arbitrary small error probability, by using low encoding/decoding complexity.
In high-throughput communication systems in some applications, FEC blocks consume more than half of the power of the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) component(s) of a communication system. To this end, there is an interest in designing the FEC with high coding gain and low power consumption.

Systems and methods for encoding digital communications

Abstract: C    (         M    2      +   i    ) th bit of the encoded message bits sequence C(M) are arranged together, where i is an integer value that varies between 1 to

Abstract: M   2    ; mapping, by a bits-to-symbol mapper, the rearranged encoded message bits sequence C(M) to N non-binary symbols, where N is an integer value; and processing, by a transmitter symbol processor, the N non-binary symbols to transmit the processed non-binary symbols towards a receiver.


A network design apparatus includes an information acquiring unit acquiring optical network information, a section dividing unit dividing an optical network into linear sections, a combination candidate determining unit determining candidates for combinations of various kinds of optical transmission equipment to be placed in each station in each of the linear sections, a noise amount upper limit determining unit determining an upper limit to the amount of noise allowed for each wavelength path, and an equipment placement unit solving an integer programming problem having an objective function that minimizes the cost of the optical transmission equipment and OEO regenerators, subject to the constraints that one optical transmission equipment combination is selected for each linear section and that the number of OEO regenerators necessary for each wavelength path is determined by the cumulative amount of noise of the wavelength path and the noise upper limit determined for the wavelength path.

In recent years, in the field of WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) networks, OADMs have been implemented (Optical Add Drop Multiplexers) and optical hubs, such as WXCs (Wavelength Cross Connects), that can split and insert traffic and can switch paths on a wavelength-by-wavelength basis without converting optical signals into electrical form.
The implementation of such equipment has made it possible to construct complicated networks, such as interconnected ring networks and mesh networks.
When designing a WDM network, optical network information, including information concerning stations where equipment constituting the WDM system can be placed and information concerning the optical fibers interconnecting the stations, is applied along with wavelength path information concerning wavelength paths propagating in the WDM network. Hereinafter, optical transmission equipment constituting such a WDM system may sometimes be referred to as "WDM equipment." The WDM equipment includes, for example, equipment such as OADMs and ILAs (In-Line Amplifiers) or bypasses which are described later.
OADMs are placed at both end stations serving as the start and end points of a wavelength path, while on the other hand, at other stations serving as relay stations, ILAs or OADMs as repeaters can be placed. By using an OADM as a repeater, it is possible at each relay station to regenerate and relay any desired wavelength path and to compensate for a tilt of a WDM signal.
Rather than placing OADMs or ILAs, optical fibers may be simply connected at relay stations to relay optical signals. In the following description, any relay station where optical fibers are simply connected in this manner may sometimes be referred to as a "bypass station," and the relay means constructed by simply connecting optical fibers may sometimes be referred to as a "bypass."
An optical network design method is proposed which designs an optical network by using integer programming so that traffic flowing along a failed path is switched to another working optical path, thus eliminating the need to provide a dedicated protection optical path.
An optical network design method is also proposed which determines, by using integer programming, the placement of working and protection optical paths that minimizes the network cost in an optical network in which a plurality of optical transmission links share the same optical transmission equipment.

Network design apparatus and network design method


A service control point comprising a processing system coupled to an interface. The processing system is configured to process a first message to generate a second message containing instructions to a communication device to collect digits from a caller, and process a third message with the collected digits to generate a fourth message with call handling information for a call. The interface is configured to receive the first message from the communication device, transmit the second message for the communication device, receive the third message from the communication device and transmit the fourth message for the communication device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a telecommunications service control point (SCP), and specifically, to an SCP having digit collection logic. More specifically, to an SCP having a processing system and interface configured to instruct communications devices within a telecommunications network to collect digits for call processing and validation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a telecommunications network, an SCP provides service information to devices in the network using call processing applications within the SCP. Some examples of service information provided by the SCP include special service number routing information and calling card information. For instance, a switch receives a call requiring a special service to complete the call to a called destination. Recognizing the need for a service, the switch transmits a query message to the SCP. The SCP processes the query message and returns a response message containing service information for the call. These query and response messages are generally Signaling System #7 (SS7) Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP) protocol messages that are well known in the art.
In some cases, the collection of digits from a caller is required before the SCP can provide services for the call. For example, a toll free number may include an associated personal identification number (PIN). When a call is placed to the toll free number, the associated PIN number must be collected to process the call. Presently, the digit collection control logic for these types of services is decentralized within the telecommunications network. In some cases, the control logic is located in a switch, while in other cases the control logic is located in a telecommunication resource sometimes referred to as a service platform.
In one example of digit collection in a resource, a telecommunications switch may receive a pre-paid calling card call requiring the collection of the calling card number to process the call. The switch, recognizing the need for a resource, transmits a query message to the SCP. The SCP, recognizing the need for digit collection, processes the query message and generates a response message that routes the call to a resource. The resource processes the call by playing prompts, collecting digits from the caller, validating the collected digits and sending a transfer request message to the SCP. The SCP processes the transfer request message, disconnects the resource, and sends a response message to the switch that routes the call to the final destination.
In another example of digit collection, a switch receives a toll free call requiring the collection of a PIN to process the call. Recognizing the need for digit collection, the switch processes the call by collecting the digits from the caller. Depending on its programming the switch may either validate the collected digits internally or send a query message to the SCP for validation of the collected digits by the SCP.
Unfortunately, the addition of services requiring digit collection is a problem in the art of telecommunications because of the decentralized digit collection control logic. Where a service requiring digit collection is added, the SCP as well as all switches and resources with digit collection logic must be reprogrammed for the new service. Thus it is desirable in the art of telecommunications to centralize digit control logic in the SCP.

Telecommunications service control point with digit collection logic


A gas delivery system and associated method includes a flow channel, a control valve, a downstream pressure sensor, and a controller. The control valve controls flow of gas in the flow channel. The downstream pressure sensor, located downstream of the control valve, measures gas pressure in the flow channel. The controller has an external trigger input to receive a trigger signal applied to a shutoff valve downstream from the control valve. The controller operates in separate modes based on a state of the trigger signal. In a non-triggered mode, the controller controls pressure at the pressure sensor via the control valve in accordance with a first gain schedule. In the triggered mode, the controller controls the pressure at the pressure sensor via the control valve in accordance with a second gain schedule that is distinct from the first gain schedule.

A pressure controller is a device to measure and control the pressure of gases. In general, a pressure controller includes an inlet port, an outlet port, a pressure sensor and a control valve that is adjusted to achieve a desired pressure of gas at the pressure sensor.
Semiconductor fabrication processes, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes, can involve the delivery of several different gases and gas mixtures in various quantities over several processing steps. Generally, gases are stored in tanks at a processing facility, and gas metering systems are used to deliver metered quantities of gases from the tanks to processing tools, such as chemical vapor deposition reactors, vacuum sputtering machines, plasma etchers, etc. Typically, pressure controllers are included among other components in a flow path from a gas metering system to a processing tool.
Pulse gas delivery devices have been developed to deliver a pulsed flow of a gas to semiconductor process tools.

Pressure control using an external trigger


A movable operating member 5 is swingably borne by the base 1, and its distal end is moved upward by allowing its proximal end 5b to be pressed downward. The movable contact 3 is separated from the stationary contact 2 upward by moving the distal end of the movable operating member 5 upward. The proximal end of the movable operating member 5 is pressed downward by a guide pin 6 in response to a reverse action of a bimetal 7. When a reset shaft 8 is pushed upward, the movable contact 3 is pressed upward, and the guide pin 6 is pressed upward so that the bimetal 7 can be returned to an initial state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermostat that performs providing or interrupting electrical continuity in response to temperature changes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a manual-reset thermostat that, once a bimetal performs a reverse action, maintains a reversely-curved state until a reset shaft is pushed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thermostat is an electronic part that performs providing or interrupting electrical continuity by opening or closing contact between connecting terminals making use of the fact that a disk-shaped bimetal performs a snap action in response to temperature changes. In more detail, electrical continuity is interrupted by opening (i.e., breaking) contact between connecting terminals in response to a reverse action of a bimetal when a predetermined temperature is reached by a temperature rise, whereas electrical continuity is re provided between the connecting terminals by closing (i.e., making) contact between the connecting terminals in response to a return action of the bimetal when another predetermined temperature is reached by a temperature drop.
Herein, if a temperature at which the bimetal is reset is set below a normal temperature, and once the bimetal performs a reverse action, the bimetal maintains a reversely-curved state even if the normal temperature is reached by a temperature drop unless the bimetal is manually allowed to perform a return action. This type of thermostat is called a "manual-reset thermostat." This manual-reset thermostat is used in various apparatuses such as copying machines. If an abnormality arises in an apparatus in which the manual-reset thermostat is used causes the apparatus to reach a high temperature, the electric current is shut off by allowing the bimetal to perform a reverse action, and the apparatus is stopped. Since this state is maintained even when the normal temperature is reached, causes of the abnormality occurred in the apparatus is removed, and thereafter the bimetal is manually reset by pushing a reset shaft.
FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, and FIG. 10C are sectional views, each showing a conventional manual-reset thermostat, in which FIG. 10A shows an initial state, FIG. 10B shows a state in which a bimetal "A" has performed a reverse action, and FIG. 10C shows a state in which the bimetal "A" has returned to the initial state by pushing a reset shaft B. This thermostat includes the bimetal "A" that performs a snap operation, a guide pin C disposed under the bimetal "A," a leaf spring D to which the reverse action of the bimetal "A" is transmitted through the guide pin C, the reset shaft B disposed under the guide pin C with the leaf spring D therebetween, a movable contact E provided at an end of the leaf spring D, and a stationary contact F that is fixed facing the upper part of the movable contact E.
This conventional thermostat is used in the state of FIG. 10A. The bimetal "A" is kept convex upward, and, when the movable contact E and the stationary contact F come into contact with each other, an electric current is applied to an apparatus having this thermostat. However, when a predetermined temperature is reached owing to an abnormality of the apparatus, the bimetal "A" performs a reverse action and reaches a state of being convex downward as shown in FIG. 10B, so that the guide pin C is pushed downward. Accordingly, the leaf spring D is depressed through the guide pin C, and the movable contact E recedes from the stationary contact F downward. As a result, the movable contact E and the stationary contact F are separated from each other, and the electric current to the apparatus is shut off.
In this thermostat, once the bimetal "A" performs a reverse action, the reversely-curved state of the bimetal "A" is maintained even if the temperature falls to a normal temperature. Therefore, in order to return the thermostat to the initial state of FIG. 10A, the reset shaft B is required to be pushed as shown in FIG. 10C. When the reset shaft B is pushed, the bimetal "A" is pushed upward through the leaf spring D and the guide pin C, and the bimetal "A" is returned to the state of being convex upward. When the reset shaft B is brought into a free state after having pushed the reset shaft B, the thermostat returns to the state of FIG. 10A, but the movable contact E and the stationary contact F continue to be in contact with each other by an upward urging force of the leaf spring D.
However, in this conventional thermostat, if the reset shaft B of the thermostat continues to be pushed owing to some circumstances when the apparatus is being used, the state of FIG. 10C is maintained. If so, the bimetal "A" cannot perform a reverse action even when a predetermined temperature is reached later, so that the contacts cannot be separated from each other. Therefore, there has been a fear that the electric current will continue to be applied damaging the apparatus.
From this fact, the present patent applicant has proposed a thermostat disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H9-198980. FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, and FIG. 11C are sectional views, each showing this conventional manual-reset thermostat, in which FIG. 11A shows an initial state, FIG. 11B shows a state in which the bimetal "A" has performed a reverse action, and FIG. 11C shows a state in which the bimetal "A" has been returned to the initial state by pushing the reset shaft B.
As shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C, this conventional thermostat includes two make-and-break contacts consisting of movable contacts E1 and E2 and stationary contacts F1 and F2. The movable contacts E1 and E2 are provided at both ends, respectively, of a plate D1. When the bimetal "A" performs a reverse action, one of the two make-and-break contacts is opened, i.e., the contacts E1 and F1 are opened. On the other hand, when the reset shaft B is pushed, the other make-and-break contact is opened, i.e., the contacts E2 and F2 are opened. Therefore, an electric current to an apparatus having this thermostat can be shut off in a state in which the reset shaft B is being pushed.
However, the conventional thermostat of FIGS. 11A to 11C needs the two make-and-break contacts, and, accordingly, the number of constituent elements becomes large, and the structure thereof becomes complex, and costs become high. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a manual-reset thermostat that can interrupt electrical continuity in a state in which a reset shaft is being pushed and that has a simple structure.


A clamp assembly is disclosed for a tonneau cover for a vehicle wherein the clamp assembly includes a plurality of spacers disposed therein to facilitate installation thereof on a variety of vehicle types and styles.

A number of accessories, such as truck caps, tonneau covers, light bars, utility boxes, and the like, can be added to a pickup truck or other vehicle for functional and decorative purposes. These accessories are typically secured to the truck by fasteners, aluminum extruded clamps, or "C" clamps.
Tonneau covers are typically made of a relatively soft, flexible fabric, approximately the size and shape of the cargo area to be covered. Alternatively, the cover can be constructed of a rigid and durable material such as fiberglass. The cover can include a mechanism disposed along the edge of the cover for securing the cover to the vehicle. In one known type of cover, holes are drilled in the vehicle and one portion of a snap is secured in each hole. The corresponding snap portions are secured about the perimeter of the cover. To secure the cover to the vehicle, the fabric is placed over the cargo area and the snaps are engaged.
In another known type of cover, a plurality of rails is clamped about the periphery of the cargo area. The rails include snaps, slots, or other features that engage corresponding features secured to the periphery of the cover.
The existing clamps can be problematic since the areas surrounding the drilled openings and any areas damaged by the clamps are susceptible to corrosion. Additionally, if a particular accessory is removed, the openings and the damaged areas remain in the truck bed side rails, thus detracting from the appearance of the vehicle.
It would be desirable to produce a clamp assembly which can be adapted to fit a variety of vehicles and wherein the clamp assembly militates against damage to the vehicle.


An optical fiber array module is provided. The optical fiber array module includes a light emitting device to emit light having a pre-set convergence angle through a side surface (having a window or opening) thereof; an optical fiber array including a plurality of optical fibers (each optical fiber being an optical transmission medium); and a concentrator having a first side surface, a second side surface facing the side surface of the light emitting device, and a through-hole extended from the first side surface to the second side surface, wherein the through-hole has a width gradually narrower in a direction from the first side surface to the second side surface, wherein an end portion of the optical fiber array is inserted into the through-hole, thereby enabling concentration of the end portion of the optical fiber array d.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical fiber array, and in particular, to an optical fiber array module including a light emitting device and an optical fiber array.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical fiber arrays are composed of a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel. Each optical fiber is an optical transmission medium and can selectively include a protection layer of a resin substance, which is coated on the outer surface of the plurality of optical fibers. The protection layer is used to fix the plurality of optical fibers. Optical fiber array modules structure aligns an optical fiber array and a light emitting device. A side view light emitting diode (LED) is conventionally used as the light emitting device. Such an optical fiber array module is used as a backlight to illuminate key tops of a portable terminal.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional optical fiber array module 100. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a side view LED 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical fiber array module 100 includes the side view LED 110 for generating light and an optical fiber array 120 coupling a light beam 116 emitted from the side view LED 110 therein.
The side view LED 110 includes a rectangular type window 114 on one side surface 112 thereof. The side view LED 110 emits the light beam 116 having a pre-set divergence angle from the window 114. A horizontal width W1 (hereinafter, width) of the window 114 is 1.9 mm, and a vertical width (hereinafter, length) of the window 114 is 0.46 mm.
The optical fiber array 120 is composed of 28-core plastic optical fibers 122. Each optical fiber is an optical transmission medium and is arranged in parallel. The optical fiber array 120 can also selectively include a protection layer of a resin substance, which is coated on the outer surface of the 28-core plastic optical fibers 122, to fix the 28-core plastic optical fibers 122. Each of the 28-core plastic optical fibers 122 includes a core and a clad. The core has a high refractive index in which light travels with total reflection. The clad has a low refractive index and surrounds the core. The width W3 of the optical fiber array 120 is 7 mm, and the diameter W2 of each of the 28-core plastic optical fibers 122 is 0.25 mm.
For efficient optical coupling, it is preferable to minimize the distance between the window 114 of the side view LED 110 and an end portion of the optical fiber array 120. However, since the width W1 of the window 114 is narrower than the width W3 of the optical fiber array 120 and the divergence angle of the side view LED 110 is narrow, reduction of the distance is limited.
A technique of widening a divergence angle of an LED using a grating has been disclosed. However, luminance distribution of light is not uniform within the widened divergence angle. Thus, in practice, an effective divergence angle for obtaining uniform luminance is not changed. In addition, optical coupling efficiency is low, since the distance between a window of the LED and an end portion of an optical fiber array is still large.
As described above, in conventional optical fiber array modules, luminance of light coupled to the optical fiber array is low, since the distance between a window of an LED and an end portion of an optical fiber array must be more than several or tens mm.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an optical fiber array module for maximizing optical coupling efficiency by minimizing the distance between a window of an LED and an end portion of an optical fiber array.

Optical fiber array module, fabrication method thereof, and portable terminal


An input/output (I/O) switch fabric includes input physical ports that convey packets associated with at least a first network flow. Moreover, virtual routers in the I/O switch fabric, which have associated routing tables, provide types of service and/or routes for different source-destination pairs based on link-layer information and network-layer information in the packets. Note that different virtual routers can provide different types of service and/or different routes. For example, a type of service associated with a first virtual router may include changing packet headers when crossing service domains in a global network, and a type of service associated with a second virtual router may avoid changing packet headers when providing connectivity in the network. Furthermore, the I/O switch fabric includes output physical ports that convey packets associated with at least a second network flow. The virtual routers may facilitate InfiniBand inter-subnet crossing.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments generally relate to a packet-processing technique for communications networks. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to the design of a packet-processing network which is based on a network switch fabric with virtual routers.
2. Related Art
In high-performance systems, a network or input/output (I/O) switch fabric typically plays an important role in traffic movement between servers. For example, with servers running multiple virtual machines (VMs) and many virtualized applications, network-packet streams coming out of a server often include an aggregation of different services that are needed by each of the VMs and their applications. Moreover, when there are a large numbers of servers and VMs in an InfiniBand network fabric, the servers are typically split into multiple subnet domains. In order to communicate between subnets, InfiniBand subnet routing is typically used.
Within this aggregated network pipe, individual network-packet streams (representing different source-destination pairs) tend to have different requirements. Moreover, at times these requirements may be in conflict with each other. For example, one network-packet stream may be associated with communication between two VMs on the same subnet, and another network-packet stream may be associated with communication among different subnets (thereby implying subnet routing). In a typical system, a physical port tends to provide only one type of service, as either a switch or a router. Multiple levels of service usually do not simultaneously exist with granular control of the service level (such as fine-grain routing with higher throughput and lower latency switching and management). Consequently, it can be difficult to maintain the quality of service at the application level throughout the network switch fabric when multiple applications communicate across servers using existing network switch fabrics.
Hence, what is needed is a network switch fabric that facilitates communication of network-packet streams without the problems described above.


An improved baseball glove, including a heel pocket is disclosed. The heel pocket opens and closes when the glove is manipulated between open and closed positions. The heel pocket comprises a web, first and second end flaps, each having an upper edge and a base edge. The base edges are secured to the heel of the glove and the end flaps are secured to the thumb stall and the little finger stall.

Baseball gloves come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are gloves that are specifically configured according to the position of the player that will be using the glove. Examples include fielder's gloves, first base man's gloves and catcher's gloves. During a review of patents related to the present invention, several patents, discussed below, were noted.
U.S. Pat. No. 936,437 (Fields et al.) discloses a glove including a pocket. The glove has a cuff made of flaps and includes a pouch attached to the cuff. The glove is not a ball glove and the pocket is adapted to receive and hold coins so that they will be conveniently at hand, when needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,640,004 (Lundblad) discloses a fruit picker's glove including a pouch which is secured to the heel portion of the glove and to the little finger and thumb stalls. Preferably, a can is carried in the pouch to collect and hold berries.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,024 (Bates) discloses a wrist protector for use with a catcher's mitt. The protector comprise a pad which is stitched or laced to the heel portion of the glove so that they are connected by a flexible joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,127 (Gould) discloses a ball glove including a forearm protecting shield which is connected to the heel of the glove, preferably with existing glove lacing. The shield encircles the forearm of the user and includes shock absorbing materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,209 (Lehmann et al.) discloses a child's baseball glove which includes a padded retainer member which extends along, but is not connected to, the heel of the glove. The ends of the padded retainer member are releasably connected to opposite sides of the glove and can be removed when it is deemed to be no longer to be necessary.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,915 (Keene) discloses a baseball glove with a flexible heel construction. The glove has a carefully constructed heel including a heel pad and a flexible heel pad positioned and secured to the glove so that closing of the glove is facilitated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,775 (Yamada et al.) discloses a baseball glove having enhanced flexibility achieved, primarily, through a slit formed in the web portion of the glove adjacent to the base of the little finger stall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,819 (Aoki) discloses a baseball glove including an adjustable wrist protector. The glove has a wrist closure mechanism which includes an adjustable wrist protector.


Process for the efficient production of a substantially dust-free, free flowing granular L-Lysine in which the L-Lysine content is adjustable. Cells are removed from a fermentation broth containing L-Lysine to make a substantially cell free L-Lysine broth. Water is removed from the L-Lysine broth to form a concentrated L-Lysine broth. The L-Lysine content of the concentrated L-Lysine broth may be adjusted to be between about 35% and 76%, measured as a percent of freebase per kg, by adding material containing L-Lysine to provide an enriched L-Lysine broth. The enriched L-Lysine broth is agglomerated by means of an atomized spray of the enriched L-Lysine broth directed onto a fluidized bed of percolating L-Lysine particles. The L-Lysine particulates act as seeds for the agglomeration process wherein the L-Lysine particulates grow in size to provide a substantially dust-free, free flowing granular L-Lysine. Granules in the size range between about 177 micron and 1190 micron, and preferably between about 177 micron and 420 micron, are selected by means of a sieving process and bagged. Granules which are larger than about 1190 micron are ground down and combined with particles which are less than about 177 micron and recycled back to the fluidized bed to act as seeds in order to sustain the agglomeration process.

Lysine is an amino acid used extensively in the animal feed industry. The major form of L-Lysine used in the feed industry is L-LysineHCl (L-Lysine monohydrochloride). For many years, an L-LysineHCl solid has been produced by a process of fermentation, purification, crystallization and drying. After fermentation, the resulting broth may be rendered cell free by filtration or centrifugation. After filtration, the L-Lysine may be recovered from the fermentation broth by an ion exchange, which produces a liquid which is substantially L-Lysine free base. This solution may then be concentrated by evaporation.
Hydrochloric acid is usually added to the concentrated L-Lysine free base to form L-LysineHCl. This concentrated L-LysineHCl solution is crystallized to produce a product in the form of L-LysineHCl dihydrate (L-LysineHCl:2H.sub.2 O). This crystallized solid is thereafter dried to have less than one percent moisture.
This conventional product may have shortcomings. For example, it is dusty. During the handling of the product, the dust results in a loss of valuable material and sometimes causes an incomplete formulation. Also, human working conditions are made less healthful and more difficult by the dust contributed by the L-LysineHCl. Sometimes the product develops lumps during storage which are difficult to break up at the time of end use. In addition, the extensive use of ion exchange makes this process expensive. In particular, there is a need for a more economical process which avoids extensive ion exchange.
Direct spray drying of L-Lysine containing fermentation broth would avoid the extensive purification steps associated with the L-Lysine hydrochloride process, in particular the use of an expensive ion-exchange. However, consistent L-Lysine concentration in the final dry product would be difficult to achieve because the L-Lysine concentration in fermentation broth can vary considerably. Also, the product would b e dusty and difficult to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,933 describes a process for the production of an amino acid feed supplement which "still contains most of the solids content of the fermentation broth." The production of a fermentation broth at the industrial scale with 40 to 50 percent L-Lysine content is very difficult to achieve from an operational standpoint. Anyone skilled in the fermentation art is aware that upsets--contamination, power outages, operator error--are quite common and would likely produce material that was less than 40 to 50 percent L-Lysine and therefore unusable. This difficulty is compounded by the impurities associated with the media components, many of which are unrefined and vary in solids content and nutrient value from lot to lot. To avoid variance in media, fermentation would be constrained to specific and expensive media. These increases in operational input necessary to make a 40 to 50 percent L-Lysine product would cause the manufacturing costs to be prohibitive. In addition, the broth is dried to produce a powder. Powder is difficult to handle and can have detrimental health effects on workers due to dust inhalation. Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive process for the manufacture of a non-dusty L-Lysine product for use in feed supplements.
A process in which a non-dusty granular animal feed product is formed is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,710. The granulation is accomplished in two steps. First, the fermentation broth is spray dried to produce particles of fermentation products and biomass. In the second step, the particles are converted into pellets by means of high shear mixing equipment. The additional step of using high shear mixing equipment to obtain a non-dusty product adds cost. Thus, there is a need for a process that leads to a non-dusty product which does not call for an expensive high shear mixing plant.
International Publication Number WO/95/23129 describes the production of non-stoichiometric salt of L-Lysine in granular form. This publication teaches the production of non-stoichiometric salts of L-Lysine wherein the amount of L-Lysine content in the final product is adjustable. While the requirement for hydrochloric acid is reduced, other materials are called for such as calcium hydroxide, sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid. In addition, the fermentation broth containing the L-Lysine is extensively ion-exchanged. Thus, there is a need for a more economical process to produce a granular product with an adjustable L-Lysine content which calls for fewer materials and which is not extensively ion exchanged.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,824 describes the use of a fluidized bed for the manufacture of compressed tablets for medical use. The process comprises (1) forming a suspension of particles in air, (2) enabling the particles to be built up with granulating material, and (3) coating the resulting granules with a lubricant. In one aspect of this invention, the granulating material is atomized and sprayed into the air stream of a fluidized bed of inert particles such as sucrose. The inert particles act as nuclei for the granulation process. The resulting granules are coated with a lubricant.


A collaborative-processing system editor that associates changes made to a shared object with the user who made them, such that the user can save and discard just those changes without affecting the changes made by others while still allowing all users to simultaneously view the changes that others make. The system manages sets of change regions that identify portions of the object for which a user has entered changes. As the user enters changes for the shared object, the system establishes pre-commit records associated with change regions. The pre-commit records include the change data entered by the user but not yet saved or committed to the shared object. The system displays a simultaneous view of the shared object and the pre-commit changes to all users. This simultaneous view is of the shared object and the pre-commit changes as they would appear if they had already been saved to the shared object. When the user requests that the pre-commit changes be saved, the system saves only the pre-commit changes for that user without saving changes entered by other users to the shared object. When the user requests that the pre-commit changes be discarded, the system discards only the pre-commit changes for that user without discarding changes entered by others users.

Groupware, which is also sometimes called collaborative computing or collaborative information-processing, generally involves specialized, computer technology that is designed to promote efficiency by coordinating individual efforts within a group toward completion of a common task. The task that is the subject of the group's attention may be a shared-data object such as a document, a book, a production schedule, a computer program, a product design, or any other task that is represented by the organized expression of information. Construction of that expression is aided by the efforts of the group's multiple users and particularly by their simultaneous efforts.
A good example of this simultaneous construction is in the joint production of a new textbook. Multiple users simultaneously work together to make changes and available changes and additions, which can be in the form of text, graphics, and photographs, to each member of the production team, and informs all team members of the changes and additions so that they can best coordinate their joint efforts.
A computer network is typically the vehicle for coordinating the users' work with each user operating at a computer in the network. The subject of the work is often structured as one or more shared-data objects stored in memory accessible over the network. A shared-data object is one that is simultaneously accessible to multiple users over the network. Such data objects can include, for example, word-processing documents, design drawings, and spreadsheets. Users access the shared-data object via a groupware tool, such as a text-editor or data-base management facility.
A user accesses shared-data objects through the multi-user interface provided by the groupware tool. The interface typically includes a video monitor under the control of the user's local workstation, through which views of the shared-data objects are displayed. The interface is supported by software, allowing multiple simultaneous access to an object with the right to manipulate the contents of the object. Identical characteristics of one category of multi-user interface are referred to as the "What You See Is What I See" (WYSIWIS) concept. In split form, each user sees exactly the same thing, from the same view point, with each user being given apparent immediate rights to manipulate the shared object. The groupware tool transmits updates to each participant, allowing the participants to see what the group is doing as they do it.
A problem can arise when a user decides to save changes to the shared-data object. Since there is only one image of the shared-data object that multiple users are working on, when one user saves the object, all the changes made to the object (no matter which user made them) are saved. This means that some users may have made changes that they had no intention of saving, yet if another user performs a save operation, then the unintended changes will be saved anyway (perhaps without the maker of the changes even realizing it.)
Prior groupware tools typically provided two options upon exiting the tool: save-and-exit and exit-with-no-save. Unfortunately, even if the exiting user chooses exit-with-no-save, if other users are still accessing the shared-data object, then the changes the first user made are still present in the object, and will be made permanent if another user chooses to exercise the save-and-exit option.
Therefore, there is a need in collaborative processing to provide the user with the ability to save and discard that user's changes without affecting the changes made by others while still allowing all users to see the group's changes.

International Business Machines Corporation


A suitable container for plasma lyophilization has been designed for lyophilization (lyo-bag), storage, reconstitution and administering of blood products. A rigid support frame for use with a lyo-bag with sidewalls was designed as an external removable supportive system, which provides the necessary stability for the flexible container during lyophilization. A removable bottom wall support sheet was designed for use with any flexible container for lyophilization.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to support systems and containers for lyophilization and methods for lyophilization with flexible containers.
2. Description of the Background
Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) is essential for the clinical management of coagulopathies associated with combat trauma. However, the frozen formulation has three major limitations, which reduce its far forward availability in the field. First, FFP must be stored at −30° C. in freezers. Second, the number of FFP units transshipped is restricted by the dry ice (CO2) limitation of air transport. And finally, this creates a need for bulky and expensive processing equipment along with sufficient time to properly thawed the units before transfusion. Processing times are typically from 30 to 40 minutes, but can on occasion be longer.
Several containers have been recently introduced, which permit lyophilization of products to take place in an enclosed system omitting the risk of contamination during the lyophilization process and in line with FDA requirements for blood processing (FIGS. 1-5). Such containers commonly feature hydrophobic protective membranes. The membranes contain pores, which are permeable to water vapor but, on the other hand, are sufficiently small (<0.2 μm) so as to prevent microorganisms from passing through. Membrane permeability to water vapor permits product drying inside these closed containers. Membrane impermeability to microorganisms adds a protective feature to these containers to classify them as enclosed systems. Membrane impermeability to fluids makes these containers suitable for direct rehydration.
These containers come in two basic formats: flexible (FIGS. 1, 2) and rigid (FIGS. 3-5). Rigid containers feature solid side walls and possess the required stability to withstand the stress of freeze-drying, particularly the strain imposed by the vacuum during the process. These containers, however, cannot be collapsed after completion of the lyophilization process. Flexible containers, on the other hand, typically feature a pliable bottom wall, a pliable top wall incorporating a breathable membrane, and side walls sufficiently rigid to support the top wall, but also sufficiently flexible to collapse and minimize storage space once lyophilization is complete (FIG. 1). The container structure is intended to be sufficiently rigid to sustain the stress imposed by the lyophilization process, but is also flexible enough to be collapsed after lyophilization, thereby reducing storage space and offering a logistical advantage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,526 (which is entirely and specifically incorporated by reference) relates to a lyophilization system and discloses a thermally conductive tray which serves as its support system. The tray defines at least one cavity having a cavity floor and a depth that accommodates the lyo-container. The support system further includes a rigid mating flange, which overlays the supporting tray, cooperating with the tray, to secure landing of the lyo-container during lyophilization. Although this support system allows for handling of the container in a more convenient way, it is neither intended to prevent folding of the flexible bottom under vacuum, nor to assure a flat fixture of the top pliable membrane prior to or during lyophilization.
A flexible container developed by Foster-Miller Corp. features a supportive system. That system contains a plastic rigid internal ring on top of which is secured a pliable membrane. The rigid ring assures a flat fixed shape of the pliable membrane prior to and during lyophilization. However, removing the ring from the internal container structure is required to collapse the container after lyophilization and to take advantage of its flexible nature, although this latter process is not clearly defined.
To remedy the storage, shipment and processing problems and to bring plasma far forward in the field, a freeze-dried whole plasma product stable at ambient temperature was developed. The process of plasma lyophilization is carried out in glass bottles in an open space environment. However, at least two problems are associated with these containers that obstruct their successful realization in the hospital and/or the field. First, the containers are glass and glass, although rigid, is not a blood bank/hospital compatible container and cannot be used in transfusion practice. Second, product processing and lyophilization typically occur in an open space environment thus exposing the product to contaminants. However, FDA regulations do not permit blood processing in an open environment.
A container for plasma lyophilization called the lyo-bag was developed by Circulatory Technology Inc. (FIGS. 1-2). However, two problems associated with the container structure (FIG. 2) inhibited its successful utilization. First, the side walls of the container do not provide sufficient support to the top membranous wall. As a result, the flexible membrane collapses over the fluid in the container before and/or during the process of lyophilization as vacuum stresses the container. Contamination of the breathable membrane with the product blocks its porous structure and inhibits water vapor removal through it, resulting in a partially dried product (FIG. 3).
Also, the flexible bottom wall folds upwards during the process of lyophilization, particularly, as vacuum is applied to the system. The folded flexible bottom wall no longer provides an intimate thermal contact with the cooling/heating shelf of the freeze-dryer. As a consequence, pockets with incompletely dried product are formed (FIG. 4), which renders the resulting material useless. Thus, a need exists for suitable containers for plasma lyophilization.

Support system for flexible lyophilization containers

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


The handle allows attached rod sections to be selectively switched between a rotating or non-rotating attitude. The handle includes a handle body, an internal barrel coupler rotatably seating within the handle body and a lock member that engages the barrel coupler to prevent its rotation within the handle body. The rod section is attached to the barrel coupler. The locking member is manually turned either to restrictively engage the barrel coupler in a “locked” position” preventing the rotation of the barrel coupler and connected cleaning rod or to be spaced from the barrel coupler in an “unlocked” position allowing the barrel coupler and connected cleaning rod to freely rotate within the handle body.

Firearms require routine cleaning to remove discharge fouling and debris, as well as, to lubricate and preserve the barrel, breach and other components. Rigid "cleaning" rods are used to pass and draw cloth patches, swabs and brushes through the barrel bores. Conventional cleaning rods consist of a handle and one or more sections of rod that are adapted to receive various brush tips and fittings that hold the patches or swabs. Cleaning rods are also connected to the handle part for ease of use.
Heretofore, one rod section is affixed to the handle part so that the rod section is either rotating or non-rotating relative to the handle part. Often times, it is advantageous to use both rotating and non-rotating cleaning rods while cleaning and lubricating firearm barrels. The handle of this invention combines the functions of both rotating and non-rotating cleaning rods and allows attached conventional rod sections to be selectively switched between a rotating or non-rotating attitude.
The handle of this invention includes a handle body, an internal barrel coupler rotatably seated within the handle body and a lock member that can be manually turned to engage the barrel coupler to prevent its rotation within the handle body. The barrel coupler has a threaded bore for attaching conventional rod sections. The barrel coupler is rotatably disposed within a lateral bore in the handle body and held in place by a barrel retainer. The locking member includes an annular head and an elongated shaft that is turned into a threaded axial bore in the handle body. The locking member is manually turned into the handle body either to restrictively engage the barrel coupler in a "locked" position" that prevents the rotation of the barrel coupler and connected cleaning rod or to be spaced from the barrel coupler in an "unlocked" position that allows the barrel coupler and connected cleaning rod to freely rotate within the handle body. A user can manually tighten or loosen the locking member to quickly place the handle in either the locked or unlocked positions, as required for the particular application.
The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.


A semiconductor device includes a power semiconductor switching element including a characteristic test terminal, and a control circuit configured to control an operation of the power semiconductor switching element. The power semiconductor switching element and the control circuit are formed in a same chip. The control circuit includes a gate voltage generation circuit configured to generate a current limit gate voltage for restricting an overcurrent flowing in the power semiconductor switching element in a desired range when an abnormality occurs, based on a characteristic of the power semiconductor switching element which is measured in advance by applying a voltage to the characteristic test terminal.

In order to perform ignition control of an internal combustion engine of an automobile or the like, a semiconductor device called an one-chip igniter is employed which includes, for example, an IGBT and a control circuit thereof in the same chip (for example, see JP-A-2000-179440 and JP-A-2014-013798). In this kind of one-chip igniter, it is important to protect the circuit in the one-chip igniter from an overcurrent.
In order to protect the circuit in the one-chip igniter from an overcurrent, there has been known an one-chip igniter which has a function of detecting an overcurrent. This kind of one-chip igniter employs, for example, a method of connecting a current-detection shunt resistor in series with an IGBT which interrupts a current flowing in the primary side of an ignition coil, or a method of connecting a current sensing IGBT in parallel to an IGBT (also called a main IGBT).
In the method of connecting the shunt resistor in series with the IGBT, a sum of a collector-emitter saturation voltage of the IGBT and a voltage generated across the shunt resistor becomes large, so that this method has a disadvantage that a loss of the one-chip igniter increases. Thus, currently the method of connecting the current sensing IGBT in parallel to the main IGBT has been mainly employed.
However, this method requires to include, in the one-chip igniter, the current sensing IGBT, a resistor for detecting a current flowing in the current sensing IGBT, a control circuit for controlling respective gate voltages applied to the main IGBT and the current sensing IGBT based on a current detected in the current sensing IGBT, and the like. In recent years, downsizing of the chip has been requested, but this method is difficult to meet this need. Further, this method has a problem that the elements other than the main IGBT are included in the one-chip igniter, so that a cost of the chip increases.
Further, a Hall current flowing into the current sensing IGBT from the main IGBT changes depending on a disposing position of the current sensing IGBT in the chip. In this case, a ratio between a current flowing into the main IGBT and a current flowing into the current sensing IGBT, i.e., a sense ratio changes. Thus, in each case of changing the chip size of the product, an area of the IGBT, and the like, it is necessary to change the size and the position of the current sensing IGBT and the circuit design of the control circuit in consideration of the sense ratio.


According to this invention, a semiconductor wafer on which an oxide or nitride film is formed is loaded in a processing vessel, and when the oxide or nitride film of the semiconductor wafer is to be etched by a plasma of CHF.sub.3 gas in the processing vessel, CO gas is present in the plasma atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of etching an object to be processed including oxide or nitride portion, for example a semiconductor element having oxide or nitride film.
2. Description of the Related Art
An integration density of an integrated circuit which is the core of the microelectronics has been increased year by year. As the integration density is increased, a pattern width is decreased, and a pattern depth is increased. In order to cope with this, a dry etching method performed under a low pressure (high vacuum) is developed (Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. 61-256727 and 62-194623) as a thin film processing technique.
As the dry etching method, there are a plasma etching method, a sputter etching method, an ECR etching method, a magnetron etching method, and an ion beam etching method.
When a semiconductor element is processed by these dry etching methods, an etching rate is increased by using a gas containing a halogen element such as a Freon gas. For this reason, this method is applied to a reactive ion etching method (RIE). According to the RIE method, anisotropic etching can be performed while a ratio (selection ratio) of a etching rate of a sample to be etched to a etching rate of a photoresist is kept high. Since a high etching rate can be obtained, the productivity can be improved.
However, in a conventional RIE method, when an SiO.sub.2 thin film which is an important material of a semiconductor element is to be etched to form a contact hole, a maximum selection ratio (a ratio of an etching rate (E/R) of an Si substrate to an etching rate of the SiO.sub.2 film formed thereon) is a maximum of 13. This value indicates that the silicon substrate is etched at a 1/13 rate of the etching rate of the SiO.sub.2 film after a contact hole is formed. Since the etching rate and the thickness of the SiO.sub.2 have variations, an overetching process must be performed for a predetermined period to reliably form a contact hole. Therefore, the Si substrate is inevitably etched to some extent.
In a semiconductor element such as a MOSLSI element, as an integration density is increased, the depth of a p-n junction layer formed below a contact hole must be decreased. Therefore, etching is disadvantageously performed to an Si substrate to reach the p-n junction during an overetching process.

Method of etching object to be processed including oxide or nitride portion


An array of disposable absorbent articles having a first article and a second article. The first article has an outer surface wherein the outer surface has an outer surface area and a first identifier having a first surface area. The first identifier is disposed on the first article and corresponds to a first performance characteristic. The second article has an outer surface wherein the outer surface has an outer surface area and a second identifier having a second surface area. The second identifier is disposed on the second article and corresponds to a second performance characteristic. The first article is a different article than said second article.

Often manufacturers and marketers of consumer products wish to appeal to consumers of related goods, products, or services. For example, a consumer of digital tampons may also purchase sanitary napkins. Likewise, a consumer of tampon applicators may wish to purchase pantiliners. In general, many products have related benefits and performance characteristics such as absorbency but are marketed under different brands, or by different companies, so that consumers cannot make a connection between the different products resulting in a purchasing decision. Thus, a manufacturer and marketer of two brands of products may wish to co-market the two brands so that consumers can easily identify both brands.
Co-marketing, or co-merchandising, that is, advertising or displaying products together in a retail environment so as to prompt a purchasing decision of one or both of the products based on the association of the two in the retail environment is known. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a product array of marketing products in which a consumer can associate a performance characteristic from one product with another product without reference to printed text, pictures, diagrams, labels, and combinations thereof located on the package. Further, it would be desirable to have a retail display in which two or more branded products with a common performance characteristic would have a common indicator to help the consumer during shopping. Additionally, it would be desirable to have an improved method for prompting purchasing decisions in which a consumer of one brand is encouraged to purchase a different brand.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The disclosed technology generally relates to adaptive tap control for a hearing device. In some implementations, the disclosed technology includes a hearing device configured to detect tapping of the hearing device based on learned tapping parameters. To learn an individual's tapping parameters for a hearing device, the disclosed technology can use a method that includes providing a tap task to a hearing device user; detecting a single tap or multiple taps in response to providing the tap task to the hearing device user; determining tap detection parameters associated with the single or multiple taps; and providing adjusted tap detection parameters for the hearing device based on the determined tap parameters. The hearing device can use the adjusted tap detection parameters to control the hearing device or perform operations by tap control.

To improve everyday user satisfaction with hearing devices, a hearing device user desires a simple means to adjust hearing device parameters. Currently, users can toggle buttons or turn dials on the hearing device to adjust parameters. For example, a user can toggle a button to increase the volume of a hearing device.
However, button or dial technologies have drawbacks. When a user toggles a button or dial, the hearing device user generally needs good dexterity to find the button to push, pull, or spin appropriately. This can be difficult for users with limited dexterity or it can be cumbersome to perform because a user may have difficulty seeing the location of these buttons (especially for elderly individuals). Additionally, a button generally can provide only one or two inputs (e.g., push or release), which limits the number of inputs a user can perform.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide technology that allows a user to easily adjust the parameters of a hearing device and provide additional benefits.


A database contains a corpus of incident reports, a machine learning (ML) model trained to calculate paragraph vectors of the incident reports, and a look-up set table that contains a list of paragraph vectors respectively associated with sets of the incident reports. A plurality of ML worker nodes each store the look-up set table and are configured to execute the ML model. An update thread is configured to: determine that the look-up set table has expired; update the look-up set table by: (i) adding a first set of incident reports received since a most recent update of the look-up set table, and (ii) removing a second set of incident reports containing timestamps that are no longer within a sliding time window; store, in the database, the look-up set table as updated; and transmit, to the ML worker nodes, respective indications that the look-up set table has been updated.

Machine learning models are being deployed to address problems experienced by enterprise networks. In particular, various types of natural language processing techniques may be applied to provide a better contextual understanding of incident reports that relate to difficulties experienced by technology users. Nonetheless, these models are complex and computationally expensive. Accordingly, there is a growing need to be able to support parallel execution of machine learning solutions, and well as to quickly and efficient update these how these models are being used.

Machine learning worker node architecture


The invention provides an elongate folded card, for example of the same size as a mailable postcard when fully folded, which bears on one of its faces when fully folded a display of an entertainment nature such as a representation of playing pieces of a game, or one of a series of collectable items such as famous footballers, or a panel of a cartoon strip, whereas on its other face or faces there is provided a display of material having an educational aspect, for example commercial subject matter. In a first preferred form, the card, when fully folded, has the dimensions of a playing card so as to permit formation of a `pack` of playing cards. In another preferred form, the card when fully folded has the shape and dimensions of a mailable postcard, so as to permit formation of a mailable pack of cards of postcard size.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to products of an entertainment and educational nature, and more specifically relates to cards which can be readily varied, as by a folding and unfolding action, so as to present selectively an entertainment aspect and an educational aspect at the will of the user.

Entertainment and educational card, and pack thereof, and method of manufacturing said card

283
FSC 281
FSC 40
FSC 273
FSC 434
FSC D21


A method and circuit for compensating offset error caused by multiplexing in hysteretic control loops. An offset voltage, caused by one phase descending without being hysteretically controlled while another phase is being controlled, is determined by a sample-and-hold circuit that is arranged to track a low limit voltage Vlo and a lowest voltage Vvalley. The offset voltage is one half of a difference between Vlo and Vvalley. A timing and control circuit provides timing control voltages to the sample-and-hold circuit based on input signals associated with phase 1 and phase 2. The sample-and-hold circuit provides Vlo and Vvalley to a differential amplifier that is arranged to provide the offset voltage to a hysteretic controller circuit. In one embodiment, the offset voltage is added to a reference voltage for corrected output voltage. In another embodiment, the offset voltage is added to the output voltage.

To satisfy power supply and dynamic requirements of today's microprocessors and related communication systems, many approaches have been implemented. Single-phase voltage-mode hysteretic control, also called "bang—bang" control or ripple regulator control, typically maintains an output voltage within a hysteresis band centered about an internal reference voltage. If the output voltage reaches or exceeds the reference voltage plus one-half of the hysteresis band, the controller turns OFF the high-side switch, which can be a Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET), and turns ON the low-side switch, to block energy from being transferred from an input to an output. This latter condition is a power stage OFF-state, and causes the output voltage to decrease.
When the output voltage is at or below the level of the reference minus one-half of the hysteresis band, the power stage goes into ON-stage, and the controller turns ON the high-side switch, and turns OFF the low-side switch to allow energy transfer from the input to the output, which causes the output voltage to increase. This hysteretic method of control keeps the output voltage within the hysteresis band around the reference voltage. Thus, an output voltage of one volt is generally corrected from a deviation as small as a few millivolts as quickly as an output filter allows.
In an ideal hysteretic control circuit, an output voltage is typically regulated into a hysteresis band and a DC value of the output voltage is equal to a reference voltage, hence there is no DC error. A significant benefit of hysteretic control is its fast response. If an output-load current step or an input-voltage transient forces the output voltage out of the hysteresis band, the control circuit may set a power-stage MOSFET in a continuous on or off state as required to return the output voltage back to the hysteresis band. Thus, the output voltage may be corrected as quickly as an output filter allows. Generally, there are no delays from an error amplifier and its associated feedback loop as there are in voltage- and current-mode controllers. Other advantages of hysteretic control include no feedback-loop compensation and no input filter interaction problems. Thus, hysteretic control is a relatively inexpensive and simple regulation architecture.
Commonly used hysteretic control circuits have poor regulation accuracy, however. Typically inaccuracies up to 30 mV are not uncommon. For applications such as microprocessors, where accuracies exceeding 20 mV may not be acceptable, poor regulation accuracy of a hysteretic control circuit may make it undesirable although its fast response and robustness may make it attractive. To overcome the propagation delay's influence and to improve hysteretic control circuit's accuracy, typically circuits may be over-designed, resulting in increased cost and sacrificed performance.
Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Output voltage correction circuit for multiplexed multi-phase hysteretic voltage regulator


The present invention provides a capacitor for use in a semiconductor device having a damascene interconnect structure, such as a dual damascene interconnect, formed over a substrate of a semiconductor wafer. In one particularly advantageous embodiment, the capacitor, comprises a first capacitor electrode, such as copper, comprised of a portion of the damascene interconnect structure, an insulator layer formed on the damascene interconnect structure wherein the insulator layer is a passivation layer, such as silicon nitride. The passivation layer may be an outermost or final passivation layer, or it may be an interlevel passivation layer. The capacitor further includes a second capacitor electrode comprised of a conductive layer, such as aluminum, that is formed on at least a portion of the insulator layer.

Capacitors have gained wide acceptance and use in today's integrated circuit technology. As is well known, a common capacitor essentially comprises two conductive plates separated by an insulator. It is normal for the conductive plates to be made of aluminum and the insulator to be a dielectric material, such as silicon dioxide (SiO2).
Originally, capacitors were often placed upon a substrate of the integrated circuit (IC) and electrically connected to contact or via structures, as required by design. While these structures were quite effective, their presence caused a topographical aberration in the overlying dielectric material, such that the capacitor's structure would be reflected in the surface of the dielectric layer. As a result, special planarization techniques had to be performed to remove the aberration so that subsequent photolithographic processes were not adversely affected. The effect of the capacitor's aberrations in the photolithographic processes became even more acute as device sizes decreased.
Given the planarization problems associated with the earlier capacitor structures, the semiconductor manufacturing industry sought ways to form the capacitors while lessening their impact on the topography of the overlying dielectric layer. One such approach was to form the capacitor within a contact or via opening. This approach has worked very well for the larger submicron technologies. Because the capacitor was formed within the contact opening or via, its structure did not heavily influence the overlying dielectric layer. As such, the planarization problems present with previous capacitor structures were substantially reduced.
As the design rules have continued to decrease, however, difficulty has arisen with respect to forming a capacitor within these structures. Because smaller device size requires greater precision in the etching processes, the industry is moving toward an etching process known as damascene processing. Because the completed damascene structure has an upper cavity with a width larger than the lower cavity, a stair step topography results within the damascene opening. This damascene process provides more control when forming the trace openings, which in turn allows for manufacturing ICs in the submicron range.
The invention of the damascene process for forming trace openings allowed for the manufacture of ICs in the submicron range. However, because of the damascene's stair step topography, it has proven much more difficult to form capacitors within these damascene openings. One reason for this difficulty, stems from deposition problems that arise due to the deposition of the various layers needed for the capacitor, over the stair step topography. Because of the increased topography, the thickness of the layers that form the capacitor may vary significantly within the damascene structure. This variance in material thickness is difficult to control and makes it very difficult to achieve the desired degree of capacitance. Moreover, because of the number of layers that must be deposited within the smaller portion of the damascene structure, the material necessary to achieve the desired degree of conduction may not be adequately deposited within the damascene structure. Furthermore, voids may also be formed. Because of these uncertainties, the capacitor cannot be easily and consistently manufactured to the desired level.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a capacitor structure and a process for forming that capacitor structure that avoids the disadvantages associated with prior art structures and processes.

Capacitor for integration with copper damascene processes and a method of manufacture therefore