An apparatus includes an interposer and a plurality of dies stacked on the interposer. The interposer includes a first conductive network of a first trigger bus. Each of the plurality of dies includes a second conductive network of a second trigger bus, and an ESD detection circuit and an ESD power clamp electrically connected between a first power line and a second power line, and electrically connected to the second conductive network of the second trigger bus. The second conductive network of the second trigger bus in each of the plurality of dies is electrically connected to the first conductive network of the first trigger bus. Upon receiving an input signal, the ESD detection circuit is configured to generate an output signal to the corresponding second conductive network of the second trigger bus to control the ESD power clamps in each of the plurality of dies.

The trend in VLSI technology has resulted in narrower interconnection lines and smaller contacts. Furthermore, integrated circuit designs are becoming more complex and denser. More devices are compressed in integrated circuits to improve performance. As a result, integrated circuits become more susceptible and vulnerable to ESD (electrostatic discharge) events causing the circuits to fail.
Static electricity exists on the surfaces of many materials. When bodies of materials with different potential come into contact, ESD will occur. ESD is generally defined as a sudden and momentary electric current that flows between two objects at different electrical potentials. An ESD circuit provides an ESD current path for an ESD current associated with an ESD event. In this way, an ESD circuit mitigates ESD current from entering circuitry associated with a device. ESD can damage devices fabricated on IC chips causing performance degradation or failures.
One of many considerations for IC design is on-chip ESD protection. Due to the ever-increasing requirements for higher speeds, smaller devices and product reliability, the significance of on-chip ESD protection is critical in IC design.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus of ESD protection in stacked die semiconductor device

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


It is an object of this invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which a failure can be efficiently remedied even for a larger number of bits. In a multi-bit memory capable of simultaneously exchanging a plurality of data upon reception of an address, spare DQ lines (15c) commonly used for each I/O, a spare sense amplifier circuit (13c), a spare column switch (14c), a fuse box (20) for storing the address of a DQ line in which a failure has occurred, and fuse circuits (21-1, 21-2, . . . ) for storing an I/O to which the failure-DQ line belongs are arranged to remedy the failure for each I/O. Since only a memory cell belonging to one I/O where a failure has occurred is replaced, unnecessary replacement is not executed, and the memory cell can be efficiently remedied even for a larger number of bits.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a memory system using the same and, more particularly, to a redundancy system and method for remedying a failure.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an address identification system and method for identifying an address having undergone spare replacement in a multi-bit memory or the like for inputting/outputting data parallel.
For a large memory capacity, it is becoming important to simultaneously exchange a plurality of data with the memory upon reception of an address in order to effectively utilize the capacity. That is, the memory must have a multi-bit arrangement.
As the data amount which can be simultaneously exchanged increases, the data transfer efficiency increases to effectively utilize the capacity of the memory serving as a high-speed data transfer memory. At this time, the address spaces of bits simultaneously transferred are the same, and cannot be externally discriminated by addresses. In other words, the addresses of simultaneously input/output data are completely the same, and identified by only different I/Os outside the memory.
If the capacity of the memory becomes larger, the memory is manufactured by an advanced micropatterning technique. The non-defective ratio of memories as products, i.e., the yield greatly depends on the presence of dust and particles in the manufacturing process, the fluctuation of the manufacturing process, or the like.
Accordingly, the ratio of non-defectives in which all memory cells serving as data storage locations are perfect is naturally low. For this reason, the yield must be increased by a redundancy technique of arranging a redundancy memory cell in advance in addition to a memory cell having an originally necessary capacity, replacing a memory cell in which a failure occurs with the redundancy memory cell, and remedying the failure-memory cell.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional multi-bit memory. Memory cell arrays 11-1 to 11-n in which memory cells are laid out in an array have row decoders 12-1 to 12-n, sense amplifiers 13-1 to 13-n, and column switches 14-1 to 14-n, respectively.
When a row address signal is supplied to the row decoders 12-1 to 12-n, data of memory cells on selected rows in the memory cell arrays 11-1 to 11-n are sensed, amplified, and then latched by the sense amplifiers 13-1 to 13-n.
The sense amplifiers 13-1 to 13-n are commonly connected to DQ lines 15 via the column switches 14-1 to 14-n in units of columns.
A column address signal is supplied to the column switches 14-1 to 14-n and a DQ decoder 16. The column switches 14-1 to 14-n perform selection operations for the sense amplifiers 13-1 to 13-n to determine the connection relationship between the sense amplifiers and the DQ lines 15 in accordance with the column address signal.
The data latched by the selected sense amplifiers are read onto the DQ lines 15. The DQ decoder 16 performs a selection operation for the DQ lines 15. The data read onto the DQ lines 15 selected by the DQ decoder 16 are output via DQ buffers (DQB) 17-1 to 17-m.
Alternatively, write data input to the DQ buffers 17-1 to 17-m are selectively written in memory cells in the memory cell arrays 11-1 to 11-n via the DQ lines 15 selected by the DQ decoder 16, the corresponding column switches 14-1 to 14-n, and the corresponding sense amplifiers 13-1 to 13-n. The I/O to which a specific DQ line 15 belongs is fixed.
FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of how to take column redundancy in the multi-bit memory having this arrangement. FIG. 2 shows only an extracted portion related to decoding by the column address signal in FIG. 1.
Since a column address signal is supplied outside the memory to select a column, this column address signal is used to specify a failure-column and replace it with a spare column.
DQ lines common to the memory cell arrays 11-1 to 11-n are called over-laid DQ lines 15a. The respective pairs of over-laid DQ line 15a are selectively connected to sense amplifier circuits 13a each having four sense amplifiers via column switches 14a.
Eight pairs of over-laid DQ lines 15a have one pair of spare DQ lines 15b. The spare DQ lines 15b are connected to a spare sense amplifier circuit 13b having four spare amplifiers via a spare column switch 14b.
If a failure-column belongs to any one of the eight pairs of DQ lines 15a, the pair of DQ lines are entirely replaced with the pair of spare DQ lines 15b. The eight pairs of DQ lines 15a and one pair of spare DQ lines 15b belong to one I/O, and are selectively connected to each of the DQ buffers 17-1, 17-2, . . . via a corresponding one of DQ decoders 16-1, 16-2, . . . .
The DQ buffers 17-1, 17-2, . . . are respectively connected to RWD (read/write data) buses 18-1, 18-2, . . . to output/input I/O data outside the memory.
A fuse box 19 is constituted by a 4-bit circuit, i.e., a 1-bit fuse circuit 19a representing whether the spare DQ lines 15b are used, and 3-bit fuse circuits 19b, 19c, and 19d representing a failure-one of the eight pairs of over-laid DQ lines 15a.
The address of the failure-DQ line is designated in the fuse circuits 19b, 19c, and 19d. When the bits of a column address signal corresponding to the failure-DQ line coincide with the three bits, the DQ decoders 16-1, 16-2, . . . are switched to select the spare DQ lines 15b.
In general, each of the fuse circuits 19a to 19d constituting the fuse bits has a fuse element, which is fused and programmed by a current, a laser beam, or the like.
In the above arrangement, however, even when a spare must be used at only one I/O, the lines having the same address are also replaced with spares at all other I/Os.
No problem arises when the number of I/Os is small, and the number of DQ lines belonging to one I/O is large. However, as the number of bits increases, the number of spares increases, and spares are unnecessarily replaced simultaneously. For this reason, the above-described multi-bit memory redundancy system and method are wasteful.
In various systems using a semiconductor memory device with the above arrangement, when a failure occurs in a memory cell due to a deterioration over time or the like, the redundancy technique cannot be applied upon incorporating the memory device into the system.
As described above, the conventional semiconductor memory device is inefficient for failure remedy.
The redundancy system and method in the conventional multi-bit memory are wasteful and inefficient.
By the address identification system and method in the conventional multi-bit memory, an address in the multi-bit memory cannot be identified for each I/O, and spare replacement is inefficient.
In the conventional memory system and its redundancy method, when a failure occurs in a memory cell due to a deterioration over time or the like, the redundancy technique cannot be applied upon incorporating the memory cell into the system, and the failure of the memory cell becomes the failure of the whole system.


A method for reading data from a data storage system, consisting of storing a plurality of copies of the data at a respective plurality of data storage units and receiving at a data port an access request submitted by a host to receive the data. The method further includes transmitting from the port, in response to the access request, a plurality of delivery requests for the data to the respective plurality of data storage units, transmitting from the plurality of data storage units to the port respective responses to the delivery requests, the responses including the data, and accepting at the port an earliest-arriving response consisting of the response to the delivery requests arriving first at the port. The data in the earliest-arriving response is forwarded from the port to the host.

A mass data storage system typically provides redundant data storage in a mirrored form to guard against the possibility of loss of data due to a failure in the system. The existence of multiple copies of the data not only protects against loss of the data, but affords an opportunity to use the multiple copies to improve the performance of the system, compared to systems having only one copy. The possibility for improvement is based on the fact that providing multiple copies may, of itself, enable the system to choose which of a particular copy is to be accessed.
Methods are known in the art for implementing such choice. U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,257 to Mason, Jr. et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for dynamically adjusting a policy for accessing a mass storage system having mirrored volumes. Statistics of reading and writing data to/from the volumes are collected over a period of time. Depending on the statistics, the policy is maintained or is changed. The policy determines which of the mirrored logical volumes is accessed to service a read or write request.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,896 to Mason, Jr. et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for adjusting a seek policy for mirrored and non-mirrored physical devices in a storage system. Statistics for accessing mirrored logical volumes on the physical devices are collected. The statistics are used to determine and minimize activity levels for non-mirrored physical devices.
The Storage Performance Council, of Redwood City, Calif., maintain a web site at http://www.storageperformance.org. The council provide benchmarks for characterizing storage systems, including a least response time (LRT™) measurement that characterizes the time for a storage system, operating at a low throughput rate, to respond.

Reading data from a multiplicity of disks in a data storage system


Two racks of parallel screening bars each have rigid rack frames which extend beneath the bars. Two crankshafts with offset cam surfaces are mounted to the machine frame, and the rack frames are mounted by bearings to the crankshaft cam surfaces. The rack frame bearings are closely spaced beneath the bars to balance the system, while the rack frames provide a stiff oscillatory platform for the bars, permitting narrow gauge bars and increased screening area. The rack frames also include counterweights to dynamically balance the system.

Bar screens have proven particularly valuable in sorting materials which have unequal dimensions. Wire or punched screens are typically used to sort materials of a granular nature in which all three dimensions are approximately equal. However, many classes of objects, including two of particular commercial interest, wood chips and municipal or industrial trash, are not readily amenable to separation by conventional screening processes.
In the manufacture of paper, logs are reduced to wood chips by chipping mechanisms, and the chips are cooked with chemicals at elevated pressures and temperatures to remove lignin. The chipping mechanisms produce chips which vary considerably in size and shape. For the cooking process, which is known as digesting, it is desirable that the chips supplied have a uniform thickness in order to achieve optimal yield and quality. Ideally, the supplied chips will allow production of a pulp which contains a low percentage of undigested and/or over-treated fibers. Thus, a means is needed to separate chips on the basis of thickness rather than any other dimension. Bar screens have proven particularly adept at separating materials based on a single dimension such as thickness.
With the rise in the recycling culture, a strong demand for an apparatus for separating municipal and industrial trash into its constituent components for recycling has developed. Conventional separation systems which utilize rotating screen drums have proved ineffective. Municipal trash typically contains a certain portion of stranded material and sheet-like materials which tend to clog screens. Further, the tumbling action of screens can result in the breakage of components of the municipal waste stream such as glass bottles thereby increasing the difficulty of recycling them.
Bar screens consist of two sets of generally rectangular bars which are joined together in an array of racks. The two sets of bars are interleaved to form a screening bed. The bed consists of the elongated, rectangular bars and the narrow, rectangular spaces between the bars. Material to be sorted is introduced to the surface of the bed and the bars are caused to oscillate so that when one set of bars is going up, the other set is going down. This oscillatory motion tends to tip wood chips or other relatively small planar objects on edge so that those of a given thickness may slide through the gaps between the bars. Alternatively, it has been found when separating office waste paper, that bar screens prove effective in removing extraneous litter from the recovered office paper.
If the limitations of current bar screens could be overcome, the utility of the bar screen, already a valuable tool in the pulp industry and in the recycling industry, would be greatly increased. The first limitation relates to capacity. It is always desirable in a screening apparatus to increase the rate at which materials may be fed over the screen and yet be properly processed by the screen. In the case of bar screens, the existing capability of a given screen is dependent on the total area of the screening bed and more particularly the area of the gaps between the bars through which the separated material must pass. Thus, it would be advantageous to increase both the size of a bar screening unit and the total open area between bars. In current bar screens sets of bars are mounted on shafts which are driven eccentrically. Eccentric shafts, however, can only be of a limited length before the bending loads on the shafts cause excessive bearing wear. Further, the narrow screening bars tie together structurally the eccentric shafts. Hence increasing the screen open area by reducing the width of the bars is impractical because of the resultant reduction in structural stiffness of the bars.
Other areas of possible improvement in bar screens are associated with the desirability of maintaining strict timing between the eccentric drives of each set of bars so that they are maintained at a consistent 180 degrees out of phase relation.
Lastly, reduced maintenance and improved ease of maintenance are always desirable in industrial machinery, particularly those which must function in a dirty environment.
What is needed is a bar screen of increased capacity, improved timing linkages, and lower maintenance costs.


A method of optimizing marshalling rail cars into a train at a site and includes determining the track configuration at the site; determining location on the tracks of cars to be marshaled; determining characteristics of the cars to be marshaled; and determining marshalling rules. A calculation is performed to determine an optimum sequence of moves to marshal the cars into a train from the determined track configuration, location on the tracks of cars, characteristics of the cars and the marshalling rules. The resulting sequence is outputted.

The present invention relates generally to railroad hump yards and, more specifically, to a method of marshalling cars into a train.
Railroads use hump yards to marshal trains. The hump yard basically provides a switch point where a car can be attached to one of many trains. A string of cars is pushed up an incline by a switcher locomotive. When the car reaches the crest of the incline or hump, the car is released from the string and rolls down the hump to pick up speed. Part way down the hill or hump, the car will encounter a retarding device that will slow the car to the proper speed. The ideal speed represents just enough energy to cause the couplers of the mating cars to engage, but no more. The car will also encounter a series of switches to direct the car to the appropriate train. Any excess speed or energy as the car couples to the train will be transferred to the car and lading. The retarding devices and the switches are generally controlled remotely from a hump yard tower.
Typical examples of hump or classification yards are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,610,206 and 5,758,848. A review of methods for sorting the cars for marshalling in the switch yards or other locations is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,854. Outbound trains are built using proper standing order for departure directly on classification tracks using a continuously sustainable multi-stage sorting process. The use of a multi-stage switching yard with two or more subyards is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,727.
Also, in the hump or other yards, the locomotive may be controlled from a remote location by an operator on the ground. The remote control locomotive (RCL) systems usually include an RCL device carried by the operator. In the industry, these are known as "belt packs." The location of the RCL operator is important to the management of the yard, as well as the control signals that are sent to the locomotive. From the ground perspective, the RCL operator does not always have an appropriate perspective of the total layout of the yard, much less the total train. Also, since he is not on the train, he cannot sense the forces in the train by the seat of his pants, as most well-trained over the road operators can. An advanced RCL system and method are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,005, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention is a method of optimizing marshalling rail cars into a train at a site and includes determining the track configuration at the site; determining location on the tracks of cars to be marshaled; determining characteristics of the cars to be marshaled; and determining marshalling rules. A calculation is performed to determine an optimum sequence of moves to marshal the cars into a train from the determined track configuration, location on the tracks of cars, characteristics of the cars and the marshalling rules. The resulting sequence is outputted. The moves of the optimum sequence to marshal the cars into a train are performed. Recalculation of the optimum sequence while the moves may be performed.
The output may be one or more of a printout, a screen and oral. The sequence may be outputted to a screen with a checklist and including updating the checklist in response to entries from an operator.
The calculating may be performed on a processor and the results of the determining steps may be inputted in and/or stored on the processor. The site location and car locations may be determined by a global position type system and inputted into the processor; and the track configuration at the site may be determined by the processor from stored track configurations corresponding to the site location. At least two of the location of the cars, characteristics of the cars and marshalling rules may be determined and transmitted to the processor. The processor may be one of a handheld device, a remote control locomotive device, a locomotive processor and a tower/remote processor.
The actual moves performed for the marshalling of the cars into the train may be determined and stored. The actual moves may be compared with the optimum sequence and a report prepared.
The marshalling rules include car destination and route to be taken to its destination. One or more of fuel economy, time to destination and in-train force of the marshaled train over the route may be determined and a report be prepared of the determination. The location of the cars in the marshaled train may be changed based on the report and, recalculation of one or more of fuel economy, time to destination and in-train force of the new marshaled train over the route and outputting a report of the determination may be performed. The recalculation is performed one of automatically and in response to operator input.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings.


A solution for managing a service engagement is provided. A service delivery model for the service engagement is defined within an engagement framework. The engagement framework, and consequently the service delivery model, can include a hierarchy that comprises a service definition, a set of service elements for the service definition, and a set of element tasks for each service element. The set of element tasks can be selected from a set of base tasks, each of which defines a particular task along with its input(s), output(s), and related asset(s). As a result, service engagements can be managed in a consistent manner using a data structure that promotes reuse and is readily extensible.

The development of software solutions increasingly uses an object-oriented approach. Recently, a complementary approach has been defined, which provides a service oriented approach to developing complex business software solutions. In the service oriented approach, smaller business components are developed with well defined interfaces and contracts. These business components exchange business data, rather than objects, and can be loosely coupled to create a more complex business software solution. In this manner, the business components provide a highly flexible, efficient, and extensible solution for developing complex business software solutions.
However, many services provided by businesses do not require a software solution or the software solution is only a small part of the overall services. For complex services, several groups of individuals, each with its own expertise, may participate in delivering the services at various stages. As a result, the efficiency and overall quality of the service is highly dependent on experts at each stage of the delivery. Additionally, each delivery often is defined in an ad hoc manner. As a result, handoffs between the stages often are not well-defined, and the tasks, assets (e.g., tools and methods), and skills available and/or required at each stage may vary based on the group.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists to overcome one or more of the deficiencies in the related art.

Service engagement management using a standard framework

International Business Machines Corporation


Cancer can be treated by administration of TH-302 in combination with a Chk1 inhibitor.

TH-302 is a hypoxia-activated prodrug in clinical development for the treatment of cancer. See PCT Publication Nos. 2007/002931; 2008/083101; 2010/048330; 2012/006032; 2012/009288; 2012/135757; 2012/142520; and U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/593,249 filed on 31 Jan. 2012, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. TH-302 releases the DNA cross-linking bromo-isophosphoramidate (sometimes referred to as bromo-isophosphoramide) mustard (Br-IPM) under hypoxic conditions. TH-302 induces G2/M arrest at low concentrations and a pan-cell cycle arrest at high concentrations.
When DNA damage occurs, a signal transduction pathway cascade is activated in response to the damage, which transmits signals to the downstream effectors that connect with the cell cycle machinery. Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) is a vital link between the upstream sensors of the DNA damage checkpoints and the cell cycle effectors. See Cancer Biology & Therapy (2004) 3:3, 305-313, incorporated herein by reference. Generally, cell cycle progression is interrupted at the stage where the cell was when injured to give the cell time to repair the damage by activating DNA damage response and repair pathways. In recent years, Chk1 inhibitors have been studied for use in combination with DNA damaging anticancer agents that cause S and G2/M arrest in attempts to increase the efficacy of the underlying cancer treatment. However, no Chk1 inhibitor has been approved for cancer treatment alone or in combination with another anti cancer agent.

Administration of hypoxia activated prodrugs in combination with Chk1 inhibitors for treating cancer


A method and apparatus for substance monitoring. One application is an easy to handle continuous glucose monitor using a group of hollow out-of-plane silicon microneedles to sample substances in interstitial fluid from the epidermal skin layer. The glucose of the interstitial fluid permeates a dialysis membrane and reaches a sensor. Using MEMS technology, for example, allows well-established batch fabrication at low cost.

The discussion of any work, publications, sales, or activity anywhere in this submission, including in any documents submitted with this application, shall not be taken as an admission that any such work constitutes prior art. The discussion of any activity, work, or publication herein is not an admission that such activity, work, or publication existed or was known in any particular jurisdiction.
Currently proposed systems for monitoring substances of interest, such as glucose, using small sampling and monitoring devices have a number of difficulties. For example, a microdialysis probe discussed for glucose monitoring in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,976, Jul. 18, 2000 (M. Pfeiffer and U. Hoss) is a needle-type probe with dialysis fluid flowing in and out of the probe. The probe is inserted at a length of several millimeters underneath the skin at a shallow angle so that the probe stays in the epidermal tissue. A dialysis membrane separates the probe interior from the interstitial fluid surrounding the probe. This membrane allows diffusion of substances such as glucose from the interstitial fluid into the dialysis fluid flowing in and out of the probe. The interstitial fluid is not extracted. The dialysis fluid is then pumped to a sensor placed downstream where the glucose level of the dialysis fluid is determined. The glucose concentration of the dialysis fluid has been found to correlate with the glucose level in the interstitial fluid.
Despite the name microdialysis probe in this instance, the probe dimensions are in the millimeter range. In these proposals, the reason for using such a long probe is that the area of the dialysis membrane generally defines the amount of glucose diffusing into the dialysis fluid during a given amount of time. Generally, the detection limit of practicable glucose sensors requires a certain amount of glucose in the dialysis fluid to get reliable sensor signals. The required membrane area necessary for sufficient glucose diffusion and high sensor signals is several square millimeters and this membrane generally defines the size of the probe, which explains the large dimensions of the dialysis probes and/or needles in these discussions.
A disadvantage of using a large "micro" dialysis probe is a generally painful insertion procedure that generally requires trained personnel to implant the probe underneath the skin. Thus, present microdialysis proposals do not easily allow for painless everyday usage.
According to the World Health Organization the per capita diabetes rate in the US increased from 5.2% (world: 2.4%) in 1995 to 6.0% (2.9%) in 2000, and it is expected to reach 8.4% (4.5%) in 2030. While diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic amputation of the lower limp, other severe complications associated with hyperglycemia (high glucose levels) and hypoglycemia (low glucose levels) are nerve damage, heart disease, coma and brain damage. The traditional fingerstick test typically takes periodic samples, but this monitoring can miss periods of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, especially during sleep. This health risk can be avoided using a continuous glucose monitor.
Currently available continuous glucose monitoring systems include the Cygnus GlucoWatch® and the Minimed CGMS™. However, it is believed that these systems cannot provide an accurate everyday glucose level control and still require periodic fingerstick tests for sensor recalibration. The GlucoWatch® is easy to use but it relies on reverse iontophoretic interstitial fluid sampling through the skin, which is affected by fluctuating skin permeability as described in K. R. Pitzer, S. Desai, T. Dunn, S. Edelman, Y. Jayalakshmi, J. Kennedy, J. A. Tamada, R. O. Potts, Detection of Hypoglycemia with the GlucoWatch Biographer, Diabetes Care, Vol. 24, No. 5, 2001
The CGMS™ is generally not designed for daily usage; it requires trained personnel to insert the sensor under the skin, as described in E. Cheyne, D. Kerr, Making 'sense' of diabetes: using a continuous glucose sensor in clinical practice, Diabetes Metab Res Rev, 18 (Suppl. 1), 2002.
While frequent and long periods of hyperglycemic blood glucose levels can account for many long-term complications, hypoglycemia can cause sudden coma and brain damage. Periodic fingerstick tests often fail to detect all hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic events since glucose levels can change rapidly. In particular, nocturnal hypoglycemia often remains undetected.

The Regents of the University of California


A semiconductor structure includes a first finFET and a second finFET. The first finFET and the second finFET may comprise an n-finFET and a p-finFET to provide a CMOS finFET structure. Within the semiconductor structure, at least one of: (1) a first gate dielectric within the first finFET and a second gate dielectric within the second finFET comprise different gate dielectric materials; and/or (2) a first gate electrode within the first finFET and a second gate electrode within the second finFET comprise different gate electrode materials.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to finFET structures. More particularly, the invention relates to finFET structures with enhanced performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor structures include both passive semiconductor devices such as resistors and capacitors, as well as active devices such as transistors and diodes. Field effect transistor devices are common transistor devices within semiconductor structures. Field effect transistor devices are often fabricated in complementary pairs to provide complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) structures. CMOS structures and CMOS devices are desirable insofar as CMOS structures and CMOS devices generally consume less power than other transistor structures and transistor devices.
Field effect transistor structure and device dimensions have been scaled effectively to increasingly smaller dimensions over the period of several decades. While such scaling is projected to continue, nonetheless field effect transistor performance improvements as a function of field effect transistor scaling are becoming more difficult to achieve. To that end, materials of construction of field effect transistors are now often routinely selected and controlled in an effort to provide additional avenues to enhance field effect transistor performance.
Various field effect transistor structures having desirable properties, including in particular CMOS structures, are known in the semiconductor fabrication art.
For example, Lee et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,698, teaches a CMOS structure that provides individual n-FET and p-FET devices having individual work functions. To realize such a CMOS structure, the individual n-FET and p-FET gate electrodes are fabricated at least in part from different metal gate materials.
In addition, Polischuk et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,794,234, also teaches a CMOS structure that provides individual n-FET and p-FET devices having individual work functions. To realize such as CMOS structure, the individual n-FET and p-FET gate electrodes are fabricated at least in part from different interdiffused metal gate materials.
Semiconductor device and semiconductor structure dimensions are certain to continue to decrease as semiconductor technology advances. Thus, desirable are novel semiconductor devices and semiconductor structures, including in particular CMOS devices and CMOS structures, that provide for enhanced performance.

FinFET structure using differing gate dielectric materials and gate electrode materials


A gantry system for geometrically configuring a plurality of detectors for image scanning a patient comprises a plurality of essentially planar sensor support rings forming a barrel surrounding a central scanning area. Each ring is formed by opposing upper and lower semi-elliptical array supports, and each array support is configured to support a plurality of adjustable detector assemblies. Each array support is adjustable along a longitudinal axis of the barrel, and collectively define an imaging field of view that is configurable by separately adjusting one or more of the array supports. Upper array supports are also preferably moveable in a generally perpendicular direction with respect to longitudinal axis, e.g., to optimize position of the detector assemblies with respect to a patient, to provide for easier patient entry and/or to provide for scans of claustrophobic or obese patients.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to positron emission tomography (PET). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for providing geometrically configurable mechanical support PET detector arrays.
2. Description of Related Art
Detectors employed for PET scanning (imaging) are relatively small compared to other detectors used for detecting photons. For instance, PET detectors are about 200 times smaller than the large detectors for high-energy physics and require identification of only one type of particles, the photons. The task of capturing and identifying the particles is relatively easier than before: one type of particle instead of five and on a detector 200 times smaller.
The use of positron emissions for medical imaging has been well documented from the early 1950's, see "A History of Positron Imagining," Brownell, Gordon, presented on Oct. 15, 1999, Massachusetts General Hospital and available at http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/docs/PEThistory.pdf, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. PET imaging has advantages over other types of imaging procedures. Generally, PET scanning provides a procedure for imaging the chemical functionality of body organs rather than imaging only their physical structure, as is commonly available with other types of imaging procedures such as X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). PET scanned images allow a physician to examine the functionality of the heart, brain, and other organs as well as to diagnose disease groups which cause changes in the cells of a body organ or in the manner they grow, change, and/or multiply out of control, such as cancers.
Other applications for detecting particles (photons, electrons, hadron, muon and jets) are well known, such as with regard to experiments in high energy physics. While particle detection in high energy physics and medical imaging have some common ground, differences between the disciplines are sticking. One distinction between the usages is that the detectors used in medical imaging are approximately 200 times smaller than the larger detectors employed in high-energy physics applications, and what is more, medical imaging PET applications require the identification of only a single type of particle, the photon.
Typically, prior art PET devices require the injection into the patient's body of a radiation dose that is 10 to 20 times the maximum radiation dose recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). This amount is necessary because, at best, prior art PET devices detect only two photons out of 10,000 emitted in the patients' body. Currently the largest manufacturers of PET (General Electric Company and Siemens AG (ADR)) which command in excess of 90% of the world market, are manufacturing two different PET (PET/CT) systems with very similar performance and are selling them at very similar prices. However, although the price and performance of the systems from the different manufactures are comparable, one manufacturer's system (Siemens) uses nearly ideal crystal detectors, while in contrast, the other manufacturer's system (General Electric) uses cheaper, lower quality crystal detectors with slower decay time. Consequently, the manufacturer using the cheaper, lower cost detectors, expends on the order of only 10% the price of the ideal crystals used in their competitor's systems. Thus, the question arises: how it could be that even though one manufacturer uses crystals detectors that are ten times more expensive that the other manufacturer, the price and performance of the two PET systems from the different manufacturers are very comparable.
Anecdotally, the present inventor has analyzed the progress of the most significant PET improvements made in the most recent 17 years, see "400+times improved PET efficiency for lower-dose radiation, lower-cost cancer screening," 3D-Computing, Jun. 30, 2001, ISBN: 0970289707, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entity. The improved PET device is also taught by the present inventor in co-pending U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 10/250,791, entitled "Method And Apparatus For Anatomical And Functional Medical Imaging," relating to and claiming priority from PCT/US01/15671, filed May 15, 2001 which relates to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/204,900 filed May 16, 2000, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/215,667 filed Jun. 30, 2000, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/239,543 filed Oct. 10, 2000, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/250,615 filed Nov. 30, 2000, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/258,204 filed Dec. 22, 2000 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/261,387 filed Jan. 15, 2000 which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Problems inherent in the prior art PET devices include low device efficiency, poor image quality due to, for instance, low spatial resolution, long examination times, and high dosages of radiation to the patient. These shortcomings result in high examinations costs to the patient, prolonged payback of capital and unsuitability of the current PET technology to adapt to well-patient procedures. These shortcomings are described in greater specificity U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/376,024 filed on Feb. 26, 2003 titled "Method and Apparatus for Determining Depth of Interactions in a Detector for Three-Dimensional Complete Body Scanning" and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a PET device as known in the prior art. Essentially PET scanner 100 provides a plurality of scintillation detector assemblies arranged in a cylindrical geometric configuration as is well known in the prior art. Each detector assembly comprises a crystal 112, and at least one a light amplifier per detector. Crystal 112 might be any type which interacts with a photon so as to produce a scintillation, or rapid flash of light in the interior lattice structure of the crystal. Typically, crystal 112 is optically coupled to one or more optical amplifiers which have a detector integrated therein. Thus, as a practical matter amplifiers 114 may be Photomultipliers (PMTs), Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) or some other type of light emitting diode, however each amplifier-detector combination will have a signal output (a channel) for outputting the amplified signal to the processing electronics.
As mentioned above, detector array 110 is geometrically configured as an open ended cylinder, having ingress opening 102 and egress opening 104 of sufficient diameter for accepting the cross-sectional diameter of a patient's body. As compared to the height of a human body, the total detector length of array 110 is rather small, typically on the order of 5.9 in. to 9.8 in. (15 cm.-25 cm.). This is known as the field of view (FOV) of the detector array. The reason for the prior art PET devices having very small FOVs is because, among other reasons, the capital expense in the detectors. Even if a PET were configured with a larger FOV, the resulting device would not overcome the shortcoming of the prior art because prior art technologies do not fully exploit the double photon emission phenomenon. Moreover, current PET devices utilized electronics that saturate, even at relatively modest photon capture rates. Thus, any increase in the FOV over which the electronics can process the additional photons are wasted. By way of example, typically prior art PET devices capture on the order of two photons for every 10,000 photons emitted from the patient's body. Thus, it takes approximately 55 minutes to scan 70 cm FOV. Clearly utilizing only two out of every 50,000 photons available drastically reduces the data quality and lower resolution images are the result.
Typically the patient is conveyed along the interior of cylindrical detector array 110 for the device to effectively scan the patient's body. Turning to FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view detector array 110 of PET 100 is depicted. Also show is patient 220, who is oriented substantially coaxial with the FOV of detector array 110. Notice that the cross-sectional view of array 110 depicts the detectors as being configured in a near-perfect circle. This configuration is necessary in order to lessen the effects of parallax errors. A error results from assuming that photons strike the detector at 90 degrees to its face. It is expected that photons enter the crystal following a path which is perpendicular to the face of the crystal and parallel with the length of the detector, i.e., straight into one detector only. When a photon enters the crystal at 90 degrees, its X-Y position can be easily calculated from the detectors which perceive the scintillation effect in the crystal, the X-Y position through a centroid calculation. The depth at which the photon interacts with the crystal is unimportant in this case where the photon penetrates the crystal perpendicular to the face, because it will interact somewhere along a line in oriented in the Z direction formed by the intersection of an X plane and a Y plane, i.e. the line of response (LOR) is found perpendicular to the X-Y planes. This presumes that all lines of response between coincidental pairs of detectors intersect the center point of the barrel.
Given the already low efficiency of the current PET devices, configuring the cross-section of detector array 10 in a circle gives better results because some parallax errors are avoided because a largest proportion of the photons must enter the crystal at 90 degrees from the crystal's face.
This configuration has several undesirable consequences. The first is that array 10 is permanently configured as a circle. Claustrophobic patients must be transported through the interior of the PET for optimal results. Recall that for imaging, a FOV of a mere 27 inches requires that the patient remaining motionless for 55 minutes, which is difficult for patients not suffering from claustrophobia and nearly impossible for those who do suffer from claustrophobia.
Furthermore, notice from FIG. 2, that while the radial displacement of the detectors does reduce parallax error, it cannot be eliminated altogether. The circularly configuration necessarily orients all detectors toward the center point of the circle and therefore handles only photons which are generated along those paths, shown in the figure as photon paths 230. Photons generated in the extremities of the patients body, or those not traveling in pathways 230 may still result in parallax error which will reduce the image quality.
Aside from the cost of large diameter arrays, most facilities simply do not have the vertical clearance for supporting a detector array diameter sufficient for scanning larger individuals. Thus, in addition to those patients suffering from claustrophobia, patients with larger frames and/or obese patients can not be accommodated with current PET technology.
As a final matter, the PET scanning process itself dictates the use of detector array oriented in a circular configuration because the patient's body is transported across the FOV of the detectors rather than being scanned while stationary. Since the cross-section of a patient's body patient continually changes with respect to the array as it passes through, the prior art simply have no alternative but to compromise on circular array configuration for handling any cross-sectional shape. Even with respect to parts of the body where a circular detector array would be most optimal, such as the patient's head, the detector array is situated for the maximum cross-sectional area of the patient, i.e., the torso, and therefore cannot give the best results in more narrow regions of the body.
What is needed is a means for increasing the accuracy and efficiencies of PET devices enabling caregivers to more accurately diagnose aliments related to the functionality of body organs and not just inferences from the structure of the organs. Also, what is needed is a more flexible device which will accommodate more patients, those who suffer from claustrophobia, obesity or who are simply larger individuals. Also what is needed is a geometrical configurable PET for use in research and academia.

Gantry for geometrically configurable and non-configurable positron emission tomography detector arrays


A bioreactor system includes a growth chamber having an inlet, an outlet, and defining a cavity, a media reservoir is in fluid communication with the inlet, and a pump configured to perfuse a media from the reservoir into the inlet and through the growth chamber. A plurality of discrete scaffold members is packed within the growth cavity. Spaces between adjacent scaffold members define pores. The media is movable around the scaffold members and through the pores via the pump.

In vitro culture techniques have limitations that must be overcome to increase the feasibility of cell-based tissue engineering strategies. A limitation in static culture is insufficient transport of oxygen and other nutrients to regions more than a few hundred microns from the scaffold surface, which leads to nonhomogenous cell distribution and extracellular matrix production. See Ishaug, S. L. et al. (1997) "Bone formation by three dimensional stromal osteoblast culture in biodegradable polymer scaffolds," J Biomed Mater Res 36:17; Yu et al. (2004) "Bioreactor-based bone tissue engineering: the influence of dynamic flow on osteoblast phenotypic expression and matrix mineralization," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101: 11203; Gomes et al. (2003) "Effect of flow perfusion on the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells cultured on starchbased three-dimensional scaffolds," J Biomed Mater Res Part A 67A: 87; Volkmer et al. (2008) "Hypoxia in static and dynamic 3D culture systems for tissue engineering of bone," Tissue Eng Part A 14:1331; and Martin et al. (2004) "The role of bioreactors in tissue engineering," Trends Biotechnol 22:80. Conventional bioreactor systems attempt to overcome these limitations by increasing nutrient transfer to cells via dynamic culture. Further, mechanical stimulation through fluid shear stresses has been shown to be influential on bone differentiation and mineralization. See Bilodeau et al. (2006) "Bioreactors for tissue engineering: focus on mechanical constraints. A comparative review," Tissue Eng 12:2367; Bancroft et al. (2003) "Design of a flow perfusion bioreactor system for bone tissue-engineering applications," Tissue Eng 9:549; Bancroft et al. (2002) "Fluid flow increases mineralized matrix deposition in 3D perfusion culture of marrow stromal osteoblasts in a dose-dependent manner," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:12600.
Another significant challenge in the implementation of cell based tissue engineering strategies remains the inability to successfully culture large constructs in vitro. One approach to overcoming this difficulty is a bottom up approach to creating a tissue engineering construct. A unitary polymer scaffold is constructed in its final shape and seeded with cells. The cells are then cultured in vitro to allow for proliferation and matrix deposition throughout the scaffold. However, such bottom up approaches are limited by the scaffold size and cell density that will allow for homogenous growth and matrix production throughout the scaffold. For example, central oxygen concentration of cells cultured in scaffolds 9 mm by 5 mm were shown to drop to 0% after just five days of culture. Bioreactor culture mitigate this effect. However, central oxygen concentration of the same constructs cultured in a conventional perfusion bioreactor were only 4%.
Some previous studies focus on bioreactor systems as a means to culture cells for bone tissue engineering purposes. See Meinel et al. (2004) "Bone tissue engineering using human mesenchymal stem cells: effects of scaffold material and medium flow," Ann Biomed Eng 32:112; Sikavitsas et al. (2003) "Mineralized matrix deposition by marrow stromal osteoblasts in 3D perfusion culture increases with increasing fluid shear forces," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:14683; Sikavitsas et al. (2005) "Flow perfusion enhances the calcified matrix deposition of marrow stromal cells in biodegradable nonwoven fiber mesh scaffolds," Ann Biomed Eng 33:63; Sikavitsas et al. (2002) "Formation of three-dimensional cell/polymer constructs for bone tissue engineering in a spinner flask and a rotating wall vessel bioreactor," J Biomed Mater Res 62:136; van den Dolder et al. (2003) "Flow perfusion culture of marrow stromal osteoblasts in titanium fiber mesh," J Biomed Mater Res Part A 64A:235; Grayson et al. (2008) "Effects of initial seeding density and fluid perfusion rate on formation of tissue-engineered bone," Tissue Eng Part A 14:1809; Janssen et al. (2006) "A perfusion bioreactor system capable of producing clinically relevant volumes of tissue-engineered bone: in vivo bone formation showing proof of concept," Biomaterials 27:315.
Several different types of bioreactor systems have been investigated, including spinner flasks (Stiehler et al. (2009) "Effect of dynamic 3-D culture on proliferation, distribution, and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells," J Biomed Mater Res Part A 89A:96), rotating wall bioreactors (Wang et al. (2009) "Regulation of adult human mesenchymal stem cells into osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages by different bioreactor systems," J Biomed Mater Res Part A 88A:935), and perfusion systems (Gomes et al. (2006) "Bone tissue engineering constructs based on starch scaffolds and bone marrow cells cultured in a flow perfusion bioreactor," Adv Mater Forum III 514:980; Holtorf et al. (2005) "Flow perfusion culture induces the osteoblastic differentiation of marrow stromal cell-scaffold constructs in the absence of dexamethasone," J Biomed Mater Res Part A 72A:326; Datta et al. (2006) "In vitro generated extracellular matrix and fluid shear stress synergistically enhance 3D osteoblastic differentiation," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:2488). Spinner flask and rotating wall bioreactor systems are effective at creating a homogenous media solution on the exterior of the scaffold, but do not effectively perfuse media into the scaffold.
Perfusion systems have been demonstrated to perfuse media throughout the scaffold and have been shown to upregulate osteoblastic markers and increase calcium deposition. In a study utilizing a perfusion bioreactor, flow rate was shown to increase both the calcium matrix deposition and the rate of late osteoblastic differentiation as shown by osteopontin (OPN) expression. See Bancroft et al. (2002), supra, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:12600. Although conventional perfusion systems typically enhance the flow of media to the center of the scaffold, they require custom-made parts and specific scaffold design to successfully perfuse media into the scaffold, making them difficult to fabricate and use.

Tubular bioreactor system for use in bone and cartilage tissue engineering


A radio communication method for transmitting and receiving data between a first terminal and a second terminal comprises the following two steps. A step of establishing a connection between the first terminal and the second terminal when the first terminal and the second terminal have detected that a signal has not been transmitted on a predetermined channel, and the other step of starting data communications between the first terminal and the second terminal which have established the connection, and transmitting the predetermined signal on the predetermined channel from both the first terminal and the second terminal throughout the data communications.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for radio communication in a radio network, and particularly to such an apparatus and method applicable to a distributed environment, i.e. a network which has a distributed topology.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Radio networks with the use of radio wave or infrared light have been in great demand these days because they require no communication cables. Radio terminals can intercommunicate from any site within their communication ranges, and be used on the move when they are reduced to portable.
However, radio networks often suffer from so called "Hidden Terminal Problem" which does not affect wired networks and is caused by a radio terminal outside their communication ranges.
FIG. 1 is an illustration to be used to explain a Hidden Terminal Problem (hereinafter HTP).
A, B, and C are radio terminals, and the circles represent respective communication ranges. When terminal A is communicating with terminal B, terminal C is getting no signal from terminal A. Consequently, terminal C might start to communicate with terminal B, without knowing the communications between terminals A and B. If terminal B is thus communicated from both terminals A and C, the communication carried out so far between terminals A and B ends up in vain. Thus, the occurrence of HTP requires retransmission, reducing data transmission throughput in radio networks.
In order to solve the HTP, various radio network communication schemes have been proposed as follows.
<CSMA/CA+Ack>
A communication scheme called CSMA/CA+Ack (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance plus Acknowledgement) has been proposed by W. Diepstraten in "A Distributed Access Protocol Proposal Supporting Time Bounded Service" (IEEE Working Group Paper 802.11-93/70).
Although this scheme is not directly concerned with the solution of HTP, it is a basic communication scheme in networks and referred to later in the explanation of communication schemes.
Generally, multiple accesses in a network can be realized based on a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer protocol. The CSMA/CA+Ack is a MAC layer protocol based on CSMA/CA which is widely used as a MAC layer protocol in a radio network. The CSMA/CA+Ack has a function for acknowledgement and retransmission of frames at a MAC layer level, in addition to the functions of CSMA/CA. The CSMA/CA is more suitable to radio communications than CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection) which is widely used as the MAC layer protocol in cable networks.
According to the CSMA/CA+Ack, a first terminal which is ready to transmit data makes sure that the transmission path has no signal for a predetermined gap time period, and then starts the data transmission in frames to a second terminal. The second terminal, which has received the frames returns a confirming frame to the first terminal in order to report the successful reception of the frames, after having made sure that the transmission path has no signal for a predetermined gap time period.
Although the use of the confirming frames has improved the reliability of the data transmission, this scheme presupposes that a signal transmitted by any of terminals is distributed to all the terminals in the network, which does not insist on solving the HTP.
<K. Biba>
K. Biba has proposed a scheme of solving HTP in "A hybrid Wireless MAC Protocol Supporting Asynchronous and Synchronous MSDU Delivery Service" (IEEE Working Group Paper 802.11-91/92). In order to avoid HTP, a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal establishes a connection every time a frame is transmitted, and informs the other terminals of a time period during which the transmission path is occupied in establishing a connection.
According to this scheme, a transmitting terminal sends an RTS (request to send) frame prior to a data transmission, and a receiving terminal returns a CTS (Clear to Send) frame to report the reception of the RTS frame. Then, the transmitting terminal sends data in frames, and the receiving terminal returns an ACK frame to report the receipt of the frames. An RTS frame carries the length of data to be transmitted, and a CTS frame carries the length of data to be received. Prior to the transmission of RTS frames and CTS frames, the condition of the transmission path is checked with CSMA. The terminals other than the destination of an RTS frame check the length of the data carried in the frame and refrain from accessing the transmission path until the transmission and acknowledgement of the data is completed. In the same manner, the terminals other than the destination of a CTS frame do not access the transmission path until the transmission and acknowledgement of the data is completed. This is how HTP is solved in this system.
However, a connection must be established per frame, so that the efficiency of data transmission is decreased when large data being divided into a plurality of frames are transmitted.
For another problem, the transmission of an RTS (or CTS) frame may be sometimes unsuccessful because of a collision. In that case, a terminal which successfully received the RTS (or CTS) frame must be deprived of the access to the transmission path in vain for the time period corresponding to the unexecuted data transmission.
For further another problem, there is a possibility that a terminal which moved into the transmission range of the receiving terminal starts another data transmission without knowing the preceding data transmission. Thus, HTP resulting from a terminal's movement cannot be solved.
<Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 5-260051>
The scheme proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 5-260051 is used in a system composed of a plurality of terminals, and a base station which communicates with all the terminals. An available frequency band is divided into a message channel, an up link channel, and a down link channel.
A terminal which is ready to transmit data checks the presence or absence of a channel tone, and in the case of its absence, transmits a channel tone on the up link channel. Detecting the channel tone, the base station transmits the same channel tone on the down link channel. Detecting the return of the channel tone, the terminal starts data transmission.
This scheme requires the base station to solve HTP, so that in case that the base station is out of order, all the terminals in the network becomes unable to communicate, deteriorating the reliability of the entire network.
<U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,687>
The communication scheme disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,687 can use a plurality of channels assigned to different frequencies, and is used in a system composed of a plurality of terminals and a base station. A terminal in the transmission mode scans all the channels prior to a data transmission, and if a channel in the idle state is found, the terminal transmits a busy tone on the channel and further transmits a predetermined group tone. Receiving the busy tone from the terminal, the base station transmits the busy tone on the channel, and further repeats the group tone. A terminal in the reception mode scans all the channels, and establishes a connection with the transmitter in response to the reception of the predetermined group tone.
This scheme can solve HTP; however, it still requires a base station (repeater), and as a result this system suffers from the same problems as the above mentioned Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 5-260051.
<U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,360,927 and 4,658,435>
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,360,927 and 4,658,435 have also disclose communication schemes capable of solving the HTP and of using a plurality of channels; however, these schemes require a base station, suffering the same problems as mentioned above.

Radio communication apparatus and method for preventing hidden terminals from interrupting communications

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention discloses oil solubilized solutions and foods containing phystosterols containing sitosterols with improved stability, for better absorption of those phytosterols into the body through their oil solubilization, as well as a process for their production; the oil solubilized solutions and foods of the invention are characterized by addition of vitamin E and emulsifiers to sitosterol-containing plant sterols to render the plant sterols soluble in oil, and particularly by extraction of the sitosterol from natural plant components, either alone or as a composition containing other phytosterol components, and by inclusion of vitamin E, emulsifiers which are liquid at room temperature, and glycerin esters of medium chain fatty acids of 6-12 carbon atoms; the process for producing oil solubilized plant sterols according to the invention is characterized by adding vitamin E and emulsifiers to phystosterols containing sitosterols to render the plant sterols soluble in oil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oil solubilized solutions and foods containing phytosterols and to a process for their production, and more specifically it relates to oil solubilized solutions and foods containing phytosterols which have improving effects on benign prostatic hyperplasia and prophylactic effects against various disease such as hiper lipidemia and the like, as well as to a process for their production.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Phytosterols such as sitosterols have long been known for their inhibiting effects on cholesterol absorption, and have been used as clinical or non-prescription drugs for improvement in hyperlipidemia. However, because phytosterols tend to be poorly soluble in oil as well as water, they have been prepared either as oil suspensions or in the form of powder or granules.
Water solubilization of phytosterols is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.Sho-50-89520 and 53- 31210, but these relate to processes for producing sterol injections, not for oral administration.
It is also known that combination of phytosterols and ethylene oxide improve the solubility in water and organic solvent due to the length of the ethylene oxide chain, but this is applied for toiletries, and not for foods.
Insoluble form of phytosterols are not only poorly absorbed, but also inconvenient for common use as food additives, therefore improvements have been desired in these areas. In Germany, sitosterols have been used for symptom improvement of benign prostatic hyperplasia (see R. R. Berges, J. Windeler, H. J. Trampish, Th Senge and the .beta.-sitosterol study group. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of .beta.-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. The Lancet, 345, 1529, 1995), but it is used in powder form because of its insoluble nature.
Refer to the following documents for uses of phytosterols as cholesterol-lowering agents.
A. Lees A. M., Mok H. Y. I., Lees R. S., McCluskey M. A. and Grundy S. M., Phytosterols as Cholesterol-Lowering Agents: Clinical Trials in Patients with Hypercholesterolemia and Studies or Sterol Balance., Atherosclerosis, 28, 325, 1997.
B. MATSUMOTO Shinzo. et al., Double-Blind Clinical Trials for ST-2, Shinyaku to Rinsho, 10, 2527 (1973).
C. SANO Tadahiro., Antiplatelet Effect of Unsaponifiable Soybean ST-2 (3rd Report), Rinsho to Riken, 59, 2611 (1982)
D. KAJIYAMA Goro. et al., Effect of DS-4046 on Hyperlipidemia, Yakuri to Chiryo, 16, 2965 (1988)
E. OTANI Reiji., Clinical Use Results for Sometol Against Hyperlipidemia, Yakuri to Chiryo, 12, 4155 (1984)
F. TAKEI Yoshio., Clinical Use Results for Sometol, Kiso to Rinsho, 19, 1684 (1985)
G. HATA Yoshichika. et al., Effects of Unsaponifiable Soybean (Soysterol) on Hyperlipidemia, Geriat. Med., 24, 1635 (1986)
It is an object of the present invention to provide oil solubilized solutions and foods containing phytosterols such as sitosterol, and particularly to provide oil solubilized solutions and foods containing plant sterols such as sitosterol with improved stability, for better absorption of the phytosterols into the body through their oil solubilization, as well as a process for their production.

Oil solubilized solutions and foods containing phytosterols and process for their production


A method and apparatus for an integrated circuit on a semiconductor substrate having good metal contact points. A first polysilicon layer is formed onto the substrate, and is etched to provide contact regions to the substrate. An ONO layer is formed onto the first polysilicon layer. A second polysilicon layer is formed onto the ONO layer, and a metal silicide layer is formed onto the second polysilicon layer. The second polysilicon layer and the metal silicide layer are etched at particular locations in order to form contact regions to the first polysilicon layer and to the substrate. A selective layer is formed onto the second polysilicon layer, the selective layer being etch selective with respect to the first polysilicon layer. An interlayer dielectric is formed onto the selective layer. A first etching is performed to provide a contact path through the interlayer dielectric, and then a second etching is performed to provide a contact path through the selective layer. Based on these two contact paths, a contact point can be provided externally to the first polysilicon layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for preventing P1 punchthrough by using a film that is highly selective to P1 with respect to a particular etch chemical used. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a good contact to a first polysilicon layer formed on a semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
When constructing a RAM or ROM cell using a semiconductor substrate, metal contacts must be provided to each layer formed on the substrate. For example, a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor formed on the semiconductor substrate has a gate region, a source region, and a drain region. A metal contact must be provided to each of these regions, so that the appropriate voltage and/or current can be supplied to the gate, source and drain of the MOS transistor.
Given the small size of such devices, there is not much leeway in providing such contacts, and any errors in this process may lead to defective components. For example, an etch to a particular layer may be performed for too long a period of time, thereby etching through a desired layer to be contacted with, and instead contacting with another layer that has a different function than the desired layer.
FIGS. 1A-1H show a conventional process for creating a RAM memory cell on a semiconductor substrate. In a first step, as shown in FIG. 1A, a thin layer of insulator is formed over the silicon substrate 10. This insulator layer 12 may conveniently comprise a thermally grown SiO.sub.3, and is typically referred to as a pad oxide layer. As shown in FIG. 1A, another insulator layer is formed over the insulator layer 12, and serves as a second insulator layer 14 that functions as an oxidation mask. By way of example, this second different insulator layer 14 may comprise a nitride layer formed by means of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.
Referring now to FIG. 1B, the semiconductor structure is shown with a patterned photo-resist layer 16 formed thereon. The resist pattern is used to protect the areas where active devices will be formed. This patterning may be accomplished by means of standard lithography and etching techniques that are well known in the art.
Referring now to FIG. 1C, the semiconductor structure is shown after an etching step and a photo-resist clean step. The etching step operates to remove all of the nitride layer 14 that is exposed, i.e., that is not covered or protected by the photo-resist pattern 16 of FIG. 1B.
Referring now to FIG. 1D, a field oxide region 18 is grown, by way of example, by a thermal growth process using wet oxidation, in the exposed areas of the layer 12, i.e., those areas of the layer 12 which are not covered by the nitride pattern 14. A typical field oxide region may rise above the surface of the surrounding semiconductor area by about 1000 to 4000 angstroms. The field oxide region 18 provide isolation between separate components (i.e., transistors) formed on the same semiconductor substrate.
Referring now to FIG. 1E, the nitride pattern 14 is removed by means of a nitride clean step, and a thin tunnel oxide layer 20 is formed over the semiconductor substrate including the field oxide region 18. This thin oxide layer 20 may be formed utilizing standard thermal growth techniques in an oxidation ambient. In a preferred embodiment, this oxide layer 20 may be on the order of 100 angstroms. Following the formation of this oxide layer 20, a conductive polysilicon layer 22 is deposited thereover, by way of example, by a CVD process. The polysilicon layer (P1 layer) 22 may be amorphous polysilicon and may include doping, or doping may be added after deposition to provide a desired conductivity. A typical conductivity for the P1 layer 22, which is set forth by way of example, and not by way of limitation, is 400 ohms per square. The P1 layer 22 typically will be deposited to a thickness on the order of 500-1000 angstroms. The P1 layer 22 corresponds to a layer that stores electrons, such as for storing a binary "1" value for a RAM memory cell. The electrons can be removed from the P1 layer 22, thereby erasing the RAM cell (i.e., creating a "0" value in the RAM memory cell).
The polysilicon layer deposition step is then followed by an etching step to form openings 24 through the P1 layer 22 down to the field oxide layer 18. In a preferred embodiment, these openings are formed by directionally etching the top surface of the doped P1 layer 22 after masking, using standard photo-lithographic techniques. Such photo-lithographic masking techniques are well known in the art and include, by way of example, disposing an insulator of SiO.sub.2 or some other etch-resistant material on the top surface of the material to be etched. This SiO.sub.2 layer may be deposited or grown by any known means in the art, such as by oxidizing the P1 layer 22 in steam or in wet oxygen. A portion of the insulating layer of SiO.sub.2 is removed using a photo-resist layer selectively exposed to UV radiation and then developed chemically to act as a mask for the SiO.sub.2. The masked SiO.sub.2 may then be etched with a buffered hydrofluoric acid solution, for example, leaving a remaining portion of the SiO.sub.2 layer above the polysilicon surface in a desired pattern. Then, a directional etch is utilized to form trenches with vertical sidewalls in areas of polysilicon not covered by the patterned SiO.sub.2 mask. Typical chemical directional etches are SF.sub.6 CCLF.sub.2 in a plasma-form. The etching process is performed for a particular period of time based on the thickness of the layer-to-be-etched, and any deviation from that time may result in too little etching or too much etching. Other variables that enter into the etching process are the particular environmental conditions that exist during the etch, which should be maintained in a fairly precise range. The result of the directional etching process are openings having sidewalls that are substantially vertical.
Referring now to FIG. 1F, the semiconductor structure is shown after an ONO process and the deposition of a second layer of polysilicon. Specifically, the ONO layer 26 may be formed, by way of example, by forming a first layer of oxide by means of a thermal growth process, forming a second layer of nitride by means of chemical vapor deposition, and forming a third layer of oxide by means of chemical vapor deposition. By way of example, but not by way of limitation, this layer 26 may be on the order of 160 angstroms.
Following the deposition of ONO isolation layer 26, a second layer of polysilicon (P2 layer) 28 is deposited in a well-known manner, such as by a CVD process. The P2 layer 28 may have a thickness on the order of 1200 angstroms. The P2 layer 28 should have a higher doping level than the P1 layer 22. This doping to obtain the desired conductivity may be accomplished during the layer deposition phase or after the deposition of the polysilicon layer. The P2 layer 22 corresponds to a control gate, and when a particular voltage is applied to the P2 layer 22, electrons are either supplied to the P1 layer 22 or removed from the P1 layer 22. Thus, the P2 layer 22 may be used to program a memory cell when the semiconductor device is configured as a RAM.
After the P2 layer 28 is formed on the substrate, an etching process is performed to provide "holes" through which contacts may be made to lower layers on the substrate, such as the P1 layer 22. For example, the techniques described above with respect to patterning the P1 layer 22 may be utilized to pattern the P2 layer 28 so as to form openings to provide contact regions to lower level layers (such as the P1 layer 22). Such a formation of holes in the P2 layer 28 is needed when the P1 layer and the P2 layer 28 are in a same direction (i.e., in a plane going into the paper in FIGS. 1A-1H), and is generally not needed when the P1 layer 22 and the P2 layer 28 are formed in different directions (i.e. direction of P1 layer 22 perpendicular to P2 layer 28).
After the P2 layer 28 has been deposited onto the semiconductor structure and patterned (and after any doping has been applied to that second layer of polysilicon 28), a metal silicide layer, for example, WSi.sub.x (x=2 or 4), is deposited onto the semiconductor structure, for example, with silane gas. Other types of metals, such as tantalum, palladium, molybdenum, may be utilized instead of tungsten, as is known to those of ordinary skill in the art. As shown in FIG. 1G, the metal silicide layer 33 and the P2 layer 28 are patterned via standard lithography techniques to form openings 40 so as to provide contact regions to lower layers, such as to the P2 layer 28, the P1 layer 22, and to the silicon substrate itself. During the patterning of the P2 layer 28, portions of the ONO isolation layer 26 underneath the patterned P2 layer 28 will also be etched away. The patterning of the P1 layer 22 and the P2 layer 28 is such that there are provided openings in the P2 layer 28 to provide a contact region to the P1 layer 22, and there are provided openings in both the P1 layer 22 and the P2 layer 28 that are coplanar so as to provide a contact region to the silicon substrate.
Thereafter, an interlayer dielectric (ILD) 38 is deposited onto the semiconductor structure. After the ILD layer 38 is deposited, it is polished to a substantially uniform thickness. For example, the ILD layer 38 may be polished to a thickness of approximately 1.1 microns. Afterwards, a dry plasma etch is utilized to pattern the ILD layer 38 so as to form openings 50A, 50B and 50C in the ILD layer 38 so as to provide contact regions to lower layers on the semiconductor substrate, as shown in FIG. 1H. Such a dry plasma etch may involve, for example, using a photoresist and placing the semiconductor substrate in a mixed gas environment using C.sub.4 F.sub.8 and O.sub.2, to thereby etch away portions of the oxide where desired.
For a RAM device, a word line is provided to the P2 layer, via a metal contact. Also, a word select line is provided to the P1 layer, via another metal contact. Both metal contacts must be applied to the correct layer on the substrate, requiring a fairly accurate etching process to reach the appropriate layer on the substrate. For example, when etching down to the P1 layer, it is possible that the etch may go too far, thereby etching all the way through the P1 layer and to the semiconductor substrate itself. This "P1 punchthrough" is highly undesirable, and leads to a defective device.
It is preferable to etch to the top surface of the P1 layer, to provide a best possible contact point to that layer. However, the etching process may be such that the etch is made to a middle location in the P1 layer, thereby not providing the best possible metal contact point to that layer.
Therefore, it is desirable to construct a semiconductor device that allows for fairly accurate etching to the appropriate layer, so as to provide strong and stable metal contact points to the P1 layer.


A field effect transistor device comprises a semiconductor substrate, a doped source layer arranged on the semiconductor substrate, an insulator layer arranged on the doped source layer, a fin arranged on the insulator layer, a source region extension portion extending from the doped source layer and through the fin, a gate stack arranged over a channel region of the fin and adjacent to the source region extension portion, a drain region arranged on the fin adjacent to the gate stack; the drain region having a graduated doping concentration.

The present invention relates to field effect transistor (FET) devices. A FET is a transistor device having a channel region that is partially defined by a gate. The FET device uses an electric field to control the conductivity of the channel region.
Solid state memory devices include memory devices that use integrated circuits to store data. Solid state memory devices include NAND based flash memory, which retains data even if power is not supplied to the solid state memory. Random access memory (RAM) includes integrated circuits that typically do not retain stored data when power is not supplied to the RAM.
In solid state memory devices, an array of FET devices is arranged on a substrate. The FET devices often use a common source region that is arranged on the substrate. It is desirable in memory devices to increase the number of FET devices on a substrate to increase the memory capacity of the memory devices.

Asymmetric finFET memory access transistor

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An optical device for detecting chromatic dispersion is described. The optical device includes a receiver, which converts an optical signal into an electrical signal having a plurality of frequency components. A bandpass section separates the plurality of frequency components and a gain section amplifies each of the plurality of frequency components of the electrical signal. Each of the spectral components has a corresponding voltage level and each voltage level may be compared to known voltage levels of a signal having little or no chromatic dispersion. From this comparison, the amount of chromatic dispersion may be determined. The optical device may be used as an element of a chromatic dispersion compensation device, or as a stand-alone device for measuring the amount of chromatic dispersion in an optical signal. A method of compensating for chromatic dispersion in real-time based on the optical device and dispersion compensator is also described.

The present invention relates generally to optical communication systems, and particularly to a method and apparatus for compensating for chromatic dispersion in optical systems.
Optical transmission systems, including optical fiber communication systems, have become an attractive vehicle for carrying voice and data at high speeds. In optical transmission systems waveform degradation due to chromatic dispersion in the optical transmission medium can be problematic, particularly as transmission speeds are ever-increasing. Chromatic dispersion results from the fact that in transmission media such a glass optical fibers, the higher the frequency of the optical signal, the greater the refractive index. As such, higher frequency components of optical signals will xe2x80x9cslow down,xe2x80x9d and contrastingly, lower frequency signals will xe2x80x9cspeed up.xe2x80x9d Moreover, impurities in the glass mechanical stress and strain, and temperature effects can also affect the index of refraction, further adding to the ill-effects of chromatic dispersion.
In digital optical communication systems, where the optical signal is ideally a square wave, bit spreading due to chromatic dispersion can be particularly problematic. As the xe2x80x9cfast frequenciesxe2x80x9d in the signal slow down and the xe2x80x9cslow frequenciesxe2x80x9d in the signal speed up as a result of dispersion, the shape of the wave can be substantially impacted. Accordingly, the effects of this type of dispersion are a spreading of the original pulse in time, causing it to overflow in the time slot that has been allotted to another bit. When the overflow becomes excessive, inter-symbol interference (ISI) may occur. ISI may result in an increase in bit-error rate to unacceptable levels.
An example of bit spreading due to chromatic dispersion is shown in FIG. 1. The xe2x80x9c101xe2x80x9d bit sequence shown at 101, 102, 103, respectively, is an ideal signal transmission in this illustrative example. As can be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, in order to achieve sharp rising edges 104 and the sharp trailing edges 105 a large number of relatively high frequency Fourier components is required. As described briefly above, these higher frequency components are xe2x80x9cslowed downxe2x80x9d through chromatic dispersion, and as can be seen in signal 106, the waveform is significantly altered (spread) due to the dispersion of the higher frequency components. Because the peak power in each pulse is reduced as the total power is spread out, and power is distributed between bits as a result of dispersion, predetermined detection thresholds used to discriminate digital bit xe2x80x9c1""sxe2x80x9d from digital bit xe2x80x9c0""sxe2x80x9d may not be attained. Thus, the chromatic dispersion may create unacceptable bit-error rates as the xe2x80x9c1""sxe2x80x9d have insufficient power to reach a detection threshold, and the xe2x80x9c0""sxe2x80x9d have too much power, and thereby exceed the threshold.
Conventional techniques to curb the ill-effects of chromatic dispersion are primarily static in nature. One conventional static technique includes the use of chromatic dispersion (CD) compensating fiber in which positive or negative dispersion can be selectively introduced into an optical communication system. For example, if positive chromatic dispersion is present, negative compensating optical fiber may be selectively placed in the optical communication system to xe2x80x9creshapexe2x80x9d the spread signal.
Another static technique to curb the ill-effects of chromatic dispersion includes the use of dispersion shifted fiber, which is designed exhibit no chromatic dispersion at a particular wavelength. Unfortunately, in a particular optical communication system, there may be approximately 40 channels or more, having channel center wavelengths spaced at approximately 0.8 nm to approximately 1 nm increments. Illustratively, a 40 channel system could have channel center wavelengths in the range of approximately 1530 nm to 1570 nm. At the 1550 nm wavelength channel, there is little or no chromatic dispersion, barring other influences. However, in channels having shorter center channel wavelengths, positive chromatic dispersion is introduced; while in channels having longer channel center wavelengths negative chromatic dispersion is introduced. Accordingly, compensation for chromatic dispersion is not readily realized across the entire 40 channel system using this static CD compensation technique.
While the above described techniques have resulted in some success in compensating for chromatic dispersion, these solutions cannot account for time dependent changes in the optical system. Moreover, these solutions require a prior knowledge of the chromatic dispersion of a system. Therefore, the conventional static solutions are neither capable of handling dynamic changes in the chromatic dispersion of an optical signal nor are these solutions capable of ready adaptation for use in a variety of optical systems.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for compensating chromatic dispersion in optical networks that overcomes the shortcomings of the static chromatic dispersion techniques discussed above.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an optical device for detecting chromatic dispersion in an optical system is disclosed. The optical device includes a receiver, which converts an optical signal into an electrical signal having a plurality of frequency components. A bandpass section separates the plurality of frequency components of the electrical signal. Each of the frequency components has a corresponding voltage level. The optical device also includes a gain section which amplifies each of the corresponding voltage levels of the plurality of frequency components, wherein the device outputs a measure of chromatic dispersion in the optical signal based on a comparison of a power level of each of the frequency components to that of an ideal optical signal with no chromatic dispersion.
According to another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus for compensating for chromatic dispersion in an optical signal is disclosed. The apparatus includes a detector, which converts at least a portion of the optical signal into an electrical signal having a plurality of frequency components; a controller, which receives an output from the detector, wherein the detector outputs a measure of the chromatic dispersion present in the optical signal based on a comparison of a power level of each of said frequency components to that of an ideal optical signal with no chromatic dispersion; and a dispersion compensator, which introduces corrective chromatic dispersion based on input from the controller.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for compensating for chromatic dispersion is disclosed. The illustrative method includes converting a portion of an optical signal into an electrical signal having a plurality of frequency components; comparing each of the frequency components of the electrical signal with those of an ideal optical signal having no chromatic dispersion; and introducing corrective chromatic dispersion into the optical signal based on the comparing, so that chromatic dispersion is substantially zero in the official signal.

Electrical detector for adaptive control of chromatic dispersion in optical systems


A clothing wipe includes an applicator having a novel odor neutralizing formulation deposited on one layer that is bonded to another layer to form a finger mitt. The applicator is removed from a pouch and rubbed against a person's clothing that may have accumulated a variety of smoke, food, and other odors during an outing. The odors clinging to the clothing are neutralized by contact with the odor neutralizing formulation. The applicator is stored in the pouch when not in use. A method of fabricating the clothing wipe in a web process is disclosed.

Dining out, attending concerts or dance performances, going to the theatre or to movies, going to parties, dances and celebrations, going to night clubs and other entertainment venues, or just hanging out with friends are some of the activities people engage in during their free time. Generally, in preparing to participate in these activities, people take great pains to look their best and to present themselves in the best possible light. Personal grooming aids and products are often employed, most of which are scented, in an effort to appear attractive. Perfumes and scented grooming products are used to enhance the effects, particularly among persons interested in attracting other persons of the opposite sex, for example.
Unfortunately, the scented effects tend to diminish rapidly, reducing the intended effect of the personal grooming efforts. Further, many of the venues for the above activities include exposure to a wide variety of odors. These odors typically originate from food and beverages in restaurants, from smoke in restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc., from the perspiration of the persons themselves and other patrons, and from other substances that may be encountered during an evening's entertainment. Many of these odors are unpleasant or become more so with the passage of time. Such odors are readily absorbed by a person's clothing or hair, and are carried with the person for the rest of the evening. Thus, not only are the original scents diminished through the natural evaporation and deterioration that occurs, but they are often overwhelmed or masked by the many odors in the surroundings. These circumstances may be especially worrisome to people in a dating situation, especially as the evening wears on and the persons anticipate extending the evening or just wish to freshen themselves before proceeding with the remainder of the evening's activities, one's next appointment, etc. Other circumstances where the need to refresh one's clothing or hair may arise include following a long or arduous meeting, working out in a gym, a long walk between offices, playing with pets, and the like.
Conventional remedies include perfume or perfumed products such as cologne applied to a person's skin or clothing, typically provided in a spray container or a bottle. Other similar products may be applied by hand. Further, it is known that certain products, such as dryer sheets for use in clothes dryers, have sometimes been used in an effort to absorb the unpleasant odors from a person's clothing or hair, but generally with limited success. Further, such dispensing devices as traditionally used for perfume or cologne are not readily available with odor neutralizing capabilities adapted to neutralizing the odors accumulated on a person's clothing. Moreover, the use of paper or fabric odor absorbing devices has heretofore failed to provide more than limited usefulness.
It is known or has been observed that certain paper or fabric products, such as the Bounce® dryer sheets and Swiffer® floor mop products manufactured and distributed by the Proctor & Gamble Corporation for the laundry and floor cleaning markets respectively, and which may respectively contain anti-static or scented compounds or cleaning agents, have certain properties that might suggest possible applications in this field of odor neutralization of clothing. However, the available configuration of these articles is not appropriate or well suited to the application of neutralizing the odors absorbed by a person's clothing in a night club or restaurant venue. The Bounce® dryer sheets and the Swiffer® mop refills are loose sheets of fabric. They are not conveniently packaged for a person's pocket or purse, are not adapted to the particular use of odor neutralization of a person's clothing, and do not contain suitable substances for neutralizing odors absorbed into or clinging to a person's clothing or for refreshing originally applied perfumes or scents.
What is needed is an apparatus and a method of using the apparatus, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods, that can serve both to eliminate or neutralize unpleasant odors that accumulate on a person's clothing during an evening's entertainment in a wide variety of venues, and to refresh or restore the original scent or replace it with an alternative scent.