A tissue mimicking material for use in ultrasound scanner phantoms has a very low acoustic backscatter coefficient. The tissue mimicking material has the ultrasonic speed and attenuation characteristics of human tissue, with a backscatter coefficient of about 40 dB below that of human liver tissue. The tissue mimicking material may be in liquid or solid form. A component in both the liquid and solid forms is a filtered aqueous mixture of large organic water soluble molecules and emulsion of fatty acid esters. This mixture may be based on a combination of evaporated whole milk and water. The material also includes a hydroxy compound, such as n-propanol, to control the ultrasonic speed of propagation through the material. A preservative from bacterial invasion, such as thimerosal, is also preferably included in the material. The solid form of the material contains the same material as the liquid form, with a very pure gel-forming material included to form a solid material. The tissue mimicking material may be included in an ultrasound phantom container with solid scattering particles and/or test objects incorporated therein. The use of scattering particles allows a very broad range of relative backscatter levels to be achieved in ultrasound test object phantoms incorporating the tissue mimicking material of the invention.

Materials which closely mimic the ultrasonic propagation characteristics of human tissue are employed in imaging phantoms and other test objects for use with ultrasound scanners. These phantoms may be used to carry out performance checks on ultrasound scanners. Phantoms may also be used for training or testing student technologists in the operation of ultrasound scanners or the interpretation of ultrasound images produced by such scanners.
Ideally, such material should be capable of mimicking soft human tissue with respect to at least three characteristics: speed of sound, ultrasonic attenuation, and ultrasonic scattering. The speed of sound in the tissue mimicking material should rest in the range from approximately 1,460 m/s, characteristic of human fat tissue, to 1,640 m/s, characteristic of the human eye's lens. The attenuation coefficient with respect to frequency of the material should lie in the range from approximately 0.4 dB/cm/MHz, characteristic of human fat tissue, to 2.0 dB/cm/MHz, characteristic of human muscle tissue. Additionally, the attenuation coefficient should be approximately proportional to the ultrasonic frequency. In other words, the attenuation coefficient with respect to frequency, or the attenuation coefficient slope, should remain constant for varying ultrasonic frequencies. These characteristics of human tissue should be maintained at all frequencies in the typical range of ultrasonic scanners, from 1-10 MHz. Moreover, the variation of these characteristics within the range of room temperature should be small. Additionally, these materials should be stable in time and invulnerable to reasonable environmental fluctuations. They should also be free of any pockets of air or gas. Furthermore, the bulk properties of the material should be the same throughout the volume of a particular phantom or phantom section.
A tissue mimicking material satisfying the above characteristics was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,367, to Madsen, et al., entitled Phantom Material and Method, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In that patent it was disclosed that both the speed of sound and the ultrasonic attenuation properties, matching those of most soft tissues, could be simultaneously controlled in a mimicking material based on water based gels, such as those derived from animal hides. It was disclosed that pharmaceutical gels could be made to mimic human soft tissue from the standpoint of attenuation coefficient by having a uniform distribution of graphite powder in the gel, and that the magnitude of the attenuation coefficient could be controlled by varying the concentration of graphite. The speed of sound in such a gel suspension could be varied between 1,560-1,700 m/s at room temperature and was independent of the graphite concentration. The attenuation coefficient was also nearly proportional to the frequency. In one embodiment of that invention, ultrasound phantoms embodying the desired features for mimicking soft tissue were prepared from a mixture of gelatin, water, n-propanol and graphite powder, with a preservative. In another embodiment, an oil and gelatin mixture formed the basis of the tissue mimicking material.
Tissue mimicking material is typically used to form the body of an ultrasound scanner phantom. This is accomplished by enclosing the material in a container which is closed by an ultrasound transmitting window cover. The tissue mimicking material is admitted to the container in such a way as to exclude air bubbles from forming in the container. In addition to the tissue mimicking material itself, scattering particles, spaced sufficiently close to each other that an ultrasound scanner is incapable of resolving individual scattering particles, and testing spheres or other targets may be located within the phantom container, suspended in the tissue mimicking material body. Such an ultrasound phantom is useful in evaluating the ability of ultrasound medical diagnostic scanners to resolve target objects of selected sizes located throughout the tissue mimicking material. The objective is for the ultrasound scanner to resolve the testing spheres or other targets from the background material and scattering particles. This type of ultrasound phantom is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,866, to Madsen, et al., entitled Ultrasound Phantom, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Method of making a solid tissue mimicking material for ultrasound phantoms


An optical mode converter comprising a slow wave electrode structure and including Schottky barriers for preventing an accumulation of free carriers in the optical waveguide region of the converter. The Schottky barriers are also used for suppressing higher order modes in the waveguide. Low refractive index insulators are used to allow efficient driving of the device without hindering the impedance or the microwave index of the optical mode converter. Two-photon absorption processes are eliminated through the use of a waveguide semiconductor material having a bandgap of at least twice the photon energy of the light beam propagating through the optical mode converter.

Electro-optical mode converters are used in optical communications systems to allow rapid modulation of an optical signal in accordance with an electrical signal. In most cases, an input light beam having an input state of polarization (SOP) impinges on and traverses through an electro-optical waveguide subjected to an applied electric field. When the geometry of the waveguide and the applied electric field are such that the input SOP is not aligned with a principal axis of the waveguide, the light beam at the output of the waveguide will generally have an output SOP different from the input one. With proper choice of input SOP, waveguide geometry and applied electrical field, it is possible to have the output SOP orthogonal to the input SOP. The expression "mode converter" usually refers to the case where the input and output SOP's are linear and orthogonal to each other whereas the appellation "modulator" is more general term describing a modulation of the light beam's amplitude and/or phase and/or SOP.
Structurally, an electro-optical mode converter will usually include an electro-optic substrate such as a III-V semiconductor or LiNbO3-based material with a defined optical waveguide and an electrode structure disposed in the vicinity of the optical waveguide. As a voltage is applied to the electrodes, an electric field is generated within the optical waveguide and modifies the optical parameters of the waveguide including the orientation of its principal axes and/or its birefringence. This allows for the modulation of the SOP of a light beam traversing the optical waveguide. The term principal axes of a waveguide, or principal waveguide axes, is used to describe the two directions that are parallel to the dominant electric field components of the two lowest order hybrid modes of the waveguide. The orientation of the principal waveguide axes is dependent on the waveguide's geometry and the principal optical axes of the material forming the waveguide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,257, hereinafter referred to as '257, issued Oct. 15, 1996 to Jaeger et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electro-optic modulator having an electrode structure with two spaced apart conductive strips disposed on either side of a single semiconductor optical waveguide. Each conductive strip includes projections, or fins, projecting towards the other conductive strip and disposed so as to affect the electro-optical parameters of the waveguide upon a voltage being applied to the conductive strips. At the end of the projections, adjacent the waveguide, are pads.
The electrode structure of '257 is referred to as a "slow wave" electrode structure because it allows a reduction in phase velocity of the microwave signal provided by a voltage signal source connected to the electrode structure and allows for the electromagnetic signal generated at the electrodes to remain substantially in phase with the SOP modulation. The electrode structure of the modulator of '257 can be referred to as a slow wave electrode, and the modulator can be referred to as an electro-optic modulator using slow wave electrodes.
The teachings of '257 provide an electro-optic modulator requiring less electrical and optical power and capable of running at higher frequency than Mach-Zehnder type slow wave modulators such as described in U.S. Pat. No 5,150,436, issued Sep. 22, 1992 to Jaeger et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.
Electro-optic mode modulators such as the ones disclosed in '257 are prone to problems caused by the presence of free carriers, i.e. conduction electrons or holes, in the semiconductor epilayer. These free carriers are present, even though the epilayer is not intentionally doped. The free carriers accumulate under the electrodes when an electric field resulting from a voltage being applied to the electrode structure appears in the modulator. This accumulation of free carriers leads to a screening of the electric field in the waveguide which leads to a less effective modulator. The screening of the electric field is most pronounced at low frequencies, making the modulator difficult to bias to a desired operating point. Furthermore, in cases where a large biasing field is required to overcome modal birefringence between the TE and TM-like modes, the field screening problem is compounded. As free carriers build up, they diminish the effect of the electric field on the waveguide. This is typically compensated for by adjusting the DC bias voltage to increase the strength of the field to offset the free carrier related reduction in field strength.
It would thus be desirable to have a mechanism that would alleviate the problem caused by the presence of free carriers.
Another problem with electro-optic modulators such as described in '257 is that related to the presence of higher order optical modes in the waveguide. The presence of these higher modes lead to unpredictable behaviour depending on the amount of power coupled into the higher order modes. Higher order modes can result in degraded extinction ratio and transfer function instability.
Furthermore, in the device described in '257, the voltage required for mode conversion depends, amongst other factors, on the distance separating pads disposed on either side of the waveguide. The smaller the pad separation, the lower the mode conversion voltage will be and, consequently, so will the power requirement of the mode converter. However, decreasing the pad separation tends to increase the capacitance of the device thereby lowering the impedance of the electrode structure, which should be maintained at a fixed value, such as 50Ω, for optimum performance. Moreover, the mode conversion voltage may by lowered by designing the geometry of the electrode structure to include a high ratio of pad length to pad pitch. However, as in the case where the distance separating the pads is decreased, a higher ratio of pad length to pad pitch leads to an increase in capacitance and a decrease in impedance.
In addition to being concerned about having an electrode structure that attains an optimum impedance, one must also consider how changes in the electrode structure design affect the microwave index of the electro-optic mode converter. The microwave index, which should be similar to the index of the optical mode of the waveguide, increases with increasing capacitance.
The generation of free carriers in semiconductors through absorption of sub-bandgap light is well known and has been documented. A document where this subject matter is addressed is by Vanmaekelbergh et al. in Phys. Rev. Lett. Volume 80, Number 4, Pp. 821-824 (1998). As mentioned above, the presence of free carriers in electro-optic modulators such as disclosed in '257 leads to poor device performance. The most important effect leading to the generation of free carriers by absorption of subband-gap light in unintentionally doped semiconductors is that of two photon absorption, which occurs when a light beam having an energy of at least half the bandgap energy of the semiconductor material impinges on the material and/or propagates therethrough. The number of free carriers generated by the two photon absorption process depends on the optical intensity becomes more problematic as the intensity of the light beam is increased.
It would thus be desirable to have means for alleviating the problem caused by the presence of intrinsic free carriers as well as for eliminating or attenuating higher order optical modes. It would also be desirable to have a mechanism that would allow for a lower mode conversion voltage without leading to a higher than desired capacitance and hence a higher microwave index than the optical index. Finally, it would be desirable to have a waveguide including a material having a bandgap larger than twice the photon energy of the light beam propagating through the waveguide.


A system and method for adaptive spell checking and correction. The method includes tracking frequencies of historical replacement strings of characters, and providing a list of “n” number of the historical replacement strings of characters in response to a string of characters which were previously changed or are not recognized.

Conventional spelling correction systems (e.g., spell-checkers) for electronic documents, such as those found in common word processing applications, operate on a word-by-word basis and check whether each word in a document is found in a dictionary. The dictionary may comprise, for example, a predetermined list of valid strings of characters that is stored and/or accessed by the spell-checker. When a word is found to have a match in the dictionary, the word is treated as correctly spelled. However, when a word is not found in the dictionary, the word is indicated as incorrectly spelled. Incorrectly spelled words may be identified for the user by, for example, underlining and/or highlighting.
Many conventional spell-checking programs not only detect misspelled words, but also offer a selection of alternative words as suggested replacements for the misspelled word. These alternative word choices may be presented in a ranked order according to their likelihood of being the word that the user was trying to type. The alternative words that populate the list of suggested replacements are selected from a static set of replacement word choices (e.g., the dictionary) with, perhaps, a few valid alternative suffix rules applied.
For example, if a user intended to type the word "recede" but instead typed "resead", a typical spell-checker may detect the misspelled word and present the following alternative words as suggested replacements in the following ranked order;
reseed
reseat
resend
reread
reseal.
These are simply correctly spelled words from a static list of valid words (e.g., a dictionary) that closely match the character sequence of the misspelled word. Such a list of alternative words is often useful when the spelling mistake is the result of a "finger slip" (e.g., an omission of a character of a word, an addition of an extra character in a word, a substitution of a character for a character of a word, or the transposition in order of characters within a word).
If the mistake is an actual spelling mistake, however, instead of a finger slip, the user must manually enter the correct word (in this case "recede") after, for example, looking it up in a dictionary or asking someone how to spell it. Thus, when using conventional spell checkers, users may be inconvenienced when misspelled words are the result of something other than a mere finger slip.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

System and method for adaptive spell checking

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A projection type image display apparatus includes an electroluminescence element which has a plurality of pixels that can each emit modulated light, a projection optical system which projects the light emitted from each of the pixels in the electroluminescence element onto an object to display an image, and a sensor which detects brightness of ambient light that illuminates the object. A controller controls brightness of the light emitted from the electroluminescence element based on the brightness of the ambient light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection type image display apparatus such as a projector, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional projection type image display apparatus normally uses a liquid crystal panel or micro mirror device as a light modulation element for passive switching, projects a light pattern selected by controlling transmission, shielding or deflection of light onto a screen, and thereby displays the image on the screen.
When a liquid crystal panel or micro mirror device is used as a light modulation element, it is assumed that shielded light is regarded as unnecessary energy and absorbed by a polarization element or light absorption medium and eliminated. In the case of a liquid crystal, unnecessary illumination light exists due to light transmittance, aperture. efficiency of each pixel and accuracy of polarization control, and in the case of a micro mirror device, it is difficult to effectively use the pupil of an axially symmetric optical system from the standpoints of aperture efficiency of each pixel, numerical aperture of projection lenses due to oblique-incidence illumination and numerical aperture of an illumination system.
Therefore, in order to make a displayed image brighter, a metal halide or high-pressure mercury lamp is used as a light source, but there are additional problems that a high voltage needs to be used as a light source voltage and the light source produces high heat.
As a method for fundamentally solving such low efficiency of energy usage, there are proposals disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1999-67448 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-66301. In the above-described two proposals, a luminescent panel (hereinafter referred to as "organic EL panel") on which organic electroluminescence elements (hereinafter referred to as "organic EL (electroluminescence) elements") are arranged in matrix form is used, light emission of each organic EL element of this luminescent panel is driven based on an image signal and light from each organic EL element is projected onto a display target object through a projection optical system. Since the organic EL element is a self-luminescent element, there is no need for any separate illumination light source and the organic EL panel emits pattern light including image information, therefore there is no need for a transmission type liquid crystal panel as a modulation element. Therefore, it is possible to use emitted light for displays effectively.
The organic EL element is therefore expected to be able to easily display images with lower power and high brightness without generating unnecessary light energy. Furthermore, since the organic EL panel alone can modulate and output images, the apparatus configuration is simple and it is easy to miniaturize the apparatus and reduce its weight.
However, when the organic EL panel is used as an image modulation light source for a projection type image display apparatus that enlarges an image, and projects and displays the image on an object such as a screen, it is necessary to increase the amount of light emitted from the organic EL element to a great extent compared to a case where the organic EL panel is used as a direct-view type display. That is, it is necessary to increase the amount of light emitted by increasing power energy directed to pixels arranged in the organic EL panel.
However, there is a problem that when light is emitted from the organic EL element at high brightness, the luminance efficiency of the amount of emitted light with respect to the power input reduces.
This is because increasing the amount of charge carriers injected into the luminescent layer, that is, the amount of current requires an applied voltage to be increased, and increasing the voltage is equivalent to increasing the gradient of the electric field applied to the luminescent layer. In contrast to an electroluminescent emission phenomenon in which electrons and holes remain in the luminescent layer area and excitons are formed when this gradient of the electric field increases and photons are emitted by recombination, charge carriers do not remain in the luminescent layer area, a leak current that penetrates the luminescent layer increases whereby the luminescent efficiency of the amount of light emitted with respect to the power input decreases.
To prevent charge carriers from brimming from the luminescent layer and improve the luminescent efficiency, development toward the adoption of a double-hetero potential structure is underway. However, the present situation is that the height of the potential barrier on the LUMO side of the electron blocking layer and the height of the potential barrier on the HOMO side of the hole blocking layer depend on component materials and this technology does not reach a level of sufficiently functioning with respect to the electric field gradient applied to the luminescent layer.
For this reason, rather than projecting light from the organic EL panel consisting of luminescent pixels of three primary colors arranged in a repetitive matrix form, a configuration using three organic EL panels that emit three primary colors separately, combining three color light using a wavelength-combining element such as a prism provided with a dichroic waveband separating film and projecting the combined light will reduce the amount of power required for one pixel and improve the luminescent efficiency of the amount of light emitted with respect to power input.
However, because the organic EL element generally emits non-polarized light, or due to isotropy of luminescent directivity, a separated wavelength shift characteristic depending on the angle of incidence of light upon the dichroic waveband separating film and a difference in the separated wavelength of the dichroic waveband separating film between S-polarization and P-polarization, this configuration has difficulty in combining light emitted from the organic EL elements without loss. That is, even if light from three organic EL panels that emit three color light respectively is combined, the light utilization efficiency is not equivalent to a simple sum of those.
Thus, using a layered organic EL panel which laminates three organic EL luminescent layers that emit three primary color light can reduce the amount of power input to each organic EL luminescent layer and improve the efficiency of the amount of light emitted (amount of light projected onto an object such as a screen) with respect to the amount of power input without reducing the efficiency of combining three color light.
However, when a layered organic EL panel is used, due to a shift of positions in the thickness direction of three organic EL luminescent layers, if light is projected onto an object such as a screen using a projection lens, the image forming position varies depending on the color, which causes a color-dependent blur in the image. This image blur becomes more noticeable as the projection magnification increases.
On the other hand, when a liquid crystal panel or micro mirror device is used as a light modulation element, a maximum output brightness distribution of each pixel modulated by the modulation panel depends on an illumination distribution of an illumination system that illuminates the light modulation element by transmission or reflection. Therefore, the illumination distribution is designed according to the configuration of the illumination optical system. When a gas discharge lamp using a paraboloid or spheroid mirror is used, the light beam shows an atypical Gaussian distribution and it is a general practice to convert this distribution to a uniform illumination distribution using an integrated optical system and it is difficult to use a method of providing an intentional illumination distribution other than the uniform distribution.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-75406 proposes a method of providing a brightness distribution for a panel-shaped surface luminescent type light source that illuminates the light modulation panel to compensate for the reduction in the amount of light transmitted outside the optical axis of a projection lens in order to intentionally make illumination of the screen which is a projection target object uniform.
As the panel-shaped surface luminescent type light source, an electroluminescence type fluorescent luminous body light source or charge-injection type organic EL element is used. The above-described publication describes it as a light source that illuminates a light modulation element using a liquid crystal panel or micro mirror device, but similar effects are also attained even if the light source itself is a light modulation element.
However, the organic EL element has a problem with durability that the photoelectric conversion efficiency decreases gradually. This is because the organic luminescent material itself changes a chemical structure, repeats emissions of light energy according to the displacement of its potential energy and the organic luminescent layer is structured in such a way that a fluorescent or phosphorescent luminescent material, a material to disperse this material and a material to improve an electrical conductive characteristic are mixed, and therefore the probability that the organic luminescent material that changes its chemical structure and emits light will change to any forms other than a desired one does not become 0% in principle because the state distribution function is dispersed at a temperature equal to or higher than absolute zero.
The speed at which the luminescent material changes to any form other than the desired form is affected by the stability of the state of the material, combination with the binder environment medium material, intensity of the applied electric field and hydrolysis by a humidity environment, etc. A main factor for deterioration concerning the speed of chemical reaction is considered to be acceleration of deterioration by a self temperature rise parameter due to generation of thermal energy in the process of photoelectric conversion. This speed of deterioration becomes accelerated reaction almost in accordance with Arrhenius' reaction rate relational equation.
Therefore, if the system is driven to emit light at a low temperature with low power input, the speed of variation in the photoelectric conversion efficiency slows down and its life is extended, but when the power supplied is increased in order to increase brightness of light emissions, the photoelectric conversion efficiency decreases exponentially.
Therefore, assuming that a quality assurance period for a normal consumer product is one year, stable light emission for several thousands to several tens of thousands of hours is required. Attempting to provide clearer images of higher quality results in reduced stability in quality.
Furthermore, in a situation in which a projection type image display apparatus is used, an object such as a screen onto which an image is projected is placed in an illuminated environment in a room or place and the image is observed when an observer recognizes the diffused light from the object, and therefore it is a general practice to darken the illumination environment in which the object such as a screen is illuminated in order to enhance black-and-white contrast of the projected image. Movie projection is one of the typical examples.
On the other hand, when images for a presentation is displayed, illumination at hand is required to allow audience to refer to documents or take notes, and therefore the system may be used in a certain illumination environment. Thus, the operating environment of the projection type image display apparatus varies depending on the purpose.
Furthermore, while it is more important to display images more clearly in a bright operating environment, the image quality such as uniformity in the brightness of the image, clearness of contrast, or color reproducibility, etc., becomes more important.

Projection type image display apparatus and display device


A fire log formed with a groove in a bottom rear corner thereof. The groove is formed at a right angle and provides a protruding edge or lipped surface onto which the flame can latch and ignite the fire log. A generally V-shaped channel is formed in a front surface of the fire log by an arcuate upper section and a curved lower section. The outer wrapper forms a flap or wick which is used to ignite the fire log. The fire log is lit at the protruding edge formed by the groove and initially burns at opposed ends thereof. Flame gradually creeps inward along the rear and top surface, then gradually creeps down the front surface resulting in complete ignition of the fire log.

TECHNICAL FIELD
Generally, the invention relates to artificial fire logs. Particularly, the invention relates to an artificial fire log contained within a protective outer wrapper having a lightable flap which easily ignites the artificial fire log and which cooperates with a groove and a channel formed in the artificial fire log to burn the fire log in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Specifically, the invention relates to an artificial fire log having a groove formed in a bottom rear of the fire log and having a generally V-shaped channel formed in a front surface of the fire log, whereby the V-shaped channel provides an aesthetically pleasing flame while simultaneously providing the appearance that multiple logs are positioned in the fireplace, and the groove provides an easily ignitable protruding edge along the rear edge of the fire log.


The continuing miniaturization of integrated circuits leads to a demand for ever higher resistance values. In conventional diffused resistors or poly resistors, an increase in the resistance value also means an increase in the surface area. Such resistors, moreover, are highly dependent on the doping concentration and sensitive to temperature changes. A resistor according to the invention comprises a resistor region 18 with a length and doping concentration which are chosen such that an electric field is applied at which velocity saturation of charge carriers takes place in the envisaged range of operation. The connection regions are connected to the resistor region via rectifying junctions 21, 22. In a specific embodiment, these junctions are formed by pn junctions, so that the resistor has, for example, an npn shape. The dimensions are furthermore chosen such that, within said operational range, electrons are injected into the p-type resistor regions by punch-through between the n-type connection regions 19, 20, traversing the resistor region at the saturation velocity. Since the charge carriers supplying the current are of the type opposed to that of the resistor material, it is prevented that the resistance value becomes very low at low voltages.

The invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body provided with a circuit element in the form of an electrical resistor comprising a resistor zone with a comparatively high resistivity between two connection regions with a comparatively low resistivity, the interspacing between the connection regions being so small that velocity saturation of charge carriers takes place in the resistor zone during operation. Such a device is known, for example, from the book "Physics of Semiconductor Devices" by S. M. Sze, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, pp. 352-354. ("Sze")
The demand for compact resistor elements of high resistance value increases continuously in the manufacture of integrated circuits as a result of the continuous reduction of the dimensions of the other components, such as transistors. The transistors, for example, and thus the current through the amplifier become increasingly smaller in a differential amplifier with shared emitters, so that it is necessary to increase the load resistances correspondingly in order to obtain the same amplification. In usual resistor elements, however, an increase in the resistance value means an increase in the space occupied by the resistor elements, which is in conflict with the efforts to obtain ever smaller dimensions. In addition, this increase in the space occupation is accompanied by an increase in the parasitic capacitance, which adversely affects the frequency behaviour of the circuit.
It is furthermore important that the temperature sensitivity of the resistor should be as small as possible. The temperature sensitivity is fairly great in usual resistors in integrated circuits, where the resistor comprises a doped zone or a layer of doped polycrystalline silicon (poly), in the sense that the resistance rises fairly strongly upon a rise in temperature, which causes various properties of the circuit to change. In addition, thermal effects may give rise to temperature gradients across the integrated circuit so that, for example, the ratios between the various resistance values are disturbed such as, for example, in the case of the differential amplifier mentioned above which is so designed that the load resistances are basically identical.
It is also important for many applications that the value of the resistor which is obtained at the end of the manufacturing process should correspond as accurately as possible to a value previously defined in the design of the circuit. When conventional resistor elements are used, the resistance value depends not only on the dimensions, parameters which in general can be well controlled by means of the present-day advanced manufacturing techniques, but also on a quantity such as the net doping concentration, which has a much wider spread. Sze describes a resistor element with reference to FIG. 32 on p. 353 wherein saturation of the drift velocity of charge carriers in a high electric field in the resistor zone is utilized. The device comprises a p-type semiconductor body which is provided at the surface with a comparatively weakly doped n-type resistor zone which is provided on either side with highly-doped n-type connection zones. When the voltage across the resistor is sufficiently high, velocity saturation takes place in the semiconductor material of the resistor. Upon a further increase of the voltage, the current will rise only very little, so that a high (differential) resistance can be obtained. The resistance value obtained in the saturation range is practically independent here of the doping concentration and less dependent on the temperature than in conventional resistors. The resistor in this embodiment behaves as a conventional diffused resistor at lower voltages, with a comparatively low resistance value which is determined by the doping concentration, so that the resistor exhibits the disadvantages described above in this range. A high resistance is often required also at lower voltages, for example in view of a low dissipation.


A process integration is disclosed for fabricating complete, planar non-volatile memory (NVM) cells (110) prior to the formation of high-k metal gate electrodes for CMOS transistors (212, 213) using a planarized dielectric layer (26) and protective mask (28) to enable use of a gate-last HKMG CMOS process flow without interfering with the operation or reliability of the NVM cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed in general to integrated circuit devices and methods for manufacturing same. In one aspect, the present invention relates to the fabrication of CMOS metal gate devices and non-volatile memory devices integrated on single substrate or chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-volatile memory devices, such as EEPROM and flash memory, are used in computers and other electronic devices to store data and/or programming instructions that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed and that must be saved when power is removed. Embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) has become increasingly important in applications ranging from data and code storage to circuit trimming and customization. By embedding a non-volatile memory in a CMOS device, a single chip device can be manufactured and configured for a variety of applications.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for purposes of promoting and improving clarity and understanding. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the drawings to represent corresponding or analogous elements.


Custom in-ear monitors (headsets, headphones, earbuds, hearing aids) having improved audio fidelity characteristics and improved manufacturability are constructed by designing a virtual three-dimensional model housing including sound and vent tubes, and equipment mounting receptacles and clips; and fabricating the housing substantially simultaneously or all-in-one-go using, e.g., a 3D printer. The sound and vent tubes comprise features such as inflection points and profile variations that are impossible to construct using traditional subtractive manufacturing processes.

Traditional personal listening devices utilize one or more drivers as audio reproduction sources. The sound waves from these drivers are commonly carried from an enclosed, sub-miniature electro-acoustic transducer or driver, through a tube or sound bore connected thereto, and terminating at the tip of the canal portion of the device. In such earphones, the device's overall frequency response is affected by the length and inner diameter of the tubing or bores used to direct the output of the drivers to the earpiece or tip of the device. This use of tubing or bores is used to tailor the audio response of the drivers, but also introduces tube resonance, affecting the frequency response of the driver connected to the tubing or bore. Tubing or bores can also constrict the sound waves passed from the driver through the tube or bore, often complicating the acoustic design of the device or exerting a deleterious effect on the overall fidelity of the system.
Alternate arrangements of transducers and other components in earphones can simplify the design or construction of the device, or improve its sound-reproduction fidelity. These benefits may be of significant value in this field.

Earphone housing with integrated tuning features


A method includes forming a first layer containing silicon oxide on a first substrate, partially removing the first layer to form an exposure portion on the first substrate, depositing amorphous gallium nitride system compound semiconductor on the first substrate with the exposure portion, evaporating the semiconductor on the first layer to form cores of the semiconductor on the exposure portion of the first substrate, forming an epitaxial layer of the semiconductor on the first substrate, and removing the epitaxial layer of the semiconductor on the exposure portion on the first substrate to form a separating groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a forming method of a gallium nitride system compound semiconductor layer. Further, the present invention relates to light emitting devices (LEDs), electronic devices, LED arrays, LED printer heads, LED printers and the like fabricated using the forming method.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a GaN epitaxial layer, that is a chief material for blue light emitting diodes and lasers, has been formed on a sapphire substrate or a single crystal substrate of silicon carbide (SiC) by the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method. Devices using the GaN epitaxial layer are sold on the market. However, more than a half of the cost of the device is occupied by costs of its substrate and epitaxial layer. Thus, there exists a great obstacle of cost in application of such technology to the solid-state illumination in place of light bulbs and fluorescent lamps. For example, it has been reported that its cost is about several tens to hundred times as much as the cost of the light bulb, while its goods on the market are capable of illumination with a tenth of the power consumption of a 90-W light bulb, its life time is above 50,000 hours, and its performance largely surpasses that of the light bulb.
The sapphire substrate is most generally used as a single crystal underlayer wafer for growth of the GaN epitaxial layer (see Japanese Patent No. 2,628,404). Originally, the sapphire substrate has been developed as an underlayer substrate for silicon hetero epitaxial growth for the SOI (silicon-on-insulator) structure (so-called SOS (silicon-on-sapphire)) since 1960s. A large diameter wafer, such as an 8-inch wafer, has been developed. Thus, the technology in connection with the sapphire substrate is one of the most matured wafer technologies for the hetero epitaxial growth. However, as compared with the silicon wafer, the cost of the sapphire substrate is more than ten times as much, and hence its application range is limited, similar to the GaAs wafer. In other words, the cost of the silicon wafer is lowest, its quality is high, and its diameter is large. Further, for an optimal GaN system epitaxial growth, an 8-inch sapphire substrate is not yet usable, and only a 6-inch sapphire substrate can be presently used owing to its crystal quality. Thus, the 8-inch sapphire substrate cannot be said to be optimal for the growth of a semiconductor layer with a favorable crystal quality.
Further, the GaN single crystal epitaxial growth on the silicon substrate has been researched (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-222402). However, due to crystal defects caused by a difference in the lattice constant, though this technology is applied to electronic devices such as transistors, it is difficult to apply to light emitting devices, such as LEDs and lasers, that are more vulnerable to crystal defects.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,242 discloses the following technology. In this technology, the GaN epitaxial layer grown on the sapphire substrate is heated with short-wavelength laser light applied from the bottom surface of the sapphire substrate, only a portion close to an interface between the GaN and the substrate is fused to be decomposed into metal Ga and nitrogen gas, and a device or device region is lifted off onto a dissimilar substrate. However, since the device region is successively transferred, its productivity is a great obstacle for acquisition of a large-area substrate. Thus, this technology is not easy to put to practical use.
As described above, the technology for forming the GaN epitaxial layer on the sapphire substrate may have an issue about costs. The technology for forming the GaN epitaxial layer on the silicon substrate or the like whose lattice constant is largely different that of the GaN may have an issue about crystal defects. And, the technology for transferring the GaN epitaxial layer grown on the sapphire substrate to the dissimilar substrate may have an issue about productivity.

Forming method of gallium nitride system compound semiconductor layer, transfer method of the same, and substrate structure with the same bonded thereto


A method for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, comprising: during a first condition, including an engine-off condition and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle coupled to an external power source; heating a fuel vapor canister based on a fuel tank vacuum; and opening a fuel tank isolation valve to draw heated vapors into a fuel tank. In this way, a passive purge operation may be executed, thereby purging the fuel vapor canister without forcing the engine to turn on. Thus, the vehicle may be operated at peak fuel economy without increasing emissions.

Vehicle emission control systems may be configured to store fuel vapors from fuel tank refueling and diurnal engine operations in a fuel vapor canister, and then purge the stored vapors during a subsequent engine operation. The stored vapors may be routed to engine intake for combustion, further improving fuel economy.
In a typical canister purge operation, a canister purge valve coupled between the engine intake and the fuel canister is opened, allowing for intake manifold vacuum to be applied to the fuel canister. Simultaneously, a canister vent valve coupled between the fuel canister and atmosphere is opened, allowing for fresh air to enter the canister. This configuration facilitates desorption of stored fuel vapors from the adsorbent material in the canister, regenerating the adsorbent material for further fuel vapor adsorption.
However, engine run time in PHEVs may be limited, and thus opportunities for purging fuel vapor from the canister may also be limited. It may be possible to force the engine on to allow for a purging operation, but this would decrease the overall fuel economy of the vehicle. Further, if the vehicle is parked during a portion of the diurnal cycle in which the ambient temperature is increasing, the fuel tank may undergo a pressure rise, forcing hydrocarbons out of the canister and into the atmosphere. This could potentially result in the vehicle failing emissions testing, and potentially losing classification as a practically zero emissions vehicle (PZEV).
The inventors herein have recognized the above limitations and have developed systems and methods to at least partially address these problems. In one example, a method for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, comprising: during a first condition, including an engine-off condition and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle coupled to an external power source; heating a fuel vapor canister based on a fuel tank vacuum; and opening a fuel tank isolation valve to draw heated vapors into a fuel tank. In this way, a passive purge operation may be executed, thereby purging the fuel vapor canister without forcing the engine to turn on. Thus, the vehicle may be operated at peak fuel economy without increasing emissions.
In another example, a system for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, comprising: a fuel vapor canister coupled to a fuel tank via a fuel tank isolation valve and further coupled to atmosphere via a canister vent valve; a fuel tank pressure sensor coupled to the fuel tank; a heating element coupled to the fuel vapor canister; and a control system including executable instructions stored in non-transitory memory for: during a first condition, including an engine-off condition and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle coupled to an external power source; heating the fuel vapor canister based on a fuel tank vacuum; opening the canister vent valve to draw atmosphere into the fuel vapor canister; and opening a fuel tank isolation valve to draw heated vapors into a fuel tank. In this way, diurnal emissions for a PHEV may be decreased. By cleaning the fuel canister of fuel vapor, there may be decreased risk of hydrocarbons bleeding out of the canister and into the atmosphere as ambient temperature decreases.
In yet another example, A method for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, comprising: during a first condition, including an engine-off condition, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle coupled to an external power source, a fuel vapor canister load above a threshold, a fuel tank vacuum above a threshold, and a first ambient temperature below a threshold; heating a fuel vapor canister using power from the external power source; then opening a canister vent valve; then opening a fuel tank isolation valve. In this way, canister load may be managed without increasing the load on the PHEV battery. The external power source (e.g. a power grid) may be used to heat the fuel vapor canister in preparation for a passive purge operation.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Systems and methods for managing bleed emissions in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles


The present invention is directed to a skin-mimicking emulsion comprised of polyosides, minerals, inositol polyphosphate or phytic acid, polysaccharides, triglycerides, polyols, alpha or beta hydroxy acids, phospholipids, phytosterols, vitamins, fatty alcohols, essential lipids, amino acids, and water. All of the inventive ingredients in combination are design to be similar to those found in skin and are combined to form a lamellar structure for maximum efficacy. The composition does not include any of the components usually found in conventional emulsions, such as synthetic preservatives, surfactants, fragrances, colorants, acrylic polymers, gelling agents, sequestrants, and EDTA as such ingredients would be irritating to the skin.

Over the last fifty-plus years, the use of skin, body, and hair care products has gradually come to be a daily ritual thanks to the enjoyable feeling and instant comfort it provides, as well as its ease of use and the improvement of skin and hair quality.
This has led to the development of a wide array of products, including emulsions, appearing in different textures and formulations.
Advances in chemistry have made it possible to bring new raw materials to bear, which are more or less natural, to boost cosmetic appeal and provide increased protection for the products in terms of shelf life and preservation of the composition in its intended form.
Many emulsions on the market today are composed of two phases: a water-based phase comprised of water, hydrolysates, aqueous extracts, and the like, and an oil-based phase comprised of oils, waxes, butters, fatty alcohols, and the like, which are emulsified with surfactants. In addition, preservatives, antioxidants, fragrances, colorants, emollients, gelling agents, active ingredients, texturing agents, pigments, solvents, humectants, sequestrants, fillers, and sunscreens may be added. All of these ingredients are essential to the product by forming its color, texture, scent, and impacting its stability as a whole, its preservation over time, and its immediate and long-term cosmetic effectiveness.
Recently, however, some of these ingredients have shown that they are of no use to the skin, and many are harmful to the skin by causing irritation, eliciting an allergic reaction, and interfering with the endocrine system. Chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system may result in developmental malformations, interference with reproduction, increased cancer risk; and disturbances in the immune and nervous system function.
The skin and scalp are living, permeable membranes. Accordingly, there is a risk of some of these raw materials penetrating the skin, altering it, and entering the subcutaneous blood circulation.
Regulations, especially in Europe, have recently sought to prohibit or reduce the use of some of these raw materials for which there is suspicion or proof of risk. Nevertheless, a wide array of ingredients of questionable utility for the skin remain in general use, such as emulsifiers, fragrances, preservatives, gelling agents, and colorants.
Their continued use stems from the necessity to maintain the structure of emulsions, preserve them, stabilize them, and maintain the sensory perception of the product in touch, sight, and smell. Unfortunately, cosmetic products deemed free of these ingredients and "natural" present the same flaws since they are based on the same principles.
Therefore, there is a real need for facial, body, and hair care products that alleviate these flaws, drawbacks, and obstacles of the prior art, especially a formulation approach making it possible to reinvent the manner in which ingredients that are perfectly suited and useful to the skin are selected and combined, while discarding any ingredients that are of no use to it.


A base for a penile prosthetic implant is disclosed. The base includes a fluid distribution manifold attached to and in fluid communication with an inflatable cylinder sized for implantation into a corpora cavernosum of a penis. The fluid distribution manifold is also connected to a core sized for implantation into a crus of the penis and in fluid communication with an inflatable bladder. The inflatable bladder provides an outer surface of the base between a proximal end of the core and a proximal end of the fluid distribution manifold. A penile prosthetic system is also disclosed.

Penile implants provide relief for men with erectile dysfunction.
In a typical implantation procedure, the penis of the patient is incised to expose two corpora cavernosa that are aligned axially in a side-by-side orientation within the penis. A corporotomy is formed that is sized to receive the penile implant. For example, each corpora cavernosum is dilated proximally towards a crus of the penis and distally into the glans penis in a corporotomy procedure by introducing gradually larger stainless steel rods into the corpora cavernosum. The corporotomy thus has a length that extends between the crus of the penis and the glans penis. The proximal portion of the corporotomy has a diameter that is approximately the diameter of the largest stainless steel rod that the surgeon was able to insert into the corpora cavernosum. A penile implant is selected that most nearly matches the length of the corporotomy and a diameter that most nearly matches the diameter of the proximal portion of the corporotomy.
Although the above-described approach has proven effective in treating erectile dysfunction, variations in anatomy sizes require a variety of different length and diameter penile implants to be maintained in the inventory of the hospital which can be prohibitively expensive. Even with a large variety of implants available, other difficulties such as cumbersome implantation in smaller anatomies and insufficient stability of the implant in larger anatomies are still encountered by surgeons.

Base for a penile prosthetic implant and a penile prosthetic system


A development monitoring system for monitoring the development of one or more subjects includes an administrative module. A client module and the administrative modules are configured to communicate with each other. The administrative module is configured to generate an interface and send the interface to the client module for rendering such that the interface permits the input of at least one of observation data and program data. The data input is written to a database. At least one of the observation data and the program data are retrieved from the database on receipt of a request from the client machine and a visual record representing said observation and image data is generated.

It is generally accepted that one of the difficulties associated with monitoring the development of subjects, such as children or groups of children is to ensure that sufficient information is available to make accurate assessments of the progress of such subjects.
At present, the mariner in which this is done varies from making entries in notebooks and physically compiling daily or weekly reports manually which can then be given to parents or other parties of interest to generate periodical progress reports. In the case of children, such as at educational centre, the daily or weekly reports are usually generated manually by a teacher or other staff member. The reports are often prepared outside of the classroom and, in some cases, away from the educational centre. In itself, this is a problem because the accuracy of the reports relies on the recollection of the relevant teacher. Furthermore, the content of the reports can be slanted or biased depending on the mindset of a particular teacher.
The fact that teachers are often forced to prepare the reports outside of school hours can also place an unwelcome burden on those teachers. This can result in the danger of certain teachers being less than diligent in preparing their reports. As a result, the developmental progress of a child or group of children can be adversely affected.
Another problem associated with the system that is presently used is that it is very difficult to detect some sort of pattern of results associated with the reports. It follows that the slant or bias of a particular teacher is often not detected. This can be problematic because teachers at an educational centre are usually from varying training backgrounds and have different attitudes towards behavioural traits displayed by children. Thus, the manner in which a child's development progresses and is reported relies heavily on such an attitude.
Another disadvantage associated with the systems at present is that they do not provide reports which can be assessed in a very short time. In order to assess a child's development, it would be necessary to physically collate a large number of documents, arrange them in time order and attempt to detect some form of pattern resulting from the documents. That may work, to some extent, but it will be appreciated that attempting to do that in the context of a number of other children would be extremely difficult.
Uniformity of language is an important issue when attempting to generate consistent reports for a number of subjects at a particular centre. For example, a statement of a developmental trait can often be associated with a number of different meanings. As a result, one teacher may use a statement which is not necessarily the same statement that would be used by another teacher in attempting to explain the same developmental trait. It is clear that this can result in reports that are excessively subjective. For example, one developmental statement can have a number of different meanings for parents and teachers. As a result, a misunderstanding can easily arise between a parent and teacher regarding the level of development reached by a particular child.
Key to the disadvantages listed above is the fact that proper collection of information and identification and organisation of that information is not presently achieved.


The present invention is directed to a macroscopically three-dimensional formed substrate including a first boundary zone having a first surface pathlength and a second boundary zone having a second surface pathlength. The first and the second surface pathlengths are preferably measured when the formed substrate is in a relaxed condition. The substrate also includes an elongated zone located at least partially between the first boundary zone and the second boundary zone. The elongated zone comprises incrementally stretched regions which result in the elongated zone being elongated in a first direction of elongation and having a third surface pathlength measured when the formed substrate is in the relaxed condition. The third surface pathlength is greater than either the first pathlength or the second pathlength such that the substrate takes on a macroscopic three-dimensional configuration when the backsheet is in a relaxed condition.

Infants and other incontinent individuals wear absorbent articles such as diapers to receive and contain urine and other body exudates. Absorbent articles function both to contain the discharged materials and to isolate these materials from the body of the wearer and from the wearer's garments and bed clothing.
Early prior art disposable diapers were generally flat composite sheets which were fitted to a baby in a flat state or incorporated geometric folding to achieve a suitable "baby shape." A major in-use problem with these prior art diapers is that gaps between the diaper and the baby's body tended to develop due to the semi-rigid nature of the absorbent body, especially after the diaper had been worn for a period of time. The gaps permitted leakage from the disposable diaper, thereby creating damp or wetted outer clothing and bedding around the baby.
One solution to the aforementioned problem is the use of elastics in the leg openings of the diaper to provide improved fit and containment characteristics. An example of such a prior art disposable diaper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003 issued to Buell on Jan. 14, 1975. While elasticized diapers such as those disclosed in Buell have achieved widespread acceptance and commercial success, the elasticized diapers still have a tendency to gap and therefore leak periodically.
A disposable diaper which conforms readily to the contours of the wearer's body offers many benefits including comfort, performance, containment and the like. By more readily conforming to the contours of the body the absorbent article employing the semi-elastic material of the present invention will fit more snugly, thereby reducing the likelihood of leakage of body exudates. Further, by conforming to the contours of the body, the absorbent article employing the three-dimensional substrate of the present invention will help reduce red marking of the skin by eliminating the need for excessive tensional forces used to shape the article.
The advantages of a three-dimensional article are provided by the incorporation of one or more formed substrates. Generally, such formed substrates comprise elongated zones which are incrementally stretched so as to increase their surface pathlength and boundary zones with shorter surface pathiengths disposed adjacent the elongated zone. The incrementally stretched elongated zone along with the boundary zones provides the substrate with a three-dimensional configuration without added forces or elastics. Thus, three-dimensional articles, as described herein, can be manufactured more quickly, easily and inexpensively than similar products currently in the market, thereby reducing their overall cost.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent article comprising a formed substrate capable of assuming a macroscopic three-dimensional configuration.
Another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article with a topsheet and/or backsheet comprising a formed substrate capable of assuming a macroscopic three-dimensional configuration in a relaxed condition.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article with a topsheet and/or backsheet comprising a formed substrate capable of assuming a macroscopic three-dimensional configuration in a relaxed condition without added elastics.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings.

Web materials exhibiting elastic-like behavior


According to one aspect, an autonomous all-terrain vehicle (ATV) may include a controller receiving a command associated with autonomous driving and monitoring components of the autonomous ATV, a location unit determining a current location associated with the autonomous ATV and a destination location associated with the command, a navigation module determining one or more driving parameters based on map data associated with a path from the current location to the destination location, and a safety logic implementing an emergency stop based on an error determined by the controller. The controller may monitor the location unit and the navigation module for the error.

An autonomous vehicle is an unmanned vehicle which is generally capable of sensing its environment and navigating without input from a driver. An autonomous vehicle may perform autonomous driving by recognizing and determining surrounding environments through various sensors attached to the autonomous vehicle. Further, an autonomous vehicle may enable a destination to be set and move to the set destination via autonomous driving.

Control system for autonomous all-terrain vehicle (ATV)


In embodiments, an authentication server interfaces between a user device with a self-signed certificate and a verifying computer that accepts a user name and password. The user device generates a self-signed certificate signed by a private key on the user device. The self-signed certificate is transmitted to a verifying party computer over a network. The verifying party stores the self-signed certificate with user identification data. The user migrates trust to another device by providing the root certificate and intermediate certificate as a certificate chain to a second device, which then adds a new intermediate certificate to create a longer certificate chain with the same root certificate. In subsequent communications, the verifying party receives a certificate chain including the self-signed certificate from the second user device, and matches that with the user identification data stored in a database.

The present invention relates to replacing passwords with user public/private key certificates.
Currently, many websites and applications require a user login and password for access. Each new web-site requires a different user-name and password. Password managers have been introduced that consolidate them under just one password, and two factor authentication is sometimes used to improve security, but none of these approaches actually eliminates passwords or improves the user experience. Meanwhile, passwords are now the most common security breach in computer systems. Phishing expeditions continually deceive naive users into revealing their passwords, or criminals successfully guess those most commonly used. The password concept is broken—password convenience is overridden by the losses incurred.
TLS (Transport Layer Security) and its predecessor, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) are Internet standards for two things: 1) services (servers) authenticating themselves to users (clients), and 2) encrypting messages that are decipherable by only the two parties in the connection. SSL was created by Netscape in 1995 and renamed to TLS when made into a standard.
Server Certificates.
TLS uses X.509 certificates, each of which have a digital signatory. The signatory itself must also have a certificate, which has a second signatory. And that second signatory possesses a certificate with a third signatory, and so forth, leading to a chain of certificates. Starting with a root signatory, each certificate signs the next until reaching the server's (end entity) certificate, which is the last ("leaf") certificate (the certificate used to access a website server). A leaf certificate cannot be used to sign other certificates. According to the TLS protocol, this chain starts with a self-signed certificate, which is from a single, universally-trusted root.
For simplicity and authentication convenience of services, this trusted root certificate has been included in a select group of root Certificate Authority (CA) certificates. Any CA in this select group can sign other certificates. The select group can vary in size, but membership is determined by a consortium of browser vendors, Operating Systems vendors, and Certificate Authorities called the CAM Forum.
Trust in a leaf server certificate is established the client validating the signature of each certificate in the server's chain in reverse order, starting with the leaf. Encountering any trusted and validated certificate from this select group establishes trust in the leaf certificate. A second test challenges the server to prove it possesses the correct private key for the leaf certificate. Success in both of these tests is necessary for an authenticated, trusted connection.
Mutual Authentication.
TLS was symmetrically designed to allow both services and users to be authenticated using certificates, called mutual TLS. Client-certificates, like server-certificates, were expected to use an external, trusted, third-party signatory in their chain-of-trust that is trusted to undertake the burden of establishing the user's actual identity. It was recognized already in 1995 that there were problems with this approach. First, few CAs would take the job of certifying the identity of individuals needing certificates. Second, any given service might not trust any given CA to certify its users. Third, user-certificate CAs were an enormous additional bureaucracy. Hence, user-certificates were deemed to be not viable for normal users of the Internet, and from the outset, the common user-name/password was instead adopted for user-authentication.
Currently, a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) exists to allow users to verify the identity of a website, to make sure they are communicating with the correct entity. Public/Private key encryption is used for site authentication. A trusted, third-party Certificate Authority (CA) can be used to authenticate the identity of a website. In this process, the owner of a domain generates a public/private key pair. The public key of the website is wrapped in a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) along with other information, and it is signed with the private key. This CSR is submitted to the CA for the creation of a Certificate. The trusted CA validates the ownership of the website's web address using whatever means determined by that CA to be necessary and sufficient. The CA then uses the private key of an intermediate certificate, which was itself signed by a root certificate, to sign a Certificate for the website. The signed website certificate is referred to as a leaf certificate, which identifies the website but cannot be used to sign other certificates. The website leaf Certificate thus links to the trusted CA's own trusted certificate, referred to as a root certificate, by way of the intermediate certificate that signed it, forming a chain of certificates. By trusting the CA's root certificate, any client connecting to the website can trust the leaf certificate presented by the site as a valid identity of the website. Let's Encrypt® is the most common root certificate CA today.
Consumer Device makers have incorporated hardware security modules (HSMs) to store encryption keys, biometric data (for fingerprint and face recognition authentication). WebAuthn is a proposed standard by the W3C with input from the FIDO alliance, of which Google is a part, that uses asymmetric, public/private encryption as a mechanism for second authentication factor. The private key can be stored internally in a consumer device's HSM or in a special, separate key-storage device. The proposed standard has multiple private keys, one per site, and requires new keys in the event of a lost device.
People have difficulties remembering passwords, so they often use the same password everywhere. Moreover, passwords are cryptographically weak credentials, as they can be guessed and are shared secrets. In the past ten years, mobile devices have caused a proliferation of Internet accounts, which has stimulated demand for credential alternatives.
As detailed above, TLS has been limited by the need for third party CAs. Many companies offer alternative client credentialing systems that do not use TLS, including two-factor authentication, password managers, and many other systems to augment the standard password. A few use TLS for client-authentication, but paired with PKIs (Public Key Infrastructures) that operate a Certificate Authority (CA) to issue certificates to specific individuals for use with the service. There are a number of described uses of self-signed certificates to authenticate a particular device, such as Published Application US 20130145151 (device authentication), Published Application US 20120036364 (network device, such as a camera), and Published Application US 20190075099 (for virtual servers, with a broker).
Starting with the FIDO Alliance almost ten years ago up to today's WebAuthn consortium of companies (notably, Google) and many other companies have devised alternatives to avoid the perceived deficiencies of TLS for client-authentication but still use TLS for server authentication and encrypted communications.
It would be desirable to have a password replacement that is easy to use, can be used across multiple devices, and allows recovery in the event of a lost device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

User authentication with self-signed certificate and identity verification and migration


Methods and apparatus are provided for providing UE EPS capability information and receiving non-access stratum (NAS) security algorithm information for an interworking procedure in the 5GS network. In one novel aspect, the UE provides the UE EPS capability information in cleartext before the security mode procedure, and the NAS security algorithm information is included in a security mode command message during the security mode procedure. In one embodiment, the UE EPS capability information is an S1 mode indicator or the 5GMM capability information including the Si mode indicator. In another novel aspect, the network provides the NAS security algorithm information before interworking procedure from 5GS to LTE. In one embodiment, the network provides the NAS security algorithm information in the Registration Accept message. In another embodiment, the network provides the NAS security algorithm information in handover procedure from the 5GS to LTE.

The wireless cellular communications network has grown exponentially over the years. The fifth-generation system (5GS) or the new radio (NR) network is developed to meet the increasing demand for wireless services. The 5GS provides higher speed data services. The roll out of the 5GS in a wireless network will likely be a mix of the 5GS and existing the 4G LTE system. The mobile devices/user equipment (UE) can connect with a 5GS initially and handover to the 4G LTE system and vice versa, which is referred to as an interworking procedure. During a security mode procedure, the UE receives a Security Mode Command message from the 5GS, and then sends a Security Mode Complete message to the 5GS. Under the current 5GS implementation, the 5GS network should select a NAS security algorithm based on EPS capability reported by the UE and provide the NAS security algorithm information in the Security Mode Command message for the UE to perform the interworking procedure. However, based on the current design, the EPS capability of the UE is reported via the Security Mode Complete message after receiving the Security Mode Command message. Therefore, it is not possible for the 5GS network to provide the NAS security algorithm information in the Security Mode Command message for UE. When the UE is triggered to handover/fallback to the 4G LTE, the interworking procedure may fail because the UE does not have the NAS security algorithm information.
A solution is sought for the UE to get the EPS security capability on a 5G new radio (NR)/5GS network.

Provide EPS security capability and receive eps security algorithm information in 5GS


A ring of polycrystalline material is developed around the edge of a wafer by general heating of the wafer and localized heating with a laser beam followed by rapid cooling. The ring of polycrystalline material helps prevent wafer breakage due to thermal shock. One or more additional ring, loop or closed figures of polycrystalline material can be formed inside of said ring of polycrystalline material developed around the edge of the wafer to further reinforce the wafer.

Wafers built for use in the fabrication of semiconductor devices are inherently brittle. They are cut along a known crystal line and fracture easily when placed into a hot water bath or when pushed into a diffusion furnace.
Various techniques have been utilized in an attempt to counteract the problem of brittleness. In one technique, impurities are allowed to infiltrate the wafer production process to prevent the wafer from becoming too brittle to be useful. In another technique, dopant impurities are intentionally diffused into the wafer to increase flexibility. Yet another technique utilizes laser annealing wherein a laser is scanned along the bottom of the wafer to increase the defect sites on the wafer. The defect sites act as traps to getter unwanted impurities in the wafer. The damage, however, does nothing to reduce the brittleness.
What is needed is a process which will allow the wafer to withstand the rigors of the device fabrication process without the drawbacks of additional dopant impurities and defect sites which are inherent in the previously mentioned techniques.

Ring crystallization of wafers to prevent thermal shock


It is determined in S202 whether or not a mismatch between the paper information for the job A and the paper information existing in the printer (the printer 1A, for example) has occurred, and if there is a mismatch between the two types of paper information, it is determined in S205 whether or not another job B exists in the queue. Where another job B exists in the queue, it is determined in S206 whether or not the job B is a job that uses the multi-purpose cassette 19. If the job B is a job that uses the multi-purpose cassette 19, it is determined in S208 whether or not paper that matches the paper information for the job B exists in the fixed-size paper supply cassette 18. If paper that matches the paper information for the job B exists in the fixed-size paper supply cassette 18 (the determination in S208 is YES), the fixed-size paper supply cassette 18 is selected in S212, printing is performed for one sheet in S213, and the use of the multi-purpose cassette 19 is prohibited and notification of such prohibition is issued in S214.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print controller and to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art, when the paper information for a designated job does not match the paper information pertaining to the paper housed in the paper supply cassette in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, the apparatus is stopped so that a period of time may be secured during which paper can be loaded that matches the paper information for the designated job.
However, using the conventional construction, the apparatus is stopped when the paper information mismatch described above occurs, and therefore, the image forming operation for the jobs subsequently received is delayed for as long as the apparatus is held on hold, resulting in a reduced operation rate for the apparatus. At the same time, if image formation for the next jobs in the queue is carried out when the mismatch of paper information occurs, the timing for paper exchange may be lost.
For example, the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Hei 10-17168 and Hei 9-314925 disclose a construction in which, when the paper information for the job and the paper information pertaining to the paper supply inlet are different, jobs that match the paper supply inlet paper information are processed first, but the timing for setting the appropriate paper is also lost in this case.
For example, where A4-size paper is housed in a first paper supply cassette that can house paper up to A3 size, and A4-size paper is housed in a second paper supply cassette that is dedicated to A4-size paper, a print job that uses A3-size paper cannot be printed. If a job that uses A4-size paper is located in the queue in this state, printing for that job is first performed using the A4-size paper in the first cassette. Consequently, the timing to load A3-size paper in the first cassette is lost, and as a result, the job that uses A3-size paper cannot be executed for a long time.

Print controller and image forming apparatus


The invention provides a system and method for reducing pin count in an integrated circuit (IC) when interfacing to a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The SDRAM has a plurality of address lines and a plurality of data lines. The method includes connecting together the plurality of data lines and the plurality of address lines. The IC interfaces to the SDRAM through the connected plurality of address lines and the plurality of data lines.

The majority of designs in the consumer electronic industry include an interface between an integrated circuit (IC) and a memory, the memory often known as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). An SDRAM is a memory chip, with different SDRAMs designed to hold different amounts of data and operate at different speeds.
De facto industry standards exist for the interface between an IC and a SDRAM. To better understand the limitations and operation of conventional systems, an example of an IC interfaced to a SDRAM according to the de facto standard is provided, along with write and read operations.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional IC 100 connected to standard SDRAM 102. IC 100 has memory controller 104 that operates SDRAM 102 according to the de facto standard for a memory interface. IC 100 reads data from SDRAM 102 during a read operation and writes data to SDRAM 102 during a write operation. Activate and pre-charge are examples of other operations performed by SDRAM 102 at various times. Address and bank select lines 106 are connected between IC 100 and SDRAM 102 and convey memory address location (row and column addresses) signals and bank select (determines source or destination bank) signals from IC 100 to SDRAM 102. Data lines 108 are connected between IC 100 and SDRAM 102 and convey data between IC 100 and SDRAM 102. Data is transmitted in both directions on data lines 108. Each of the above-mentioned lines connects to IC 100 through pins on the exterior of IC 100, most of the pins being controlled by memory controller 104.
Clock line 110 conveys a clock signal from IC 100 to SDRAM 102 and mask lines 112 are used by IC 100 to instruct SDRAM 102 to ignore data appearing on data lines 108. Control lines 114 convey control commands from IC 100 to SDRAM 102, for example read, write, activate, and pre-charge. In the example shown, there is one line for a clock signal, 3 lines for control signals, 2 lines for byte mask signals, 12 lines for memory address signals, 2 lines for bank select signals, and 16 lines for data signals, for a total of 36 pins from IC 100 needed in order to interface to SDRAM 102 according to the de facto standard.
FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating a conventional write operation from the integrated circuit to the SDRAM of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 will be discussed in conjunction with the corresponding structure in FIG. 1. Clock signal 200 is transmitted along clock line 110 from IC 100 to SDRAM 102. Write command 202 is transmitted along command lines 114 to SDRAM 102. At time 201, address 204 is transmitted along address lines 106 and data 206 is transmitted along data lines 108. The timing and operation of the transmission follows the de facto standard for memory interfaces with SDRAM. SDRAM 102 receives data 206 and performs a write operation by putting data 206 in address 204 within SDRAM 102. Mask lines 112 are de-asserted, as indicated by mask signal 208, enabling the storage of the data to the memory. Throughout the specification, DN and AN will refer to particular (N) data that is going to a particular (N) address.
At time 210, IC 100 transmits activate command 212 along command lines 114 to SDRAM 102, along with address 214. SDRAM 102 responds by activating a bank address designated by address 214. Also at time 210, data 216 is transmitted to SDRAM 102. An internal counter (not shown) increments a group of cells (not shown) to which SDRAM 102 writes data each clock cycle. Since one clock cycle has passed, the position is incremented by one. Data 216, which is the next block of data transmitted by IC 100, is written into the next memory cell as indicated by the internal counter of SDRAM 102.
At time 218, no control command is transmitted along command lines 114, and data 220 is transmitted along data lines 108. The internal counter in SDRAM 102 has incremented the group of memory cells to which data 220 is written.
At time 219, no control command is transmitted along command lines 114, and data 222 is transmitted along data lines 108. The internal counter in SDRAM 102 has incremented the group of memory cells to which data 222 is written.
Finally, at time 224, no control command is transmitted along command lines 114, and data 226 is transmitted along data lines 108. Data 226 is the last portion of data written to SDRAM 102 in the write operation, which took 5 clock cycles to complete. During those 5 clock cycles activate command 210 was also transmitted from IC 100 to SDRAM 102.
In FIG. 3, a timing diagram illustrates a conventional read operation from the integrated circuit to the SDRAM of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 will be discussed in conjunction with the corresponding structure in FIG. 1. Clock signal 300 is transmitted along clock line 110 from IC 100 to SDRAM 102. Read command 302 is transmitted along one of command lines 114 to SDRAM 102. At time 301, address 304 is transmitted along address lines 106. The timing and operation of the transmission follows the de facto standard for memory interfaces with SDRAM. SDRAM 102 receives read command 302 and address 304 and prepares the memory cell at address 304 to read out data to IC 100. Mask lines 112 are de-asserted, as indicated by mask signal 308.
At time 310, no control command is transmitted along command lines 114 while SDRAM 102 prepares to read out data to IC 100.
At time 312, IC 100 transmits activate command 314 along command lines 114 and sends address 316 for the bank/row to activate (one skilled in the art will recognize that a bank address is not synonymous with a memory address, but for the purposes of this background the distinction is not important). Also at time 312, SDRAM 102 begins transmitting data to IC 100 as requested by read command 302, 2 clock cycles earlier. Note that the number of clock cycles from the assertion of a read command until SDRAM 102 responds with data is programmable according to the de facto SDRAM standard. The value is programmed by a controller according to it's abilities, the operating frequency and the speed grade of SDRAM 102. For example, values can be set to 1, 2 or 3 clock cycles.
At time 320, IC 100 transmits pre-charge command 322 along command lines 114 and sends address 324 for the bank to pre-charge. Also at time 320, the next data block is transmitted from SDRAM 102 to IC 100. The internal counter (not shown) discussed earlier operates in the same manner for read operations as it does for write operations. Next, mask signal 308 is asserted on mask lines 112. Mask lines 112 control the output enable signals and are timed to precede the data out from SDRAM 102 by two clock cycles, in this example.
At time 328, no control command is transmitted along command lines 114 while data 330, which is the last of the data, is read from SDRAM 102. Over the 5 clock cycles, 3 blocks of data were read out, and activate and pre-charge commands were issued.
The de facto standard was created to operate at a particular point in the trade off of pin count versus memory bandwidth, i.e. the more pins used, the more data may be transferred during a given clock cycle, while fewer pins means lower data transmission. The SDRAM interface often represents the most pin intensive interface in the design. High pin count, in the above case SDRAM 102 uses 36 pins, can result in forcing designs into larger and more expensive packages, either due to the number of pins required or due to the increase in power consumption required to switch all of the output signals.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for reducing pin count in an integrated circuit when interfacing to a memory. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for reducing pin count in an integrated circuit when interfacing to a memory


An apparatus and a method for producing samples of a finely granular and dry material for measuring the residual carbon content thereof. The material is fed by a torque monitored conveyor screw to a measuring chamber and is progressively compacted therein. At an abrupt increase in screw torque feeding of the material ceases yielding a sample in the measuring chamber of a reproducible degree of compaction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general relates to a novel method and apparatus for producing samples of primarily finely granulated and dry material and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for producing samples of pulverized combustion residue such as, for example, filter and fly ash, for defining their residual carbon content by defining changes in electrical parameters of a complex electrical component which includes the produced samples of primarily finely granulated and dry material to be examined.
The invention is intended especially for use in ash collection sites of furnaces in coal-fired power plants. In this connection, reference is made primarily to fly ash without, however, intending thus to limit the field of application of the invention. For the invention is advantageously applicable wherever residual carbon contents of mainly finely granulated and dry material is to be defined by defining changes in electrical parameters of complex electrical components which contain the material to be examined. In addition to furnaces of power plants this may also be incinerators and cement making plants.
Defining residual carbon contents of fly ash is necessary, on the one hand, for controlling and optimizing the combustion process, i.e., for use of as much of the energy as is contained in the fuel. On the other hand, defining residual carbon content is necessary for controlling the quality of fly ash to be used as an additive in building materials and cement. Under both aspects, the invention aims at providing as low a residual carbon content, or as low a proportion of uncombusted components, as possible. Changing load conditions in a firing plant and different fuel compounds require constant monitoring of the combustion process which, in turn, leads to the requirement of continuously defining the residual carbon content or periodically to define it in short intervals of time or with no or very little time lag.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
At present, the method employed by power plants is to draw samples followed by an analytic examination of the samples in a laboratory. This is expensive and results in such significant losses of time that for all intents and purposes it is impossible to optimize the combustion process.
For that reason efforts have not been wanting to develop methods and apparatus which make it possible to define residual carbon content in a simple manner, continuously or periodically, without any loss of time. In this connection, those methods have been found to be particularly suitable which are based upon a change in the electrical parameters of complex electric components which contain the fly ash to be measured. However, the handling of fly ash is extremely difficult because of its extremely complicated bulk behavior.
German Laid-Open Patent Specification No. DE-OS 33 03 177 disclosed a method and an apparatus for measuring the carbon content of fly ash in which the capacity of a capacitor is evaluated into which a sample of fly ash is introduced as a dielectric substance. Fly ash is removed from a silo by means of a feed screw and is transmitted to a measuring chamber which constitutes the nonconductor of the capacitor, and is compacted by vibration. Thereafter, the capacity of the measuring chamber containing the compacted fly ash is defined. After defining the capacity the fly ash is removed from the measuring chamber and returned to the silo by a different feed screw. The carbon content of the fly ash is deduced from the measured capacity. The method may be practiced continually or periodically, but in order to obtain useful measuring values care has to be taken in ensuring that the mean quantity of fly ash contained in the measuring chamber is substantially constant and of defined density.
A basically comparable solution has been described in German laid-open patent application No. 198 56 870. In this case, ash transported by a pneumatic feed system is fed to a sampler, care being taken to realize a predetermined particle content of the probe by way of exhaust filters and light barrier. The sample is heated to a predetermined analyzing temperature and is compacted by a shaking device. Thereafter it is subjected to a microwave analyzer. Microwave resonance techniques are used as is well known to define the residual carbon content of the prepared sample fed to the microwave analyzer. Once it has been examined, the sample is returned to the feed system.
Either method require rather complex apparatus for the withdrawal, preparation and return of the sample. The complexity is last not least owing to the extremely poor bulk behavior of the fly ash to be tested. Moreover, the attained precision of the residual carbon content has been found to be unsatisfactory. More particularly, the attained measuring values tend to be vastly scattered. Accordingly, they can only be conditionally used for controlling combustion processes.

Method and apparatus for producing samples of primarily finely granulated and dry material

Promecon Prozess- und Messtechnik Conrads GmbH.