An interactive information delivery terminal includes an information display unit, retrieval client for generating control commands for transmission to an information store over a first communications link, for the retrieval of information therefrom, and a user interface for receiving control commands from a user device over a second communications link for controlling the retrieval client. The terminal is connected to the Internet and a short range radio (piconet) interface, for example a “Bluetooth” interface and is located in a position where it is not vulnerable to damage but where it is nevertheless visible. The radio interface is located so that it can make radio contact with interface units fitted to user handsets in a publicly accessible region. Through the Internet the terminal may be connected to any other internet site.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to interactive computer information display systems for displaying text or other information. Such systems are coming into widespread use, through information access systems such as the "Internet" World Wide Web (WWW). Large amounts of information are available to users having access to such systems. However, in order to gain access to such systems relatively expensive hardware is required, in particular a computer and a modem, limiting the availability of the information to users who have access to such a terminal. Furthermore, the hardware is typically bulky, and is not easily portable. Mobile systems, comprising a "laptop" computer and a cellular telephone, do exist, but because of the limited bandwidth available on mobile communications, these tend to be very slow.
2. Related Art
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term used for software, systems, methodologies and capabilities that help an enterprise organise and manage customer relationships. The use of CRM systems and strategies lead to a better understanding of customer wants and needs. Used in conjunction with data warehousing, data mining, call centre systems and other intelligence applications, CRM allows enterprises to gather and access information about customer buying preferences, purchase histories, complaints and other data so to aid the anticipation of what customers will want. Other benefits of CRM for businesses include increased customer loyalty, faster response to customer inquiries, a deeper understanding of customers, increased marketing and selling opportunities, monitoring feedback that leads to improved products and services and obtaining information that can be shared with business partners to create new propositions for customers.
Multimedia "kiosks" have been proposed for locations to which the public have access. In order to identify the user, and allow payment to be made for the service if required, facilities such as a credit card "swipe" unit are also necessary. Nevertheless, however the authentication is done, since such kiosks are available for any member of the public to use, the user has to provide user-specific information if CRM-based information is to be usable by the service provider. For security, this may require the user to have a security password or other access control process, making the use of such systems cumbersome. Some such facilities, for example that disclosed in International patent application WO02/07135, make use of a wireless connection for such authentication, for example using the "Bluetooth" standard to be discussed later, so that a suitably equipped portable device may transmit the necessary identification information to the fixed terminal, thereby permitting the holder of the portable device to operate the fixed device.
However, there is a further drawback to such systems. The fixed equipment is valuable, and its accessibility to the public makes it vulnerable to theft, vandalism, and tampering. The equipment is also not suitable for exposed locations, as it is not in general weatherproof.
International Patent application WO98/36552 discloses a system in which a mobile handset, such as a standard cellular telephone, may be used to control a fixed visual display unit, by setting up a data connection over the cellular telephone network between the cellular telephone and a server controlling the display unit. This allows a mobile user to access data over a high speed link, for display on a large screen terminal close to his current locality, whilst the terminal itself can be protected from theft, vandalism, the weather and other hazards by being located in an inaccessible, but visible, location such as behind a shop window.
However, this system requires the establishment of two separate data links, between the server and the user's mobile terminal and between the server and the fixed terminal. If any audio information is to be supplied, or any private personal data, this cannot be exchanged between the user and the fixed terminal without the use of separate links to the server, requiring greater bandwidth than that needed for a few simple control commands. It should be noted in this connection that, in this specification, the term "display" is not limited to visual displays but, unless the context demands otherwise embraces other means of conveying information such as tactile (e.g. Braille, vibration alerts) and audio information. A terminal sealed behind a shop window is of course inherently unsuitable for conveying such information.

British Telecommunications public limited company


Microcellular polyurethane flexible foams having densities no greater than 0.3 g/cc which are suitable for use as lightweight shoe sole components are produced with carbon dioxide in an amount such that the polyurethane-forming mixture has a free rise density of from about 0.03 to about 0.3 g/cc. At least a portion of that carbon dioxide is dissolved as a gas into one or both of the reaction components. The amount of dissolved carbon dioxide must be such that the froth density of the isocyanate and/or isocyanate-reactive component(s) in which the carbon dioxide is dissolved will be from about 0.1 to about 0.8 g/cc. Additional carbon dioxide may be formed by the reaction of water and isocyanate during the polyurethane-forming reaction but the total amount of CO2 present should be controlled to ensure that the polyurethane-forming mixture has a free rise density of from about 0.03 to 0.3 g/cc. Use of a preferred isocyanate-reactive component in which a specified ratio of diol to triol is satisfied makes it possible to use more water than had been expected. Use of a preferred prepolymer makes it possible to produce microcellular polyurethanes having good physical properties solely with a diol. The product microcellular foams possess a uniform cell structure and enhanced physical properties as compared to all water-blown foams of the same basic formulation and density. The hardness of the foams is more suitable for shoe sole, particularly midsole applications, than that of the water-blown foams, despite the lower urea hard segment content of the CO2 blown foams.

The present invention relates to low density, flexible microcellular elastomers suitable for the preparation of molded shoe soles, shoe inners, and midsoles; to an isocyanate-reactive component useful for the production of such microcellular elastomers; to an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer useful for the production of such microcellular elastomers; and to a process for the production of such microcellular elastomers from such isocyanate-reactive component and/or isocyanate-terminated prepolymer in which (1) carbon dioxide is dissolved in one or both of the polyurethane-forming reaction mixture components in an amount sufficient to a froth density in such component or components of from about 0.1 to about 0.8 g/cc and (2) the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide plus carbon dioxide generated during the isocyanate/water reaction is sufficient to produce a polyurethane-forming reaction mixture having a free rise density of from about 0.03 to 0.3 g/cc.
Cushioned soles for footwear, particularly athletic footwear, are generally prepared from EVA (ethylenevinylacetate) microcellular foams. The processing of such foams is not straightforward, and the foams themselves do not have optimal properties. However, such foams continue to be used due to their availability in the very low density range, i.e., 0.1 g/cc to 0.35 g/cc.
Polyurethane polymers generally exhibit physical properties which are superior to EVA polymers. However, numerous difficulties arise when attempts are made to mold polyurethane microcellular elastomers at low densities. Due to the hardness required for the end use, considerable amounts of low molecular weight chain extenders are required. In microcellular foams which are water-blown, the urea short segments which are created cause the formulations to have poor processability, resulting in both shrinkage and splits in the parts. The physical properties are also compromised. These problems have prevented use of low density (<0.35 g/cc) polyurethane microcellular elastomers, and more particularly, very low density (<0.30 g/cc) polyurethane microcellular elastomers.
One of the most commercially important applications for microcellular polyurethane elastomers is production of shoe soles. These elastomers are generally produced from an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer, a polyol, a chain extender, a blowing agent and a surfactant. The properties of these microcellular elastomers are generally attributed to the specific prepolymer used to make the elastomer. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,246,977 and 5,849,944.)
U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,861 discloses carbon dioxide blown low density, flexible microcellular polyurethane elastomers which have a more uniform cell structure and enhanced physical properties than the previously known microcellular elastomers. These improvements are attributed to dissolution of the carbon dioxide blowing agent in one or both of the polyurethane-forming reaction components. Where water is included as a second blowing agent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,861 teaches that the water should be used in an amount which is less than 50% by weight of the total amount of water necessary to produce an all-water blown microcellular elastomer having the same density.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Carbon dioxide blown low density, flexible microcellular polyurethane elastomers


A method for writing a master image on a substrate includes dividing the master image into a matrix of frames, each frame including an array of pixels defining a respective frame image in a respective frame position within the master image. An electron beam is scanned in a raster pattern over the substrate, while shaping the electron beam responsively to the respective frame image of each of the frames as the electron beam is scanned over the respective frame position, so that in each frame, the electron beam simultaneously writes a multiplicity of the pixels onto the substrate.

In semiconductor device production, circuit patterns are commonly written onto semiconductor substrates by lithographic processes. In image-projection lithography, radiation is projected through a master mask or reticle onto a photoresist layer on the substrate in order to create the circuit patterns. In direct-write systems, on the other hand, the circuit pattern is written onto the substrate by directly modulating a beam of light or electrons, which is then incident on the photoresist layer. Masks and reticles may also be produced by this sort of direct-write process.
One method known in the art for direct writing of circuit patterns is to scan a focused laser beam or electron beam over the surface of the substrate in a pattern of multiple, parallel lines, known as a raster. Each line consists of a single row of pixels in the master image that is to be written on the substrate. At each pixel location, the beam intensity is controlled to give the desired pixel exposure. A direct-writing photolithography system of this sort is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,976, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.
Alternatively, it is possible to write an entire frame of pixels on the substrate simultaneously, using a spatial light modulator (SLM) to create the desired pattern. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,541, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a lithography system in which a programmable array of binary light valves or switches is programmed to replicate a portion of the circuit pattern each time an illuminating light source is flashed. The substrate is mounted on a scanning stage. The stage motion and the pattern of the programmable array are synchronized with the illumination system so that each flash accurately positions the image of the pattern on the substrate. In this manner, the entire image is built up of multiple flashes. In one embodiment, the light pattern projected by the programmable array is incident not on the substrate, but rather on an electron-emitting photocathode. The light pattern causes the photocathode to emit electrons, generating a corresponding electron image that is focused onto the substrate by electron optics. By using electrons rather than photons to create the final image, it is possible to achieve higher resolution.
Another approach to electron beam shaping is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,200, whose disclosure is also incorporated herein by reference. This patent describes an electron beam lithography system that uses multi-aperture arrays to shape an electron beam. The electron beam is divided up into multiple beamlets. Deflection logic is then used to blank selected beamlets in order to create selected beam patterns. The unblanked beamlets are directed onto a surface to be exposed. A moving objective lens (MOL) may be used in scanning the beam over the surface.
Other systems for direct-light lithography based on spatial light modulators are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,488, U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,134, U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,261, U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,867 and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0024714, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, as well as in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0122091. In some of these systems, the SLM is operated to project gray-scale images onto the substrate, with multiple gray levels, rather than binary images as in the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,541. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0024714 describes apparatus for creating a pattern on a workpiece, wherein the modulating elements of the SLM can be set by drive signals to more than two different states, thus giving intermediate exposure values of the light incident on the workpiece. U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,488 describes a method for creating a large pattern on a workpiece by stitching together partial images created by different light pulses. The partial images are made to overlap one another, and are projected with reduced light intensity in the overlap region in order to reduce the visibility of the edges between the partial images.

Raster frame beam system for electron beam lithography


The present invention is to provide a cantilever structure connector without an extended portion of a main locking arm and provide also a locking feeling similar to that of a center impeller structure connector. When a male and female housings are connected to each other, rib protrusions disposed at inner walls of ribs abut to side protrusions and parts of side locking arms enter into between the main locking arms and the male housing. Accordingly, the main locking arms become temporarily a center impeller structure. When a center protrusion abuts to main protrusions, the main protrusions are subjected to a large downward force, or a large upward repulsive force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector having a male housing and female housing and specifically to a connector providing an improved locking feeling with a locking arm of a cantilever structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional connector. FIG. 10 is a drawing to explain an operation and problem of the conventional connector.
As shown in FIG. 9, a box-shaped male housing 8 includes a main locking arm 81 having a center impeller structure, a pair of guide ribs 82 upstanding to the right and left of the main locking arm 81, a protrusion 81a on the main locking arm 81, and a depressing portion 81b having a square button shape and disposed at one end of the main locking arm 81. A female housing 9 includes a box-shaped receptacle 93 with an inner periphery being same as an outer periphery of the male housing 8, a pair of guide grooves 92 in accord with the pair of guide ribs 82, and a notch 91b in accord with the depressing portion 81b.
In order to connect the male and female housings 8 and 9, the guide ribs 82 and the guide grooves 92 are aligned each other and the male housing 8 is inserted into the female housing 9, in an arrow direction in FIG. 9, while depressing the depressing portion 81b and deforming an upper portion of the main locking arm 81. The protrusion 81a on the main locking arm 81 abuts to a hood of the female housing 9 during connecting. When the protrusion 81a enters into a hole, not shown, the main locking arm 81 resumes an initial shape and the connection is completed. Electric wires 84 and 94 connected to the male and female housings 8 and 9, respectively, are also electrically connected.
JP, H11-31554,A discloses a prior art related to the present invention.
In this kind of connectors, a locking feeling to assure the complete connection between the male and female housings 8 and 9 is important. Without the locking feeling, a worker has concerns about the connection and tries again. This causes a low working efficiency. For this reason, the main locking arm 81 has a center impeller structure 81c and 81d as shown in FIG. 10. The center impeller structure gives a relatively large reaction force, or an upward force in FIG. 10, to the main locking arm 81 and attains a moderate locking feeling.
Meanwhile, an arrangement of the depressing portion 81b becomes difficult. If the depressing portion 81b is disposed at apart by L from a rear end of the main locking arm 81, a portion having the depth L extends outside the male housing 8. If the male housing 8 extends to the rear end of the main locking arm 81 to include this extension, the male housing 8 becomes a large size.
Although the center impeller structure gives the suitable locking feeling and the large repulsive force, it becomes difficult to unlock the male and female housings 8 and 9.
The center impeller structure requires the extension L outside the depressing portion 81b as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, and causes the difficulty of unlocking.


Systems and methods for capturing one or more images include a smart capture mode for detecting one or more reflective objects in an image to be captured by a device, and determining whether a display provided in the device will cause a disturbance when the image is captured, the disturbance based on one or more reflections of the display on the one or more reflective objects. A brightness of the display is adjusted prior to capturing the image based on determining that the display will cause the disturbance, where adjusting the brightness of the display reduces the disturbance in the image when the image is captured. The brightness of the display can be adjusted by dimming or turning off the display. The display can be returned to a previous state upon capturing the image, the previous state being prior to the brightness of the display being adjusted.

Electronic devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, laptops, and others can be used for capturing digital images or video frames. Some electronic devices may also have a light emitting source such as a display or screen. In some examples, the display can provide a preview of an image to be captured. In some examples of multi-tasking, other content may be displayed on the display of the electronic device at the time of image capture. It is possible that the light emitted from the display can cause disturbances in the image to be captured in certain situations. It is important to detect such situations and minimize or eliminate the disturbances from light emitting sources to improve the quality of the images.

Intelligent image capture mode for images involving reflective surfaces


A mobile telephone comprises a casing housing a telephone set to receive and transmit radiotelephone signals and a television set comprising a main television antenna (MAN) to receive radiotelevision signals, a television receiver arranged to process the received radiotelevision signals to output television signals to be displayed, and a display means display the outputted television signals. The main television antenna (MAN) is made in planar technology, is built-in inside the casing and comprises a filtering slot (FS) having chosen dimensions (D1, D2) to be resonant around the frequency of the radiotelephone signals to reject them at least partly.

Therefore, the main television antenna generally comprises a retractable rigid or telescopic element housed inside the telephone casing and which must be extracted from it and "unfolded" to extend to a length approximately equal to a quarter of the wavelength signals in order to allow signal reception.
With such an arrangement the quality of the radiotelevision signal reception strongly relies on the ability of the user to correctly unfold and orientate the main television antenna.
Moreover, when this antenna is unfolded it increases the bulkiness of the mobile telephone and the design of the latter may become unaesthetic.
To improve the situation it has been proposed to use a main television antenna built-in inside the telephone casing. More precisely, to allow a signal reception in the mobile television band it has been proposed to use a Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA) mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) of the mobile telephone. Such an arrangement is notably described in patent document US 2001/0050643.
This antenna allows effectively to receive signals in the mobile television band, but its bandwidth is normally too narrow to allow a signal reception over the television band (for the antenna heights allowable in mobile phones). Moreover, since this antenna is not adapted to reject the radiotelephone signals, interference may occur between television and radiotelephone signals, which may induce a quality degradation of the displayed television pictures.

Mobile telephone with a built-in planar television antenna adapted for radiotelephone signal rejections


An apparatus and method for aerosolizing and dispensing powders utilizing the forces of pressurizing and depressurizing gas loaded into powder agglomerates located in an enclosed powder chamber. Methods include administering peptides, genes, vitamins, and polymers into the peripheral lung. Also describes powder supply apparatus and method for single dose and repetitive applications.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to aerosol generation, particularly for generating short bursts of finely divided particles from small portions of cohesive or non-cohesive powders by utilizing rapid decompression of powder particles, including agglomerated particles. Included in the invention are an apparatus and method of producing and using such aerosols.
2. Background Art
Aerosol generation systems are used in several different applications: In industry for injecting powders into tubes for pneumatic transport; in toxicology and industrial hygiene for generating study atmospheres; and in medicine for delivering particulate drugs to patients by the inhalation route. There are more design options available for continually working aerosol generators than for batch-wise devices. Several types of generators originally designed for continuous use include the following: the Venturi tube powder injector, which utilizes pressurized air (Bohnet M., Calculation and design of gas/solid injectors. Powder Technology, 302-313, 1984; Cheng, Y., Barr et al., "A Venturi dispenser as a dry powder generator for inhalation studies," Inhalation Toxicology 1: 365-371, 1989), the Wright dust feeder, which uses a rotating scraper, (Wright, B., "A new dust-feed mechanism", Journal of Scientific Instruments, 27: 12-15, 1950) and various fluidized bed designs, which use blowing air (Drew, R. and Laskin, S., "A new dust-generating system for inhalation studies", American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 32: 327-330, 1971; Ebens R. and Vos, M. "A device for the continuous metering of small dust quantities", Staub-Reinhalt der Luft, 28(5): 24-25, 1971).
For dispersion of dry powder medicaments there are three major methods of aerosolization available: Metered dose inhalers (MDI), passive dry powder inhalers (pDPI), and active dry powder inhalers (aDPI). MDIs use a volatile propellant (chlorofluorocarbons) under pressure to aerosolize the medicament. A small volume of the medicament suspended in the liquid propellant is ejected through a nozzle to ambient pressure. The flash boiling resulting from the rapid decompression of the propellant is the main mechanism of aerosolization. pDPIs use the energy of the patient's own breathing to fractionate the medicament into an inhalable aerosol. However, due to the nature of the energy source, it is difficult for some patients, for example with asthma, to achieve a sufficiently high peak respiratory flow rate to overcome agglomeration. This results in an increased deposition of the medicament in the oropharyngeal region. While spacers may alleviate this problem partially, they do not increase the total dose delivered to the lungs. The need for alternative technologies in this field has increased both because the Montreal Protocol will severely restrict the use of ozone-damaging chlorofluorocarbon propellants in MDIs after 1998 (Coyne, T. "Introduction to the CFC problem", Journal of Aerosol Medicine 4: 175-180. 1991), and because a multitude of new drugs, such as peptides, proteins and genes, are currently in development. Many of these potential drugs have been found to be particularly suitable for administration via the inhalation route (Rubsamen, R. "Novel aerosol peptide drug delivery systems", Inhalation Delivery of Therapeutic Peptides and Proteins, NY. 703-731, 1997; Thompson, M. and Weiner-Kronish, J. "General issues in gene delivery via the lung", Inhalation Delivery of Therapeutic Peptides and Proteins, NY., 475-491, 1997). Albeit many of these drugs have their therapeutic action within the airways or the peripheral lung, an increasing number of drugs are intended for distribution in the systemic circulation following absorption in the peripheral lung (alveoli). In the latter case, a high fractional delivery to the peripheral lung is necessary and can be accomplished if the delivery device can deliver the medicament in a particle size range of 1-5 .mu.m at a low inspiratory flow rate (Service, R. "Drug delivery takes a deep breath", Science 277: 1199-1200, 1997). This need created the intense field of innovation in the area of active DPIs (Hickey, A., Concessio, N. et al. "Factors influencing the dispersion of dry powders as aerosols", Pharmaceutical Technology 58-64, 1994).
In active DPIs, the aerosol is either formed directly in a single step from the bulk powder, or in a two-step procedure where larger agglomerates are formed and further fractionated into an inhalable aerosol. Of aDPIs the Venturi tube is a commonly used design. The carrier gas flows through a smooth constriction followed by a gradually widening nozzle. The sonic shock at the constriction and the downstream turbulence are the major aerosolizing forces. The particles can be introduced with the gas stream, or sheared into the airstream at the flow constriction from a smaller particle feed conduit. Due to this design, however, particularly with more adhesive powders, is inevitable plugging of the tube at the flow constriction. Formulation of a less adhesive powder is an important and necessary part of using the Venturi tube design in a DPI. (Service, 1997). Because most other DPIs provide even less energy than Venturi tube designs to de-agglomerate particles, other means of rendering the powder suitable for dispersion and inhalation are used, such as mixing the powder with diluents or excipients. Diluents reduce intra-agglomeration forces, but add to the bulk and cost of the medication (Lucas, P., Clarke, M. et al. "The role of fine particle excipients in pharmaceutical dry powder aerosols", Respiratory Drug Delivery VI, S.C., "Drug deposition of pressurized inhalation aerosols", European Journal of Respiratory Diseases, 63 (Suppl 119): 51-55, 1998).

Dust gun-aerosol generator and generation


According to the present invention an automated method is provided for routing and designing an LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit). First, at least one generic of an instance of a book to be connected is located on the chip, wherein a generic of an instance is an area defined according to the measurements of said instance. Then, an initial route to said instance is generated by optimizing the route to the corresponding generic according to given design rules. Thereby, an optimized pin location is determined for said instance. Then, on the basis of said optimized pin location a layout for said instance is generated in place of the corresponding generic. Finally, the actually generated pin is connected with the corresponding end of the initial route.

The present invention relates in general to an automated method utilized for routing and designing an LSI. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method which considers and uses interdependencies between routing and designing of the instances of books to be routed. Specifically, the present invention relates to a routing method which provides design parameters for the layout of the instances to optimize the density of the circuits and wiring on the chip overall.
Besides, the present invention relates to a wiring tool for routing the instances of the books of an LSI and to a layout generator for creating the layout of the instances of the books of an LSI, which are especially designed to carry out an automated method for routing and designing an LSI according to the present invention.
1. Description of the Related Art
The growing complexity of integrated circuits is limited by the density of local wiring but not by the density of silicon used for circuits. If the area used for circuits exceeds about 60% of the chip area it becomes very difficult if not impossible to connect these circuits. So any increase of the wiring density will increase the density of the circuits on the chip overall.
State of the art is that the instances of the circuits or books placed on a chip are fully designed and have static pin locations. To interconnect the corresponding pins, a wiring tool or a circuit designer manually retrieves the pin locations and routes the wires according to free wiring channels. If a conflict-free wiring within one wiring level is not possible, the wiring tool changes the wiring layer by using vias to connect all corresponding pins. Vias are small vertical connectors between wiring layers and thus critical I manufacturing. Each via needs to have a certain distance to the next via which is higher than the required distance between two wires. As vias are one of the main yield limiting factors of a design, it is often mandatory to add redundant vias to increase the overall yield. In these cases the via spacing rule becomes more important and more chip area is needed to allow the wiring. In a full custom design it is also possible to duplicate the book under a different name and modify the pin locations in the copy manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,707 describes an automated method for routing and designing an LSI in which, first, an initial routing is performed on a net. If a design rule error exists in a wire already routed as a result of initial routing, said wire is removed. Next, the terminals of the removed wire are examined whether they are movable, which means freely placeable within a predetermined region of the design of the instances to be connected. If at least one of said terminals is movable, it is displaced within the predetermined region and the removed wire is re-routed such that the displaced movable terminal is interconnected to the other terminal. Thus, the movable terminal can be located at an appropriate position within the predetermined region in accordance with the situation of surrounding wires.
The routing method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,707 is based on fully designed instances of books to be routed. A "book" is herein defined as a switching element (transistor etc) or a logical unit (gate, latch like XOR or NAND gates) based on which a circuit design can be generated. A designed circuit insofar represents a library consisting of a multitude of books. The pin locations are either static, which means fixed, or movable which means the pin location can vary as long as it is placed within a defined region of the fully designed instance. For initial routing the movable pin locations are set according to design rules which have to consider the given layout of the instances. Only if a design rule error occurs after initial routing the possibility of displacing the already existing pins will be considered.
Object of the Invention
Starting from this, the object of the present invention is to provide an automated method for routing and designing an LSI which allows a further increase of the wiring density and thus a further increase of the density of the circuits on the chip overall. Besides, the present invention provides a wiring tool and a layout generator which are especially designed to carry out the method according to the present invention.

Automatic method for routing and designing an LSI

International Business Machines Corporation


An image processing system of the present invention includes a partial enlarge unit for enlarging a part of an image so as to create an enlarged partial image, a display unit for displaying the image and the enlarged partial image created by the partial enlarge unit so that the enlarged partial image overlaps the image, a zoom processing unit for zooming the image displayed by the display unit, and a zoom process control unit for changing a position to be a criterion in case of the image zoom processing unit zooms the image according to whether the display unit displays the enlarged partial image so that the enlarged partial image overlaps the image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system for processing image data and displaying an image on a display device. Particularly the invention relates to the image processing system and an image processing method which display an enlarged partial image (magnifying glass function) overlapping a full image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Doctors photograph patients so as to obtain X-ray images and view the X-ray images so as to know conditions of the patients.
Conventionally, after X-ray devices photograph chests to obtain X-ray images and the images are developed on films, the images are viewed by using schauaukasten. Digital X-ray devices are developed, however, so that X-ray images are captured as digital data by computers. For this reason, X-ray images are recently displayed and viewed on monitors.
According to digitization of X-ray images, the contrast of the X-ray images can be changed on the monitors, and the X-ray images can be enlarged. When the X-ray images are enlarged, in most cases, a ratio is changed by using pointing devices such as mouse devices of computers. In this case, the images are normally enlarged and reduced at centers of the X-ray images. Further, it is publicly-known as the so-called "magnifying glass function" that a specified partial area of an X-ray image is enlarged and is displayed so as to overlap a full image.
In the case where a part of an X-ray image is displayed by the "magnifying glass function" so as to overlaps a full image, however, when the original full image is tried to be zoomed, the following problem arises. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a conventional problem example in a portion of the "magnifying glass function" obtained by zooming a full image. In FIG. 12, a left side shows an X-ray image before a zoom process, and a right side shows an X-ray image after the zoom process. A reference numeral 20 designates a monitor screen, and it is a screen of a display device for displaying an X-ray image. A numeral 21 designates a full image and it is an image showing a full X-ray image. A numeral 22 designates an enlarged partial image. A part of the X-ray image (full image 21) in a predetermined position is enlarged by the "magnifying glass function" and is displayed with it overlapping the full image 21. A numeral 21′ designates a full image after the zoom process (hereinafter, zoom full image), and it is an image which is zoomed at a center of the full image 21. A numeral 22′ designates an enlarged partial image after the zoom process (hereinafter, zoom partial image), and it is the enlarged partial image in a predetermined position of the zoom full image 21′. Numerals 23 and 23′ designate circles that represent a change in a position of partial enlargement on the full image 21 by the zoom process.
As shown in FIG. 12, since the full image 21 is zoomed at the center of the full image 21 displayed on the monitor 20, a positional relationship with the enlarged partial image 22 cannot be maintained. As a result, the position of the zoom partial image 22′ on the full image 21′ after the zoom process is partially enlarged. As represented by 23 and 23′ in FIG. 12, the zoom position 23′ shifts from the originally enlarged partial position 23. Further, due to this problem, a user should change the position of the magnifying glass after the zoom process, and move a visual point. As a result, user's thinking is interrupted, and thus the operating efficiency is deteriorated.

Image processing system and image processing method


A method and a system for improving Web hosting performance, enhancing content distribution and security on the Internet and stabilizing WEB Site connectivity, by means of creating a TCP terminating buffer around subscriber WEB Sites. A DNS agent diverts client requests to WEB Sites to a Virtual Host Accelerating (VHA) Site in closest proximity. The VHA Site comprises a set of physically identical computer units and processing is enhanced on those units by means of a hardware devise to accelerate database searches. The VHA determines if the client request is of a permitted type and if the request can be processed from recycled data. Both static and dynamic requests can be serviced from recycled material and only in certain circumstances are requests forwarded to the WEB Sites by means of permanent open connections. In some cases SSL requests are also served from recycled material. The client receives a response via the VHA Site thereby severing all direct connectivity between the client and the target WEB Sites.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for improving Web hosting performance, content distribution and security on the Internet, by means of creating a TCP terminating buffer around subscriber WEB Sites.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a global collection of millions of computers, all networked together. This network typically allows all of the computers to communicate with one another in a client/server relationship. As used in this document a "client" can be broadly construed to mean any computer or device or application or set thereof that is connected in any manner to a network of any type and connects to a "server" on that network to perform some operation or to request a service. The "server", as used in this document, can be broadly construed to mean a computer or device or application or set thereof that serves the clients connected to it by means of providing services and responses to requests.
To illustrate how a client/server relationship operates over the Internet the following example is presented. A user of the Internet, a citizen of Almaty, Kazakhstan, knows that books can be obtained inexpensively at a WEB Site called Amazon, based over 10,000 kilometers away in America. The user's client computer is connected to an Internet Service Provider (hereafter referred to as ISP) via a modem and regular telephone line, which in turn is connected to the rest of the Internet by high-speed backbone fiber-optic lines, undersea cables and satellite links. Using client browser software like Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer, the user types in Amazon's Uniform Resource Locator (hereafter referred to as URL) in his/her Internet browser software. A URL is a character string that identifies an Internet document's exact name and location. For example, Amazon's homepage URL is www.amazon.com. The ISP routes the request to a Domain Name Server (hereafter referred to as DNS). An essential function of a DNS is to allow users to locate computers on the Internet by domain name. The DNS maintains a "whois" library of domain names, addresses and server localities. The DNS translates the required domain name into a 32-bit IP address, which is unique on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (hereafter referred to as TCP/IP) network. The DNS translates Amazon's current address to "22.214.171.124", and forwards the request to the Amazon server. The Amazon server recognizes that a client using HyperText Transport Protocol (hereafter referred to as HTTP) has requested to "get" a page. The server retrieves the page and sends it down the same communication channels to the client browser. A split second after requesting the price of a book from Amazon, the user in Almaty views the information neatly displayed on the computer screen.
The basics are very simple. In theory, a client machine connecting to a server machine at any distance over a fast Internet connection should be able to request and receive files speedily. However, in real life many factors aggravate this process and thereby impact on performance and adversely effect the client, the server, the Internet and the entire data transfer process in general.
The Web page is typically a file that contains text, graphics, audio elements and more. HTML tags that describe how the file should be formatted and presented when a browser displays it on a screen, usually define the Web page. The tags are instructions that tell the Web browser how the page should look when displayed. The tags tell the browser to do things like change the font size or color, or arrange content in columns or around figures.
The HTML format typically contains several embedded references to rich content objects, such as images, which must be retrieved separately. After the client receives the server output, the client browser requests each embedded object referred to in the downloaded HTML files. These objects are often located on the original server, which then returns the objects to the user over the Internet. This last step is usually bandwidth intensive due to the size of the multimedia files in use. Clearly, pages having a large number of embedded objects can require significant download times.
A Web server that delivers standard "static" pages, i.e. pages that do not change, does not typically use excessive processing power. However, servers also deal with Web pages that are "dynamic" or change. For example, a search engine that allows keywords to be entered on an HTML form, and then creates a dynamic answer page based on the keywords entered. In this case, the Web server is not merely "looking up a file", but by using a dynamic scripting technique like Common Gateway Interface (CGI), it is processing information and generating a dynamic page based on the specifics of the query.
Over time Dynamic Pages have become even more complex and processor heavy. Dynamic page generation, also known as dynamic scripting, allows a Web site to assemble pages at run-time, based on various parameters. Delaying page content decisions until run-time affords a Web site significant flexibility in customizing page content. For example, the WEB Site could display up-to-date information on stock-on-hand, theatre ticket prices or the availability of airline seats. Real time on-line auctions can be conducted, and news can be drawn from a database and changed by the minute.
As e-business (Electronic Business) providers increasingly adopt dynamic page generation technologies, web and application server scalability is significantly reduced because pages are now generated "on demand". This places additional load on servers in order to retrieve and format the requested content. In many cases, bottlenecks associated with server side page generation is the dominant impediment to efficient page generation, and consequently, to the efficient delivery of Web content.
When a client requests a dynamic Web page, the request is passed from the Web server to the application server, which executes the script that generates the page. This step involves additional work on the part of the application server in order to retrieve and format the requested content. Content is typically retrieved from underlying database systems. Once the content is retrieved, additional steps may be required to format the content; for example, content data stored as XML must be rendered as HTML using an eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) processor. HTML is an interpreted language that places a heavy burden on the CPU. The server therefore performs significant work in order to output the HTML to the requesting client. Many simultaneous requests naturally impair server performance.
With the advent of multimedia on the Internet, Web servers are increasingly providing large files like videos and music for downloading. Thousands of hits at uncoordinated times, especially for large files, are detrimental to performance.
Internet users are steadily switching to broadband access as various types of Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) and cable modems continue to penetrate the market. However, neither the servers, to which they are connecting, nor the ISPs and the hosting services are sufficiently prepared to meet the growing demand for content. The result is that users experience a delay in response time as pages take longer to download. The reasons for this can be found in the operation configuration of the server, its location and the various types of services used for IP traffic.
E-commerce has experienced phenomenal growth during the past few years, and this upward trend is expected to continue. This vast growth in revenue carries with it significant increases in Web traffic. Given the current state of Internet infrastructure technology, Internet sites are finding it difficult to support such extreme growth while maintaining acceptable qualities of service.
As seen from the above description, there are many factors that burden WEB Site and WEB Server performance and thereby curtail Internet performance in general.
Another element that adversely affects WEB performance is hostile attacks on the Internet. In spite of continually improving anti-virus programs and firewall systems, these attacks on computer systems are becoming even more sophisticated. A form of hostile attack that particularly chokes Internet transmission and cannot be combated by current tools, is a Denial of Service (hereafter referred to as DoS, sometimes referred to as a Distributed Denial of Service or DDOS) attack. A DoS attack is an attempt to overload a server's ability to respond by means of flooding it with requests for service. A DoS attack can be compared to a crowd at a stadium clamoring and pushing to get in through one gate. Due to the crush the gate clogs up and very few succeed in getting through. Even if the gate is wide, the number getting through is small compared to the number that could pass if there were more order and less jostling. As the gatekeeper is so preoccupied in securing order and resisting unlawful entry, also valid ticket holders to get delayed or blocked at the gate. The same occurs on the Internet during a Denial of Service attack. The aim of the attackers is not to access the attacked site but rather to swamp the site with meaningless "get" requests. The sheer number of requests arriving clogs up all available bandwidth and leaves no room for authorized traffic. Even it the firewall or site rejects the nonsense "get" requests the flooding damage is accomplished as authorized users are also prevented from accessing the site.
Attacks that swamp WEB Sites need not always be premeditated by malevolent attackers, but may occur naturally. For example, Valentines Day 2001 saw the major greeting card sites; Hallmark, American Greetings and eGreetings experience downtime as star-struck surfers innocently stormed the servers.
Speed is of essence on the Internet. Research shows that if a Web page requires longer than a few seconds to load, the majority of clients will abandon the request. [Zona Research, quoted in Interactive Week Vol. 6, No. 36, September 1996.] Site owners and hosting providers realize the dire necessity of providing bandwidth, performance and above all, Quality of Service (QoS) in order to retain and improve the Internet market.
To overcome the above-mentioned problems and many others, various methods have been devised, as follows:
Cache and Cache Servers are methods of storing frequently requested pages, files and images for quick retrieval. Instead of the server having to laboriously repeat the same steps for every separate request for the same page, the page is kept for a determined amount of time in an area designed for quick and easy access.
However, not all data can be cached. Whereas Static data is easily cached, Dynamic data is typically not cached. In addition, a typical cache machine is physically incapable of caching an abundance of data.
Proxy Servers are devices that reside between the server and the client with the intention of separating between them for security and operational purposes. Proxy servers have two main functions, to process and filter all Internet Protocol (IP) packets that are directed to them, and to decide which protocols and services can be served out of their caches. A Proxy offers a great range of protocol and caching support since it caches Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and, in some cases, streaming content such as RealAudio and PointCast. The client browser addresses the proxy server directly by setting specific parameters. However, the Proxy Server is lacking in several aspects, such as, a Proxy Server is susceptible to DoS attacks. In the case of DoS attacks, whereas the Proxy Server can successfully reject hostile and nonsense requests, as discussed, the aim of the DoS attack is to flood the server with requests and not necessarily to access it at all.
A similar method for keeping a network secure from intruders is a Firewall. The Firewall can be an application or may comprise a combination of routers and servers each performing some type of firewall processing, to control access to the network and monitor the flow of network traffic. A firewall filters out unwanted network traffic and wards off outside intrusion into a private network. However, for the firewall to reject a packet, it must first arrive at the firewall and be challenged and rejected. Thus the firewall method is ineffective in the case of DoS attacks.
Current methods typically have no control over incoming requests to hosted sites. They can manage outgoing traffic by use of forward caching and other sophisticated technology, whereby requests are intercepted and redirected to cache servers. However, there is no practical way of controlling large numbers of incoming requests. Therefore, when real or artificially induced (DoS) overload occurs, the overload can neither be regulated nor resolved.
An accepted current method for speeding web access is to "mirror" a copy WEB Site at close proximity to clients around the world. However the "mirror" sites solution is not ideal for several reasons. The WEB Site owners need to maintain contracts with alternative hosting providers for each mirror site. Separate sites engender security problems and diminish the WEB Site owner's control over their home site. Economically site duplication is not feasible, as due to overhead expenses additional sites are more expensive to maintain than just the parent site. Software or hardware like that provided by Cisco (Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif.) and Nortel (Northern Telecom Limited, Brampton, Ontario, Canada, for mirroring and synchronizing sites is expensive, and presents an operational burden on the system. Decentralization or replications are often not effective solutions for a Web hosting service provider because of the large infrastructure and increase in bandwidth and storage capacity required.
Load Balancing is a method of fine-tuning a network in order to evenly distribute the data and/or processing across available resources and ensure that all available instances of an application are given a similar amount of requests. For example, in clustering, load balancing might distribute the incoming transactions evenly to all servers, or it might redirect them to the next available server that is sufficiently free to process the request.
Current Load Balancers are typically limited by their inability to handle an abundance of requests. Also, similar to other systems, a load balancer is susceptible to DoS attacks. If the load balancer is incapacitated due to a flood of requests, it cannot forward on authorized requests to be processed.
A possible way to cope with fluctuations of excessively heavy traffic that could swamp a WEB Site is to overload each Site with masses of additional and redundant server hardware. Most of the time, during regular traffic flow, this hardware would remain latent. However, especially in the case of WEB Sites that maintain mirror sites, the superfluous equipment solution is expensive and excessive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,160 of Bolton et al., which is fully incorporated herein by reference, provides an algorithm to load balance clients across a network. This invention particularly concerns domain-name servers' network-address choices. According to the invention, name servers are dispersed geographically with the intention of reducing communications costs by having the web clients directed to the nearest application server. The name server selects the application server that appears closest to the source of the DNS request, and it gives the selected site's network address as the response to the DNS request.
This method has several drawbacks. In effect, rather than locating a single name server, it spreads name servers for measurement purposes, the physical location of these Name Servers being dependant on those network decisions and measurement. The client deals with the Name Server, by means of a client protocol, typically IMCP, TCP or UDP, to make a decision to where the request should be transferred. This exacts a burden and a security onus on the Name Server.
In addition, this system is reliant on cookies, the legality and ethics of which is questionable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,461 of Cieslak et al., which is fully incorporated herein by reference, provides a method and apparatus for caching network data traffic. However this method is merely a port-80 cache server director that captures HTTP requests and redirects them to legacy cache servers. Its main purpose is to provide better and efficient outside access and to save bandwidth to the outgoing Internet pipelines. It deals neither with the problem of bandwidth to the origin server's pipelines nor with bandwidth and traffic redundancy to the application servers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,712 of Challenger et al., which is fully incorporated herein by reference, provides a scaleable method for maintaining and making consistent updates to caches, by identifying several versions of objects, updating obsolete objects, quantitatively assessing how different two versions of the same object are, and/or maintaining consistency among a set of objects.
However, in the first place this problem would be averted if the system did not provide several versions of the same object.
The aim of many of the above and other solutions is to provide improved systems and methods to satisfy demand. However, this manner of providing solutions to problems of demand and bandwidth merely creates a vicious circle, wherein supply is increased by means of more advanced technology, faster communication links and superior accessibility. These methods inevitably result in increased user expectations and demand, thereby again imposing a strain on supply.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, an alternative solution for enabling improved performance for Web servers, in terms of responding to data requests, and for furthermore enabling improved access to and retrieval of data between client browsers and host WEB Servers, such that augmenting WEB Site security and Website expansion are easily enabled.
Furthermore, it would be highly advantageous to have, a system that enables a more effective way of dealing with DoS attacks, so that such attacks could be identified and averted.


When any user request other than that of a phone number subscription request is received from a user, it may be determined whether a subscription request is offered to the user in response to the received request. When an offer is to be provided, a phone number subscription request may be offered either before, during, or after processing the received request.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to notification services, and more specifically relates to a method, product, and apparatus for providing available identifier notification services.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a communication network, a telephone number is placed on an Intercept status if the number has changed or if the line has been disconnected. Calls placed to numbers on intercept, which therefore cannot be completed as dialed, are routed instead to an intercept system. Such system may provide a message to the caller with an appropriate announcement, determination of which may be made by accessing an intercept data base. For example, if the database indicates a change of the telephone number, the announcement can inform the caller of the new or referral number. If instead the called line has been disconnected without change of number, the message can notify the caller of the inactive status.
Telecommunication carriers also offer the recording of a forwarding number and a disconnection message. If a party changes its number and leaves a new forwarding number, a message is played when an incoming call is received notifying the calling party that the number has been changed. None of the above described services provide further real-time subscriber services in an easy to use menu driven structure when an incomplete call occurs. For instance, telephone numbers that are changed, disconnected, or on Intercept status may be available for subscription.
When a phone subscriber initiates contact with the phone service provider, the provider may try to sell additional services (e.g., call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, etc.) in conjunction with the subscriber's current phone number. However there are no such providers who provide further services of notifying a subscriber of the availability of additional phone numbers. When a phone subscriber is interested in subscribing to an additional phone number, it remains the onus of the subscriber to initiate a request for additional phone lines. Even when such requests are initiated, there are no tools that the subscriber and/or provider can use for selecting additional available telephone numbers that may be of desire and interest to the subscriber.
Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a strong need in the art for a method, product, and apparatus for providing subscriber notification services.

Mnemonic discovery and notification method, product, and apparatus


Method and apparatus for managing call requests in a communication network is described. In one example, a call request for a public identifier associated with a recipient party is received from an originating device. A set of approved calling party identifiers associated with the public identifier is identified. A calling party identifier associated with the originating device is compared with the set of approved calling party identifiers. If the calling party is approved, then: a private identifier for a recipient device is selected based on the calling party identifier, and the call request is routed to the recipient device using the private identifier. If the calling party is not approved, then: a call handling treatment associated with the public identifier may be identified, and the call request may be handled in accordance with the calling handling treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing call requests in a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks. Exemplary packet-switched networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet-switched communication network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) network. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN).
Notably, some users of a telecommunication system may have multiple phone numbers associated with various devices. For example, a user may have a telephone number associated with a time division multiplexing (TDM) phone, another telephone number associated with an internet protocol (IP) phone, and yet another telephone number associated with a cellular telephone. Users may desire to keep some telephone numbers private, yet still be able to receive calls from an approved set of calling parties. Users may further desired to specify specific call handling treatments for calling parties that are not approved.


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display panel and a display device. The display panel includes: a base substrate; and a touch function layer on the base substrate, wherein the display panel includes a plurality of light transmitting regions and a plurality of pixel cell regions, a plurality of traces are connected between adjacent pixel cell regions, and there are slits between adjacent traces, and wherein an orthographic projection of the touch function layer on the base substrate covers an orthographic projection of the slits on the base substrate.

With the development of technology, the market demand for display panels with high screen-to-body ratios is becoming more and more urgent, and display panels are developing towards full-screen, thin and light product. The realization of full-screen display panel cannot be achieved without the in-screen camera technology, that is, the camera is located right below the display panel. When the imaging function is not required, the display panel in the camera region emits light normally as other regions of the display panel. When the imaging function is required, the camera region has the normal imaging function.

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The present invention is a method of producing semiconductor devices and an etching liquid with which the titanium nitride film can be removed without thinning of the CoSi layer. A hydrogen peroxide-water mixture is used for removal of the titanium nitride film in the method of producing semiconductor devices by cobalt salicide technology with titanium nitride as the cap film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing semiconductor devices and an etching liquid used in this production.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years progress has been made in device refinement, and gate wiring resistance, parasitic resistance of the source drain part of transistors, and contact resistance have risen accordingly. Therefore, there is a problem with conventional devices in that the high-speed operation that is anticipated based on a scaled model cannot actually be realized.
As a result, silicide (self-alignment silicide) technology is used with which silicide film of a metal with a high melting point is formed in self-aligning manner on the gate and diffusion layer regions to realize a reduction in sheet resistance. In particular, titanium silicide (TiSi2) and cobalt silicide (CoSi2) are used because of low resistance and thermal stability.
When titanium silicide is used there is a problem with the fine line effect in that it becomes difficult to reduce resistance due to inhibition of phase transition from the C49-phase titanium silicide of high resistance (C49-TiSi2) to the C54 phase of low resistance (C54-TiSi2) when titanium silicide is formed on a fine pattern. Moreover, it is a known fact that there is a dramatic increase in sheet resistance of titanium silicide due to aggregation of titanium silicide and disconnection of the silicide layer when lines are as fine as 0.1 μm. Consequently, it is necessary to control the fine line effect and aggregation of titanium silicide when titanium silicide is used.
When cobalt silicide is used, there is none of the fine line effect that is generated when titanium silicide is used. In particular, it is reported in IEDM Tech Dig., p 449, 1995 that a reduction in resistance with up to fine lines of 0.075 μm can be realized by forming titanium nitride film as the cap film on the top surface of cobalt and thereby inhibiting oxidation of the cobalt surface with this cap film.
Therefore, it appears that cobalt salicide technology using titanium nitride cap film is useful for the formation of fine devices of 0.1 μm.
A conventional method of producing semiconductor devices using cobalt salicide technology will be described below while referring to FIG. 3. FIGS. 3(A) through (F) are a flow chart that explains the production processes of this conventional technology. Each figure is a cross section of the semiconductor device.
First, as shown in FIG. 3(A), diffusion layer 102 and field insulation film 104 are formed on the surface region on the top of substrate 100, while gate insulation film 106 is formed on the top of substrate 100 and gate electrode 108 is formed on the top of gate insulation film 106. Side walls 109 are then set up as usual.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3(B), cobalt film 110 is formed so that it covers substrate 100, diffusion layer 102, field insulation film 104, gate insulation film 106, gate electrode 108, and side walls 109 and titanium nitride film 112 is formed as cap film so that it covers the top of cobalt film 110.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3(C), cobalt film 110 adjoining diffusion layer 102 and diffusion layer 102 and cobalt film 110 adjoining gate electrode 108 and gate electrode 108 are each reacted by RTA (rapid thermal annealing) at a temperature within a temperature range of 450° C. to 600° C. to form CoSi layers 114a, 114b and 116. This RTA treatment serves as the first RTA.
Then, as shown in FIG. 3(D), titanium nitride film 112 is removed using an ammonia-hydrogen peroxide-water mixture.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3(E), unreacted cobalt film 110 is removed using a sulfuric acid-hydrogen peroxide-water mixture (H2SO4—H2O2 (sulfuric acid hydrogen peroxide mixture)) or hydrochloric acid-hydrogen peroxide-water mixture (HCl—H2O2—H2O).
Finally, as shown in FIG. 3(F), CoSi layers 114a, 114b, and 116 are reacted by performing RTA at a temperature within a temperature range of 750° C. to 900° C. to form CoSi2 layers 114a′, 114b′, and 116′. This RTA treatment serves as the second RTA.
It has been confirmed by SEM (scanning electron microscope) observation of CoSi2 layer parts 114a′, 114b′, and 116′ that the edges of the CoSi2 layers have been worn away in semiconductor devices produced using prior art.
FIG. 4 is a typical example of the edges of the CoSi2 from SEM observation. Moreover, FIG. 4 is an enlargement of the main parts of the figure during process (F) in FIG. 3. The dotted line 'a' shows the part where edges have been worn away by the above-mentioned etching.
There are problems when the CoSi2 is worn away in this manner in that CoSi2 sheet resistance increases and the fluctuations in resistance become larger, etc. The reason for this is that when titanium nitride film is removed with an ammonia-hydrogen peroxide-water mixture, the film is etched up to the CoSi layer, which is on the bottom of the titanium nitride film, and as a result, the CoSi film becomes thinner, and the CoSi2 film that is then formed by the second RTA treatment becomes even thinner.

Method of etching semiconductor devices using a hydrogen peroxide-water mixture


Systems and methods for analyzing available networks and transferring data via a two-way radio transmission are described herein. An example method may commence with collecting, by a data collection device, asset data. The method may continue with preprocessing, by the data collection device, the asset data for transmission. The method may further include dynamically analyzing, by the data collection device, networks available for transmission of the asset data determining a mode for the transmission of the asset data. The method may further include transmitting, by at least one of the data collection device and a two-way radio device communicatively coupled to the data collection device, the asset data to a data server. The asset data may be transmitted based on the mode for the transmission via at least one communication channel and at least one intermediate device.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued but are not necessarily approaches that have previously been conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Existing data communication systems are designed for sending and receiving data using one communication technique at the same time. Conventionally, a cellular device or other high data rate communication device is used to send large quantities of complex data. Traditional cellular data communication systems do not work in areas with limited cellular coverage or where a user does not utilize cellular-based hardware. Systems that use two-way radio communication have limited data transmission throughput and are thus not capable of sending large quantities of complex data.
Even though traditional data communication systems may be capable of using several communication channels (e.g., cellular data communication and WiFi data communication in cellular devices), the traditional data communication systems typically utilize only one of the communication channels by default and use other communication channels only is the default one is unavailable. However, the traditional data communication systems do not analyze multiple available communication channels concurrently.
Conventional telemetry systems utilize cellular networks for data transmission. These telemetry systems can be used in vehicles, on personnel, on stationary assets, on mobile assets, and on or within buildings. These systems collect and send data over traditional cellular data communication networks. However, the coverage of cellular networks is limited by the physical infrastructure built by a cellular network carrier, which leaves areas with limited or no cellular coverage. Another limitation of conventional cellular telemetry systems is the adoption of the technology. Industries that utilize other methods of communication for voice transmission, e.g., two-way radio, need additional hardware for cellular data communication.
Other conventional telemetry systems are only capable of collecting data using one method of data communication, such as cellular data communication, two-way radio data communication, or other. Furthermore, existing two-way radio systems are not capable of sending large amounts of complex vehicle, personnel, or asset data.

Dynamic analysis and reconfiguration of concurrent data transfer means


A forming machine that quickly compacts hollow materials and automatically recycles the materials includes molds, each of which is provided with a feeder having a hollow hole. An opening of the feeder is exactly located at a hollow position of a food product to be formed, and an upper end of the hollow feeder is connected with recycling tubes coming from a feed tank. When a cope and a nowel compact and form the materials into the hollow food products, the feeders will automatically push upward remainders at hollow places of the food products that are stacked constantly, enabling the remainders to enter into the feed tank along the recycling tubes, so as to achieve effects of quickly compacting and processing the materials and automatically recycling the remainders.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a forming machine, and more particularly to a forming machine by which a conventional processing method for compacting food products is improved, with a design that hollow food products can be compacted quickly and automatically, and remainders from processing the hollow food products can be recycled, so as to achieve effects of time saving and economy.
b) Description of the Prior Art
Among all kinds of food products, development has been gradually toward a so-called health food that can be eaten immediately and is a functional green food. The health food is made by many kinds of grains mixed with a little of syrup, is well known for having balanced nutrition, and can be manufactured into cereal bars, chocolate grains and soup cubes containing all kinds of various grains, with a variety of shapes such as a strip, a heart, a cylinder or a doughnut with a hole; these shapes are all designed to cater for a consumer's preference. In making these foods, a special container had to be used to load the foods which are then poured out for processing after being cooled down. As a manufacturing process is complicated and a lot of labor works need to be used, time and labor will be wasted, and cost can be high.
Accordingly, improvement has been pursued by each nation constantly. However, the containers are all complicated structures and have large sizes; therefore, satisfaction is not achieved. An automatic quick compacting forming machine has emerged in existing markets of Taiwan, with a feature that no conventional special container is needed to form quickly. After being formed, the food products are transported by a conveyor belt to a cooling system for cooling and setting, and then can be packaged. Or, depending on a demand of manufacturing process, the materials that are formed automatically can be transported by the conveyor belt to ovens for baking, and then are packaged after cooling. As this kind of manufacturing process is actually provided with effects of time and labor saving, automation and fast speed, the processing method to compact multi-grain products in food industries can be improved effectively, which indeed benefits a lot.
However, as this forming machine is only aimed to compact the solid materials, the processing operation cannot be provided to the granular health cereal bars or other related food products with holes, which is really imperfect.

Forming machine that quickly compacts hollow materials and automatically recycles the materials


There is provided a sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto having excellent lubrication characteristics. The sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto contains 10-30 wt. % of natural graphite flakes having an average grain size of 8-100 .mu.m and the remainder silicon carbide and a sintering aid, and having a relative density of 80-92%.

The present invention relates to sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto and to a sintered composite containing the same used for mechanical seals and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto and to a sintered composite containing the same which are endowed with excellent lubrication properties, and which provide excellent rubbing materials for such mechanical seals that are used under dry conditions, that are used under conditions in which the sliding surfaces become temporarily dry during operation, or that are used in combination with seal fluid having no lubrication ability, and which provide excellent material for bearings which produce temporary dry conditions.
Conventionally, cemented carbide, sintered alumina, sintered silicon carbide, and the like have been used as rubbing materials for mechanical seals. Among these materials, sintered silicon carbide has been most widely used, as it is endowed with good thermal conductivity, low coefficient of thermal expansion, high hardness, excellent wear resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, and excellent oxidation resistance. However, under dry conditions of gas or steam, sintered silicon carbide used as a rubbing material for stationary and rotating rings may cause seizure, scoring, generation of thermal cracks or abnormal wear, as sintered silicon carbide has poor lubrication ability. In addition, the same problems may be caused in temporary dry conditions, as experienced when hot water is used. Moreover, in fluids having poor lubrication ability such as water, rubbing materials may adhere to each other. This phenomenon, which is known as linking, may lead to damage to the mechanical seal itself.
Furthermore, sintered silicon carbide is a material difficult to work due to its high hardness, and causes problems such as generation of defectives during processing and high cost of processing.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems characteristic to sintered silicon carbides, there have been suggested materials having improved friction and wear properties. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 61-132575 (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a silicon carbide composite which uses a sintered silicon carbide, which is suitable for producing a composite together with synthetic resins such as fluororesins. However, as described in examples of the publication, this silicon carbide composite has extremely poor bending strength compared with that of sintered silicon carbide prepared by way of sintering under atmospheric pressure, and has poor heat and corrosion resistance as it is a composite containing resin, making it unsuitable as a rubbing material for a mechanical seal used to seal corrosive or high temperature fluid.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 60-141676 (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a silicon carbide/graphite/carbon composite ceramic material formed of approximately 1-48 wt. % of graphite carbon having an average grain size of not more than 8 .mu.m, about 0.5-5.0 wt. % of amorphous carbon, and the remainder silicon carbide. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 63-260861 (the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference) discloses a silicon carbide/graphite ceramic composite having self-lubrication ability; i.e., a silicon carbide composite with graphite added thereto consisting of granules of graphite grains having primary grains of 5-8 .mu.m, as well as a process of producing the same. However, none of these materials have sufficient lubrication ability or bending strength.
The object of the present invention is to provide sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto (hereinafter referred to as "graphite-added sintered silicon carbide) and a sintered composite containing the same which can solve the above-mentioned problems characteristic to conventional silicon carbide composites, and which exhibit excellent rubbing characteristics, particularly under dry conditions and under non-lubricant conditions, as well as mechanical seals prepared therefrom.

Sintered silicon carbide with graphite added thereto, sintered composite containing the same, and mechanical seal


Examples described herein include systems and methods for fuzz testing low-level virtual devices and virtual devices with DMA write functionality. A fuzz tester includes components distributed across a virtual machine and its host system. The fuzz testing components in the virtual machine are implemented as firmware installed in the virtual machine's ROM. These components operate independent of data stored in the virtual machine's RAM and do not require an operating system to be installed on the virtual machine. As a result, any changes made to the virtual machine's RAM during the fuzzing process by low-level virtual devices or virtual devices with DMA write functionality cannot interrupt the fuzz testing or otherwise negatively impact the fuzz tester itself.

A key aspect of developing virtual environments on host machines is troubleshooting the virtual devices allocated to the virtual environments to ensure they can handle unexpected inputs safely. In this context, "safely" means that unexpected or malicious inputs transmitted through a virtual environment cannot be used to take control of, crash, or hang the host system.
For example, in a virtual environment, there is a critical security boundary between the virtual machine (or "guest") and the system on which the virtual machine is hosted (the "host"). Code relevant to that security boundary can include the implementation of a plurality of virtual devices. The device emulation code allows the operating system ("OS") installed on the virtual machine, or applications installed on top of that OS, to believe it has particular chipsets, network devices, or sound devices at its disposal even when there is no such device physically present. The code accepts input from the virtual machine in the form of input/output ("I/O") operations, in which the virtual machine believes it is writing data to a virtual device or reading data back from a virtual device. In fact, those I/O operations are handled by the device emulation code. Defects in the emulation code could potentially allow a "VM escape," where malicious inputs to the virtual machine take advantage of a defect in the emulation code to breach the security boundary and take control of the host system or crash the host system.
It is very important then to identify any such defects in the device emulation code prior to allowing users access to virtual devices in a virtual machine. Identifying all possible unexpected inputs to a virtual device is not feasible. So, the primary way in which these defects are identified is through fuzz testing. In this context, fuzz testing or fuzzing is an automated software testing technique that involves providing invalid, unexpected, random, or pseudorandom data as inputs to virtual devices. The virtual devices are then monitored for any condition that could lead to a VM escape or crashing of the host system.
Fuzz testing can be performed by a special-purpose application or driver referred to as a fuzz tester or fuzzer. In practice, after a virtual machine is established on a host system by a hypervisor, an OS will be installed on the virtual machine and the fuzz tester or fuzzer will be installed on top of the OS within the virtual machine. The fuzz tester is configured to iteratively construct operations with random or pseudorandom contents or inputs and transmit them to one or more virtual devices of the virtual machine. Over a period of time, the hope is that any unexpected inputs that may result in a VM escape or other unsafe condition can be identified. At the least, through a series of random inputs transmitted to one or more virtual devices over a period of time, developers can gain a level of confidence that a VM escape or unsafe condition precipitated by an unexpected input to a virtual device is highly unlikely.
However, these types of fuzz testers have limitations. Because traditionally implemented fuzzers are installed on top of an OS of the virtual machine and are dependent on RAM dedicated to the virtual machine, they are not reliable for testing low-level virtual devices. In this context, "low-level" is used to describe devices that are usually in permanent use by the OS and whose configuration is essential for the OS to function normally, such as chipset control registers, input-output memory management unit ("IOMMU") registers, peripheral component interconnect ("PCI") configuration space, interrupt controllers such as peripheral interface controllers ("PIC"), advanced programmable interrupt controllers ("APIC"), and input-output programmable interrupt controllers ("IOAPIC"), timers such as programmable interval timers ("PIT") and high precision event timer ("HPET"), keyboard controllers, direct memory access ("DMA") controllers, and reset ports. For example, fuzz testing an Advanced Programmable Interrupt ("APIC") using a traditional fuzzer would almost certainly crash any operating system when the APIC is provided with randomized input. Another example of a low-level device that cannot be reliably fuzz tested using traditional techniques would be any virtual device "built-in" to the motherboard which, by design, would cause the virtual machine to reset itself or power itself off when provided with randomized input.
Although these situations may not necessarily be characterized as an escape event or "unsafe," they would terminate the ongoing fuzz test by crashing or shutting down the virtual machine and requiring the OS and fuzz tester to be re-installed or re-booted, along with any other applications and drivers in the virtual environment.
Traditional fuzz testers are also not well-suited for troubleshooting any virtual devices which perform DMA writes. DMA writes can potentially overwrite arbitrary areas of RAM. So a traditional fuzzer operating on top of an OS of a virtual machine could cause a virtual device that performs DMA writes to overwrite areas of the virtual machine RAM. When critical OS code or data is overwritten, or when code associated with the fuzz tester itself is overwritten, serious stability issues result. As described above with respect to low-level devices, these situations can also terminate an ongoing fuzz test and require the virtual machine, its OS, or the fuzz tester application to be re-installed or re-booted, along with any other applications or drivers in the virtual environment.
Because fuzz testing is difficult in these situations, fuzzing is rarely used to troubleshoot low-level devices or devices with DMA functionality. As a result, defects in these devices can go undetected. A need exists, therefore, for systems and methods that allow developers of virtual machines to fuzz test low-level devices and devices with DMA functionality without the risks and inefficiencies associated with re-installing or rebooting a virtual machine OS, a fuzz tester, or other associated applications and drivers.

Efficient fuzz testing of low-level virtual devices


A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a mounting section that is capable of moving in a state of mounting a medium; a liquid ejecting section that is capable of ejecting a liquid onto the medium mounted on the mounting section; and an adapter that has an injecting section capable of injecting the liquid and an outlet section capable of flowing the liquid out to the liquid ejecting section, in which the injecting section of the adapter is disposed below the mounting section in a vertical direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as a printer, an adapter mounted on the liquid ejecting apparatus, and a liquid supply system including the adapter.
2. Related Art
As an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, there is an ink jet type printer that includes a main tank that can replenish ink that is a liquid and a recording head that is capable of ejecting the ink, in which printing is performed by ejecting the ink that is supplied from the main tank from the recording head onto a sheet (for example, JP-A-2008-37097).
However, the main tank described above is provided with an injecting section for replenishing the ink, but the ink or the like that is spilled when replenishing the ink is likely to be adhered to the injecting section. Thus, for example, when performing the printing while moving a sheet toward the recording head, there is a problem that the moving sheet becomes contaminated when coming into contact with the injecting section.
Moreover, such a problem is not limited to the ink jet type printer that performs the printing onto the sheet and is almost common in a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid with respect to a moving medium.

Liquid ejecting apparatus, adapter, and liquid supply system


An oil-based mud formation imaging tool for measuring electrical properties of surrounding formation includes at least one base plate, a first port and a second port deployed on the base plate, surface conductors covering both sides of the base plate, and inside conductors deployed in the first port and the second ports and with gaps from the edges of the first and second ports. The first port is fed with electromagnetic signals by a waveguide and a coupling is formed between the imaging tool and the surrounding formation accordingly. Resonance signals are induced at the second port to be used to compute corresponding formation resistivity and dielectric constant. A corresponding imaging method is also provided.

The use of electrical measurements for gathering of downhole information, such as logging while drilling ("LWD"), measurement while drilling ("MWD"), and wireline logging system, is well known in the oil industry. Such technology has been utilized to obtain a great quantity of geologic information regarding conditions and parameters encountered downhole. It is important to determine geologic information with a high degree of accuracy for drilling efficiency. For example, as known in the prior art, the formation containing hydrocarbon (such as crude oil or gas) usually has higher resistivity than the formation containing water. It is preferable to keep the borehole in the pay zone (the formation with hydrocarbons) as much as possible so as to maximize the recovery.
Geologic information typically includes formation resistivity (or conductivity; the terms "resistivity" and "conductivity", though reciprocal, are often used interchangeably in the art), dielectric constant, data relating to the configuration of the borehole, etc. Borehole images could help geologists and geophysicists define the structural position of reservoirs and characterize features, such as fractures and folds. However, the nonconductive environment prohibits the use of conventional micro-resistivity imaging devices. In such circumstance, either oil-based mud resistivity imaging devices have to be used or the mud must be changed at great expense and inconvenience to the operator. Therefore, the use of nonconductive (e.g. oil-based and synthetic) mud in drilling process, which can be utilized to reduce drilling risks and improve drilling efficiency, has become more and more popular nowadays.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a side view and a front view of an oil-based mud resistivity imaging device making four-terminal resistivity measurements as known in prior art. The sensor pad 100 can be deployed against the borehole wall 120 for measuring the resistivity of formation 102 near the borehole. The sensor pad 100 includes two current electrodes 104 and 106 and several voltage electrodes 108 and 110. A standoff 112 would possibly be situated between the formation 102 and the sensor pad 100. The standoff 112 can be filled with nonconductive fluid, such as an oil-based mud or mix of it and other materials form the borehole, present in the borehole whiling drilling.
In operation, the current electrodes 104 and 106 are used to conduct electric current (I) through the formation 102. The pair of voltage electrodes 108 and 110 is used to measure the voltage difference (dV) between them. According to the Ohm's Law, the resistivity of the small interval between the pair of voltage electrodes 108 and 110 of the formation 102 can be computed as follows,
                    Rt        =                  k                                dV            I                                              (        1        )
where k is a geometrical factor.
However, although the oil-based mud resistivity imaging devices have been used commercially, the imaging quality still strongly depends on the borehole environment (e.g. mud film or mud cake thickness, rugosity of the borehole wall etc.). The rugosity of the borehole wall would cause tilt of the sensor pad. As a result, the measurement of the voltage difference between the pair of voltage electrodes would be affected.
Furthermore, the capacitive coupling between the current and voltage electrodes and the formation would be significant when the oil-based mud resistivity imaging device is operated at relatively low frequency (e.g., a few kHz). When the oil-based mud resistivity imaging device is excited at low frequency, most of voltage drops would occur in the mud film, instead of the formation, due to limited current being able to penetrate the very resistive oil film to reach the formation.
Also, in the case where the formation water is relatively fresh or variable, the resistivity-based methods at a relatively low frequency are difficult because of the small and uncertain contrast between hydrocarbons and water. Should being under this situation, dielectric properties can provide an alternative means of evaluating water distribution since the dielectric constant of water differs nearly an order of magnitude from the dielectric constants of other formation constituents. In addition, dielectric permittivity is also of interest in evaluating zones where the water salinity is unknown, as might be the case in secondary recovery projects where water injection has altered the formation water.
As described above, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for an improved excitation for oil-based mud resistivity imaging.
A further need exists for an improved apparatus and method for minimizing the tilt effect and enhancing transmission and reception.
A further need exists for an improved apparatus and method for making both formation resistivity and dielectric permittivity measurements.
The present embodiments of the apparatus and the method meet these needs, and improve on the technology.

Apparatus and method for oil-based mud formation imaging using resonators