An active (consumable) anode includes, in one aspect, a generally annular body and a protrusion used for connecting the anode to the power supply, where the protrusion extends outward from the generally annular body of the anode. The compositions of the generally annular body and of the protrusion are the same, and, in some embodiments, the anode is a one-piece anode that does not include any welding seams. Such structure results in reduced voltage fluctuations during plating and in improved control over plating uniformity. In some embodiments, the anode is a copper anode, a cobalt anode, or a nickel anode machined from a single sheet of anode-grade metal. The provided anode can be used in an electroplating apparatus as a secondary, peripherally disposed anode, in conjunction with a more centrally located primary anode. The provided anode is configured to modulate electroplating at the edge of the substrate.

The transition from aluminum to copper in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication required a change in process "architecture" (to damascene and dual-damascene) as well as a whole new set of process technologies. One process step used in producing copper damascene circuits is the formation of a "seed-" or "strike-" layer, which is then used as a base layer onto which copper is electroplated ("electrofill"). The seed film is typically a thin conductive copper layer, though other conductive materials can be used depending on application. It is separated from the insulating silicon dioxide or other dielectric by a barrier layer. During electroplating the semiconductor wafer having the seed layer is typically immersed into an electrolyte containing copper ions and is cathodically (negatively) biased. An anode (such as an active copper anode) is positively biased and is usually located such that it directly faces the plating surface of the wafer substrate. In damascene processes the substrate has a number of recessed features coated with a conductive seed layer that is electrically connected to a power supply at the periphery of the substrate.
When an active (soluble) copper anode is used, the anode is dissolved during electroplating according to equation (1). The active anode can serve as a source of copper ions in the electrolyte.Cu-2e−→Cu2+  (1)
The copper ions contained in the electrolyte are reduced at the cathodically biased substrate, such that copper is electrodeposited according to equation (2).Cu2++2e−→Cu  (2)
Electrodeposition processes can also be used in Wafer Level Packaging (WLP) applications to fill larger recessed features than in typical damascene applications. In WLP applications, metal is typically electroplated into recessed features using a through-resist electroplating process, where the substrate includes both exposed non-conductive photoresist material and conductive seed layer (located at the bottom portions of recessed features) before electroplating.
The background description provided herein is for the purposes of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

One-piece anode for tuning electroplating at an edge of a substrate


An equipment for treating sewage, comprises a horizontal plate with a water sinking hole dividing the equipment into two portions: an upper portion of biofilter and a lower portion of contact oxidation pond. Within such equipment, a two-stage sewage biochemical treatment is accomplished. The equipment of the present invention has the advantages of less land occupation, less energy consumption, higher pollutant removing rate, higher shock resistance, easy management, no excess sewage and waste gas being drained off and less secondary pollution.

Nowadays, most of the industrial and living sewage from petroleum refineries and chemical plants are treated with activated sludge process, which leads to lots of residual sludge, easy sludge dilation, difficulty in operation and management, high operation cost and larger land being occupied as well. In recent years, a biofilter treatment process is adopted for treating sewage by many enterprises both domestic and abroad. But it can only be operated in low organic burden because of its low sludge removing rate. Some plants adopt a combined biofilter-contact oxidationactivated sludge series process, which still has the following disadvantages, such as occupying large land, high running cost and complicated operation et al.

Equipment for treating sewage by biological oxidation

Dalian Petro-Chemical Company of China Petro-Chemical Corporation


In an injection control device for a fuel injection pump comprising: a water temperature sensor; a cold start device (CSD) for advancing a fuel injection timing to an engine when started up in a low temperature; and a controller, the controller recognizes a value T of water temperature by a signal from the water temperature sensor, and activates the CSD when the engine is started up and when the value of water temperature recognized by the controller (recognized value T of water temperature) is lower than a threshold value Tc of water temperature. If a value V of voltage of a power source of the controller becomes lower than a threshold value Vn of the voltage of the power source during activation of the CSD, a value Tn of water temperature recognized by the controller immediately before the value of voltage of the power source becomes lower than the threshold value of voltage of the power source is maintained as the value T of water temperature recognized by the controller for activating the cold start device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injection pump with an electronic governor and a device for advancing a fuel injection timing to a diesel engine when started up in a low temperature, and particularly, to a technology for preventing an operational error of the cold start device.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, there are well-known fuel injection pumps for diesel engines, each comprising a plunger, a plunger barrel, a distribution shaft, and delivery valves, wherein the plunger is vertically reciprocated in the plunger barrel to send pressurized fuel to the distribution shaft, the distribution shaft distributes the fuel from the plunger among the delivery valves, and the delivery valves send fuel to respective fuel injection nozzles. Some of the well-known fuel injection pumps each includes a controller mainly composed of a computer electrically controlling the injection quantity and timing of fuel to the engine. Further, some of the electrically controlled fuel injection pumps each includes a device for advancing a fuel injection timing to a diesel engine when started up in a low temperature ("Cold Start Device", hereinafter, referred to as "CSD") for changing the injection timing of fuel, as disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Gazette No. 2000-234576.
The controller controls an electronic governor and the CSD with software previously installed therein and on the basis of signals from a rotary sensor and a water temperature sensor connected to the controller, so as to control the injection quantity and timing of fuel to the engine.
The CSD includes an injection-advancing actuator which is operated by the controller to open and close an overflowing sub port formed in the plunger barrel so as to change the injection timing. More specifically, when an engine in a low temperature is started up, the CSD performs an injection-advancing control to advance the injection timing which is a timing for closing the overflowing sub port, thereby smoothening the start-up of the engine. The controller electrically controls the injection-advancing actuator for opening and closing the overflowing sub port. In this control, the water temperature sensor connected to the controller detects a temperature of cooling water of the engine, and the controller measures the detected temperature of cooling-water. To start up the engine, when the water temperature value measured by the controller is lower than a threshold value of water temperature, i.e., during start-up of the engine in a low temperature, the controller activates the injection-advancing actuator of the CSD so as to perform the injection-advancing control.
However, with respect to a control device including the above-mentioned controller, during start-up of the engine, driving of a selmotor lowers battery voltage, i.e., voltage of a power source of the controller, whereby the controller mismeasures temperature. When the error of measurement becomes large, the controller recognizes a temperature value that is higher than an actual temperature. If the water-temperature value recognized by the controller exceeds the above-mentioned threshold water-temperature value because of the mismeasurement of water-temperature by the controller in which the actual temperature of engine-cooling water is not reflected, the command from the controller to the injection-advancing actuator may be canceled so as to inactivate the CSD, so that the engine cannot be smoothly started up.
This phenomenon will be described with reference to measurement data of FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 graphs variations of an engine rotary speed N, a controller power source voltage (battery voltage) V, and a water-temperature value T recognized by a controller based on a signal from a water-temperature sensor, in relation to time t (water-temperature value T does not always coincide with actual water temperature).
Time t equaling to 0 is defined as a time when a starter is switched on and an engine starts cranking. The cranking is started immediately the controller activated by switching-on of a power source of the controller recognizes a starter signal and starts rotating a selmotor. The moment electric power is applied to the selmotor, voltage of the controller power source is temporarily lowered (as represented by a portion Va in FIG. 5). In this measurement, the minimum of measured lowered controller power source voltage attains 5.3V. During this lowering of the controller power source voltage, the controller mismeasures the water-temperature signal from the water-temperature sensor so as to decide on a high water-temperature value (as represented by a portion Ta in FIG. 5) against actual water-temperature. Consequently, it may happen that the controller cannot recognize a right water-temperature value against the above-mentioned temporary lowering of voltage.
The controller is adapted to cancel the activation command to the CSD when it recognizes the water-temperature rising above a certain preset value (normally, about 5° C.). That is, due to the mismeasurement of the controller about the water-temperature caused by the lowering of battery voltage at the time of cranking of the engine, the controller recognizes the water-temperature rising to about 300C during the short period of lowering the battery voltage, and cancels the activation command to the CSD. In other words, due to the mis-recognition of the controller about the engine-cooling water temperature caused by the lowering of the controller power source voltage, the CSD is misoperated (inactivated) in disregard of the actual cooling-water temperature, thereby inhibiting the engine from being smoothly started up in a low temperature.
An object of the invention is prevention of the misoperation of the CSD during engine-start in a lower temperature caused by the wrong recognition of the controller about cooling-water temperature due to the lowering of the controller power source voltage when an engine is started up, thereby ensuring stable start-up of the engine in a low temperature.

Injection control device for fuel injection pump


A system and method for automatically registering a three dimensional (3D) pre-operative image of an anatomical structure with intra-operative electrophysiological (EP) points of a 3D electro-anatomical (EA) image map of the anatomical structure is disclosed. The pre-operative image is displayed in a first supporting view. The intra-operative EA image map is displayed in a second supporting view. An alignment of the pre-operative image with the intra-operative map is performed by identifying at least one corresponding point on each image. The view of the pre-operative image is integrated with the EA map based on the alignment.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States as well as in many other countries. Cardiovascular disease includes a number of conditions affecting the structures or functions of the heart. Arrhythmias can be an indication of a number of heart problems. An Electrophysiology (EP) test can be performed to record the electrical activity of the heart and to measure the electrical pathways of the heart. An EP test is used to determine the cause of a heart rhythm disturbance and to diagnosis an appropriate course of treatment.
An EP test uses electro-anatomical mapping that traces the movement of electrical signals through the heart. Sensors located at the tip of specially designed catheters acquire data at various points within the heart to pinpoint locations of irregular rhythms or arrhythmias. In some instances, ablation is performed which uses radio frequency signals to kill the cells in the heart muscle that are causing the abnormal rhythm. Fluoroscopic images are used assist the physician in guiding the catheter through the heart. However, fluoroscopic images are two dimensional and do not have good resolution thereby making navigation difficult. There is a need for a system capable of visualizing three dimensional high resolution images which can then be registered with the electro-anatomical mapping data to provide a roadmap for procedures used to identify and treat cardiac arrhythmias.

System and method for automatically registering three dimensional cardiac images with electro-anatomical cardiac mapping data


A method is performed by an access router of an enterprise network including a first edge router to communicate with a second edge router over a wide area network (WAN). The method includes receiving a packet from a first endpoint, receiving from a mapping service a network location of a second edge router for which the packet is destined and a security association (SA) to encrypt the packet from the access router to the second edge router, and generating for the first edge router one or more path selectors for WAN path selection. The method includes encrypting the packet using the SA, and adding to the encrypted IP packet, in clear text, the path selectors and outer encapsulation including the network location, to produce an encrypted tunnel packet. The method also includes forwarding the encrypted tunnel packet to the second edge router via the first edge router and the WAN.

An enterprise network includes a main campus network that communicates with remote branch office networks over a wide area network (WAN). Conventional forwarding of traffic from the campus network to the branch networks may include encapsulating the traffic in a tunnel at a campus network fabric edge (FE) router, which provides endpoint devices with access to the campus network, and tunneling the encapsulated traffic directly to a campus border router (CBR), which provides the campus network with access to the WAN. The CBR decapsulates the traffic, selects a WAN path using fields from the traffic, encrypts the traffic, and then forwards the encrypted traffic to a branch router (BR) over the WAN, which then forwards the traffic to a destination endpoint device. Disadvantageously, such conventional forwarding of traffic exposes the traffic, while unencrypted, to malicious attack at the CBR. Encrypting the traffic at the FE router protects the traffic from the attack at the CBR, but also complicates WAN path selection at the CBR, and may require that the CBR expend computational resources to decrypt and then re-encrypt the traffic prior to forwarding it to the BR.

Secure WAN path selection at campus fabric edge


Walk-through safety devices for ladders meeting ANSI and OSHA standards are positioned at the top end of the ladder and are comprised of two, juxtapose-position, mirror image members. One each is mounted on a respective ladder side rail, Each member includes a sleeve (or rectangular tube) which slides down over a respective ladder side rail, a pressure bar which is tightened against the side rail with a knob operated screw, a pivoting engaging lock plate, and a lock plate tab cover plate. A horizontal hand grip framework is held outboard of the ladder side rails vertically upward, being at an angle of about 14.5 degrees upward from the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and side rail when resting against a structure. The framework is held in that position by a flared tube which is bent in two directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety devices for the upper ends of ladders.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Accidents involving ladders, such as both portable extension ladders and non-extension ladders, can occur when the ladder shifts either because the climber is off balance to one side of the ladder, or because the climber accidentally moves the ladder when climbing off or onto a roof. The most dangerous time when using a ladder to descend is when stepping off of a roof onto a rung of the ladder. The climber is precariously perched, and must cautiously move himself with one foot on the roof and the other on the ladder before bringing the other foot onto the ladder. Standard portable ladders extend above the roof line and the climber must swing step around the extension to exit the ladder.
Additionally, a climber may lose a hand grip or his foot may slip off of a rung, or his foot may engage another object while climbing any of which may result in the climber falling, Ladder falls generally result in serious injury, and often result in death or paralysis.
Various solutions have been proposed to make the ladder more stable and ladder climbing safer. Inman, U.S. Pat. No. 8,439,163, fixes a ladder shoe to extend away from the ladder to engage a gutter. This shoe extends outwardly from the ladder. It limits how far the extension ladder can be collapsed, and also makes stacking the ladder more difficult for storage. Hastreiter, U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,229, proposes curved pole extensions bolted to each side rail of the ladder with a series of clamps. The distal end of each pole has a foot resting on the roof surface. These pole extensions must be carefully mounted on the outside of the ladder side rails each time the ladder is used. Otherwise the ladder is very cumbersome to move about or store.
The clamping required by Hastreiter is time consuming to install. While the pole extensions permit a walk-through climbing on and off the ladder, they are also intended to keep the ladder rails from contacting a gutter. This creates a space between the side rails of the ladder and the roof or roof gutter. In so doing, the pole extensions must bear the entire weight of the climber at an obtuse angle which requires them to be strong enough to hold against the bending forces thereby increasing their cost. Also, such pole extensions generally reduce the load capacity of the ladder.
Gabriel, U.S. Pat. No. 8,136,632, creates a step through extension ladder with a collapsible platform at its upper end. The platform collapses into a rung-free area at the upper end of the ladder side rails. When extended, this platform rests on the pitch of a roof with the ladder side rails resting against the roof edge or gutter. This requires a custom ladder re-configuration.
It is has long been suggested for safety, a ladder when leaning against a building or platform, is to be at an angle of about 75 degrees from horizontal. This means that the ladder side rails of each of the above ladders are pitched at an angle of about 15 degrees from vertical when above the roof or platform. This pitch makes climbing back from the roof onto the ladder safer. A steep pitch may promote fall back. A lesser pitch may produce slide out or "pancaking."
Ellis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,283, shows a vertically upright ladder, permanently attached to a building, with a walk-through design having a wider ladder profile in the walk-through section at the top of the ladder. Two box-shaped elongate sleeves slide down over the top ends of the ladder side rails which side rails, are flared outward to widen the opening between side rails sufficiently to accommodate a climber and a plurality of inwardly extending horizontal grab rungs. The sleeves are positioned above the side rail flaring and secured to the side rails once in position. The location of the top of the sleeves is proximate to the top of the ladder side rails. The permanently flared outward side rails create an awkward structure for moving about and when storing the ladder.
Ellis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,685, shows a vertically upright ladder for permanent attachment to a structure with a walk-through area having two handhold cages providing recommended horizontal grab bars secured permanently to the top end of a respective ladder side rail. For ladders with flared out side rails, the grab cage is attached to the inside face of each side rail. For straight rails, the grab cage is attached to the outside face of each side rail.
Walk-through ladders have the advantage of providing a safer transition for the climber from the ladder to a roof and from a roof to the ladder. Permanently attached vertical walk-through ladders as shown by Ellis provide a safer transition region for the climber. The climber can first grasp one of the grab bars within box-like frameworks while safely standing on the roof. He can then turn and additionally grasp the second cage. While safely gripping both cages he can step onto the first ladder rung and then begin to transfer his hands to the grab bars.
OSHA regulations require that the base of an extension ladder, which OSHA considers as a portable ladder, be positioned away from the structure against which the extension ladder rests at a distance of about one-fourth of the working length of the ladder. That equates to about an angle of 75.5 degrees from the horizontal. OSHA regulations also state that no ladder should be used to gain access to a roof unless the top of the ladder shall extend at least three feet above the point of support. OSHA also wants each climber to face the ladder the entire ladder distance when climbing up or descending down, and to maintain a three-point control (two hands and a foot or two feet and a hand) resulting from holding rungs horizontally is much stronger and safer than holding side rails where a climber's hand can slide when on a ladder.
Because of the walk-through configuration at the top of the ladder, walk-through ladders are difficult to store and difficult to stack for travel on a vehicle. It is therefore desirable to provide a walk-through configuration at the top end of an extension ladder which is easily removable when the ladder is to be stored or stacked.
As safety is the first concern, it is desirable to provide a removable walk-through structure for a ladder which can be securely attached to the ladder upper end when the ladder is in use, and is easily removed when the ladder is to be stored or stacked for travel on a vehicle, or moved about.
It is also desirable that this structure is embodied in a safety device which can be easily attached to and removed from a standard ladder, such as a standard extension ladder.
Additionally, it is desirable to provide such a walk-through safety device which does not require any modification of a standard extension ladder, albeit, the walk-through safety device will be sized for the size of the ladder side rails which can vary with the materials from which the ladder is made, e.g., steel, aluminum or fiberglass, and in some cases wood, and for a specific ladder length and capacity ladder.
It is also desirable to have the walk-through safety device include a grab bar (handhold) cage, which will not interfere with the movement of a climber, and where the orientation of the safety grab (handhold) cage is upright and the handholds are horizontally oriented at the recommended spacing, when the ladder properly rests against a structure. The horizontal rung hand hold is intuitive for most climbers to grip and hold successfully in a dynamic fall. A fall become "dynamic" once a body is in motion. Once a fall has begun, grabbing a portion of a ladder results in forces on the hands which are increased greatly, making arrest difficult. If the handhold (rung) is horizontal, sliding is avoided.


Data generated by certain peripheral devices, such as a coin or bill validator, within a gaming device is encrypted using a randomly generated key transmitted to the peripheral device by a main control unit in the gaming device. The peripheral device sends the encrypted data to the main control unit along with the clear text data. The control unit performs a reverse algorithm to recover the data from the encrypted number. The control unit compares the recovered data to the clear text data. If there is a match, the control unit acts on the data, such as by booking the coin value to a credit meter.

Certain sensitive data is transferred from peripheral devices within a gaming machine to the main control unit of the gaming machine. In one example, a coin or bill validator receives money from a player and generates data corresponding to the number of coins deposited or amount of money deposited. This data is sent via wires to a controller board containing a main control unit (a processor), and the control unit processes the data to generate credits within the gaming machine for use by the player to play the game. A typical game involves rotating and randomly stopping actual or simulated reels and determining an award to the player based upon the displayed symbol combination.
Casinos are concerned that the signals generated by the coin/bill validators, or other important signals, may be somehow fraudulently generated by the player or a casino employee in order to play or win the game.
Other peripheral devices, such as smart card readers, magnetic card readers, barcode readers, and other types of readers, also transmit signals that the casinos are worried about being fraudulently generated.
It is desirable to reduce the possibility of fraud involving the gaming machines by limiting a player's or casino employee's ability to fraudulently generate data signals within the gaming machine in an attempt to obtain credits or awards.

Authentication of data for a gaming machine


Provided herein are polishing compositions for removal of Co, for example, selectively over Cu, and methods of their use. A polishing composition comprising an abrasive and one or more Co complexors, where the polishing composition has a pH of 9 or more, and the Co complexor comprises one or more of functional groups selected from phosphonic acid (—P(═O)(OH)2) group or carboxyl (—C(═O)OH) group.

Typically, a semiconductor wafer has a wafer of silicon and a dielectric layer containing multiple trenches arranged to form a pattern for circuit interconnects within the dielectric layer. The pattern arrangements usually have a barrier layer covering the patterned dielectric layer and a metal layer covering the barrier layer. The metal layer has at least sufficient thickness to fill the patterned trenches with metal to form circuit interconnects. In most cases, in a chemical mechanical planarization or polishing (CMP) process, the metal layer is removed from underlying barrier layers, and in the next step, the barrier layer is removed. At the same time, the circuit wiring that is in a plane with respect to the polishing surface is provided with a smooth surface having metal filled trenches remaining on the wafer. In this step, the barrier layer remaining on the semiconductor wafer is removed from an underlying dielectric layer of the semiconductor wafer to provide a planar polished surface on the dielectric layer. In such a CMP process, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method of removing a metal layer (Cu) and barrier layer (Ta) effectively.
The metal layer usually includes Cu interconnects and the barrier layer is formed of Ta, nitride and so on. Together with the miniaturization in design rule, however, each layer formed in the circuit wiring forming step tends to be thinner. The layer of "Ta or TaN" used as a wiring material is thinner, thereby degrading the effect of preventing the diffusion of Cu and also degrading the adhesiveness with the Cu layer. Hence, as a substitute of the Ta (or TaN) layer, by interposing the Co (cobalt) layer adaptable to Cu between the Ta (or TaN) layer and the Cu layer, a step of compensating the adhesiveness with the upper layer with the diffusion of Cu being suppressed is produced. When selectively polishing and removing such a Co barrier layer from Cu interconnects, in addition to merely polishing and removing effectively, there is a demand for selectively polishing and removing the Co barrier layer from the Cu interconnections in a stable manner while suppressing the Co etching rate.


A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for symmetric and anti-symmetric control of aircraft flight control surfaces to reduce wing-body loads. Commands are sent to symmetrically deploy outboard control surfaces to shift wing air-loads inboard based on airplane state and speed brake deployment. Surface rate retraction on a wing with peak loads is limited to reduce maximum loads due to wheel checkback accompanied by utilization of opposite wing control surfaces to retain roll characteristics. Airloads are shifted inboard on a swept wing to move the center of pressure forward, thereby reducing the tail load required to perform a positive gravity maneuver. In a negative gravity maneuver, speed brakes are retracted, thereby reducing the positive tail load and reducing the aft body design loads. High gain feedback commands are filtered from wing structural modes above one hertz by a set of linear and non-linear filters.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and in particular to aircraft control surfaces. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed towards a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for manipulating control surfaces to reduce aircraft wing-body loads.
2. Background
Control surfaces, also referred to as flight controls or actuators, are airfoils that deflect air in one direction and cause an aircraft to move in the opposite direction. As used herein, an aircraft includes, without limitation, an airplane, a helicopter, a carrier, a commercial airliner, a sea plane, or any other type of aircraft.
Control surfaces are manipulated by pilots or by control laws to move an aircraft about its axes of motion and/or change an orientation of the aircraft. Control surfaces are frequently manipulated by using a control yoke, control stick and/or pedals, such as a rudder pedal. Control surfaces may also be manipulated by control laws and logic.
Control surfaces include, without limitation, ailerons, flaperons, rudders, spoilers, elevators, trim devices, and flaps. The ailerons, spoilers and flaperons are used to bank or roll an aircraft about the aircraft's longitudinal axis. The rudder yaws an aircraft about a vertical axis. The elevator moves an aircraft about the aircraft's lateral axis to change the aircraft's pitch attitude. Utilization of symmetric flaperons results in vertical motion of an aircraft.
Load factor is the ratio of total lift generated by an aircraft to the total weight of the aircraft. The lift is generated by the motion of air over the wing surface. Larger wings move more air over the wing surface. A larger wing relative to the wing mass will typically have a lower wing load. The wing load is generally expressed as acceleration due to gravity (g).
In straight and level flight, the total lift of an aircraft is equal to the total weight of the aircraft. In such a case, the load factor is one (1.0) gravity. When an aircraft is maneuvering, wing lift is diverted to performing the maneuver. Maneuvering may include turning, banking, changing pitch, inverting, and/or changing orientation. For example, when an aircraft performs a turn, the aircraft's lift vertical component, which is against gravity, is reduced and results in a descent. To compensate for the descent, the lift force is increased by increasing the wing angle, which results in an increase in drag. This results in an increase in the load on the wings.
Thus, the maneuverability of an aircraft may be limited by the wing size, the available engine power, and the maneuver load on the wings. Moreover, increases in maneuvering loads on the wings may increase fuel consumption and/or decrease flight speed.


In the Viterbi decoder for decoding a trellis-coded modulated signal of this invention, a path memory is constructed of a general RAM, whereby the circuit size and power consumption are reduced. A trace-back section traces back path select signals stored in a trace-back memory by a predetermined length. Using the number of a node through which a most likely path passes obtained by the tracing back and in accordance with a trellis diagram, a subset number generator section outputs coding bits relating to transition to the node concerned and a subset number. A selector section selectively outputs a noncoding bit relating to the transition to the node based on the subset number.

The present invention relates to a technique on Viterbi decoding for decoding a trellis-coded modulated signal.
As a conventional configuration for decoding a trellis-coded modulated signal, a Viterbi decoder as shown in FIG. 13 has been proposed (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-335972; corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,021).
FIG. 11 shows a trellis encoder that generates the trellis-coded modulated signal to be decoded by the above conventional decoder. FIG. 12 is a trellis diagram for the trellis encoder in FIG. 11. The trellis encoder in FIG. 11 has an encoding rate of ¾ with one noncoding bit and a constraint length of 4. Therefore, this trellis encoder has 2(4-1)=8 states that are represented by values of registers D2, D1, and D0 of the encoder, that is, {000}, {001}, {010}, {011}, {100}, {101}, {110}, and {111}. In addition, the values of outputs {y2, y1, y0} of the encoder constitute a subset, and the value of this bit string as binary notation is herein defined as the number of this subset. For example, if {y2, y1, y0}={1, 0, 1}, the subset number is "5", and this subset is referred to as "subset s5". Such subsets s0 through s7 are called subsets A through H in the aforementioned prior art.
The operation of the Viterbi decoder in FIG. 13 is as follows.
A branch metric generator 601 determines Euclidean distances between a reception signal point and respective transmission symbol points, and outputs the results as branch metrics "BMs" ("s" denotes any of the subset numbers 0 to 7). One subset includes two transmission symbol candidates. A branch metric corresponding to the transmission symbol string of which the noncoding bit is "0" is denoted by BMs0, while a branch metric corresponding to the transmission symbol string of which the noncoding bit is "1" is denoted by BMs1.
A subset maximum likelihood estimator 602 selects one of the two transmission symbol candidates of each subset that has a smaller Euclidean distance, and outputs the selected one as the branch metric BMs for the subset concerned.
A noncoding bit detector 603 extracts the noncoding bit in each selected transmission symbol candidate based on the selection information output from the subset maximum likelihood estimator 602, and outputs the extracted noncoding bit. The noncoding bits are then delayed by j-level shift registers 604 by j levels that correspond to the number of delay levels in a path memory circuit 607.
An add-compare-select (ACS) circuit 605 adds the branch metrics output from the subset maximum likelihood estimator 602 to path metrics of survivor paths in each state at time t-1, that is, in a state before transition to a state at time t in the trellis diagram shown in FIG. 12. The ACS circuit 605 then selects one of the added values that has the highest likelihood as a path metric PM0 to PM7 of the survivor path. Simultaneously, the selection information is output as a select signal PS0 to PS7.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a basic unit of the ACS circuit. For simplifying the description, FIG. 14 illustrates only a basic unit corresponding to state i. In the case of the above conventional decoder, since the number of states is 8, a total of eight basic units with the configuration shown in FIG. 14 are arranged in parallel in the ACS circuit 605.
Adders 700a to 700d receive path metrics PMa to PMd and branch metrics BMa to BMd in accordance with the trellis diagram shown in FIG. 12. The respective added results a to d are input into a comparator 701. The comparator 701 compares the added results a to d, selects one having the highest likelihood, and outputs a select signal PSi representing the selected result. Specifically, if the added result a is selected, "0" is output. Likewise, if the added results b, c, and d are selected, "1", "2", and "3" are output, respectively. A selector 702 receives the added results a to d and the select signal PSi, and outputs to a register 703 one of the added results that corresponds to the select signal PSi as a new path metric PMi for state i.
The order of {(PMa,BMa), (PMb,BMb), (PMc,BMc), (PMd,BMd)} input into the basic unit is set as follows for the respective states in the above conventional decoder.
<State 0>
    {(PM0,BM0), (PM2,BM4), (PM4,BM2), (PM6,BM6)}<State 1>    {(PM0,BM4), (PM2,BM0), (PM4,BM6), (PM6,BM2)}<State 2>    {(PM0,BM2), (PM2,BM6), (PM4,BM0), (PM6,BM4)}<State 3>    {(PM0,BM6), (PM2,BM2), (PM4,BM4), (PM6,BM0)}<State 4>    {(PM1,BM1), (PM3,BM5), (PM5,BM3), (PM7,BM7)}<State 5>    {(PM1,BM5), (PM3,BM1), (PM5,BM7), (PM7,BM3)}<State 6>    {(PM1,BM3), (PM3,BM7), (PM5,BM1), (PM7,BM5)}<State 7>    {(PM1,BM7), (PM3,BM3), (PM5,BM5), (PM7,BM1)}
The path select signals PS0 to PS7 output from the ACS circuit 605 are input into the path memory 607. FIG. 15 illustrates the path memory 607, which is basically configured to concretize the transitions to respective nodes in the trellis diagram. Registers disposed at positions corresponding to the nodes store values selected among those output from the immediately preceding registers in accordance with the respective path select signals PS0 to PS7.
At the first level, the subset number itself is selected by the path select signal PSi. Accordingly, the subset numbers at each branch in the trellis diagram in FIG. 12 are input into a selector 800. For example, in state 0, when the path select signal PS0 is "0", (PM0,BM0) has been selected. Therefore, the selector 800 outputs the subset number "0", which is stored in a register 801. Likewise, when the path select signal PS0 is "1", "2", and "3", the selector 800 outputs the subset number "4", "2", and "6", respectively. In states 1 to 7, also, the selector 800 outputs a subset number x corresponding to each of the path select signals PS1 to PS7. The output results are stored in the respective registers 801.
At the second level, a value stored in a register corresponding to the node number at the first level is selected. For example, in state 0, when the path select signal PS0 is "0", (PM0,BM0) has been selected. Therefore, a selector 802 outputs the content of the register corresponding to state 0 at the first level, which is then stored in a register 803. Likewise, when the path select signal PS0 is "1", "2", and "3", the selector 802 outputs the content of register 2, 4, and 6, respectively. In states 1 to 7, also, the selector 802 outputs the content of register x at the first level corresponding to the state number x represented by the value of each of the path select signals PS1 to PS7. The output results are stored in the respective registers 803.
The above configuration at the second level is repeated for the third and subsequent levels until the j-th level. In this way, values are shifted from the first level through the j-th level for j clocks. Thus, a value stored in register n at the j-th level is equal to the subset number in the state through which the survivor path in state n has passed j time points earlier. The outputs from the registers at the j-th level are input into a selector 608.
A most likely path decision circuit 606 receives the outputs PM0 to PM7 from the registers of the respective basic units of the ACS circuit 605, detects the state having the highest likelihood among the inputs, and outputs the number of the detected state. Selector 608 receives the output of the most likely path decision circuit 606 and selects the corresponding register output value. The register output value is equal to the subset number that will be obtained by going back along the most likely path by j levels. In the case of the encoder shown in FIG. 11, the two higher-order bits of the subset number are equal to the bits of input information. Accordingly, the two higher-order bits of the subset number output from the selector 608 represent decoded coding bits (x2,x1). Further, based on the decoded subset number output from the selector 608, a selector 609 selects a noncoding bit x3 delayed by j levels for the subset number. The noncoding bit x3 in combination with the coding bits (x2,x1) are output as the decoding results of the Viterbi decoder.
The above conventional configuration has the following problems.
First, used conventionally as the path memory is the configuration as shown in FIG. 15 composed of combinations of selectors and registers, just concretizing the trellis diagram. Accordingly, if the truncation length (j levels in this case) increases or the number of states in the encoder increases, the circuit size of the path memory markedly increases. This results in significant increase in the circuit area of the entire device and power consumption.
Secondly, in the path memory as shown in FIG. 15, connections to the respective selectors are unique to a specific encoder. It is therefore difficult to configure a general-purpose decoder usable for different encoders.
Thirdly, the path memory conventionally stores subset numbers themselves. With this configuration, when the encoding rate of a trellis encoder is reduced by increasing the number of bits of a code from 3 to 4 or even 5, for example, the number of bits of each subset number increases thereby increasing the number of bits stored in the path memory. This also results in increase in the circuit area of the entire device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Viterbi decoder and Viterbi decoding method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A clock synchronized by date and time information taken from Caller ID information packets delivered with incoming calls on a telephone line provided with Caller ID service.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to clocks, and more particularly to techniques for guaranteeing the accurate synchronization of clocks. It also relates to telephony applications based on Caller ID delivery.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
Clocks have been around since the first sundial, and the problem of making them report time accurately has been a continuing struggle for all of recorded history. Pendulum, flywheel and spring driven clocks are of modest accuracy, requiring manual correction anywhere from monthly to daily if one intends to report time accurate to a couple of minutes. Nonetheless they are sufficiently accurate for average human needs and many of them still serve today. The advent of modern electrical AC power, with its highly accurate alternations, led to clocks that rarely needed correction more than once a month, and they could generally report time accurate to the minute. Corrections for this type of clock are usually still performed manually, and as a result a clock may be inaccurate by up to several minutes over prolonged periods of time without being noticed and corrected. Interruptions in electric power supply, which happen virtually everywhere in the world from time to time, then demand correction. Self-contained clocks synchronized by crystal oscillation, such as modern battery-powered watches or the timers in computers, vary as little as a few seconds per month, and hence need only very infrequent resetting. These generally also rely on a manual correction technique, and thus on the notice and control of a human being.
The above types of clocks probably comprise the majority of clocks currently in use in the world today. Timekeeping in certain applications requires greater regularity than common clocks deliver. Institutions which run on an exacting schedule, such as large factories, schools, railway systems etc., often have clock systems where individual clocks are all connected to a correction circuit driven by a central clock which delivers a pulse once per minute, advancing all clocks with the same pulse. This system guarantees agreement among all clocks nearly to the second, and manual intervention is required only after a system-down event. The central clock is declared the "official" time. A particular example of such institutions, pertinent to the current invention, is the local telephone service provider, which for billing and other reasons maintains a central clock tightly synchronized with legal official time. Recently such providers have been required to offer a service known as "Caller ID" throughout the United States and Canada. The Caller ID is an information packet sent over the telephone transmission route which contains (among other things) the calling number and the date and time of the call.
Radio-controlled clock systems allow extremely accurate synchronization of clocks over wide distances of separation, especially where the clocks are not stationary (ships and aircraft, for example), or where it is difficult or impossible to lay electrical wiring infrastructure. Conklin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,328, demonstrates such a clock system, and Cateora et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,166 even uses a satellite as a broadcast source. Here the "official" time is the controlling clock at the broadcast source, which might even be an atomic clock at a standards institution. Such broadcast clock systems are very costly to operate, and the receiving clock stations are sophisticated and costly devices. With them, however, manual intervention for setting is no longer required.
It is an object of this invention to create a clock which can be produced and operated at a low cost, which is accurate to standard official time within a tolerance sufficient for everyday usage, but without the need for manual setting intervention.


The invention provides a symmetric hyperbranched silicone-modified polymerizable compound comprises a compound represented by the general formula (1). There can be provided a symmetric hyperbranched silicone-modified polymerizable compound having a structure with chemically high flexibility at the branched chain, having good reactivity of the polymerizable functional group, and having a branched structure which is positionally and sterically symmetric and pure than the conventional ones.(RARB)2CHORCcRD  (1)                wherein RA represents a monovalent linear, branched or cyclic siloxane chain; RB represents —CH2CRb1Rb2(CRb3Rb4)n1OCH2—; RC represents a divalent linking group; “c” represents 0 or 1; and RD represents an unsaturated polymerizable functional group.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a symmetric hyperbranched silicone-modified polymerizable compound having a siloxane chain, a modularized manufacturing method of the polymerizable compound, and a silicone-modified composition using the polymerizable compound.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been disclosed that a molecule (carbodendrimer) containing a siloxane structure having regularly branched structures has low viscosity as compared with the conventional linear siloxane having the same number of the silicon atoms, and gives an excellent material as mold releasing agent, lubricant, resin modifier or cross-linking agent (Patent Document 1). Further, a siloxane dendrimer of a polymerizable compound in which a branched siloxane utilizing its features is grafted has been developed (Patent Document 2). However, the siloxane having such a structure has short branched chains and is chemical structurally brittle, so that it is poor in flexibility as a dendrimer. Also, effects of steric hindrance appears accompanied by becoming the grafted branched chain large (generation increases), and reactivity of the polymerizable functional group becomes insufficient, so that commercialization has not been done in the third generation in which the branch is three units in one side chain.
Due to the problems as mentioned above, it has been developed a method in which a siloxane chain is tried to introduce into an allyl ether compound (CH2═CHCH2OR) by hydrosilylation, but it has been known that among the olefins of the allyl ether compound, 10 to 20% thereof is internally rearranged to form a 1-propenyl ether product (CH3CH═CHOR), which is a main by-product. Further, it has also been known when the above 1-propenyl ether is hydrolyzed by moisture, etc., in the air, propion aldehyde is generated, which causes bad smell in the final product, etc. To solve the above-mentioned problem of the bad smell, it has been disclosed a method in which a vinyl ether group in the 1-propenyl ether is reduced to propyl ether (CH3CH2CH2OR) by hydrogenation reaction using a hydrogen gas under pressure in an autoclave, whereby chemical decomposition thereof is prevented to avoid occurrence of the bad smell (Patent Document 3). Further, there is a problem that the decomposed aldehyde and alcohol are reacted to form acetal in some cases, and the acetal is not reacted by the hydrogenation reaction but gradually decomposes by moisture or acid, which continues to emit the bad smell from the product. To solve the above problem, it has been disclosed a method in which a solid acid is used at the hydrogenation reaction, which can prevent from generating a substance which emits the bad smell (Patent Document 4), and a method in which the generated propion aldehyde is acetalized (CH3CH2CH(OR′)2) by lower alcohol (R′OH) to make the compound which emits the bad smell a compound having a low boiling point, which is removed by distillation (Patent Document 5). However, these methods are measures for the purposes of suppressing occurrence of the bad smell component or removing the same, whereby they are not the method that basically suppresses the occurrence of the internally rearranged product at the time of the reaction.
On the other hand, it has been known that it is possible to reduce an amount of an internally rearranged product of olefin by using β-methallyl alcohol which is 2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol at the time of the hydrosilylation reaction. However, there are problems that isobutyl aldehyde formed with a minute amount emits an unpleasant odor, and the β-methallyl alcohol used as a raw material is significantly expensive as compared with the allyl alcohol.
Therefore, a branched type siloxane with good purity can be difficulty synthesized from a branched compound containing an ether bond having flexibility due to the problem of the above-mentioned internal rearrangement, and when a silicone is tried to introduce into a branched compound having allyl groups, if internal rearrangement of a by-product is generated in the hydrosilylation reaction, a product one of which is symmetric to the silicone chain cannot be obtained. When an attempt is made to apply the product to use for pharmaceuticals, medical devices or foods, an asymmetric branched compound markedly affected on the effectiveness of the physiological activity due to the formation of diastereomers. Further, it has been known that it is extremely difficult in synthetic chemistry to introduce a branched structure which is positionally and sterically pure and symmetric.

Symmetric hyperbranched silicone-modified polymerizable compound and modularized manufacturing method thereof


A safety system that will evacuate passengers on an airplane while in flight. The In-Flight Evacuation System operates while the airplane is still in flight. While in operation the In-Flight Evacuation System will systematically evacuate passengers from the airplane. During the process the seats will rotate 180 degrees to face the rear of the plane. The seats will move towards the rear of the plane due to a rotating device connected along the bottom of the seats. When evacuation is deemed necessary, the rear doors on the plane will opened. The seats will continue to be rotated until it reaches the evacuation doors. At that point the seats will disengage. The top portion of the seat complete with a survival kit will be released with the passengers as the bottom of the seat rotates into a open compartment beneath the passenger cabin. A parachute will be activated as the passengers leave the rear of the plane. The passengers will slowly ascend to earth. After landing, the survival kit will be used until rescuers arrive.

The present invention relates to a life saving evacuation system for passenger airplanes while in flight.
One of today's greatest airline concerns is airplane safety. This concern is due to a high number of airplane crashes in the recent past. Although these crashes have many different causes, the result usually ends in loss of life. Due to the major effect that these crashes have of the general public, the public's safety and well being has become more important as each crash occurs.


A system and method of controlling a semiactive suspension is disclosed. The system and method effectively selects appropriate damping force curves for the dampers of the four wheels in accordance with both an output vertical acceleration signals from three vertical acceleration sensors installed on the dampers of three wheels and an output axle acceleration signal from an axle acceleration sensor installed on the axle. At the resonance frequency band of a car body, the system and method controls the suspension according to the vertical speeds and ride values, calculated from the vertical acceleration signals, thus reducing the uncomfortable riding effects of the vehicle. Meanwhile, at the resonance frequency band of the axle, the system and method controls the suspension with a higher damping force thus securing steering safety of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a semiactive suspension fixed to wheels for absorbing and reducing uncomfortable effects such as vibrations in a vehicle and, more particularly, to a system and method of controlling such a suspension suitable for operating processing output signals from acceleration sensors while a vehicle is in a straight travelling or cornering mode, thus checking road surface conditions and vibrations of the vehicle and independently controlling the damping forces of dampers for all four wheels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to provide comfortable and smooth ride, vibration caused by road surfaces have to be effectively absorbed and reduced. In the event of vertical vibrations, passengers easily feels vibrations at a frequency band of about 5-7 Hz, which is the resonance frequency band of the human autonomic nervous system. Meanwhile, the frequency band of horizontal vibrations, sensed by a person, is lower than that of the vertical vibrations.
With this regard, it is necessary for a vehicle to reduce uncomfortable effects of going over uneven road surfaces, unpaved road surfaces, concrete-paved road surfaces or junctions of bridge spans. In order to achieve the above object, semiactive suspensions, individually having a variable spring constant or variable damping force, are widely used in various vehicles.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a typical automatic control system for semiactive suspensions. As shown in the drawing, the control system has a plurality of signal input members: a vertical acceleration sensor 10, a speed sensor 20, a throttle position sensor (TPS) 30, a steering angle sensor 40 and a brake switch 50. The vertical acceleration sensor 10 checks the vertical acceleration of a vehicle. The speed sensor 20 checks the speed of the vehicle. The throttle position sensor 30 checks the opening angle of the throttle valve of an engine. The steering angle sensor 40 checks the steering angular velocity of a steering system. The brake switch 50 checks the operation of a brake system. In the operation of the above control system, the signals from the above signal input members 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 are processed by an electronic control unit (ECU) 100 in accordance with a preset program. After processing the signals, the ECU 100 determines the desirable damping forces for controlling the variable dampers 200, which are fixed to the wheels of a vehicle. The above semiactive suspension thus provides comfortable ride to a driver and passengers and secures steering safety of the vehicle.
The above automatic control system controls three modes of the variable variable dampers 200: soft, medium and hard modes. In order to control the damping mode, the control signals from the ECU 100 are applied to four damper actuators 210, 220, 230 and 240. Upon receiving the control signals from the ECU 100, the actuators 210 to 240 rotate the control rods of associated shock absorbers thus changing the cross-sectioned areas of the oil passages for the shock absorbers to convert the damping mode.
In FIG. 1, the reference number 60 denotes a mode select switch.
The ECU 100 of the control system comprises a plurality of independent control logics, which independently control the semiactive suspension between the three damping modes in accordance with conditions of a vehicle as follows.
First, an anti-bounce control logic of the ECU 100 checks bumps or rough road surfaces and selectively converts the damping mode of the dampers 200 into the medium mode thus preventing bouncing of the vehicle when both the speed of a vehicle is-not less than V.sub.1 Kph and the vertical acceleration at the vehicle's center of gravity (console box) is not less than G.sub.1 g. After the lapse of t.sub.1 seconds from the above conditions, the anti-bounce control logic returns the medium damping mode into the standard damping mode.
Second, an anti-shake control logic of the ECU 100 converts the damping mode of the dampers 200 into the hard mode when the speed of the vehicle is not higher than V.sub.2 Kph, thus making the vehicle barely shake while a passenger gets in or out of the vehicle or when the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded. When the vehicle maintains a speed of not less than V.sub.21 Kph for at least t.sub.2, the anti-shake control logic returns the hard mode into the original mode.
The anti-shake control logic converts the damping mode into the medium mode when the vehicle, travelling at a high speed, maintains a speed of not less than V.sub.3 Kph for at least t.sub.3, thus securing steering safety in the above conditions. When the speed of the vehicle is not higher than V.sub.31 Kph, the anti-shake control logic returns the damping mode into the original mode.
Third, an anti-squat control logic of the ECU 100 reduces the vertical vibrations of the front end of the vehicle when the vehicle starts at a low speed. In order to achieve the above object, the anti-squat control logic converts the damping mode into the medium mode when both the speed of the vehicle is less than V.sub.4 Kph and the opening angle of the throttle valve is higher than .theta..sub.4 Deg. Meanwhile, the anti-squat control logic returns the damping mode into the original mode in the event of either the lapse of t.sub.4 seconds or when the speed of the vehicle is higher than V.sub.41 Kph.
Fourth, an anti-dive control logic of the ECU 100 reduces the diving of the front end of the vehicle when the vehicle, travelling at a mid to high speed, suddenly stops. In order to achieve the above object, the anti-dive control logic converts the damping mode into the hard mode, when the vehicle is braked at a speed of not less than V.sub.5 Kph and a stop lamp switch is turned on. Meanwhile, the anti-dive control logic returns the damping mode into the original mode in the event of the lapse of t.sub.5 seconds after the above conditions.
Fifth, an anti-roll control logic of the ECU 100 is for securing steering safety of the vehicle. In order to achieve the above object, the anti-roll control logic converts the damping mode into the hard mode when the steering angle is higher than a reference angle with a speed of the vehicle being not less than V.sub.6 Kph. Meanwhile, the anti-roll control logic returns the damping mode into the original mode in the event of the lapse of t.sub.6 seconds after the above conditions.
However, the above automatic control system for semiactive suspensions is problematic in that it provides a low damping force for controlling the suspensions of a vehicle, thus failing to either precisely controlling the suspensions or effectively reducing uncomfortable ride. Another problem experienced with a conventional control system is that it has a slow reaction thus failing to rapidly react to the abrupt change of the conditions of a vehicle. The typical automatic control system for semiactive suspensions fails to provide provide neither a better comfortable ride nor reliably secures steering safety of a vehicle in comparison with a typical manual control system for semiactive suspensions.

System and method of controlling semiactive suspension


Methods and apparatus for directing onto a substrate a radiation beam emitted as a result of high harmonic generation (HHG). Exemplary apparatus comprising: a drive radiation source; an interaction region configured to receive a medium and positioned such that a drive radiation beam from the drive radiation source interacts with the medium during use to generate the emitted radiation beam by HHG, wherein the emitted radiation beam comprises a plurality of wavelengths and wherein an emission divergence angle of the emitted radiation is wavelength dependent; an optical system downstream of the interaction region and configured to focus the emitted radiation beam, wherein the plurality of wavelengths of the emitted radiation beam are focused at a plurality of focal planes in dependence on the associated emission divergence angle; and a substrate support for holding the substrate at one of a plurality of axial positions relative to the plurality of focal planes, wherein one or more of the drive radiation source, the interaction region, the optical system and the substrate support is configurable to control a relative position of at least one of the focal planes with respect to the substrate.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine constructed to apply a desired pattern onto a substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). A lithographic apparatus may, for example, project a pattern (also often referred to as "design layout" or "design") at a patterning device (e.g., a mask) onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on a substrate (e.g., a wafer).
To project a pattern on a substrate a lithographic apparatus may use electromagnetic radiation. The wavelength of this radiation determines the minimum size of features which can be formed on the substrate. Typical wavelengths currently in use are 365 nm (i-line), 248 nm, 193 nm and 13.5 nm. A lithographic apparatus, which uses extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, having a wavelength within the range 4-20 nm, for example 6.7 nm or 13.5 nm, may be used to form smaller features on a substrate than a lithographic apparatus which uses, for example, radiation with a wavelength of 193 nm.
Low-k1 lithography may be used to process features with dimensions smaller than the classical resolution limit of a lithographic apparatus. In such process, the resolution formula may be expressed as CD=k1×λ/NA, where λ is the wavelength of radiation employed, NA is the numerical aperture of the projection optics in the lithographic apparatus, CD is the "critical dimension" (generally the smallest feature size printed, but in this case half-pitch) and k1 is an empirical resolution factor. In general, the smaller k1 the more difficult it becomes to reproduce the pattern on the substrate that resembles the shape and dimensions planned by a circuit designer in order to achieve particular electrical functionality and performance. To overcome these difficulties, sophisticated fine-tuning steps may be applied to the lithographic projection apparatus and/or design layout. These include, for example, but not limited to, optimization of NA, customized illumination schemes, use of phase shifting patterning devices, various optimization of the design layout such as optical proximity correction (OPC, sometimes also referred to as "optical and process correction") in the design layout, or other methods generally defined as "resolution enhancement techniques" (RET). Alternatively, tight control loops for controlling a stability of the lithographic apparatus may be used to improve reproduction of the pattern at low k1.
As an alternative to optical metrology methods, it has also been considered to use soft X-rays (SXR) or EUV radiation, for example radiation in a wavelength range between 0.1 nm and 100 nm, or optionally between 1 nm and 50 nm or optionally between 10 nm and 20 nm. Applications of SXR include, but are not limited to, current or near-future measurement tools for the semiconductor industry. One example of metrology tool functioning in one of the above presented wavelength ranges is transmissive small angle X-ray scattering (T-SAXS as in US 2007224518A which content is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Profile (CD) measurements using T-SAXS are discussed by Lemaillet et al in "Intercomparison between optical and X-ray scatterometry measurements of FinFET structures", Proc. of SPIE, 2013, 8681. Reflectometry techniques using X-rays (GI-XRS) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation at grazing incidence are known for measuring properties of films and stacks of layers on a substrate. Within the general field of reflectometry, goniometric and/or spectroscopic techniques can be applied. In goniometry, the variation of a reflected beam with different incidence angles is measured. Spectroscopic reflectometry, on the other hand, measures the spectrum of wavelengths reflected at a given angle (using broadband radiation). For example, EUV reflectometry has been used for inspection of mask blanks, prior to manufacture of reticles (patterning devices) for use in EUV lithography.
It is possible that the range of application makes the use of wavelengths in the soft X-rays or EUV domain not sufficient. Therefore published patent applications US 20130304424A1 and US2014019097A1 (Bakeman et al/KLA) describe hybrid metrology techniques in which measurements made using x-rays and optical measurements with wavelengths in the range 120 nm and 2000 nm are combined together to obtain a measurement of a parameter such as CD. A CD measurement is obtained by coupling and x-ray mathematical model and an optical mathematical model through one or more common. The content of the cited US patent application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
As mentioned above, current optical metrology tools for wafer inspection use light in the visible range. Visible range wavelengths are often much larger than the pitch values that appear on-device. As a result the metrology solutions either have dedicated targets with large pitch to generate diffraction orders or they measure at resolution but rely on 0th order information provided by evanescent waves.
Measurements on target with large pitch are not necessarily representative of in-device pitches, and evanescent waves do not penetrate deep into a stack forming a feature on the substrate, limiting the application space. In contrast, SXR potentially provides both sufficient spatial resolution to resolve the small pitch of semiconductor devices and can penetrate more deeply into the stack.
It is possible to generate an SXR beam using high-harmonic generation (HHG), in which an intense laser pulse of visible or infrared (IR) radiation (drive radiation) is shot into a gaseous medium, leading to emission of SXR (emitted radiation) by the gas atoms due to their interaction with the laser light. The HHG-generated SXR radiation may then be focused onto a target on the substrate by means of an optical system that transfers the radiation from the medium to the target. The radiation may then be reflected and/or diffracted from the target and detected and processed to infer properties of the target. Examples of such parameters relevant for semiconductor manufacturing are critical dimension (CD), overlay, material refractive index, etc.
In general, optical metrology tools for the semiconductor industry rely heavily on comparing measurements of light diffracted by a feature on the substrate, such as a target, to predicted diffraction patterns generated by a computational model. Parameters of the feature or target such as feature dimensions are inferred by identifying which values of the parameters yield the best match between measured and predicted diffraction patterns.
The use of SXR and EUV radiation in metrology presents a number of challenges.


An artificial disc includes a top vertebra-attachment portion and a lower spacer support connected to the top vertebra-attachment portion; a bottom vertebra-attachment portion and an upper spacer support connected to the bottom vertebra-attachment portion. The spacer supports are disposed between the vertebra-attachment portions, and the lower spacer support is disposed between the bottom vertebra-attachment portion and the upper spacer support. The disc further includes a first elastic spacer positioned between the spacer supports for compressively resisting tensile loading of the disc; and a second spacer disposed between the bottom vertebra-attachment portion and the lower spacer support or between the top vertebra-attachment portion and the upper spacer support for compressively resisting compressive loading of the disc.

Artificial spinal discs have been used to replace native spinal discs that are diseased, injured or otherwise weakened. Examples of traditional artificial discs include articulating discs, wherein a disc implant typically has two halves that are pivotally connected to each other, and elastic discs, wherein an implant typically comprises one or more pieces of elastic materials, in some cases attached to endplates that are affixed to their respective vertebrae.
The elastic discs have an advantage over articulating discs in that the former in many cases provide more shock absorption and more closely approximate the motion states of a natural disc because modes of displacement are not limited to tilting. However, traditional elastic discs may experience certain failure modes that adversely affect the performance of the discs. For example, in elastic discs where the elastic material is attached to endplates that are affixed to the vertebrae, the elastic material may completely or partially detach from the endplates as a result of repeated tensile stress, thereby losing all or some of the tensile strength of the disc. Elastic materials themselves may deteriorate, by, for example, developing stress cracks, under tensile loading. In addition, certain elastic materials have more desirable properties under compressive loading than under tensile loading.
There is thus a need for an improved artificial disc utilizing elastic materials that reduces deterioration from tensile loading.


According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided in which a scheduling agent is assigned to each user in a system. Each scheduling agent is responsible for coordinating meeting activities for its associated user. Each user in the system is allowed to specify preferences for meeting scheduling based upon his corresponding calendar. In response to a meeting request initiated by one of the users, the scheduling agent for the meeting initiator and the scheduling agents for the attendees negotiate with each other to schedule the requested meeting at a most suitable time that is accepted by all attendees through their associated scheduling agents, based upon a set of scheduling criteria including the meeting timing information and the attendees preferences for meeting scheduling.

In the current office environment, meetings have taken people a lot of time and energy. An executive will often spend a much larger percentage of his/her work time on meetings. Therefore the efficiency of the scheduling process used and the quality of the schedules generated affect the working of an organization to a large extent. Typically, the initiator of a meeting will have to negotiate with every attendee to arrange the meeting at such time that is acceptable to all the attendees in order to make sure that all attendees will be available to attend the meeting. Especially when a meeting has many attendees, the discourse of negotiation will often go on several rounds before reaching an agreement of the appropriate meeting time. Even when everyone involved in a meeting has available times to meet, the process for searching for a commonly available time, in the presence of communication delays (e.g., either through electronic mail or contacting by phone) and in the presence of other meetings being scheduled concurrently, can be frustrating and lead to less than satisfactory results.
Most of the commercially available software for scheduling over computer networks have been personal computer-based systems. Similarly, there have been a number of research projects that assist a human user in meeting scheduling process. However, there are severe drawbacks in the current commercial products and research systems. First, the scheduling discourse still needs user's interference. There are disadvantages with the user's interference: it takes a lot of the user's time and energy, and it can produce errors that might be introduced by human users due to the routine and tedious nature of the meeting schedule. Second, the scheduling activity is static. The dynamic nature of the users' calendars cannot be considered in time, which often leads to the failure of meeting scheduling. Third, there is a lack of privacy and security. The user must open his/her calendar to others, the necessary privacy cannot be guaranteed. The openness of the user's calendar also facilitates the malicious scheduling and attack. In addition, most current systems are the centralized ones in which the request for meeting scheduling must be sequenced and multiple meetings cannot be scheduled concurrently, which severely affects the throughput of the scheduling process.

Method, apparatus, and system for distributed meeting scheduling based on autonomous multi-agent


An electronic device enclosure includes a bottom plate, a mounting member mounted to the bottom plate, and a resilient member attached to the mounting member. At least one bridge protrudes from the bottom plate. A gap is defined between the bridge and the bottom plate, and a protrusion is formed in the bottom plate. The mounting member includes a positioning tab capable of inserting into the gap along a first direction. At least one securing tab protrudes from a free end of the resilient member towards the bottom plate. The securing tab is capable of engaging with the protrusion of the bottom plate to prevent the position tab from removing from the gap along a second direction opposite to the first direction.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device enclosure which can prevent an electronic device from sliding, while being convenient to assemble and disassemble.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices such as computers usually include a plurality of components installed therein. A mounting base is usually installed on a computer enclosure for preventing the computer from sliding and vibrating on a desk, thereby protecting the components in the computer from damage. However, the mounting base is usually mounted on the computer enclosure with many fasteners passing through corresponding holes defined in the computer enclosure. This process, for both assembly and disassembly, is laborious, time-consuming, and inconvenient.
What is needed, therefore, is an electronic device enclosure which can prevent an electronic device from sliding and be conveniently assembled and disassembled.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


Users often have a need for service providers that are experienced and able to provide a service to those with one or more special needs conditions or diagnoses. Some implementations can include a system to match a user with a service provider over a communications network. The system comprises obtaining user registration data, service provider registration data, and receiving a query, wherein the combination of the user query and the user registration data has one or more of a diagnostic code, an education plan code, or grade level information. Further, the diagnosis or condition used in the matching of the user query with one or more service providers, is independent of and unrelated to the service provided by the service provider. The system uses a combination of query data, user registration data, including user diagnosis or condition, and the service provider data, to provide matching results of one or more service providers.

Families, having a child or other family member who has one or more special needs based on a condition or medical diagnosis, often have a need for service providers that are experienced and able to provide a service to those with one or more special needs conditions or diagnoses. It may be difficult or impossible to determine via computerized search whether a service provider has such experience and accepts clients with one or more conditions or diagnoses.
Further, there may not exist a rating or review system for service providers that provide a rating for the service provider on both the core service provided by the service provider and the service provider's ability to work with a person with special needs.
Also, there may exist a need for locating service providers to assist a person with special needs or the family of a person with special needs in a town or location familiar or unfamiliar to the family of the person with special needs. Families of the person with special needs may be unable to locate a service provider that 1) can accommodate the special needs of the family member, and 2) has been reviewed by others and received a favorable rating.
Further, there exists a need for providing educational instructions through certified special needs educators to learners with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) or those who may be at-risk academically. Statistics show that approximately 15% of private schools are set up or adequately set up to teach the special needs community. Usually, this means that a child with special needs is integrated into a general education classroom which does not allow for the proper support and accommodations to be utilized. The byproduct is that the families who would be registering to your school simply choose another system to support their needs. For public schools, U.S. Department of Education indicated in a report published in July of 2020 that just "21 states satisfied the "meets requirements" threshold for the 2018-2019 school year in annual evaluations of their obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for students ages 3 to 21. Meanwhile, 27 states and Washington, D.C. were classified as "needs assistance," many of which have qualified for the designation for two years in a row or more. Two states New York and Vermont—received the lower designation of "needs intervention"." (disability scoop, Jul. 6, 2020). This ultimately affects the growth of the school and the educational support for the learner. This is a "lose-lose" situation for the family and the school.
Some implementations were conceived in light of the above-mentioned problems and limitations, among other things.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

System to match special needs service providers with recipients


A semiconductor device capable of improving operating margins is provided. The semiconductor device comprises a memory circuit including a memory cell comprised of a SOTB transistor, and a mode designation circuit switching operation modes of the memory circuit for a first mode or a second mode. The memory circuit includes a substrate bias generation circuit supplying a substrate bias voltage to the SOTB transistor and a timing signal generation circuit generating a timing signal used for a reading operation or a writing operation of the memory circuit. The substrate bias generation circuit does not supply the substrate bias voltage to the SOTB transistor in the second mode.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device.
In recent years, as the semiconductor device has been miniaturized, variations in MOS transistors have become remarkable. As a result, for example, in a memory unit (typically SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) modules) included in a semiconductor device, it is essential to consider variations in SRAM cells when performing a timing design. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2012-185882 discloses a technique for performing a timing design, considering variations in SRAM cells.
On the other hand, as a technique for reducing power consumed by the semiconductor device, there is a technique for applying a substrate bias voltage to a semiconductor device board. Since the threshold voltage of the SRAM cell is increased by an application of substrate bias voltage, a leakage current can be reduced.


An electronic terminal includes an input device for receiving input from a user. The electronic terminal also includes a processing unit electrically coupled to the input device. Yet further, the electronic terminal includes a memory device electrically coupled to the processing unit. The memory device has stored therein a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, causes the processing unit to (a) permit the user to deposit funds into a banking account if the user enters either a first PIN number or a second PIN number with the input device, the first PIN number being different than the second PIN number, (b) permit the user to withdraw a first dollar amount from the banking account if the user enters the first PIN number with the input device, and (c) permit the user to withdraw a second dollar amount from the banking account if the user enters the second PIN number with the input device, wherein the first dollar amount is less than the second dollar amount. A method of operating an electronic banking terminal is also disclosed.

Banks and other financial institutions have historically offered a number of services and features which provide for savings plans which vary from a typical banking account. For example, parents have long since opened savings accounts in the name of their children in order to provide an opportunity to teach their children the value of money and particularly, the value of saving money. In this manner, the parent could accompany the child into the bank such that, under the authority of the parent, the child could withdraw funds from, or deposit money into, his or her savings account.
However, changes in the banking industry have reduced such practices. In particular, as automated banking becomes more prevalent, customers are visiting their bank's physical locations (e.g. branches) less frequently. For example, due to the widespread implementation of automated teller machines (ATMs), banking customers are able to do most, if not all, of their banking at the ATM without the need to actually visit a bank branch office. Moreover, since many retailers such as grocery stores and department stores accept bank cards for payment and even offer "cash back", the need for a visit to a branch office is yet further reduced. Hence, heretofore practices of providing for children's savings accounts have become substantially less utilized.
What is needed therefore is a method and apparatus for maintaining a children's bank account which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks. What is particularly needed is a method and apparatus for maintaining a children's bank account which can be utilized via a banking terminal such as an ATM or point-of-sale retail terminal.

Apparatus and method for maintaining a children's automated bank account


A device wafer is provided that includes a substrate having major and minor surfaces, and a plurality of active devices located at the major surface. A eutectic alloy composition is formed at the minor surface of the substrate. The eutectic alloy composition is removed from the minor surface of the substrate such that a portion of the eutectic alloy composition remains at an outer perimeter of the minor surface to strengthen the outer perimeter of the substrate. A bonding layer is deposited over the minor surface and over the portion of the eutectic alloy composition at the outer perimeter of the minor surface. The bonding layer is utilized for joining semiconductor components of the device wafer to secondary structures. Additional eutectic alloy composition may remain on the minor surface of the substrate at the streets to strengthen the substrate during device wafer separation.

In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, a large number of semiconductor devices is typically fabricated on a single silicon wafer. Device function may be implemented in the silicon wafer through process steps of diffusion, oxidation, and the like. Subsequent process operations may entail wafer thinning at the back side (e.g., the non-device side) of the wafer and separating the wafer into a plurality of individual devices. Each of the devices can be mounted in a package for protection, heat sinking, electrical connection, and so forth.

Method for increasing semiconductor device wafer strength


The present disclosure is directed to methods and apparatus for evaluating resources that would be used by machine learning model(s) for purposes of implementing the machine learning model(s) on resource-constrained devices. For example, in one aspect, a plurality of layers in a machine learning model may be identified. A plurality of respective output sizes corresponding to the plurality of layers may be calculated. Based on the plurality of output sizes, a maximum amount of volatile memory used for application of the machine learning model may be estimated and compared to a volatile memory constraint of a resource-constrained computing device. Output indicative of a result of the comparing may be provided at one or more output components.

Artificial intelligence such as machine learning models are becoming more commonplace and are increasingly being used for new types of applications. Some newer types of machine learning models, such as deep neural networks, outperform classical machine learning models at complex tasks such as controlling autonomous vehicles, surveillance, handwriting recognition, typing prediction, and so forth. However, in order to perform these tasks, deep neural networks are typically implemented on relatively powerful computing systems, such as server(s) forming part of what is often referred to as the "cloud."
Some of the applications for which machine learning models are being trained may be associated with computing devices having relatively limited resources such as processing power, battery life, and/or memory. Such devices are referred to herein as "resource-constrained devices," and may include anything from smart phones to consumer appliances such as toothbrushes or clothes irons. Particularly in the case of consumer appliances, it may be desired to utilize relatively low-power computing components such as microprocessors and/or memory (e.g., FLASH, RAM) in order to keep down costs.
It is possible to delegate machine learning model utilization from resource-constrained devices to the cloud. However, this may require the resource-constrained devices to be equipped with wired and/or wireless network communication components, which may increase their complexity and/or cost. Moreover, a network communication channel between a resource-constrained device and the cloud may be a performance bottleneck when available, and may be a hindrance if the communication channel is degraded or unavailable.

Evaluating resources used by machine learning model for implementation on resource-constrained device


A method, system, and computer program product for autonomous management of a communication network are provided. The communication network includes a community of registered and unregistered users. The method includes segmenting a body of data according to pre-defined aspects that identify related subject matter and a volume of data stored for each of the segments based on the volume of data. The method also includes classifying each of the registered users according to the segments, and identifying from the classification: a population size of users associated with corresponding segments and a proportion of users to corresponding segments. The method further includes assessing aspects of an unregistered user, based upon a communication, in view of pre-defined growth criteria established for the communication network and, upon determining the aspects fall within limits specified by the pre-defined growth criteria, presenting the unregistered user with an invitation to register with the community.

The present invention relates to communications networking, and more specifically, to a method, system, and computer program product for autonomous management of a communication network.
Networking sites such as Facebook®, LinkedIn®, and Match.com® provide the ability for individuals to associate and/or collaborate with other individuals over a network. These, and other, networking sites typically involve a community of users who share some common purpose (e.g., business/professional, social, goal-oriented—such as eDiets.com®, etc.). Various networking sites rely on users to be the vehicle of growth for the community; that is, the sites rely on factors such as the level of active engagement by individuals in the community, word of mouth, advertising, and other forms of communication in order to provide awareness of the system's existence. This can often lead to unbalanced growth within niche markets, resulting in large networks that are not very diverse in population. Take for example, social networking systems, such as Facebook® and MySpace®. These networks have grown very large, but are focused and segmented, becoming very popular among teenage and young adults. This may be a direct result of relying on a natural organic way of growing the network, in which the users of the community promote the growth. Networking sites that are not able to effectively maintain interest, e.g., lacking in diversity of members and information, may not be able to sustain, as the information and population becomes stale over time.
What is needed, therefore, is a network management system and services that enable autonomous growth and change through discovering and analyzing connections (communications) between registered and unregistered (unknown but identifiable) users in a communication network, and is thereby capable of providing diversity of user population and subject matter.

Autonomous management of a communication network

International Business Machines Corporation


A printing apparatus includes a dot data generating section configured to: compare a first threshold which is aligned with a dither mask and a corresponding gradation value which corresponds with the image data which is input; generate the dot data by determining that dots are to be formed in a case where it is determined that the corresponding gradation value exceeds the first threshold and generate the dot data by determining the forming of dots due to application of an error diffusion method by comparing correction data, where error diffusion in the image data is complete, and a second threshold in a case where it is determined that the corresponding gradation value does not exceed the first threshold as a result of the comparing; and diffuse errors, which occur as a result of generating the dot data, to pixels in a predetermined range in the vicinity in both cases.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for processing an image using image data and to a technique for printing an image.
2. Related Art
As a halftone process where image data with numerous gradations is printed using dot data with a smaller number of gradations, there are known an error diffusion method where density errors are distributed in pixels in the vicinity in a case of converting the number of gradations, an ordered dither method where dot data is generated using a dither mask where threshold arrangement is carried out with excellent dispersibility, and the like. In a case of using a dither mask where a blue noise characteristic is applied or using a Bayer dither mask, the dispersibility of dot arrangement is excellent and the reproducibility of an image is superior with data with comparatively few changes in gradation has a two dimensional spread. In addition, the ordered dither method has an advantage in that it is possible to control forming of dots by applying a specific characteristic to the arrangement of thresholds in the dither mask.
For example, in a method which is illustrated in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-15359 described later, by independently creating a dither mask which is used in determining the forming of dots during forward movement and a dither mask which is used in determining the forming of dots during backward movement in a case where bidirectional printing is performed and applying a blue noise characteristic to each of the dither masks, printing is possible with little reduction in image quality with regard to deviation in positions for forming dots which are the printing positions in both dither masks.

Printing apparatus, printing method, program, and image processing apparatus