An archery sight includes an annular sight ring, one or more sight pins, and a set of two or more nested, annular, substantially concentric, visually contrasting areas on a rearward surface of the sight ring arranged substantially concentrically relative to the sight ring. One or more of the sight pins are visible through a central opening of an innermost annular colored area. With the bow held at full draw, the peep aperture and the central axis of the sight ring are substantially aligned along an intended sight line for the bow. Respective diameters of the peep aperture and the annular contrasting areas result, with an archer looking through the peep aperture along the intended sight line, in an observed image of a substantially circular border of at least one of the annular contrasting areas substantially coinciding with an observed image of the peep aperture.

The field of the present invention relates to archery sights. In particular, a sight ring with multiple nested concentric annular high-contrast colored areas is disclosed for enabling an archer to align the sight under differing lighting conditions.
A common arrangement employed in archery bows includes a sight 300 mounted at the front of the bow that includes one or more sight pins 350 arranged within a sight ring 310 (FIG. 1), and a so-called peep sight inserted into the bowstring. The peep sight is inserted into the bowstring at a position that places it in front of the archer's eye when the bow is held at full draw. The archer aims the bow by looking through the peep sight and through the sight ring 310 and aligning one of the sight pins 350 on the intended target. The distance from the archer's eye to the peep sight typically is in the range of 1 to 4 inches and often in the range of 2 to 3 inches. The distance from the peep sight to the sight ring 310 (with the bow held at full draw) typically is between 26 and 36 inches and often in the range of 30 to 32 inches. The diameter of the sight ring 310 typically is in the range of 2 to 3½ inches and often in the range of 2 to 2½ inches. The peep sight typically comprises a disk or ring with a small axial aperture. Typical sizes of the aperture of commonly available peep sights include 1/16 inch, ⅛ inch, and 3/16 inch; other sizes may also be available from manufacturers.
The arrangement of the peep sight and the sight ring with sight pins constitutes a so-called aperture sight. When looking through the aperture of the peep sight, the archer centers an image of the sight ring 310 within an image of the aperture 210 of the peep sight 200, thus properly aligning his line of sight and enabling him to aim the bow by then aligning a sight pin 350 (within the sight ring) on the target (FIG. 2). The aperture 210 of the peep sight 200 limits the archer's field of view and typically presents an unfocused, diffuse edge when the archer's vision is focused on the sight ring 310 or on the target.

Sight ring with multiple concentric annular visually contrasting areas


A semiconductor fabrication apparatus having a process chamber and a handler which is provided for loading wafers into the process chamber or unloading wafers therefrom, comprising a plurality of switches for detecting positions of the handler and for generating detection signals in accordance with the positions; and an indicator for indicating normal operations of the switches. The indicator has relays operated in accordance with a voltage level of each of the detection signals; and LEDs associated with each of the relays, for identifying a normal operation of the handler. By confirming the conductive/nonconductive state of the LED, the operator can easily determine if the switches are accurately detecting the position of a load fork and/or an aligning plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor fabrication apparatus such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus, and more particularly, to an improvement in a handler for loading and unloading wafers into and from a process chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor fabrication apparatus having a process chamber, a handler is provided to load wafers into the process chamber or to unload wafers from the process chamber.
In one such semiconductor fabrication process, for example, a thin film growth technique, generally referred to as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, forms a thin film of polycrystalline, such as silicon (Si), silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) and silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), on a semiconductor wafer using a chemical reaction in a high temperature environment or an activated environment. The chamber of the CVD equipment, which forms a thin film on a wafer using this CVD method, must be kept in a vacuum state and is equipped with a load fork which loads wafers into the chamber or unloads them therefrom.
The CVD equipment generally consists of two chambers, that is, a load chamber and a process chamber. The load chamber is provided to pre-locate wafers to be processed or temporarily house or store wafers that have been processed, prior to their transfer to another process stage. The process chamber forms a thin film on a semiconductor substrate using an evaporation process. The load chamber includes an aligning plate on which the wafers to be processed are located, and a load fork which picks a wafer up from the aligning plate and loads it into the process chamber. The load fork also unloads the wafer from the process chamber that has been processed and lays it down on the aligning plate.
When the aligning plate is horizontal during the time the wafer is in the process chamber, the aligning plate is said to be in an `up` state. When the load fork places and aligns a wafer on the aligning plate prior to loading the wafer in the process chamber, or aligns the wafer unloaded from the process chamber on the aligning plate, the aligning plate is vertical, and it is said to be in a `down` state. The position of the aligning plate, whether seated horizontally or erected vertically, is detected by at least two micro limit switches and the result of the detection is provided to an equipment controller.
As for the load fork, when the load fork is dropped or is in stand-by, it is said to be in a `down` state. The dropped or stand-by state of the load fork occurs when the wafers are placed or loaded in the load chamber, or when the wafers are placed on the wafer chuck, or when the wafers are taken from the process chamber. When the load fork picks up the wafers after processing and transfers them, the load fork is said to be in an `up` state. The change in state of the load fork may be also detected by the two micro limit switches and the result of the detection is transferred to the equipment controller.
FIG. 1 shows an assembly for driving the load fork which constitutes one of the handlers of a CVD equipment. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown actuator anchors 1, crank linkages 2, speed adjustors 3, air connection parts 4, eccentric wheel washers 5, micro limit switches 6, and sensing bars 7 for the micro limit switches, respectively.
In the CVD equipment, the micro limit switches 6 detect whether the load fork or the aligning plate is `down` or `up`. When the driving shaft of the load fork/aligning plate pushes down the sensing bars 7 of micro limit switches 6, then electrical signals are supplied to a data input board. The position of the load fork and the aligning plate is thus displayed on a diagnostic display. The electrical signals generated from the micro limit switches 6 are also supplied to the equipment controller. The controller then detects the signals and carries out a handling sequence control.
As described above, if the sensing bars 7 for the micro limit switches 6 are pushed down and electrical signals of a predetermined level are generated from normal open terminals of the micro limit switches 6, the equipment controller can determine whether the load fork or the aligning plate is in the `up` or `down` state.
As this equipment is operated continually in the production line, however, the sensing bars 7 frequently break down since they are formed with a thin plate, or the contact points of the switches 6 frequently burn out. The equipment controller, therefore, can not detect the position of the load fork or the aligning plate. A problem arises in that it becomes impossible to carry out an accurate sequencing control.
More specifically, when the load fork is actually in the `down` state, if the sensing bar 7 for the micro limit switch 6 is broken, or the contact points of the micro limit switch 6 are burned out, the controller can not detect if the load fork is actually `down`, so that an error occurs in the sequence control for the load fork.
When an error occurs in the sequence control of the load fork or the aligning plate, the error may be detected by using a DVM (digital voltage meter) to determine whether the error is due to the breakage of the micro limit switches 6. Such an error detection procedure takes time, however, resulting in increased maintenance time for the equipment.

Semiconductor fabrication apparatus with a handler


A presensitized plate comprising a support for a lithographic printing plate including an anodized layer formed on an aluminum plate and a recording layer recordable by infrared laser exposure on the support, wherein in a section of the anodized layer after the recording layer is provided, an atomicity ratio of carbon to aluminum (C/Al) represented by Auger Electron Spectroscopic analysis is 1.0 or less. In the case of being used as an on-machine development type, it exhibits a good on-machine development characteristic, a high sensitivity, a high press life, and high scum resistance during printing and while left (ink discharging). In the case of being used as a conventional thermal positive or negative working type, it exhibits an efficient use of heat for image formation, a high sensitivity, a high press life, and a slight possibility of scum occurrence at non-image areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support for a lithographic printing plate, and a presensitized plate, particularly, a thermosensitive presensitized plate suitably used for a computer to plate system requiring no development, more particularly, a thermosensitive presensitized plate, which can record images by infrared ray scanning exposure based on digital signals, and can carry out printing by being directly loaded on a printing machine without any execution of a conventional development process including use of developer and the like after exposure, and a support for a lithographic printing plate used for the same.
2. Description of the Related Arts
A number of studies have been conducted on presensitized plates for a computer to plate system, which have developed remarkably in recent years. Particularly among them, for the purpose of further streamlining a process and solving a problem of waste liquid disposal, many studies have been conducted and various ideas have been presented on a presensitized plate capable of carrying out printing by being directly loaded on a printing machine after exposure.
One of promising technologies may be a thermosensitive presensitized plate including a water receptive layer formed as an image forming thermosensitive layer, the water receptive layer containing hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles dispersed in hydrophilic binder polymer. This presensitized plate uses a principle that when heat is applied to the thermosensitive layer, hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles are fusion-bonded, and a surface of the water receptive thermosensitive layer is converted into an ink receptive image area.
One of methods for reducing processing steps in such a presensitized plate using the fusion bonding of hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles may be so-called on-machine development, which loads the presensitized plate after exposure to a cylinder of a printing machine without treating it in developer, and supplies ink and/or fountain solution while rotating the cylinder, thereby removing non-image areas of a recording layer of the presensitized plate. In this method, after the exposure, the presensitized plate is directly loaded on the printing machine, and development is completed in a normal printing process.
Such a presensitized plate suited to the on-machine development must have a thermosensitive layer soluble in fountain solution or ink solvent, and a lighted room handling characteristic suited to development on the printing machine placed in the lighted room.
For example, JP 2938397 B (the term "JP XXXXXXX B" as used herein means an "Japanese patent") describes a presensitized plate including a thermosensitive layer formed on a water receptive support, the thermosensitive layer containing fine particles of thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer dispersed in hydrophilic binder polyer. In this specification, it is described that the presensitized plate is subjected to infrared laser exposure, the fine particles of thermoplastic hydrophobic polymer are combined by heat to form an image, then the plate is attached onto a printing machine cylinder and, by supplying ink and/or fountain solution, on-machine development can be carried out.
In addition, in JP 9-127683 A (the term "JP XX-XXXXXX A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") and WO 99/10186, it is described that after thermoplastic fine particles are combined by heat, on-machine development is carried out to manufacture a lithographic printing plate.
However, in the case of the presensitzed plate, which combines fine particles by heat to form images, problems have been inherent, including a low sensitivity caused by releasing of heat to a metal support and an insufficient press life caused by a low strength of the image area of the thermosensitive layer when the fine particles are not sufficiently combined while a good on-machine developing characteristic is exhibited.
As a countermeasure, a method of providing water insoluble organic polymer between an aluminum support and a thermosensitive layer has been presented (e.g., JP 2000-23983 A). However, this method has had a scumming problem while a sensitivity has been increased.
The following problems have been inherent in conventional presensitized paltes of thermal types which don't carry out on-machine development. Those plates include a positive presensitized plate of a so-called thermal type for causing photothermal conversion by infrared absorbent present in a thermosensitive layer, generating heat by exposure, and making the exposed portion of the thermosensitive layer alkali-soluble by the heat to form a positive image, and a negative presensitized plate of a thermal type for generating radicals or acids with radical generator or acid generator by the heat, thereby progressing radical polymerization reaction or acid crosslinking reaction to form a negative image.
That is, in the thermal type image forming, laser beam irradiation makes photothermal conversion material generate heat in the thermosensitive layer, and this heat causes image forming reaction. However, in an aluminum support which is grained and provided with an anodized layer, heat generated in the vicinity of an interface between the thermosensitive layer and the support is diffused inside the support before it is sufficiently used for image formation because heat conductivity of the support is extremely higher than a thermosensitive layer. Consequently, the following problems occur in the interface between the thermosensitive layer and the support.
First, in the thermosensitive layer of the positive working type, when alkali solubilization reaction isn't enough, heat is diffused inside the support and a problem of a low sensitivity causes, that is, residual layers are formed on an area to be a non-image area. This is a basic problem inherent in the positive working type thermosensitive layer.
In addition, in the presensitized plate of such a thermal positive working type, the use of infrared absorbent having a photothermal conversion function is essential. However, the absorbent has low solubility because of its relatively large molecular weight, and adsorbed on micropores formed by anodizing, and made difficult to be removed. Thus, residual layers are easily formed in the development process using alkali developer.
In the case of the negative working type thermosensitive layer, when heat is diffused inside the support, and developer insolubilization of the thermosensitive layer becomes insufficient in the vicinity of the interface between the thermosensitive layer and the support, an image is not sufficiently formed in an area to be an image area, disappearing during development, and even if an image is formed, the image area is easily peeled off during printing.
In order to solve the foregoing problems, attempts have been made to increase micropores on an anodized layer with a view to suppressing diffusion of heat generated on the thermosensitive layer in the aluminum support.
However, in the method of increasing micropores on the anodized layer, scum resistance is reduced while a sensitivity and a press life are increased. In addition, when a thermosensitive layer of an on-machine development type is provided, an on-machine development characteristic is also deteriorated.
From a similar perspective, attempts have been made to seal micropores by a method of dipping an aluminum support having an anodized layer formed on an aluminum plate in hot aqueous solution containing hot water, or inorganic or organic salt, a method of exposing it to steam bath, and the like.
However, in the method of sealing the micropores, a sensitivity and a press life are reduced while scum resistance is increased. In any case, therefore, it has not achieved a satisfactory level yet.
Under these circumstances, the inventors have presented a presensitized plate in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-9871, which comprises an aluminum support including an anodized layer formed on an aluminum plate, and a particle layer containing particles having an average particle size of 8 to 800 nm and a recording layer recordable by infrared laser exposure formed in this order on the aluminum support. In this specification referenced herein, the inventors have also presented a method of providing the particle layer on the aluminum support by electrolyzing the aluminum support using electrolyte containing hydrophilic particles having an average particle size of 8 to 800 nm. According to this method, openings thereof can be sealed while voids are left inside micropores present on the anodized layer. Thus, it is possible to provide a presensitized plate high in sensitivity and press life, and also scum resistance can be increased.
However, regarding the increase in scum resistance, a level of increase achieved has not been satisfactory.


A sheet feeding roller has an outer circumferential face which includes a generally flat portion and a curved portion. A first pivotable member is movable between a first position and a second position in accordance with the rotation of the sheet feeding roller. The first pivotable member has a first contact face and an extended member extended from a free end portion of the first pivotable member toward a downstream side of a sheet feeding direction. The first pivotable member is moved to the second position when a sheet medium is placed between the sheet feeding roller and the first pivotable member. The first pivotable member is returned to the first position when a trailing end of the sheet medium faces the flat portion of the sheet feeding roller while the extended member of the first pivotable member comes in contact with the sheet medium.

The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device used in a data reading apparatus, a printing apparatus or the like to feed plural sheets of paper one by one to a processing section.
A roller type sheet feeding device used in a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine or the like has been generally known as a sheet feeding device.
In most cases, the roller type sheet feeding device of this kind has a cylindrical sheet feeding roller disposed at the downstream side in a sheet feeding direction, so that a sheet of paper is fed as the sheet feeding roller pulls in the sheet of paper from the vicinity of the leading end thereof.
This is because sheet feeding operations become more stable regardless of the paper rigidity by feeding sheets of paper while holding the vicinity of their leading ends. In addition, for a sheet feeding device of a type in which a separating pad is disposed downstream of a sheet feeding roller to separate sheets of paper one by one by friction produced when the leading end of a sheet of paper slides on the separating pad, it is advantageous to dispose the separating pad and the sheet feeding roller in close relation to each other in increasing the performance capability of separating plural sheets.
However, when the sheet feeding roller is disposed at the downstream side of the sheet feeding device in the sheet feeding direction, in a case where the leading ends of sheets of paper are not aligned neatly, there may be a sheet of paper whose leading end does not reach the position at which the leading end is supposed to come into contact with the sheet feeding roller. In such a case, the sheet feeding roller fails to pull in the leading end of the sheet of paper, and the sheet feeding device may become unable to feed the sheet of paper.
Normally, a counter measure to align the leading ends of sheets of paper is taken in a typical sheet feeding device, and the counter measure is broadly divided into two methods as follows.
One is a method often adapted in a laser printer, a copying machine and the like, and it is a method for positioning sheets of paper precisely on the left, right, top, and bottom by placing the sheets of paper horizontally within a sheet feeding cassette (cf., Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-277044A, for example).
The other is a method often adapted in an ink jet printer and the like, and it is a method for letting the leading ends of sheets of paper fall down to the pad portion at the lower end by gravity by setting the sheets of paper in a downward orientation (placing the sheets of paper vertically) (cf., Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-153033A, for example).
A sheet feeding cassette is necessary, however, with the method for positioning sheets of paper on the left, right, top, and bottom precisely by placing the sheets of paper horizontally, and this method makes it difficult to reduce the sheet feeding device in size.
The sheet feeding device can be reduced in size with the method for letting the leading ends of sheets of paper fall down to the pad at the lower end by gravity by setting the sheets of paper in a downward orientation. The installation posture is limited, however, because sheets of paper cannot be fed unless they are set in the vertical direction.

Sheet feeding device with variable faced roller and integrated sheet guides


A grounding member for installation between a surface acoustic wave filter package and a circuit board to which the filter package is mounted. The grounding member is formed from electrically conductive sheet stock material as a leaf spring which is deformed to maintain effective contact between the outer case of the filter package and a ground plane on the circuit board. In addition to providing an effective ground connection between the filter package and the ground plane, the grounding member also functions as an electromagnetic shield for radiating signals between the input signal post and the output signal post of the filter package.

This invention relates to the mounting of a surface acoustic wave filter package to a circuit board and, more particularly, to improved grounding and effective input to output shielding of such a package.
Surface acoustic wave filters are commonly used as bandpass filters in electronic devices. Such a filter is usually packaged within an outer metal case having a substantially planar base out of which extend posts for mounting to a circuit board and for providing interconnections between the filter and traces on the circuit board. Typically, there is an input signal post insulated from the metal case, an output signal post insulated from the metal case, and one or more ground posts connected to the bases These posts extend through respective apertures in the circuit board, as is conventional, and the package is secured to the circuit board by soldering the posts to respective traces on the board. In addition, the circuit board typically has a ground plane on its upper surface for direct contact by the package base. A problem with this construction and mounting is that circuit boards usually have imperfections which result in the formation of a gap between the planar base of the filter package and the ground plane on the board. This gap provides a sneak path under and around the filter package for a portion of the input signal which is radiated from the input signal post and received by the output signal post Thus, part of the signal appears unfiltered at the output signal post, thereby lowering the efficiency of the filter. It would therefore be desirable to eliminate this sneak path.
Prior attempts to solve this problem have utilized a full body ground gasket or have soldered the entire periphery of the package to the ground plane on the board. Both of these methods are undesirable since they are difficult to implement and/or cause unacceptable damage to both the package and circuit board when repair is necessary. It would therefore be desirable to provide an effective shield and ground which does not suffer from these disadvantages.

Ground and shield for a surface acoustic wave filter package


Silica-including microcapsule resin particles including an outer shell constituted of a crosslinked polymer and a cavity partitioned with the outer shell, in which the silica-including microcapsule resin particles contain inside the cavity a porous structure in which silica particles are mutually connected, and have a volume average particle diameter of 0.5 to 100 μm.

Conventionally, in intended use such as cosmetic materials, paint compositions, heat-insulating resin compositions, light diffusing resin compositions, and light diffusion films, resin particles, silica particles, glass particles, and inorganic fine particles of titanium oxide, alumina, calcium carbonate or the like are used as an additive, for improving the sense of touch, imparting the soft focus effect, matting property, and light diffusibility, or the like.
As a specific additive, for example, hollow resin particles (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2009-237342: Patent Document 1; International Publication WO 2014/030754: Patent Document 2) have been proposed.
Additionally, a method of obtaining microcapsule particles including a single or a plurality of silica particle(s) by applying a method of synthesizing hollow particles having a micron size to prepare microcapsule particles including a silica precursor, and thereafter, performing a sol-gel reaction has been proposed (Polymer Preprint, Japan Vol. 64, No. 2 (2015) 1R11 (Preparation of Silica-Including Microcapsules by Sol-Gel Reaction in Polymer Capsules, Suzuki et al.): Non-Patent Document 1).

Silica-including microcapsule resin particles, method for producing same, and application thereof


An optical waveguide device comprises a substrate having first and second surfaces, and an optical waveguide provided on the first surface of the substrate, having a light-incoming facet and a facet inclined with respect to the optical waveguide. Guided light incident to the optical waveguide through the light-incoming facet is totally reflected off the inclined facet, and the guided light is transmitted through the first or second surface of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical waveguide device and a coherent light source for use in a field such as optical information processing or optical communication. The present invention also relates to an integrated unit and an optical pickup device including the optical waveguide device or the coherent light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the optical information processing field, a small-sized light source for emitting light having a short wavelength is required for achieving high-density optical disks and high-definition displays. There are know techniques for generating light having a short wavelength. An example of such a technique is a second harmonic generation (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cSHGxe2x80x9d) technique using a semiconductor device and an optical waveguide wavelength conversion (Yamamoto et al., Optics Letters Vol. 16, No. 15, 1156 (1991)) device using quasi phase matching (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cQPMxe2x80x9d).
FIG. 20 is a diagram schematically showing a structure of a SHG blue laser 2000 using an optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device 83. Herein, a tunable semiconductor laser 80 having a distribution Bragg reflection (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cDBRxe2x80x9d: Distributed Bragg reflector) region is employed. A tunable semiconductor laser having a DBR region is hereinafter referred to as a tunable DBR semiconductor laser. The tunable DBR semiconductor laser 80 is an AlGaAs DBR semiconductor laser whose input is in a power range of around 100 mW and whose oscillated wavelength is in a band range of around 0.85 xcexcm. The tunable DBR semiconductor laser 80 includes an active region 81 and a DBR region 82. The oscillation wavelength of the semiconductor laser 80 can be adjusted by changing an amount of current injected into the DBR region 82. The optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device 83 includes an optical waveguide 84 and a periodic polarization inversion region 85 on an X-plate MgO-doped LiNbO3 substrate (the X axis of crystal is substantially perpendicular to the substrate). Laser light emitted from a facet of the tunable DBR semiconductor laser 80 is coupled with the optical waveguide 84 of the optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device 83. With the configuration of FIG. 20, about 60 mW laser light out of about 100 mW laser output is coupled with the optical waveguide 84. By controlling the amount of current injected into the DBR region 82 of the tunable DBR semiconductor laser 80, the oscillation wavelength is fixed to fall within a wavelength allowance range of phase matching of the optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device 83, resulting in about 10 mW blue light having a wavelength of about 425 nm.
Such as SHG blue laser may be used for an optical disk recording and reproduction apparatus. Referring to FIG. 21, an SHG blue laser 2000 is mounted in an optical pickup 2100. A module (the SHG blue laser 2000) emits blue light which is in turn collimated by a collimator lens 86 and transmitted through a polarizing beam splitter 87 (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cPBSxe2x80x9d) and a quarter-wave plate 88. Thereafter, the blue light is bent into a 90xc2x0 angle (substantially perpendicular to the plane of the figure) by a raising mirror (not shown) and converged by an objective lens 89 onto an optical disk 95. The light is reflected by the optical disk 95 and is bent into a 90xc2x0 angle by the PBS 87. The light is guided into a photodetector 91 (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cPDxe2x80x9d) by a detection lens system 90 including a detection lens and a cylindrical lens. The photodetector 91 performs signal detection. With the optical pickup 2100, a high-density optical disk of about 10 GB or more can be reproduced.
Uchida et al., the Spring Convention of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan, C3. 28, 1994 reports a technique in which a 45xc2x0 cut is made in an optical waveguide to form a total reflection surface so that output light is in a direction substantially perpendicular to a substrate (see FIG. 22). In this case, an optical waveguide 93 of glass is formed by conducting double ion exchange on a glass substrate 92. A 45xc2x0 cut 94 is provided in the optical waveguide 93 by microprocessing. The processing is performed using an appropriate blade. The sides of the cut 94 are polished at the time of cutting so that a reflection surface whose loss is as low as 0.3 dB can be obtained.
Recently, there is a demand for small and thin optical pickups as computers are being downsized. In order to achieve smaller and thinner optical pickups, it is important to downsize not only a light source of the optical pickup, but also the configuration of the optical pickup. In this case, it is also important to take measures against returning light, interference noise, or the like described below.
1) Small and thin optical pickup
In the configuration of the conventional optical pickup 2100 of FIG. 21, the optical axis of the module is parallel to the optical axis of the optical pickup 2100. Therefore, the optical pickup 2100 is longer in the optical axis direction than in the width. When a semiconductor laser chip is employed, such an element is about 1 mm or less long, which is not problematic. In contrast, the SHG blue laser 2000 includes the optical waveguide type tunable device and the semiconductor laser. This causes the module size to be as long as 10 mm. The optical pickup 2100 becomes extremely long. Further, in the configuration of FIG. 21, the light detection system (the detection lens, the cylindrical lens, and the PD) is separated from the other parts of the optical pickup, causing the optical pickup to be large.
2) Measures against returning light
In the module including the semiconductor laser and the optical waveguide device, light reflected off the light-exiting facet of the optical waveguide is returned to the semiconductor laser. This causes the semiconductor laser to be in a multi-longitudinal mode, whereby noise characteristics are impaired.
3) Reduction in interference noise
In the SHG blue laser 2000, blue light is obtained by converting the wavelength of the semiconductor laser light which is used as a fundamental wave. Therefore, even if part of reflected light from the outside is returned to the semiconductor laser, the returning light does not contribute to noise. As a result, the semiconductor laser can be operated in a single mode, thereby obtaining a low level of noise (about xe2x88x92140 dB/Hz or less). However, blue light is highly coherent, so that if a cavity structure is externally provided, the amplitude of the blue light varies due to interference as the cavity condition is changed. In the configuration of the optical pick 2100 of FIG. 21, the surface of an optical disk 95 and the light emitting facet of the optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device form a confocal optical system. Therefore, as the optical disk is rotated changing a cavity condition, the intensity of light received by the PD 91 varies, causing deterioration of a signal waveform upon reproduction of the optical disk 95.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an optical waveguide device comprises a substrate having first and second surfaces; and an optical waveguide provided on the first surface of the substrate, having a light-incoming facet and a facet inclined with respect to the optical waveguide. Guided light incident to the optical waveguide through the light-incoming facet is totally reflected off the inclined facet, and the guiding light is transmitted through the first or second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the guided light is transmitted through the first surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the guided light is transmitted through the second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the substrate is made of a nonlinear optical material, the guided light incident to the optical waveguide as a fundamental wave is wavelength converted into a second harmonic wave, and the second harmonic wave is transmitted.
In one embodiment of this invention, the second harmonic wave is transmitted through the second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, a thickness of the substrate is about 0.3 mm or more and about 1.0 mm or less.
In one embodiment of this invention, a non-reflection portion is provided on the first surface of the substrate in which the second harmonic wave is substantially not reflected off the non-reflection portion.
In one embodiment of this invention, the non-reflection portion is made of antireflection coating.
In one embodiment of this invention, the second harmonic wave is transmitted through the first surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, a non-reflection portion is provided on the first surface of the substrate in which the second harmonic wave is substantially not reflected off the non-reflection portion.
In one embodiment of this invention, the non-reflection portion is made of antireflection coating.
In one embodiment of this invention, the an angle attained from intersection of the inclined facet of the optical waveguide and the optical waveguide is about 45xc2x11xc2x0.
In one embodiment of this invention, the second harmonic wave has a guide mode.
In one embodiment of this invention, a whole side of the substrate corresponding to the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is inclined with respect to the optical waveguide.
In one embodiment of this invention, the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is a cut provided in the vicinity of the first surface of the substrate, and the cut is substantially perpendicular to the optical waveguide.
In one embodiment of this invention, the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is a groove provided in the vicinity of the first surface of the substrate, and the groove is substantially perpendicular to the optical waveguide.
In one embodiment of this invention, a cladding layer is provided on the first surface of the substrate excluding at least the groove.
In one embodiment of this invention, a cladding layer is provided on the first surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, a relationship given by:
sin (xcex8) greater than n1/n2
is satisfied where n1 is a refractive index of the cladding layer; n2 is an effective refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to light guided in the optical waveguide; and xcex8 is an angle attained from intersection of the first surface of the substrate and a normal line to a side of the groove.
In one embodiment of this invention, the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is a side of a groove provided in the vicinity of the first surface of the substrate in which the groove is substantially perpendicular to the optical waveguide; and
a relationship given by:
t2 less than t less than t1
is satisfied where t1 is a depth of a guide mode of a fundamental wave guided in the optical waveguide; t2 is a depth of a guide mode of a second harmonic wave guided in the optical waveguide; and t is a depth of the groove.
In one embodiment of this invention, a cladding layer is further provided on the first surface of the substrate;
the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is a side of a groove provided in the vicinity of the first surface of the substrate in which the groove is substantially perpendicular to the optical waveguide; and
a relationship given by:
nc2/nf2 less than sin (xcex8) less than nc1/nf1
is satisfied where nc1 is a refractive index of the cladding layer with respect to the fundamental wave; nc2 is a refractive index of the cladding layer with respect to the harmonic wave; nf1 is a refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to the fundamental wave; nf2 is a refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to the harmonic wave; and xcex8 is an angle attained from intersection of the first surface of the substrate and a normal line to the side of the groove.
In one embodiment of this invention, a diffraction grating is provided on the second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the substrate is made of a first birefringence optical crystal.
In one embodiment of this invention, the optical waveguide device further comprises a second birefringence optical crystal provided in an optical path of the transmitted light. An optical axis of the second birefringence optical crystal is orthogonal to an optical axis of the first birefringence optical crystal of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, one of the first and second surfaces is substantially in a shape of a cylinder in which the guided light is transmitted through the one of the first and second surfaces.
In one embodiment of this invention, the optical waveguide device further comprises a cylindrical lens provided in an optical path of the guided light transmitted from the optical waveguide device.
In one embodiment of this invention, the optical waveguide device further comprises a concave package. The optical waveguide device is provided in the concave package; and the concave package is sealed by the second birefringence crystal.
In one embodiment of this invention, the optical waveguide device further comprises a concave package. The optical waveguide device is provided in the concave package; and the concave package is sealed by the cylindrical lens.
In one embodiment of this invention, the substrate has a first facet including the light-incoming facet of the optical waveguide and a second facet opposite the first facet; an angle attained from intersection of a plane including a line of intersection of the inclined facet and the first surface of the substrate and a line of intersection of the second facet and the second surface of the substrate, and a direction in which the guided light is transmitted, is greater than half a divergence angle of the guided light transmitted through the second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, a relationship given by:
xcex81/2 less than xcex8
is satisfied where xcex8 is an angle attained from intersection of a plane including a line of intersection of the inclined facet and the first surface of the substrate and a line of intersection of the second facet and the second surface of the substrate, and a direction in which the guided light is transmitted; and xcex81 is a divergence angle of the guided light output through the second surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the wideguide device further comprises a periodic polarization inversion region provided in the first surface of the substrate.
In one embodiment of this invention, the periodic polarization inversion region is not provided in the vicinity of the inclined facet of the optical waveguide.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a coherent light source comprises a semiconductor laser and the optical waveguide device of the present invention.
In one embodiment of this invention, the semiconductor laser is a tunable semiconductor laser.
In one embodiment of this invention, a distance between a light-exiting facet of the semiconductor laser and the light-incoming facet of the optical waveguide is about 0 xcexcm or more and about 10 xcexcm or less.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an integrated unit comprises a coherent light source including a semiconductor laser and the optical waveguide device of the present invention in which light from the semiconductor laser is incident to the optical waveguide; a photodetector for detecting light associated with the light transmitted from the optical waveguide device; and a submount in which the coherent light source and the photodetector are provided on the same surface of the submount.
In one embodiment of this invention, the integrated unit further comprises a light shielding member provided between the coherent light source and the photodetector.
In one embodiment of this invention, a height of a surface of the photodetector is higher than a surface on a light-exiting side of the coherent light source with reference to a surface of the submount.
In one embodiment of this invention, a concave portion is provided in a surface of the submount; and the coherent light source is provided in the concave portion.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an integrated unit comprises a coherent light source including a semiconductor laser and the optical waveguide device of the present invention in which light from the semiconductor laser is incident to the optical waveguide device; a photodetector for detecting light associated with the light transmitted from the optical waveguide device; and a submount having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface in which the coherent light source is provided on the first surface of the submount and the photodetector is provided on the second surface of the submount.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an integrated unit comprises the coherent light source of the present invention; a concave package in which the coherent light source is provided in the concave package; and a transparent substrate for sealing the concave package in which a diffraction grating is provided on a surface of the transparent substrate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical pickup comprises the integrated unit of the present invention; and a focusing optical system for converging light transmitted from the integrated unit. A diffraction grating is provided on a surface of the optical waveguide device of the integrated unit, the guided light being transmitted through the surface.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical pickup comprises the integrated unit of the present invention; and a focusing optical system for converging light transmitted from the integrated unit.
In one embodiment of this invention, the photodetector of the integrated unit is divided into at least three regions including a first region positioned at a middle of the photodetector, a second and third regions on opposite sides of the first region; the second and third regions with respect to the first region are provided in a direction substantially perpendicular to a grate of the diffraction grating.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical pickup comprises a semiconductor laser; the optical waveguide device of the present invention in which light from the semiconductor laser is incident to the optical waveguide device; two photodetectors for detecting light associated with light transmitted from the the optical waveguide device; a submount in which the coherent and the two photodetectors are provided on the submount; a focusing optical system for converging the light transmitted from the optical waveguide device; and a diffraction element having lens action provided in the focusing optical system. The two photodetector are provided on opposite sides of the optical waveguide device; the two photodetector each have at least a center portion and a peripheral portion; and the two photodetector are irradiated with light diffracted by the diffraction element.
Hereinafter, functions of the present invention will be described.
According to the present invention, an optical waveguide device includes a substrate having a first and second surfaces, and an optical waveguide provided on the first surface of the substrate. Guided light is totally reflected off an inclined facet of the optical waveguide so that the reflected light can be output through the first or second surface. Therefore, in a coherent light source (module) of the present invention including the optical waveguide device and the semiconductor laser, light is transmitted in a direction toward the first or second surface which is different from the optical axis direction of the coherent light source. A small-sized optical pickup can be achieved. Light, which is reflected off the light-exiting facet of the optical waveguide and returned to the semiconductor laser as in the conventional optical waveguide device having a vertical light-exiting facet, is reduced, thereby improving noise characteristics.
When the thickness of the substrate included in the optical waveguide device is less than about 0.3 mm, it is difficult to handle the substrate. When the thickness of the substrate included in the optical waveguide device is more than about 1.0 mm, the astigmatism is large at the focusing light spot. Preferably, the thickness of the substrate is about 0.3 mm or more and about 1.0 mm or less.
When the substrate of the optical waveguide device is made of a nonlinear optical material, and a fundamental wave of the semiconductor laser incident to the optical waveguide of the optical waveguide device is wavelength converted to a second harmonic wave, light (second harmonic wave) externally reflected and returned to the semiconductor laser does not contribute to noise. However, blue light is highly coherent, for example. Therefore, when the second harmonic wave is transmitted through the second surface, an antireflection coating to the second harmonic wave may be preferably provided on the first surface so that the returning light can be prevented from being reflected off the first surface.
According to the present invention, guided light is totally reflected off the inclined facet of the optical waveguide so that the reflected light can be output through the first surface. Therefore, in a coherent light source (module) of the present invention including the optical waveguide device and the semiconductor laser, light is transmitted in a direction toward the first surface which is different from the optical axis direction of the coherent light source. A small-sized optical pickup can be achieved. Light, which is reflected off the light-exiting facet of the optical waveguide and returned to the semiconductor laser as in the conventional optical waveguide device having a vertical light-exiting facet, is reduced, thereby improving noise characteristics.
When the substrate of the optical waveguide deice is made of a nonlinear optical material, and a fundamental wave of the semiconductor laser incident to the optical waveguide of the optical waveguide device is wavelength converted to a second harmonic wave, light (second harmonic wave) externally reflected and returned to the semiconductor laser doe snot contribute to noise. However, in this case, light reaches the first surface immediately after being totally reflected off the inclined surface. Therefore, an antireflection coating to a fundamental wave may be preferably provided on the first surface so that the returning light can be prevented from being reflected off the first surface.
In the optical waveguide device, when the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is inclined at an angel other than about 45xc2x0 with respect to the optical waveguide, coma aberration occurs at a focusing light spot. Therefore, the inclined facet of the optical waveguide is preferably inclined at an angle of about 45xc2x0 (45xc2x11xc2x0) with respect to the optical waveguide.
Further, when the substrate of the optical waveguide device is made of a nonlinear optical material, and a fundamental wave of the semiconductor laser incident to the optical waveguide of the optical waveguide device is wavelength converted to a second harmonic wave, the harmonic wave is preferably in a guide mode. The thickness of the substrate can be smaller than in a radiation mode so that the astigmatism or the like can be reduced. Moreover, when light in the optical waveguide is in a radiation mode, the thickness of the substrate needs to be increased in order to be transmitted in the substrate direction. When a groove or the like is provided on the first surface so that an inclined facet can be provided, the groove needs to be deep. Taking into account optical disk recording and reproduction apparatus applications, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory light focus characteristic in the case of the radiation mode.
In the optical waveguide device, a groove or cut may be provided in the vicinity of the first surface, substantially orthogonal to the optical waveguide. A portion (a side) of the groove or cut can be an inclined facet of the optical waveguide. In this case, such an inclined facet can be easily provided by etching or the like used in a semiconductor process, as compared with the optical polishing. Note that damages to the optical waveguide device can be reduced in handling it more significantly when a light-exiting portion of the optical waveguide is concave than when it is convex.
When the first surface of the substrate on which the optical waveguide is provided contact the submount, a propagation loss in the optical waveguide is significantly increased. A cladding layer is preferably provided on the first surface of the optical waveguide. In this case, when the cladding layer is provided on the groove of the substrate, the reflectance of the groove may be decreased depending on the refractive index of the substrate. The cladding layer is preferably provided on the first surface of the substrate excluding the groove.
When the cladding layer is provided on the first surface of the substrate, the side of the groove (the inclined facet of the optical waveguide) can have a total reflection property if a relationship given by:
sin (xcex8) greater than n1/n2
is satisfied where n1 is the refractive index of the cladding layer; n2 is the effective refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to light guided in the optical waveguide and xcex8 is the angle attained from intersection of the first surface of the substrate and a normal line to the side (inclined facet) of the groove.
Further, when a relationship given by:
t2 less than t less than t1
is satisfied where t1 is the depth of a guide mode of the fundamental wave guided in the optical waveguide; t2 is the depth of a guide mode of the second harmonic wave guided in the optical waveguide; and t is the depth of the groove, the second harmonic wave is totally reflected off the groove while the fundamental wave passes through the groove, so that the harmonic wave and the fundamental wave can be separated. Thereby, an amount of the fundamental wave mixed in an amount of the harmonic wave is reduced. Further, the separated fundamental wave is detected so that an output characteristic of the fundamental wave can be monitored.
When a relationship given by:
nc2/nf2 less than  sin (xcex8) less than nc1/nf1
is satisfied where nc1 is the refractive index of the cladding layer with respect to the fundamental wave; nc2 is the refractive index of the cladding layer with respect to the second harmonic wave; nf1 is the refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to the fundamental wave; nf2 is the refractive index of the optical waveguide with respect to the second harmonic wave; and xcex8 is the angle attained from intersection of the first surface of the substrate and a normal line to the side of the groove, if the thickness of the cladding layer is appropriate, only the harmonic wave is totally reflected off the groove, thereby allowing wavelength separation. Therefore, an amount of the fundamental wave mixed in the harmonic wave can be reduced. Further, an output characteristic of the fundamental wave can be monitored by detecting the separated fundamental wave.
Further, when light is output through the second surface of the substrate opposite the first surface, a diffraction grating may be provided on the second surface so that the number of parts can be reduced.
When light is output through the second surface of the substrate included in the optical waveguide device, light reflected off the inclined facet is propagated in the substrate as a divergence beam, having various directional components. When the substrate is made of a birefringence optical crystal, the refractive index thereof with respect to ordinary light is different from the refractive index thereof with respect to extraordinary light. Therefore, light beams transmitted from the optical waveguide device has different phases between in a direction parallel to the optical waveguide and a direction substantially perpendicular that direction. This causes the wavefront of collimated light beams has astigmatism components. Therefore, a second birefringence optical crystal whose optical axis is orthogonal to that of a birefringence optical crystal included in the substrate is preferably provided in a divergence optical path of the transmitted light from the optical waveguide device so as to compensate for an astigmatism component.
Alternatively, the substrate surface (second surface) through which light is transmitted from the optical waveguide device may be substantially in the shape of a cylinder, thereby compensating for the astigmatism.
A cylindrical lens may be provided in the optical path of the transmitted light from the optical waveguide device, thereby compensating for the astigmatism.
In the coherent light source of the present invention, when the optical waveguide device and the semiconductor laser are provided in a concave package, the concave package may be sealed using the second birefringence crystal as a sealing plate, thereby reducing the number of parts and therefore reducing cost. The sealing plate may be the above-described cylindrical lens.
The distance between the light-exiting facet of the semiconductor laser and the light-incoming facet of the optical waveguide is about several micrometers (e.g., 0 xcexcm or more and 10 xcexcm or less) so that a direct coupling is performed without a coupling lens. In this case, returning light from the light-incoming facet is prevented, thereby reducing noise.
In the SHG element, the wavelength of light incident to the SHG element needs to be coincident with the phase matching wavelength of the SHG element. Therefore, using a tunable semiconductor laser, the oscillation wavelength of the semiconductor laser can be fixed in the phase matching wavelength intensity range of an optical waveguide type wavelength conversion device. Such a function can be integrated with a coherent light source, thereby downsizing and stabilizing the coherent light source.
In the integrated unit of the present invention, the coherent light source in which light is output through the second surface opposite the first surface on which the optical waveguide is provided, and the photodetectors are provided on the same surface of the submount. Thereby, the photodetectors can be integrated with the submount in the vicinity of the second surface through which light is output. Moreover, the photodetectors and the coherent light source can be easily and precisely aligned with each other, thereby efficiently assembling the integrated unit.
A light shielding member may be provided between the coherent light source and the photodetectors so that stray light is prevented from reaching the photodetectors. The height of the surfaces of the photodetectors may be higher than the surface on the light-exiting side of the coherent light source with reference to the surface of the submount. Alternatively, a concave portion may be provided in the submount surface so that the coherent light source is provided in the concave portion.
In the integrated unit of the present invention, the coherent light source, in which light is output through the first surface of the substrate on which the optical waveguide is provided, is provided on a first surface of the submount, while the photodetectors are provided on a second surface of the submount. Thereby, the stray light is prevented from reaching the photodetectors, without the above-described light shielding member or groove.
Further, when the integrated unit or the coherent light source is provided in the concave package, a diffraction element is used to obtain a stable optical system of an optical pickup. The concave package may be sealed with a transparent plate on which a diffraction grating is provided. Thereby, the number of parts can be reduced.
Using the integrated unit of the present invention, a small and thin optical pickup of the present invention can be achieved. A diffraction grating may be provided in the focusing optical system, a substrate surface of the optical waveguide device, or the transparent plate sealing the concave package. Thereby, the number of parts can be reduced. The transmitted light is split into three light beams of 0th order and xc2x11st orders by the diffraction grating. The 0th order light beam is applied to a target track on an optical disk. The reflected light from the optical disk is incident to the focusing photodetectors which in turn detects an RF signal. The xc2x11st order light is used as subbeams for detecting tracking error signals, and the subbeams are detected by the respective tracking photodetectors, thereby obtaining the tracking error signals from differential output signals of the subbeams.
Further, the photodetectors may be provided on opposite sides of the coherent light source. Each photodetector is divided into a central portion and a peripheral portion (focusing photodetectors). In addition, the focusing optical system and a second diffraction element (hologram) having lens action may be provided. In this case, when the light reflected off an optical disk is diffracted by the second diffraction element, a light spot before focus is created on one of the focusing photodetector while a light spot after focus is created on the other of the focusing photodetectors. Therefore, signal detection can be performed using a spot size detection (SSD) technique.
Thus, the invention described herein makes possible the advantages of providing an optical waveguide device, a coherent light source, an integrated unit, and an optical pickup device which are small and thin and in which returning light to a semiconductor laser and interference noise are prevented.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Optical waveguide device, coherent light source, integrated unit, and optical pickup

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


In the sending messages, a notification system determines locations of mobile devices and user profiles for users of the mobile devices, identifies a target message for a target device, determines a number of users with overlapping target message candidacy based on the locations and the user profiles, and determines whether the number of users exceed a predetermined threshold. If the number of users exceeds the predetermined threshold, the notification system determines a target message trigger time based on when the number of users exceed a predetermined threshold, determines a target message assembly time and a target message delivery time, and determines whether a sum of the target message assembly time and the target message delivery time is less than a difference between a current time and the trigger time. If so, then a sending of the target message to the target device for displaying at the target device is triggered.

Current approaches to sending messages to devices, including mobile devices, commonly use location based predictive analytics. However, these approaches lack a mechanism to discern the effectiveness of the messages that are sent. For example, these approaches lack a mechanism to discern from a preferential category of messages to either the most valued customer or to customers most likely to avail of an offer contained in the messages, using factors in combination with the customer's location. This may result in a high cost in the sending of the messages, especially in the sending of a high volume of messages, without a corresponding assurance that the most valued customers receive the messages in a timely fashion.

Using location and propensity based predictive analytics to provide mobile message QOS

International Business Machines Corporation


Multiple boards are connected within a chassis, using a multi-port Target Channel Adapter (TCA). Data is transported from a TCA on a board directly to a TCA on another board through a meshed backplane. The meshed backplane is equipped to mount boards via connectors and may consist of a fabric of copper conductors or optical fibers. Communication from TCA to TCA requires placing ports on each individual TCA along with the appropriate input and output buffering. A multi-port TCA capable of performing multiple bridging functions simultaneously i.e., bridging from a high speed serial meshed backplane to multiple local busses, i.e., Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and TCP/IP devices, is referred to as a Fabric Interconnect Chip (FIC).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to computing systems, and specifically to systems that use high speed serial packet-switching fabrics, such as the InfiniBand architecture and PCI-Express.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In current-generation computers, the central processing unit (CPU) is connected to the system memory and to peripheral devices by a shared parallel bus, such as the Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) bus or the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Essentially, a bus is the channel or path between components in a computer. Likewise, current server to server connections and links to other server-related systems, such as remote storage and networking devices, depend on parallel bus technology. Server design dependent on a shared bus input/output (I/O) architecture may deliver for example 512 megabytes per second (MB/sec) of potential bandwidth that is shared among devices connected to the bus.
As data path-widths grow, and clock speeds become faster, the shared parallel bus becomes too costly and complex to keep up with system demands. In response, the computer industry is working to develop next-generation bus standards. Many of the proposed new standards have something in common. They propose doing away with the shared-bus technology used in PCI and moving to a point-to-point switching connection. Thus, the computer industry is moving towards fast, packetized, serial input/output bus architectures, in which computing hosts and peripherals are linked by a switching network, commonly referred to as a switching fabric. A number of architectures of this type have been proposed, and the first next-generation standard is already in place. InfiniBand has been advanced by a consortium headed by a group of industry leaders and PCI-Express is soon to follow.
The InfiniBand architecture is an I/O infrastructure technology that simplifies and speeds server-to-server connections and links to other server related systems, such as remote storage and network devices. The Infiniband fabric or mesh is the central network of connections between nodes, i.e., servers, and remote networking and storage devices within a data center. Infiniband architecture also constructs highly available data centers through multiple levels of redundancy. By connecting nodes via multiple links, Infiniband systems continue to perform even if one link fails. For increased reliability, multiple switches in a fabric provide redundant paths that allow for seamless re-routing of data through the fabric should a link between switches fail. Completely redundant fabrics may be configured for the highest level of reliability and may continue to perform even if an entire fabric fails.
Each node connects to the fabric through a channel adapter. Infiniband classifies the channel adapter into two categories: Host Channel Adapters (HCA) and Target Channel Adapters (TCA). HCAs are present in servers or even desktop machines and provide an interface that is used to integrate the InfiniBand with the operating system. TCAs are present on I/O devices such as a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) subsystem or a Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD) subsystem. Each channel adapter may have one or more ports. A channel adapter with more than one port, may be connected to multiple switch ports. This allows for multiple paths between a source and a destination, resulting in performance and reliability benefits.
Infiniband channel adapters essentially have their own intelligence, therefore, they offload some of the communication processing from the operating system and CPU. Host and Target Channel adapters present an interface to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model layers above them that allow those layers to generate and consume packets. In the case of a server writing a file to a storage device, the host is generating the packets that are then consumed by the storage device. In contrast to the channel adapter, switches simply forward packets between two of their ports based on an established routing table and the addressing information stored on the packets.
Infiniband uses Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) headers natively, and can connect to Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) switches and routers with the TCA providing a seamless transition between the system area network and external networks. InfiniBand defines network layers up to the transport layer and offers all four combinations of reliable/unreliable and connection datagram service. The Infiniband transport protocol is used within the system area network, but other transport protocols can be accessed by sending raw packets via a TCA. TCAs provide connections to storage, fibre channel networks, and other I/O nodes, and include an I/O controller specific to the device's protocol, be it Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Ethernet, etc. A TCA includes an Infiniband protocol engine that dramatically accelerates the performance of critical Infiniband transport functions in the TCA's hardware, achieving aggregate internal transaction switching throughput speeds of 150 gigabits per second. TCAs are highly optimized for Infiniband target applications such as bridging from Infiniband devices (switches) to local busses i.e., Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCP/IP devices, as well as next-generation I/O protocols.

Multi-port high-speed serial fabric interconnect chip in a meshed configuration


A method, apparatus, and system for a solar-driven bio-refinery that may include a entrained-flow biomass feed system that is feedstock flexible via particle size control of the biomass. Some embodiments include a chemical reactor that receives concentrated solar thermal energy from an array of heliostats. The entrained-flow biomass feed system can use an entrainment carrier gas and supplies a variety of biomass sources fed as particles into the solar-driven chemical reactor. Biomass sources in a raw state or partially torrified state may be used, as long as parameters such as particle size of the biomass are controlled. Additionally, concentrated solar thermal energy can drive gasification of the particles. An on-site fuel synthesis reactor may receive the hydrogen and carbon monoxide products from the gasification reaction use the hydrogen and carbon monoxide products in a hydrocarbon fuel synthesis process to create a liquid hydrocarbon fuel.

Biomass gasification is an endothermic process; energy must be put into the process to drive it forward. Typically, this is performed by partially oxidizing (burning) the biomass itself. Between 30% and 40% of the biomass must be consumed to drive the process, and at the temperatures which the process is generally limited to (for efficiency reasons), conversion is typically limited, giving still lower yields. In contrast, the proposed solar-driven biorefinery uses the external source of energy (solar) to provide the energy required for reaction, so none of the biomass need be consumed to achieve the conversion. This results in significantly higher yields of gallons of gasoline per biomass ton than other technologies. As the energy source being used to drive the conversion is renewable and carbon free. Also, chemical reactors are generally engineered to operate at constant conditions around the clock rather than on a cyclic basis.

Systems and methods for biomass grinding and feeding


A semiconductor integrated circuit device including a memory circuit with both high access efficiency and high memory efficiency in a simple configuration is provided. In a memory read control circuit, burst length is changed based on whether or not a read instruction is issued at a cycle after a cycle at which a read instruction /R is issued. And, in a memory write control circuit, burst length is changed based on whether or not a write instruction is issued at a cycle before a cycle at which a write instruction /W is issued.

As a synchronous static RAM and the like, there is one in which burst length (number of bits of data written/read continuously) is changed for each product. And, as a synchronous dynamic RAM and the like, there is one in which the burst length is made variable by mode setting using a mode register set before write/read operation.


A first messaging app, in one embodiment receives text and detects that the text includes a URL that refers to audio or audiovisual media content in a catalog of media content, and the messaging app obtains metadata about the media content and transmits the metadata to a second messaging app. Both the first and the second messaging app can operate, through interprocess communication, with its own music extension app that displays a user interface within a view hosted by the respective messaging app.

The embodiments described in this disclosure relate to messaging systems such as text messaging systems on cellular telephones or other communication devices or data processing systems.
The use of text messaging systems began many years ago. For example, wireless cellular telephone carriers, such as Verizon or AT&T, allowed text messages through the Short Message Service (SMS) for cell phones in the 1990s before smartphones were available. Typically, the amount of data transmitted has been limited by rules established by the carriers. Recently, as the use of smartphones (e.g. iPhones) and tablet computers (e.g. iPad) has increased, the text messaging systems have developed the ability to send images, such as photos or emojis. In addition, messaging systems such as iMessage from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. have allowed users to also send and receive text and images through "public" networks which include "public" WiFi access points and the Internet (in addition to using the wireless carrier's private cellular telephone networks), and messaging systems such as iMessage can seamlessly transition between the use of public and private networks depending on the availability of, for example, WiFi access points or the compatibility of the other user's device (which may not be compatible with iMessage).
A common use of text messaging is the sending and receiving of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). For example, a user can type a URL or copy and paste a URL into a text message and then send the text message. The URL may be for a web page or a video or a song or some other content that is accessible, usually through a web browser, to a device. Sending the user entered URL in a text message allows a user at the receiving device to select the URL to cause a web browser (or other component) on the receiving device to load the URL (e.g. a web page) and display or otherwise present content from the URL.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Conversion of text relating to media content and media extension apps


An apparatus, a method and a computer program are provided to reduce leakage current in a processor. Traditionally, extra logic is employed to reduce leakage currents. However, reducing leakage current without sacrificing fine grain operations and speed can be difficult. Achieving such a goal can be accomplished by incorporating a multiplexer (mux) into the scan-in path of scan registers so that units or sub-units of the processor can be powered down individually. Additionally, the muxes are not incorporated into time paths, so speed can be preserved.

Developments in modern electronic devices have resulted in smaller and smaller circuits and devices in general. As devices become smaller and smaller, particularly with respect to circuit-level components, the leakage current of a given circuit or design has become increasingly important to manage. Moreover, as technology and advancements result in smaller-scale devices, the leakage current, typically an undesirable stray current that flows through an electronic device, which is ordinarily small relative to the operating current and/or voltages of a device, approaches a higher percentage of the total operating currents of the device. Accordingly, as technology drives toward smaller circuits, efforts have also been undertaken to reduce the leakage current to a negligible or otherwise, manageable level. Additionally, developments in device performance have encouraged investigation of various methods and techniques to reduce the power required to operate a device.
For example, clock gating is a common-technique for reducing the power of circuits, or even entire units, during clock cycles in which the circuits or components are not in use. When the clock of a register, for example, is gated or otherwise turned off, the register and its output maintain the previous state. Thus, a switching power in the circuit can be reduced. However, reduction in switching power does not necessarily impact the leakage current of the circuit to a substantial enough degree to reduce problems associated with a relatively high leakage current.
An example of a circuit that has undesirable leakage current is FIG. 1 of the drawings. The reference numeral 100 generally designates conventional logic design that comprises combinational logic 104, register inputs 102, and register outputs 106. With the logic 100, data is input into the combinational logic 104 through the register inputs 102, and resulting data is output from the combinational logic 104 to the register outputs 106. However, the combinational logic 104 utilizes thin film transistors, such as Positive channel Metal Oxide on Silicon (PMOS) transistors; thus, there can be an undesirable leakage current.
Manipulating or otherwise controlling the input data into the register inputs 102 of a circuit 100 can be a useful technique to help reduce a leakage current when the circuits are not actively in use, particularly in very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits. Several techniques have been developed in an effort to maximize the use of an appropriately configured minimum leakage vector. For example, one common technique includes adding multiplexer logic, as depicted below in conjunction with FIG. 3, between the input registers (not shown) and the target combinational logic circuit 104. In particular, the input multiplexer method adds a multiplexer for each output of an input register (not shown), thereby allowing a selection between data, passed to the combinational logic circuit 104 in ordinary operation, and a minimum leakage vector, applied to the combinatorial circuit as required, through an appropriate selection of the multiplexer. However, this method often incurs timing delays to the circuits which might not be acceptable for high-performance designs because the cycle time of system can be increased.
Other techniques employ scan-chain circuitry typically included in many electronic devices in order to facilitate testing and other diagnostic operations. For example, in many systems, latch bits are often linked together to form a scan chain. In particular, many scan-based methods are configured to switch the entire system or scan chain into a scan mode, and apply a minimum leakage vector as a scan entry. However, switching to a scan mode in some systems can require waiting several clock cycles, during which time previously issued commands in a pipeline are completed and cleared.
Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the reference numeral 200 generally designates an n-bit scan register. The register 200 comprises a local clock buffer (LCB) 202 and latch bits 250, 252, and 254. Each latch bit 250, 252, and 254 further comprises one multiplexer (mux) 204, 206, and 208, and one latch 210, 212, and 214. Typically, the register 200 is utilized for n-bits, so that a latch bit, such as the latch bits 250, 252, and 254, is utilized for each bit. FIG. 2, however, only depicts latch bits for the purposes of illustration, but there could be any number of latch bits as desired.
The register 200 is initiated by a clocking signal. The clocking signal is received at the LCB 202 through the communication channel 234. However, for the LCB 202 to generate a local clock signal, which is communicated to each latch 210, 212, and 214 through the communication channel 229, the LCB 202 also should receive an activation signal and a select signal (SL) through the communication channels 236 and 232, respectively. The SL signal indicates the mode of operation of the register 200, where a '1' indicates scan mode and a '0' indicates normal mode.
Depending on the mode of operation, the register 200 operates as normally latching data or as scanning data for testing purposes. In addition to providing the SL signal to the LCB 202, the SL signal is provided to each mux 204, 206, and 208 through the communication channel 232. In normal mode (SL=0), data is input into each muxes 204, 206, and 208 through the communication channels 218, 220, and 222, respectively. When properly clocked, the data can be latched into each of the latches 210, 212, and 214. Then, the latched data can be output from the latches 210, 212, and 214 through the communication channels 224, 226, and 230, respectively.
In scanning mode (SL=1), the operation of the register 200 is substantially different. Scan-in data is input into the mux 204 through the communication channel 216. The scan-in data is then latched in the latch 210, when enabled by the local clocking signal provided by the LCB 202. The latch 210 can then output the latched scan-in data through the communication channel 224, which is also input into the mux 206. The mux 206 can then latch the scan-in data in the latch 212, when clocked. The process then successively continues through the latch bits 250, 252, and 254 until the mux 208 receives the scan-in data. The mux 208 can then latch the scan-in data in the latch 214, where the latch 214 can output scan-out data through the communication channel 230.
The scan function (SL=1) can be used for applying the Low Leakage Vector (LLV) with small hardware overhead without having an adverse on the timing of combinational logic, such as the combinational logic 104, coupled to the register 200. When scanning in the LLV, the data is shifted through the latches 210, 212, and 214 one bit at a time. However, the chain can be very long, exceeding 1000 bits. Therefore, many cycles are required to scan in all of the data. Additionally, the power used for switching can outweigh the power saved due to the reduced leakage current once the LLV is applied.
When scanning, the process of scanning always updates the entire chain which usually consists of several registers, such as the register 200. Therefore, applying the LLV as result of a scan operation requires that all registers of that scan chain are updated. In cases where the entire system can be transitioned in a "low-leakage" state, the scan method can be useful. However, in other cases, such as cases for powering down infrequently used subunits while the remainder of the system is functioning, the scan method is not as effective.
Another solution is to utilize intermediate multiplexers. Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the reference numeral 300 generally designates a multiplexed logic system. The system 300 comprises register inputs 302, a mux 308, and combinational logic 304. There can be a number of register inputs and muxes; however, for the purposes of illustration, only one mux and one register input are shown.
Essentially, intermediate muxes, such as the mux 308, are interposed between the register inputs 302 and the combinational logic 304. The mux 308 then can control the function of the system 300. Based on the select signal input through the communication channel 310 to the mux 308, allow for selection between normal mode (select=0) and low-leakage mode (select=1). In normal mode (select=0), data is passed through the mux 308 from the register inputs 302 to the combinational logic 304. However, in low-leakage mode 2(select=1), LLV data is input into mux 308 through the communication channel 312, which is then passed onto the combinational logic 304.
In the system 300, LLV is constant, allowing the muxes, such as the mux 308, to be simplified to other logical structures, such as AND gate or OR gates. However, logic is clearly added to the input paths of the combinational logic 304. The additional logic, therefore, adds delay to the timing critical paths of the combinational logic 304.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and/or method for reducing leakage currents that addresses at least some of the problems and disadvantages associated with conventional systems and methods.

Leakage current reduction system and method


Techniques of monitoring and controlling removal or forming of layers of material, such as employed in the manufacture of flat panel displays and integrated circuit wafers. Examples of material removal include the development of a photoresist layer and etching of layers of other material according to a pattern across the surface of the layer. The material removal process is terminated in response to detecting when breakthrough occurs in a preselected number of individual regions across the surface of the layer. A measure of uniformity of processing across the layer surface is obtained from monitoring removal of material in such individual surface regions, and can be used to control the process to improve such uniformity.

This invention relates generally to process control, and, more specifically, to the processing of a layer through a surface thereof under conditions where either the layer or the processing, or both, is uneven across the surface.
There are many situations where such processing takes place. One class of such situations occurs in the manufacturing of flat panel liquid crystal displays and integrated circuits on semiconductor wafers. In each, several processing steps include forming a layer of material and subsequently removing either all or a portion of the layer according to a pattern. Uniformity of the forming and removing operations is important, primarily because of the extremely small variations that are allowed in the finished products. As part of this process, it must be accurately determined when just enough of the layer has been removed; ie, to detect an endpoint of the removal operation. The endpoint determination is then used to monitor the progress of the process and/or to control the process, such as by automatically terminating the specific processing operation being monitored.
At several stages in the manufacture of display panels or circuits on a semiconductor wafer, a mask is formed of photoresist material. The resulting mask is used to limit processing of a layer covered by the mask to a patterned area. The mask is formed by exposing the photoresist layer to light in the desired pattern, followed by developing the photoresist layer through application of a developer solution to it. With the usual photoresist material, the exposed regions are removed during the development process to expose the layer below. The time at which the underlying layer first becomes exposed by removal of photoresist material is termed the "breakthrough" or "endpoint." The development process is allowed to continue for a period of time after breakthrough is first detected, the end of that period of time being the end of the development process, termed its "process end" (or "step end" if there is more than one step in the overall process).
Because of various processing and environmental variations that exist among semiconductor wafers, the development process is monitored in order to determine when breakthrough occurs. A beam of light having a finite bandwidth is directed against the photoresist layer of one wafer and a reflected or transmitted light signal is then detected in, the resulting electrical signal processed to determine when breakthrough occurs. In one form, light reflected from both the top and bottom surfaces of the substantially transparent photoresist layer interferes at, and is detected by, a photodetector. As a portion of the photoresist layer is removed during the development process, the detected intensity of the reflected light cycles between one or more maxima and minima as the material removal alters the relative phase between the two interfering beams. At breakthrough, however, this signal variation ends, a condition which is detected by analyzing the photodetector output signal. Development is then usually allowed to proceed for a fixed or calculated time after detection of breakthrough, at which point the development is terminated by rinsing away the development solution or by some other means.
Wet etching processes, wherein substantially transparent material layers other than photoresist material are etched away, also use a similar breakthrough detection process. Where the layer being etched is opaque, the photodetector signal either suddenly rises or falls when breakthrough occurs. In the case of a dry etching process, wherein material is removed by bombardment in a plasma chamber, a species within the plasma is monitored by detecting the emission of light in a limited wavelength band that shows material is being removed from the layer being etched. The detected signal in a plasma application drops off considerably at breakthrough. These sudden changes that occur at breakthrough are also detectable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved techniques of monitoring and controlling these and characteristically similar types of processing operations.
It is another object of the invention to provide a technique of monitoring and controlling the uniformity of such processing across surface areas being treated.
It is a special object of the present invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing with an improved yield large flat liquid crystal display panels.

Endpoint and uniformity determinations in material layer processing through monitoring multiple surface regions across the layer


A damper is shown for damping the movements of a spring. The spring is housed within the damper. The side walls of the damper have inverted T-shaped cutouts and hinge members resulting in flexure of the side walls when the spring is compressed or released. A steel band can be housed on the outside surface of the side walls providing biasing of the inside of the side walls against the outside of the spring thereby damping movement of the spring.

These embodiments relate to the field of dampers for springs, and more particularly to the damping of valve springs in engines. In order for four cycle internal combustion engines to run, there needs to be a way of allowing the fuel-air mixture into the combustion chamber. When the fuel-air mixture has been burned, then the exhausted fuel-air mixture and combustion products must exit the combustion chamber. This has been done in the background art by providing at least one valve per cylinder that opens and closes to allow the fuel-air mixture into the combustion chamber and traditionally at least one other valve per cylinder to allow the spent fuel-air mixture and combustion products to leave the combustion chamber. The valves traditionally have springs which interact with the valve and are provided typically with a rotating cam to depress and release the valve.
The valves are opened by having the cam pressing on the valve forcing the valve toward the combustion chamber thus opening the valve and compressing the valve spring. When the valve is released, the valve spring moves or returns the valve to the closed position. When the valve is opened the spring compresses and upon release of the valve, the spring returns the valve to the closed position.
This type of system works relatively well for most applications, but today with the smaller, higher revolution per minute (rpm) engines, the need for decreased weight in vehicles, the need for higher efficiency engines and other reasons, the current valve spring system is not as desirable. As these smaller engines are operated at higher rpms for longer periods of time, the valve springs do not have time to completely stop oscillating when the valve is fully engaged and when the valve is fully released. This oscillation of the valve springs can lead to leakage when the valve is released and decreased flow when the valve is engaged to allow fuel and air into the cylinder. The valves can also float or flutter, meaning that the valves are not operating as efficiently as would be desired.
One way to discourage the float or flutter is to get the valve and specifically the valve spring to stop oscillating when opened and closed. Once the valve is closed, in a perfect system, both the valve and spring would stop moving. Conversely, once the valve is opened, both the valve and spring would stop moving. This does not occur in the real world and the valve spring continues to move up and down, or oscillate, for a finite time period and then stops. It is desirable to have the spring stop moving as quickly as possible when compressed and also when released.
Much of the background art also uses a separate valve stem seal to discourage the lubricating oil from penetrating into the combustion chamber. It would be beneficial to have this valve stem seal incorporated into the spring damper to decrease manufacturing costs and also to ease assembly.
The damping of oscillations has traditionally been done by engineering the spring or spring materials to decrease this spring oscillation. Current engineering has approached the limit for damping these oscillations with spring engineering and spring materials. Some background art shows the use of dampers attached to the spring to lessen these oscillations.
A damper can be any material that will stop a spring from oscillating. Various embodiments have been developed to stop the spring from oscillating such as a dual spring system, installing a damper on the outside of the spring, installing a damper on the inside of the spring. Many of the current systems have significant disadvantages to them that do not allow the optimum damping of the valve springs. These systems can be costly and difficult to install and maintain and some require re-engineering the cam shafts and cylinder heads where the valves and valve springs are located.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a spring damper that will discourage the spring from oscillating when the spring is compressed and released.