In a computer-implemented synthesis system, a method of optimizing a design of an integrated circuit device. The optimization process includes the computer-implemented steps of accessing a circuit netlist representing an integrated circuit design to be realized in physical form, wherein the circuit netlist includes a top-level block and at least a first and a second circuit block. The top-level block includes glue logic for coupling the first and second circuit blocks. The process creates a first model of the first circuit block and a second model of the second circuit block, the first model and the second model each operable for independently abstracting embodying circuitry of the first and second circuit blocks, respectively. The circuit netlist is optimized by independently optimizing the first circuit block and the second circuit block, and the top-level block to yield a fully optimized circuit netlist. The first and second circuit blocks are both independently optimized. Then, the first and second circuit blocks within the top-level block are replaced with the first and second models respectively. The top-level block is then optimized with the first and second models included therein, thereby reducing the computer resources required to optimize the top-level block. Subsequently, a fully optimized circuit netlist is generated by combining the optimized first and second circuit blocks with the optimized top-level block.

The field of the present invention pertains to the field of integrated circuit design optimization using electronic design automation tools. More particularly, aspects of the present invention pertain to a circuit design optimization process for use in the design of complex integrated circuits with computer aided design (CAD) tools.
Computer systems, software applications, and the devices and processes built around them are continually growing in power and complexity. Society""s reliance on such systems is likewise increasing, making it critical that the systems deliver the expected performance and obey the properties that their designers intended. As each successive generation of computer and software implemented systems and processes become more powerful, the task of designing and fabricating them becomes increasingly difficult.
The design and manufacture of increasingly complex integrated circuits involves extensive use of CAD tools. The development of ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) and other complex integrated circuits using CAD tools is referred to as electronic design automation, or EDA. The design, checking, and testing of large-scale integrated circuits are so complex that the extensive use of CAD and EDA tools are required for realization of modern, complex integrated circuits.
The development of a new integrated circuit device begins with a design phase involving extensive use of CAD tools to facilitate various aspects of designing the new integrated circuit device. Typically, CAD tools function in part by decomposing the overall desired behavior of the integrated circuit into simpler functions which are more easily manipulated and processed by the CAD tool. The CAD tool performs considerable computation to generate an efficient layout of a resulting xe2x80x9cnetworkxe2x80x9d of design elements (e.g., logic gates, storage elements, etc.). The resulting network, commonly referred to as a netlist, comprises a detailed specification defining the integrated circuit, typically in terms of a particular fabrication technology (e.g., CMOS). The netlist can be regarded as a template for the fabrication of the physical embodiment of the integrated circuit using transistors, routing resources, etc.
Netlists for integrated circuit designs can represent a particular integrated circuit in different levels of abstraction, such as the register transfer level (RTL) and the logical level, using a hardware description language (HDL), also called high level design language. Design engineers typically define netlists using one of two popular forms of HDL, Verilog, and VHDL. Via the HDL defined netlist, the integrated circuit can be represented by different layers of abstractions (e.g., behavioral levels, structural levels, and gate levels). For example, an RTL level netlist is an intermediary level of abstraction between the behavioral and structural levels. HDL descriptions (e.g., netlists) can represent all of these levels.
The HDL description is used along with a set of circuit constraints as an input to a computer-implemented compiler (also called a xe2x80x9csilicon compilerxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdesign compilerxe2x80x9d). The compiler program processes the HDL description of the integrated circuit and generates therefrom a low-level netlist comprised of detailed lists of logic components and the interconnections between these components. The components specified by the netlist can include primitive cells such as full-adders, NAND gates, NOR gates, XOR gates, latches, and D-flip flops, etc., and their interconnections.
Prior art FIG. 1 shows an exemplary flow chart diagram of a typical prior art logic synthesis process 100. Process 100 is implemented in a CAD environment within a computer system. Process 100 begins in step 101, where an HDL description of the integrated circuit is received (e.g., from a design application). In step 102, the HDL description is compiled by a specialized HDL compiler tool. The compiler (also called an HDL compiler, RTL synthesizer, or architectural optimizer) inputs the HDL description and compiles this description using logic optimization procedures and mapping procedures which interface with a technology-dependent cell library 103 (e.g., from LSI, VLSI, TI or Xilinx technologies, etc.). The cell library 103 contains specific information regarding the cells of the specific technology selected. Such information includes, for example, the cell logic, number of gates, area consumption, power consumption, pin descriptions, etc., for each cell in the library 103. The compiling procedure of step 102 ultimately generates a gate level mapped netlist that is technology dependent, having cells specifically selected in accordance with the particular manufacturing technology being used to fabricate the integrated circuit device.
In step 104, the compiler then performs optimization processing on the resulting mapped netlist from step 102. The optimization processing is performed using a set of design constraints 105. The gate level netlist received from step 102 is processed in light of the design constraints 105. Design constraints 105 include the set of performance constraints applicable to the design, which typically include timing, area, power consumption, and other performance-related limitations that the compiler (e.g., in step 102) will attempt to satisfy when synthesizing the integrated circuit design. These constraints can also include non-performance related constraints such as structural and routing constraints.
Referring still to step 104 of prior art FIG. 1, constraints are used to guide the optimization and mapping of a design towards feasible realization in terms of area, performance, costs, testability, power consumption, and other physical limitations. The constraints provide the goals for the optimization and synthesis tools to achieve. Performance and area constraints are. the two most common constraints. For example, for behavioral synthesis, the area constraints are usually specified at the architectural level where a designer specifies the number of function units, registers, and busses to be used on the RTL structure. The timing constraints are specified as the expected clock frequency of each clock signal.
Technology libraries 103 and design constraints 105 typically contain all the information needed by the synthesis tool to make correct choices in building the structure of the integrated circuit. They contain descriptions of the behavior of a cell and information such as the area of the cell, the timing of the cell, the capacitance loading of the cell, the rise and fall delay values for the basic cells, etc. The objective of the optimization process is to generate the most efficient detailed layout of the integrated circuit possible.
Subsequently, in step 106, the resulting optimized netlist is simulated to verify its performance. In step 107, if the optimized netlist performs as desired, the resulting verified netlist proceeds to subsequent fabrication processing and is fabricated into a resulting integrated circuit device. However, should performance of the optimized netlist prove sub-standard, additional optimization processing and simulation is performed until the netlist can be verified.
The increasing size and complexity of modern integrated circuit devices lead to numerous problems with prior art process 100. The compiling and optimization of large integrated circuit designs are very resource and computer intensive. The compiling and optimization a large integrated circuit designs typically require one, or more, of the most powerful CAD workstations. Large amounts of memory required to store the details regarding the various aspects of the netlist and large amounts of CPU time are required to perform the various compilation and optimization routines on the netlist.
Thus, large complex integrated circuit designs do not lend themselves to efficient optimization using prior art processes, such as process 100. Optimization processing on large design as shown by the steps 104-107 is often cost and time prohibitive. This leads to a number of serious consequences. For example, successive passes through steps 104-107, as is often required in order to optimize a design completely, can be very impractical. Because of this, large designs are typically not optimized is vigorously as smaller designs. This leads to fabricated integrated circuit devices which are less than optimally efficient (e.g., larger than necessary die size, slower performance, greater power consumption, and the like).
For this reason, it is typical for large integrated circuit designs to be broken down into separate circuit blocks which each block independently being subjected to one or more of the steps of process 100. Specifically, xe2x80x9ccharacterizationxe2x80x9d refers to the process of setting up distinct circuit blocks of a large circuit design to be optimized independently, outside of the whole integrated circuit design. For instance, assume a circuit design, E, contains circuit blocks: A; B; C; and D. Circuit E has specified timing constraints and timing exceptions. Characterization automatically generates timing constraints and exceptions which are appropriate for the optimization of blocks A, B, C and D, independently. When optimizing the blocks, the optimization tool 104 (FIG. 1) need only load and process one block at a time. This decreases the demand of the tool on the computer resources. After the blocks have been optimized, they are then re-assembled back into circuit E. One example of the characterization described above is the xe2x80x9ccharacterizexe2x80x9d command found in the above referenced Design Compiler tool from Synopsys.
Accordingly, what is required is a system capable of efficiently optimizing large complex integrated circuit designs. What is acquired is a system capable of vigorously optimizing a complex integrated circuit design within the reasonable time and resource constraints of modern EDA design synthesis processes. What is further required is a system capable of optimizing all portions and all aspects of a complex integrated circuit design. The present invention provides a novel solution to these requirements.
The present invention provides a system capable of efficiently optimizing large complex integrated circuit designs. The present invention provides a method and system for vigorously optimizing a complex integrated circuit design within the reasonable time and resource constraints of modern EDA design synthesis processes. Additionally, the present invention provides a method and system capable of optimizing all portions and all aspects of a complex integrated circuit design.
In one embodiment, the present invention is implemented as an optimization process within a computer-implemented synthesis system. The optimization process functions with other design synthesis tools within the synthesis system (e.g., a CAD workstation) to optimize a gate level netlist of an integrated circuit device in light of specific design constraints. Using modeling technology in accordance with the present invention, optimization occurs in an incremental manner, at a top level of the netlist and at the one or more included circuit block levels of the netlist, such that the entire netlist is optimized while efficiently utilizing the memory and processing resources of the CAD workstation.
The optimization process includes the computer-implemented steps of accessing a circuit netlist representing an integrated circuit design to be realized in physical form (e.g., from a design application), wherein the circuit netlist includes a top-level block and at least a first and a second circuit block. The top-level block includes glue logic and other types of connection circuitry and couples/interfaces the first and second circuit blocks. The optimization process creates a first model of the first circuit block and a second model of the second circuit block. The models are created using modeling technology in accordance with the present invention, wherein the models include sufficient information to describe timing aspects and timing exceptions that are applicable to the first and second circuit blocks respectively.
With this information, the first and second models function by abstracting the embodying circuitry of the first block and the second block, including design constraint dependencies, such as timing constraints and timing exceptions. The first and second models require much less memory and computer resources to store and simulate than the first and second circuit blocks themselves. Hence, the first and second circuit blocks within the top-level block are replaced by their respective models, thereby greatly reducing the amount of memory and computer resources required to store and simulate the top-level block. This allows the entirety of the integrated circuit device to be optimized in a piece-wise fashion wherein multiple blocks can be optimized simultaneously, e.g., in parallel.
In block and top optimization, the entire circuit netlist is optimized by independently optimizing the first circuit block and the second circuit block using characterization. The first and second circuit blocks within the top-level block are replaced by their respective models, thereby allowing the top-level block to be independently optimized within the finite resources of the CAD workstation. Then, the optimized top-level block and the optimized first and second circuit blocks are recombined, yielding a fully optimized circuit netlist. In so doing, all portions and all aspects of the complex integrated circuit design are efficiently optimized, at both the top level and the one or more included circuit blocks.
In a bottle optimization embodiment of the present invention, the circuit blocks are optimized simultaneously with a selected part of the top-level circuit block. Each circuit block has a unique selected part of the top-level circuit which does not overlap the selection of any other part. This selected part of the top-level circuit is the glue logic and connections which are connected closest to the outputs of a particular circuit block. The particular circuit block is optimized with the selected part of the top level circuit.
In an in-context embodiment of the present invention, the circuit blocks are individually optimized within the context of the top level circuit. In-context optimization runs at the top-level of the chip. It is enabled by the use of models in place of all but one or just a few circuit blocks. Optimization is then run at the top-level. This allows the optimization of the remaining circuit blocks (those not replaced by models) with the top level circuit.

Method and system for circuit design top level and block optimization


A telescoping comb for lice removal is provided for removing head lice and nits from a person's hair. The comb has a telescoping handle with serrated teeth and a pivoting handle. Resilient springs are utilized for holding the pivoting handle in an open position and holding a head portion of the telescoping handle in a closed position in the resting state. Pressure applied to the pivoting handle actuates the head portion to an open position, and upon subsequent release thereof, the head portion is spring biased back to the closed position. When the invention is used on one's hair, the teeth of the comb separate any lice from the hair where they can be safely removed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of combs and, more particularly, to a telescoping comb for lice removal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The effective elimination of head lice requires radical eradication. If you kill 99.99% of the lice, for example, but leave 0.01% alive and kicking, you have the makings of yet another unfortunate infestation. In order to achieve control, you must kill the active adults and remove all of the nits. According to many parasitologists and lice experts, the manual or mechanical removal of lice and nits from the hair is crucial no matter what treatment regimen is chosen. The preferred method of mechanical removal is that of using a lice comb. However, conventional lice combs are little more than combs with tightly space teeth, and do not compensate for an individual's specific type of hair.
Accordingly, there is a need for a means by which head lice can be removed from a persons' hair in a simple, safe and effective manner without regard to specific hair styles or textures. The development of the telescoping comb for lice removal fulfills this need.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related. The following patents disclose a method and comb for the detection and removal of head lice: U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,758 issued in the name of Thorne; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,427 issued in the name of Dolev.
The following patents describe the design and function of an adjustable lice comb: U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,670 issued in the name of Saferstein et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. D 307,192 issued in the name of Saferstein et al.
The following patents disclose the design and function of a delousing comb: U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,652 issued in the name of Bachrach; U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,945 issued in the name of Bachrach; U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,944 issued in the name of Bachrach et al.; U.S. Pat. No. D 353,915 issued in the name of Lanne; and U.S. Pat. No. D 289,567 issued in the name of O'Connor et al.
U.S. Pat. No. D 415,595 issued in the name of O'Farrell et al. describes the ornamental design for an insect and insect egg removal device.
Consequently, a need has been felt for providing a device by which head lice can be removed from a persons' hair in a simple, safe and effective manner without regard to specific hair styles or textures.


An installation construction of a radio communication module on a license plate of a vehicle includes the followings: the radio communication module provided with a housing having an engaging portion and a fixing hole; an engagement of the engaging portion with a rim of the license plate; and a screw-fastening of a bolt inserted in the fixing hole to screw-fasten the radio communication module together with the license plate to the vehicle.

Currently, a system (so-called an electric license plate system) is under development to transmit and receive various data between a radio communication module fixed on a vehicular license plate and outer apparatuses (road-side units) installed on sides of roads for a registration management of vehicles, a traffic control and the like.
As a method to fix the radio communication module on the license plate, JP-2001-119175-A discloses, for example, that a casing, which is for installing the radio communication module on the license plate, is fixed on the license plate by welding and the like, and the radio communication module is installed in the casing.
However, the installation constriction of the radio communication module according to JP-2001-119175-A has a relatively poor workability in fixing the radio communication module on the license plate. The installation construction requires works such as welding to fix the casing on the license plate. Further, when it is necessary to detach the radio communication module from the license plate for a data maintenance, repair of failure and so on, the radio communication module cannot be easily detached from the license plate, so that the installation construction includes an issue in a viewpoint of operation and popularization of the products.
Current vehicular license plate is provided with two installation holes to fix itself on a vehicle. The license plate is screw-fastened to the vehicle by bolts inserted into the installation holes.
It is considered to fix the radio communication module on the license plate with use of these bolts. However, in a case that the radio communication module is screw-fastened by a pair of the bolts, an installation member and the like hides a part of an indication face of the license plate. In another case that the radio communication module is screw-fastened by a single bolt, the radio communication module may rotatably slide and is not stably fixed on the license plate.

Installation construction of radio communication module on vehicular license plate


A device includes a plasma separation membrane, a capillary channel positioned adjacent the plasma separation membrane to receive plasma from blood placed on the plasma separation membrane, at least one cuvette coupled to the capillary channel, a gas permeable membrane, and a distribution channel coupled to the capillary channel to provide plasma to the cuvette, wherein the cuvette is configured to hold an amount of plasma with reagent suitable for colorimetric assay by a tester to hold the device. Variations include the use of a quantitation channel to provide a selected amount of plasma and a mixing channel to mix plasma with a diluent.

Providing desired amounts of blood plasma from whole human blood and subsequently preparing the sample for use in a colorimetric assay of blood constituents has been accomplished in prior devices by either using separate devices and processes to separate the plasma, or, has resulted in the need for larger blood samples due to inefficient use of larger blood samples.
In most prior systems, clinical chemistry analyzers do not extract plasma or serum from blood as a part of the analysis process. It is done separately; either at the time of collection from the patient by collecting blood in a serum or plasma tube, or by spinning whole blood (or plasma) in a centrifuge before loading the plasma into the clinical chemistry analyzer. However, one known system as part of the analysis process extracts plasma from whole blood by centrifugation, spinning the blood for 2.5 min.
There are no commercial products that extract plasma from a drop of blood (fingerstick, 20-30 μL of blood). The system using centrifugation requires 100 μL of blood, 3-4 times more volume than a fingerstick can normally supply.
Extraction of plasma from blood in other microfluidic formats are done by centrifugation, the use of micropillars, or the Zweifach-Fung bifurcation Law.

Microfluidic separation of plasma for colormetric assay


Systems and methods relate to receiving a plurality of video streams captured of a subject by a plurality of video cameras, each video stream including video frames time-synchronized according to a shared frame rate, each video camera having a known vantage point in a predetermined coordinate system; obtaining at least one three-dimensional (3D) mesh of the subject at the shared frame rate, the 3D mesh time-synchronized with the video frames of the video streams, the at least one mesh including a plurality of vertices with known locations in the predetermined coordinate system; calculating one or more lists of visible-vertices at the shared frame rate, each list including a subset of the plurality of vertices of the at least one 3D mesh of the subject, the subset being a function of the location of the known vantage point associated with at least one of the plurality of video cameras; generating one or more time-synchronized data streams at the shared frame rate, the one or more time-synchronized data streams including: one or more video streams encoding at least one of the plurality of video streams; and one or more geometric-data streams including the calculated one or more visible-vertices lists; and transmitting the one or more time-synchronized data streams to a receiver for rendering of a viewpoint-adaptive 3D persona of the subject.

Interpersonal communication is a fundamental part of human society. Historically significant developments in the area of interpersonal communication include the invention of the telegraph, the invention of the telephone, and the realization of interpersonal communication over data connections, often via the Internet. The continuing proliferation of personal communication devices such as cellphones, smartphones, tablets, head-mounted displays (HMDs), and the like has only furthered the ways in which and the extent to which people communicate with one another, both in one-to-one communication sessions and in one-to-many and many-to-many conference communication sessions, such as sessions that involve three or more endpoints).
Further developments have occurred in which both visible-light-image (e.g., color-image) and depth-image data is captured (perhaps as part of capturing sequences of video frames) and combined in ways that allow extractions from two-dimensional (2D) video of "personas" wherein the remainder of the visible portion of video frames, such as the background outside of the outline of the person has been removed. Persona extraction, or "user extraction" is accordingly also known as "background removal" and by other names. In some implementations, an extracted persona is partially overlaid, typically on a pixel-wise basis, over a different background, video stream, slide presentation, and/or the like.
The following U.S. Patents and U.S. Patent Application Publications relate in various ways to persona extraction and associated technologies. Each of them is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its respective entirety.                U.S. Pat. No. 9,628,722, issued Apr. 18, 2017 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Embedding a Foreground Video into a Background Feed Based on a Control Input;"        U.S. Pat. No. 8,818,028, issued Aug. 26, 2014 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Accurate User Foreground Video Extraction;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,053,573, issued Jun. 9, 2015 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Generating a Virtual Camera Viewpoint for an Image;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,008,457, issued Apr. 14, 2015 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Illumination Correction of an Image;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,300,946, issued Mar. 29, 2016 and entitled "System and Method for Generating a Depth Map and Fusing Images from a Camera Array;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,055,186, issued Jun. 9, 2015 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Integrating User Personas with Content During Video Conferencing;"        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0172069, published Jun. 18, 2015 and entitled "Integrating User Personas with Chat Sessions;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,386,303, issued Jul. 5, 2016 and entitled "Transmitting Video and Sharing Content via a Network Using Multiple Encoding Techniques;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,414,016, issued Aug. 9, 2016 and entitled "System and Methods for Persona Identification Using Combined Probability Maps;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,485,433, issued Nov. 1, 2016 and entitled "Systems and Methods for Iterative Adjustment of Video-Capture Settings Based on Identified Persona;"        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0188970, published Jul. 2, 2015 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Presenting Personas According to a Common Cross-Client Configuration;"        U.S. Pat. No. 8,649,592, issued Feb. 11, 2014 and entitled "System for Background Subtraction with 3D Camera;"        U.S. Pat. No. 8,643,701, issued Feb. 4, 2014 and entitled "System for Executing 3D Propagation for Depth Image-Based Rendering;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,671,931, issued Jun. 6, 2017 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Visually Deemphasizing a Displayed Persona;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,607,397, issued Mar. 28, 2017 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Generating a User-Hair-Color Model;"        U.S. Pat. No. 9,563,962, issued Feb. 7, 2017 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Assigning Pixels Distance-Cost Values using a Flood Fill Technique;"        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0343148, published Nov. 24, 2016 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Identifying Background in Video Data Using Geometric Primitives;"        U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0353080, published Dec. 1, 2016 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Classifying Pixels as Foreground Using Both Short-Range Depth Data and Long-Range Depth Data;"        unpublished U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/181,653, filed Jun. 14, 2016 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Combining Foreground Video and Background Video Using Chromatic Matching;" and        unpublished U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/333,623, filed Oct. 25, 2016 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Real-Time User Extraction Using Deep Learning Networks."

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for capturing, transferring, and rendering viewpoint-adaptive three-dimensional (3D) personas


Call center, automatic call distribution (ACD), with computer telephony integration (CTI) providing a search engine that is automatically fed with the calling line identifier (CLI) such that a search can be performed to find related documents, emails, URLs using private or public databases that may be accessed for free or only after having paid a subscription. The application also mentions that the system can be applied to outgoing calls in which case the dialed number is used for performing the search.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a conventional computer-telephony integration (CTI) system. An incoming call 60 is received by a switch 90. The switch passes information about the call to a CTI server 80. The information passed may include, for example, the calling line identification (CLI), sometimes known as automatic number identification (ANI), and/or the dialed number identification. Switch 90 may also be provided with an additional facility, such as an interactive voice response (IVR) unit (not shown in FIG. 1) to obtain additional information from the caller, for example an account number or such like. This additional information may also be passed to CTI server 80.
The switch 90 routes the call through the telephone network 101 to a telephone 121 belonging to an agent 120. For example, the switch may route a particular incoming call 60 to agent 120B having telephone 121B. The CTI server 80 may instruct the switch 90 to which particular agent the incoming call should be forwarded. Alternatively, the switch 90 may make this decision through some other mechanism, such as agent availability (and may notify the CTI server 80 accordingly).
In addition to telephone 121, each agent 120 is also provided with a workstation 122. The CTI server 80 has access to a customer relationship management (CRM) database 70. Note that although CRM database 70 is shown in FIG. 1 as a single system, it may comprise multiple databases and/or systems spread across an enterprise. The CTI server 80 can use information about a particular call provided by switch 90 to look up information relating to the caller in the CRM database 70. For example, this information may represent the name and address of a party associated with a particular calling line identification, as well as information about previous orders made by this person, etc. The CTI server 80 then provides this information to the workstation 122 associated with the agent 120 who receives the call in order to assist the agent in handling the caller. For example if the incoming call 60 is to be routed to telephone 121B of agent 120B, then the CTI server accesses information about the caller from CRM database 70 and forwards this information to the corresponding workstation 122B.
Call centres having CTI such as shown in FIG. 1 have been around for many years. In many cases the system shown in FIG. 1 is internal to a particular organisation. In other words, switch 90 represents a PBX and telephone network 101 represents the internal telephone network of the organisation. Likewise computer network 102 represents the internal computer network (e.g. intranet) of the organisation. This configuration is sometimes referred to as CPE (customer premises equipment).
An alternative configuration, sometimes referred to as SPE (service provider equipment) involves locating CTI server 80 within the general telephone network, with switch 90 being a central office switch that forms part of the overall network run by a carrier. In this configuration, the telephone network 101 may be the public switch telephone network (PSTN) and the computer network 102 may be the Internet. There may be additional equipment (not shown in FIG. 1) to link workstations 122 to computer network 102 and/or telephones 121 to telephone network 101. For example, workstations 122 may be attached to an internal network, such as an Ethernet, which is then linked to computer network 102 by a router and firewall, while telephones 121 may be linked to telephone network 101 by an automatic call distribution (ACD) unit.
There are some drawbacks associated with the architecture of FIG. 1. For example, the CTI server 80 may be relatively expensive. In addition, it is necessary to provide the CTI server with access to the CRM database 70. Generally this requires the CTI server to be able to submit queries to the CRM database and to be able to understand the responses—e.g. by providing the CTI server with access to the database API. In practice, the majority of call centres in the UK do not have a CTI server; rather workstations 122 typically access the CRM database 70 directly, without using (or benefiting from) any telephony information acquired by switch 90.
WO 00/54485 discloses a system for administering call set-up in a telecommunications network. A web page stores call handling data for a caller in XML or some other predetermined format. Such a web page typically contains an identifier and title, a policy type and owner, and various rules. Upon connection of a call to a switch, the information associated with a call is converted to keywords for a search engine to locate the web page corresponding to the initiating caller, thereby allowing the call to be handled accordingly.
It is common for organisations to outsource CTI and/or call centre operations to a third party. This strategy may be adopted by very small organisations, which may only have one incoming telephone line, as well as by larger organisations. In some cases the third party may provide CTI services to assist the organisation in handling the call itself, while in other cases the third party may be responsible for complete handling of the call (i.e. the original organisation is not involved at all in handling the call).
One problem with a third party call centre model concerns the provision of access for the CTI service provider (i.e. the third party) to the CRM database of the client (i.e. the organisation on whose behalf the hosted telephone service is being provided). For example, the client may provide the CTI server with its own copy of the CRM database, but this copy may not always be up to date. In addition, the CTI server may now have to support access to potentially multiple different CRM database formats for multiple different clients, adding significantly to the cost and complexity of the CTI server itself. Furthermore certain CRM data may be unavailable to the service provider, which may in turn limit the functionality that the CTI server can provide.
Another difficulty is that smaller organisations may not have the capacity to maintain a proper CRM database. This has generally meant that such small clients have not been able to benefit from full CTI services.

Apparatus and method for integrating computer-telephony and search technology


A console bin assembly is provided for a motor vehicle. That console bin assembly includes a housing defining a storage compartment. Opposed channels are carried on the housing. Each of the opposed channels has an open end. In addition, the console bin assembly includes a tray including opposed projections that are received in the opposed channels. As a consequence, the tray may be stably secured in a storage position, flipped to increase access to the lower region of the storage compartment or fully removed from the storage compartment and console bin assembly if desired.

It is well known in the art to equip motor vehicles with one or more console bin assemblies in order to increase the availability of concealed storage for small items such as compact discs, electronic music devices, pencils, pens, sunglasses, wallets and the like. Such console bin assemblies typically incorporate an internal storage compartment and an access lid that may also function as an armrest.
In many motor vehicles, the storage compartment is relatively deep and, accordingly, the console bin assemblies often include a tray that rests across a portion of the storage compartment and provides additional, more accessible storage closer to the top of the storage compartment when the lid is opened.
While such a tray provides the indicated benefits, it should be appreciated that such a tray also reduces the visibility of items stored in the lower portion of the storage compartment below the tray. Further, when a user requires access to the lower compartment in order to reach items contained therein, a user needs to remove the tray or try to reach around the tray. The confined space and orientation of the storage bin and tray to the user makes this very difficult. Thus, neither solution is particularly convenient.
This document relates to a new and improved console bin assembly incorporating a tray that may be flipped while remaining in the bin in order to improve access to items stored below the tray or, alternatively, easily removed from the bin if desired. This adds another level of convenience for the user when using the storage compartment provided by the console bin assembly and, therefore, represents a significant advance in the art.

Console bin assembly with a removable tray


Semiconductor devices are provided including a semiconductor substrate and a first interlayer insulating layer on the semiconductor substrate. A contact pad is provided in the first interlayer insulating layer and a second insulating layer is provided on the first interlayer insulating layer. A contact hole is provided in the second interlayer insulating layer. The contact hole exposes the contact pad and a lower portion of the contact hole has a protrusion exposing the contact pad. The protrusion is provided on the second interlayer insulating layer. A contact spacer is provided on inside sidewalls of the contact hole and fills the protrusion. A contact plug is provided in the contact hole. Related methods are also provided herein.

As semiconductor devices become more highly integrated, the size of a contact hole that connects one element to another element or one layer to another layer may decrease and the thickness of an interlayer insulating layer may increase. Thus, the aspect ratio of the contact hole, i.e., the ratio between the height of the contact hole and the diameter of the contact hole, increases and an alignment margin of the contact hole decreases in a photolithography process. Accordingly, the formation of small contact holes by conventional methods may be difficult.
For this reason, the size of a buried contact (BC) serving as a storage node contact is also decreased, thereby the depth thereof becomes gradually smaller from an upper part to a lower part, and the contact hole is not completely formed. Accordingly, in order to increase the size of the buried contact, the size of the contact hole may be increased by, for example, performing a wet etching process on the contact hole after formation of the contact hole.
Meanwhile, as semiconductor devices become more highly integrated, the size of a bit line may be reduced, and a margin for insulating an underlying pad may become insufficient during the wet etch process performed for the purpose of increasing the size of the buried contact, thereby partially exposing an adjacent pad. Accordingly, an etching solution may penetrate through a direct contact (DC) that electrically connects the bit line to an underlying contact pad, so that a conductive material may be etched.
Therefore, the direct contact (DC) of the underlying bit line may be partially filled with an insulating material or a conductive material of a buried contact (BC) in a subsequent process, thereby resulting in unwanted electrical contact failures.

Semiconductor devices having contact holes including protrusions exposing contact pads


A neurostimulation system comprising stimulation output circuitry configured for delivering stimulation pulses to target tissue in accordance with a set of stimulation parameters. The neurostimulation system comprises monitoring circuitry configured for continuously measuring action potentials evoked in the target tissue in response to the delivery of the stimulation pulses to the target tissue, memory configured for storing a characteristic of a reference evoked action potential, and at least one processor configured for initiating an automatic mode, in which a characteristic of the measured evoked action potentials is compared to the corresponding characteristic of the reference evoked action potential, and one or more stimulation parameter values in the set of stimulation parameters are adjusted to decrease or increase the energy level of the stimulation pulses, thereby evoking action potentials in the target tissue having substantially the same corresponding characteristic as the reference evoked action potential.

Implantable neurostimulation systems have proven therapeutic in a wide variety of diseases and disorders. Pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) have proven highly effective in the treatment of a number of cardiac conditions (e.g., arrhythmias). Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) systems have long been accepted as a therapeutic modality for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes, and the application of spinal stimulation has begun to expand to additional applications, such as angina pectoris and incontinence. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has also been applied therapeutically for well over a decade for the treatment of refractory Parkinson's Disease, and DBS has also recently been applied in additional areas, such as essential tremor and epilepsy. Further, in recent investigations, Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) systems have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of chronic pain syndromes and incontinence, and a number of additional applications are currently under investigation. Furthermore, Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) systems such as the Freehand system by NeuroControl (Cleveland, Ohio) have been applied to restore some functionality to paralyzed extremities in spinal cord injury patients.
Each of these implantable neurostimulation systems typically includes one or more electrode carrying stimulation leads, which are implanted at the desired stimulation site, and a neurostimulation device implanted remotely from the stimulation site, but coupled either directly to the stimulation lead(s) or indirectly to the stimulation lead(s) via a lead extension. Thus, electrical pulses can be delivered from the neurostimulation device to the electrode(s) to activate a volume of tissue in accordance with a set of stimulation parameters and provide the desired efficacious therapy to the patient. In particular, electrical energy conveyed between at least one cathodic electrode and at least one anodic electrode creates an electrical field, which when strong enough, depolarizes (or "stimulates") the neurons beyond a threshold level, thereby evoking action potentials (APs) that propagate along the neural fibers. A typical stimulation parameter set may include the electrodes that are sourcing (anodes) or returning (cathodes) the modulating current at any given time, as well as the amplitude, duration, and rate of the stimulation pulses.
The neurostimulation system may further comprise a handheld patient programmer to remotely instruct the neurostimulation device to generate electrical stimulation pulses in accordance with selected stimulation parameters. The handheld programmer in the form of a remote control (RC) may, itself, be programmed by a clinician, for example, by using a clinician's programmer (CP), which typically includes a general purpose computer, such as a laptop, with a programming software package installed thereon.
Of course, neurostimulation devices are active devices requiring energy for operation, and thus, the neurostimulation system may oftentimes includes an external charger to recharge a neurostimulation device, so that a surgical procedure to replace a power depleted neurostimulation device can be avoided. To wirelessly convey energy between the external charger and the implanted neurostimulation device, the charger typically includes an alternating current (AC) charging coil that supplies energy to a similar charging coil located in or on the neurostimulation device. The energy received by the charging coil located on the neurostimulation device can then be used to directly power the electronic componentry contained within the neurostimulation device, or can be stored in a rechargeable battery within the neurostimulation device, which can then be used to power the electronic componentry on-demand.
Typically, the therapeutic effect for any given neurostimulation application may be optimized by adjusting the stimulation parameters. Although the threshold for evoking action potentials may be a good indication of whether a desired therapeutic result is achieved, it is usually not directly observable when programming the neurostimulation device. For this reason, the programmer of the neurostimulation system is often required to identify the efficacy threshold and the side-effect threshold based on the patient's perception. For instance, the programmer of the neurostimulation system may identify the efficacy threshold by asking the patient whether the pain is relieved or perceived paresthesia, and record the set of stimulation parameters of that stimulation level. Similarly, the side-effect threshold is identified by adjusting the stimulation until the patient perceives any undesired side-effects such as slurred speech or involuntary muscle contraction, and records the set of stimulation parameters of that stimulation level. Then, the neurostimulation system is configured with a certain set of stimulation parameters to generate stimulation at an arbitrary level within the therapeutic window so that the stimulation is perceptible by the patient without causing any undesirable side effects.
There are a few issues that need to be considered when using this approach. Many neurostimulation therapies take time to develop the clinical benefit. For example, the patient may need to be on a certain level of stimulation for a few hours or even days before he or she can actually feel the pain relief or regain muscles mobility. Also, the side effect threshold is often not perfectly correlated with the therapeutic effect. Therefore, relying on the subjective clinical assessment (e.g., perception threshold) at the acute setting and configuring the stimulation parameters may result in an erroneous therapeutic window. Moreover, various changes, including postural changes, leads movement and tissue maturation, may occur in the patient during the course of therapy, and the stimulation parameters may need to be re-calibrated using the same unreliable subjective clinical assessment approach, thus the therapeutic window is often chosen to be very broad. That is, the gap between the efficacy threshold and the side-effect threshold is set as far as possible. In order to prevent under-stimulation and over-stimulation, a set of stimulation parameters are chosen to generate a stimulation pulse at the mid-level of the wide therapeutic window. The set of stimulation parameters for generating such stimulation pulse is more energy-intensive than necessary to achieve the therapy, which in turn causes decreased battery life, more frequent recharge cycles, and/or in the case where non-chargeable primary cell devices are used, more frequent surgeries for replacing the battery.
There, thus, remains a need to decrease the energy requirements for neurostimulation therapy.

Neurostimulation system and method for automatically adjusting stimulation and reducing energy requirements using evoked action potential

Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation


An enterprise business process management system and method for definition and execution of business processes formed from portions of one or more business applications present in an enterprise. The enterprise business process management system includes a server, a router, and an interface for defining and executing such business processes. A data quality business process detects, corrects, analyzes, and reports quantitative and qualitative characteristics of application data and transactional data present in the enterprise. An interface module is provided by which a user may select and define function definition information for a business process.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to business process management and, more particularly, to methods and systems for computer-based business process management.
2. General Background and Description of Related Art
The automated processing of information has been an enormous benefit to businesses because it has greatly reduced the cost of certain tasks. Every enterprise regardless of whether it is a government, commercial business or not-for-profit organization has the operational necessity to manage information.
This information is used to acquire customers, input orders, ship product, bill customers, collect invoices, pay employees and vendors, order product, audit inventory and maintain records of transactions between employees, customers and suppliers, for example, in the case of a commercial business.
In the normal course of events, information is acquired, processed and consolidated utilizing software, computer hardware and digital networks in accordance with each organization's internal operational model.
Unfortunately, the automated processing of information has also created several problems for businesses, especially where the information in the company's data store is incorrect. Automated processing of incorrect information carries a high cost for businesses in and of itself. In addition, the time, effort, and expense required to correct the undesired results can significantly impact an organization's resources.
Typical examples of the impact of errors on an organization include:                (1) Recipients receive multiple copies of the same offers in the mail, which may result in: (a) the sender wasting postage and printing, and (b) the recipient being negatively affected by waste and, as a result, not ordering products;        (2) Postal systems and other message and package shippers are unable to deliver a significant percentage of their material to the intended recipients, which may have the result that: (a) the product is not delivered on time and returned to shipper due to inaccurate address, (b) costly efforts being made to determine the correct address and repack and reship the product, (c) the invoices are returned and not paid on time or at all, (d) costly efforts are made to determine correct address and resend invoice, (e) clients become annoyed by poor service and, as a result, switch to another vendor, if possible, and (f) customer service, billing, collections, shipping all require additional resources to perform their functions;        (3) Individual operational units contain inaccurate information on clients as well, which may have the result that: (a) enterprise efforts at consolidating information are incomplete, costly and prolonged, and (b) errors in individual operational units, when consolidated, compound the overall error rates and impair the ability for meaningful analysis;        (4) Incomplete and inaccurate information is consolidated in data warehouses, data marts, operational data stores, customer information files and centralized data stores for CRM, ERP, SCM and other centralized processes, which may result in: (a) marketing not being unable to accurately forecast the value and potential of individual clients and client segments and losing valuable market opportunity, (b) customer service not being able to provide the proper service and, as a result, losing clients due to dissatisfaction with service, and (c) fraud not being detected in a timely fashion, resulting in the enterprise being defrauded of large amounts of money;        (5) Operational units are unable to determine the correct tax jurisdiction and tax assignment, which may result in: (a) the enterprises not charging the right tax to the client and paying the right amount to the right authority, (b) taxing authorities not collecting all the proper taxes due them, (c) consumers paying more taxes than they should, and (d) corporations suffering liabilities with tax jurisdictions and clients; and        (6) Customers are unhappy and move to a competitive service.
The impact of erroneous information on a company's revenue is easily explained using a typical mass mailing as an example. Naturally, this is but one example, as the list presented above identifies a number of other potential impacts on a company's revenue.
Companies generate customer lists in a variety of ways. Information collected by one part of an enterprise is often used by other parts of an organization to perform their functions. If the company has a retail component and a catalog component, customer information may be entered into the company's data store at the retail location, at the catalog location, or even through the Internet. Each of these three entry positions presents a location where the information may be erroneous or duplicative of pre-existing information. Any error in the accuracy of information as it is collected, processed and consolidated can impact the effectiveness of multiple functions within an enterprise.
It is possible that a customer may have customer information entered correctly at the retail level. Subsequently, the customer may make a purchase through the catalog division. At that time, the data entry specialist may, for example, enter the customer's name into the data store incorrectly (e.g., by misspelling the person's last name). On still another occasion, the same customer may make a purchase through the Internet. At that time, the customer will be required to supply his or her information for a third time. In this situation, assume that the customer typed his or her last name incorrectly. Therefore, in this scenario, the customer information has been entered three times, two of which were incorrect.
Relying on its stored data, the company then prints and sends an updated copy of its catalog to its customers. Since the customer described has three separate entries in the business's data store, the customer receives three copies of the same catalog. As is easily understood, the cost to the company of printing and mailing the catalog has been tripled simply because of errors in the company's data store.
The problem of data quality exists with many businesses. In the prior art, there have been several approaches offered to minimize the data quality problem.
Previous approaches to data quality include providing a variety of vendor-specific or application-specific functions to the business. The data quality functions are designed specifically to automatically review a company's data, identify errors, in some cases, and correct those errors. To do this in such a way that is flexible to different businesses, the data quality functions typically provide several settings that may be adjusted by businesses to meet their individual needs.
Typically, businesses select a standardized set of settings for a particular data quality function that the business finds most beneficial. The settings may, for example, remove the errors in a data store to "clean" the data store to a point where the data is 95% accurate (which is considered to be a very good result).
The problem of data quality is compounded when a company includes multiple units, each of which have separate data stores that contain overlapping information, and the company tries to create a consolidated data store.
In the example presented above, the company had three business components, a retail component, a catalog component, and an Internet component, each of which contained a separate customer information data store. Typically, if each component wished to "clean" up its data, each component would purchase a data quality solution and apply that solution internally. If each component were to produce a data store that was 95% accurate, the result would be considered quite good.
If the company then tries to create a consolidated data store, a problem arises in that the errors in each data store compound one another. In the case presented, each data store has the same error. The combined data store will have an error rate of 0.95×0.95×0.95=0.857375. This means that the resulting data store has an error rate of about 15%, three times higher than each of the data stores that were combined. As may be appreciated, this problem is particularly pronounced when four or more data stores are combined together.
Furthermore, because the vendor-specific and application-specific data quality functions have unique strengths and weaknesses in detecting and/or correcting errors, the errors may be inadvertently propagated throughout the enterprise as applications pass data back and forth. This may have the undesirable result of causing a multiplicative increase in the overall error rate for the enterprise as a whole.
While data quality solutions are beneficial to the operation of businesses, they are limited in their ability, especially in cases where companies try to create centralized data stores for multiple business entities in an enterprise or group of entities.
Moreover, when a business desires to develop a program to "clean up" its centralized data store, current doctrine dictates that the business retain a firm to develop the appropriate software. The development of software follows what is commonly referred to as the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
The known SDLC adhered to by developers of business processes, such as, for example, data quality processes, results in a time and resource costly lock-step sequential phase approach. For example, a known SDLC includes the following phases which are performed sequentially: requirements definition, general design, detailed design, development, testing, quality assurance checking, trial, implementation, and maintenance/modification. In addition, different personnel or service providers with different skill sets may be required as the project moves from phase to phase. For example, a systems engineer or business analyst may be required during the requirements analysis/definition and test phases, but a software engineer may be required for the design phases. Project handoff between phases introduces errors into the final product and adds cost due to increased project time, increased overhead, and higher project headcount.
Still further, because the requirements definition phase may be arbitrarily halted (i.e., requirements "frozen") in order to permit design activities to begin, the known SDLC is inflexible and unaccommodating to the evolving needs of customers for software products.
The failings identified above with respect to the prior art cry out for a solution.

Method and system for managing a plurality of enterprise business systems


An ion-conducting polymer wherein at least 80% of the repeat units comprise an ion-conducting region and a spacer region is disclosed. The ion-conducting region has an aromatic backbone of one or more aromatic groups, wherein at least one ion-conducting functional group is attached to each aromatic group. The spacer region has an aromatic backbone of at least four aromatic groups, wherein no ion-conducting functional groups are attached to the aromatic backbone. The polymer is suitable for use as a fuel cell membrane, and can be incorporated into membrane electrode assemblies.

Sulphonated polyarylethersulphone and polyaryletherketone polymers are useful membrane materials and have been used in filtration processes such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. Sulphonated poly(arylene ether sulphone)s have been produced by post-polymerisation sulphonation of commercially available bisphenol-A based poly(ether sulphone):
U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,740 discloses sulphonated polyarylethersulphone copolymers of the formula (I):

Similar polymers have been disclosed for use as membranes in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The most commonly used polymers in polymer electrolyte membranes are perfluorinated sulphonic acid polymers such as Nafion® and Flemion®. However, the perfluorinated polymers are expensive and have limited ionic conductivity at elevated temperatures (greater than 100° C.). Sulphonated polyarylethersulphone and polyaryletherketone polymers have been investigated as alternative polymer electrolyte membrane materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,477 discloses a polymer electrolyte comprising a sulphonated copolymer which is obtained by sulphonating a copolymer formed from three monomers:
WO 02/25764 discloses a sulphonated copolymer as shown below:
This copolymer is said to provide a polymer electrolyte membrane with improved thermal stability and improved protonic conductivity.

Ion-conducting polymers and membranes comprising them


Billing for information and/or interactive services provided to a user over the Internet by an information service provider (ISP) is arranged by the user by placing a virtual billing telephone call to a 900 telephone number associated with the ISP for such billing purposes. The cost to the user for the 900 number billing telephone call, which is determined by the ISP, represents the charge for receiving the information and/or interactive services from the ISP, and is billed to the user's telephone number account. The ISP's 900 number account is credited by the telephone company for the call and thus for the information and/or interactive services provided.

Currently, thousands of information and interactive services are available to users over data networks such as the Internet. Large information service providers such as Prodigy, America Online and Compuserve provide their own information and interactive services and can provide a gateway access to the Internet and the thousands of small service providers around the world. Users may also access the Internet and the thousands of smaller information service providers (ISPs) directly through smaller user-local Internet access providers. Generally, the large information service providers bill their customers on a time-usage basis after a financial payment relationship has been established. Similarly, the smaller user-local Internet access providers usually also base their service charges to their subscribers for access to the Internet on a time-usage basis. The smaller ISPs currently either do not charge for access to their information and interactive services, or, if they do, also require the user to establish some sort of financial relationship. A frequent user to a particular established ISP may not be adverse to establishing a financial relationship for payment purposes. However, if a user accesses many different ISPs, each on only a casual basis, he is not likely to want or be able to establish a plethora of relationships with so many different providers. ISPs that do or would like to charge for access to their information and/or interactive services could do so by requiring the user to input their credit card number before data service is provided. A user may not, however, want to provide his credit card number to an ISP which is basically unknown to him and with whom he will probably have only the most fleeting interaction. Furthermore, it is well publicized that personal credit card information should not be transmitted over a public data network, which may be subject to unauthorized access.
An object of the present invention is to provide a payment mechanism for a user to access an ISP on the Internet which charges for information and/or services provided and which does not require either the establishment of a financial relationship between the user and the ISP, or the user to supply a credit card number over the Internet.

Interactive and information data services telephone billing system


Provided are a multicast transmission method and apparatus, and a computer storage medium. The method includes: transmitting multicast channel data according to a multicast search space. The multicast search space is configured for transmitting multicast downlink control information. The multicast channel data includes at least one of multicast control channel data, multicast traffic channel data and multicast control channel change notification data.

To meet the requirements of the Cellular Internet of Things (C-IoT), a new access system named NarrowBand-Cellular Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is proposed at the 69th plenary meeting of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The NB-IoT system focuses on radio frequency (RF) access technologies with low complexity and low throughput, whose main research objects include an improved indoor coverage, a massive number of low-throughput user equipments, low delay sensitivity, ultra-low equipment costs, low equipment power consumption and a network architecture. The uplink and downlink transmission bandwidths of the NB-IoT system are both 180 kHz, which are the same as the bandwidth of a physical resource block (PRB) in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, which is advantageous for the NB-IoT system to reuse related designs of the existing LTE system. In addition, the NB-IoT system supports three different operation modes: (1) a stand-alone operation which employs such as a frequency spectrum occupied by a carrier in the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM); (2) a guard band operation which employs such as a resource block within the guard band of an LTE carrier; (3) an in-band operation which employs such as a resource block within a practical available band of the LTE carrier.
When some terminal devices need to simultaneously receive the same information (such as firmware or software upgrade data), it is more efficient to replace unicast transmission with multicast transmission. No solution has been proposed for how to implement the multicast transmission in the NB-IoT system.
No effective solution has been proposed for the problem in the related art that the multicast transmission cannot be implemented in the NB-IoT system.

Multicast transmission method and apparatus, and computer storage medium


A multi-layered film disposed on a substrate, the multi-layered film comprising:. (a) an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) layer; and PA1 (b) at least one fluoro-containing polymer layer;. wherein the fluoro-containing polymer layer comprises a perfluoro-acrylate homo-or copolymer, or a perfluoro-vinyl non-acrylate homo-or copolymer. The substrate can be a cured adhesive, preferably a cured pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), in which case the fluoro-containing polymer layer is typically situated between the PSA layer and the IPN layer. Alternatively, the substrate can be a surface to be protected from exposure to weather, chemical exposure, graffiti, or the like, such as, for example, a vehicle such as an automobile, a truck, a boat, or an aircraft; an outdoor sign; or a building exterior.

There is a continuing need for coatings that protect surfaces against adverse environments. Protective coatings are particularly needed for transportation vehicles, especially aircraft. Aircraft surfaces are subjected to erosion from wind and airborne particulate, water, fuel, and sunlight/UV exposure. Protective surface coatings must be flexible and adherent at temperature extremes, particularly low temperatures. It is also desirable that aircraft protective coatings be decorative, especially for commercial aircraft where logos and color schemes are used for carrier differentiation. Therefore, such coatings must be easily and permanently pigmented.
Marine environments present unique challenges to protective coatings for boats and ships of all sizes. In particular, ocean-going craft are subject to extremes of weather and water temperature, an environment that is corrosive to most metals, and organisms, such as molds, slimes and barnacles whose presence on ship's hulls is detrimental. A film-based coating that can discourage organism growth and provide weatherability has not been described heretofore.
Typically, clear or pigmented liquid coatings are used as protective coatings, but these suffer from a number of drawbacks, most notably the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as solvents for their preparation and application. An increasing number of restrictions on VOCs has led to development of water-borne and high-solids coatings, the use of which has limitations due to long drying times, slow cure rates, and inadequate weatherability. Adhesively-applied pigmented films have been proposed as alternative protective coatings. However, films that are, e.g., cost-effective, easily conformed to irregular surfaces and are unaffected by harsh environments have not been found.
Films and coatings comprising fluoro-containing polymers (i.e., polymers prepared from monomers that are fluorinated, preferably highly fluorinated, most preferably perfluorinated) are known and their inertness toward moisture, many solvents, and weathering conditions is known. For example, TEFLON.TM. is a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) compound that has found considerable use as a repellant for rain when incorporated into or spray-applied to clothing, upholstery, and other fabrics. However, fluoro-containing polymers are generally non-polar and do not easily adhere to many common surfaces such as wood, metals, and other polymers. In addition, fluoro-containing polymers generally are more expensive than their hydrocarbon polymer counterparts. Improved, cost-effective, strongly-adhering, long-lasting fluoro-containing polymer protective coatings are continually in demand.
Interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs), systems comprising two independent crosslinked polymer networks, have been described. See, for example, Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering Vol. 8; John Wiley & Sons, New York (1984) p. 279 and L. H. Sperling, "Interpenetrating Polymer Networks and Related Materials," Plenum Press, New York (1981). In particular, IPNs comprising acrylate and urethane networks have been prepared by either sequential or simultaneous (but independent) polymerization of free-radically polymerizable ethylenically-unsaturated acrylate-type monomers and urethane precursors (i.e., polyisocyanate and polyhydroxy coreactants). See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,128,600, 4,342,793, 4,921,759, 4,950,696, 4,985,340, 5,147,900, 5,256,170, 5,326,621, 5,360,462, and 5,376,428.
Free-standing protective and/or decorative multi-layer films for outdoor use (e.g., outdoor signs, automobile bodies) are known. Typically, such films comprise an adhesive layer, a film layer that may optionally be pigmented, and an overlay or protective layer. Effective protective films must adhere strongly to the substrate (which is often a metal or an already-coated metal) and withstand challenges from heat, oxidants, solvents, sunlight, scratches, and impinged objects such as hailstones and rocks while maintaining their gloss or other decorative aspects, and, in many cases, be easily removable without leaving residual adhesive. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,387,304, 5,306,548 and 5,334,450, 5,378,520 and 4,808,471; European Patent Application Nos. 359,532 and 519,278 and PCT patent application Nos. 92/22619 and 94/099983.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,936 describes a transparent top coat applied to a conventional finish coat using a wet-on-wet process. A transparent acrylic layer, comprising functionalized acrylic oligomers and a melamine-type crosslinker is coated, while wet, with a transparent fluorine-containing polymer layer comprising a fluoro-containing polymer that may have hydroxyalkyl or carboxyalkyl functionality and a crosslinker that may comprise a polyisocyanate. The two layers are thermally cured simultaneously. IPN carrier films are not disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,759 describes a transparent plastic sheet prepared by first forming a thin layer of acrylic monomer(s) and free-radical initiator or hydroxy-functional acrylic polymer(s) on a support, covering the acrylic(s) with a reactive mixture of polyisocyanate(s) and polyol(s), then heating the construction. When the construction is cured, the acrylic layer is said to interpenetrate the urethane layer such that no distinct surface layer is observed. Fluoroacrylate layers are not described.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,955 describes a multilayer article comprising a thin, thermoplastic cosmetic layer chemically bonded to a cross-linked, isocyanate-modified, thermosetting unsaturated substrate resin. The thermoplastic layer can itself be multilayered, and can comprise, e.g., an acrylic resin or a polyvinylidene fluoride resin or a resin having chemical functionality. The substrate can be a polyester resin or a polyether resin, and can also contain acrylate monomers. On heating together, reactive groups of each layer combine chemically to form a strong interlayer bond. Provision is also made for use of a tie layer that contains chemical groups reactive towards both layers. IPN substrates are not described, nor are fluoroacrylate cosmetic layers.
A number of methods are known for affecting the appearance and performance of film materials, among which is the imposition of a regular or irregular pattern on a surface of the film. The pattern may impart desirable characteristics to the film, such as gloss, reflection-, anti-reflection-, or partial reflection of light, anti-blocking, or improved physical strength. Patterns can be formed by embossing, molding, etching, engraving, or any number of similarly effective means. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,496, particularly Examples 4 and 5.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A method of cropping a digital image and preserving a reserve for subsequent use includes cropping the digital image to produce a first cropped digital image, the first cropped digital image having a first size and a first aspect ratio; determining, based on the location of the cropping, at least one reserve portion of the image adjacent to at least one edge of the first cropped digital image; and storing, in an image file, the first cropped digital image and the reserve(s).

One of the many benefits of using digital images is the ease with which the images can be used for different purposes. Images captured with a digital camera are immediately available to view, print and share with others by email or web page. Photographers enjoy the ability to easily manipulate their images to improve their quality and artistic expression. Image manipulation can be performed manually, under the user's control, or automatically, using a variety of algorithms to evaluate and modify an image to improve its quality in some way. Manipulations can be performed in a digital camera, at the time of capture or during later review, using a personal computer with image editing software, using editing tools on a web site.
Cropping is one of the most common manipulations. Cropping an image means to select a desired region of the image and create a new image consisting only of the desired region, discarding the surrounding region. Cropping is normally done to improve the composition of the image, enlarging or repositioning the main subject and discarding distracting subject elements or uninteresting background areas. Cropping is also necessary when the aspect ratio of the original image does not match the aspect ratio of a desired print, display or other output format.
Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of the longer dimension of an image or print to the shorter dimension. Table 1 lists several common print and display formats and their aspect ratios.
TABLE 12 × 3 inch print (wallet size)3:21.53.5 × 5 inch print (3R)10:7 1.434 × 6 inch print (4R)3:21.55 × 7 inch print7:51.48 × 10 inch print5:41.2516 × 20 inch print5:41.2520 × 30 inch print (poster)3:21.5NTSC television4:31.33HDTV television16:9 1.78VGA (640 × 480)4:31.33
It is common in the industry to refer to aspect ratios using two numbers (as 3:2). The table also shows the normalized ratio (as 1.5) for each example, so that it is easier to compare ratios. The larger the aspect ratio is numerically, the "longer" or "narrower" the image is said to be. Images can be presented in vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) orientations. Aspect ratio is properly the ratio of the width of the image to the height. This usage is consistent in the fields of video and computer displays, but in the photographic industry, it is common to ignore orientation when stating aspect ratio. Thus, a 4×6 print is described as having an aspect ratio of 3:2 whether it is horizontally or vertically displayed. For clarity, in the following description, aspect ratios will always be stated in the form width:height. For example, a portrait orientation crop for a 4×6 print size will be stated as a 2:3 crop.
A problem arises when re-cropping an image for a different aspect ratio. This problem is illustrated in FIGS. 1A through 1C. In FIG. 1A, an original image 110 of two children is captured by a user with a digital camera having a 3:2 aspect ratio. After capture, the user wishes to make a 4×6 print of the original image 110. The user crops the original image 110 using an image editing program on a personal computer so that the images of the children mostly fill a cropped image area 115, unwanted subject matter 112 is excluded, and the aspect ratio is 3:2 in order to fill the 4×6 print paper. The user saves the cropped image 120 in place of the original image 110. Later, the user wishes to make an 8×10 print of image 120 and frame it for a gift. Since the aspect ratio of the 8×10 print is different from the aspect ratio of the original 3:2 crop, the user must choose how to reformat image 120 for the 5:4 aspect ratio of the print. A crop area 135 smaller than image 120 will cut off portions 132 and 134 of the images of the children's faces. A crop area 145 larger than image 120 will result in a print with blank spaces 142 and 144 above and below the image area. Both choices have problems that result in an unsatisfactory framed image.
The problem set forth above has been addressed in some instances by keeping the original image data intact and recording the position and size of the crop rectangle in the metadata of the image file. This approach was used in the FlashPix image format, which was specified in the "FlashPix Format Specification, version 1.0, published in September 1996 by Eastman Kodak Company. The FlashPix format included an optional "transform property set" which defined how the image data should be transformed before being displayed or printed. The transform property set includes an optional "rectangle of interest" property and an optional "result aspect ratio" property. These properties can be used to provide data that specifies how an image should be cropped before display or printing. The "rectangle of interest" property includes four data values which define the left edge, top edge, width, and height of the rectangle of interest within the image. The digital image in a FlashPix image file can be cropped to this rectangle of interest before being displayed or printed. The "result aspect ratio" property is a number that can be used to define a rectangle of a specific aspect ratio. Pixels outside this rectangle are cropped by FlashPix applications which read the file and display or print the image. As a result, when a FlashPix format image is edited, cropping can be performed by changing the "rectangle of interest" property, without modifying any of the image data in the file. Unfortunately, such FlashPix files can only be opened by a limited selection of software applications. Furthermore, the image file is large, even if significant cropped is performed, because it contains all of the data in the original. Furthermore, some FlashPix applications ignored the transform property set, because it was optional, and therefore displayed the uncropped, original image.
It is also possible to store crop information in an industry standard file format, such as the JPEG format. In this case, the image can be opened by many applications, but most will ignore the crop information and display the original, uncropped image.

Cropping a digital image and preserving reserves


The invention relates to a transfer apparatus for transferring an object. The transfer apparatus comprises a gripper for either gripping the object at a first position and then releasing the object at a second position proximate to a receiving structure or releasing the object at a first position after gripping the object at a second position proximate to the receiver structure. The transfer apparatus also includes a measurement device arranged to measure the relative position of the gripper with respect to the receiving structure in at least one dimension. Further, a relative position error is determined with respect to a desired relative position based on the relative position measured. The relative position of the gripper and receiving structure are adjusted in order to minimize the relative position error in the second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus for transferring an object, a lithographic apparatus and an associated method of use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device may be used to generate a desired circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist).
The term "patterning device" as here employed should be broadly interpreted as referring to means that can be used to endow an incoming radiation beam with a patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be created in a target portion of the substrate; the term "light valve" can also be used in this context. Generally, the said pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated circuit or other device (see below). Examples of such patterning device include:                a mask: the concept of a mask is well known in lithography, and it includes mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a transmission mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask) of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on the mask. In the case of a mask, the support structure will generally be a mask table, which ensures that the mask can be held at a desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be moved relative to the beam if so desired;        a programmable mirror array: one example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a visco-elastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as non-diffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the said non-diffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable surface. An alternative embodiment of a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of tiny mirrors, each of which can be individually tilted about an axis by applying a suitable localized electric field, or by employing piezoelectric actuation mechanism. Once again, the mirrors are matrix-addressable, such that addressed mirrors will reflect an incoming radiation beam in a different direction to unaddressed mirrors; in this manner, the reflected beam is patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable mirrors. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronic means. In both of the situations described here above, the patterning device can comprise one or more programmable mirror arrays. More information on mirror arrays as here referred to can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,891 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,193, and PCT patent applications WO 98/38597 and WO 98/33096, which are incorporated herein by reference. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the said support structure may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required; and        a programmable LCD array: an example of such a construction is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein by reference. As above, the support structure in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving a mask and mask table; however, the general principles discussed in such instances should be seen in the broader context of the patterning device as set forth here above.
In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus, a pattern (e.g. in a mask) is imaged onto a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging step, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features.
This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallization, oxidation, chemical-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book "Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing", Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4, incorporated herein by reference.
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the "lens"; however, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection system, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example. The radiation system may also include components operating according to any of these design types for directing, shaping or controlling the projection beam of radiation, and such components may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a "lens".
Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such "multiple stage" devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Dual stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and WO 98/40791, both incorporated herein by reference.
In order to produce increasingly smaller features, with increasingly finer patterns, the positioning of the substrate and the mask needs to be very accurate. So, during the transfer of an object, such as a substrate or a mask, from one position to another, accurate transfer and delivery positioning of the object needs to ensured. For example, substrates are usually transferred by a robot or manipulator, that picks up the substrate with a so called gripper. The robot comprises a robot drive and an armset, to which the gripper is attached, to handle and position the substrate. The transfer apparatus puts the substrate down on a receiver, e.g. pedestal or a chuck, comprising a substrate table.
The exact position of the object that is put down on the receiver, can be disturbed by several factors, such as: (a) vibrations of the robot drive, the armset and/or the gripper, (b) wear in the bearings of the robot, (c) limited accuracy of the robot, and (d) temperature expansion.
The velocity differences between the object and the receiver during takeover can also generate wear, and subsequently particles, that contaminate the system.
In order to increase the accuracy of positioning of a substrate relative to a receiver, a mechanical docking solution has been developed. Before the actual release of the substrate by a gripper at the receiver, a mechanical link is established between the gripper and the receiver. The mechanical link is provided on the gripper and docks into a docking interface provided on the receiver.
A compliant mechanism is also provided between the gripper and the armset, to decouple the movements of the gripper with respect to the armset. As a result of the mechanical link, the accuracy of the position of the gripper, and thus the substrate, with respect to the receiver is increased. Also, vibrations, and in particular the relative vibrations of the gripper and the receiver are reduced and the mutual accuracy of the substrate and the receiver can be increased. Of course, the mechanical docking solution can also be used for the reverse procedure, i.e. picking up objects, as for instance a substrate, from the receiver.

Transfer apparatus for transferring an object, lithographic apparatus employing such a transfer apparatus, and method of use thereof