A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system includes a certification authority issuing a primary certificate to a subscriber and forwarding to a reliance server, information about the issued primary certificate. The reliance server maintains the forwarded information about issued primary certificate. The subscriber forms a transaction and then provides the transaction to a relying party. The transaction includes the primary certificate or a reference thereto. The relying party sends to the reliance server a request for assurance based on the transaction received from the subscriber. The reliance server determines whether to provide the requested assurance based on the information about the issued primary certificate and on the requested assurance. Based on the determining, the reliance server issues to the relying party a secondary certificate providing the assurance to the relying party.

Systems for accomplishing business transactions electronically are becoming increasingly widespread, partly because of the advent of global computer networks such as the Internet, and partly because of the evolution and maturity of public key cryptography, which enhances the security of such commerce. The application of public key cryptography to electronic commerce has been heretofore envisioned in documents such as Recommendation X.509 of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU, formerly CCITT) (hereinafter "Standard X.509"), the Digital Signature Guidelines of the American Bar Association's Information Security Committee (December 1995 edition, hereinafter "ABA Guidelines"), and statutes and regulations such as the Utah Digital Signature Act, Utah Code Ann. title 46, chapter 3 (1996) (hereinafter "Utah Act").
The backdrop established in these and other documents addresses some problems but leaves many of them unsolved and unresolved.

Reliance server for electronic transaction system


A cavity creating device having a cavity creating axis is introduced through a percutaneous access path into a cancellous bone volume, e.g., within a vertebral body. The cavity creating device is manipulated to form a cavity in the cancellous bone volume. The manipulation includes deflecting the cavity creating device along the cavity creating axis relative to the axis of the access path. A material, such as bone cement, can be conveyed into the cavity.

The deployment of expandable structures into interior body regions is well known. For example, expandable structures, generically called "balloons," are deployed during angioplasty to open occluded blood vessels. As another example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,969,888 and 5,108,404 disclose apparatus and methods the use of expandable structures for the fixation of fractures or other osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic conditions of human and animal bones.
Many interior regions of the body, such as the vasculature and interior bone, possess complex, asymmetric geometries. Even if an interior body region is somewhat more symmetric, it may still be difficult to gain access along the natural axis of symmetry.
For example, deployment of an expandable structure in the region of branched arteries or veins can place the axis of an expandable structure off-alignment with the axis of the blood vessel which the structure is intended to occupy. As another example, insertion of an expandable structure into bone can require forming an access portal that is not aligned with the natural symmetry of the bone. In these instances, expansion of the structure is not symmetric with respect to the natural axis of the region targeted for treatment. As a result, expansion of the body is not symmetric with respect to the natural axis of the targeted region.
It can also be important to maximize the size and surface area of an expandable structure when deployed in an interior body region. Current medical balloons manufactured by molding techniques are designed to be guided into a narrow channel, such as a blood vessel or the fallopian tube, where they are then inflated. In this environment, the diameter of the balloon is critical to its success, but the length is less so. Such balloons only need to be long enough to cross the area of intended use, with few constraints past the effective portion of the inflated balloon. This allows conventional balloons to be constructed in three molded pieces, comprising a cylindrical middle section and two conical ends, bonded to a catheter shaft. As a practical matter, neither the length of the conical end, nor the length of the bond of the balloon to the catheter shaft, affect the function of conventional balloons, and these regions on conventional balloons are often 1 cm in length or more. Indeed, the larger the balloon diameter, the longer the end cone, which creates a tradeoff between maximum effective length and maximum effective diameter. This tradeoff makes optimization of conventional structures problematic in interior structures with defined lengths, such as bone.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for forming a cavity in cancellous bone


A safety line anchor device holds a safety line for workmen and is generally intended for use in roof construction. The device is especially useful for use on wood truss roofs of any pitch. The first embodiment of the invention is constructed and arranged for use on one side of a wood truss, 24" centered roof of any pitch. This safety line anchor device comprises a main bar from which fastening straps extend, and at least one anchoring means for holding a safety line. The device is adapted to receive a fastening means, by which it is fixed to a roof. This embodiment can be designed for one or multiple anchor points. A second embodiment of the invention is adapted for use on the peak of a roof and comprises two pivotally joined anchors which straddle the roof peak, each anchor having an anchoring means for holding a safety line attached thereto. A third embodiment is adapted for use on the end peaks of a roof and comprises a pair of supports, each further comprising a central bar from which fastening straps extend, the supports being pivotally joined by a main support to which a safety line anchoring means is attached, from which a safety line may extend down the sides of a house. All embodiments are capable of withstanding a load of at least 5,000 pounds per person. A special hook latch allows only one safety line end to be attached to each anchor point. In addition, a protective shield is used to protect the safety line and the roof from abrasion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to roof and house construction and more specifically to a safety line anchoring device for use in holding safety lines for roof construction workers.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,713 issued Feb. 10, 1981 to Glynn et al discloses an attachment member for roof peaks for holding safety lines for workmen. The device comprises a strip of metal with a central portion 30 and legs 32 provided with openings 33 for receiving nails.
German Patent 2,847,275 discloses a roof ladder safety hook having a ring 9 for rope attachment. The device also has nail holes 4 and 5.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,123 issued Aug. 7, 1990 to Albert discloses a roofing bracket having a flat arm for nailing to a roof truss, a cross piece member and a lower support for a beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,113,775 issued Oct. 13, 1914 to Gibson discloses a shingling bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,152,685 issued Sep. 7, 1915 to Winn et al discloses a roof scaffold bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,144 issued Feb. 4, 1942 to Wickstrom discloses a house-end service attachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,576 issued Oct. 8, 1991 to Glynn discloses a roof lifeline safety system and anchor assembly therefor, for use on a pitched roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,426 issued Mar. 3, 1992 to Rhodes discloses a safety device for use on the upper surface of a structure on which a worker is positioned.
Canadian Patent No. 479,629 discloses a device for securing scaffolding for roofers.
French Patent No. 2,384,918 discloses a safety hook for fixing into roof timbering to hold a temporary safety structure.
Although attachment members for holding safety lines exist in the prior art, a need exists for a strong roof bracket for holding safety lines which is easy to assemble, comprising a heavy bar, straps provided with nailing holes and a ring for holding safety lines.
The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is "prior art" with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to means that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. .sctn. 1.56(a) exists.


Systems and methods for coordinated memory-side cache prefetching and dynamic interleaving configuration modification involve modifying one or both of the prefetch distance or the prefetch degree used by prefetcher modules of one or more memory-side caches by modifying interleaving configuration data following detection of an interleaving reconfiguration trigger condition indicative, for example, of low prefetch accuracy, low prefetch coverage, high prefetch lateness, or a combination of these. In response an interleaving reconfiguration trigger condition, a processor modifies the interleaving configuration data for the processing system based on the prefetch performance characteristics associated with the interleaving reconfiguration trigger condition. In some embodiments, the interleaving configuration data is modified by changing which physical memory address indices are used to determine the bits that define the channel identification number to which that physical memory address is to be mapped.

To improve overall processing efficiency, processing systems typically employ multi-channel high bandwidth memory, such as multi-channel Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). For example, such multi-channel memories are often implemented in a processing system such that multiple memory die are accessible in parallel by a host processor in the system. This multi-channel, parallel access typically increases the amount of data that the system is able to read or write in a given time period, allowing for reduced processing delays that in turn increase system performance.
Multi-channel memory systems are typically configured to store data across multiple memory devices according to an interleaving pattern. Some conventional multi-channel memory systems only utilize a single, static interleaving pattern, according to which data is sequentially stored across the memory devices of the multi-channel memory system, which typically constrains the timeliness, accuracy, and coverage achievable during cache prefetching.

Cache prefetching with dynamic interleaving configuration modification


An audio signal processing device, including: a digital signal processing module, an input module, an output module, and a control module. The digital signal processing module is in connection with the input module and the output module, and the control module is in connection with the output module. The output module includes at least two output channels, with each output channel including a power amplifier and a speaker in series connection. The digital signal processing module is configured to receive an audio signal output by the input module and to process the audio signal with at least two different audio processing algorithms, and output the at least two audio processing signals. Each audio processing signal corresponds to one output channel. The control module is configured to control the operation state of the power amplifier of each output channel and the magnification thereof in operation.

Audio files downloaded from the network by users are generally compressed audio files, and audio signals input by the users via microphones also include many noises. In case that the audio files downloaded from the network or the audio files picked up by the microphones are directly played, the finally displayed sound effect will be affected, reducing the user experience. Thus, audio signal processing is developed in order to achieve a better sound effect. An audio signal processing device is configured to process the previously input audio signal by using audio processing algorithms before playing the audio, so as to restore the information lost in the compression or to filter the noises. Commonly used audio processing algorithms include signal equalization, bass boost, delay and filtering, etc.
The existing audio signal processing devices in the market can only output audio signals with particular signal audio characteristics. However, different rooms often have different decoration layouts. In order to achieve the same sound effect in different rooms, it is required to configure different audio signal processing devices for different rooms, which obviously increases the cost. Moreover, the same user may have different needs for the finally played audio signals during different time periods. Therefore, the existing audio signal processing devices fail to meet the different needs of the same user in different time periods.

Audio signal processing device and sound box


An electric-motor driven actuator has a housing, in which a motor and a carrier plate are arranged and the carrier plate is connected in a fixed manner to a brush holder. The brush holder has a first brush holder which is rigidly connected to the carrier plate. A second brush holder component is also provided which is mechanically coupled to the first brush holder component and is decoupled in a vibration-neutralizing manner from the first brush holder component via at least one damping element and which holds brushes via which contact can be made with a commutator of the motor.

The invention relates to a brush holder for an electric-motor driven actuator and an electric-motor drive actuator. Known electric-motor driven actuators have a housing, in which a motor and a carrier plate are arranged. The carrier plate is connected in a fixed manner to a component of the brush holder having brushes, which make contact with a commutator of the motor.
Such actuators are for example deployed in motor vehicles as drives for sunroofs, window raising systems, seat adjustment systems or belt tensioners. Such actuators have to be configured as compactly as possible given that there is frequently only a small amount of space available for them and should be such that they can be manufactured at low cost. Such actuators can be manufactured at low cost, if as many components as possible, such as the electronics housing, which holds the electronic control system for the motor, and even significant components of the brush holder are made of a plastic material, preferably a thermoplastic injection-molded plastic material. However plastic components transmit vibration very readily. This can cause the electric-motor driven actuator to vibrate significantly during operation or to emit loud noises. This is however usually not desirable for reasons of user comfort, e.g. when used in a motor vehicle.
An electric-motor driven actuator for a motor vehicle sunroof is known from DE 198 05 185 A1. The actuator has an electric motor, which has a speed-transforming transmission comprising a worm shaft and a worm wheel. The electric motor is arranged in a cup-shaped field frame, which is flange-mounted on a transmission housing. The transmission housing holds a printed circuit board, which is connected in a rigid manner to a brush holder. The brush holder is provided for radial slip-fit assembly in respect of the drive shaft of the electric motor. The brush holder is manufactured by plastic injection molding.

Brush holder for an electric-motor driven actuator and an electric-motor driven actuator


Disclosed is a check valve (5) that is screwed into a threaded bore (1) of a housing (2) of a hydraulic subassembly between a first pressure side (26) and a second pressure side (27) by means of an external thread (11) which is disposed in a first cylinder section (8) of a cylindrical valve housing (6) of the check valve (5). A passage duct (39) which allows a hydraulic fluid to flow between the sidewall of the threaded bore (1) and a first removed portion (16) of the surface area (10) of the cylindrical valve housing (6) is embodied in at least one angular segment (a1, a2, and a3) of the valve housing (6).

DE 24 49 443 A1 describes a screw-in nonreturn valve, the valve housing of which takes up a comparatively large space in the radial direction. This is due to the fact that the diameter of the valve housing is composed in the least favourable case, owing to the arrangement of the individual functional units, of the cross-sections of the external thread, the valve housing portion of the valve housing, the valve body and the flow duct between the valve housing portion and the valve body, which are each suitably dimensioned in accordance with their function.
In the axial direction, too, the nonreturn valve of DE 24 49 443 A1 has a comparatively large extent. The comparatively large axial extent results from the addition of the geometry of the axially arranged functional units of the valve seat body, the valve body and the tension spring, as well as an additional space for a screwing tool which engages in each case on the inner surfaces of the valve housing for the screwing of the nonreturn valve.


A white balance control device for a video camera is provided to reduce an occurrence percentage and the degree of color failure, improve the quality of reproduced color and prevent flicker from occurring so that a photograph may be taken properly. A first microcomputer detects a brightness of an object and a condition of a divided light measurement judged from an open degree of an iris. The first microcomputer outputs white balance control signals Rcont and Bcont for equalizing the values of color difference signals R-Y and B-Y to reference values. A white balance control circuit changes the amplification degrees of an elementary red signal R and an elementary blue signal B. When a brightness of an object becomes higher than the previous memorized value and a mode of a divided light measurement is changed, values of white balance control signals Rcont and Bcont are changed. At the other times, the values of the white balance control signals Rcont and Bcont are fixed. The determined values are divided to an area for an inside of an house mode and a outside of a house mode. The quality of reproduced colors is improved by controlling the gain and the hue in a matrix circuit. Under a fluorescent lamp, an electric shutter is actuated with a shutter speed of 1/100 second in order to prevent flicker from occurring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a white balance control device of a video camera, particularly to a white balance control device for properly controlling white balance by a method of inside light measurement.
The invention further relates to a white balance control device for properly controlling white balance by a method of inside light measurement and a method of divided scope light measurement, and a white balance control device for reducing the occurrence of color failure when photographing under artificial light and natural light.
The invention further relates to a video camera for reproducing proper colors of an object when photographed under a fluorescent lamp and a video camera for photographing an object illuminated by a fluorescent lamp which prevents flicker from occurring.
2. Related Art
In conventional video cameras and video still cameras, a white balance control is utilized in order to reproduce a white object as a white colored material. The white balance control is operated by controlling a gain of a red signal circuit and a gain of a blue signal circuit in the camera based on a green signal as a reference value.
In the white balance control, it is necessary to measure a tint (color temperature) of a photographing working field for operating the white balance control. As methods of the white balance control, there are an outside light measuring method and an inside light measuring method, which are different from each other in measuring the color temperature of the photographing working field.
In the outside light measuring method, a color temperature is directly detected by a color temperature sensor. A white balance control signal for a red signal and a white balance control signal for a blue signal are produced based on reference data detected by the color temperature sensor in order to control the white balance. The color temperature sensor is integrally formed with photo sensors, for example, a photo sensor with a red filter, a photo sensor with a green filter and a photo sensor with a blue filter. The white balance control signal for the red signal and the white balance control for the blue signal are produced by an output voltage of each photo sensor, respectively.
On the other hand, in the inside light measuring method, a color temperature is indirectly detected by a color temperature sensor. If a white balance is matching in a picture, an averaged color of whole colors in a picture an becomes achromatic color (grey). The inside light measuring method utilizes this theory That is, an integrated averaged value of color difference signals R-Y and B-Y at a reference color temperature that an averaged color for all of the colors in a picture becomes an achromatic color is designated as a reference value for each signal. Values of the red signal and the blue signal are feed back controlled in order to match the integrated averaged value with the reference value.

White balance control device and video camera with a white balance control device


A casing spacer includes a pair of generally semi-cylindrical metal shells disposed on opposed outer surface portions of a carrier pipe for securely maintaining the pipe in fixed, spaced relation from the inner surface of an outer casing. Opposed ends of the shells are connected together by nut and bolt combinations for securely attaching the casing spacer to the carrier pipe. Plural runners are directly attached in a spaced manner to the outer surfaces of the metal shells by respective nut and bolt combinations inserted through apertures in the casing spacer's metal shells for engaging the outing casing's inner surface in maintaining fixed spacing between the pipe and outer casing.

Carrier pipes such as those used in water distribution systems are typically located underground and subjected to significant dynamic and static loads, corrosive elements, vibrations, and other destructive factors, particularly when located under roads and railway rights-of-way. As a result, these types of pipelines are frequently in the form of an inner liquid carrying pipe disposed within a rigid outer casing. The outer casing isolates the inner pipe from the elements as well as from ground movement and the structural stresses associated therewith. One or more carrier pipes may be disposed within the outer casing, where the inner carrier pipe(s) may be a water or sewer main. The outer casing serves to maintain carrier pipe alignment, restrain the carrier pipe against flotation or other movement, and maintain the carrier pipe in fixed position and orientation, such as for maintaining grade requirements in the case of a gravity sewer. One or more spacers are typically disposed about the carrier pipe(s) and between the carrier pipe(s) and the outer casing to maintain stationary positioning and fixed spacing of the carrier pipe(s) relative to the outer casing.
Early casing spacers made use of suitably sized lumber banded about selected portions of the carrier pipe before it is placed within the outer casing. The lumber tends to degrade over time and is subject to damage or destruction during installation. These wooden spacers are labor intensive to fabricate and attach to a carrier pipe and are positioned within an outer casing in a manner which tends to increase the possibility of damage or destruction of the casing spacer. These types of wooden spacers are also easily dislodged from the carrier pipe such as during installation and place an uneven load on the pipe unless the boards are spaced symmetrically about the inner carrier pipe. These wooden spacers are also subject to rot, allowing the carrier pipe to settle, or they can, on the other hand, swell and subject carrier pipe joints to breakage. These wooden spacers also provide only limited electrical insulation for the carrier pipe, and are subject to bacterial and differential oxygen concentration corrosion.
More recent casing spacer designs feature a preformed steel or plastic band tightly maintained in position about the outer surface of the carrier pipe. Attached to and extending from the outer surface of the casing spacer band are plural spaced risers. In the case of a steel casing spacer band, the risers are also comprised of steel and are attached to the casing spacer band by conventional means such as weldments. In the case of a plastic casing spacer band, the risers are also of plastic and are integrally formed with the band. A riser/runner arrangement disposed about the outer surface of the casing spacer's band provides this arrangement with a cross sectional shape generally in the shape of a "star". While the risers disposed on the outer surface of the casing spacer provide considerable strength in supporting a carrier pipe within the casing, this component substantially increases the cost and complexity of manufacture because it must be attached to the casing spacer's band in a separate step. Forming the riser integrally with the casing spacer band during manufacture also substantially increases the cost and complexity of casing spacer manufacture. Other casing spacer designs have eliminated the use of a riser by bolting the runners to the casing spacer's bands. These mounting bolts are attached to the casing spacer's bands by means of stud weldments. These stud weldments, as in the case of the aforementioned riser weldments, increase the complexity and cost of casing spacer manufacture. Once installed, the stud weldments are also subject to failure when subjected to the significant dynamic and static loads encountered in underground environments.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing a casing spacer for maintaining a carrier pipe in spaced position within, and from, an outer casing which does not make use of risers or weldments for positioning and support of the carrier pipe. Plural runners are securely attached in a spaced manner directly to the outer surface of the casing spacer band in a novel mounted arrangement which eliminates the need for risers or weldments. The inventive riserless casing spacer is easily assembled and attached to a carrier pipe, is of reduced complexity and low cost, and provides secure support for a carrier pipe disposed within an outer casing.


A method includes identifying a plurality of content types in a database of a social network, wherein members produce and request content of different content types from the database. Job types to be performed on each content type are identified, when requests for content are received from members of the social network. A sharding process for each content type is selected based on the job types to be performed on the content types. The database is sharded into first group of shards for content types having job types that are parallel processing efficient and into second group of shards for content types having job types that are linear processing efficient. The first and second group of shards define a multi-shard database. Requests for contents are serviced from the first group or the second group of shards from the multi-shard database depending on the job types associated with the requests.

The present disclosure relates to methods, systems and computer programs for sharding user data.
With the great amount of data being generated on the Internet, there is a growing need for storing the data efficiently so that data retrieval can be done in a fast and efficient manner. Such need has only exacerbated with the growing popularity of social networks where huge amounts of data are being generated, retrieved and/or exchanged by millions and millions of users. Efficient retrieval of data is critical to provide an enriching social network experience as it directly translates to faster data look-up time for the users. Currently, data is being stored randomly making access to such data very inefficient. The random nature of storing data results in increased round trip latency and inefficient use of network resources. It is, therefore, desirable to find ways to store data in an intelligent manner to make storage and retrieval of data fast and efficient.

Shard data based on associated social relationship


A door handle for the side door, rear door or trunk of a motor vehicle, the door handle being fitted with a flap (1) that retracts automatically when the handle is used. The flap is fitted with a sensor (5) that detects the presence of a handle opposite the flap. When the flap is not in use, it is closed in such a way as to be flush with the external surface (2) of the door and it is held in position by a spring recall system. A computer-controlled actuation device is designed to retract the flap at the appropriate moment in order to provide access to the door opening control (8). The flap systems can be connected to an electric or mechanical opening control.

The present invention relates to an external door handle of a motor vehicle. The style of modern cars has become a prominent factor of appeal and market success, this invention discloses a vehicle external handle which is at the same time very practical and very convenient and also enables to achieve new possibilities for the vehicle style, especially the lateral style.

Door handle equipped with an automatic retractable flap


Disclosed herein is a lower unit for a marine propulsion device, such as an outboard motor or a stern drive unit, which lower unit comprising a gear case including a torpedo having a fore and aft axis and including a forward portion, a central portion extending rearwardly from the forward portion and having a generally cylindrical configuration concentric with the axis and defined by a radius, and an aft portion extending rearwardly from the central portion and including a circumferentially extending cylindrical sub-portion which is concentric with the axis, and which is defined by the radius, and a circumferentially extending conical sub-portion which is concentric with the axis, which extends for a circumferential length of not more than 180.degree., and which is defined by radii which are greater than the radius and which gradually increase in the direction toward the aft end.

The invention relates generally to lower or drive units of marine propulsion devices, such as outboard motors and stern drive units. Still more particularly, the invention relates generally to gear cases incorporated in such lower units and to the shapes or configurations of such gear cases. Still further in addition, the invention relates to shapes or configurations which are intended to affect the operation of such marine propulsion devices and which affect the back pressure in the exhaust gas discharge passage in through the hub exhaust gas systems in stern drive and outboard motors.
Attention is directed to the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:.
______________________________________ 3,554,665 Lorenz, et al. January 12, 1971 3,727,574 Bagge April 17, 1973 3,939,792 Wasenius February 24, 1976 3,939,795 Rocka February 24, 1976 4,080,099 Snyder March 21, 1978 4,096,819 Evinrude June 27, 1978 4,295,835 Mapes, et al. October 20, 1981 4,447,214 Henrich May 8, 1984 4,898,553 Bankstahl February 6, 1990 4,911,665 Hetzel March 27, 1990 ______________________________________
With respect to the above patents, attention is particularly directed to FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,835.


A semiconductor device includes an analog integrated circuit and a digital integrated circuit provided on a major surface of a substrate. An analog ground terminal is provided for the analog integrated circuit, and digital ground terminals are provided for the digital integrated circuit. An analog ground layer is stacked on the substrate so as to face the analog integrated circuit, and digital ground layers are stacked on the substrate so as to face the digital integrated circuit. The analog ground terminal is connected to the analog ground layer, and the digital ground terminals are connected to the digital ground layers, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device with an analog integrated circuit and a digital integrated circuit mounted thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention also relates to a semiconductor module, and more particularly to a semiconductor module including a surface-mounted or built-in semiconductor device having an analog integrated circuit and a digital integrated circuit.
An example of this type of device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-156209. According to this background art, a circuit element formation region is assigned to the central part of the upper surface of a silicon substrate, and outside of that region, a plurality of contact pads for signaling and a single contact pad for grounding are provided. A redistribution trace for signaling is provided to extend from the upper surface of the contact pad for signaling to the upper surface of an insulating film. A projection electrode is provided on the upper surface of a pad portion located at the leading end of the redistribution trace. A ground layer is provided on the upper surface of the insulating film on the circuit element formation region so as to avoid the redistribution trace for signaling and its neighboring area, and is connected to the contact pad for grounding via the redistribution trace for grounding. Another projection electrode is provided at a predetermined place on the upper surface of the ground layer.
However, when forming a plurality of integrated circuits, such as an analog integrated circuit and a digital integrated circuit, in a circuit element formation region, noise produced in a certain integrated circuit may affect another integrated circuit through a ground layer. Particularly, high frequency noise produced in the digital integrated circuit may destabilize the operation of the analog integrated circuit.

Semiconductor device and semiconductor module


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A wireless device, such as a user equipment (UE), may receive, via a first control resource set (CORESET) of a plurality of CORESETs monitored by the UE, a first downlink grant that schedules a downlink data transmission to the UE. The UE may receive the downlink data transmission from a first transmission reception point (TRP) of a plurality of TRPs and transmit feedback information for the downlink data transmission to the first TRP based at least in part on the first TRP being associated with the first CORESET or the first downlink grant being received via the first CORESET.

The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to multi-point communications.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some cases, a UE may communicate with two or more base stations (e.g., two or more transmission reception points (TRPs)) over time and frequency resources dedicated for communications between the TRPs and the UE. The TRPs may coordinate (e.g., dynamically or semi-statically) communications to the UE over backhaul links, which may be subject to delay due to changing channel conditions or backhaul throughput limitations. In some instances, such as while operating under non-ideal backhaul conditions, each TRP may send signaling to the UE, which may cause latency and increase signaling overhead.


The present invention provides a system and method for monitoring a short clock cycle on a semiconductor chip. The system includes a phase-locked loop (PLL) for receiving a reference clock as input and for outputting a PLL clock out. The system includes a delay-locked loop (DLL) for receiving the PLL clock out as input and for outputting a DLL phase offset clock. The DLL is locked to a frequency of the PLL clock out. The system may include an edge comparator for receiving the PLL clock out and the DLL phase offset clock as input. The edge comparator is suitable for monitoring each edge of the PLL clock out and each edge of the DLL phase offset clock, and for reporting a short clock cycle when an edge of the PLL clock out comes before an edge of the DLL phase offset clock.

A phase-locked loop (PLL) is a closed-loop feedback control system that maintains a generated signal in a fixed phase relationship to a reference signal. Since an integrated cicuit (IC) can hold a complete PLL building block, the technique is widely used in modern electronic devices, with signal frequencies from a fraction of a cycle per second up to many gigahertz.
Typically a PLL may include a lock detector that monitors REF (reference) and FB (feedback) edges to signal when the PLL is in lock. This lock signal is often used as a way to judge if there is a short clock cycle (i.e., a fast clock signal) in order to avoid corrupted data in an IC. However, this application of the lock signal may not work properly because the lock detector is not actually monitoring the clock out signal. In addition, the resolution of the lock detector may be considerably larger than the timing closure window.
Conventionally, the short clock cycle is avoided by calculating the statistical probability of the short clock cycle and increasing the timing uncertainty such that the rate of such an occurrence is acceptable to the design of an IC. However, using this approach, the IC will eventually get a bit error. Furthermore, the current calculations are based on silicon measurements that are not available in the early product life.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system and method which may effectively address the foregoing-described problems.

At-speed on-chip short clock cycle monitoring system and method


The invention relates to an intraruminal sustained release capsule which is capable of delivering a sustained release dose of a first medicament to an animal, as well as either or both of a dump dose of a second medicament or mineral, and an exit dose of a third medicament or mineral. The capsule can have a dissolvable overcap molded from plasticized starch enabling a dump dose of medicament to be held between the overcap and one end of the capsule. A piston within the body of the capsule can be modified to enable it to accommodate an exit dose of medicament within its hollow interior which is aligned with an aperture at the end of the capsule which enables release of the medicaments to the rumen. After insertion of the capsule in the animal the overcap (if present) dissolves and separates from the capsule to release the dump dose of medicament. The sustained release medicament is then dispensed via the apertured end, followed by the release of the exit dose of medicament (if present).

There are a number of intraruminal devices and sustained release capsules and formulations presently available. In general the devices currently available are in the form of a capsule, which comprises: a substantially hollow tubular body, which is sealed at one end by a cap, and partially sealed at the second end by an annular flange, which defines an opening. There is provision within the body for the inclusion of a solid therapeutic composition.
Many of the currently available intraruminal devices contain a spring and plunger mechanism for urging the solid therapeutic composition towards the opening. The cap end may also have attached to it a plurality of resilient arms designed to prevent regurgitation of the device by the animal.
Intraruminal devices are inserted through the oesophagus into the animal's rumen. Once in the rumen they commence the release of the therapeutic composition over a prolonged period of time. A number of such formulations are available which are all capable of releasing a single therapeutic drug, such as an anthelmintic, and in some cases a range of supplementary trace elements.
Sustained release capsules have been available for over fifteen years. These devices release active ingredients or trace elements into the rumen of an animal for a period of 90-180 days.
There are two main types of sustained released capsule:
Simple Erodible Systems
These were the first type of sustained release device introduced to the market. They are generally of a waxy or metallic construction and are in the shape of a simple cylinder. Erosion either occurs from over the entire surface of the device, or in some cases the device may have been dipped in a coating material so that only the ends of the device are exposed. In this case payout will be able to be controlled more effectively. The interaction with the rumen contents (amount of grass and liquid content) determines the rate of erosion of the device.
Examples of such devices include:
Alltrace Mineral Bolus (Agrimin, UK)—This is an erodible bolus containing: Copper (16,379 mg), Cobalt (236 mg), Selenium (251 mg), Manganese (8,326 mg), Zinc (13,382 mg), Iodine (497 mg), Vitamin A (549,408 i.u.), Vitamin D (3109,8811.u.) and Vitamin E (1,099 i.u.). Two boluses are administered to each animal weighing 150 kgs or more, with the payout period being 240 days. To retain the bolus in the rumen the device has a sold metal densifier element which erodes after the lighter mineral elements have dissolved. The advantage of the device is the high loading of active ingredients and the fact that the device will fully erode leaving no part retained in the animal. Disadvantage of this style of erodible bolus is that it is not possible to achieve a linear release rate.
Optimag Magnesium Bolus (Norbrook, UK)—A solid metallic bolus containing 100 g of magnesium released over approximately 4 weeks. These are used in adult cattle as an aid to maintenance of magnesium intake.
In both of the above cases the aim of bolus administration is to maintain mineral levels in the treated animal for a prolonged period of time. Neither device allows for complex payout profiles as might be required if the farmer wished to deliver an immediate short-acting dose of a particular active ingredient to be followed by the sustained payout of the minerals in question.
Sustained-Release Devices
A relatively new technology is the category of sustained-release devices. In general these are in the form of a plastic capsule, comprising: a substantially hollow tubular body, which is completely sealed at one end by a cap, and partially sealed at the second end by an annular flange, which defines an opening. There is provision within the body for the inclusion of a solid therapeutic composition.
Many of the currently available sustained release devices contain a spring and plunger mechanism for urging the solid therapeutic composition (either in the form of solid wax or stack of tablets) towards the opening. Other devices rely on osmotic pressure to expand a driver portion in the base of the capsule. This driver portion causes the active contents to be expelled from the open end of the capsule. The diameter of the opening can be used to increase or restrict the speed of payout of the device.
The capsule may be retained in the rumen of the animal either by a plurality of resilient arms protruding from the cap end of the device, or by a weighted metal densifier element within the body of the device.
Typically this style of device is used to deliver active ingredients requiring a greater precision of payout such as anthelmintics. In these cases the daily dose of anthelmintic is low compared to the amount recommended in a standard oral dose.
Examples of sustained release devices include:
IVOMEC SR Bolus (MSD Agvet)—Containing 1.72 g ivermectin releasing over 140 days. This device uses osmotic pressure to expand a driver portion in the base of the capsule. The expansion of this driver portion urges the solid wax formulation containing ivermectin towards the opening.
EXTENDER SeCo (Merial)—Containing 4.62 g albendazole releasing over 100 days, and IVOMEC Maximizer Capsule (Merial)—Containing 160 mg ivermectin releasing over 100 days. Both of these devices utilise a spring portion to urge a stack of tablets containing the active ingredients towards the opening. At the opening the face of the exposed tablet forms a gel which is released into the rumen.
There are times however when even sustained release of one or more substances over a prolonged period is insufficient to satisfy animal health needs. In certain cases the farmer may wish to deliver an additional substance in an immediate or dump release fashion prior to or following the period of sustained release.
Examples of such cases could include:
When a secondary trace element or mineral treatment is required to be given to an animal at the same time as a sustained release treatment of an anthelmintic. Traditionally this would mean that the farmer would administer a separate treatment in the form of a liquid drench or oral capsule. An example of this is that farmers will often give a copper oxide needle treatment in the form of a gelatine capsule for preventing copper deficiency. It can be recognised that this separate treatment is time consuming and inconvenient.
A further example is that the manufacturers of EXTENDER SeCo recommend that a large "primer" or initial dose of an effective oral anthelmintic is given at the same time as the capsule is inserted into the animal. The purpose of this primer dose is to control the adult stage parasites that are resident in the animal. Once this is done the capsule will be able to effectively control any new incoming larvae for the effective payout period of the device.
Another example is that there is a concern that some single active sustained release anthelmintic devices may not effectively control all parasites for the full duration of the payout period. In some cases it may be desirable to administer to the animal what is known as an "exit" dose. This is a large dose of anthelmintic administered at a single time point sufficient to control adult parasites that may have survived the smaller sustained dose of anthelmintic.
Recently there have been attempts to incorporate priming and/or exit doses into sustained release capsules so that there is no need for the farmer to administer a separate treatment.
These are typically made by incorporating one or more fast releasing tablets into the stack of sustained release tablets contained within the device. These fast release tablets contain disintegrants and effervescent materials. Unfortunately the fast release of the tablet can allow moisture to seep through the annular flange defining the opening and down the inside of the capsule body. This can then impede release of subsequent sustained release tablets.


A magnetic head is disclosed which has a metal magnetic film formed by first stacking Fe--M--N magnetic thin film layers and precious metal layers such as Pt layers to form a multilayer film and then stacking such multilayer films via an insulating film so that the reproduction output is improved to make the magnetic head suitable for recording on and reproduction from a magnetic recording medium having a large coercive force, such as, a so-called metal tape. On gap forming surfaces of a pair of magnetic core halves, a multilayer structure formed by first forming a multilayer film by stacking magnetic thin film layers having composition of Fe.sub.x M.sub.y N.sub.z (with M being at least one selected from Ta, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ti, Mo and W, and x, y and z indicating atomic percentage and holding relations of 71.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.85, 6.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.15, and 9.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.16) and layers made of at least one selected from Pt, Au, Ag and Pd, and then stacking such multilayer films via at least two layers made of any one of SiO.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Cr.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a so-called metal-in-gap type magnetic head including a pair of magnetic core halves with its gap portion made of a metal magnetic film. Particularly, it relates to a magnetic head in which the metal magnetic film has a multilayer structure formed by first forming a multilayer film by stacking Fe--M--N magnetic thin film layers and precious metal layers such as Pt layers and then stacking such multilayer films via an insulating film, so as to improve reproduction output to make the magnetic head suitable for recording on and reproduction from a magnetic recording medium having a large coercive force, such as, a so-called metal tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as the recording density of signals has become higher in the field of magnetic recording, magnetic recording media having a large coercive force and a high remanent magnetic flux density are used, such as, metal tapes manufactured by directly coating a non-magnetic support with a ferromagnetic metal material. Accordingly, core materials for magnetic heads are required to have a high saturation magnetic flux density and high permeability.
To meet such requirements, a metal-in-gap type magnetic head (hereinafter referred to as a MIG head) has been proposed in which ferrite is used as a sub-core material while a metal magnetic film having a high saturation magnetic flux density is formed as a main core material formed on the ferrite so that a magnetic gap portion is formed by the metal magnetic film. The MIG head is suitable for recording on and reproduction from a metal tape.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the significant progress in higher recording density in recent years, the magnetic head of the above-described type is required to employ a metal magnetic material which has a higher saturation magnetic flux density for obtaining a large recording magnetic field and exhibits soft magnetic property in order to carry out more satisfactory recording on and reproduction from a magnetic recording medium having a large coercive force, such as, the metal tape.
Also, since a microcrystal metal magnetic film containing Fe as its main component has a high saturation magnetic flux density and exhibits excellent soft magnetic property in the in-plane direction, the microcrystal metal magnetic film has been put into practical use in place of the conventional metal magnetic material for the magnetic head.
However, in the MIG head, though the microcrystal metal magnetic film mainly containing Fe is formed on ferrite in place of the conventional metal magnetic film, the soft magnetic property in the direction of thickness as well as the soft magnetic property in the in-plane direction is important. Therefore, the head efficiency has not been so improved as expected from the excellent soft magnetic property in the in-plane direction of the microcrystal metal magnetic film, and the reproduction output has not been so improved, either.
Thus, the present applicant has already proposed a magnetic head including a pair of magnetic core halves joined and integrated with each other with magnetic gap forming surfaces thereof abutted to each other, and a metal magnetic film formed on the magnetic gap forming surface of at least one of the pair of magnetic core halves, in which the metal magnetic film is made of a multilayer film of stacked magnetic thin film layers having composition of Fe.sub.x M.sub.y N.sub.z and Pt layers, with M being at least one selected from Ta, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ti, Mo and W, and x, y and z indicating atomic percentages and holding relations of 71.ltoreq.x .ltoreq.85, 6.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.15, and 9.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.16. (See the Japanese Patent Application No.8-12956.)

Metal in gap magnetic head having metal magnetic film including precious metal layer


An epoxy resin composition for encapsulating semiconductors containing an epoxy resin, a phenol resin, an inorganic filler, a curing accelerator, a glycerol tri-fatty acid ester produced by dehydration condensation reaction of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid with a carbon atom content of 24-36, and a hydrotalcite compound as essential components is provided. The resin composition exhibits excellent mold releasability and produces only a slight amount of stains on the surfaces of the mold and semiconductor packages. A semiconductor device exhibiting excellent solder resistance is also provided.

In recent years, encapsulating semiconductor devices with an epoxy resin composition is mainly conducted due to an excellent balance among productivity, cost, reliability, and the like. Along with miniaturization of semiconductor devices, epoxy resin compositions for encapsulating the semiconductor devices are required to have lower viscosity, higher strength, and lower water absorption than ever before. For this reason, a recent tendency of epoxy resin compositions is to use a resin with lower viscosity and a larger amount of inorganic fillers. From the viewpoint of reducing environmental stress, a lead-free solder with a higher melting point is widely used for mounting semiconductor devices. A problem of this type of solder is the requirement for a mounting temperature that is about 20° C. higher than that required for conventional solders, which results in unduly impaired reliability of semiconductor devices after mounting. For these reasons, promoting reliability of semiconductor devices by improving epoxy resin compositions is urgently desired. Since improvement of adhesiveness of a resin with materials forming semiconductor devices, along with improvement of the strength and reduction of water absorptivity of cured epoxy resin compositions, is an important factor for improving reliability of semiconductor devices, a technique of increasing adhesion and high filler loading has been employed.
On the other hand, with regard to the manufacturing system for semiconductor devices, since the number of packages fabricated in one shot has increased and the shot time for fabricating semiconductor devices has been reduced to decrease the production cost, an epoxy resin composition that can be quickly cured and easily released from a mold is desired.
Although a number of researches have been undertaken to satisfy these requirements and their results have been reported in a number of publications, the methods developed heretofore solve only one or two problems among the many outstanding problems. A process that can satisfy all of these requirements and can be applicable on an across-the-board basis has not yet been developed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-220511 discloses a method for increasing adhesiveness of an epoxy resin composition, which comprises an epoxy resin, a phenol curing agent, a curing accelerator, and an inorganic filler, with construction materials of semiconductor devices by adding an adhesion promoter such as a coupling agent. Since the addition of an adhesion promoter impairs releasability, the productivity of the resulting resin composition is not satisfactory. In the case of a technique of adding a curing accelerator with an objective of reducing the molding cycle, the resin composition has impaired flowability, making it difficult to increase the amount of inorganic filler. The resulting resin composition has only unsatisfactory reliability. If a large amount of releasing agent is added to improve mold releasability, not only adhesiveness of the lead frame for mounting the semiconductor device with the cured product of the epoxy resin composition is impaired, but also a considerable amount of the releasing agent oozes from the mold surface and stains the surfaces of the mold and semiconductor packages.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-80695 discloses an epoxy resin composition for encapsulating semiconductors, in which glycerol tri-fatty acid ester produced by a dehydration condensation reaction of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid with a carbon atom content of 24-36 is added to an epoxy resin composition comprising an epoxy resin, a phenol curing agent, a curing accelerator, and an inorganic filler to promote mold releasability. The epoxy resin composition for encapsulating semiconductors not only exhibits excellent mold releasability, but also can reduce stains on the surfaces of the mold and semiconductor packages. However, the effect of reducing stains on the surfaces of the mold and semiconductor packages of the epoxy resin composition is still insufficient.
In view of this situation, development of a technique ensuring high productivity and high reliability of semiconductor devices is strongly desired.

Epoxy resin composition for the encapsulation of semiconductors and semiconductor devices


A composition in the form of an emulsion having: (i) a continuous oil phase comprising: (a) an oil; (b) an emulsifier; and (ii) an internal aqueous phase comprising: (a) water; (b) acid such that the aqueous phase has an initial pH of less than about 2; (c) a viscosity-increasing agent; and (d) a crosslinker, wherein the crosslinker is selected or controlled to crosslink the viscosity-increasing agent at a pH range somewhere in a range of about 1.5 to about 6.5 and that is at least higher than the initial pH of the aqueous phase. A method of acidizing a treatment zone of a subterranean formation in a well includes the steps of: (A) forming a treatment fluid comprising such a composition; and (B) introducing the treatment fluid into a well.

To produce oil or gas, a well is drilled into a subterranean formation that is an oil or gas reservoir.
Drilling, completion, and intervention operations can include various types of treatments that are commonly performed in a wellbore or subterranean formation.
For example, a treatment for fluid-loss control can be used during any of drilling, completion, and intervention operations. During completion or intervention, stimulation is a type of treatment performed to enhance or restore the productivity of oil and gas from a well. Stimulation treatments fall into two main groups: hydraulic fracturing and matrix treatments. Fracturing treatments are performed above the fracture pressure of the subterranean formation to create or extend a highly permeable flow path between the formation and the wellbore. Matrix treatments are performed below the fracture pressure of the formation. Other types of completion or intervention treatments include, but are not limited to, damage removal, formation isolation, wellbore cleanout, scale removal, and scale control. Of course, other well treatments and treatment fluids are known in the art.
Acidizing
A widely used stimulation technique is acidizing, in which a treatment fluid including or forming an aqueous acid solution is introduced into the formation to dissolve acid-soluble materials. This can accomplish a number of purposes, which can be, for example, to help remove residual fluid material or filtercake damage or to increase the permeability of a treatment zone. In this way, hydrocarbon fluids can more easily flow from the formation into the well. In addition, an acid treatment can facilitate the flow of injected treatment fluids from the well into the formation. This procedure enhances production by increasing the effective well radius.
Acidizing techniques can be carried out as matrix acidizing procedures or as acid fracturing procedures. Matrix treatments are often applied in treatment zones having good natural permeability to counteract damage in the near-wellbore area. Fracturing treatments are often applied in treatment zones having poor natural permeability.
In matrix acidizing, an acidizing fluid is injected from the well into the formation at a rate and pressure below the pressure sufficient to create a fracture in the formation. In sandstone formations, the acid primarily removes or dissolves acid soluble damage in the near wellbore region and is thus classically considered a damage removal technique and not a stimulation technique. In carbonate formations, the goal is to actually a stimulation treatment where in the acid forms conducted channels called wormholes in the formation rock.
In acid fracturing, an acidizing fluid is pumped into a carbonate formation at a sufficient pressure to cause fracturing of the formation and creating differential (non-uniform) etching fracture conductivity. Acid fracturing involves the formation of one or more fractures in the formation and the introduction of an aqueous acidizing fluid into the fractures to etch the fractures faces, whereby flow channels are formed when the fractures close. The aqueous acidizing fluid also enlarges the pore spaces in the fracture faces and in the formation. In acid fracturing treatments, one or more fractures are produced in the formation and the acidic solution is introduced into the fracture to etch flow channels in the fracture face. The acid also enlarges the pore spaces in the fracture face and in the formation.
Greater details, methodology, and exceptions regarding acidizing can be found in "Production Enhancement with Acid Stimulation" 2nd edition by Leonard Kalfayan (PennWell 2008), SPE 129329, SPE 123869, SPE 121464, SPE 121803, SPE 121008, IPTC 10693, 66564-PA, and the references contained therein.
The use of the term "acidizing" herein refers to both matrix and fracturing types of acidizing treatments, and more specifically, refers to the general process of introducing an acid down hole to perform a desired function, e.g., to acidize a portion of a subterranean formation or any damage contained therein.
Carbonate Formations
Carbonate formations tend to have complex porosity and permeability variations and irregular fluid flow paths. Even small improvements in recovery methods can yield dramatic production results.
It is desirable to extend the production of wells in carbonate reservoirs and to avoid early abandonment when productivity decreases as a result of formation damage or low natural permeability. In clastic reservoirs, a range of stimulation techniques can be applied with a high degree of confidence to create conductive flow paths, primarily using hydraulic fracturing techniques as known in the field. Although many of these stimulation methods can also be applied in carbonate reservoirs, it may be difficult to predict effectiveness for increasing production from carbonate reservoirs.
Stimulation of carbonate formations usually involves a reaction between an acid and the minerals limestone (CaCO3) or dolomite CaMg(CO3)2 that is intended to enhance the flow properties of the rock. In carbonate reservoirs, hydrochloric acid (HCl) is the most commonly applied stimulation fluid. Organic acids such as formic or acetic acid are used, mainly in retarded-acid systems or in high-temperature applications, to acidize either sandstones or carbonates. Stimulation of carbonate formations usually does not involve hydrofluoric acid, which is difficult to handle and commonly used in acidizing sandstone formations.
Problems with Using Acids in Wells
Although acidizing a portion of a subterranean formation can be very beneficial in terms of permeability, conventional acidizing systems have significant drawbacks. One major problem associated with conventional acidizing treatment systems is that deeper penetration into the formation is not usually achievable because, among other things, the acid may be spent before it can deeply penetrate into the subterranean formation. The rate at which acidizing fluids react with reactive materials in the subterranean formation is a function of various factors including, but not limited to, acid concentration, temperature, fluid velocity, mass transfer, and the type of reactive material encountered. Whatever the rate of reaction of the acidic solution, the solution can be introduced into the formation only a certain distance before it becomes spent. For instance, conventional acidizing fluids, such as those that contain hydrochloric acid, organic acids, or a mixture of hydrochloric and of hydrofluoric acids, have high acid strength and quickly react with the formation itself, fines and damage nearest the well bore, and do not penetrate the formation to a desirable degree before becoming spent. To achieve optimal results, it is desirable to maintain the acidic solution in a reactive condition for as long a period as possible to maximize the degree of penetration so that the permeability enhancement produced by the acidic solution may be increased.
Another problem associated with using acidic fluids is the corrosion caused by the acidic solution to any metals (such as tubulars) in the well bore and the other equipment used to carry out the treatment. For instance, conventional acidizing fluids have a tendency to corrode tubing, casing, and down hole equipment, such as gravel pack screens and down hole pumps, especially at elevated temperatures. The expense of repairing or replacing corrosion-damaged equipment is extremely high. The corrosion problem is exacerbated by the elevated temperatures encountered in deeper formations. The increased corrosion rate of the ferrous and other metals comprising the tubular goods and other equipment results in quantities of the acidic solution being neutralized before it ever enters the subterranean formation, which can compound the deeper penetration problem discussed above. The partial neutralization of the acid results in the production of quantities of metal ions that are highly undesirable in the subterranean formation.
Acid in Oil Emulsions
Historically, water-in-oil emulsified acids have primarily been used in fracture acidizing. The emulsified state of the acid makes it diffuse at much slower rate, thereby retarding the chemical reaction rate with the formation. However, the stability of the emulsion becomes questionable as the fluid experiences high temperature of the formation, that is, equal to or greater than about 121° C. (about 250° F.).
The corrosion inhibition for the tubulars of the well while pumping the acidizing fluid down hole to the treatment zone of a subterranean formation is always an issue.
In addition, the higher the temperature in the tubulars of the well and the higher the design temperature in the treatment zone of the subterranean formation, the greater the rate of corrosion, which increases the rate of damage to the tubulars.
Unfortunately, the compatibility of the corrosion inhibitor with the emulsifier in prior emulsified acidizing fluids is questionable, which significantly affects the temperature stability of emulsion.
The breaking of the emulsion before the targeted time can cause severe corrosion of the tubular.
Acid internal emulsions can be used to help separate the acid from the tubulars, but high concentrations of hydrochloric acid, a commonly used acid for acidizing, can be difficult to stabilize in an emulsion. Halliburton has used fumed silica in the aqueous phase of an emulsified acid system, however, this system and other systems do not provide emulsion stability at higher temperatures, that is, greater than about 121° C. (about 250° F.).
Therefore, among other needs, there is a need for acidizing treatment fluids and methods with acids for stimulation of carbonate formations at high temperatures, that is, equal to or greater than about 121° C. (about 250° F.) while offering minimum protection against corrosion.

Dual retarded acid system for well stimulation


The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for continuous production of composites of carbon nanotubes and electrode active material from decoupled sources. Composites thusly produced may be used as self-standing electrodes without binder or collector. Moreover, the method of the present disclosure may allow more cost-efficient production while simultaneously affording control over nanotube loading and composite thickness.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as additives in various matrices has become one of the most intensively studied areas for applications, owing to their excellent electrical and mechanical properties and high aspect ratio, which is crucial for composite materials. Among various applications, the exploitation of SWNTs as an additive material for performance enhancement of battery electrodes is very promising. The core of mixing technologies is based on liquid process and includes five required steps: a) synthesis of nanotubes, b) dispersion of nanotubes in the proper solvent (de-aggregation), c) functionalization of the nanotube surfaces (protecting against aggregation), d) mixing with binder, and e) mixing with active material (preparing slurry). These preferences are not only expensive, but they also degrade nanotube properties; for example, dispersion by ball milling, sonication, etc. leads to the inevitable reduction of aspect ratio and the introduction of defects, and as a result, more nanotube loading (weight %) is required for improved performance. cl SUM MARY
In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a method of making a self-standing electrode, the method comprising fluidizing an electrode active material; and co-depositing the fluidized electrode active material and single-walled carbon nanotubes onto a movable porous flexible substrate to form a self-standing electrode that is a composite of the electrode active material and the single-walled carbon nanotubes.
In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for producing a self-standing electrode, the apparatus comprising a carbon nanotube synthesis reactor configured to synthesize carbon nanotubes; an active material container configured to fluidize an electrode active material; a movable porous flexible substrate configured to collect the carbon nanotubes and the fluidized electrode active material and form the self-standing electrode comprising a composite of the carbon nanotubes and the electrode active material.

Continuous production of binder and collector-less self-standing electrodes for Li-ion batteries by using carbon nanotubes as an additive


A non-volatile memory (NVM) cell fabricated on a semiconductor substrate, and including a floating gate electrode (which extends at least partially over all active regions of the NVM cell). The NVM cell also includes a PMOS access transistor located in a first n-type region, a PMOS control capacitor located in a second n-type region (separate from the first n-type region), and an NMOS programming transistor located in a p-type region. The floating gate electrode is a continuous electrode which extends over the active regions of the PMOS access transistor, the PMOS control capacitor and the NMOS programming transistor. Various array connections are provided for implementing arrays using this NVM cell. The PMOS access transistor and NMOS programming transistor can be replaced with an NMOS access transistor and a PMOS erase transistor, respectively, in an alternate embodiment.

For system-on-chip (SOC) applications, it is desirable to integrate many functional blocks into a single integrated circuit. The most commonly used blocks include a microprocessor or micro-controller, static random access memory (SRAM) blocks, non-volatile memory blocks, and various special function logic blocks. However, traditional non-volatile memory processes, which typically use stacked gate or split-gate memory cells, are not compatible with a conventional logic process.
The combination of a non-volatile memory (NVM) process and a conventional logic process results in a much more complicated and expensive "merged non-volatile memory and logic" process to implement system-on-chip integrated circuits. This is undesirable, because the typical usage of the non-volatile memory block in an SOC application is small in relation to the overall chip size.

Non-volatile memory in CMOS logic process and method of operation thereof


Method and apparatus for treating a patient, including maintaining the patient in a low-frequency, low-intensity magnetic field for an extended period. The frequency of the magnetic field is preferably in the range of from about 40 Hz to about 80 Hz. The intensity of the magnetic field is less than about 2 mT. The patient may preferably use a thermoregulator to select a temperature for treatment, preferably between the temperatures of 65° F. and 100° F. This temperature should be maintained at a uniform temperature over his body, and at a constant temperature over time. The thermoregulator controls heating elements to heat the patient if the patient's body temperature is too low, and controls cooling apparatus, such as fans, air conditioning, or cooling coils, for cooling his patient if the body temperature is too high.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to methods and apparatus for treating patients and, more particularly, to a bed useful for treating patients by facilitating the body's own healing processes to stimulate cellular regeneration and thereby speed up healing of ailments suffered by the patients.
2. Description of the Related Art
When injured, or ill, the human body tends to work to repair itself. In many cases, "bed rest" is all that is required to cure minor aches, pains and illnesses, from a twisted ankle to the flu. Even more serious illnesses may respond to sustained periods of rest and recuperation. The body's own recuperative powers are not always enough for more serious injuries, however, or fast enough for some purposes. For example, football players (professional and amateur) take a tremendous pounding one day (game day) each week, and lesser poundings on practice days. There would be a tremendous benefit in performance if the healing for normal wear, for football players, could be accelerated.
It would also benefit non-athletes as well, if they could accelerate their body's own healing powers and thereby shorten any recovery period for recuperation from illnesses, trauma or any other infirmity. It would be especially useful to find ways to improve the body's own healing functions without use of invasive techniques, such as surgery, drugs, herbs or other remedies.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the body's own restorative processes are not yet completely understood, which has led to the exploration of so-called non-traditional cures, such as holistic medicine, herbal treatments, acupuncture, etc. No such treatment, however, has yet been demonstrated to stimulate true cellular level regeneration, and speed recovery to any great extent.
The inventors have discovered that low-level (in the range of no more than about 2 milli-Teslas: <2 mT and preferably as low as 10 micro-Teslas: <10 μT, or lower) magnetic fields work to stimulate cellular regeneration, and that this regeneration is enhanced when the body is kept at a regulated and constant temperature.
Preliminary research indicates that such treatment is found to provide beneficial effects in speeding recuperation for bruises, strains, and the like, encountered by athletes, and may also assist in recuperation from other illnesses, for example, from bedsores, to nerve damage, to almost any illness afflicting the human body.
There have been prior attempts to utilize alternating electromagnetic fields to promote healing in the human body.
A device for treating hypothermia with a magnetic field was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,462. This device includes two spiral induction coils coupled with an RF generator through an automatic frequency tuning system comprising capacitors and induction coils. In this device, the coils are placed in a non-conducting cylinder which is an element of its casing. One of the coils is fed from the RF generator by a signal of a frequency tuned to the resonance frequency of the device, another by mutual induction. The device is used at a frequency of 2 MHz to 20 MHz, and is intended only to warm a patient who has been subjected to extreme cold, such as a diver submerged in near freezing water. It does not disclose use of magnetic fields to increase cellular regeneration.
Another device, disclosed in European Patent No. 0217011, for medium and high frequency electromagnetic field treatment, includes a pulse generator, a modulator, an amplifier, a band filter and a current regulation circuit. In this device, generated pulses are modulated by their duration or timing, and are amplified by means of power selectors. The amplified signal is applied to the patient through a filter by means of induction coils or electrodes. A signal from the patient is supplied to the device where a regulation system sets the value of rated current which excites the coils and electrodes.
A device for effecting the local, alternating electric and magnetic field of low frequency is disclosed in Polish patent document No. 171930. This device is provided with sensors of the three components of the terrestrial and local magnetic fields, connected with low-pass filters and a microcontroller at the output of which there is connected a pulse generator with three coils coupled thereto, incorporating an input multiplexer with inputs that are sensors and an output multiplexer. Those sensors are connected in parallel between the input multiplexer and the output multiplexer through low-pass filters. This device is used to determine the parameters of all components of the terrestrial and local magnetic fields and of the parameters of the electric field of the biological organism. It detects and signals the occurrence of cyclotronic resonance for specific ions which affect the biological processes of the organism, but is not itself intended for use in treating patients.
European patent document No. 0995463, describes a method and a device for the generation of an electromagnetic field which affects biological processes in living tissue, especially in the human body, by means of a pulsating magnetic field. An electric signal consisting of many discrete pulses having a frequency of from 1 Hz to 1000 Hz is generated and supplied to a device which then generates an electromagnetic field. Preferably, single pulses are grouped in pulse groups and the duration of each pulse group ranges from 0.25 second to 1.2 second. This device does not disclose the use of long-term exposure to a low-frequency magnetic signal for treating a patient.
The disadvantage of all those known devices is that they apply relatively high magnitude magnetic fields in the intensity range of from 1 mT to 10 mT, or they generate a magnetic field in one direction only. Another disadvantage of known devices is that they affect only a specific selected part of the human body through large values of magnetic induction causing excessively rapid stimulation of metabolic processes, while at the same time affecting healthy organs with unnecessarily strong, and therefore potentially harmful, magnetic fields.
Exposure of the human body to strong magnetic fields for extended periods of time is known to cause cellular damage, and so high-intensity magnetic field generating devices are not suitable for use over long periods, such as convalescence from serious long-term illnesses or injuries.

Method and apparatus for stimulating cellular regeneration in a patient


Methods and systems for detecting defects on a wafer are provided. One method includes determining characteristics of care areas for a wafer based on wafer patterns. Determining the characteristics includes determining locations of care areas, identifying at least one pattern of interest (POI) in the wafer patterns for each of the care areas, allowing any of the care areas to have a free-form shape, allowing the care areas to be larger than frame images and selecting two or more POIs for at least one of the care areas. The method also includes searching for POIs in images generated for the wafer using an inspection system. In addition, the method includes detecting defects on the wafer by determining positions of the care areas in the images and applying one or more defect detection methods to the images based on the positions of the care areas in the images.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to wafer inspection using free-form care areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during a semiconductor manufacturing process to detect defects on wafers. One important goal for any wafer inspection system is to suppress nuisance defects. Nuisance defects are those detected events which may not be relevant to semiconductor yields. Nuisance defects may be caused by wafer noise and system noise or are physical objects on the wafer. Nuisance defects may appear anywhere on a wafer. Some defects of interest (DOI) may appear only at certain locations on a wafer. Context information for a DOI may be used as prior knowledge for defect detection. Several approaches that use context information have been developed to detect defects. One such approach uses graphical data stream (GDS) data or design information to find hot spots where defects may occur at a higher probability and to inspect for defects around the hot spots.
There are, however, a number of disadvantages to such approaches. For example, for approaches that work with GDS data, GDS information may not be available in all circumstances such as for defect engineers in semiconductor fabrication plants. In addition, in order to detect defects with weak signal using the current approaches, huge amounts of nuisance defects may be detected. The defect signal may be defined as the maximum gray-level difference at defective pixels between an image with a defect and a reference image without the defect. The reference image is spatially-aligned with the defect image and may be acquired from neighboring dies or from multiple dies on the wafer. In all previous defect detection approaches, care areas are defined in terms of rectangles. Care areas are masks under which image pixels are inspected to detect defects. In some situations, DOIs are located along wafer structures which are not rectangular. If a care area with a rectangular shape is used to cover the DOI areas, extra pixels which may be nuisance sources will be inspected.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to develop methods and/or systems for detecting defects on wafers that do not have one or more of the disadvantages described above.

Wafer inspection using free-form care areas


An optical transmission apparatus that improves optical transmission quality by performing an optical noise correction and optical level detection with great precision. A first optical amplifier performs optical amplification with an optical fiber transmission line as an amplification medium. A second optical amplifier inputs second excitation light into an amplification medium in which an active substance for optical amplification is doped to perform optical amplification. A first optical level detector monitors, before transmitting an optical signal, a level of optical noise scattered by the first optical amplifier by emitting first excitation light in an operating environment and detects an optical level at the time of transmitting the optical signal by subtracting the level of the optical noise from a signal amplified by the first optical amplifier. A second optical level detector monitors, before transmitting an optical signal, a level of optical noise emitted from the second optical amplifier by emitting the second excitation light in the operating environment and detects an optical level at the time of transmitting the optical signal by subtracting the level of the optical noise from a signal amplified by the second optical amplifier.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical transmission apparatus and, more particularly, to an optical transmission apparatus for amplifying and transmitting an optical signal.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Large capacity and high speed are required in optical communication, so expectations for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission are growing. WDM multiplexes a plurality of optical signals with different wavelengths into a single optical fiber.
Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are widely used for optical amplification in WDM systems. EDFAs are optical amplifiers using an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as an amplification medium. With EDFAs, an EDF through which an optical signal travels is irradiated with excitation light and the level of the optical signal is amplified by stimulated emission caused by the irradiation. A wide-band gain spectrum is obtained by each EDFA, so a plurality of optical signals with wavelengths included in this band can be amplified in block. EDFAs therefore are main devices in WDM repeaters.
Moreover, in recent years optical fiber amplifiers called Raman amplifiers have been put to practical use. With Raman amplifiers, strong excitation light is inputted to the entire optical fiber transmission line to perform optical amplification. To be concrete, the Raman stimulated scattering effect of an optical fiber is utilized and 1.5 μm band optical signals are amplified by the use of 1.4 μm band excitation light. By using Raman amplifiers in repeaters, repeating station spacing can be widened and long-distance large-capacity optical transmission can be realized.
By the way, with optical amplifiers, such as EDFAs or Raman amplifiers, in which optical signals are amplified on the basis of stimulated emission or stimulated scattering, the phenomenon of spontaneous emission or spontaneous scattering will occur regardless of whether there is an input optical signal. Light which leaks out from optical amplifiers as a result of these phenomena becomes noise and is called amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for amplification by EDFs or amplified spontaneous scattering (ASS) for Raman amplification.
To control optical amplification, the optical level of a main signal itself must be detected with great precision regardless of the amount of such optical noise and optical amplification must be performed on the basis of the result of the detection. Detection of the optical level of a signal including a noise component, that is to say, detection of the sum of the level of a main signal and the level of the noise component will cause a transmission error.
It is assumed that the level of a main signal itself is low and that the level of a noise component is high. If the level of an optical signal to be transmitted is considered to satisfy a desired value and this optical signal is transmitted to a downstream station, then problems will arise. For example, the level of the main signal the downstream station can receive cannot be ensured. As a result, a transmission error occurs or repeating station spacing cannot be widened.
Conventionally, to control optical amplification, the technique of comparing the intensity level of ASE noise light which is emitted from a rare-earth doped fiber, such as an EDF, with an intensity level at which predetermined amplification factor dependence is obtained and of controlling the amount of excitation light so that the two intensity levels will match has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-193542, paragraph nos. [0032]-[0033] and FIG. 11).
With the above conventional technique, however, only EDFs are considered as optical amplification media. Therefore, it does not apply to Raman amplifiers. Conventionally, on the other hand, to perform an optical noise correction, the amount of optical noise is measured in advance in a test environment and a correction is performed in an operating environment on the basis of the level of the optical noise measured.
That is to say, first, a predetermined excitation light is inputted to an optical amplification medium in a test environment and the level of optical noise produced is measured. In an operating environment, the level of a main signal itself is detected by subtracting the value of the optical noise level measured in advance from the level of an optical signal amplified by an optical amplifier (from the level of an optical signal obtained by amplifying an input optical signal by inputting the predetermined excitation light used in the test environment to the optical amplification medium).
With such conventional optical noise correction, however, the difference between a test environment in which data regarding optical noise is acquired and a customer's operating environment will cause an error in the amount of noise. Accordingly, optical noise cannot be corrected accurately and the level of a main signal itself cannot be detected accurately.
An optical fiber transmission line itself is used as an amplification medium especially in Raman amplifiers. Therefore, an error will occur between ASS measured in a test environment and ASS which occurs in an operating environment because of a difference in the WDL of a fiber (the wavelength characteristic of a fiber loss), a lamp loss (a loss which will occur around a portion of a transmission line in a Raman amplifier where excitation light is inputted), or the like. In addition to an error which will occur in a sample optical amplifier at the time of data acquisition, errors may be caused by, for example, variations (part variations) among optical amplifiers manufactured and shipped.
It is assumed that a correction amount is larger than the actual amount of noise (that a value greater than the actual level of optical noise is subtracted from the level of an optical signal amplified). Even if the optical signal sent from an upstream station is at a level a downstream station can receive, the level of a main signal will be estimated at a small value at the downstream station. This may lead to the judgment that the optical signal cannot be transmitted from the downstream station. (In an extreme case, the judgment that there is no main signal (that the circumstances are in an alarm state) is made and output from an optical amplifier is stopped.) By contrast, it is assumed that a correction amount is smaller than the actual amount of noise (that a value smaller than the actual level of optical noise is subtracted from the level of an optical signal amplified). Even if the optical signal sent from an upstream station is at a level a downstream station cannot receive, the level of a main signal will be estimated at a great value at the downstream station. This may lead to the judgment that the optical signal can be transmitted from the downstream station. (In an extreme case, though there is no transmitted main signal due to a failure, such as disconnection of a fiber, the optical noise may be considered as a main signal and be transmitted from the downstream station.) These two defects will appear significantly in the case of the number of wavelengths being small. As a result, the limitation of the minimum operating wavelength number is imposed.


An apparatus for providing electric power to a portable computer is disclosed. The apparatus includes a timekeeping circuit, a voltage regulator, a set of battery cells and a controller. The timekeeping circuit includes a clock circuit and a memory for storing a calendar time that is updated based on time information generated by the clock circuit. The battery cells can supply electric power to the voltage regulator, and the voltage regulator is capable of supplying electric power to the timekeeping circuit. When the output voltage from the battery cells exceeds a first voltage threshold, the controller directs the voltage regulator to supply electric power to the timekeeping circuit. When the output voltage from the battery cells drops below the first voltage threshold, the controller directs one of the battery cells to supply electric power to the timekeeping circuit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to portable electronic devices in general, and in particular to a method for supplying electric power from a common battery system to a system device and a calendar timekeeping circuit, and for keeping the timekeeping circuit functional as long as possible as the system device's remaining battery charge decreases.
2. Description of Related Art
In a computer system, a semiconductor chip called a Real Time Clock (RTC) chip is typically utilized to provide calendar time to the computer system. In a portable computer, a system battery can be utilized to power the RTC chip. However, the system battery may not always be available—it may be completely discharged or not installed. Hence, the RTC chip is also powered by a dedicated backup battery, generally an RTC coin battery mounted on the system motherboard.
The backup battery also powers an RTC memory, which is used to store the system's calendar time, wakeup time, BIOS setup data, and the like. The RTC chip performs a periodic timekeeping operation to update the stored calendar time. The calendar time in the RTC memory is initialized by a user or in synchronization with a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server.
The RTC memory is usually a volatile memory such as an SRAM. So, if mistaken setup data renders the computer unbootable, the battery system and the RTC coin battery can be removed to erase data stored in the RTC memory. The RTC coin battery cannot be removed unless the system housing is opened, which prevents the user from erasing time information or setup data by mistake.
Previous inventions disclose operating an RTC chip with a main battery and no coin cell. Data that is meant to be non-volatile may be saved into a non-volatile storage when the voltage across the main battery has dropped to a predetermined value. However, without the coin cell and when the system battery is not user-replaceable, the user cannot disable power to the RTC chip to reset the RTC memory. Further, when the system and RTC chip use a common battery system, the need to power the RTC chip should not affect system battery life.
In addition, even when the remaining capacity of the battery system has dropped, there is a need to supply electric power to the RTC chip as long as possible. Also, it is desired that the RTC circuit receiving the supply of electric power from the common battery system should keep its function as much as it can in the case of being supplied with electric power from the RTC coin battery.

Method for supplying electric power to a timekeeping circuit within a portable electronic device