Provided is a cathode active material which is lithium transition metal oxide having an α-NaFeO2 layered crystal structure, wherein the transition metal is a blend of Ni and Mn, an average oxidation number of the transition metals except lithium is more than +3, and lithium transition metal oxide satisfies the Equation m(Ni)≧m(Mn) (in which m (Ni) and m (Mn) represent an molar number of nickel and manganese, respectively). The lithium transition metal oxide has a uniform and stable layered structure through control of oxidation number of transition metals to a level higher than +3, thus advantageously exerting improved overall electrochemical properties including electric capacity, in particular, superior high-rate charge/discharge characteristics.

Technological development and increased demand for mobile equipment have led to a rapid increase in the demand for secondary batteries as energy sources. Among these secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having high energy density and voltage, long cycle span and low self-discharge are commercially available and widely used.
In addition, increased interest in environmental issues has brought about a great deal of research associated with electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which alternate vehicles using fossil fuels such as gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles. These electric vehicles generally use nickel-metal hydride secondary batteries as power sources. However, a great deal of study associated with use of lithium secondary batteries with high energy density and discharge voltage is currently underway and some of them are commercially available.
Meanwhile, the lithium secondary batteries generally use lithium cobalt composite oxide (LiCoO2) as a cathode active material. Also, the use of lithium-manganese composite oxides such as LiMnO2 having a layered crystal structure and LiMn2O4 having a spinel crystal structure and lithium nickel composite oxide (LiNiO2) as the cathode active material has been considered.
Among these cathode active materials, LiCoO2 is the most generally used owing to superior physical properties such as long life span and good charge/discharge characteristics, but has low structural stability and is costly due to natural resource limitations of cobalt used as a raw material, thus disadvantageously having limited price competiveness.
Lithium manganese oxides such as LiMnO2 and LiMn2O4 have advantages of superior thermal stability and low costs, but have disadvantages of low capacity and bad low-temperature characteristics.
In addition, LiMnO2-based cathode active materials are relatively cheap and exhibit higher discharge characteristics, but are disadvantageously difficult to synthesize and are unstable.
In order to solve the afore-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a low-cost highly functional cathode active material comprising lithium transition metal composite oxide wherein constituent elements satisfy the requirements including predetermined composition and oxidation number conditions, as mentioned below.
In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,828 discloses a lithium transition metal oxide having a structure of Li(M1(1−x)-Mnx)O2 wherein M1 is a metal other than Cr, and each Ni has an oxidation number of +2, each Co has an oxidation number of +3, and each Mn has an oxidation number of +4, provided that M1 is Ni or Co.
In addition, Korean Patent Laid-open No. 2005-0047291 suggests a lithium transition metal oxide wherein Ni and Mn are present in equivalents amounts and have an oxidation number of +2 and +4, respectively.
As another example, Korean Patent No. 0543720 discloses a lithium transition metal oxide wherein Ni and Mn are present in substantially equivalent amounts, Ni has an oxidation number of 2.0 to 2.5 and Mn has an oxidation number of 3.5 to 4.0. This patent discloses that Ni and Mn should substantially have an oxidation number of +2 and +4, respectively, and that lithium batteries are deteriorated in properties, unless Ni and Mn have an oxidation number of +2 and +4, respectively, as apparent from Examples and Comparative Examples.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-0083610 discloses a lithium transition metal oxide which is represented by a structure of Li((Li(Ni1/2Mn1/2)(1−x))O2 or Li((Lix(NiyMnyCoP)(1−x))O2 and contains Ni and Mn in equivalent amounts. In accordance with the application, provided that Ni and Mn are present in identical amounts, Ni and Mn form Ni2+ and Mn4+, respectively, realizing structural stability and thus providing the desired layered structure.
Accordingly, in accordance with the prior art, the average oxidation number of transition metals should be +3, which is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,682. In this patent, the inventors disclose lithium transition metal oxide represented by the structure of Li(2+2x)/(2+x)M′2x(2+2x)/(2+x)M(2−2x)/(2+x)O2−δ wherein M′ is an element having an average oxidation number of +3, in which M′ is not Li, and M is a transition metal having an average oxidation number of +3.
As can be confirmed from the afore-mentioned related patents, it was conventionally believed that (i) transition metals should have an average oxidation number of +3 in order to impart a stable layered structure to lithium transition metal oxide, and (ii) Ni present in an amount equivalent to Mn4+ should have an oxidation number of +2 in order to impart superior electrochemical properties to the lithium transition metal oxide, based on the premise (i).
However, the inventors of the present application confirmed that, in the case where Mn4+ and Ni2+ are simply selected to obtain an average oxidation number of +3, Ni2+ or the like is transferred to reversible Li sites, the problem, deterioration in electrochemical properties, cannot be solved.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,078,128 and 7,135,252 suggest materials wherein Mn is present in an amount higher than that of Ni. However, the inventors of the present invention confirmed that a high amount of Mn cannot change an oxidation number of Mn4+ upon Li-charging and thus causes a decrease in capacity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cathode active material for lithium secondary battery


In a deposition apparatus, a barrier is used to separate a process gas section from the section of the chamber below the substrate on which a metal layer is deposited. The substrate is supported on a support. During an unloading stage, purge gas is introduced into the chamber below the substrate. To prevent the substrate from being moved on the support by the purge gas, the barrier is perforated so that the process gas can flow through the barrier and into a vacuum manifold system.

This invention relates to an improved deposition apparatus and process for depositing a material on a substrate.
A layer of a material, such as a tungsten layer, can be deposited on a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a flat panel display, using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process or physical deposition process. Exemplary of such processes is the deposition of tungsten on a semiconductor wafer using a CVD process. In this process, the substrate is loaded into a deposition chamber from a load lock chamber, and conventionally mounted horizontally in the deposition chamber with an upper deposition surface of the substrate facing toward incoming process gases. The deposition gases are usually emitted to the deposition chamber containing the wafer from a gas inlet or "shower head" located near the top of the CVD chamber. The chamber has a process gas section in contact with the deposition surface of the wafer, and a gas purge section. The process gas section and the gas purge section are separated by a horizontally extending barrier, which is conventionally known as a pumping plate.
After deposition of metal on the wafer, the wafer is removed from the deposition chamber through a slit valve into the load lock chamber. At that time, purge gases are introduced into the gas purge section of the chamber from the load lock chamber when the slit valve is open. The purge gas removes residual process gases and contaminants such as reaction byproducts from the chamber. It is important to do this so that the deposition chamber and other chambers of the metal deposition system, such as a wafer loading chamber and a wafer removal chamber, remain clean. Residual process gases can result in formation of particulate contaminants. Contamination of these chambers by particles can result in particle deposition on the product, which in most cases renders the product unusable. The purge gas from the load lock chamber, typically nitrogen, flows through the gas purge section, through an opening between a shadow ring and the wafer, into the process gas input section, and from there into a vacuum manifold system.
A problem that has been encountered is that the purge gas moves the wafer. This can lead to unloading errors resulting in damage to the wafer, and interruption of the automatic production process. These unloading errors occur because the wafer is not found at its designated position by the pickup mechanism due to the movement caused by the purge gas. Lost production due to damaged wafers and the downtime resulting from this problem lowers production rates, thereby increasing production costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and a method for depositing a material on a substrate, where spent process gas and byproducts of the process gas can be purged from the deposition chamber, without unloading errors caused by movement of the substrate during the purge.

Deposition apparatus using a perforated pumping plate


A single-pass method of trimming a network, and a network manufactured according to the method, uses the assumption that the peak INL value is minimized by trimming all the structures in the network to a same target value based upon the boundary conditions of the discretely adjustable elements that make up the structures. Using this assumption, the number of targets that need to be simulated, can be greatly reduced making estimation of peak INL possible in a reasonable amount of testing or manufacturing time. The trim algorithm produces results that are optimum or substantially close to optimum and is guaranteed not to deteriorate the Peak INL compared to the untrimmed Peak INL. An auto-calibration system using the trim method is also provided so that the method can be used in a product in real time if desired.

A network that has one or more outputs that are proportional to a reference input is composed of identical structures. All the outputs have varying ratios with respect to the reference input. The linearity of such a network depends on the matching between the identical structures that the network is composed of. One common measure of linearity for this type of network is the Integral Non-Linearity (INL) Error. INL error of any output of the network is defined as the deviation of the actual value of the output from the ideal value of the output. Due to manufacturing tolerances of the identical structures comprised in the network, the linearity of the network may be degraded. One way to improve the linearity of the network is to construct the identical structures as pairs of one fixed element and one adjustable element. When the identical structures are constructed in this way, the adjustable elements can be varied or trimmed according to an algorithm so that the linearity of the network is improved.
A specific, non-limiting example of a possible network of this type is a resistor string network 100 as shown in FIG. 1. Resistor string networks have general utility in a variety of applications including, but not restricted to: Digital-to-Analog Converters; Analog-to-Digital Converters; Programmable Gain Amplifiers; Programmable Attenuators; Programmable Resistors; and more.  The resistor string network 100 as shown in FIG. 1 is designed for an N-bit Digital-to-Analog Converter. Network 100 has 2N identical resistive structures tied in series between REFHI node and REFLO node. The resistive structures in the resistor string network 100 are labeled R1, R2, R3, R4 through R—2N−2, R—2N−1, R—2N. The reference input voltage is applied between REFHI and REFLO nodes. Each of the 2N outputs V0, V1, . . . , V2N−2, V2N−1, has a specific and different ratio to the reference input voltage. For an N-Bit DAC, as N gets larger the number of resistive structures in the network grows exponentially. Due to this exponential growth, achieving good matching between the different resistive structures is difficult. For example, even if one of the resistive structures does not match all the other 2N−1 resistive structures, then almost all the outputs of the network deviate from their ideal value and each will end up with a non-zero Integral Nonlinearity (INL) error. Thus, in order to get low INL errors, this type of network requires that the resistive structures are constructed as pairs of one fixed element and one adjustable element, where the resistance of the adjustable elements can be trimmed and INL errors can be reduced.
FIG. 2 depicts a resistor string network 200, wherein the identical resistive structures 202 are constructed as a parallel combination of one fixed element 203 and one adjustable element 204. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the one fixed element 203 may be constructed as a series, parallel or series/parallel combination of one or more fixed units. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the one adjustable element 204 may be constructed as a series, parallel or series/parallel combination of one or more adjustable units. Furthermore pairs of one fixed element and one adjustable element can be constructed as a series, parallel or series/parallel combination of one or more fixed units and one or more adjustable units. Both the adjustable elements and the adjustable units can be either unidirectional or bidirectional. The value of unidirectional adjustable elements can only be either increased (trim-up) or decreased (trim-down) and they are usually constructed using one or more unidirectional adjustable units. On the other hand the value of bidirectional adjustable elements can be both increased (trim-up) and decreased (trim-down). Bidirectional adjustable elements can be constructed using one or more bidirectional adjustable units, one or more unidirectional adjustable units or a combination of one or more bidirectional adjustable units and one or more unidirectional adjustable units. Furthermore both the bidirectional and unidirectional adjustable elements can be either continuously adjustable elements or discretely adjustable elements. Continuously adjustable elements allow the value of the adjustable element to change by any finite amount, while the discretely adjustable elements only allow changes in the value of the adjustable element by discrete steps.
Usually, it is more efficient to design unidirectional (either trim up only or trim down only) trim structures. The adjustable elements 204 shown in FIG. 2 are of the type unidirectional (trim-up) continuously adjustable elements. One algorithm that is used to trim the resistor string network 200 composed of this type of adjustable elements is to first measure all the outputs of the network V0,V1,V2 through V2N−2,V2N−1, determine the resistive structure 202 with the maximum resistance from the measurement data, and then trim up all the other resistive structures 202 to this maximum resistance value. There exist a few problems with the implementation of this algorithm. One challenge is the fact that trims are interactive when the string network 200 is driven with a constant voltage reference source which is the case for the normal operation of the part. In other words, trimming one resistive structure affects all the outputs which makes it very complicated to deduce whether or not the resistive structure is trimmed to the target value.
In order to mitigate the problem discussed with respect to FIG. 2, the resistor string network 300 may be driven by a constant current source instead of a voltage source as is shown in FIG. 3. Using a current source reduces the interaction between trims. However the overall trim procedure still requires multiple passes, which means the trim cannot be completed without making additional output measurements. This is necessary because for continuously adjustable elements one has to measure the output after each trim operation to see if the resistive structure being trimmed has reached the target value. In addition to this, the current sources have by nature high output impedances that may cause long settling times for the outputs. All these effects, undesirably increase trim time.
What is desired, therefore, is a method for trimming a network that can be accomplished with a single pass (in other words with no additional output measurements except for the initial measurements), within a reasonable amount of trim time, and does not suffer from the problems associated with the prior art discussed above.

Single pass INL trim algorithm for networks


A transportable animal care station includes an enclosure and a pair of opposite transport couplers. The enclosure includes a frame and defines a treatment space. The enclosure presents an opening that permits ingress and egress relative to the treatment space. The transport couplers are fixed relative to the frame, with each of the couplers being removably connectable to a corresponding one of the lifting components.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to a mobile enclosure with a doorway. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention concern a transportable animal care station that can be lifted and transported by a vehicle.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
People have long sought to observe and/or treat animals, whether tame or wild, in the animal's customary environment. This is particularly true of ranchers or farmers who raise livestock. Large varieties of livestock, such as cattle or horses, are ubiquitous on North American farms and require periodic care. However, such animals often present a bodily threat to the care provided, particularly if an animal acts defensively and/or aggressively. A newborn bovine calf typically requires treatment, observation, and/or transportation by the owner soon after birth. However, the bovine mother will instinctively protect the calf from any intruder, including a human, and can potentially injure a human in close proximity to the calf. Movable pens and trailers are used by care providers to catch and observe cattle in remote locations.
Prior art trailers, mobile pens, and other vehicles are deficient at supporting the in situ treatment of animals by a care provider and suffer from certain undesirable limitations. For instance, care providers often must catch and treat newborn calves without the assistance of another person. When in the presence of an aggressive and/or defensive cow, it is difficult for the care provider to catch and hold the calf while avoiding contact with the cow, even when a prior art vehicle or pen is available. Prior art trailers and mobile pens are also time consuming and difficult to deploy at a treatment location using a vehicle, particularly where the location has limited space for the vehicle to maneuver.


A semiconductor system includes a plurality of memory chips. Each of the memory chips includes an oscillator suitable for generating a periodic wave in a self refresh mode, and a delay unit suitable for delaying the periodic wave to generate a refresh pulse and for setting a delay value based on a corresponding chip identification.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor system, and more particularly, to a technology for refreshing stored data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A memory cell within a volatile memory device, such as a DRAM, includes a transistor serving as an access element and a capacitor serving as a storage element. According to whether or not a charge is stored in the capacitor of the memory cell, that is, according to whether the terminal voltage of the capacitor is high or low, data is divided into 'high' (logic 1) and 'low' (logic 0).
Since data are retained in such a form that charges are accumulated, no power is theoretically consumed. However, since the initial charge stored in the capacitor disappears due to leakage current caused by a PN junction of a MOS transistor or the like, the data may be lost. In order to prevent the data loss, the data stored in the memory cell must be read before the data are lost, and the memory cell must be normally recharged according to the read information. Such an operation must be periodically performed to retain the data. Such an operation of recharging the memory cell is referred to as a refresh operation.
The refresh operation is divided into an auto refresh operation and a self refresh operation. The auto refresh operation refers to a refresh operation, which is performed whenever an auto refresh command is applied to a memory from a memory controller. The memory controller applies an auto refresh operation to the memory at each predetermined time in consideration of a data retention time of the memory. For example, when the data retention time of the memory is 64 ms and 8,000 refresh commands are to be applied to refresh the entire memory cells of the memory, the memory controller applies 8,000 or more auto refresh commands for 64 ms. The self refresh operation refers to a refresh operation, which the memory performs by itself when the memory controller commands the memory to enter the self refresh mode. During the self refresh mode, the memory repeats a refresh operation at each predetermined period by itself. Since data are rewritten to a large number of memory cells during the refresh operation, a large amount of current is consumed regardless of whether the refresh operation is the auto refresh operation or the self fresh operation.
Recently, the need for a memory that is capable of storing a large amount of data or processing a large amount of data in a short time has been increasing. Thus, a semiconductor device is fabricated according to a method of stacking a plurality of memory chips in one semiconductor package. When the plurality of memory chips stacked in one semiconductor package perform refresh operations at the same time, a huge amount of current may be consumed. There is a demand for a technique capable of alleviating such a concern.

Semiconductor system and semiconductor package


Aspects of the invention include a switching power supply device that includes a zero current detecting circuit that detects zero current of electric current flowing through the inductor to turn ON the switching element, an ON width generating circuit that determines the ON width of the switching element to turn OFF the switching element, and an OFF width detecting circuit that detects the OFF width of the switching element based on the output of the ON width generating circuit and the output of the zero current detecting circuit, and holds the OFF width until the next operating cycle. Aspects of the invention also include an ON width adjusting circuit that is included in the ON width generating circuit and adjusts the ON width of the switching element in the next operation cycle according to the width detected by the OFF width detecting circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to switching power supply devices that receive a rectified AC voltage, and deliver a stable DC voltage, and in particular to switching power supply devices that perform power factor correction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A power factor correction (PFC) converter of a boost chopper type, a type of switching power supply device, generates a stable DC output voltage while generating an input current proportional to an input voltage utilizing self-excited oscillation of an inductor. The PFC converter has excellent characteristics including small-size, high efficiency, and production at a low cost. FIG. 9 shows a schematic construction of this type of switching power supply device, which is a power factor correction converter, in which the reference symbol BD designates a rectifier circuit that rectifies an AC power given from an AC power supply through an input filter F and delivers the rectified voltage to the switching power supply device.
This switching power supply device is provided with an inductor L connected to the rectifier circuit BD and a switching element Q that forms a current path from the rectifier circuit BD through the inductor L in the ON state of the switching element Q. The switching power supply device is further provided with a diode D that forms a current path between the inductor L and an output capacitor C2 in the OFF state of the switching element Q and a control circuit CONT that ON/OFF drives the switching element Q to control the current flowing through the inductor L. The symbol C1 designates an input capacitor.
The switching element Q provides the inductor L with a current proportional to the input voltage applied to the switching power supply device in the ON state of the switching element Q. The current flowing through the inductor L, inductor current, rises from zero over the ON period of the switching element Q. Upon turning OFF of the switching element Q, the voltage across the inductor L changes its polarity and the inductor current is delivered to the output capacitor C2 in the output side through the diode D. When the inductor current becomes zero, the switching element Q is turned ON again to transfer to the next cycle. This procedure is repeated.
The control circuit CONT basically conducts two functions: one of them is determination of an ON width Ton of the switching element Q corresponding to the difference between the output voltage Vo obtained across the output capacitor C2 and a predetermined target output voltage and turning OFF of the switching element Q in a voltage mode; the other is zero current switching, which performs detecting zero current through the inductor and turning ON of the switching element Q.
The input voltage Vi given to the inductor L has a voltage waveform varying over a half period of a sine wave. In the ON/OFF control of the switching element Q in the voltage mode, however, an ON width Ton of the switching element Q is basically constant irrespective of the phase of the input voltage Vi. As a result, at a low voltage phase where the instantaneous value of the input voltage Vi is low, the current supplied to the inductor L is insufficient, which increases so-called dead angle, a reactive voltage phase, lowering a power factor.
To improve the power factor, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,984,963 (also referred to herein as "Patent Document 1") and U.S. Pat. No. 7,116,090 (also referred to herein as "Patent Document 2") to broaden the ON width Ton of the switching element Q in the phase of low instantaneous value of the input voltage Vi than in a high voltage phase where the instantaneous value of the input voltage Vi is high. In the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the ON width Ton of the switching element Q is adjusted based on the phase information of the input voltage Vi obtained by detecting the peak value of the inductor current, which is proportional to the input voltage Vi. In the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, the ON width Ton of the switching element Q is adjusted based on the phase information of the input voltage Vi obtained by detecting the differential value of the inductor current, which is also proportional to the input voltage Vi.
In the both methods disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the phase information of the input voltage Vi is obtained by inserting a detecting resistor for inductor current detection in the current path including the inductor L and detecting the inductor current from the voltage drop across the detecting resistor. The resistance value of the detecting resistor is determined from the specifications, or circuit constants, of the switching power supply device including the inductance value of the inductor L and the output voltage Vo. The resistance value changes the amount of compensation, or adjustment width, of the ON width Ton. However, in a phase of low instantaneous value of input voltage Vi, where the current flowing in the inductor L is small, the accuracy of current detection using the detecting resistor decreases and the phase information of the input voltage Vi is hardly detected with high accuracy. Moreover, noises adversely affect the current detection since the inductor current itself is low in proportion to the input voltage Vi.
Thus, as has been described, there exists certain shortcomings in the related art.

Switching power supply device with on and off width generating circuits


An apparatus generates first context data representing a context of correction target text based on the correction target text, and corrects an error in the correction target text by inputting a character string of the correction target text, the generated first context data, and meta-information corresponding to the correction target text to a neural network that has been trained to correct an error in the correction target text by inputting a character string of text corresponding to training data, second context data representing a context of the text, and meta-information of the text.

When text is generated by recognizing a voice, a caption telop, or the like, errors may be included at a time of the recognition. Thus, conversion and proofreading into correct text may be performed. There is a method using a recurrent neural network (RNN) as a technology that performs this text conversion and proofreading.
A related technology is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2015-75706.

Accurate correction of errors in text data based on learning via a neural network


This invention provides merchants the capability to mint store credit as a secure physical handheld coin, resisting fraud and counterfeiting. It is based on a technology that marks the physical handheld coins with a large number of features, the reading of these features representing an assigned unique identity or signature, an assigned nominal monetary value, and assigned limitations of use, all verifiable through blockchain technology. This secure physical handheld coin, as well as a secure digital coin, may be cash-redeemable, and use-trackable to leverage the store's credibility to push its loyalty currency into the wallets of the public and win more customers.

Merchants around the country promote their business with coupons, also known as loyalty money, or store credit. Aggressive distribution of such coupons brings in new customers and activates old customers. But unlike the US Dollar which is minted with top-notch secure technology, store coupons are paper printed, and recently tokenized into bit strings. In both modes these coupons are an attractive target for hackers because after all, a coupon has money equivalence, but it is minted with lax technology, easy to crack. As a result businesses lose fortunes as fake coupons claim merchandise. The industry is desperate for coupon technology that would allow stores to mint store credit coupons that will withstand fraud and counterfeiting. These coupons must also be minted such that they would be readily hand-deliverable to groups and crowds. This security need is the background for this invention.


A system for managing a client request is described herein, which may have at least one processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a set of instructions executable by the at least one processor. Execution of these instructions may cause the processor to perform steps of: validating a client request received from a remote client device, the client request including request data; transmitting, based on the validating, a response to the remote client device; based on the request data, determining a queue for the client request; asynchronously enqueuing the client request in the queue, the queue being configured to analyze the client request according to a model; analyzing the client request; and based on analyzing the client request, performing a responsive action.

In the area of fulfilling customer orders for products, systems are used to handle issues that may arise after an individual has placed an order. For example, a customer may decide to return, exchange, or cancel an item, which may be at any of a number of particular stages of processing or shipping. With fulfillment services moving extremely quickly to satisfy customer demand, fast and efficient processing of customer requests is important to ensuring high fulfillment throughput, minimal strain on computing resources, and maintaining customer satisfaction.
Current systems for handling customer requests are rigidly designed and lack sophisticated means for detecting and responding to errors. Traditional techniques often involve synchronously enqueuing requests from client devices, which can lead to unnecessary temporary loss of capabilities in a client device application. Synchronous requests often involve sequences of API calls and responses that must be followed in a particular order, where failure of any particular call or response results in a failure of the entire process, and a corresponding customer request may be lost. Such techniques also frequently fail to understand the nature of client request errors, rapidly alleviating these errors, and providing a detailed understanding of errors to client devices. Some current systems also do not determine intermediate request statuses and provide these to customers, which could assuage customer concerns and reduce the number of inquiries and complaints placed by customers on other systems, which create further strain on computing resources.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and systems for asynchronously handling client requests while dynamically detecting and responding to errors and pinpointing request status details for providing to client devices.

Systems and methods for detecting errors of asynchronously enqueued requests


A book pressing machine (1) comprises a pressing station for pressing the book cover (2b) on to the book block (2a), which pressing station includes a pressing table (4) and a pressing plate (5) movable perpendicularly to the pressing table (4) for all-over pressing of the book (2) with the book (2) lying flat, and comprises means (15a,b) for aligning the book (2) in the pressing station and an endless conveyor belt (6) which conveys the book (2) in and out, the upper belt section of which rests on the upper face of the pressing table (4) as a support for the book (2). With a view to simple and cost-effective construction a conveyor direction (F) of the conveyor belt (6) disposed transversely to the book spine (2d) is provided for conveying the book (2) in and out with the spine (2d) leading; a knife edge (4a) forming the front deflecting element for the conveyor belt (6) is provided in the pressing table (4), and a separate pressing rail (21), which forms the front end-piece of the pressing plate (5) and performs a reciprocating horizontal movement in addition to its vertical movement (H2), is provided for holding down the book cover as the pressing plate (5) is opened and for accelerating the book (2) as the latter is conveyed out.

The present invention relates to a book pressing machine having a pressing station for pressing a book cover on to a book block.
After the book block has been inserted into the book cover a permanent contact between the front and back end papers of the book block and the book cover without cavities is obtained by pressing the book. In industrial book production this work process of all-over pressing is carried out in fold-forming and pressing machines in combination with the fold-forming process in which the folds of the book cover are formed and glued.
Known from DE 37 33 435 A1 is a fold-forming and pressing machine which comprises a loading station, a plurality of fold-forming and pressing stations and an unloading station, books freshly inserted in an upstream book insertion machine and fed therefrom by a continuous conveyor with their spines leading being distributed to the individual fold-forming and pressing stations where a single fold-forming and pressing process is carried out with the book lying flat. Each of the fold-forming and pressing stations has a horizontally arranged pressing table and a vertically movable pressing plate for all-over pressing, a pair of vertically movable fold-forming rails for fold formation, a shaping element acting against the front edge of the book block, a two-part shaping rail for the book spine and an endless conveyor belt which conveys the book in and out and the sections of which enclose the pressing table in such a way that the upper belt section rests on the upper face of the pressing table as a support for the book.
The book is transported through the fold-forming and pressing station in the longitudinal direction of the spine, so that for entry to these stations re-orienting of the book is required. To align the book with respect to the fold-forming rails arranged laterally beside the conveyor belt and in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor a transverse displacement is also required, which is carried out by means of the shaping element acting on the front edge of the book block between the pressing table and the pressing plate. These re-orientations and transverse displacements of the freshly-assembled book sometimes cause a change in the relative positions of book cover and book block, so that the quality of the book after fold-forming and pressing is endangered. In the case of some cover materials in conjunction with the all-over pressing of the upper cover board by the pressing plate, this cover board adheres to the pressing plate as the latter opens. This leads to malfunctions in conveying the book out.
Known from DE 197 48 832 A1 is a book forming and pressing machine in which, in a first pressing station, the cover boards of a book transported with the spine leading are pressed on to the book block, starting at a distance from the book cover folds, by rotatably driven press rollers rolling on the side surfaces of the book and, in a second station following at a distance in the transport direction of the book, the book is aligned by means of a two-part forming rail movable into the plane of motion of the book and a shaping element acting against the front edge of the book block, and is pressed in the cover folds and adjoining lateral areas by means of a pair of fold-forming rails and a pair of pressing rails. The book forming and pressing machine is characterised by its simple and cost-effective construction. The conveying of the book, which is fed from the book insertion machine while lying flat and without reorientation, is also advantageous. In the case of certain materials of the book cover and book block, however, high pressures are required to achieve cavity-free pasting of the front and back end papers to the cover, leading to curvature of the book covers during rolling and impairing the reliability of further processing.
DE 197 29 529 A1 describes a method whereby the cover fold is formed with the application of heat to the cover material before the insertion of the book block into the cover, so that the fold-forming in a separate machine used hitherto can be dispensed with. The permanent gluing of the cover fold to the book block is achieved by pressing the pre-formed cover fold against the book block when inserting the book. All-over pressing is carried out after joining book block and cover by rolling with press rollers which can optionally have a longitudinal groove for pressing directly on the book fold. What was said above regarding pressing-on at high pressures applies here also.


Provided is a novel substance that can emit phosphorescence. Alternatively, provided is a novel substance with high emission efficiency. An organometallic complex in which a 4-arylpyrimidine derivative is a ligand and iridium is a central metal is provided. Specifically, an organometallic complex having a structure represented by a general formula (G1) is provided. In the general formula (G1), R1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms, R2 represents any of hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, R3 represents hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and Ar1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted arylene group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms.

In recent years, a light-emitting element using a light-emitting organic compound or inorganic compound as a light-emitting material has been actively developed. In particular, a light-emitting element called an EL (electroluminescence) element has attracted attention as a next-generation flat panel display element because it has a simple structure in which a light-emitting layer containing a light-emitting material is provided between electrodes, and characteristics such as feasibility of being thinner and more lightweight and responsive to input signals and capability of driving with direct current at a low voltage. In addition, a display using such a light-emitting element has a feature that it is excellent in contrast and image quality, and has a wide viewing angle. Further, since such a light-emitting element is a plane light source, it is considered that the light-emitting element is applied as a light source such as a backlight of a liquid crystal display and an illumination device.
In the case where the light-emitting substance is an organic compound having a light-emitting property, the emission mechanism of the light-emitting element is a carrier-injection type. Specifically, by application of a voltage to electrodes between which the light-emitting layer is interposed, electrons and holes injected from the electrodes recombine to raise the light-emitting substance to an excited state, and light is emitted when the substance in the excited state returns to the ground state. There are two types of the excited states which are possible: a singlet excited state (S*) and a triplet excited state (T*). In addition, the statistical generation ratio thereof in a light-emitting element is considered to be S*:T*=1:3.
In general, the ground state of a light-emitting organic compound is a singlet state. Light emission from a singlet excited state (S*) is referred to as fluorescence where electron transition occurs between the same multiplicities. On the other hand, light emission from a triplet excited state (T*) is referred to as phosphorescence where electron transition occurs between different multiplicities. Here, in a compound emitting fluorescence (hereinafter referred to as a fluorescent compound), in general, phosphorescence is not observed at room temperature, and only fluorescence is observed. Accordingly, the internal quantum efficiency (the ratio of generated photons to injected carriers) in a light-emitting element using a fluorescent compound is assumed to have a theoretical limit of 25% based on S*:T*=1:3.
On the other hand, the use of a phosphorescent compound can increase the internal quantum efficiency to 100% in theory. In other words, emission efficiency can be 4 times as much as that of the fluorescence compound. For these reasons, in order to achieve a highly efficient light-emitting element, a light-emitting element using a phosphorescent compound has been developed actively recently. As the phosphorescent compound, an organometallic complex that has iridium or the like as a central metal have particularly attracted attention because of their high phosphorescence quantum yield; for example, an organometallic complex that has iridium as a central metal is disclosed as a phosphorescent material in Patent Document 1.
An advantage of the use of the highly efficient light-emitting element is that power consumption of an electronic device using the light-emitting element can be reduced, for example. Energy issues have been discussed recently, and power consumption is becoming a major factor which affects consumer buying patterns; thus, power consumption is a very important element.

Light-emitting elements comprising iridium organometallic complexes comprising 4-arylpyrimidines

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


According to an embodiment, a digital transmitter (1) includes an amplitude modulation amplitude signal generation unit (132) that generates a function f(A(t)) of an amplitude signal A(t) as an amplitude modulation amplitude signal A′(t), an amplitude modulation phase signal generation unit (133) that calculates “cos−1 {A(t)/f(A(t))}” as a phase θ1(t) and generates amplitude modulation phase signals P1(t) and P2(t), an individual digital transmission unit (11) that generates an amplified RF-pulse signal based on the signals A′(t) and P1(t), an individual digital transmission unit (12) that generates an amplified RF-pulse signal based on the signals A′(t) and P2(t), and an RF-synthesizer (16) that combines outputs of the individual digital transmission units (11, 12) with each other.

The transmission unit of a mobile phone, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication device, or the like is required to operate with lower power consumption while ensuring the accuracy of transmission signals irrespective of the magnitude of its output power. In particular, a power amplifier circuit disposed in the last stage of the transmission unit of a communication device is required to have high power efficiency because it consumes at least 50% of the overall power consumption of the communication device.
Recently, switching amplifier circuits are receiving attention as power amplifier circuits that are expected to have high power efficiency. The switching amplifier circuit operates on the assumption that an input signal is a signal having a pulse waveform, and amplifies power while maintaining the waveform. After frequency components other than a desired frequency component are suppressed by a filter element, the pulse-waveform signal amplified by the switching amplifier circuit is emitted in the air from an antenna.
Each of Patent Literature 1 and Non-patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration of a transmitter including a D-class amplifier circuit, which is a type of switching amplifier circuit. This transmitter reproduces an RF-radio signal by amplifying an RF-pulse signal generated by a RF-signal generator by using a driver amplifier and the D-class amplifier circuit and removing unnecessary components of the amplified RF-pulse signal by using a filter disposed behind the D-class amplifier circuit.


An electronic device includes a memory, a first-region allocating unit, and a second-region allocating unit. The first-region allocating unit allocates first regions in a region of the memory. The first regions are for execution of tasks. The second-region allocating unit allocates second regions in the first regions. The second region is to be actually used for execution of a task. If the first-region allocating unit has previously allocated a first region for a task identical in type to a new task as an execution target, the first-region allocating unit cancels allocation of a first region for the new task. When the allocation of a first region for the new task is cancelled, the second-region allocating unit allocates, in the first region for the task identical in type to the new task, a second region for the new task.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Even when there is no free space in the region of a memory at the time of the request from a task for using the memory, a typical electronic device forcibly deallocates the region allocated to another task and instantly assigns the deallocated region to the task requesting for using the memory.

Electronic device that completes execution of task immediately, method for managing memory, and recording medium


Reworking method for removing defects on integrated circuit device is disclosed. An integrated circuit is provided, which has a substrate, a conductive material layer formed in the substrate, a dielectric layer formed on the substrate, at least a contact plug embedded in the dielectric layer, and a conductive layer contacting to the contact plug formed on the dielectric layer. A defect is found in the conductive layer and the reworking method is performed, including an etch back process, a chemical mechanical polishing process, and a deposition process. The reworking method removes the prior formed conductive layer and reform a conductive layer to prevent the integrated circuit from being scraped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a reworking method for removing defects on integrated circuit devices, and particularly, to a reworking method for removing defects on the conductive layer of a metal interconnection and for rebuilding the conductive layer to reduce the scrape rate of the integrated circuit device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Integrated circuit devices have a tendency toward higher density and higher integration. In recent years, integrated circuit devices are formed as multi-layered metal interconnections for increasing the electrical connections between the metal interconnections themselves or between the integrated circuit devices and the metal interconnections. The fabrication process of the integrated circuit devices is very complicated. Integrated circuit devices are typically fabricated after gone through hundreds of different processing steps. For example, during the process of the formation of the metal interconnection, a barrier layer, a metal layer, and an anti-reflective layer are sequentially formed on a wafer having a dielectric layer thereon; then, the definition of the pattern is performed by lithographic and etching processes.
However, particle contamination occurs during many of the processing steps, and thereby results in yield loss. These particles can be disposed onto the surface of the respective integrated circuit devices, and resulting in bridging or broken circuit connections between two components, and causing damage to normal functions. Besides, when the compositions of the deposited film are irregular, the integrated circuit may end up having a rugged surface, with defects such as a hillock or a void formed on the surface. These defects can result in signal timing discrepancies and undesirable parametric yield loss, thus affecting the quality of the integrated circuit devices thereby failing quality inspection, and is to be assessed as defective products, and thus cannot be transferred to the next production step. Moreover, sometimes entire batch of wafers having defects must be scraped. As a result, scraping of wafers not only increases product cost, reduces utilization efficiency of equipments, and delays delivery of the products.

Reworked integrated circuit device and reworking method thereof


An apparatus (10) for decomposing and depositing gaseous metal carbonyls on a mandrel (36). A base plate (12) and cover (14) define a reaction chamber (20). A mandrel ring (28), nested within the base plate (12) and insulated therefrom, supports the mandrel (36). Heat transfer fluid flows through the mandrel ring (28) and into the mandrel (36) to maintain the mandrel (36) at a predetermined temperature to initiate thermal decomposition.

As discovered by Mond and Langer in 1889, nickel tetracarbonyl --Ni(CO).sub.4 -- readily decomposes into pure metallic nickel (Ni) and carbon monoxide (CO) within the temperature range of about 150-315.degree. C. By encouraging the nickel to deposit onto a substrate, objects comprised of pure nickel may be produced.
Nickel vapor deposition (NVD) is a process whereby a solid nickel shape is produced by depositing nickel onto a preform or mandrel. The mandrel is sufficiently heated to cause the nickel carbonyl process gas to thermally decompose on contact with the mandrel surface. Carbon monoxide, produced from the decomposition and residual nickel carbonyl gas is vented away. Nickel is deposited onto the mandrel to a uniform thickness, replicating exactly all surface textures and shapes of the underlying mandrel. The nickel form is ultimately stripped away from the mandrel as a finished nickel product.
The surface of the mandrel must be clean before nickel will deposit. Even small amounts of contaminants, such as oil and grease (organics) will inhibit nickel deposition.
Currently, mandrel formed nickel objects are manufactured in a reaction cylinder split into two halves or chambers. The upper chamber and lower chamber are separated by a large gasket such as silicone or other material having a central aperture.
The upper chamber contains the mandrel and receives the nickel carbonyl gas. The lower chamber supports the mandrel and acts to contain any leaked carbonyl gas and as a sump for a suitable heat transfer fluid. The heat transfer fluid, maintained at an appropriate temperature, is either sprayed on the underside or circulated through the mandrel via tubes or internal bores and galleries to heat the mandrel.
The heat transfer fluid is piped through the wall of the lower chamber and sprayed onto the underside of the mandrel or taken directly into the mandrel. The fluid drains from the mandrel into the bottom chamber. A pump draws out the fluid from the sump, causing it to pass through a heater and return to the mandrel. A modification is to take the fluid directly out of the mandrel by pipe and exit through the bottom chamber.
The mandrel is disposed within the aperture of the above referenced gasket. A mechanical seal is provided around the mandrel and the aperture by compressing the gasket between the mandrel and keeper plates bolted into the side of the mandrel. An additional mechanical seal is provided at the outside edge of the gasket by compressing the outside edge of the gasket between flanges affixed to the upper and lower chambers. End plates are welded to the end of the cylindrical chamber halves to seal the entire apparatus.
An additional seal can be provided at the mandrel/gasket interface by the deposition of a bead of liquid silicone between the gasket and the mandrel.
It is imperative that the upper and lower chambers are separated from one another and the seals have integrity.
Unfortunately, gasket material often offgasses at NVD operating temperatures and contaminates the mandrel. Consequently, the large gaskets are often subjected to a lengthy post cure (offgassing) at operating temperatures before the gasket is compatible with the NVD process. Moreover, gaskets are expensive and easily damaged during mandrel disassembly.
The mandrel/gasket seal, provided by compression with the keeper plates or by bonding does not always provide a leak tight seal. Vapors of the fluid can pass through the mandrel/gasket seal into the upper chamber and contaminate the mandrel.
A modification was made to the bottom chamber to pipe the exit fluid from the mandrel through the wall of the chamber and eliminate the fluid from the lower chamber. However, significant manhours are required to clean fluid spillage from the lower chamber each time the mandrel is disassembled.
Moreover, nickel carbonyl leaks through the mandrel/gasket seal into the lower chamber and deposits onto the underside of the mandrel and onto the ancillary mandrel tooling. Nickel oxide powder is formed in the lower chamber due to the occurring carbonyl reaction with trace oxygen in the inert gas used to purge the bottom chamber. The powder covers all of the inside surfaces and requires extensive cleanup between depositions.
A pressure differential between the top and bottom chamber must be closely monitored. A minor pressure differential causes the gasket to bulge. Any substantial tension on the mandrel/gasket seal will rupture the seal or the gasket.


The invention relates to an installation for exposing a double-sided printed circuit card to light through artworks. The installation comprises a first artwork-support (10) that is fixed, a second artwork (14) that is movable, vertical displacement means (26, 28) for moving the second support, and mechanical connection means between the displacement means and the second support, the first and second supports having relative positioning members (12, 24) suitable for mutual co-operation when the two supports are in the working position. The mechanical connection means comprise a first horizontal connection surface (42, 44) mechanically connected (38, 40, 46, 48) to the vertical displacement means, a second horizontal connection surface (20, 22) secured to the second support, support means (50) for establishing substantially frictionless co-operation between the first and second connection surfaces (42, 44; 20, 22), and controllable locking means (50) for temporarily locking the first and second connection surfaces together.

The present invention relates to an installation for exposing a double-sided printed circuit card to light.
Amongst the operations required in making a printed circuit card, there is a step of insolation, in particular for defining the conductor tracks of the printed circuit by photoetching. The function of the corresponding installation is to take the printed circuits covered in a film or in a photosensitive resist and to expose them to ultraviolet light for a given length of time through an artwork so as to insolate the corresponding portion of the photosensitive film or resist.
The installation in question is of the type in which the printed circuit is a double-sided printed circuit, i.e. conductive tracks need to be made on both faces of the insulating medium of the printed circuit card, with both faces being made simultaneously.
Consequently, in such an installation, there is a top artwork support and a bottom artwork support, and the card whose two faces are to be insolated is placed between them. To enable the card for insolation to be put into place, it is necessary to be able to move the top artwork support away from the bottom support. These artwork supports are mounted on frames, and the top support is thus associated with a top frame which must be driven with up and down motion.
Such installations are described in particular in European patent applications EP 0 618 505 and EP 0 807 855 in the name of the Applicant.
When the top artwork frame reaches its bottom position, it is accurately positioned relative to the bottom frame by the presence of male and female centering cones. It is necessary for this operation to be repeatable with high accuracy, to within about 5 microns.
When the printed circuit cards to be made, i.e. to be insolated on both faces, are of relatively small dimensions, then it is relatively easy to achieve co-operation between the male and female cones of the moving top frame and of the stationary bottom frame. However, with printed circuit cards of greater dimensions, it is necessary to provide a machine which is itself of greater dimensions and which has a top frame of much greater dimensions and consequently of much greater weight, e.g. 250 kg, in order to obtain stiffness matching the precision of the installation. Under such circumstances, while the top frame is being lowered relative to the bottom frame, co-operation between the male and female cones of the top frame and of the bottom frame gives rise to a certain number of difficulties, in particular due to problems of friction between the male and female cones.
An object of the present invention is to provide an installation for exposing a double-sided printed circuit card to light through artworks, in which the co-operation between the male and female cones of the top frame carrying the top artwork and the bottom frame can be obtained easily in spite of the considerable weight of the moving top frame.
According to the invention, this is achieved by an installation for exposing a double-sided printed circuit card to light through artworks, the installation comprising a structure, a first artwork-support frame fixed relative to the structure, a second artwork-support frame movable relative to the structure, vertical displacement means for displacing said second. frame between a waiting position and a working position in which the two frames are close to each other, and mechanical link means between the displacement means and said second frame, the first and second frames having relative positioning members suitable for mutual co-operation when the two frames are in the working position,
the installation being characterized in that the mechanical connection means comprise:
first means forming a first horizontal connection surface mechanically connected to the vertical displacement means;
means forming a second horizontal connection surface secured to said second frame;
support means for providing substantially frictionless co-operation in a horizontal plane between said first and second connection surfaces, thereby enabling said second frame to move horizontally relative to the structure; and
controllable locking means for temporarily locking said first and second support surfaces together.
It will be understood that by connecting the frame in this way to the means for displacing the frame vertically, it is possible to obtain co-operation between the male and female positioning cones without giving rise to high stresses. However, outside the final stage of co-operation between the cones, the controllable locking means serve to ensure a rigid connection between the displacement means and the frame of the top artwork support.
Preferably, pneumatic means controllable in vertical displacement are interposed between the frictionless co-operation means and the displacement means in order to drive vertical relative displacement between the top frame and the vertical displacement means. This disposition makes it possible to xe2x80x9clightenxe2x80x9d or reduce the apparent weight of the top frame carrying the top artwork support so as to provide a safety function for the personnel using the machine. It is recalled that the top frame assembly can weigh about 250 kg. This disposition also makes it possible to lighten the top frame at the moment when it comes into contact with the bottom frame. It is thus possible to limit the stresses applied to the bottom frame while this contact is being made. Nevertheless, when the top frame comes into contact with the bottom frame, it is necessary for the apparent weight of the frame to be sufficient to overcome the force developed by the inflatable gasket which is provided on the bottom frame so as to be able to evacuate between the two frames.
Also preferably, the substantially frictionless co-operation means comprise balls which are interposed between the first and second horizontal connection surfaces.

Installation for exposing a double-sided printed circuit card to light


An exemplary upgrade module includes an upgrade wizard component, an upgrade analyzer component, and a source analyzer component wherein the upgrade wizard component operates in conjunction with an IDE to facilitate migration of source code or a project to the IDE or a runtime engine and/or OS associated with the IDE. An exemplary method includes selecting a source code or project written in a programming language associated with a native compiler that targets a native runtime engine, analyzing the code or project and then upgrading the code or project based on the analyzing such that the resulting upgraded code or project can compile on a foreign compiler and target a foreign runtime engine. According to such an exemplary method, the upgrade or migration optionally occurs without modifying the selected source code. Other exemplary methods, devices and/or systems are also disclosed.

Application developers typically rely on an integrated development environment (IDE) to develop applications. At some point, however, due to advancements in IDE technology, a developer may choose to discontinue use of an old, familiar IDE and opt for a new, better IDE. Further, if a developer wishes to retain applications written using a source code associated with the old IDE, then the developer should ensure that the new IDE is compatible with the source code in which the old applications were written. Otherwise, the developer may have to recode the old applications using a source code associated with the new IDE. And, as most developers know, recoding can consume considerable time and resources.
To avoid recoding, most developers choose a new IDE that is merely a meager improvement over their trusted old IDE. As such, a developer may not be able to take advantage of a rich pool of resources and tools associated with other IDEs. Thus, a need exists for methods, devices and/or systems that facilitate 21 source code migration between IDEs, which, in turn, will allow developers more flexibility in choosing between IDEs. Various exemplary methods, devices and/or systems are presented below that address this need and/or other needs associated with upgrade or migration of projects, code, etc. between IDEs and/or associated resources.


Some embodiments of the invention are directed to enabling a user to easily identify the frequency range(s) at which sound masking occurs, and addressing the masking, if desired. In this respect, the extent to which a first stem is masked by one or more second stems in a frequency range may depend not only on the absolute value of the energy of the second stem(s) in the frequency range, but also on the relative energy of the first stem with respect to the second stem(s) in the frequency range. Accordingly, some embodiments are directed to modeling sound masking as a function of the energy of the stem being masked and of the relative energy of the masked stem with respect to the masking stem(s) in the frequency range, such as by modeling sound masking as loudness loss, a value indicative of the reduction in loudness of a stem of interest caused by the presence of one or more other stems in a frequency range.

Audio production tools exist that enable users to produce high-quality audio. For example, some audio production tools enable users to record one or more audio sources (e.g., vocals and/or speech captured by a microphone, music played with an instrument, etc.), process the audio (e.g., to master, mix, design, and/or otherwise manipulate the audio), and/or control its playback. Audio production tools may be used to produce audio comprising music, speech, sound effects, and/or other sounds.
Some computer-implemented audio production tools provide a graphical user interface with which users may complete various production tasks on audio source inputs. For example, some tools may receive audio input and generate one or more digital representations of the input, which a user may manipulate using a graphical user interface, such as to obtain desired audio output through equalization and/or other operations.
Sound equalization is a technique used by sound engineers to alter a sound recording by applying filters to sound in one or more frequency ranges, so as to boost or attenuate spectral portions of a track. For example, high-pass filters may be used to boost higher frequencies and attenuates lower frequencies. By contrast, low-pass filters may be used to boost lower frequencies and attenuate higher frequencies. Equalization may, for example, be used to create the impression that certain sounds in a track or multi-track recording are farther or closer than others.

Systems and methods for identifying and remediating sound masking


This invention is a novel system for blast protection. It consists of lightweight, sectional or continuous barriers made of a novel blast resistant fiber reinforced polymer resin matrix composite, which may be fabricated on site. The barriers are lightweight and thin enough that they may be used in many spaces where barriers made from conventional construction materials are impossible, impractical, or undesirable. The novel barriers of this invention have the additional advantage of allowing for aesthetically appealing and architecturally harmonious designs. In order to minimize weight, the barriers may be designed such that the cross section varies with height, providing adequate resistance in areas of high blast loading, but allowing for thinner cross sections in regions of lowering load.

The invention relates to protection of structures or other sites from blasts due to bombs or other explosive devices. The invention is particularly suitable for protecting buildings from car or truck bombs such as may be used in terrorist activities. The invention is equally applicable to any site requiring protection from ground level or low level explosive attack. In addition to blast protection, the invention is also applicable to protection from high velocity projectiles and debris associated with natural events such as hurricanes or tornadoes.
One common, worldwide method used by terrorist organizations is to use a bomb which is installed in a car, truck or other vehicle. The vehicle is driven adjacent to a target, and the bomb is then detonated in close proximity to the target. Examples of such attacks are the Oklahoma City federal building incident, the attack on the marine base in Beirut, multiple examples of IRA operations, and more recently a series of attacks on foreign interests in Saudi Arabia and the nightclub bombing in Bali. Clearly, vehicle bombing is employed for destructive ends by a wide variety of terrorist organizations all over the world.
However, existing means of blast protection are very difficult to use to protect most sites. Steel or concrete barriers must be extremely massive to be effective. For instance a concrete barrier adequate to protect against a 1500 lb truck bomb would have to be 7 feet thick or in the case of a solid steel wall, 14 inches thick. Clearly such barriers are not feasible to protect existing buildings in downtown city areas, where the streets may only be the width of a sidewalk from the building. Moreover extremely large barriers are very difficult and time consuming to fabricate and erect, making it impractical to provide blast protection from vehicle threats to existing buildings. Finally massive barriers are not aesthetic and architecturally harmonious with the vast majority of sites. Having to mar the appearance and functionality of sites to protect them from terrorism can be considered a victory for the terrorist in and of itself. Clearly, a more practical means of blast protection would be an important tool in the struggle against world-wide terrorism. The present invention provides a superior approach to site protection from blasts.


Provided are polycarbosilane and a method of producing the same. The polycarbosilane contains an allyl group, and thus can be cured by UV absorption when not exposed to the air.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polycarbosilane and a method of producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, polycarbosilane (PCS) is a pre-ceramic precursor that is widely used as SiC coating, SiC powder, a precursor for SiC combination materials, a sintering additive for SiC powder, or a precursor for producing SiC-based continuous fiber, to improve oxidation resistance, drug resistance and heat resistance.
While polycarbosilane is generally prepared from polydimethylsilane (PDMS) as an initial material by the Yajima method which is performed over about 400° C. at high pressure (U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,430), various methods of producing polycarbosilane using various catalysts are being developed.
Since such polycarbosilane is generally cured by heat in air at 200° C. or more after coating, when it is converted into siliconcarbide (SiC) by heat treatment at high temperature, the content of oxygen is increased, resulting in degradation of final quality.
Meanwhile, to reduce the content of oxygen in the final product, electron beam curing is performed. In this case, the high cost of an electron beam application device increases production costs.

Polycarbosilane and method of producing the same


A power supply assembly for a plasma arc torch is provided. The power supply assembly includes an input circuit, an energy storage device, a torch connector and an output circuit. The input circuit is configured to produce a first output signal. The energy storage device is electrically connected to the input circuit for receiving a charge signal therefrom. The energy storage device is capable of producing a second output signal. The torch connector is electrically connected to the input circuit and the energy storage device for receiving the first and second output signals through the output circuit. The torch connector is configured to supply at least one of the first or second output signal to the plasma arc torch to sustain a plasma arc.

Thermal processing torches, such as plasma arc torches, are widely used in the heating, cutting, gouging and marking of materials. A plasma arc torch generally includes an electrode, a nozzle having a central exit orifice mounted within a torch body, electrical connections, passages for cooling, and passages for arc control fluids (e.g., plasma gas). Optionally, a swirl ring is employed to control fluid flow patterns in the plasma chamber formed between the electrode and the nozzle. In some torches, a retaining cap can be used to maintain the nozzle and/or swirl ring in the torch body. In operation, a plasma arc torch produces a plasma arc, which is a constricted jet of an ionized gas with high temperature and sufficient momentum to assist with removal of molten metal.
A plasma arc torch can be powered by a removable energy storage device, such as a battery pack, to enable cordless torch operation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,183,517, hereinafter referred to as the '517 patent, discloses a portable welding-type apparatus with a removable energy storage device. An external power source provides power to a charger, which may be used to charge the energy storage device. The voltage output of the energy storage device is provided to a boost circuit configured to boost the voltage output of the energy storage device to a second voltage to power the welding-type apparatus according to a selected welding-type process. In the '517 patent, because the energy storage device is located between the external power source and the boost circuit, a different charger for charging the energy storage device is needed each time the external power source provides a different input voltage. Alternatively, restrictions can be placed on the amount of input voltage supplied by the external power source of the '517 patent, but at the expense of limiting the usage of the battery-powered apparatus. Moreover, in the '571 patent, extra external hardware is needed to charge the energy storage device. Because this hardware is external to the plasma power supply, it is less integrated in comparison to a system that can use the existing control hardware and/or software to regulate the charge of the energy storage device. In addition, the power generated by the energy storage device of the '571 patent needs to pass through additional circuit components (e.g., a boost circuit) prior to reaching the torch, which creates inefficiency and energy loss.

Power supply assembly for a plasma arc torch system


A modified fuel injector is fitted with a position sensing device that starts sending position information to the ECU at the onset of pressurization and displacement of fuel in the injector. Thus the effective stroke of the piston in the injector valve can be made to represent the fuel that is delivered to each cylinder of an engine. A position sensor is attached to the injector valve piston assembly. By electronically measuring the amount of effective piston travel, i.e. the piston travel that commences at the onset of pressurization of the injector valve, the amount of fuel delivered to the cylinder is known.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a fuel injection system for supplying fuel to an internal combustion engine and in particular to such a system for electronically measuring the amount of effective piston stroke travel in a fuel injector while compressing and displacing fuel in a chamber therein to determine the precise amount of fuel delivered to an engine cylinder by the piston movement.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 AND 1.98
It is well known in the prior art that fuel injection systems for supplying fuel to an internal combustion engine utilize a fluid control valve such as a fuel injector that includes a pumping plunger or piston, a solenoid, and an armature for directly actuating the pumping plunger or piston upon energization of the solenoid. The pumping plunger pressurizes fuel in a chamber and the pressurized fuel is forced through an injection nozzle by the pumping plunger to an engine cylinder. The injection nozzle includes a fuel pressure responsive valve that is opened to allow fuel flow when the pressure of fuel supplied to the nozzle attains a predetermined value.
In such a system, the extent of movement of the piston determines the amount of fuel supplied through the injection nozzle to the combustion chamber.
Most such piston-type pumps have some leakage through the piston/cylinder clearance. This leakage past the piston results in a small amount of piston travel that does not displace fuel and thus does not deliver fuel to the engine and is an error in the measured fuel delivery versus piston movement. Furthermore, this leakage changes as parts wear and can also vary with changes in temperature of the fuel injector or the fuel flowing through it. Small variations in manufacturing tolerances from unit to unit can also lead to errors. Such injectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,951 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,620.
It would be advantageous to have a fuel injector that operated as an accurate flow meter that would electronically measure the amount of effective piston travel to enable the amount of actual fuel delivered to the cylinder to be known. In such case, the fuel injector would become a fuel measurement system as well as a fuel delivery system and most of its parts would do double duty as it performs both functions.
"Effective" piston travel is defined herein as that distance of piston travel that actually results in a displacement of fuel from the fuel injector to the combustion cylinder.

Precise fuel flow measurement with modified fluid control valve


In a cellular communication network, capacity in a cell is increased by placing antennas transmitting different signals on the same carrier frequency at separated signal transmission and virtual site locations in the cell, rather than at the center of the cell. A receiver includes multiple antennas using spatial diversity, such as beamforming and cancellation, to extract the desired signal.

The present invention relates to cellular communications, and, more particularly, is directed to arrangement of antennas in a cell.
FIG. 1 shows cell 10 of a conventional cellular communication network having a transmitting antenna 20. In fact, the coverage area of antenna 20 has an approximately circular shape, but it is convenient to model the cellular network as formed of hexagonal (rather than circular) cells. Antenna 20 is modelled as being at the center of cell 10, but practically, it may not be precisely centered with respect to the location of other antennas.
As shown in FIG. 2, antenna 20 transmits message A at a carrier frequency f1. When the signal to be transmitted comprises time division multiplexed signals A, B, C, the transmission from antenna 20 is as shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 4 shows receiving apparatus 50, such as a cellular telephone. Antenna 51 receives messages transmitted from antenna 20, and possibly from other antennas in other cells, supplies a received signal to receiver circuit 52, which processes the received signal to extract the message transmitted by antenna 20. Receiver circuit 52 supplies the extracted message to processor 53, which converts the extracted message into a user perceivable signal, such as an audible speech signal, and applies the user perceivable signal to amplifier 54 which is adapted to convert the user perceivable signal into an acoustic signal.
Receiving apparatus 50 may be a pager, in which case the user perceivable signal is a visually displayable signal, and instead of amplifier 54, a display is provided. Alternatively, receiving apparatus 50 may also have transmission capability (not shown).
To increase the traffic carrying capacity of a cell, various schemes are used.
FIG. 5 shows cell 11 having antennas 21, 22, 23 located therein, and transmitting at carrier frequencies f1, f2, f3, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6, each antenna transmits a separate message, indicated as A, B, C. Of course, the signal at each carrier frequency may use a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme. For example, f1 may represent messages D, E, F, D, E, F, . . . , f2 may represent messages G, H, G, H, . . . , and f3 may represent messages I, J, K, L, I, J, K, L . . . The antennas 21, 22, 23 may be a single antenna.
FIG. 7 shows cell 12 having antennas 24, 25, 26 located therein, and each transmitting in a wide bandwidth channel centered at carrier frequency f1. However, as shown in FIG. 8, each of the antennas 24–26 uses a distinct modulating code, so that a receiver demodulating its received signal with the same distinct code properly recovers the transmitted message from the intended one of antennas 24–26. The scheme illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 is referred to as a spread spectrum scheme, in particular, a code (or carrier) division multiple access (CDMA) scheme. Here, too, the signal transmitted by each of antennas 24–26 may be a time division multiplexed signal.
Edge excited cells have been proposed in which three antennas are located at respective vertices of a hexagonal cell. In known CDMA systems, each of the antennas transmits the same signal. A transmission from a mobile station is received correctly if at least one of the antennas has correctly received the transmission. This configuration of antennas in a cell is also referred to as a corner-fed hexagonal pattern.
Since traffic continues to increase, additional techniques for increasing the traffic carrying capacity of a cell are sought.

Cellular communication system with virtual antennas


Bulk catalysts that include a Group VI metal, a Group VIII metal, and at least 10-60% of an organic compound based component are formed. The bulk catalysts have increased stability through the use of a stabilizer in the organic compound based component, the use of an improved gas phase sulfidation, or a combination thereof. The bulk catalysts are suitable for hydroprocessing of hydrocarbon feeds.

Increasingly stringent environmental regulations will require significant reductions in the sulfur content of transportation fuels. For example, by the end of this decade, maximum sulfur levels for distillate fuel will be limited to 10 wppm in Europe and Japan and 15 wppm in North America. To meet these ultra-low sulfur requirements without expensive modifications to existing refineries, it will be necessary to design a new generation of catalyst that has very high activity for desulfurization, particularly for distillate fuels at low to medium pressure.
US Published Patent Application 2008/0132407 describes recently developed catalysts in an attempt to meet the increased activity needs for ultra-low sulfur processing. The catalysts described in US 2008/0132407 provide an activity benefit over conventional catalysts. However, the long term stability of the catalysts is not proven.
What is needed is a bulk catalyst with improved stability and/or integrity for long term operation at high activity.

EXXONMOBILE RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY


A spectrum control system according to the present invention is a spectrum control system that evaluates whether or not to allow a second wireless communication system to perform secondary use on a frequency band that is allowed to be preferentially used by a first wireless communication system, and includes a request distinguish unit (102) that evaluates a possibility of the secondary use influencing the first wireless communication system and an evaluation unit (101) that evaluates whether or not to allow the secondary use of the frequency band, which has been evaluated that there is a possibility that the frequency band may influence the first wireless communication system using an evaluation criterion more specific than that of the request distinguish unit (102).

Cognitive radio is attracting attention as a technique to handle an increase in traffic in wireless communication. There is a form of the cognitive radio that is currently being considered in which a secondary system performs a secondary use of a frequency channel (a white space) that is not used spatially and temporally by a licensed primary system in the range not influencing services operated by the primary system. As a related art concerning such an operation of the secondary use of the white spaces, there is a method disclosed in Non Patent Literature 1. In this method, for a position of a transmission station of a secondary system (a secondary transmission station) that performs the secondary use, a list of channels available for the secondary use at the position is stored to a database according to categories explained below. Further, by referring to the database at the time of performing the secondary use, the secondary transmission station obtains channels available for the secondary use at the position. Specifically, a service area of a primary system which should be protected is calculated as a protection zone by a predetermined propagation prediction method, and a required value of a separation distance from a boundary of the protection zone to the secondary transmission station is set according to the categories explained below. The categories of the secondary transmission station are: frequency channels for secondary use (channels the same as or adjacent to the primary system); a type of a secondary system transmitter (personal use, portable device, or fixed device); and an installation height of a transmission antenna (less than three meters, three meters or greater and less than ten meters, or ten meters or greater and less than 30 meters). An evaluation of whether or not the secondary use is allowed is made depending on whether the separation distance that is necessary according to these categories can be obtained at the position of the secondary transmission station. Results of the evaluations are stored to the database.
There are two problems with this above technique. The first problem is that the evaluation of whether or not the secondary use is allowed is based on the separation distance from an end of the protection zone, while terrain and feature of a propagation path from the secondary transmission station to a reception station of the primary system (a primary reception station) is not taken into account. The second problem is that an increase in a level of interference from the secondary use by a plurality of secondary transmission stations in the same time period is provided as a fixed margin, while the actual number of simultaneous secondary transmission stations is not taken into account. As a result, it has been highly possible to cause harmful interference on the primary reception station from the secondary use of the white space by the secondary transmission stations or miss a chance for the secondary use by the secondary transmission stations by maintaining a separation distance greater than necessary.
As a technique to solve the first problem, there is a method disclosed in Non Patent Literature 2. This method evaluates whether or not to allow the secondary use of channels based on a propagation prediction by using site-specific information between the secondary transmission station and the primary reception station so as to estimate the level of interference on the primary reception station from the secondary transmission station performing the secondary use, that should be considered. Accordingly, this method predicts the level of interference with higher accuracy than when the prediction is made only based on the separation distance. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the probability of creating harmful interference on the primary system and maintaining a separation distance greater than necessary.
As a technique to solve the second problem, there is a method disclosed in Patent Literature 1. This method obtains the number of secondary transmission stations that perform the secondary use in the same time period, predicts the total level of interference on the primary reception station when these secondary transmission stations start the secondary use, and confirms that the transmission power is configured not to exceed an allowable interference level before starting the secondary use. Thus, it is possible to reduce the possibility of creating harmful interference on the primary system or maintaining a separation distance greater than necessary.

Spectrum control system, database, spectrum control method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium storing spectrum control program


A system and method are provided for automatically selecting one of multiple formats in which to serve a content item. The system collects data regarding content items served and user activity and/or revenue regarding those served items. These data are used to calculate performance values or scores of each format for specified factors such as destination (e.g., a web domain, a URL, a content channel), visibility (e.g., above the fold), a period of time, a vertical or type of content, and so on. When a new content request is received, the format selected for serving in response to the request is chosen based on the competing formats' calculated performances, and a suitable content item is selected. The selected format may be the format likely to generate the most revenue, may be selected by statistical sampling, or may be selected by using the performance values/scores in some other way.

This invention relates to the field of computer systems. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for automatically selecting an optimal format of an electronic content item in response to a request for a content item.
Many computer systems are operated to serve electronic content such as web pages, advertisements, audio files, visual files and so on in response to corresponding requests. However, there is often little effort made to select and serve a given content item with an optimal format or a format likely to achieve a suitable goal, such as enhancing revenue or, conversely, to more equally serve multiple competing formats. Instead, the version that is served may simply be one that matches parameters of a given request or that a content server chooses to serve for some other reason.

System and method for automatic selection of a content format


An airbag baffle mount for mounting an airbag cushion to an airbag module and for deflecting hot inflation gas away from a throat of the airbag cushion. The airbag baffle mount includes a generally flat retainer ring for securing the collar of the airbag cushion around an inflator of the airbag module that produces and expels the inflation gas from a plurality of inflation ports for inflating the airbag cushion upon a vehicle collision. The airbag baffle mount also includes a continuous deflection baffle extending upwardly from the retainer ring and positioned spaced-apart from the inflator, between the plurality of inflation ports of the inflator and the surrounding throat of the airbag cushion. The deflection baffle slopes substantially inwardly for deflecting hot inflation gas and hot particles downwardly generally towards the retainer ring to thereby substantially prevent the throat of the airbag cushion from being burned by the hot inflation gas and decrease the release of hot particles into the main part of the airbag cushion.

An airbag retainer ring is used for retaining an airbag cushion within an airbag module. An airbag module is employed in a vehicle, particularly an automobile, for protecting an occupant against injury by deploying an inflated airbag cushion to physically restrain the occupant's body when the automobile encounters a collision. A driver side airbag module normally includes an airbag cushion, an inflator for inflating the airbag cushion upon receiving a signal from a remote collision sensor, and a module baseplate mounting the airbag cushion and inflator. The inflator generally has a cylindrical sidewall extending through an inflator-receiving aperture of the module baseplate and an inflator flange extending radially outwardly from the sidewall and abutting a bottom surface of the baseplate. The airbag cushion has an open mouth formed by a collar that fits around the inflator with the collar positioned against a top surface of the baseplate. An airbag retainer ring is positioned on the collar of the airbag cushion and fits around the inflator sidewall, and fasteners such as bolts pass through the airbag retainer ring, the collar of the airbag cushion, the baseplate and the inflator flange and are fastened with nuts for example to secure the airbag module together.
During inflation of the airbag cushion, hot inflation gas radially exits the inflator through inflation ports in the inflator sidewall. It has been found that the hot inflation gas radially exiting the inflator can burn a "throat" of the airbag cushion extending from the collar and surrounding the inflator sidewall.
In order to avoid burning the airbag cushion, some airbag retainer rings include a perpendicular sidewall for deflecting the inflation gas to protect the collar and the throat of the airbag cushion. The perpendicular sidewall is spaced-apart from the inflator sidewall and extends up at least to a height equal with the inflation ports of the inflator. The perpendicular sidewall, therefore, intercepts the inflation gas and directs the inflation gas parallel with the inflator sidewall and generally axially into the airbag cushion.
While it is preferable that the inflation gas is directed away from the collar and the throat of the airbag cushion, it is also preferable that the inflation gases are directed radially into the airbag cushion. Radial inflation causes the airbag cushion to expand radially and evenly over the steering wheel, or "flatten out", and be fully inflated before an occupant is carried, by the force of deceleration caused by a collision of the vehicle, into the fully inflated and correctly positioned airbag cushion. In contrast, it has been found that axial inflation can cause the airbag cushion to be propelled axially and unevenly or "skewered", straight out of the airbag module towards the occupant until the airbag cushion reaches its maximum extension, and only then begin to fully inflate. Skewered inflation is unwanted because it can cause the top of airbag cushion to strike the occupant before being fully inflated. Skewered inflation can also cause the airbag cushion to push the occupant to the side of the inflating airbag cushion so that the occupant does not receive the protection of the inflated airbag cushion. Skewered inflation additionally places severe stress on the throat and the collar of the airbag cushion. While an airbag retainer ring having the perpendicular sidewall provides better protection against burning of the collar and throat of the airbag cushion, the perpendicular sidewall is believed to direct the inflation gas generally axially into the airbag cushion and, therefore, can encourage unwanted skewered inflation of the airbag cushion.
In order to reduce the chances of skewered inflation of the airbag cushion, some airbag retainer rings include an outwardly sloping sidewall, i.e. a sidewall that angle away from the inflator, as opposed to a perpendicular sidewall. The outwardly sloping sidewall intercepts and directs the inflation gas both axially and radially into the airbag cushion, and, therefore, reduces the chances of skewered inflation. The outwardly sloping sidewall, however, does not reduce cushion burning as well as the perpendicular sidewall. Accordingly, an airbag cushion used with a airbag retainer ring having an outwardly sloping sidewall may still need to incorporate a cushion tether to combat skewered inflation, and may also need protective layers of material positioned around the inside of its throat to combat airbag cushion burning.
It would be useful, therefore, to provide a cushion retainer that protects an airbag cushion from burning yet directs inflation gas into the airbag cushion such that the airbag cushion does not skewered upon inflation.