A photographic lens system for forming an object image is placed in the lens barrel of an electronic camera. In a camera body, a beam splitter for forming branched optical paths and an image sensing element for photoelectrically converting the formed object image are arranged. An optical filter attached to a filter cap is inserted between the beam splitter and the image sensing element. The filter cap intimately contacts with the perimeter of the exit surface of the beam splitter and the perimeter of the image sensing surface of the image sensing element, thereby forming closed spaces, between the optical filter and the beam splitter and between the optical filter and the image sensing element, which allow incident light to pass through.

The present invention relates to an electronic camera and, more particularly, to an electronic camera capable of preventing deterioration of the picture quality and deterioration of the quality of a finder image caused by adhesion of dust, and at the same time allowing easy replacement/disassembly of optical members.
In an electronic camera, if dust adheres to an optical-member through which incident light to an image sensing element passes, a photographed picture is influenced by the dust. When this is the case, it is highly likely that even rubbish of a very small size, i.e., dust, which is not a problem in a silver halide camera, appears as a black dot on a photographed frame and deteriorates the picture quality. This is mainly because the size of the image sensing surface of an image sensing element is smaller than that of a silver halide film used in a silver halide camera. Adhesion of dust to optical members is particularly a big problem for an image sensing element having a high pixel density (multiple pixels), because such an image sensing element is required to have a high picture quality.
In addition, the zoom magnification at the focusing plane of an optical finder of an electronic camera is larger than that of a silver halide camera. Therefore, even rubbish of a very small size, i.e., dust, which is of no problem in a silver halide camera is highly likely to appear as a black dot in a finder field and deteriorate the quality of a finder image.
To solve these problems, in a digital still camera disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-109203, a lens and an optical filter are fixed in a sealed state in a cylindrical sealing member, and this cylindrical sealing member is attached to a substrate for mounting an image sensing element so as to cover this image sensing element tightly. That is, in this camera, a closed space is formed between the lens and the optical filter through which incident light to the image sensing element passes, and around the image sensing element. This prevents deterioration of the picture quality caused by adhesion of dust.
In this digital still camera disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-109203, however, once a unit including the components in the cylindrical sealing member is assembled, it is not easy to disassemble the unit in order to replace the parts in the cylindrical sealing member. That is, this conventional structure in which the optical members in the vicinity of the image sensing element are covered with the sealing member to thereby prevent invasion and adhesion of dust still has antinomic problems: improving the picture quality and facilitating replacement/disassembly of optical members.
Also, a camera containing a focal-plane shutter having front and rear curtains is known as a silver halide camera (a camera using a silver halide film). Since the film surface must be shielded except during exposure in a silver halide camera, this focal-plane shutter operates as follows.
Before exposure, the front curtain is always in a shielding position, and the rear curtain is in a retraction position. By a release operation, the front curtain moves to a retraction position to uncover the film surface, and the film surface is exposed to light. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the rear curtain in the retraction position moves to shield the film surface and complete the exposure. That is, the operation timings of the front and rear curtains determine the shutter speed. When the shutter speed is low (e.g., 1/500 SEC or more), the rear curtain moves after the front curtain retracts. When the shutter speed is high, the rear curtain begins to move while the front curtain is moving. In this case, the exposure time is determined by the width (size) of a slit gap between the trailing end of the front curtain and the leading end of the rear curtain (slit shutter mode).
In an electronic camera, on the other hand, a time corresponding to the exposure time in a silver halide camera can be set by an element shutter which is defined by turn on/off of an image sensing element for photoelectric conversion, e.g., a CCD. However, even an electronic camera uses a mechanical shutter for the following reasons. First, an interlace CCD requires the operation of a mechanical shutter at the end of exposure. Second, a progressive CCD must be shielded by a mechanical shutter immediately after exposure is completed by an element shutter, in order to prevent smear (therefore, exposure is preferably terminated by a mechanical shutter).
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-122542 disclosed an electronic camera containing a focal-plane shutter having only one of front and rear curtains. Also, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-218838 disclosed an electronic camera containing a focal-plane shutter having a large number of sectors functioning as a shutter which also serves as a stop. The latter publication also describes that a focal-plane shutter having front and rear curtains is also usable.
In an electronic camera containing the conventional focal-plane shutter, e.g., in each of the electronic cameras disclosed in the above two publications, the shutter is placed closely in front of a CCD. This is so because the role of the focal-plane shutter is to shield the image sensing surface of the CCD. This similarly holds for a silver halide camera.
The focal-plane shutter operates a considerable number of times at high speed. Therefore, wear caused by contact of the sectors produces wear dust. In a silver halide camera, deterioration of the picture quality caused by this wear dust is hardly a problem because the size of a silver halide film is large. However, as described previously, if wear dust adheres to the cover glass of a CCD in an electronic camera, this adhered wear dust appears as a black dot in a photographed frame and deteriorates the picture quality. The reasons are, for example, that the image sensing surface of a CCD is much smaller than a silver halide film, and the cover glass is very close to the image sensing surface.


An integrated processing box performs processing commonly to a plurality of input devices, a plurality of output devices, or a plurality of storage devices. For example, the integrated processing box performs noise reduction processing on data received from an input device or a storage device or data supplied to an output device or the storage device. The integrated processing box also performs processing, for example, temporal/spatial processing or grayscale processing, variably to each type of input device, each type of output device, or each type of storage device. Accordingly, if the input device is, for example, a video camera, the video camera is formed only by a CCD, a sample-and-hold circuit for sampling and holding the output from the CCD, an AGC circuit for adjusting the gain of the output from the sample-and-hold circuit, and an A/D conversion circuit for converting the analog output of the AGC circuit into a digital output. That is, it is possible to form the video camera without blocks performing defect correction for the pixels of the CCD, γ correction, color matrix conversion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing apparatuses, data processing methods, and recording media. More particularly, the invention relates to a data processing apparatus and a data processing method for performing suitable processing on data received from various input devices, data to be supplied to various output devices, and data received from and supplied to various storage devices. The invention also pertains to a recording medium for implementing the above-described method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As output devices for outputting (displaying) images, cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, liquid crystal display monitors, etc. are known. Further, CRT monitors include national television system committee (NTSC)-type and phase alternation by line (PAL)-type monitors.
Conventionally, in order to watch PAL television programs, a user who has, for example, only an NTSC CRT monitor must purchase a PAL CRT monitor.
That is, even though only the scanning method employed in a PAL CRT monitor is different from that employed in an NTSC CRT monitor, and the other functions are the same, it is necessary for the user to purchase a PAL CRT monitor, thereby increasing the financial burden on the user.
Generally, devices, such as CRT monitors, can be largely divided into three portions, such as portions unique to the devices (hereinafter referred to as "unique portions"), portions which perform processing commonly for some devices (hereinafter referred to as "common processing), and portions which perform processing variably according to the types of individual devices (hereinafter referred to as "variable processing").
The portion unique to the device is a portion physically essential to the device. For example, concerning a CRT device, a CRT and a deflection circuit are unique portions, and concerning a liquid crystal display monitor, a liquid crystal panel is a unique portion. In, for example, an NTSC CRT monitor and a liquid crystal panel monitor, the portions which perform common processing correspond to a portion for converting NTSC television broadcast signals into red (R), green (G), and blue (B) components, i.e., a portion which performs NTSC decoding processing. In, for example, a CRT monitor, the portions which perform variable processing correspond to a portion for adjusting an image signal to the frequency characteristics associated with the CRT of the CRT monitor. In a liquid crystal display monitor, the portions which perform variable processing correspond to a portion for adjusting an image signal to the frequency characteristics associated with the liquid crystal panel of the liquid crystal monitor.
Accordingly, the common processing can be performed independent of the devices. On the other hand, the variable processing is dependent upon the devices, and the processing content is different according to the device.
As discussed above, conventionally, CRT monitors must be selected according to the scanning method. Accordingly, it is expected in the future that a device having only a unique portion will be sold separately from a data processing apparatus for performing the common processing and the variable processing. However, it would be inconvenient if a different data processing apparatus is required for each device.

Data processing apparatus and data processing method that generates a final class code


A pocketknife has a handle, a blade, a lock assembly and a pivot pin assembly. The handle has a lower cover, an upper cover, a block and a blade lock. The blade is mounted pivotally in the handle and has a curved guide. The lock assembly is mounted in the handle and has a safety lock and a latch. The safety lock is attached to the blade and has a latch guide. The latch is mounted in the handle and has a resilient latch tab. The latch tab corresponds to the curved guide on the blade and engages the latch guide on the safety lock when the blade is closed in the handle. The pivot pin assembly is mounted through the handle, the blade and the safety lock. The lock assembly keeps the closed blade from being opened unintentionally by external impact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knife, and more particularly to a pocketknife with a lock assembly that securely holds a blade when the blade is enclosed in a handle.
2. Description of Related Art
Pocketknives are generally used to cut or pare articles and are compact for carriage.
A conventional pocketknife has a hollow handle, a blade and a spring. The blade is mounted pivotally in the handle. The spring is connected between the blade and the handle. The blade in the handle can be pivoted manually out of the handle and the spring supplies a resilient force to spring the blade out. However, the blade with the resilient force may spring out with an inadvertently external impact and hurt a person carrying such a knife.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a pocketknife with a lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problem.


A technique includes receiving an indication of a thermal event in a processor. The processor is part of a computer system. In response to the indication, the processor is powered down, and subsequent to the powering down of the processor, other components of the computer are powered down.

The invention generally relates to powering down a computer in response to a thermal event, such as a thermal event that occurs in a central processing unit, for example.
A central processing unit (CPU) of a computer typically includes a temperature sensor for purposes of detecting when the internal temperature of the CPU reaches a level that may damage the CPU, an occurrence called a thermal event. When this thermal event arises, the CPU stops executing instructions and asserts a signal called a thermal trip signal on one of its external terminals to indicate the event. In response to the assertion of the thermal trip signal, the motherboard power supply transitions through a power down sequence to remove power from all power consuming components of the computer, including the CPU.
A conventional way to power down, or turn off, the computer is to introduce a predetermined delay of several seconds. This delay may be the same delay that is experienced when the on/off power switch to the computer is depressed to turn off the computer, i.e., the computer does not turn off until the power switch has been depressed to its off position for the predetermined delay. However, due to the delay in powering down the computer, the CPU may be damaged before power to the CPU is removed.
Thus, there is a continuing need for an arrangement that addresses one or more of the problems that are stated above.

Powering down a computer in response to a thermal event


Disclosed is a composition of volatile and less-volatile pheromone components that can be used alone or in combination with other compounds to attract and/or arrest bed bugs of both sexes and all developmental stages. This blend can be used to bait traps that are effective in capturing bed bugs in infested premises or can be combined with a pesticide that is lethal to bed bugs.

For many years, from the end of World War II until the final decade of the 20th century, much of the world was free from infestation by the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Heteroptera: Cimicidae). This is attributed to modern hygienic measures and the widespread use of DDT and other persistent insecticides (Potter 2012). However, in the last two decades there has been a world-wide resurgence, with bed bugs becoming common urban pests (Boase 2001; Myles et al. 2003; Jones 2004), and sometimes causing debilitating skin irritation and lesions (Ter Porten et al. 2005). This resurgence has renewed interest in detecting, monitoring and controlling bed bug infestations, particularly the development of effective compounds, compositions and methods for attracting and/or arresting bed bugs.

Compounds, compositions and methods for attracting and/or arresting bed bugs


An improved apparatus for delivering energy to two field applicators includes a power divider electrically coupled to a planar transmission line connecting the two field applicators. The power divider receives an input microwave signal and delivers a first power signal to an applicator along a first leg of the line, and delivers a second power signal to the other applicator along a second leg of the line. The power divider is coupled to the transmission line at a point which is remote from the applicators such that the power signals will encounter substantially identical discontinuities as the signals are coupled into their respective applicators.

In conventional electrodeless lamp assemblies, energy is projected into the lamp structure from two field shaping devices, or applicators, which are oriented to face one another so as to define a gap therebetween that accommodates the lamp. The applicators establish a sufficient electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the lamp to initiate and sustain a discharge in the lamp. The applicators are each attached to phased feed points corresponding to respective ends of a planar transmission line.
Current efforts for improving upon the aforementioned lamp assemblies have sought to develop field applicators for optimally and efficiently coupling energy into the lamps. A lamp assembly illustrative of the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,277, herein incorporated by reference. This assembly uses slow wave applicators made from helical coils which compress the electromagnetic wavelength inside the helix. Further examples of applicator structures for projecting energy into the lamp are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,352 (single-ended excitation), U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,162 (double-ended excitation), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,612 (loop applicator).
In each of the above prior art assemblies, the applicators are electrically coupled to one another by planar transmission lines characterized by bends and other discontinuities which affect the propagation of the signal. In particular, the discontinuities are non-identical at the two phased feed points where energy is coupled by the applicators into the lamp structure. Consequently, prior art lamp assemblies exhibit an imbalance in power fed into the applicators, and therefore an imbalance of power deposited into the lamp. Disadvantageously, this power imbalance may affect lamp performance and the temperature distribution inside the lamp.

Apparatus for coupling energy to electrodeless lamp applicators


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide timing advance (TA) obtaining methods and apparatuses. One example method includes generating, by a base station, an indication message and sending the indication message to UE, and receiving, by the UE, the indication message sent by the base station. The UE can then obtain a TA of a second carrier based on the indication message, where the second carrier is a carrier not used to transmit a PUSCH. Although the second carrier is a carrier not used to transmit a PUSCH, the TA of the second carrier can still be obtained.

A Long Term Evolution-Advanced (Long Term Evolution-Advanced, LTE-A for short) system is an evolved Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE for short) system, and aims to satisfy higher requirements and more applications of a wireless communication market and satisfy requirements of International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced, IMT-Advanced for short). A carrier aggregation (Carrier Aggregation, CA for short) technology is used in LTE-A to improve a data transmission rate. Specifically, a base station supporting carrier aggregation may aggregate a plurality of carriers (Component Carrier, CC for short) to provide a service to user equipment (User Equipment, UE for short). In this way, the UE can send data and/or receive data by simultaneously using a plurality of CCs, thereby improving a data transmission rate. In addition, in the LTE-A system, to ensure orthogonality between uplink signals of UEs, it needs to be ensured that clocks of the uplink signals sent by the UEs are consistent at a receive end of a base station side. Therefore, before sending an uplink signal by using a CC, UE needs to obtain a TA based on which the UE sends the uplink signal on the CC. In this way, the UE may send the uplink signal on the CC based on the TA of the CC, to avoid a problem that a clock of an uplink signal is inconsistent at the receive end of the base station side because of a transmission delay of the uplink signal in a sending process. For example, the UE sends a sounding reference signal (sounding reference signal, SRS for short) on the CC based on the TA of the CC. In this way, the base station can listen and obtain the SRS within a preset time.
In the prior art, UE performs random access to obtain a TA based on which the UE sends an uplink signal on a CC. For example, the UE obtains a physical random access channel (Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH for short) configuration message of the CC. The PRACH configuration message includes information about a preamble, information about the CC used to send the preamble, and a time at which the preamble is sent. Then, the UE sends the preamble to a base station at a specified time based on the PRACH configuration message by using the CC, to perform random access. After receiving the preamble sent by the UE, the base station replies to the UE with a random access response (Random Access Response, RAR for short). The RAR includes TA information of the CC. In this way, the UE may send the uplink signal on the CC based on the TA of the CC, to ensure that a clock of the uplink signal sent by the UE by using the CC is consistent at a receive end of a base station side.
However, if a CC corresponding to the UE is a CC not used to transmit a PUSCH, that is, random access cannot be performed on the CC, a TA based on which the UE sends an uplink signal on the CC cannot be obtained by using the prior art. As a result, when carrier switching is supported, that is, the CC can be used to transmit uplink data after carrier switching, the UE still cannot transmit uplink data by using the CC.


In order to increase energy efficiency in an industrial furnace (1) operated by heating gas and protective gas for thermally treating materials, a first burner (3.1) is actuated for heating with priority over a second burner (3.2), the second burner (3.2) is engaged additionally and operated when the output from the first burner (3.1) falls below the level necessary to heat the industrial furnace (1) up to a temperature setpoint, and the second burner (3.2) is switched off when the temperature setpoint has been reached.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an industrial furnace for using a residual protective gas as a heating gas, primarily for use in an industrial furnace such as a multichamber furnace or a pusher type furnace, which comprises a high-temperature furnace and an upstream preheating furnace. The method according to the invention may be applied to any processes and industrial furnaces where materials undergo thermal treatment using a heating gas and a protective gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
As described for example in DE 10 2008 020 449 A1, industrial furnaces have been designed in such manner that a fundamentally energy-efficient operating arrangement can be established. However, the known arrangements have been limited to the requirement that insulating covers are provided that at least partially surround the housings and are separated from the housing wall, and that convection cavities can be created between the housing wall and the insulating cover.
It would be desirable to improve energy usage efficiency of industrial heat treating furnaces by using gases such as the protective gases from the outset.
From a technical functional perspective, the endogas used in industrial heat treating furnaces may be defined as a gas mixture that is created in a generator and is used as a protective gas before an oxidation process. Such furnaces are referred to as atmosphere furnaces in contrast to "air" or "vacuum furnaces."
In industrial atmosphere furnaces, a gas mixture that protects the component that is to undergo thermal treatment from undesirable chemical reactions may be used as a protective gas. Thus for example nitrogen is used as a protective gas to protect against oxidation and carburisation as well as decarburisation.
An endogas can serve as a protective gas from oxidation because carbon is given off. Endogas is therefore not a carbon carrier gas that is used for carburising components.
For the purposes of the invention, the residual protective gas does also include that which is referred to as endogas, a term which is commonly used in technical circles but is of limited practical application, but the invention is not limited solely to residual endogas.
Regarding industrial furnaces that work with protective gas, the technical community has already directed substantial efforts towards reducing pollutant emission values, as has been described in EP 0 282 715 for example.
But beyond this, it is also important to use the energy contained in the gases that are not consumed in the process.
In this context, processes for using the energy content in furnace flue gases that escape from industrial furnace installations are noteworthy:
According to DE 34 32 952C2 the stated object is to suggest a way in which the burners that burn fuel gases in the vicinity of the furnace openings while the furnace is being opened may be operated simply and economically. According to the invention, the furnace flue gas in this region should be cooled, compressed and stored, and then at least some of it should be forwarded as fuel gas to one or more burners in the area of the furnace openings. A suitable device for this purpose is suggested in the reference.
When flue gas is used as the fuel, the heat shields may be formed without relying on petroproducts at all.
A further improved and known method for using the energy content of furnace flue gases that escape from industrial furnace installations is described in DE 197 20 620 A1 and provides for collecting at least a portion of such gases and re-using them for heating, possibly with the admixture of an additional heating medium.
A variation of the known method consists of drawing the furnace flue gas off from at least one major escape point from the furnace and feeding it to one or more standard radiant heater tubes in the furnace with the aid of a blower while mixing another fuel substance with it, if necessary.
In this case, the flue gases may be supplied under additional pressure or even through the intake of a burn.
In industrial furnace installations that are known as being species-related, including those that comprise multiple chambers or treatment chambers, such as are also found in pusher furnace systems for example, process steps known to the Applicant are carried out as follows depending on the process gases used:
a) Gas Ignition and Burner Ignition in a Pusher Furnace                In the present case, natural gas is supplied in an assigned preheater furnace via a ring main of a high-temperature furnace, in which initially the gas supply is triggered. Then, an automatic start routine is performed in a controller, during which a leak test of the ring main is carried out.
b) Gas Ignition and Burner Ignition in the Preheater Furnace                As in step a), here too the automatic start routine is run in the controller. If "open burners" are used here, the industrial furnace must first be brought into a safe basic state. To do this, first the furnace doors are closed and the industrial furnace is purged for example with a volume of air equal to five times the volume of the furnace through air lines of the associated burners. Then a leak test is performed on the heating gas and the natural gas lines using a leak test unit. The furnace doors are opened again before the burner is ignited. This burner and a pilot burner are then ignited. When a stable burner flame is reported, for example by ionisation monitors, the furnace doors are closed again and the preheater furnace is heated up to its operating temperature by the burner (functioning as a heating burner), and the pilot burner stays alight until the preheater furnace is switched off again.
c) Gas Feed to the Pusher Furnace                When the temperature has risen above at least 750° C. for example, protective gas can be fed into the pusher furnace. Depending on the feed system, a protective atmosphere such as "endogas" or nitrogen/methanol is fed into the system as the carrier gas. The gas feed to the pusher furnace is properly completed when an overpressure set via a combustion excess pressure flap is reached and a target carbon level has also been established inside the furnace.
An analysis of these process steps showed that because of the need to burn off the escaping flue gases the use of this endogas and protective gas combustion to increase the energy efficiency of an industrial furnace is in need of improvement.

Method and industrial furnace for using a residual protective gas as a heating gas


Swimmer's downkick causes a swim fin to be incurved transversely thereof to generate a powerful propulsive force. The swim fin 1 comprises a foot pocket 2 and a propulsion blade 3 which is, in turn, provided at the transverse middle and between this transverse middle and respective side rails 6, 6 with a groove 15 and grooves 16, 16, respectively, wherein each of these grooves 15, 16, 16 is curved convexly from the topside toward the underside of the propulsion blade 3 and extends from a forward end of the propulsion blade 3 toward the foot pocket 2. The swim fin 1 is integrally molded from a hard type elastic material 40 and a soft type elastic material 30, wherein opposite side edges 10, 10 of the propulsion blade 3 are formed from the hard type elastic material 40 and a zone defined between these side edges 10, 10 is formed from the soft type elastic material 30.

The present invention relates to swim fins.
With swim fins conventionally used to obtain the thrust required for swimming, the level of the propulsive force to be obtained largely depends on their particular configurations. Various configurations of swim fins have already been proposed and, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1976-35999 discloses a swim fin having a propulsion blade which comprises a curved main portion, auxiliary blade portions and opposite side rails so that a large water-contact area may allow a large amount of water to be caught by the propulsion blade and a powerful propulsive force may be obtained by thrusting such amount of water rearward. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Disclosure Gazette No. 1990-7672 discloses a swim fin having a propulsion blade which is made of relatively hard material and provided along opposite side edges of the blade with slits, respectively, wherein these slits are filled with relatively soft material so that a middle portion of the blade defined between the slits may be easily bent in the vertical direction around its root portion and both up- and downkick of a swimmer may produce a desired propulsive force.
For many swim fin designers including those of the above-mentioned well known swim fins, obviously it has been one of the most essential interests to catch an amount of water as large as possible and thereby to thrust this amount of water rearward as powerfully as possible.


A bipolar radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit having a functional equivalent of a PIN diode. The RF integrated circuit includes a low frequency lateral PNP transistor having an emitter having a P+ region, a collector having a P+ region, a base having an N+ region and an N region having a current dependent stored charge having a relatively low level when no current is flowing between the emitter and a junction connecting the base and collector. An RF resistance between the emitter and the junction is controlled by a bias applied from the emitter to the junction. By varying the bias, the low frequency lateral PNP transistor from the emitter to the junction is used as a variable RF resistor or as an RF signal carrying component in a variable attenuator or RF switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to bipolar radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits having high frequency vertical NPN transistors and low frequency lateral PNP transistors and more particularly to an RF integrated circuit using a lateral PNP transistor as a variable resistor or as an RF signal carrying component in a variable attenuator or RF switch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Discrete radio frequency (RF) circuits commonly use PIN diodes as variable resistors for signal path switching and controlled signal attenuation. A PIN diode, illustrated in FIG. 1b, has a P+ region having a high density of positive carriers, an N+ region having a high density of negative carriers, and an I region of intrinsic material having a low intrinsic carrier density disposed between the P+ and N+ regions. An electrical charge is stored in the I-region that is proportional the volume of the I-region and the carrier density. The separation of the N+ and P+ regions by the I region causes the PIN diode to have a favorable characteristic for RF circuits of having a relatively low capacitance. In operation an external bias voltage and current is applied to the PIN diode through electrical connections to the P+ and N+ regions. When a positive voltage (forward bias) is applied, a forward bias current having an exponential relationship to the voltage passes through the I region. The stored charge due to the carriers in the I-region is proportional to this bias current. Importantly, the PIN diode has an effective RF resistance that decreases as the stored charge increases, with the result that the PIN diode becomes a variable RF resistor having a resistance that depends upon the forward bias current. Typically, a relatively low bias current of a few milliamps is required to store enough charge to reach an RF resistance of a few ohms. For frequencies higher than a few tens of megahertz, a relatively large RF signal applied across the forward biased PIN diode does not significantly add or subtract to the stored charge in the I region at the peaks of the signal, and therefore distortion of the RF signal is low. When a negative voltage potential (reverse bias) is applied from the P+ region to the N+ region a very small reverse current passes through the I region causing the PIN diode to have a high RF resistance.
Existing silicon bipolar RF integrated circuits use a set of standard components that are characterized for the processes of designing and manufacturing the integrated circuit. These components typically include fixed resistors, capacitors, PN diodes, high frequency NPN transistors that are diffused vertically into a certain area of a silicon substrate, and low frequency PNP transistors using separate horizontally spaced (lateral) diffused areas of the substrate. The lateral PNP transistors have a much lower frequency response than the NPN transistors so they are not generally used as RF signal carrying components in RF circuits within the integrated circuit but are nevertheless included for convenience in designing low frequency circuitry. A great deal of engineering and testing goes into characterizing the standard components and designing the manufacturing and design processes so that the components are as predictable as possible. It should be appreciated that deviating from the set of standard components is prohibitively expensive in both design and manufacturing and may yield unpredictable results. Therefore when cost is any consideration, it is important for the RF engineer to adapt his custom design to the standard components rather than vice versa. Because PIN diodes are not included in the set of standard components, RF engineers have used PN diodes as variable resistance elements in RF integrated circuits. However, as compared to a PIN diode a PN diode, illustrated in FIG. 1a, exhibits less desirable characteristics of having greater distortion and a higher capacitance and of requiring a greater bias current for operation.
There is a need for an RF integrated circuit having a variable RF resistor having a low capacitance, low distortion, and low operating current using the set of standard components that are characterized for the processes of designing and manufacturing the integrated circuit.

Integrated circuit having a variable RF resistor


Embodiments of the present invention provide frame type detection and frame size detection methods and apparatuses for a video stream. The video frame type detection method includes: obtaining a size of a current video frame; obtaining a change feature value of the current video frame; obtaining an I-frame threshold of the current video frame; and determining whether the previous first video frame is an I frame according to the change feature value of the current video frame and a change feature value of the previous first video frame, the I-frame threshold of the current video frame, and the size of the current video frame, the size of the previous first video frame, and a size of a previous second video frame. The present invention provides a complete and effective frame type detection method; in addition, impact of a video frame rate is fully considered.

With the rapid development of network media, services such as video on demand, web TV, and video telephone have already become major services of broadband networks and wireless networks, which require an operator to monitor the quality of service of transmitted videos and take timely corresponding measures to perform adjustment to ensure experience demands on media services of a user. Network video quality assessment is an essential technology in network video applications.
According to how much an original reference video is needed, an objective video quality assessment method usually may be classified into three types: full reference, partial reference, and zero reference objective video quality assessments. Due to the limit of channel bandwidth, a video receiving end is usually not able to obtain a desired original reference video sequence, and therefore it is necessary to use the zero reference video quality assessment method to assess a video stream transmitted in a network.
In an existing zero reference video quality assessment method based on a frame type parameter, a type of a video frame needs to be detected first. However, a complete and effective frame type detection method is not available in the prior art.
Furthermore, an existing frame size detection method is only applicable to a frame without no packet loss, and an effective solution of detecting a size of a frame with a packet loss is not available.

Frame type detection and frame size detection methods and apparatuses for video stream


The present invention is embodied in a system and method for efficiently and efficiently performing automated vision tracking, such as tracking human head movement and facial movement. The system and method of the present invention fuses results of multiple sensing modalities to achieve robust digital vision tracking The system and method effectively fuses together the results of multiple vision processing modalities for performing tracking tasks in order to achieve robust vision tracking. The approach integrates reports from several distinct vision processing procedures in a probabilistically coherent manner by performing inferences about the location and/or motion of objects that considers both the individual reports about targets provided by visual processing modalities, as well as inferences about the context-sensitive accuracies of the reports. The context-sensitive accuracies are inferred by observing evidence with relevance to the reliabilities of the different methods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for tracking objects, and in particular, to a system and method for fusing results of multiple sensing modalities for efficiently performing automated vision tracking, such as tracking human head movement and facial movement.
2. Related Art
Applications of real-time vision-based object detection and tracking is becoming increasingly important for providing new classes of services to users based on an assessment of the presence, position, and trajectory of objects. Research on computer-based motion analysis of digital video scenes centers on the goal of detecting and tracking objects of interest, typically via the analysis of the content of a sequence of images. Plural objects define each image and are typically nebulous collections of pixels, which satisfy some property. Each object can occupy a region or regions within each image and can change their relative locations throughout subsequent images and the video scene. These objects are considered moving objects, which form motion within a video scene.
Facial objects of a human head, such as mouth, eyes, nose, etc., can be types of moving objects within a video scene. It is very desirable to automatically track movement of these facial objects because successful digital motion analysis of facial movement has numerous applications in real world environments. For example, one application includes facial expression analysis for automatically converting facial expressions into computer readable input for performing computer operations and for making decisions based on human emotions derived from the facial expressions. Another application is for digital speech recognition and xe2x80x9clip readingxe2x80x9d for automatically recognizing human speech without requiring human vocal input or for receiving the speech as computer instructions. Another application is the visual identification of the nature of the ongoing activity of one or more individuals so as to provide context-sensitive assistance and communications.
However, current real-time tracking systems or visual processing modalities are often confused by waving hands or changing illumination, and systems that track only faces do not run at realistic camera frame rates or do not succeed in real-world environments. Also, visual processing modalities may work well in certain situations but fail dramatically in others, depending on the nature of the scene being processed. Current visual modalities, used singularly, are not consistent enough to detect all heads and discriminating enough to detect heads robustly. Color, for example, changes with shifts in illumination, and people move in different ways. In contrast, xe2x80x9cskin colorxe2x80x9d is not restricted to skin, nor are people the only moving objects in the scene being analyzed.
As such, in the past a variety of techniques have been investigated to unify the results of sets of sensors. One previous technique used variations of a probabilistic data association filter to combine color and edge data for tracking a variety of objects. Another previous technique used priors from color data to bias estimation based on edge data within their framework. Recent techniques have attempted to perform real-time head tracking by combining multiple visual cues. For example, one technique uses edge and color data. Head position estimates are made by comparing match scores based on image gradients and color histograms. The estimate from the more reliable modality is returned. Another technique heuristically integrates color data, range data, and frontal face detection for tracking.
Nevertheless, these systems and techniques are not sufficiently efficient, nor systematically trained, to operate satisfactorily in real world environments. Therefore, what is needed is a technique for fusing the results of multiple vision processing modalities for robustly and efficiently tracking objects of video scenes, such as human head movement and facial movement. What is also needed is a system and method that utilizes Bayesian networks to effectively capture probabilistic dependencies between a true state of the object being tracked and evidence obtained from tracking modalities by incorporating evidence of reliability and integrating different sensing modalities. Whatever the merits of the above mentioned systems and methods, they do not achieve the benefits of the present invention.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention is embodied in a system and method for efficiently performing automated vision tracking, such as tracking human head movement and facial movement. The system and method of the present invention fuses results of multiple sensing modalities to achieve robust digital vision tracking.
As a general characterization of the approach, context-sensitive accuracies are inferred for fusing the results of multiple vision processing modalities for performing tracking tasks in order to achieve robust vision tracking. This is accomplished by fusing together reports from several distinct vision processing procedures. Beyond the reports, information with relevance to the accuracy of the reports of each modality is reported by the vision processing modalities.
Specifically, Bayesian modality-accuracy models are built and the reports from multiple vision processing modalities are fused together with appropriate weighting. Evidence about the operating context of the distinct modalities is considered and the accuracy of different modalities is inferred from sets of evidence with relevance to identifying the operating regime in which a modality is operating. In other words, observations of evidence about features in the data being analyzed by the modalities, such as a vision scene, are considered in inferring the reliability of a methods report. The reliabilities are used in the Bayesian integration of multiple reports. The model (a Bayesian network) can be built manually with expertise or trained offline from data collected from a non-vision-based sensor that reports an accurate measure of object position. In addition, the dependencies considered in a model can be restructured with Bayesian learning methods that identify new dependencies.
The foregoing and still further features and advantages of the present invention as well as a more complete understanding thereof will be made apparent from a study of the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

System and method for tracking objects by fusing results of multiple sensing modalities


In a dynamoelectric machine stator core assembly wherein adjacent packages of stacked laminations are separated by a plurality of radially extending spacer blocks, and wherein each adjacent pair of spacer blocks define in cooperation with adjacent axially spaced laminations, a cooling duct, the improvement comprising a plurality of turbulator elements in each cooling duct, each turbulator element extending into the duct from one of the adjacent axially spaced laminations.

As is commonly understood by those practiced in the art of electrical generator design, the capacity of current machines for power generation is constrained by physical size, which is to be minimized in order to also minimize cost. Designers are further cognizant of size and weight limitations imposed by domestic and foreign ground transportation systems.
It is also commonly understood that magnetic and resistive losses within the stator generate heat which must be dissipated in order to avoid electro-mechanical failure, and that these losses pose a serious constraint on the capacity of a machine of given physical dimension. The high thermal capacity and thermal conductivity of gaseous hydrogen have been successfully exploited in the past by manufacturers seeking to satisfy customer's needs for increased capacity, within the constraints of physical shipping envelope and thermal loading. For those customers who are unwilling to suffer the additional cost and complexity of hydrogen cooling, manufacturers must devise the means to manage increases in thermal loading that accompany their efforts to coax additional capacity from machines of a given physical dimension.
The current state of the art is typified by a radial duct formed by separating stator core laminations by radially arranged inside spacer blocks, as shown in FIG. 1 and as described further below. Gaseous fluid flow is encouraged to progress in a radially-inward direction from a plenum area posterior to the stator core to the rotor/stator air gap (a radially-outward flow direction is also possible). These radial ducts are arranged in what is known as packages; a package being comprised of several steel laminations (seventy, in one example) stacked one atop the other. The packages are separated by the radially oriented inside spacer blocks, which, along with adjacent laminations of adjacent packages, define the radial ventilation ducts.
The fluid flow within the core lamination packages removes ohmic losses and magnetic losses by convective heat transfer. Those practitioners possessing ordinary levels of skill in the art will recognize this configuration as common, and will additionally recognize this flow to be turbulent in the fluid-dynamic sense in the tooth (radially inner) region of the duct. The inventors are also not aware of any previous effort to augment heat transfer in the stator core duct by means of a turbulence-enhancing or surface-area-enhancing devices. The inventors are not aware of any other application of turbulators to the stators of turboalternators; although the use of turbulators to increase the cooling rates within the interior flow passages of aircraft jet engine turbine blades is known.

Direct-cooled dynamoelectric machine stator core with enhanced heat transfer capability


Methods and apparatus for managing models for classification of online users are disclosed. An example method includes determining a segment associated with a received impression, determining whether the received impression includes an indication that the received impression is the result of a conversion associated with the segment, determining a current ratio of converted to non-converted impressions associated with a classification model associated with the segment, determining a difference between the current ratio and a target ratio, and storing an indication of the received impression for use in at least one of training or updating a classification model associated with the segment when: (a) the difference does not meet a threshold or (b) counting the received impression in the ratio would reduce the difference.

Advertisement targeting and data collection techniques provide advertisers and other marketing organizations with market segment data related to advertising viewers, including, for example, computer users who view advertising on the World Wide Web (Web) or Internet. For advertising viewers such as Internet users, the available information related to each user depends, for example, on his or her historical Web behavior and, for example, on his or her origin environment, such as the user's computing platform, service provider, country, time of day, etc. A "market segment" or "segment" is a subset, or partial portion of a group that can be characterized in some way. A segment object is a data object describing such a group. For example, users who have/might have an interest in luxury cars may belong to the "luxury cars" segment for which data is stored in a "luxury cars" segment object.
Advertisers and other marketing organizations may create segment definitions to define groups of potential marketing targets (e.g., users) and direct advertising to those groups, such as groups of users on the Internet. "Data publishers" (or "data sellers") may sell or otherwise distribute information concerning targets or people, such as Internet users, and their behaviors. Advertisers and other marketing organizations (or any other type of entity) may use information about targets of a segment to create, for example, behavioral segment definitions. For example, an Internet user may access a Web site of a data publisher, such as a bicycling interest Web site and be identified as a user "interested in bicycling." Other attributes, such as time and location of the person's access, may also be identified. Data publishers may sell the identifying information about users who access their sites and receive income from sales based on this information's use.
User identification (ID) data from data publishers can be used to create segment definitions. In general, segment definitions may be characterized by specific values for available properties. For example, segment definitions might exist for categories such as "Gender", "Age" and "Nationality." A segment combination might be defined with three properties as, "Male, 35-40, European." Once identified (e.g., from information from a data publisher (data seller)), a user who fits the characteristics of "Male, 35-40, European" can be grouped into and/or associated with this segment combination. An advertisement can be exposed to (or placed) with users identified with the segment combination, and data can be collected to determine how the users identified with that segment respond. For example, behavioral segment definitions for "Shopping Interest", "Running Interest" and "Web surfing interest" can be defined and behavioral attributes, such as "likes to shop", "intensely likes running" or "Web surfs in the evening" can also be included in segment combinations. Segment combinations can have attributes that are purely behavioral, purely non-behavioral or a mixture of behavioral and non-behavioral.
The efficiency of a given advertisement depends on the match between the content of the advertisement (advertising content) and the market segment to which the content is exposed. For example, a numeric "conversion ratio" value may describe the efficiency or "success" relationship between advertising content and target segment. A high conversion ratio value can show, for example, by various measures or various methods of determining or collecting such data, that a given advertisement or advertising campaign (group of advertisements) is well received by a given target segment.
It is perceived within the advertising and marketing industries that, in general, better and more accurate segment targeting capabilities could improve conversion ratios. High conversion ratios for advertisements, on the Internet and in other advertising venues, such as, e.g., print, outdoor, direct are desirable. Identification, for example, of a large user group with a high response rate to advertising and with members who respond in stable and predictable manners over time is desirable.
Within Internet marketing, serving systems for organizations executing advertisement placement in advertising campaigns may execute "media optimization" when placing an advertisement on a particular Web site or with a particular media publisher. Media optimization may include analyzing parameters in segment combinations to identify values for each parameter that may yield the "best results" for each advertisement the serving system runs. A serving system may be a networked computing system that enables an operator to place advertisements on particular Web pages. Serving systems place advertisements on behalf of an advertiser or advertising agency, and can be operated by a number of entities such as an independent operator working with an advertiser or advertising agency.


A method of fabricating a passivation layer and a passivation layer for an electronic device. The passivation layer includes at least one passivation film layer and at least one nanoparticle layer. A first film layer is formed of an insulating matrix, such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and a first layer of a noble metal nanoparticle layer, such as a platinum nanoparticle layer, is deposited on the first film layer. Additional layers are formed of alternating film layers and nanoparticle layers. The resulting passivation layer provides a thin and robust passivation layer of high film quality to protect electronic devices, components, and systems from the disruptive environmental conditions.

The production of integrated circuits includes the formation of passivation layers which provide electrical stability by isolating certain features of the integrated circuits from undesirable electrical and chemical conditions. In general, a passivation layer is formed of silicon mononitride (SiN) or silicon carbide (SiC) as a thick film. These types of passivation layers, however, are only sufficient to act as barrier against certain environmental conditions. In the face of other environmental conditions, these types of passivation layers are not sufficiently robust to prevent the environmental conditions from affecting the integrated circuit. Consequently, thick films are not always a possible alternative when manufacturing certain types of integrated circuits.
In addition, the use of these types of passivation layers can influence the operation of the integrated circuit. For instance, the operation of a sensor fabricated as an integrated circuit is influenced. In addition, the described materials, SiN and SiC are only suitable, if the passivating film is of high quality. To achieve a high quality film, high deposition temperatures greater than five-hundred (500) degrees Celsius (C) are required. These temperatures are often not compatible with the device or circuit requiring protection.
Consequently, there is a need for a passivation layer for use in the fabrication of integrated circuits, electrical devices and components including micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Passivation layer for harsh environments and methods of fabrication thereof


A semiconductor device includes a plurality of pillars formed from a conductive material. The pillars are formed by using a plurality of nanocrystals as a hardmask for patterning the conductive material. A thickness of the conductive material determines the height of the pillars. Likewise, a width of the pillar is determined by the diameter of a nanocrystal. In one embodiment, the pillars are formed from polysilicon and function as the charge storage region of a non-volatile memory cell having good charge retention and low voltage operation. In another embodiment, the pillars are formed from a metal and function as a plate electrode for a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor having an increased capacitance without increasing the surface area of an integrated circuit.

Electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) structures are commonly used in integrated circuits for non-volatile data storage. An EEPROM device structure commonly includes a floating gate for storing charge. Charge can be forced into the floating gate structure or removed from the floating gate structure using control voltages. The conductivity of the channel underlying the floating gate is altered by the presence of charges stored in the floating gate. The conductivity difference is represented by a shift in the threshold voltage (VT) associated with the device in the two different states. The difference in conductivity due to a charged or uncharged floating gate can be sensed, thus allowing binary memory states to be determined.
In many prior art non-volatile memory devices, the floating gate is formed from a uniform layer of material such as polysilicon. In such prior art device structures, a thin tunnel dielectric layer beneath the floating gate presents the problem of charge leakage from the floating gate to the underlying channel through defects in the thin tunnel dielectric layer. Such charge leakage can lead to degradation of the memory state stored within the device and is therefore undesirable. In order to avoid such charge leakage, the thickness of tunnel dielectric is often increased. However, a thicker tunnel dielectric requires higher programming and erasing voltages for storing and removing charge from the floating gate as the charge carriers must pass through the thicker tunnel dielectric. In many cases, higher programming voltages increase power consumption and may require the implementation of charge pumps in order to increase the supply voltage to meet programming voltage requirements. Such charge pumps consume a significant amount of die area for the integrated circuit and therefore reduce the memory array area efficiency and increase overall costs.
Because of the above described problems, other materials are being developed to substitute for the typical floating gate charge storage regions. In order to reduce the required thickness of the tunnel dielectric and improve the area efficiency of the memory structures by reducing the need for charge pumps, the uniform layer of material used for the floating gate may be replaced with a plurality of nanoclusters, which operate as isolated charge storage elements. Such nanoclusters are also often referred to as nanocrystals, as they may be formed of silicon crystals. In combination, the plurality of nanoclusters provide adequate charge storage capacity while remaining physically isolated from each other such that any leakage occurring with respect to a single nanocluster via a local underlying defect does not cause charge to be drained from other nanoclusters (by controlling average spacing between nanoclusters, it can be ensured that there is no lateral charge flow between nanoclusters in the floating gate). However, a charge storage layer formed from nanoclusters or nanocrystals will not store as much charge as a floating gate formed from polysilicon. Because the nanocrystals will not store as much charge, the voltage difference between programmed and erased states may be relatively small, leading to sensing and reliability problems.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an integrated circuit device that will store more charge than a nanocrystal memory device and yet provide low voltage program and erase operations.

Semiconductor device having nano-pillars and method therefor


A suspension system includes a front walking arm assembly on a skate with front and rear wheels. The front walking arm assembly is pivotally mounted on a transverse pivot axle located between the front and rear wheels of the assembly. A standard wheel plane is formed by the axles of the front and rear wheels when the skate is traversing a planar surface, and the walking arm assembly pivot axle is located below the standard wheel plane.

(Not applicable)
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to in-line skates, and more particularly to an improved suspension system for the wheels of in-line skates to permit movement over projections and depressions.
(2) Background Information
In-line skating has become a very popular sport and mode of travel for many people, and especially the xe2x80x9cyounger generation.xe2x80x9d While conventional roller skates and in-line skate have been known for many years, there has not been a large advancement in the features of such skates for some time.
One of the major problems encountered by the skater is the close encounter with objects in the skating path, such as sticks and stones. Even the smallest object can cause a serious problem to the skater, since the wheels on the conventional skate will not go over the object, but rather will encounter the object and stop turning. This, in turn, can result in the skater falling to the ground, especially if the contact with the object is unexpected.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved suspension system for skates.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved suspension system for skates, which will permit the skate wheels to rise up over and obstacle, or span a depression, without causing the skate wheels to stop at the obstacle, or drop into the depression.
A further object is to provide a skate with a suspension system that is simple in operation and economical to manufacture.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The suspension system of the present invention includes a front walking arm assembly on a skate with front and rear wheels. The front walking arm assembly is pivotally mounted on a transverse pivot axle located between the front and rear wheels of the assembly. A standard wheel plane is formed by the axles of the front and rear wheels when the skate is traversing a planar surface, and the walking arm assembly pivot axle is located below the standard wheel plane.


A catalyst for synthesizing aromatic hydrocarbons, a preparation method thereof and a method for synthesizing aromatic hydrocarbons by using the catalyst. The catalyst comprises acidic molecular sieve particles and zinc-aluminum composite oxide particles. The catalyst has relatively high selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons, particularly BTX, stable performance, and a long single-pass life.

Aromatic hydrocarbons, especially benzene, toluene and xylene, collectively known as BTX, are important organic chemical raw materials with a yield and scale second only to ethylene and propylene. The derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons are widely used in fine chemical products and chemical products such as fuels, petrochemicals, chemical fiber, plastic and rubber.
At present, aromatic hydrocarbons are mainly produced from petroleum, wherein 70% of BTX aromatic hydrocarbons in the world come from a catalytic reforming process unit of a refinery. The catalytic reforming technology is a process using naphtha as a raw material, in which semi-regeneration and continuous regeneration reforming are adopted. Catalytic reforming generally adopts a platinum-containing catalyst. Typical processes for catalytic reforming are represented by UOP's CCR platformer process and IFP's Aromizer process. In addition, the production process of aromatic hydrocarbons based on petroleum route comprises gasoline hydrogenation technology, aromatic hydrocarbons extraction technology, heavy aromatic hydrocarbons lightening technology, and light hydrocarbon aromatization technology.
With the continuous development of society, the demand for aromatic hydrocarbons in the world is increasing. However, the increasingly shortage of petroleum resources cause the prices of aromatic hydrocarbons, especially BTX, to remain high. In view of the current energy structure of China's "rich coal and lean oil", it is of great significance to vigorously develop a coal chemical route to produce aromatic hydrocarbons. In the technology for producing aromatic hydrocarbons in coal chemical industry, the study on the technology of Methanol to Aromatics (MTA) using the methanol produced from the coal chemical platform is the most extensive. The technology for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from methanol generally adopts acidic ZSM-5 molecular sieve catalyst modified by metal zinc, gallium, silver, etc. However, the rapid decrease in the selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons, the short life of catalyst, the low selectivity to BTX, and the significantly reduced performance of the catalyst after regeneration have constrained the large-scale industrial application of the technology for producing aromatic hydrocarbons from methanol. It is well known that industrial methanol is generally produced from syngas. If aromatic hydrocarbons are directly produced from syngas, the reaction path can be shortened, energy consumption can be saved, sewage discharge can be reduced, and fixed investment can be reduced. The study on the direct synthesis of aromatic hydrocarbons from syngas is less, the low selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons, the poor stability of the catalyst and the inability of the deactivated catalyst to regenerate have restricted the further development of this technology.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for a catalyst with a high selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons and stable performance.

Catalyst for synthesizing aromatic hydrocarbons and preparation method therefor

Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences


A method of forming a plurality of bumps over a wafer mainly comprises providing the wafer having a plurality of bonding pads formed thereon, forming an under bump metallurgy (UBM) layer over the bonding pads wherein the UBM layer includes an adhesive layer, for example a titanium (Ti) layer or an aluminum (Al) layer, and at least one electrically conductive layer formed on the adhesive layer, removing the portions of the electrically conductive layer located outside the bonding pads, forming a plurality of bumps over the residual portions of the electrically conductive layer disposed above the bonding pads, etching the adhesive layer located outside the bumps, and then reflowing the bumps.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a bumping process. More particularly, the present invention is related to a method for etching the adhesive layer made of a titanium layer or an aluminum layer of the UBM layer (Under Bump Metallurgy layer) through a sulfuric acid solution serving as an etchant.
2. Related Art
In this information explosion age, integrated circuit products are used almost everywhere in our daily life. As fabricating technique continue to improve, electronic products having powerful functions, personalized performance and a higher degree of complexity are produced. Nowadays, most electronic products are relatively light and have a compact body. Hence, in semiconductor production, various types of high-density semiconductor packages have been developed. Flip chip is one of the most commonly used techniques for forming an integrated circuit package. Moreover, compared with a wire-bonding package or a tape automated bonding (TAB) package, a flip-chip, package uses a shorter electrical path on average and has a better overall electrical performance. In a flip-chip package, the bonding pads on a die and the contacts on a substrate are connected together through a plurality of bumps formed by the method of bumping process. Accordingly, the technology of bumping process becomes more and more important in the advanced packaging fields.
Referring to FIG. 1A, it shows a flow chart illustrating the process flow of a conventional bumping process. The conventional bumping process mainly comprises the following steps. Firstly, a substrate is provided as shown in the step of S100. The substrate may be a silicon base or a wafer. Next, an under bump metallurgy layer is formed on the substrate as shown in the step of S102. Generally speaking, the under bump metallurgy is made of an adhesive layer, a barrier layer and a wetting layer. Then, the step S104 of patterning the barrier layer and the wetting layer is performed to define the locations for disposing bumps. Namely, a photo-resist is formed to cover the portions of the wetting layer and the barrier layer for disposing the bumps thereon and then the residual portions of the wetting layer and the barrier layer not covered by the photo-resist layer are removed to expose the adhesive layer. Afterwards, as shown in the step of S106, another photo-resist layer is provided to cover the exposed adhesive layer to expose the residual portions of the wetting layer, and the step of plating process is then performed to form solder bumps on the residual portions of the wetting layer. Next, as shown in the step of S108, the portions not covered by the solder bumps are removed. Finally, the solder bumps are reflowed (step of S110) to be fixed securely on the residual portions of the wetting layer and shaped into a ball-like shape.
Next, referring to FIG. 1B, it shows a flow chart illustrating the process flow of another conventional bumping process. This conventional bumping process mainly comprises the following steps. Firstly, a substrate is provided as shown in the step of S200. The substrate may be also a silicon base or a wafer. Next, an under bump metallurgy layer is formed on the substrate as shown in the step of S202. Generally speaking, the under bump metallurgy is made of an adhesive layer, a barrier layer and a wetting layer. Then, the step of S204 of forming bumps above the bonding pads of the substrate and on the portions of the wetting layer that are not covered by a patterned photo-resist layer is performed. Next, as shown in the step of S206, the bumps are served as masks so as to perform the removing process to remove the portions of the wetting layer and the barrier layer not covered by the bumps so as to expose the adhesive layer. Then, as shown in the step of S208, the portions of the adhesive layer not covered by the wetting layer and the barrier layer are removed. Finally, as shown in the step of S210, the bumps are reflowed to be fixed on the residual portions of the wetting layer and to be shaped into ball-like shape.
In the aforementioned conventional bumping processes, the under bump metallurgy layer applicable to the bumping process for the copper wafer mainly comprises a titanium layer, a nickel-vanadium layer and a copper layer. Therein, a hydrogen-fluorine solution (HF) is usually taken as an etchant for patterning the copper layer; a sulfuric acid solution (H2SO4) or a dilute phosphoric solution mainly comprising deionized water (DI water), phosphoric acid (CH3COOH), acetic acid (H3PO4) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), wherein the composition of said etchant can be refereed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,229, is taken as an etchant to define the nickel-vanadium layer. A hydrogen-fluorine solution is also usually taken as the etchant to define or pattern the titanium layer. However, the etchant (said hydrogen-fluorine solution) is very dangerous so that said hydrogen-fluorine solution is not able to be applicable to the bumping process.
Besides, the under bump metallurgy layer applicable to the bumping process for the aluminum wafer mainly comprises an aluminum layer, a nickel-vanadium layer and a copper layer. The etchant for patterning the aluminum layer comprises phosphoric acid, acetic acid and deionized water (DI). Therein, 83% of the etchant is phosphoric acid; 11% of the etchant is acetic acid; and 6% of the etchant is deionized water. However, the mentioned-above etchant is able to attack the bumps so as to make the volume of the bumps smaller and smaller. In such a manner, the precision of the volume of the bumps is not able to be well controlled. Accordingly, there are restrictions to take the hydrogen-fluorine solution and the phosphoric acid solution as etchants.
Moreover, in the conventional bumping process, when a portion of the photo-resist layer is left, the surface of the bumps will be contaminated. In addition, the etchant taken to remove the UBM layer will also contaminate the surface of the bumps.
Therefore, providing another method for forming bumps to solve the mentioned-above disadvantages is the most important task in this invention.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A system comprising: a broadcast radio receiving device configured to receive and provide broadcast audio-visual signals; and a fixed wireless terminal apparatus coupled to the broadcast radio receiving device, wherein the fixed wireless terminal apparatus manages and controls characteristics of the broadcast audio-visual signals.

In telecommunications, the final drop from the local telephone exchange to a subscriber's terminal or private exchange is known as the "local loop". Conventionally, this final drop includes a network of copper-pair lines, which are expensive to install and to maintain. In sparsely populated areas with low telephone penetration, this approach is impracticable. Wireless Local Loop (WLL) is a recent alternative to the copper-line network.
In WLL, a wireless system makes up all or part of the transmission path between the subscriber and the local exchange, and typically uses microwave, cordless or cellular technologies. Thus, the wireless system in WLL is particularly suitable for reducing the cost of the local loop in remote or rural areas. However, in contrast to mobile telecommunications, fixed wireless terminals are fixed and do not act as mobile terminals.
Typically, such a fixed wireless terminal (or WLL terminal) includes a transceiver including an RF section for receiving and transmitting RF signals and a baseband section for converting between RF and baseband signals for interfacing with a subscriber device; an interface for connecting the subscriber device to the fixed wireless terminal; a subscriber line interface circuit for providing network dependent characteristics such as the tones (e.g., ringing, dial, busy signal, etc.) which, in a fixed network, are conventionally provided by the local exchange; an external power supply; and an antenna. The subscriber device typically includes a telephone and/or a fax machine.
A broadcast radio receiving device, such as an AM/FM/TV radio or television set, typically includes an antenna and a receiver for receiving an AM/FM/TV or television signal. However, conventional broadcast radio receiving devices are configured to be manually tuned to receive the signal and manually adjusted to vary audio and/or video levels.

Integration of fixed wireless terminal with broadcast radio receiving devices


A semiconductor package comprises a land grid array substrate, a first VDMOSFET, a second VDMOSFET, and a molding encapsulation. The land grid array substrate comprises a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a third metal layer, a plurality of vias, and a resin. A series of drain pads at a bottom surface of the semiconductor package follow a “drain 1, drain 2, drain 1, and drain 2” pattern. A method for fabricating a semiconductor package. The method comprises the steps of providing a land grid array substrate; mounting a first VDMOSFET and a second VDMOSFET on the land grid array substrate; applying a wire bonding process; forming a molding encapsulation; and applying a singulation process.

In cell phone charging application a bidirectional semiconductor switch having a common source configuration is often controlled by an integrated circuit controller to provide over voltage protection. Conventional technology uses dual channel lateral double-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor transistor (LDMOS) structure to provide alternating drain contact pattern for external electrical connection. Although the conventional lateral device technology provides the convenience to integrate two LDMOS on a single chip, it takes large semiconductor area because the channel is form laterally. The present disclosure uses a first vertical double-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (VDMOSFET) chip, a second VDMOSFET chip, and a land grid array having three separated metal layers to achieve an alternating drain contacts pattern for external electrical connection. Since the channel of a vertical device is formed vertically, the combined semiconductor area of two chips could be reduced.
In the present disclosure, two N-channel VDMOSFET chips and a three-layer land grid array substrate are co-packed in a single package. The first layer is for die bonding purpose. The second layer is for drain traces routing purpose. The third layer is for external electrical connection purpose.

ALPHA AND OMEGA SEMICONDUCTOR (CAYMAN), LTD.


An interactive computer request processing system. In the preferred embodiment, the request processing system utilizes telephone and computer equipment to accept refill requests for patient prescriptions. The system receives information from a patient and performs prescription inquiries to a databank to determine patient information such as the status of prescriptions. The system remains operational whether or not interactive communications can be achieved with the databank. If communications are not available, the system stores the patient information. Therefore, the system always appears to the caller to be fully operational regardless of whether interactive communications are available. When communications are re-established, the databank and prescription inquiries are conducted, whereby the system validates or invalidates requests based on specified criteria. In a preferred embodiment, the system automatically attempts to notify a patient that the patient's request is invalid, thereby alerting the patient that the patient's prescription has not been filled.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an interactive computer request processing system. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of refilling patient prescriptions using telephone and computer equipment even if patient databank computer interactive communications are unavailable.
2. Background Art
Patients require health care services, such as prescription refills, from health care service provider organizations, such as pharmacies. These organizations often provide automated services to their patients to increase efficiency. Consequently, automated pharmacy technologies must be developed and advanced to provide such services. The resulting technology has become increasingly complex. Multiple layers of automated computer equipment are being placed between a patient and the health care provider's service. Therefore, multiple points of failure in such technology exist. Any point of failure can cause an automated system, such as an automated pharmacy prescription refill system, to be unavailable for use by a patient demanding the service if some component of the automated system has failed.
Existing automated pharmacy refill systems utilize an answering device to interact with a databank. The databank contains specific patient information including the status of prescriptions. A difficulty with such systems is that if the databank is unavailable to the answering device, the answering device is unable to perform prescription inquiries for the patient until such time as communication with the databank is re-established. If the patient databank computer's interactive communications are unavailable to the answering computer, the answering computer cannot perform prescription inquiries on demand for the patients since it requires interactive communication with the patient databank computer. Typically, when encountering this situation, callers are informed that services are unavailable. A caller must, therefore, end the call without being provided the needed service.

On-line pharmacy automated refill system


The temperature of the surface and/or inside of a substrate is measured by irradiating the front surface or rear surface of the substrate, whose temperature is to be measured, with light and measuring the interference of a reflected light from the substrate and a reference light. A method and apparatus for measuring temperature or thickness which is suitable for directly measuring the temperature of the outermost surface layer of a substrate, and an apparatus for treating a substrate for an electronic device, which uses such method, are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus capable of accurately measuring the temperature of the front surface, rear surface, and/or inside of a substrate. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus capable of accurately measuring the temperature of the front surface, rear surface, and/or inside of a substrate by using the interference phenomenon of low-coherence light and to an apparatus for treating substrates for devices which uses those method and apparatus.
The term "device" as used in the present specification means to include electronic and/or mechanical devices. Thus, in the present specifically, the term "device" is used in the meaning including electronic devices (semiconductor devices, liquid-crystal devices, organic EL devices, and the like) and very small devices such as the so-called micromachines.
2. Related Background Art
When a physical and/or chemical treatment is conducted on a variety of substrates, e.g., from silicon, accurately measuring the temperature of the front surface, rear surface, and/or inside of the substrate is very important from the standpoint of accurately controlling properties and physical characteristics of the product which is to be obtained by the treatment.
For example, in the field of fine processing based on lithographic technology in the field of semiconductor processes and micromachines where surface treatment methods are presently widely used, the treatment employing gas-phase reactions (for example, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which represent deposition processes, and etching, plasma treatment, and heat treatment such as annealing) are frequently used.
In the field of devices, including electronic devices, primarily semiconductor devices and liquid-crystal devices, which have to be produced by presently available semiconductor processes, and micromachines, the requirements placed on quality improvement of the electronic devices which are the resultant product created a demand for multilayer structures and quality improvement in each of thin films constituting the device. Usually, actual products obtained in those thin film formation processes are extremely frequently affected by temperature. For this reason, the importance of temperature control in the outermost surface layer of the substrate or multilayer structure, which is to be treated, increases and cannot be underestimated.
For example, in processes using plasma, the outermost surface layer of the substrate to be treated, is irradiated with heat from plasma. In this case, it is clear that there is a difference between the outermost surface layer and rear surface of the substrate. Measurement methods employing resistance thermometers or fluorescent thermometers measuring the temperature of the rear surface of the substrate have been employed as temperature measurement methods for measuring the temperature of the surfaces.
However, In the above-described conventional processes, it was very difficult to measure directly the temperature of the outermost surface layer of the substrate due to restrictions placed by the structure and operation principle of the apparatus.

Method and apparatus for measuring temperature of substrate


Films of III-nitride for semiconductor device growth are planarized using an etch-back method. The method includes coating a III-nitride surface having surface roughness features in the micron range with a sacrificial planarization material such as an appropriately chosen photoresist. The sacrificial planarization material is then etched together with the III-nitride roughness features using dry etch methods such as inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. By closely matching the etch rates of the sacrificial planarization material and the III-nitride material, a planarized III-nitride surface is achieved. The etch-back process together with a high temperature annealing process yields a planarized III-nitride surface with surface roughness features reduced to the nm range. Planarized III-nitride, e.g., GaN, substrates and devices containing them are also provided.

Many components used in optical and semiconductor devices must be very smooth, since surface roughness acts to both scatter light and enhance absorption. For many multilevel integrated circuits, the planarization of dielectric layers, which acts to isolate devices as well as form the base layer for subsequent stacks of devices, is an important technology. Particularly in the case of the epitaxial growth of electronic materials, high quality substrates for many uses are expected to be atomically smooth.
The development of robust planarization techniques for III-nitride materials such as GaN will undoubtedly play a crucial role in the continued advancement of nitride-based semiconductor devices. With the inevitable emergence of commercially available GaN wafers, manufactures of such have an unquestionable need to develop methods to planarize them prior to sale. Such substrates would bypass problems such as cracking and high dislocation densities stemming from the epitaxial growth of nitrides on non-native substrates.
The growth of thick, atomically smooth GaN films is a significant challenge when employing high growth rates (on the order of hundreds of microns per hour) obtained with techniques such as halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The ability to planarize rough films would allow their use in the epitaxial growth of devices and thus increase the yield of the HVPE process. Substrate manufacturers lose material due to rough areas resulting from process non-uniformities. Appropriate planarization methods would act to recover such lost area.
The traditional method of planarizing semiconductor materials is lapping followed by chemo-mechanical polishing (CMP). Lapping is a coarse planarization technique utilizing successively smaller sizes of pad-embedded grits of very hard materials such as diamond, cubic boron nitride, or alumina to achieve bulk removal and flattening of a material through grinding action. Lapped surfaces tend to have micron-scale roughness. Chemo-mechanical polishing is a planarization technique that simultaneously uses both chemical and mechanical processes to achieve a finer degree of planarization. This is accomplished by a far gentler grinding of the semiconductor with nanoscale grits embedded in an etching solution. CMP techniques exist for materials such as silicon, germanium, arsenide and phosphide semiconductors.
III-nitrides materials, however, do not lend themselves to wet etching at room temperature due to their extreme hardness and resistance to chemical attack. The Vicker hardness of GaN is 12 GPa, which is close to that of sapphire, which has a hardness of 20 GPa. This places GaN at level 9 on the Moh's hardness scale. Efforts to polish GaN with harder materials such as diamond typically leave the surface full of undesirable scratches. Furthermore, since GaN is highly anisotropic, every crystal face presents its own challenges. Weyher, et al. (Journal of Crystal Growth, 182:17 (1997)) report the polishing of freestanding GaN platelets using KOH solutions (1:2-1:20) and a soft polishing pad with an applied pressure of 2-4 kg/cm2. However, that work is applicable only to polishing of the nitrogen polarity of GaN, which is by far the easiest orientation to etch. Tavernier et al. (Electrochemical and Solid State Letters, 5:G61 (2002)) concluded that polishing action was not achieved on Ga-polar material.
GaN ablation experiments, utilizing a pulsed KrF excimer laser under appropriate conditions, have also been reported as a method to decrease surface roughness. While laser etching of GaN is feasible, the process of globally planarizing large areas of very rough material by this method would be cumbersome and time consuming, owing to the need for precise control of mechanical stages, optical alignment, and feedback systems to allow for adaptation of the local pulse dosage to changes in the surface height.
Etch back methods have been used during the processing of multilevel integrated circuits to planarize interlayer dielectrics. However, such methods have not been applied to III-nitride materials due to the difficulties in etching these materials as described above.
Thus, there remains a need for a robust, generally applicable planarization technique for GaN and other III-nitrides.

Planarization of GaN by photoresist technique using an inductively coupled plasma


A safety valve includes a body, a chamber defined by the body, two conduits leading into the chamber, a first conduit being upstream with respect to the chamber and the other conduit, a sleeve, a spring housed by the sleeve, and a clapper drawn by the spring. The clapper, when drawn, forms a passage between the chamber and one of the conduits.

The invention relates to a safety valve.
A typical safety valve includes a body which defines a chamber into which two fluid conduits run. The flow of the fluid through the conduits is controlled by the valve. A sleeve houses a spring which biases a clapper towards a seat. A passage is thus provided between the chamber and one of the conduits.
Generally, the clapper has two opposite faces, an extreme face, which is displaced to obstruct the passage, and a rear face, which is biased by an elastic resilient member, such as a spring, against a thrust-stop, which is associated with the sleeve. The characteristics of the spring, along with the distance provided between the thrust-stop and the clapper's rear face, determine the "tear-off" pressure of the clapper, the pressure at which the clapper is torn from its seat.
Use of a thrust-stop to support the elastic member has been disclosed in French Patent No. A-2-528.526. The thrust-stop includes a centrally located basin-like cap in which the elastic member is located. A mechanical part in the shape of a skirt is joined to the rim of the cap. The skirt rises concentrically in relation to the cap. Its free end is anchored in a bore, the anchoring being on the level of a groove and precluding any withdrawal from the thrust-stop. As a consequence, the tear-off spring cannot be replaced. However, an adjustment of the tear-off pressure may be made by changing the penetration distance of the thrust-stop in the bore, e.g., by increasing the penetration distance. The thrust-stop may be threaded into the bore.
Safety valves also generally include a servicing and handling assembly connected with the clapper, including a handling rod by which the clapper can be raised. The flow circuit can thus be closed "upstream."
Means are associated with the sleeve of the valve body that cooperate with the handling assembly to enable the voluntary handling operation. In concentrational valves, the clapper is mechanically dependent on the foot of the handling rod. When mounting and dismounting, the handling assembly is connected with the handling rod so that the handling assembly can be removed from the handling rod. Thus, the supporting thrust-stop of the spring can be reached more easily.
The displacement of the clapper between its open and closed positions is guided by the handling rod. The guidance is generally accomplished by a supplementary member means which closes the sleeve, and by means which cooperate with those of the handling assembly. This supplementary member, which is usually on the body of the valve, can easily be removed. The clapper has an obstruction head which is at too great a distance from the clapper to adequately guide it. As a result, further means are required to provide guidance.
To protect the parts housed in the sleeve from damage by the fluid, and/or to assure flow without excess turbulence, a closing membrane is generally associated with the clapper at the entrance of the corresponding sleeve. The membrane is secured in an air-tight manner and is imperviously fixed around the periphery of the sleeve.
As these valves are currently designed, their tear-off pressure is adjustable by screwing and unscrewing the thrust-stop. An incorrect adjustment can hinder normal service of the valve, jeopardizing safety and potentially causing serious damage.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a valve wherein the tear-off pressure cannot be changed. A further object of the invention is to reduce the number of parts, and to achieve a feasible, simplified safety valve apparatus at an affordable price.