A static content addressable memory (CAM) cell. The CAM cell includes a latch having complementary data nodes capacitively coupled to ground, first and second access transistors, each coupled between a data node of the latch and a respective data line. The gates of each access transistor is coupled to a word line such that when activated, the respective data node and data line are coupled. The CAM cell further includes a match circuit coupled to one of the complementary data nodes of the latch. The match circuit discharges a match line in response to a data value stored at the data node to which the match circuit is coupled and compare data present on the respective data line mismatching. Two of the CAM cells can be used to implement a full ternary CAM cell.

Content addressable memories (CAMs) are used in a variety of applications requiring pattern matching operation on bits, such as virtual memory, data compression, caching, and table lookup applications. With the popularity of high speed networks, wired or wireless, on the rise, CAMs have been frequently employed in networking equipment, particularly routers and switches, computer systems and other systems that require content searching, such as in network-address filtering and translation by matching partial node address. For example, in network router or switch, CAM devices are used to store Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and routing instructions associated with each address. When an IP packet is received and the IP address obtained, the router must retrieve the routing information for the packet in order to send it on the most direct route to the desired IP address. By using a CAM memory device, the router can search the CAM for the desired IP address. That is, the CAM searches for the desired content, and if there is a match, the CAM returns the associated routing information.
CAM devices can store data much like conventional memory devices. Generally, an address is provided by a controller to the CAM device,- the address is used to access a particular memory location within the CAM memory array, and then the content stored in the addressed memory location is retrieved from the memory array. However, as previously discussed, CAM devices provide the added functionality of being able to search the stored data for desired content. That is, in addition to simply storing data in its memory array, a CAM device can search the memory array based on compare data corresponding to the desired content. When the content stored in the CAM memory array does not match the compare data, the CAM device returns a no match indication. However, when the content stored in the CAM memory array matches the compare data, the CAM device outputs information associated with the content.
CAM storage cells have been implemented using dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells, as well as static random access memory (SRAM) cells. One of the benefits of using a DRAM cell structure for CAM cells is that they are smaller in size relative to SRAM cells. However, as with conventional DRAM cells, such designed CAM cells need to be periodically refreshed in order to maintain the integrity of the data, as is well known. CAM devices designed with DRAM cells also require that the rows of the CAM device to be read sequentially, one row at a time, which is prohibitively slow. Moreover, due to the match circuit that is included with CAM cells, there are more leakage paths from the storage node. The techniques used in DRAM cells to reduce transfer gate leakage may not be readily available to CAM cell designs.
As previously mentioned, CAM cells have also been implemented using SRAM cell designs. Although larger in size than DRAM cells, SRAM cells provide the benefit of not needing to be refreshed to maintain data integrity. SRAM cells have been designed with six transistors (6T) as well as four transistors (4T). The 6T SRAM cells provide the benefit of having relatively low soft-error rates. "Soft-errors," as known in the art, are those errors that are typically caused by power supply problems or alpha particles. Although 4T SRAM cells are smaller relative to their 6T counterparts, the 4T SRAM cells have higher soft-error rates. This issue is particularly significant with respect to CAM devices, since the data stored in the CAM memory array essentially represents a database of information. That is, the soft-error rate of conventional 4T SRAM cells may be unacceptable in the application of a CAM device. Consequently, choosing to design a CAM device using a 6T SRAM structure, which, as previously mentioned, are relatively larger, may be an acceptable compromise in light of the more significant issues that arise where the integrity of the data in the CAM cell is questionable.
Accordingly, there is a desire and need for an alternative CAM cell design that is relatively small and yet has acceptably low soft-error rates.


A method, computer program product, and data processing system for exchanging information regarding software source code among a team of developers is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a developer associates commentary with a particular code feature, such as a function or object class. A list of intended recipients or readers of the commentary is obtained from the developer. Additional settings regarding such things as an expiration date for the commentary are also obtained from the developer. The source code with associated commentary is then made available to the intended readers. If desired, the source code with associated commentary may be transmitted the intended recipients via e-mail or an “instant message” or other form of notification can be transmitted to the intended recipients to notify them of the commentary to be read.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools for collaborative software development.
2. Description of Related Art
"Software engineering" is the practice of software development as an industrial discipline. The goal of Software Engineering is to produce high-quality, maintainable software through an efficient use of development resources.
Most commercially-developed software is developed by teams of programmers. Very large software projects may require a large number of programmers or a large number of teams of programmers. One area of particular interest to Software Engineering is the interaction between members of a programming team and between programmers and management.
Conventional Software Engineering wisdom suggests that the task of producing a software product is best practiced by conceptualizing the product as a system of interrelated components, dividing the components among members of a programming team, having team members work in parallel to produce the components, and assembling the components into a working system. In other words, conventional wisdom suggests a "divide-and-conquer" approach to software development.
D. B. Simmons, "Communications: a software group productivity dominator," IEEE Software Engineering Journal, November 1991, pp. 454-462, for example, takes the position that a system design that is poorly partitioned will result in a large amount of inter-programmer communication to resolve dependency issues, which ultimately degrades productivity. In an ideal divide-and-conquer situation, inter-programmer communication should be unnecessary, so any time spent communicating, rather than on writing source lines of code (SLOC), degrades productivity. Simmons thus advocates employing careful system design and small team sizes to minimize communication between programmers, the ultimate goal being to approach an ideal "divide-and-conquer" scenario.
A dramatically different approach to inter-programmer communication can be found in the increasingly popular Software Engineering methodology known as "extreme Programming" (XP), which was founded by Ken Beck. XP is based on team collaboration on all phases of a software development project, rather than a pure divide-and-conquer approach. XP emphasizes continuous communication between members of a programming team, with the theory being that when all members of a team are familiar with the project as a whole, a project design can evolve as needed to resolve whatever issues may arise during the implementation phase of a project, such as dependency and integration issues. Thus, the XP methodology includes such concepts as common code ownership, in which all team members are allowed to work on any portion of the project.
Although divide-and-conquer and XP represent two very different approaches to software development, these two methodologies highlight the significant role that inter-programmer communication plays in a large software project. Two overarching principles come to mind: First, communication between team members is essential, because in a practical setting, dependency and integration issues between different programmers' work will invariably arise. Second, it is important to productivity that communication between team members is efficient. A design that is well-planned (as advocated in Simmons' article) or at least well-understood (as advocated in XP), can help in this respect.
Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) is the sub-field of Software Engineering that is concerned with developing software tools (called "CASE tools") for making software development more efficient and less error-prone. A number of existing CASE technologies are directed to problems relating to team software development, including communication between developers. Several of these are discussed below.
A number of configuration management tools exist in the art. Configuration management tools allow different versions (configurations) of a file to be maintained, so that a permanent copy of an earlier version of a file under modification can be maintained. These kinds of tools are very helpful in software development for maintaining different versions of source code files under development, because working or "stable" versions of source code files can be maintained while newer versions are being developed. Many configuration management tools also allow a "snapshot" of a group of source files to be made, so that a particular point in time of an entire software development project may be recorded.
Most modern configuration management tools also allow multiple users to "check out" files and "check in" modified versions of files, to ensure consistency of file versions for multiple users. Generally, a configuration management tool will keep a "log" so that comments regarding the changes made between versions can be recorded. Some configuration management tools, such as the open-source Concurrent Versioning System (CVS), allow for distributed access to a group of source files (i.e., they allow developers to access the files from remote computers on a network, such as the Internet). Revision Control System (RCS) is another popular open-source configuration management tool.
Some existing tools provide more extensive features for collaborative programming than do simple configuration management systems. Some of these tools are network- or World-wide web-based. For example, SOURCEFORGE™ is a trademark for a collaborative software development system produced by VA Software Corporation of Fremont, Calif. The SOURCEFORGE™ collaborative software development system is used by a number of organizations to support collaborative software development on organizational intranets using a web-based interface. The SOURCEFORGE™ collaborative software development system also forms the basis for "SOURCEFORGE™.net," which is reportedly the world's largest open-source development website.
Open-source software, particularly in recent times, is often a collaborative product of multiple developers working in remote locations over the Internet. The open-source Linux operating system, for example, was created by Linus Torvalds (for whom Linux is named) in Finland. Many enhancements to Linux, such as device drivers, have been contributed by programmers worldwide through the Internet.
SOURCEFORGE™.net supports a number of features that are conducive to collaborative programming over a wide-area network (WAN), such as the Internet. On SOURCEFORGE™.net, each open-source programming project is given a web page that includes a number of communication features for communicating with developers and users of open-source software products. "Trackers" are provided to allow users or developers to report bugs, request new features to be added to a program, or request technical support. Other, more general discussion forums, including a public message forum, mailing lists, and a news archive are also provided. A task manager application is provided for project planning and delegation of tasks among developers. Source code or binary releases of a software product may be downloaded from that product's SOURCEFORGE™.net page or from one of a number of mirror sites.
A developer (or user, for that matter) may also use the CVS configuration management system to "mount" to the project's code repository and download any version of the source code (including the latest "under development" sources). CVS may also be used by a developer having appropriate privileges to check out or check in source code files for inclusion in the project. SOURCEFORGE™.net also includes a "compile farm" for compiling and testing software on various platforms (e.g., that a particular developer might not have access to, otherwise).
Most computer languages have some facility for leaving (non-executable) comments in program code. For example, in the "C" programming language, comments are written between "slash-star" and "star-slash" delimiters (e.g., /* comment */). Some programming languages allow for more advanced commenting features. The JAVA™ programming language (a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) allows special "javadoc" comments that can be associated with particular classes, fields, or methods in a JAVA™ programming language source file. "javadoc" comments may include special tags to provide program documentation in a structured format. A tool, called "javadoc," is provided in Sun Microsystems' JAVA™ 2 Software Development Kit (J2SDK), which can compile the javadoc comments into specially-formatted Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) source for display in a web browser. The open-source Perl programming language version 5 (Perl 5), developed by Larry Wall, includes a similar feature to javadoc, called "POD," which stands for "plain old documentation."
The open-source Python programming language, developed by Guido van Rossum, includes a feature known as "doc strings." "Doc strings" are special strings, denoted by triple quotation marks, that are used to describe particular objects or functions in Python. Unlike ordinary comments, however, "doc strings" are available to a Python program at run-time. Because Python has an interactive mode to allow code to be entered and executed at an interpreter prompt, the ability to read program comments at run-time is particularly valuable in Python.
Literate programming is a programming methodology originated by Turing Award winner Prof. Donald Knuth of Stanford University. Literate programming is based on the idea that well-written program code should be written to be read by others. Knuth created the WEB programming system for literate programming in Pascal. WEB allows a programmer to write code in sections, in which each section contains a descriptive subsection for entering a natural language description of a portion of code, a macro section for defining macros, and a code section for entering Pascal code. The macro features of WEB allow a programmer to write code for presentation to a reader in any particular order.
WEB is made up of two programs, TANGLE and WEAVE, each of which processes a WEB source file. WEAVE formats the text documentation and pretty-prints the code in a format suitable for processing by Knuth's typesetting program TeX (which, incidentally, was written using WEB). TANGLE, on the other hand, removes the text documentation and performs macro substitutions to arrive at source code suitable for compilation by a Pascal compiler.
A number of literate programming tools have been developed for other languages. Some of these are patterned after Knuth's original WEB program, such as CWEB for literate programming in C, and FWEB for literate programming in Fortran. A number of language-independent literate programming tools are also available.
Thus, configuration management tools aid in the management of team programming projects by providing some degree of concurrency control and transaction management (in the database-management sense), and advanced documentation features, such as are provided in literate programming tools, make program code easier for others to understand. Both of these CASE technologies are a boon to software developers and software development teams, because they help developers collaborate effectively to manage complexity. In very large software projects, however, the process of collaborating itself may become quite complex.
Whether one views inter-developer communication as an unavoidable and necessary evil or as something to be encouraged the fact remains that communication needs to be efficient and effective. If too much information is exchanged, information overload can result and productivity and quality are compromised. On the other hand, when information is less freely exchanged, the process of acquiring and disseminating necessary information may become inefficient.
There is a need, then, for an efficient form of information exchange between software developers working on a common project.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of controlling write operations to a non-renamed register space includes receiving a write operation to a given register within the non-renamed register space. The method also includes determining whether a pending write operation to the given register exists. In response to determining that the pending write operation to the given register exists, the method includes blocking the write operation to the given register from being scheduled. However, in response to determining that the pending write operation to the given register does not exist, the method includes allowing the write operation to the given register to be scheduled. Further, if the pending write operation to the given register does not exist, the method includes allowing a subsequent write operation to a different register within the non-renamed register space to be scheduled.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to microprocessors and, more particularly, to controlling writes to non-renamed register space within an out-of-order execution microprocessor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many modern microprocessors are capable of executing instructions is a different order than the issue order. They are typically referred to as out-of-order execution processors. A microprocessors that implements the x86 architecture is one example of an out-of-order execution processor. Out-of-order processors create dependencies associated with the architectural register set. Since instructions will not necessarily execute in the sequential order in which they were written, potential conflicts may result from dependencies between certain reads and writes. For example, a read of a result value stored to a given register may be conflicted if a write occurs to the same register before the read occurs. Such conflicts may cause stalls in the pipeline of the microprocessor.
To overcome these conditions many conventional processors use some form of mapping to map virtual register space to a physical register space. When performed dynamically during execution, this mapping is referred to as register renaming. In a fully renamed register space, there may be a physical register copy associated with each virtual register for every possible outstanding instruction in the pipeline. There are various renaming schemes. Two examples are: explicit renaming and implicit renaming. Each scheme may use one or more pools of physical registers with which to map as well as the associated logic. In either scheme, renaming allows for separation of virtual register space and fewer conflicts during out-of-order execution.
In contrast to the renamed register space is another register space that is sometimes referred to as a non-renamed register space. Writes to registers in such non-renamed register space could conflict with certain reads as described above. To avoid these types of conflicts, in some processors, a write to a particular register such as a segment register, for example, may block writes to every other segment register until the write becomes non-speculative. Although this scheme may prevent conflicts to the register space, processor performance may suffer.
Providing full renaming to some non-renamed register space may not be practical since doing so may require a significant amount of additional hardware.

Controlling writes to non-renamed register space in an out-of-order execution microprocessor


A lighting fixture has a plurality of coaxial round or other shaped rings on which a string of miniature lights is mounted. The rings are spaced apart when the fixture is in an active position and are stacked relatively close together when collapsed into a storage position. Slide links or the like interconnect the rings and limit expansion of the fixture into its active position.

The present invention relates to a light fixture utilizing miniature light units mounted on a cord fitted on the fixture.
Various lanterns and special lighting are popular for illuminating and decorating indoor and outdoor living areas, particularly for parties and special occasions. A need exists for improved lighting fixtures which incorporate miniature light strings in an eye-pleasing manner and which can be readily collapsed for compact storage or shipping without disassembling parts thereof.
The present invention meets this need by providing a fixture having multiple mounting rings adjustably connected together, one above another, so that the rings can be easily collapsed toward one another to a storage position from an active position in which they are spread apart in coaxial relation. A light string with multiple miniature lights on a cord is mounted on the rings so that the lights radiate from the rings and the cord continues from ring to ring. The rings may be interconnected by flexible elements slidably mounted between adjacent rings to limit spreading apart of the rings without restricting collapsing of the fixture when desired. The rings can have various shapes and sizes so that the lights on the fixtures are arranged to provide a variety of attractive displays.


For example, the provision of a cable connector where a cable holder can maintain the position of a member where the cable holder is mounted, before and after the mounting. The cable connector includes a housing and paired cable holders. One end of a cable can be mounted in each of the paired cable holders. Each of the paired cable holders includes a cantilevered arm portion extending in a mounting direction of the cable holder on the housing. At least part of the arm portion can come face to face with part of the housing in a direction along a lead-out direction of the cable from the cable holder, at the time and after the mounting of the cable holder on the housing.

A cable holder configured as a separate body from a main body of a housing may be used to hold a cable. For example, Patent Document 1 illustrates an example of an insulation-displacement connector having a pair of fixing portions where a plurality of cables can be mounted. FIG. 23 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the insulation-displacement connector disclosed in Patent Document 1. An insulation-displacement connector 100 includes a housing and a plurality of insulation-displacement contacts 120 fixed to the housing. The housing includes a contact support portion 111 that supports the insulation-displacement contacts 120, a pair of fixing portions 112 and 113 that is mounted on the contact support portion 111 in such a manner as to sandwich part of the contact support portion 111 from each of an upper and a lower side, a plurality of shells 114 and 115 that covers exteriors of the contact support portion 111 and the pair of fixing portions 112 and 113, and covers 116 and 117. One end side of the cable can be mounted on each of the pair of fixing portions 112 and 113. Moreover, extending portions 140 and 141 extending in the mounting directions on the contact support portion 111 are provided to side surfaces of the pair of fixing portions 112 and 113. It is configured in such a manner that, when these cable holders are mounted on the contact support portion 111, these extending portions 140 and 141 are assembled to each other, and can come face to face with each other in a direction (an illustrated arrow "a" direction) along a lead-out direction of the cable at the fixing portions 112 and 113.


Monoalkylated phenoxathins are high-temperature stable lubricant fluids having extreme pressure and antiwear properties, additive solubility and inherent EP/antiwear properties. These novel phenoxathin fluids may also be used as additives in other lubricant fluids and are prepared by alkyating a phenoxathin in the presence of an acidic zeolite catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to improved lubricant compositions comprising alkylated phenoxathin compounds alone as functionalized lubricant fluids or in combination with synthetic or mineral oil fluids, and to mineral or synthetic lubricant compositions containing said alkylated phenoxathin compounds as additives thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
Linear polyphenyl ether-thioethers and polyphenyl thioethers are known and have been used as lubricants in special applications. These materials suffer from very high cost due to difficult synthesis.
Polyphenyl ethers are known for their high temperature properties as noted in D. Klamen's "Lubricants and Related Products," Verlag Chemie, 1984, pp. 116-121, and references contained therein, and in product bulletin for OS-124 polyphenyl ether by Monsanto.
Mixed polyphenyl ether-thioethers are also known as noted in Monsanto bulletin for MCS-293. Phenoxathin is a heterocyclic aromatic structure which contains the ether oxygen structure found in diphenyl ether and the sulfur structure of thioethers. Phenoxathin, however, is a solid at temperatures up to 56.degree. C. and, therefore, does not possess physical properties attractive for lubricating fluids. Van Ess, U.S. Pat. No. 2,282,686 is directed to the use of certain "thioxins" such as phenoxathin as additives for hydrocarbon oils which are normally susceptible to oxidative deterioration. They are prepared in the presence of aluminum. These substances are added to lube oils, for example, in amount up to 10 wt%.
Smith, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,221,819, is directed to a method of making phenothioxine compounds and Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,277,833 is directed to higher alkyl substituted phenothioxins as novel compounds useful in plastic compositions. They are perpared in the presence of saturated bleaching earth catalyst.
Garces, U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,448 discloses the alkylation of polycyclic aromatics over natural zeolites such as mordenite, offretite and gmelinite.
None of the above noted prior art discloses the method of manufacture and use of alkylated phenoxathins as lubricant basestocks.
The present invention is directed to the alkylation of phenoxathins over zeolite catalysts which surprisingly results in a product which is predominantly or almost completely monoalkylated. Synthesized catalysts are preferred. Monoalkylated product comprises up to at least about 90% of the alkylation product in accordance with the present invention. In some instances the monoalkylation rate approaches 100%.
To the best of applicants' knowledge and belief the herein described alkylated phenoxathins have not been used previously as functional lubricant fluids or additives therefor.

Alkylated phenoxathin base stock for lubricants


An operating device for steering a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, and a method for steering the vehicle by way of the operating device. The operating device comprises a control stick, in particular for operation by a human hand. The control stick has at least one degree of freedom. A steering angle can be specified by way of the control stick. The operating device comprises a control element. The specifiable steering angle can be determined as a function of a state of the control stick and as a function of a state of the control element.

The invention relates to an operating device for steering a vehicle and to a method for steering the vehicle.
The use of a control stick for transverse guidance of a vehicle is known. Such a control stick can be used in conjunction with an electric power steering (EPS) system, or also in conjunction with a steer-by-wire (SBW) steering system. The state of the control stick thus determines a steering angle that is specified to the steering system.
It is further known that operating the control stick during long trips, for example when driving on a highway, results in symptoms of fatigue of the driver's hand.
Therefore, it is the object of the invention to improve the driving comfort when steering by way of a control stick and to prevent symptoms of fatigue of the driver's hand.

Operating device for steering a vehicle and method for steering the vehicle


A deployment system is provided for utilization onboard an airborne object including a deployable element. In one embodiment, the deployment system includes a circumferential restraint and a release mechanism mounted to the airborne object. The circumferential restraint is disposed at least partially around the airborne object in a constraining position wherein the circumferential restraint prevents deployment of the deployable element. The release mechanism normally resides in a first position in which the release mechanism maintains the circumferential restraint in the constraining position. The release mechanism is movable to a second position to release the circumferential restraint from the constraining position and permit deployment of the deployable element.

Traditionally, canards and other deployable flight control surfaces have been primary utilized onboard larger airborne munitions, such as missiles. However, more recently, deployable canards have been utilized in conjunction with relatively small munitions, such as artillery shells and other projectiles. As a specific example, precision guidance kits (PGKs) have recently been developed that include a plurality of deployable canards. Each PGK is adapted to threadably mount to the nose of an artillery shell in place of a conventional fuse. In addition to providing a fusing function, the PGK guides the flight of the artillery shell by manipulating the position of the deployable canards in accordance with signals received from an onboard global positioning system (GPS) unit.
Deployable flight control surfaces of the type described above are typically maintained in a non-deployed position during launch or firing and subsequently released into a deployed position during flight. The deployable flight control surfaces are urged toward the deployed position by a structural biasing means (e.g., a spring) or by centrifugal forces, which act on the munition as it spins rapidly during flight. A deployment system carried by the airborne munition prevents deployment flight control surfaces until the desired time of deployment, which may occur shortly after munition launch or firing. By initially maintaining the flight control surfaces in a non-deployed or stowed position, the flight control surfaces are protected from physical damage that might otherwise in the course of soldier handling. In addition, by stowing the flight control surfaces during munition launch or firing, drag is reduced and the range of the munition is increased.
Conventional deployment systems utilized onboard larger airborne munitions, such as missiles, are generally reliable and robust. However, such conventional deployment systems tend to be undesirable bulky and costly for deployment aboard smaller airborne munitions, such as artillery shells and other projectiles. There thus exists an ongoing need to provide a deployment system suitable for utilization onboard airborne munitions (e.g., projectiles) and other airborne objects (e.g., satellites and sub-munitions) that is relatively compact and inexpensive to manufacture, in addition to being rugged and reliable. It is also desirable to provide a method for equipping an airborne object with such a deployment system. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent Detailed Description and the appended Claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings and this Background.

Low cost deployment system and method for airborne object


Data Circuit Terminating Equipment (DCE) allows the connection of a Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) to a telecommunication line. The DCE includes timing elements for providing the DTE with any desired transmitter signal element timing and any desired receiver signal element timing. The timing elements include processing elements for computing a sequence of digital values A(n) and for deriving therefrom a corresponding sequence of interrupt signals T(n). The receiver signal element timing, the transmitter signal element timing, the transmit sampling clock pulsing the D/A converter and the receive sampling clock pulsing the A/D converter are all controlled by different sequences of digital values computed by the processing elements. By generating appropriate sequences of digital values, the processing elements can provide any desired relationship between the different clocks to satisfy a transmit signal element timing slaved to the receiver signal element timing in synchronous mode, or on an external clock in tailing mode. The timing elements can also provide a transmit sampling clock slaved to the receive sampling clock in order to perform powerful digital echo cancellation techniques. Moreover, the processing elements can control the persistence of a received bit, which if a STOP bit, can allow the compensation of the DTE and the line data throughput difference.

Clocking is one of the complex aspects in Data Circuit Terminating Equipments also called modems. A DCE requires timing circuits allowing a particular Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) to communicate with another DTE through a telecommunication line.
The DCE must include timing arrangement circuits providing the different clocks that are necessary in the modem and particularly those used at the interchange circuits between the DTE and the DCE. Indeed, according to the V24 CCITT Recommendations (Fascicle VIII.1--Rec. V.24), clocks are to be included in the modems to provide the DTE with transmitter signal element timing on circuit 114 (called `Transmitter signal element timing` circuit) and receiver signal element timing on circuit 115 (called `Receiver signal element timing` circuit). Alternatively, the Transmitter signal element timing may be originated in the DTE instead of in the DCE equipment and be transferred to the modem via an interchange circuit 113. For simplicity, the clocks existing on interchange circuit 115 and interchange circuit 114 are respectively called `Transmit clock` (XC) and `Receive clock` (RC). FIG. 1a illustrates the well known way of generating the receive clock RC provided at the interchange circuit 115 according to the CCITT V.24 Recommendation. Traditionally receive timing signals are provided from an internal oscillator 1 included in the modem and a succession of dividing circuits: a controlled divide-by-(K.+-.1) circuit 2, (which performs a divide-by-(K+1) or a divide-by-(K-1) operation according to the value appearing on its control lead, a divide by M circuit 3, and a divide by N circuit 4. The output of divide by M circuit 3 provides a Receive sampling clock on a lead 7 pulsing an A/D (Analog to Digital) converter 5, for instance a sigma-delta coder. The A/D coder converts the analog signal received on the telecommunication line into a digital PCM information that is transferred to a microprocessor 6. The processor 6 performs an analysis of the converted signal on the line and controls divide-by-(K.+-.1) circuit 2 so that the Receive sampling clock at the output of circuit 3 precisely indicate when the line signal has to be sampled. The Receive clock operates in synchronism with the receive sampling clock. FIGS. 1b illustrates the traditional way of generating an internal transmit clock XC which is then transferred to the DTE via interchange circuit 114 according to the CCITT V.24 Recommendation. The internal transmit clock is generated from internal oscillator 1 through a set of two dividing circuits, resp. a divide-by-Q circuit 9 and a divide by R circuit 10. the output of divide-by-Q circuit also provides a transmit sampling clock on a lead 12 which is used to pulse a D/A (Digital to Analog) converter converting digital PCM information coming from processor 6 (not shown) into an analog signal which is eventually transmitted to the telecommunication line.
It appears from above that the known timing arrangements circuits involve numerous dividing circuits which increases the overall complexity of the modem. The latter complexity is even more increased when considering the new functions that are required in modern DCE: the capability of operating in tailing mode, with synchronous networks, with advanced testing functions such as analog loop, the capability of providing echo cancellation in full duplex modem of the V32 family, data multiplexing on the DTE interface, Error correction procedures described in CCITT V42 requirements.
A modem providing tailing capability is such that the Transmitter signal element timing is originated in the DTE instead of in the DCE equipment and is transferred to the modem via interchange circuit 113. FIG. 1c shows the additional elements that are traditionally added to the circuit of FIG. 1b in order to provide a transmit sampling clock on lead 12 which is slaved on an external clock on interchange circuit 113 which is provided by the DTE. For this purpose, a comparator 14 having an enable lead 13 compares the value of the Transmit clock XC with that of the external clock and according to the result of the latter comparison, comparator 14 controls a controlled divide-by-(P.+-.1) circuit 8 which is inserted between internal oscillator 1 and divide-by-Q circuit 9. When enable lead 13 is set at a high level, comparator 14 creates a feedback loop between the external clock existing on circuit 113 and the transmit clock on circuit 114 thereby entailing the latter to be slaved on the former. On the contrary, when enable lead 13 is set at a low level, comparator 14 and divide-by-(P.+-.1) are disabled what results in the circuit of FIG. 1c operating as that of FIG. 1b.
The complexity of the modem increases more when the latter is intended to be used in synchronous networks, for instance Digital Data Service in the United States of America. A DCE designed to be connected to synchronous networks is such that the transmit clock is slaved on the receive clock. FIG. 2a shows a traditional timing arrangement circuit providing this additional capability with respect to the circuits of FIG. 1c. The external clock 113 and receive clock 115 are transmitted to the two inputs of a multiplexer circuit 15 which, according to the state of its select lead, distributes one of the two latter clocks to the input of comparator 13. Therefore, according to the state of the select lead of multiplexer 15, the transmit clock on lead 114 is slaved on the external clock on circuit 113 or the receive clock on circuit 115. In addition to the complexity of the above timing arrangement circuits required in synchronous modem, a second drawback appears in the prior art solution. Generally for testing purposes, an analog loop may be required in a DCE which entails the switching of the transmit clock on lead 114 from the receive clock to the internal clock. In traditional DCE equipment, that switching results in glitches appearing in the transmit clock which are likely to disturb the transmission between the DTE and its associated DCE equipment.
Another step in the continuous sophistication process of the timing arrangement circuits in DCE equipment came with the insertion of echo cancellation circuits in the modem. High-speed full-duplex data transmission over two-wire lines is of immense practical interest. The techniques for achieving this goal implies echo cancellation techniques. The transmitter and receiver included in the DCE are jointly coupled to a two-wire line via an hybrid transformer. In an environment of changing channel characteristics (e.g. switched network), the hybrid balancing, if fixed, will at best provide a compromise match to the line impedance. In this mode, a vestige of the local transmitted signal, leaking through the hybrid, can be expected to interfere with the received signal from a far-end simultaneously operating transmitter. To remove the interfering echo component, the local receiver must perform echo cancellation, that is, estimate the echo signal and subtract it from the received signal prior to making decisions. In a environment of digital signal processing it is desirable to perform echo cancellation entirely digitally. Therefore it appears that the above mentioned subtraction of the echo component from the incoming signal requires the transmit and receive sampling clocks on leads 12 and 7 to be equal. FIG. 2b illustrates the additional components that are required for providing a receive sampling clock on lead 7 equal to the transmit sampling clock on lead 12. For this purpose an additional multiplexer circuit 16 has two inputs respectively connected to the output of divide-by-M circuit 3 and divide-by-Q circuit 9 and an output providing the receive sampling clock on lead 7. A SELECT lead controls multiplexer 16 by processor 6 (not shown in FIG. 2b), which control results in one of the two signals existing at the output of divide-by-M circuit 3 or divide-by-Q circuit 9 being transmitted to lead 7. The complexity of the timing arrangement circuits increases more when considering the fact that in some cases such as 19200 Bps modems, the ratio bit-time/baud-time traditionally simple becomes complex. For instance, telecommunication equipment knows traditional DCEs provide a 1200, 1600 or 2400 bauds modulation associated with a 4800 bps or 9600 bps transmission. The above mentioned ratio having thus simple values (2 or 4), and the divider circuits involve only a few components. However, the tendency of increasing the use of the bandwith of the telecommunication line entails the utilization of less simple ratio. Such complex ratios inevitably increases the already complex timing arrangement circuits involved in the DCE equipment.
An additional degree in the sophistication process of timing arrangement circuits in the DCE is reached with the V14CCITT requirements in the case when a synchronous DCE communicates with a asynchronous DTE. In such a communication, the DCE which is connected to a asynchronous DTE has to provide the acquisition of the asynchronous character during transmission and the reconstitution of the asynchronous characters during reception with the control of the bit length in order to compensate the DTE and the line data throughput potential difference. Indeed, the data to be transmitted at the DTE interface by the DCE may have a higher throughput than that of the line throughput. In that case, the transmitter element on one side of the line has to suppress, from time to time, a STOP bit in the line transmission. On the other side, the receiver must detect the missing STOP bits in the received data stream and insert a shorter STOP bit in the data transferred to the DTE. Traditionally, the V14 function is achieved by means of complex divider circuits providing from time to time a shorter clock pulse corresponding to a shorter STOP bit that is to be transmitted to the DTE.
Finally, it is highly desirable in modern DCEs to support advanced functions such as data multiplexing on the DTE or error correcting procedures according to the CCITT V42 Recommendations.
As a result, it clearly appears that new functions are continuously added to modern DCEs, thus entailing an on-going sophistication of the timing arrangement circuits. The sophistication of the time arrangement circuits in recent modems have lead to a large multiplication and use of hardware components such as switches, multiplexers, dividers which inevitably increases the cost of the DCE equipment. Moreover, the use of traditional timing arrangement circuits and the large number of hardware components and dividers circuits therein included substantially limit the adaptability of the DCE modem to the new functions that are likely to be requested in the future.

Data circuit terminating equipment (DCE) including timing arrangements circuits controlled by processing means

International Business Machines Corporation


In a wafer transfer system wherein a wafer transfer robot linearly reciprocates by a linear motor, dust is prevented from adhering to a wafer.

As shown in FIG. 8, a wafer transfer system A′ constituting a semiconductor fabricating system (not shown) is designed to take wafers U, one by one, out of a wafer carrier C, which is provided on the top face of a load port unit L, to transfer the wafers U to a wafer processing system E and to transfer the wafers U, which have been processed by the wafer processing system E, to the wafer carrier C again. At this time, if dust adheres to the wafers U, the wafers U can be defective. In order to prevent this, a clean air supply system 4 is provided in the upper portion of the wafer transfer system A′ for always supplying clean air K from the unit 4 to the wafers U. This clean air K is blown from top to bottom of a wafer transfer robot R constituting the wafer transfer system A′. Dust existing in the wafer transfer system A′ is carried toward the bottom by the flow of the clean air K, and exhausted by an exhaust fan 5 which is provided on the bottom portion 1c of a system body 1. Thus, dust is prevented from adhering to the wafers U.
In a conventional wafer transfer system, a ball screw and a control motor are used for linearly reciprocating a wafer transfer robot. Since the distance of the movement of the wafer transfer robot is not long in the case of the ball screw, a wafer transfer system for linearly reciprocating the wafer transfer robot by means of a linear motor has been developed.
Referring to FIG. 8, a wafer transfer system A′ using a linear motor M will be described below. In a case where the linear motor M is used, the secondary side 11 of the motor M is usually mounted on the bottom portion 1c of the system body 1. However, in this case, the portion of the exhaust fan 5 is covered with the secondary side 11 of the linear motor M, so that there is a problem in that exhaust efficiency deteriorates. In addition, since the wide area of the secondary side 11 of the linear motor M faces upwards, dust is easy to be deposited on the top face of the secondary side 11, and this dust is sometimes carried by the flow of the clean air K to float. In such a case, dust is easy to adhere to the wafers U, so that the rate of occurrence of defective wafers U rises.
The load port unit L is mounted on the outside of the front wall of the system body 1, and the wafer carrier C is provided on the top face of the load port unit L. By mounting the linear motor M on the bottom portion 1c of the system body 1, the distance between the wafer transfer robot R, which is provided on the linear motor M, and the wafer carrier C is long, and a large number of members exist between the wafer carrier and the wafer transfer robot R. As a result, production errors in the members accumulate, so that there is a problem in that the wafer transfer robot R can not precisely position the wafers in the wafer carrier C.
In a system of this type, there are some cases where the wafer transfer robot R is emergency-stopped in view of safety work during the operator's maintenance and inspection work. In the case of the conventional wafer transfer system A′, it is possible to emergency-stop the wafer transfer robot R with a relatively simple construction by incorporating an electromagnetic brake or the like in the control motor for driving the ball screw. However, in the case of the linear motor M, it is very difficult to incorporate the above described electromagnetic brake or the like.
Means for stopping the wafer transfer robot R using the linear motor M will be described below. In the control circuit for the linear motor M, a regenerative braking is incorporated. By operating the regenerative braking, the wafer transfer robot R can be stopped at a predetermined position. In this control circuit, an uninterruptive power supply is also incorporated. Therefore, if the wafer transfer robot R intends to travel due to inertia when the feeding of power is interrupted by an interruption of the power supply or the like, the feeding of power can continue for a set-up time which is set in the uninterruptive power supply. Then, the regenerative braking is operated within the set-up time to stop the wafer transfer robot R. However, there are some cases where the wafer transfer robot travels due to inertia so as not to be stopped even if the set-up time of the uninterruptive power supply elapses. There is the possibility that this malfunction may quite similarly occur even if an emergency stop switch for interrupting the feeding of power to the wafer transfer system A is operated in an emergency.

Untreated body transfer device and semiconductor manufacturing device with the untreated body transfer device

Abstract: A fixed base 9, on which the secondary side 11 of a linear motor M for linearly reciprocating a wafer transfer robot R is mounted, is mounted on the system body 1 of a wafer transfer system A in lateral directions and in vertical directions, so that dust dropping in accordance with the flow of clean air K from a clean air supply system 4 is directly sucked into an exhaust fan 5, which is provided on the bottom portion 1c of the system body 1, to be exhausted without being deposited on the top face of the fixed base 9 and the secondary side 11.


A method of assembling a turbine casing is provided. The method includes inserting a bolt assembly through a first opening defined generally vertically through a first flange extending from a first casing member, such that a portion of the bolt assembly extends a distance upward from an upper surface of the first casing flange and such that the bolt assembly is retained within the first opening. The method further includes positioning a second casing member including a second flange including a second opening defined therein against the first casing member such that a portion of the bolt assembly extends through the opening defined in the second casing flange.

This invention relates generally to steam turbine engines, and more particularly, to bolt assemblies used with steam turbine engines.
At least some known steam turbine engines include an upper half casing and a lower half casing wherein the upper half casing includes a horizontal joint flange feature and the lower half casing includes a horizontal joint flange feature. The upper half horizontal joint casing flange and the lower half horizontal joint casing flange are coupled together with a number of bolt and nut assemblies. At least one known bolt assembly, sometimes referred to as a "through" bolt assembly, includes a single bolt, suitably threaded on both ends, and a pair of nuts that are used to couple the pair of flanges together. For example, a single threaded bolt may be inserted through an opening defined within each flange. Moreover, a first nut may be threadably coupled to a first end of the bolt such that the first nut is substantially flush with a surface of the first horizontal joint flange, and a second nut may be threadably coupled to a second end of the bolt such that the second nut is substantially flush with a surface of the second horizontal joint flange. This at least one known bolt assembly is often referred to as a "through" bolt assembly. During assembly of at least one known "through" bolt assembly, when the bolt is inserted through a flange opening, the bolt will fall out of the opening until at least one nut is coupled to the bolt to retain the bolt within the flange. Coupling a nut to the bolt can present difficulty due to space constraints around each flange and due to the difficulty of simultaneously tightening both ends of the bolt assembly.
At least one known bolt assembly, sometimes referred to as a "tapped" bolt assembly, is used when structural sub-assemblies of a steam turbine engine are completely contained within the body of the engine making access to the sub-assembly difficult. At least one known "tapped" bolt assembly includes a threaded hole integral to the lower half horizontal joint flanges. The threaded hole eliminates the need for a second nut coupled to the second horizontal joint flange. Threading the hole integral to a horizontal joint flange can present difficulty due to space constraints. Moreover, during assembly and use of the "tapped" bolt assembly, the threads integral to the horizontal joint flange may be easily worn and/or stripped. When the threads of the hole integral to the horizontal joint flange are worn and/or stripped, the threads are difficult to repair and/or replace.

Bolt assembly for steam turbine engines and method of assembling the same


Disclosed are an optical film having a graded refractive index and a method of manufacturing the same. The optical film includes one or more antireflection films composed of a mesoporous material having a plurality of pores of a uniform size, and the pores of the mesoporous material are filled with air or a filler having a refractive index different from that of the mesoporous material, and thus the volume ratio of mesoporous material to filler in the pores thereof is controlled, thereby obtaining a desired magnitude of effective refractive index and ensuring a refractive index distribution in which the refractive indexes sequentially change, resulting in high antireflection performance. The method of manufacturing the optical film may be conducted using a nanowire growing technique, thus making it easy to realize mass production.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an optical film having a graded refractive index and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an optical film having a graded refractive index, including one or more antireflection films composed of a mesoporous material having a plurality of pores of a uniform size, in which the pores of the mesoporous material are filled with air or a filler having a refractive index different from that of the mesoporous material, and thus the volume ratio of mesoporous material to filler in the pores thereof is controlled, thereby obtaining a desired magnitude of effective refractive index and ensuring a refractive index distribution in which the refractive indexes sequentially change, resulting in high antireflection performance, and to a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An antireflection film means a film for preventing the reflection of light. For example, an antireflection film useful in the visible light range may be applied to various display devices including plasma display panels (PDPs) in a manner such that it is spaced by a predetermined interval apart from the surface of the display device to improve contrast and image quality, and may constitute an optical filter along with a selective light absorbing layer for improving a color tone and an electromagnetic wave blocking layer for blocking electromagnetic waves. In addition, an antireflection film that is useful in the near infrared light range may be widely applied to various fields including optical communication and optoelectronic devices.
However, conventional antireflection film coating techniques are problematic in that the refractive index is drastically changed at the interface of an optical device, undesirably increasing reflected light. Thus, as attempts to solve the problem in which the efficiency of the optical device is drastically decreased, there has been proposed the formation of a monolayer film which satisfies the relation of sqrt (n1*n2) (n1: refractive index of material, n2: refractive index of air) as thick as ¼ of the incident wavelength in the case where light is incident perpendicular to the interface of the optical device. However, in the case where light is incident on the optical device under conditions in which the incident wavelength is not a short wavelength but is a long wavelength or the incident angle is not a right angle but is an obtuse angle, antireflection performance is remarkably decreased.
Moreover, the efficiency of the device is intended to be improved by providing the antireflection film in the form of a multilayer of three layers or more, instead of a monolayer form. In this case, however, expensive equipment for precisely controlling the thickness of each layer and vacuum equipment are required, making it difficult to realize mass production.

Optical film having graded refractive index and method of manufacturing the same


The techniques described herein determine configurations for data visualizations based on characteristics interpreted from input data. Input data including a plurality of images may be obtained. For instance, the input data may include one or more files containing images associated with an entity. The techniques disclosed herein may determine a characteristic, such as a primary color, based on the input data. The techniques disclosed herein may determine an individual entity or subject to be associated with the characteristic. Techniques disclosed herein also involve the generation of output data defining a visualization based on the characteristic. A rendering of the output data provides an indication of the individual entity or subject. In some configurations, a rendering of the output data provides a graphical association between data in a dataset and the individual entity or subject.

Most programs used for processing large datasets utilize pre-determined layouts to assist users in formatting and interpreting displayed data. For instance, a customer relationship management ("CRM") program may use a predetermined layout to display performance data of several companies. In some scenarios, a dataset may be large, having hundreds or thousands of company names that may be immersed in different types of displayed data.
Although some existing systems provide various formats and other techniques for displaying large amounts of data, some current techniques may not be effective in allowing users to readily interpret associations between different types of data. For instance, in some layouts it may be difficult for users to readily associate a particular entity, e.g., a company, with related data. Accurate and efficient user interpretation of displayed data becomes an even bigger challenge when a preset data layout includes a large amount of data and a large number of entities.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Intelligent configuration of data visualizations


A semiconductor package is disclosed, which includes: a carrier having at least an opening; a plurality of conductive traces formed on the carrier and in the opening; a first semiconductor element disposed in the opening and electrically connected to the conductive traces; a second semiconductor element disposed on the first semiconductor element in the opening; and a redistribution layer structure formed on the carrier and the second semiconductor element for electrically connecting the conductive traces and the second semiconductor element. Since the semiconductor elements are embedded and therefore positioned in the opening of the carrier, the present invention eliminates the need to perform a molding process before forming the redistribution layer structure and prevents the semiconductor elements from displacement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor packages, and more particularly, to a semiconductor package having embedded semiconductor elements and a fabrication method of the semiconductor package that can prevent displacement of the semiconductor elements during a die attachment process.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the rapid development of electronic industries, electronic products are developed towards multi-function and high electrical performance. Accordingly, wafer level packaging (WLP) technologies have been developed to meet the miniaturization requirement of semiconductor packages.
FIGS. 1A to 1D are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a fabrication method of a wafer level semiconductor package 1 according to the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a thermal release tape 11 is formed on a carrier 10.
A plurality of semiconductor elements 12 are disposed on the thermal release tape 11. Each of the semiconductor elements 12 has an active surface 12a with a plurality of electrode pads 120 and an inactive surface 12b opposite to the active surface 12a. The semiconductor elements 12 are attached to the thermal release tape 11 via the active surfaces 12a thereof.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an encapsulant 13 is formed on the thermal release tape 11 by molding so as to encapsulate the semiconductor elements 12.
Referring to FIG. 1C, a curing process is performed to cure the encapsulant 13. During the process, the thermal release tape 100 is heated and loses its adhesive property. As such, the thermal release tape 11 and the carrier 10 can be removed to expose the active surfaces 12a of the semiconductor elements 12.
Referring to FIG. 1D, a RDL (Redistribution Layer) process is performed to form a RDL structure 14 on the encapsulant 13 and the active surfaces 12a of the semiconductor elements 12. The RDL structure 14 is electrically connected to the electrode pads 120 of the semiconductor elements 12.
Then, an insulating layer 15 is formed on the RDL structure 14, and portions of the RDL structure 14 are exposed from the insulating layer 15 so as for conductive elements 16 such as solder balls to be mounted thereon.
However, the thermal release tape 11 is flexible and easily expands when being heated. Therefore, a positional deviation easily occurs to the semiconductor elements 12 due to expansion of the thermal release tape when being heated along with impact of the mold flow during the molding process. That is, the semiconductor elements 12 deviate from die areas B on the thermal release tape 11, as shown in FIG. 1D′. Further, after the carrier 10 is removed, warpage easily occurs to the encapsulant 13. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the RDL structure 14 to be aligned with the electrode pads 120 of the semiconductor elements 12. The larger the size of the carrier 10, the bigger the position error between the semiconductor elements 12 is, thereby adversely affecting the electrical connection between the RDL structure 14 and the electrode pads 120. As such, the product reliability and yield are reduced.
Further, the use of the thermal release tape 11 incurs a high fabrication cost.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a semiconductor package and a fabrication method thereof so as to overcome the above-described disadvantages.

Semiconductor package having embedded semiconductor elements

Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd.


The invention seeks to minimize the vibration and noise in a clutch plate system, by damping either or both the clutch plate and pressure plate with the use of various engineered viscoelastic materials. A clutch plate assembly is provided, comprising a plate body having a first surface and a second surface. In a first embodiment of the invention, the plate body is formed from a laminated sheet structure including two layers of steel having a viscoelastic core between the two layers and coextensive with the two layers. The viscoelastic core may be tunable to damp at different temperatures. In a second embodiment of the invention, an engineered viscoelastic material is used as a layer of bonding material for the first and second surface of the plate body. A method for damping a clutch plate assembly is provided.

A clutch is typically used to connect or disconnect power from one functioning part of a vehicle to another. In a vehicle, a clutch is used to control transfer of engine power. The clutch disengages the engine and transmission as the gears are shifted and allows the engine to be operational when the wheels are stopped.
A clutch typically comprises of a flywheel, clutch plate, pressure plate assembly and various linking mechanisms. Vibrations leading to noise, also known as shutter, occur when the clutch plate and the flywheel are spinning at different speeds with respect to each other. As the clutch plate and flywheel spin at different speeds, two or more components in the system couple together and begin to vibrate as a new system. In such cases, the damping in the system is very low. If the energy input from friction is greater than the system damping can dissipate, instability in the system occurs and leads to undesirable vibration.


A grounding clip (130, 132) is provided which mounts on a rear end cap (60) of a PC card, and which connects a rear connector shell (44) of the PC card to a top 5 sheet metal cover portion (90). The clip has a pair of top spring fingers (140, 142) that lie in recesses (150) in the top surface of the top flange (62) of the rear end cap, and has a bottom finger (144) lying against the lower surface of the top flange and against a tine (104) formed in the shell of the rear connector. The clip lies close to an extreme side (124,126) of the PC card, to remain engaged with the top cover portion despite bending of the cover rear portion that results in its middle (126) being raised above its opposite sides.

PC cards (a card with a "printed circuit" board) are cards that may be of the type specified under PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), or of the type commonly referred to as form factor cards which are small and used in cameras to store images, or of other types that have circuit boards with traces thereon connected to contacts of a connector.
One type of PC card, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,404, includes a pair of rear connectors at the rear of the circuit board, which fit between top and bottom flange walls of a plastic rear end cap. The rear connectors have sheet metal shells that are soldered to a ground conductor on the circuit board and that must be connected to a sheet metal cover that surrounds the PC card to ground the cover. Such grounding is achieved by forming cutouts in the flanges of the cap, and by forming the rear connector shells with tines that extend through the cutouts and directly engage depressions in the sheet metal cover. The cutouts in the flanges of a rear end cap lie close to the middle of the width of the end cap to avoid weakening the opposite sides. It is found that, in practice, there is poor connection between the connector shell tines and the sheet metal cover. A PC card with at least one rear connector, which established secure contact between the shell of a rear connector and the sheet metal cover, in a simple and low-cost manner that facilitated PC card assembly, would be of value.


A semiconductor processing method provides for plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) for intermetal dielectrics while minimizing risk of gate oxide impairment due to plasma discharge. A protective oxide sublayer is deposited without using high-power PECVD. The protective sublayer can be deposited by using chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) without plasma enhancement or by a lower-power PECVD. In the latter case, the initial rf power of the plasma is selected to be low enough to ensure that the gate oxide is not breached in the event of a plasma discharge. The protective sublayer can be thick enough to maintain its integrity in the event of a plasma discharge even during a higher-power PECVD deposition.

The present invention relates to integrated-circuit processing and, more particlarly, to an improved method for fabricating an integrated circuit with multiple metalization layers. A major objective of the present invention is multi-metalization integrated circuit manufacture with higher yields and more reliable resulting products.
Much of recent technological progress is associated with the increasing integrated circuit miniaturization made possible by the smaller feature sizes achieved by advances in semiconductor processing. Once the basic circuit elements, e.g., transistors, are fabricated, they must be interconnected to provide integrated functionality. Interconnections are typically made in photolithographically patterned metalization layers. As features become smaller, circuit density increases. To take advantage of the increased density, more complex routing is required to maximize functionality.
The demands for more complex routing are accommodated by using multiple metalization layers, typically patterned from deposited aluminum. These layers are electrically insulated from each other by "intermetal" dielectric layers, usually of silicon dioxide of "oxide". Apertures are patterned in an oxide layer to accommodate electrical connections ("vias") between the metalization layers. When a metal is deposited over the via apertures, the via apertures are filled with the interconnecting metal.
Once a metalization layer is deposited, subsequent processing must be designed to avoid melting the metal. Otherwise, the metal can melt and flow, impairing the metal pattern's precision. Metal flow can result in shorts or unacceptably high cross talk in operation, and any number of other unintended results. In particular, the presence of aluminum practically limits subsequent processing temperatures to about 450.degree. C. or less.
This constraint applies to the intermetal dielectric. Accordingly, a relatively low-temperature chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) technique is available to deposit oxide on aluminum. One problem with unenhanced CVD is that it is slow. The slowness diminishes manufacturing throughput, which, in turn, increases manufacturing costs.
The presence of plasma increases the CVD rate. Accordingly, plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) is used to attain higher manufacturing throughput while meeting thermal constraints on processing. Unfortunately, there is some evidence that PECVD can induce functional defects in some devices, adversely affect manufacturing yield. In addition, some apparently functional devices fail after repeated use. What is needed is an integrated circuit manufacturing method that provides the advantages of PECVD while providing greater yields and devices of greater reliability.

Integrated-circuit processing with progressive intermetal-dielectric deposition


Pliers arranged in an adjustable relationship including first and second facing jaw faces are arranged to threadedly receive inserts therewithin, having cylindrical or optional polygonal projections arranged for reception within an associated workpiece. The tool structure is arranged to accommodate plural sets of the projections within the handles for ease of access and use of the organization.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to adjustable plier construction, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved spanner plier tool wherein the same is arranged for directing projections into an associated workpiece in a spanner wrench orientation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pliers of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art, wherein U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,316,615; 4,922,770; 4,890,520; and 4,944,204 are examples of prior art plier construction.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by permitting the use of a plier construction arranged to accommodate inserts for use of the plier construction as a spanner wrench and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A visor for vehicles includes a shell made of a material such as paper, vinyl, or the like. The visor includes first and second halves joined by a hinge. The first and second halves are folded about the hinge and bonded together to define a cavity. A rigid foam core fills at least a substantial portion of the cavity, and the foam core is bonded to the shell to provide support. The visor includes a structural mounting member extending from the shell for mounting the visor to the roof of a vehicle.

Various sun visors for motor vehicles and the like have been developed. Such sun visors typically have a "butterfly" core that is molded of a polymer material and includes a living hinge along a centerline of the visor core. During fabrication, the two halves of the visor core are folded about the hinge, and may be covered with a layer of padding material and an outer covering of fabric, vinyl, or leather to form the visor. Known visors typically include an elbow to mount the visor to a vehicle roof, and also may include a detent spring that acts on the elbow to provide rotational control of the position of the visor.


A weapon sight to facilitate alignment a weapon with a target comprises a housing further comprising a video camera for generating a first video signal corresponding to a first field of view, a processor for processing the first video signal into a second video signal corresponding to a second field of view and outputting the second video signal to a video display, and a reticle disposed on the video display, wherein one of the first or the second video signals is electronically positionable with respect to other of the second or first video signal.

The present invention relates to a weapon site generally, and more specifically to an electronic weapon site.
Hunting, target shooting, and other related activities linked to the set-up, operation, and enjoyment of weapons such as firearms and bows has evolved from a once necessary part of life, to a multi-billion dollar recreational industry.
Sighting systems are a crucial component to any weapon used for hunting or target practice and numerous types of sighting systems are known to be used in conjunction with firearms, bows, and the like. However, setting the sighting system can be difficult when the individual who is using the weapon inconsistent in their aiming or firing techniques. For example, at times a second person is utilized to monitor the user's aiming and firing techniques in order to help the user properly sight the weapon and improve the manner in which it is being used.
The popularity of optically displayed and/or recording devices has been on the increase over the last several years, and with the advent of small optical (e.g., video) recording devices, the sportsperson now has the ability to electronically sight-in, view, and record these shooting events for subsequent playback.
Various electronic sights wherein the video or image is integrated with the sighting mechanism have been developed for use in weapons. However, these existing sights have numerous drawbacks. Conventional sights are commonly large and difficult to adjust. These sights are complicated and difficult to install, and do not allow for the installation of the display in numerous configurations according the sportsperson requirements. Nor do they allow for configuration for either a left-handed or right-handed sportsperson. Still further, these conventional sights adjust the reticle with respect to the display thereby decreasing the accuracy. Further yet, these conventional sights are not suitable for use in low light conditions. Additionally, the sportsperson may want to record their efforts. These events may comprise recording the target prior to firing the weapon; recording the trajectory of the shot; recording the target as it is being struck; and recording and/or determining the error of the shot.
Accordingly, a need exists for optical imaging and sighting devices, systems, and methods therefor that allow for the accurate sighting-in and recordation of shooting events when used in conjunction with a weapon such as a gun or a how, as well as devices, systems, and methods that are simple in operation and which have the ability to be configurable for either the left-handed or right-handed sportsperson. Therefore, an electronic weapon site that solves the aforementioned disadvantages and having the aforementioned advantages is desired.


A sound generation device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an identification unit configured to identify one mobile communication terminal from one or more mobile communication terminals capable of communicating, an acquisition unit acquiring setting data regarding generation of a sound or control of generation of a sound from identified one mobile communication terminal, and a sound generation unit configured to detect an operation on an operation unit and outputting a sound on the basis of detected operation and the setting data.

There has been a data recording device that records performance data and musical instrument setting data as to an electronic musical instrument. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-203072 discloses a data recording device that acquires, from an electronic musical instrument to which it is connected, performance data and setting data regarding the electronic musical instrument and records the performance data and the setting data.

Sound generation device and sound generation method


Provided is an electronic control device that can be reduced in size and weight and can maintain high reliability even under a severe environment.

With the background of environmental and energy problems, the trend of automobile electronics is accelerating, and the number of electronic control devices installed has been greatly increasing. This leads to limitation of installation space for the electronic control devices, and thus, the electronic control devices are inevitably installed in an engine compartment with severe environmental conditions compared with other locations of an automobile. On the other hand, the engine compartment has been downsized with a trend of an expanded cabin space to enhance comfortability of an automobile.
The downsized engine compartment needs to accommodate a large number of electronic control devices and their wire harnesses, leading to a difficulty in layout, an increase in weight, and increase in cost. This generates a demand for an electronic control device that is smaller, lighter, and lower in cost.
Among these issues, providing a lighter electronic control device is an important issue to be considered due to its influence on the automobile fuel efficiency and environmental problems. Exemplary measures to achieve lighter device examined in recent years include forming a housing in resin instead of metal. Using resin as the housing material makes it possible to produce a lighter electronic control device while maintaining its original housing shape.
However, in consideration of the heat dissipation of the electronic control device, the thermal conductivity of the resin is lower than the thermal conductivity of the metal, and thus, it is necessary to locally use the metal in a case where the heat dissipation performance is insufficient in the resin housing. This leads to formation of the housing of the electronic control device using a combination of resin and metal.
Examples of background technologies in this technical field include a technique described in PTL 1. PTL 1 discloses "a method of manufacturing an electronic device housing having a rib or a boss by integrally molding metal and resin, in which an adhesive is applied onto a metal and after the adhesive is dried, resin is injected from a portion constituting the rib or the boss onto a layer of adhesive to achieve composite molding".

Abstract: The electronic control device includes: a control substrate; a connector having one end connected to the control substrate and the other end connected to an external terminal; and a housing that covers at least the control substrate and a connecting portion on the connector with the control substrate,                in which the housing includes a resin and a metal plate, the metal plate includes a bend part at its outer peripheral portion, and the bend part is covered with the resin.


The invention provides compounds having the general formula I:

Mitochondrial dysfunction and disruption of the electron transport chain (ETC) has been identified as an important factor in diseases ranging from neurodegenerative diseases including, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), to diseases of the cardiovascular system, cancer and diabetes (Armstrong, J. S. et al. FASEB J. 2010, 24, 2152; Markesbery, W. R. et al. Brain Pathol. 1999, 9, 133; Barnham, K. J.; Masters, C. L. et al. Nat. Rev Drug Discovery. 2004, 3, 205; Calabrese, V. et al. J Neurol Sci. 2005, 233, 145; and Lin, M. T. et al. Nature 2006, 443, 787). The broad impact of mitochondria in so many diseases makes them prime targets for therapeutics. As powerhouses in mammalian cells, mitochondria are responsible for the predominant mode of energy production via oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) of glucose, which is performed by the four respiratory complexes (complexes I-IV) and the ATP synthase (complex V), all located in the inner mitochondrial membrane (Henze, K. et al. Nature 2003, 426, 127; Saraste, M. W. Science 1999, 283, 1488; Newmeyer, D. D. et al. S. Cell 2003, 112, 481; and Fiore, C. et al. Biochimie 1998, 80, 137). However, mitochondria are also the major sites for production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Turrens, J. F. J. Physiol. 2003, 552, 335; and Murphy, M. P. Biochem. J. 2009, 417, 1). The impaired oxidative phosphorylation function would lead to further production of ROS, which further overwhelms the endogenous antioxidant systems and exposing cellular macromolecules to oxidative damage (Mates, J. M. et al. Clin Biochem. 1999, 32, 595; and Gaetani, G. F. et al. Blood 1989, 73, 334). Giving the main role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the development of several metabolic disorders, extensive research has explored therapeutic strategies for preserving mitochondrial function and the treatment of mitochondrial and neurological diseases (Heller, G. et al. Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 2012, 82, 1; Smith, R. A. et al. Trends in Pharmacol. Sci. 2012, 341; Frantz, M. C. et al. Environ. Mol. Mutagen 2010, 51, 462; Arce, P. M. et al. ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2011, 2, 608; Atamna, H. et al. FASEB. J. 2008, 22, 703; and Wen, Y. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 286, 16504).
Methylene blue (MB), a member of the phenothiazine family, originally discovered as a synthetic cationic dye. MB has a long-standing, extensive history of medical uses for more than a century (Wainwright, M. et al. J Chemother. 2002, 14,431). It is an FDA approved drug for methemoglobinemia and an antidote to ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy (Wright, R. et al. Ann. Emerg. Med. 1999, 34, 646; and Zulian, G. B. et al. N. Engl J Med. 1995, 332, 1239). MB was also the lead compound for successful pharmacotherapeutic derivatives such as the antimalarial agents such as quinacrine, and chloroquine (Green, R. Lancet 1932, 219, 826; and Loeb, R. F. et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1946, 130, 1069).
MB has very unique redox property that exists in equilibrium between oxidized state in dark blue and colorless reduced state, making it both antioxidant and prooxidant under different conditions. MB with a mild redox potential, appears to readily cycle between the oxidized and reduced forms using specific mitochondrial and cytosolic redox centers. This property of MB has been reported to redirect and facilitate electron transfer across mitochondrial electron transfer complexes minimizing electron leakage, and inhibit superoxide production (mitochondrial electron-carrier bypass) (Wen, Y. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 286, 16504; and Wainwright, M. et al. J Chemother. 2002, 14,431). Thus, MB might be able to act as an alternative electron transfer carrier that replaces the damaged mitochondrial respiratory chain.
Methylene blue has limitation in term of bioavailability and tolerability (at high doses). The substantial hydrophilicity of MB may restrict its permeability across the plasma membranes of mammalian cells, which would also limit its cellular uptake. It is for this reason TauRx switch to the reduced form of methylene blue (more hydrophobic) in their phase III clinical trials (Baddeley, T. C. et al. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2015, 352, 1; and Melis, V. et al. Behav Pharmacol. 2015, 26, 353). MB has a hormetic dose-response in which its beneficial effects are optimal in the lower to intermediate range (Bruchey A. K. et al. Am J Pharm Toxicol 2008, 3, 72). Previous study has shown the effect and interaction of exogenous short-chain CoQ10 analogues on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in isolated mitochondria and ROS metabolism in cultured cells. It was clearly showed that the antioxidant reactions of exogenous ubiquinones will predominantly occur within phospholipid bilayers, while the pro-oxidant reactions require an aqueous environment. It is apparent that increasing hydrophobicity limits the "bad" aqueous autoxidation of ubiquinols without diminishing its "good lipid phase antioxidant functions. This could provide explanation for the extreme hydrophobicity of endogenous CoQ10. Therefore, the relative rates of these reactions can be fine-tuned by hydrophobicity, allowing a rational approach to the design of therapeutic mitochondria-targeted redox cyclers.
Methylene violet (MV) is a neutral phenothiazine dye. Hydrolysis of MB under strongly basic condition yields MV with improved hydrophobicity (Houghtaling, M. A. et al. Photochem. Photobiol. 2000, 71, 20). MV can be looked upon as a phenolic analogue of MB where a hydroxyl group substitutes one of the two dimethylamine moieties. Although MV is naturally obtained in the oxidized (quinone) form, it can be reduced by the mitochondrial redox centers generating the phenolic (quinol) form. The reduced form of MV can act as phenolic antioxidants similar to CoQ10. Currently there is a need for new antioxidant compounds with reduced cytotoxicity and side effects (e.g. by decreasing the pro-oxidant effect).

Abstract: and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein the variables R1, R2, R3, R4, subscript m and n, have the meaning as described herein, and compositions containing such compounds and methods for using such compounds and compositions.

ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY


In a method of determining the availability of a network resource in a digital communications network, atomic resources that are not composed of other resources are first identified. A degradation factor is assigned to each atomic resource. Subsequently a degradation factor for a composite resource is derived from the degradation factors of the atomic resources in accordance with a predetermined relationship.

This invention relates to the field of network management, and in particular a method of determining resource availability in a digital communications network.
The calculation of availability for resources in a network is often based on a simple binary state (i.e. available or unavailable). Subsequently, calculations of availability for a set of inter-related resources are limited to an overall binary state as well. In the case of certain combinations of resources, the unavailability of one resource does not result in a simple state for the aggregate of resources. For example, one branch of a set of parallel resources being unavailable does not mean that the whole set is either available or unavailable.
An object of the invention is to alleviate this problem.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of determining the availability of a network resource in a digital communications network, comprising the steps of identifying atomic resources that are not composed of other resources, assigning a degradation factor to each atomic resource, and subsequently deriving a degradation factor for a composite resource from the degradation factors of the atomic resources in accordance with a predetermined relationship.
The calculation of availability using the concept of degradation requires the assignment of a degradation factor to each atomic resource. Atomic resources are ones that are not composed of any other resources. Atomic resources are combined into composite resources that also have a degradation factor. The degradation factor for the composite resource is derived from some formula applied to all the component (atomic) resources. The degradation factor itself is a preferably real value between zero (0) and one (1) inclusive. A zero value indicates full degradation while 1 indicates full availability.
Atomic resources can be combined using certain basic relationships. These are outlined below:
Serial Relationships
The xe2x80x9cchildxe2x80x9d resources contained within a serial composite resource must always be specified in a specific order.
The degradation factor of the serial resource is always equivalent to the lowest degradation factor from its child resources. This can be represented by the following:
xe2x80x83degradation factor=min (select all degradation factors from child resources)
Parallel Relationships
The xe2x80x9cchildxe2x80x9d resources within a parallel composite resource are not specified in any specific order. Each xe2x80x9cchildxe2x80x9d resources that is part of the composite can be assigned a specific weight. This weight is representative of the importance of this resource within the relationship.
The degradation factor is determined by applying the following formula. This formula (very similar to the availability formula) would be:       degradation              xe2x80x83            factor    =                    ∑        i                          (                  child                                xe2x80x83                              degradation                                xe2x80x83                              factor          *          child                                xe2x80x83                              weight                )                            ∑        i                          child                          xe2x80x83                        weight
where i represents all child resources.
Redundant Relationships
A redundant relationship can be used to group two resources in a master/standby type of relationship. When an outage would occur on the master, the relationship would then take on the characteristics of the standby resource. In this case, the degradation factor of the parent resource could reflect the loss in throughput caused by the switch to the standby.
Hybrid Relationships
A hybrid relationship can be used to group disparate resources into a composite resource. Various hybrid types could be defined such as atomic-serial and atomic-parallel, serial-parallel, serial-serial, etc, etc . . .
For example, an atomic resource representing an ATM card can be grouped with a parallel composite resource that represents all of the ATM ports on that card. Certain performance attributes could be derived from the card object while other performance attributes could be derived from the collection of ports.
In the case of a hybrid relationship, the degradation factor would be equivalent to the degradation factor of a predetermined component. Using the example between an ATM card and its ports, the degradation factor of the parent resource could be configured to be equivalent to either that of the card or the set of ports.
Thus, instead of expressing the availability of a telecom network component as a function of its state, which does not work very well in cases where a component does not have a meaningful state, the invention permits the wellness of a component to be expressed in terms of a degradation factor. The degradation factor would be an attribute that would be expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A resource that is completely well would have its degradation factor set to 1. A resource that is completely down would have its degradation factor set to 0. Once this is done its availability can be calculated using its historical degradation factor values. The following calculation would be applied:       Availability              xe2x80x83                  (              period                          xe2x80x83                        p            )        =                    ∑        p                          (                  degradation                                xe2x80x83                              factor          *          duration                )                    period                    xe2x80x83                  p
The invention permits the operator to perform performance management functions on these network components and gives the ability to handle vendor specific extension including node extensions and version extensions.

Calculation of resource availability using degradation factors


The present disclosure relates to a luminaire including a housing component and at least one LED carrier circuit board. The housing component has at least one section which projects from a base of the housing component and which is formed with a plurality of surfaces oriented differently relative to the base. The LED carrier circuit board carries at least one LED device as light source for providing light to be emitted by the luminaire. The LED carrier circuit board is arranged by a rear side thereof at least in sections on one of the plurality of surfaces of the section projecting from the base in such a way that the LED device overlies the surface at least partially. The housing component, in the region of the base thereof, has at least one region which is formed as a heatsink for dissipating heat generated by the LED device during operation.

The applicant is aware of luminaires which comprise for example individual luminous points or light sources arranged linearly in a row and act as "downlight" or as "wallwasher". Furthermore, the applicant is aware of luminaires in which individual light sources of this type are provided in a matrixlike fashion.
However, conventional luminaires of the type mentioned above are limited with regard to their configurability. A light scene or lighting effect sought often requires the use of a plurality of luminaires.

Luminaire, housing component for a luminaire and method for producing a luminaire