Method for determining the magnitude and phase of a signal received by the active antenna (3). From the group of method steps:    ST1: only transmission (S1) of the transmission signal by the at least one transmitting antenna (6) and capture (S1_1) of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna (3);    ST2: only transmission (S2) of the transmission signal by the reference antenna (2) and capture (S2_1) of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna (3);    ST3: simultaneous transmission (S3) of the transmission signal by means of the at least one transmitting antenna (6) and the reference antenna (2) while generating superimposed transmission signals and capture (S3_1) of a power value of the superimposed transmission signals received by the active antenna (3);a sequence of at least three method steps (ST1, ST2, ST3) is carried out in any order and in any combination, with at least one method step (ST1, ST2, ST3) being carried out multiple times, wherein the sequence of the at least three method steps (ST1, ST2, ST3) always comprises the method step ST3 at least once.

Various methods are available for this purpose. The antenna far field pattern can be determined for example by means of a far field measurement. In practice, however, such a far field measurement is not very practicable, since it would be disrupted by many other devices. A further possibility lies in the use of a compact range chamber, and a plane wave can be generated for the measurement by means of a feedhorn and a mirror. However, such a structure may be very large in terms of the dimensions and the measurement chamber as a whole may be very expensive, so that such a method is also not very practicable in practice.
Therefore a near field measurement is predominantly carried out because it functions with relatively small chamber sizes. If shielded measurement chambers are used, then the measurements can be carried out completely independently of external RF services and interference sources. With such a near field measurement the antenna to be examined is measured in the measurement chamber. If both the magnitude and also the phase are captured over the entire solid angle or over selected ranges, the required antenna far field pattern can be mathematically determined therefrom. This takes place by means of a near field/far field transformation.
However, such near field measurement is problematic in the case of active antenna systems (AAS) in which the RF connection between antenna and radio is not usually accessible. Here the necessary data must be extracted or fed in at the usual digital interface. Normally only the power of the transmission or reception signal is available at this interface. On the other hand, the phase information can only be extracted with great difficulty or not at all. For this purpose a collaboration with the manufacturer of the active antenna system is generally necessary. Without phase information, however, the near field/far field transformation cannot be carried out.
However, in the case of an active antenna system the combination of antenna and radio electronics is measured. In this case the transmission direction and the reception direction must be measured separately because they relate to different electronic components.
Within the standardization committee of 3GPP this problem has already been discussed under R4-145044, "Near Field Measurement Setups for AAS BS OTA testing: 3GPP TSG-RAN4-Meeting #72". A method was proposed there in which a reference antenna together with the active antenna system to be examined is moved by a rotary arrangement, so that different solid angles can be set in relation to a transmitting antenna. If the active antenna system acts as a transmitter, the required phase information can be determined by direct comparison of the phases of the RF signals from the reference antenna and the transmitting antenna which in this case acts as a receiver.
However, the problem of how to proceed in the reception direction, i.e. if the active antenna system functions as a receiver, is not solved. Moreover, a further problem is how to ensure, during the entire duration of the measurement over all solid angles, that the phase is not delayed, which is not ensured because of temperature drifts of the electronics of the active antenna system. In addition a synchronization between the separate transmitter and the receiver of the active antenna system would be necessary.
Therefore the object of the invention is to create a method and a measuring arrangement by which it is possible to determine the magnitude and the phase of an active antenna system, wherein the active antenna system functions as a receiver.
With regard to the method for determining the power values of a signal received by the active antenna in order thus to be able to determine the magnitude and the phase, the object is achieved by the features of claim 1. With regard to the measuring device for determining the power values of a signal received by the active antenna for calculation of the magnitude and the phase, the object is achieved by the features of claim 13. Advantageous modifications of the method according to the invention, as well as the measuring device according to the invention, are specified in the respective subordinate claims.
The method according to the invention for determining the power values of a signal received by the active antenna in order thus to be able to determine the magnitude and the phase provides that in addition to at least one transmitting antenna a reference antenna is also used, wherein this latter is disposed at a predetermined distance from the active antenna, and that additionally a signal generator is used which is connected to the at least one transmitting antenna and to the reference antenna and generates a transmission signal. Within the method, from the group of the following method steps:    ST1: only transmission of the transmission signal by the at least one transmitting antenna and capture of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna;    ST2: only transmission of the transmission signal by the reference antenna and capture of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna;    ST3: simultaneous transmission of the transmission signal by means of the at least one transmitting antenna and the reference antenna while generating superimposed transmission signals and capture of a power value of the superimposed transmission signals received by the active antenna;a sequence of at least three method steps ST1, ST2, ST3 is carried out in any order and in any combination, with at least one method step ST1, ST2, ST3 being carried out multiple times, wherein the sequence of the at least three method steps ST1, ST2, ST3 always comprises the method step ST3 at least once. Because the method step ST3 is carried out at least once, the phase can be determined with the aid of at least three measured power values. The required magnitude can be determined directly when ST1 is carried out or with the aid of the three measured power values, if ST1 is not carried out.
The measuring device for determining the power values of a signal received by an active antenna for calculation of the magnitude and phase comprises the features already mentioned. Such a measuring device also comprises a reference antenna in addition to at least one transmitting antenna, wherein the reference antenna, as already explained, is disposed at a fixed unchangeable distance and direction with respect to the active antenna. Moreover, the measuring device comprises a signal generator which can generate the transmission signal. In this case the signal generator is preferably connected both to the at least one transmitting antenna and also to the reference antenna. Furthermore, the measuring device has a control unit which is designed in such a way that it can carry out the following method steps:    ST1: only transmission of the transmission signal by the at least one transmitting antenna and capture of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna;    ST2: only transmission of the transmission signal by the reference antenna and capture of a power value of the transmission signal received by the active antenna;    ST3: simultaneous transmission of the transmission signal by means of the at least one transmitting antenna and the reference antenna while generating superimposed transmission signals and capture of a power value of the superimposed transmission signals received by the active antenna.
Furthermore, the control unit is designed so that a sequence of at least three method steps ST1, ST2, ST3 is carried out in any order and in any combination, with at least one method step ST1, ST2, ST3 being carried out multiple times, wherein the sequence of the at least three method steps ST1, ST2, ST3 always comprises the method step ST3 at least once.
Furthermore, the method according to the invention and the measuring device according to the invention put the sequences in concrete terms in such a way that the corresponding following method steps are carried out in any order for each of the sequences a), b), c) described by way of example. The method step ST1 or ST2 is carried out within the sequence a). The method ST3 is also carried out which is repeated as often as required until at least three power values are captured. The method steps ST1, ST2 and ST3 are carried out within the sequence b). In the sequence c) the method step ST3 is carried out as often as required until at least three power values are captured. These sequences a), b), c) with their respective method steps enable the calculation of power values, with which the required magnitude and the required phase can be determined in a very simple manner.
The method according to the invention and the measuring device according to the invention describe the sequences a), b) and c) in greater detail below. Moreover, in the sequence a) a phase controller and/or amplitude controller is advantageously also used, or the measuring device advantageously also has such a phase controller and/or amplitude controller. After the method step ST3 has been carried out, a phase change is carried out between the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna and/or an amplitude change of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or of the transmission signal on the reference antenna is carried out. After this the method steps ST3 and the phase change and/or amplitude change are carried out again until at least one power value in each case is captured for at least two different phase values between the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna and/or for at least two different amplitude values of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or of the transmission signal on the reference antenna. Thus with the captured power values from the method step ST1 or ST2 three power values are provided. By means of the at least three power values it is possible to calculate the phase difference on the active antenna between the transmission signal which was transmitted by the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal which was transmitted by the reference antenna. The magnitude of the transmission signal which was transmitted by the at least one transmitting antenna and was received by the active antenna can also be easily determined. This signal is either taken directly from the measured power value from the method step ST1, if this was carried out, or it is calculated from the at least three power values, of which at least two have been determined from the superimposed transmission signal.
Within the sequence b) it is only made clear that the phase is calculated from the at least three power values and that the magnitude is determined from the measured output in the method step ST1.
Likewise, in the sequence c) a phase controller and/or amplitude controller is advantageously used, or the measuring device advantageously also has such a phase controller and/or amplitude controller. After the method step ST3 has been carried out, a phase change is carried out between the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna and/or an amplitude change of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or of the transmission signal on the reference antenna is carried out. After this the method steps ST3 and the phase change and/or amplitude change are carried out again until at least one power value in each case is captured for at least two different phase values between the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna and/or for at least three different amplitude values of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or of the transmission signal on the reference antenna. The required phase and the required magnitude are determined by means of the at least three power values.
Moreover, an advantage according to the invention is provided when in the method and in the measuring device the capture of the power and the phase change and/or amplitude change are carried out one after the other as often as required until at least one power value in each case is captured for at least three or at least four different phase values between the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna and/or for at least three different amplitude values of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or of the transmission signal on the reference antenna. This enables a reliable determination of the phase also in the event that the amplitude of the two transmission signals has a markedly different level.
Moreover, it is particularly advantageous if the method and the measuring device are capable of turning and/or moving a unit which is formed by the active antenna and the reference antenna jointly relative to the at least one transmitting antenna. In this case different reception directions, that is to say different solid angles, can be measured. It is important that the reference antenna and the active antenna do not rotate and/or move with respect to one another. Furthermore the method and the measuring device can repeat the previous method steps, so that the magnitude and the phase can be determined for a different solid angle. In this case it is particularly advantageous if both the azimuth angle and also the angle of elevation of the unit formed by the active antenna and the reference antenna are turned and/or moved relative to the at least one transmitting antenna. In this case all solid angles of the active antenna can be measured. The active antenna can therefore be swiveled in two axes of rotation.
The method and the measuring device are then capable of rotating the active antenna together with the reference antenna until the magnitude and the phase have been determined for all solid angles or until the magnitude and the phase have been determined only for the required solid angles.
Both for the measuring device and also for the method it is particularly advantageous if four successive phase changes of 0°, Δ°, 2·Δ° and 3·Δ°, wherein Δ° is in the range between 80° and 100° and preferably corresponds to 90°, are applied between the transmission signal of the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal on the reference antenna. An application of a further phase difference of 90° in each case can be achieved particularly simply by means of hybrids, inverters or selector switches. In this case care should be taken to ensure that, depending upon the length of the cables which are used from the RF generator to the at least one transmitting antenna and to the reference antenna, already from the outset there is a phase shift between the two transmission signals exists. Therefore the phase controller does not set a phase shift of for example exactly 90° between the transmission signal of the at least one transmitting antenna and the transmission signal of the reference antenna at the location of the active antenna, but only increases a possibly existing phase offset by a further 90°.
Moreover there is an advantage if within the method and within the measuring device an amplitude controller is used which is connected between the signal generator and the at least one transmitting antenna and/or between the signal generator and the reference antenna. By means of the amplitude controller it is possible to set the amplitude of the transmission signal on the at least one transmitting antenna and/or the amplitude of the transmission signal on the reference antenna in such a way that the power of the transmission signal of the at least one transmitting antenna corresponds approximately to the power of the transmission signal of the reference antenna on the active antenna. Therefore the power levels of both transmission signals on the active antenna are preferably the same. However, it is sufficient if the power of a transmission signal is less than 20 times as high, preferably less than ten times as high, or more preferably less than five times as high, or more preferably less than twice as high, as the power of the other transmission signal. In this case the phase for a solid angle can be calculated particularly accurately.
Furthermore in the method according to the invention and in the measuring device according to the invention it is advantageous if the at least one transmitting antenna and/or the reference antenna transmit a modulated or unmodulated transmission signal. This also makes it possible to measure active antennas which only operate with modulates signals.
Ultimately in the method according to the invention and in the measuring device according to the invention it is advantageous if the reference antenna is disposed particularly close to the active antenna, the distance between them being in particular less than 100 cm, preferably less than 50 cm, more preferably less than 25 cm and more preferably less than 10 cm.

Near field measurement of active antenna systems


An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of transmitting information of a heavy equipment vehicle for construction, in which a plurality of slave vehicles having slave communication equipment mounted thereon, master communication equipment capable of communicating with the slave communication equipment of each slave vehicle or a master vehicle having the master communication equipment mounted thereon, and a server capable of communicating with the master communication equipment are provided, and information of each slave vehicle is transmitted to the server through each piece of the slave communication equipment and the master communication equipment, and control information of the server is transmitted to each slave vehicle through the master communication equipment and each piece of slave communication equipment.

In general, a heavy equipment vehicle for construction includes communication equipment capable of communicating with a server, such as a wireless communication terminal, and directly transmits various information including position information to the server by using mobile communication (GSM, CDMA, and the like) and satellite communication and directly receives necessary information from the server.
Accordingly, as the number of heavy equipment vehicles for construction is increased, purchase cost, mounting cost, and communication cost of the communication equipment are proportionally increased.
That is, in a case where communication equipment, which is capable of independently communicating with a server, is mounted on all of the plurality of heavy equipment vehicles for construction operated at a construction site, communication equipment cost is increased, and various communication costs including communication subscription cost, communication opening costs, and communication use costs are also increased.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Method for transmitting information of heavy equipment vehicle for construction


A blade or a vane component of a turbomachine includes an inner space between two opposite inner walls of the component, and a plurality of ribs projecting from the two opposite inner wall forming a plurality of channels on each of the two opposite inner walls to guide the cooling fluid towards the trailing edge. The inner space is divided into a leading section towards the leading edge of the component and a trailing section towards the trailing edge of the component. The ribs are arranged in the leading section. A plurality of pin-fins projecting from the two opposite inner walls is arranged in the trailing section in a discrete manner.

In modern day turbomachines, various components of the turbomachine operate at very high temperatures. These components include the blade or vane component, which are in shape of an aerofoil. The high operating temperatures may melt the vane or the blade component, hence cooling of these components is important. Cooling of these components is generally achieved by passing a cooling fluid that may include air from a compressor of the turbomachine through a core passage way cast into the blade or vane component.
It is known from the US patent application publication no. 2007/0172354A1 to provide cooling for such a component, which includes an inner space defined by two opposite walls. A plurality of first ribs and second ribs project from the two opposite walls to form a plurality of channels to guide the cooling fluid towards the trailing edge of the component. The matrix arrangement of ribs in the blade or vane component helps in feeding the cooling fluid from different directions which provides efficient cooling. However, the matrix arrangement provides a less effective cooling and also leads to reduced flow capacity because of smaller flow area at the trailing edge, which should be as thin as possible to provide better aerodynamic performance. In addition, the matrix arrangement of ribs which involves fine features is difficult to cast due to the thin cross-section at the trailing edge of the component.


A one-piece molded hanging plant saucer includes three pairs of opposed hook arms connected to a bowl-shaped base. Each pair of hook arms is formed by the frictional interengagement of two arms extending vertically from a living hinge formed at an extension of a generally circular planar lip extending outwardly around the upper periphery of the base. Each pair of interconnected hook arms provides a double thickness of material to increase strength of support for the hanging plant saucer. As manufactured in the molded condition, the hook arms are generally co-planar with the planar lip so that multiple saucers are readily stackable.

The appearance of homes, gardens, office atriums and other public places are enhanced by the appearance of hanging plants. These plants are usually suspended by a wire or chain to an elevated position above the floor.
Hanging plants located in a pot must include bottom surface openings for the drainage of excess water, so as to prevent a collection of water at the bottom of the plant pot which can cause deleterious effects to the root system of the plant. Therefore, when watering hanging plants, unless an exact amount of moisture is added to the soil, sufficient to only saturate the soil, the hanging plants have a tendency to leak excess water through the bottom openings of the pot. A hanging plant saucer is therefore usually provided underneath the pot to retain excess water and prevent damage to a floor or other objects located below the hanging plant.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an attractive hanging plant saucer which can be suspended from the plant pot or the suspension system supporting the plant pot, so as to collect excess water draining from the hanging plant, and which can be provided to the user at a reasonable cost.


The disclosed technology is directed towards preventing a handover of a Wi-Fi call to a Fifth Generation (5G) standalone cellular network. In one alternative, a 5G standalone usage setting is disabled on a mobile device when Wi-Fi calling is enabled on the mobile device. In another alternative, a 5G standalone usage setting is disabled on a mobile device when Wi-Fi calling is enabled on the mobile device and the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi network, which facilitates camping on a 5G standalone network when the mobile device is not connected to a Wi-Fi network. In yet another alternative, a 5G standalone usage setting is disabled on a mobile device when an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) tunnel is set up on the mobile device, which similarly facilitates camping on a 5G standalone network when the ePDG tunnel is torn down.

Fifth generation standalone (5G SA) networks are in various stages of being launched. A number of issues have been discovered during testing, including in the 5G Core Access and Mobility Management Function node (AMF, which receives connection and session related data from mobile devices) and Unified Data Management node (UDM, which maintains user-related data).
These issues are being resolved. However, one such issue results in a call drop scenario due to missing network feature(s) in the 5G AMF and UDM nodes. This issue cannot be resolved in a straightforward way, as the current standards-based solution is part of the problem.

Managing mobile device voice over Wi-Fi handover


The present invention includes a process for the removal of hydrogen sulfide from hydrogen sulfide gas containing gaseous streams. In one embodiment, the process comprises feeding a sulfide ion containing solution to an oxidation unit. The method further comprises feeding an oxidizing gas to the oxidation unit and contacting the sulfide ion containing solution with the oxidizing gas under sufficient conditions to form a polysulfide solution comprising polysulfide and hydroxide ions. In addition, the process comprises mixing the polysulfide containing solution with a hydrogen sulfide gas under conditions sufficient for absorption of hydrogen sulfide and precipitation of sulfur from the polysulfide containing solution. In some embodiments, the process comprises separating the precipitated sulfur from liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of gas conversion and more specifically to the field of converting hydrogen sulfide to recover sulfur.
2. Background of the Invention
Processes for removing hydrogen sulfide from affluent gaseous and liquid streams and converting hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur have been widely used. For instance, chemical and electrochemical processes have been used to recover sulfur. One example of a chemical process is the Claus process, which is typically used for large-scale production of sulfur from hydrogen sulfide gas in a two-step method. Drawbacks of the Claus process include the tail gas containing a significant amount of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases. Moreover, the process typically has to be built on a large scale to be economically feasible. Another chemical process is thermal decomposition, which involves directly decomposing hydrogen sulfide gas into sulfur and hydrogen gas at an elevated temperature. Problems with the thermal decomposition process include inefficiencies typically involved in separating between sulfur and hydrogen gas at high temperatures. An additional chemical process includes oxidizing the hydrogen sulfide into sulfur using chemical oxidizers such as transition metal oxides and iodine. Problems involve the consumption of oxidizers that can result in the sulfur containing a metal oxidizer, which may reduce its economic value.
Electrochemical processes include electrolysis in aqueous solutions and high temperature processes. In processes involving electrolysis in aqueous solutions, a cation-conductive membrane is typically used to prevent polysulfide ions from reaching a cathode and thereby being reduced back to sulfide ions. Drawbacks include the economic costs of the membrane as well as a high consumption of energy with the process. Processes involving high temperatures involve high temperature fuel cells that have a membrane typically comprising oxygen-conductive or proton-conductive oxide material. Problems with such high temperature processes include the resulting gases from the oxygen-conductive membrane containing sulfur dioxide, and the lack of stability in the membrane and electrode with proton-conductive membranes.
Consequently, there is a need for an economical process for removing sulfur from toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Additional needs include an improved process for recovering sulfur in which the resulting gas is relatively clean of sulfur dioxide.

Electrochemical process for decomposition of hydrogen sulfide and production of sulfur


Electrical equipment comprising a cover, a circuit board, and a heatsink arranged to dissipate heat produced by the circuit board outwards from the electrical equipment, the heatsink comprising at least one free fin and at least one fastener fin, the electrical equipment being such that, when the electrical equipment is assembled, the free fin(s) extend(s) outwards from the electrical equipment without being covered by the cover, and the cover is snap-fastened to the fastener fin(s).

Numerous pieces of electrical equipment include a circuit board having installed thereon electronic components that heat up quite considerably in operation.
In such electrical equipment, a cooling device is used, e.g. a finned heatsink, in order to cool the circuit board so as to ensure that the electrical equipment operates correctly. In order to be effective, the finned heatsink must present a large area of contact with the air.
Such electrical equipment requiring a cooling device includes, in particular, certain so-called "connected objects".
Connected objects are pieces of electrical equipment that perform a certain number of functions and that are designed to communicate via a wireless network in order to be controlled by or else to exchange data with a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop computer.
Such connected objects include smart speakers, voice assistants, surveillance cameras, etc.
Connected objects often present a highly sophisticated "look", which is sometimes responsible, at least in part, for their commercial success. A connected object is thus frequently provided with a cover that may extend for example over one face of the connected object or that may surround the connected object at least in part, and that has the function not only, naturally, of protecting the inside of the connected object, but also of improving the look of the connected object.
The cover is thus a decorative part that is frequently sensitive to wear and liable to become scratched.
The cover therefore needs to be easy to install on and lock to the connected object. At the end of manufacturing the connected object, at the moment of its final assembly, this serves to limit any risk of deteriorating the cover.
Likewise, in order to limit any risk of deterioration, the cover must be easy to release and remove from the connected object during after sales service.

Electrical equipment including a cover and a heatsink


Treatment of a wet activated carbon with carbon dioxide or with carbon dioxide followed by air results in a carbon having a reduced contact pH. The activated carbon is characterized by a modified contact pH less than about 9.0 and typically between about 7.3 and 9.0. Use of this carbon in a water treatment system eliminates the excessive effluent water pH rise which commonly occurs with activated carbon. Also use of this carbon in a water treatment system reduces the aluminum concentration of the water when compared to an untreated carbon.

In the water treatment industry, whether municipal, industrial, or remediation, the continued use of standard carbon products causes the effluent pH to increase relative to the influent water pH and often the effluent water pH exceeds 9. This pH excursion occurs with virgin and reactivated carbon and is independent of the raw material. For example, pH excursions have been identified or associated with activated carbons that are made from bituminous coal, sub-bituminous coal, peat, wood, and coconut. The use of carbon having a reduced contact pH to stabilize the pH in water treatment has become available to assist in overcoming these problems, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,738, 5,368,739 and 5,466,378.
Work with these new modified activated carbons has shown that the carbon surface oxidizes at high temperatures with oxygen or air, at ambient temperature with oxygen or air, or with other oxidants such as hypochlorite, nitric acid, and ozone. With this oxidation, the surface of the activated carbon is changed such that the affinity or adsorption capacity for anions such as sulfate is reduced. The adsorption of these anions has been associated with pH excursions. Problems caused by the pH excursions include reduced throughput due to recycle of the high pH water, down time in operation of dialysis systems as the pH is brought into control, wasting water that is high in pH and does not meet the requirements of reverse osmosis systems for high purity water, and monetary fines for exceeding permitted pH levels in wastewater discharge. Historically, the high pH water is alleviated through excessive back washing of the carbon or neutralization of the water through the use of strong acids such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid or a weaker acid such as carbonic acid. These processes are both time consuming and expensive.
Specific characteristics of pH excursions have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,738, 5,368,739 and 5,466,378. In summary, the patents teach that a pH increase in the effluent water from an activated carbon water treatment system is triggered by the presence of anions such as chloride, nitrate, sulfate which occur naturally in water. The art also teaches that activated carbon characterized by a contact pH about 8.5 to 9.0 will exhibit pH excursions with water containing anions such as those stated above. Furthermore, the higher the carbon contact pH the greater the extent of the excursion. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,738 and 5,466,378 teach that the contact pH of the carbon can be reduced by oxidation at elevated temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,739 teaches that the carbon contact pH can be reduced by oxidation at or near ambient temperature.
Also, it has been observed that the aluminum concentration in the effluent water from the carbon adsorber is higher than the influent concentration. As such, the aluminum concentration may increase to levels that exceed acceptable guidelines. In these situations, as with the pH excursions, the remediation techniques such as recycling or wasting water or strong acid treatment of the activated carbon can be both time consuming and expensive.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for producing a modified activated carbon having a contact pH between 6.0 and 9.0. It is also an object of the invention to provide a process for producing a modified activated carbon to eliminate process related problems that are associated with elevated temperature oxidation, such as reduced carbon yield, and to overcome the long treatment times or high gas volumes that are associated with oxidation at or near ambient temperature. It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for producing a modified activated carbon which is highly efficient and cost effective for use in the prevention of pH excursions in water treatment systems. Finally, it is an object of the present invention to utilize the modified activated carbon to control the aluminum concentration in water treatment systems.

Activated carbon treated by carbon dioxide for the stabilization of treated water pH and the control of aluminum in the treated water


Additives can be used to prepare polymer electrolyte for membrane electrode assemblies in polymer electrolyte fuel cells in order to improve both durability and performance. The additives are chemical complexes comprising certain metal and organic ligand components.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to additives for the proton conducting polymer electrolyte used in membranes, catalyst layers, and the like in fuel cells. In particular, it relates to additives for improved durability and performance thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) convert reactants, namely fuel (such as hydrogen) and oxidant (such as oxygen or air), to generate electric power. PEMFCs generally employ a proton conducting polymer membrane electrolyte between two electrodes, namely a cathode and an anode. A structure comprising a proton conducting polymer membrane sandwiched between two electrodes is known as a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). MEA durability is one of the most important issues for the development of fuel cell systems in either stationary or transportation applications. For automotive applications, an MEA is required to demonstrate durability of about 6,000 hours.
The membrane serves as a separator to prevent mixing of reactant gases and as an electrolyte for transporting protons from anode to cathode. Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer, e.g., Nafion®, has been the material of choice and the technology standard for membranes. Nafion® consists of a perfluorinated backbone that bears pendent vinyl ether side chains, terminating with SO3H.
Failure of the membrane as an electrolyte will result in decreased performance due to increased ionic resistance, and failure of the membrane as a separator will result in fuel cell failure due to mixing of anode and cathode reactant gases. The chemical degradation of PFSA membrane during fuel cell operation is proposed to proceed via the attack of hydroxyl (—OH) or peroxyl (—OOH) radical species on weak groups (such as a carboxylic acid group) on the ionomer molecular chain. The free radicals may be generated by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with impurities (such as Fe2+) in a Fenton type reaction. In fuel cells, hydrogen peroxide can be formed either at Pt supported on carbon black in the catalyst layers or during the oxygen reduction reaction.
The hydroxyl radical attacks the polymer unstable end groups to cause chain zipping and/or could also attack an SO3− group under dry conditions to cause polymer chain scission. Both attacks degrade the membrane and eventually lead to membrane cracking, thinning or forming of pinholes. The membrane degradation rate is accelerated significantly with increasing of the operation temperature and with decreasing inlet gas relative humidity (RH).
Different additives to the membrane electrolyte have been studied for purposes of improving the performance and/or durability of the membrane. These additives include: 1) hygroscopic particles made of metal oxide, such as silica or zirconium dioxide, heteropoly acids, phosphonate silica, etc. to improve MEA performance under low RH conditions by increasing water retention (e.g. US20070154764); 2) Pt catalyst particles dispersed in the electrolyte membrane to improve membrane durability as well as membrane performance under low RH (e.g. US20070072036); 3) metal elements or compositions containing metal elements or metal alloys that act as a free radical scavenger or hydrogen peroxide decomposition catalyst (e.g. US2004043283); 4) phenol type antioxidants where the antioxidant can be a small molecule or a polymer (e.g. US2006046120); 5) organic crown compounds (e.g. US20060222921) or macrocyclic compounds containing metal or metalloids (e.g. WO2007144633); and 6) cation chelating agents to reduce formation of free radicals (e.g. U.S. 6,607,856).
Additives are also disclosed in WO2005060039 to address the problem in PEM fuel cell durability of premature failure of the ion-exchange membrane. The degradation of the ion-exchange membrane by reactive hydrogen peroxide species can be reduced or eliminated by the presence of an additive in the anode, cathode or ion-exchange membrane. The additive may be a radical scavenger, a membrane cross-linker, a hydrogen peroxide decomposition catalyst and/or a hydrogen peroxide stabilizer. The presence of the additive in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) may however result in reduced performance of the PEM fuel cell. In particular, suggested additives include an organometallic Mn(II) or Mn(III) complex having an organic ligand selected from CyDTA, ENTMP, gluconate, N,N′-bis(salicylidene)propylenediamine, porphyrins, phthalocyanines, phenanthroline, hydrazine, pyrocatechol-3,5-disulphonic acid disodium salt, triethylenetetraamine, shiff base macrocycles and EDDA.
In commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/615,671, with the title "Composite Proton Conducting Membrane with Low Degradation and Membrane Electrode Assembly for Fuel Cells" and filed on Nov. 10, 2009, certain ligand additives (e.g. 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′-bipyridine) were disclosed that meet many of these needs. The use of these ligand additives in the membrane and/or catalyst layers can improve durability but, depending on testing conditions, there may be a modest penalty in fuel cell performance (e.g. 3 times better stability might be obtained but with a 20 mV loss in voltage under load). Preferably, both durability and performance of fuel cells would be improved with appropriate additives.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved additive technology that provides additional resistance of MEAs, and specifically PFSA membranes of the MEAs, to degradation, resulting in improved MEA durability and performance under low RH in a fuel cell. This invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.

Composite proton conducting electrolyte with improved additives for fuel cells


A method for synchronizing a plurality of presentation slide content with a soundtrack comprises obtaining the plurality of presentation slide content and the soundtrack including a plurality of audio samples. The presentation slide content comprises a video or an animation in the presentation slide. Each presentation slide content is associated with a metadata and each audio sample is indexed with a corresponding timecode. The method comprises detecting triggering event that identifies a current audio sample of the soundtrack as an audio sample to transition from a first presentation slide content to a second presentation slide content, and obtaining a timecode indexed with the identified audio sample, associating the timecode with the metadata of the second presentation slide content to link the second presentation slide content with the identified audio sample, and generating a synchronized presentation multimedia file having the linked second presentation slide content with the identified audio sample.

In today's digital age, more and more businesses are utilizing multimedia presentations to create tutorials, sales presentations, and the like. Although, there are several tools to accomplish the same, the available mechanisms make the entire process of creating the multimedia presentations tedious, complex, and time-consuming. Moreover, the available tools do not provide any flexibility to the users and are difficult to change.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for synchronizing presentation slide content with soundtrack


A method includes obtaining, from a detector of an interferometry system, an interference signal based on a combination of a first beam and a reference beam, subsequent to the first beam being diffracted by an encoder scale, obtaining, through an electronic processor, an error compensation signal based on a non-harmonic cyclic error that modifies the interference signal, and outputting information about a change in a position of the encoder scale relative to an optical assembly of the interferometry system based on the interference signal and the error compensation signal.

Interferometric measuring systems can be used to monitor changes in the relative position of a measurement object based on an optical interference signal. For example, an interferometer generates the optical interference signal by overlapping and interfering a "measurement beam" that interacts with (e.g., reflects from) from the measurement object with a second beam, sometimes called a "reference beam" that does not interact with the measurement object. Changes in the relative position of the measurement object correspond to changes in the phase of the measured optical interference signal.
However, many interferometric measuring systems include nonlinearities such as what are known as "cyclic errors." The cyclic errors can be expressed as contributions to the phase and/or the intensity of the measured interference signal and have a sinusoidal dependence on the change in an optical path difference between the measurement beam and the second beam. The cyclic errors can be produced as a result of "beam mixing" (where a portion of an input beam that nominally forms the reference beam propagates along a measurement path and/or vice versa) and imperfections in interferometer components (e.g., retro-reflectors and phase retardation plates). In some cases, non-harmonic cyclic errors ("Ce Nh") are produced when a portion of the measurement beam and/or reference beam makes one or more passes through a partial measurement beam path. These cyclic errors have a frequency shift (i.e., the "Doppler" frequency) that is a non-integer multiple of the frequency difference between the components of the original input beam.
Another type of cyclic error includes the axis-dependent cyclic error ("CE Ad"). Axis-dependent cyclic errors may occur with changes in the relative position of the measurement object along multiple axes of motion. These cyclic errors have a cyclic error frequency ratio (i.e., ratio of cyclic error frequency shift to Doppler frequency) that is axis-dependent. For example, a different cyclic error frequency ratio may occur depending on whether the relative motion of the measurement object is along the X or Z direction. Both non-harmonic and axis-dependent cyclic errors can cause errors that are substantially larger in interferometric encoder systems compared to other types of interferometers. For example, a given cyclic error signal ratio can result in a larger position error (e.g., about three times as large) because the grating period of an encoder scale is generally coarser than the interference period of a comparable non-encoder based interferometer. Increased errors also can occur due to the reduced contrast (i.e., the ratio of time varying "AC" component of the interferometry signal relative to the background "DC" component of the interferometry signal) of interferometric encoder systems relative to other comparable interferometers.
In general, electronic compensation cannot correct for cyclic errors having non-harmonic or axis-dependent characteristics. Conventional methods of electronic compensation generate integer harmonics of the Doppler signal with simple trigonometric manipulations, and cannot compensate non-harmonic cyclic errors. Conventional methods of electronic compensation process signals from a single axis without consideration of other axes, and cannot compensate axis-dependent cyclic errors. Although filtering of CE Nh and CE Ad errors can be used in place of electronic compensation while the measurement object is in motion, filtering fails to correct for such errors during applications in which the speed of the relative motion is low, e.g., during alignment.

Non-harmonic cyclic error compensation in interferometric encoder systems


A modular work station has spaced uprights that support a work surface, and a divider panel extending between the uprights. A communication cable channel extends between the uprights and has a passageway accessible for laying in a communication or other type of cable. At least one of the uprights has a recess that opens to an edge of the upright and aligns with the passageway in the communication cable channel such that a communication cable can extend through the recess to an adjacent modular work station. A cover member covers the opening in the upright channel to ensure that the cable is enclosed and yet can be laid in without threading it through openings in such uprights.

The present invention relates to a cable channel for use in modular office systems, that permits cabling for communications, data and the like, primarily, to be merely laid in place without the need for threading the cable through ports or openings in upright supports for the modular components.
A number of modular systems have been designed for use in offices, which provide private work stations, separated by partitions, which are supported by spaced upright members. Communication cabling in such modular work stations generally has to be threaded through openings in the uprights. In some instances, cables also must be threaded through apertures or openings in a protective channel.
Office panels provided with a top lay in cable passageway, near the upper edge of the panels, are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,007. The cable channels are up out of reach and do not form a convenient location for mounting communication outlets or jacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,333 shows a cable, such as an information bus or power supply, that can be positioned through notches in upright supports for cabinets, with a bolt on cover over the notch. This is generally for providing ingress to and egress from a cabinet wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,890 discloses a frame work to which decorative covers are secured, and it is designed so that communication cables can be installed in the framework and supported on clips to pass around the upright supports.

Lay in cable channel for modular office systems


A hermetically packaged integrated optical circuit includes an integrated optical circuit and a hermetically sealed container, which defines a volume. The integrated optical circuit is secured within the volume. The hermetically packaged integrated optical circuit further includes a fill gas comprising oxygen disposed within the volume of the hermetically sealed container.

Integrated optical circuits ("IOCs") use optical waveguides on solid substrates to conduct and process optical signals. IOCs are used for a variety of applications, including in fiber optic gyroscopes ("FOGs"). A FOG uses light interference to detect the rotational motion of a body. FOGs are highly reliable and can provide precise rotational rate information. IOCs for use in FOGs consist primarily of an optical waveguide Y-junction and an electro-optical phase modulator, and are often constructed using lithium niobate single crystal substrates with Annealed Proton Exchange ("APE") waveguides. The APE waveguides are highly polarizing, which eliminates the need for a separate polarizer component in the FOG architecture.
FOGs are especially attractive for satellite pointing applications because of the low noise levels that can be achieved. However, performance degradation in orbit, which can be attributed to vacuum exposure of the APE lithium niobate integrated optical circuits, has been experienced in some early systems. Vacuum exposure can increase the electrical conductivity of the APE lithium niobate surface, which non-linearly decreases the electro-optic phase modulator efficiency and introduces noise into the FOG rate measurement.
Previous attempts to provide IOCs which are useful in a vacuum environment have not been successful. For example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0135610 to Honeywell International Inc. addressed the issue of vacuum exposure of the APE by using a vacuum insensitive titanium in-diffused waveguide for the electro-optic phase modulator function, while retaining sufficient APE waveguide optical path length on a separate chip to provide the needed polarization extinction ratio. However, due to the number of fiber-to-chip pigtail connections used, the overall optical loss of this stitched system is increased, which decreases gyroscope performance. In addition, U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0116421 to Honeywell International Inc. addressed the same problem by using a reactive gas protective coating on the vacuum sensitive surface of the IOC. However, this reactive gas coating loses effectiveness at the elevated temperatures needed for some important applications, including satellite applications.

Hermetically packaged LiNbO3 optical circuit with oxidizing fill gas


Methods and apparatus for communicating information to a visitor of a site, e.g., a theme park, historical site, zoo, etc., providing mementoes of the visit and/or communicating information encouraging future, e.g., repeat, visits are described. In various embodiments costumed characters, vending carts and/or other items of interest may move around a site and thus be at different locations at different times of the day. In some embodiments beacon transmitters are inserted in the costumes of the characters, on the vending carts and/or on other moveable items. Each beacon transmitter transmits a unique wireless signal.

In visiting sites such as theme parks, historical cites, zoos and/or other locations with attractions, shows, displays, rides and or other things of interest such as particular shows, the individuals visiting the site may have trouble locating the items of interest which may be spread out over an unfamiliar geographic area. Similar problems occur when an individual visits a site for an event such as a wedding, concert or even funeral.
Often small paper maps showing landmarks are handed out to visitors to facilitate their movement while at an event or site. However, visitors often find such maps difficult to use for a variety of reasons. One reason is that a visitor often has difficulty determining his/her location at the site on the map. Another problem is that particular things of interest may not be fixed to a particular location, e.g., because the thing of interest moves around at the site. Examples of things of interest that may move include costumed characters as well as moveable vending carts. For example, while rides, animal exhibits and/or theaters may be at fixed locations costumed characters may move throughout a theme park and/or vending carts may be positioned at different locations during different portions of the day based on expected foot traffic in an area.
It would be helpful if methods and/or apparatus could be developed which could be used to help visitors find things of particular interest, including locating moving things of interest such as costumed characters and/or navigate around a site being visited.
While locating things of interest at a site, some of which may move throughout a day, visitors also seek to obtain information about things of interest. It would be desirable if there were methods and/or apparatus which could help visitors locate and navigate to one or more items of interest at a site.
While finding a thing of interest while visiting a site presents one set of challenges, individuals often like to document a visit to a site such as a theme park or collect mementos of a visit. While in some cases the mementos are physical items such as a printed photo book or physical pins, in the current electronic age individuals are often happy to collect electronic mementos of a visit to a site such as a theme park, zoo and/or historical site. For example, visitors, especially children, visiting a theme park may seek to collect signatures of costumed characters they meet at theme park and/or photos of characters they encounter. Photos may be take with the costumed character and, optionally, sold to the visitor as a memento.
Unfortunately, not only may a visitor have trouble locating a costumed character at a theme park they may also have trouble getting close enough to get the costumed character's signature due to crowds, long lines or other reasons. Accordingly, a visitor to a park seeking to collect signed photos of various costumed characters may have difficulty obtaining one or more signed photos even though they may get close enough to see the costumed character. In addition, while a child might be willing to wait in a long line to get a signed photo of a costumed character, the parent and/or friends with the child might not be so willing to wait.
It would be desirable if a way of providing a signed photo or other memento of a character could be provided to a visitor in proximity to a customer character without requiring the visitor to wait in a long line and/or have physical contact with the visitor.
While providing information about the location of items of interest and providing of mementos can be important, it is also desirable to encourage repeat visits to a theme park or other site to encourage further exploration and/or use of the facilitates.
Accordingly, not only is it desirable to provide current information and mementos of a visit to a site such as a historical site or theme park it would also be desirable if methods and apparatus could be developed which would allow for the communication of information about future events at the site or which would encourage repeat visits to the site, e.g., months or years apart from an initial visit.
In view of the above, it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and/or apparatus which could address one or more of the above discussed problems.

Methods and apparatus for communicating and/or storing information to enhance experiences relating to visits to sites such as theme parks, zoos and/or other places of interest


A chip-to-chip signal transmission system is provided, which includes a first chip, a second chip, and a dielectric layer. A signal transmission is performed between a transmitter of the first chip and a receiver of the second chip through a transmission-metal-pad unit and a receiving-metal-pad unit. The transmitter transmits a transmission-testing-coupling signal through the transmission-metal-pad unit according to a driving-testing signal when the transmitter receives the driving-testing signal. A first testing unit receives the transmission-testing-coupling signal and outputs a transmission-testing signal according to the transmission-testing-coupling signal. A second testing unit transmits a receiving-testing-coupling signal through the receiving-metal-pad unit according to the driving-testing signal when the second testing unit receives the driving-testing signal. The receiver receives the receiving-testing-coupling signal and outputs a receiving-testing signal according to the receiving-testing-coupling signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a capacitive coupling chip-to-chip signal transmission system and particularly relates to a capacitive coupling chip-to-chip signal transmission system and a chip-to-chip capacitive coupling transmission circuit capable of self testing.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of miniaturization and decreasing production costs of electronic products, IC chip miniaturization and three-dimensional stack packaging have become an important trend in the development of semiconductor technology. 3D die stacking is an emerging technology that reduces the wire length both within and across dies in a system. With 3D die stacking, dies of different types can be stacked with a high bandwidth, low latency, and low power interface. 3D (three-dimensional) IC stack technology will be an effective solution to the problems of serious delay and power consumption. 3D ICs promise "more than Moore" integration by packing a great deal of functionality into small form factors, while improving performance and reducing costs.
In the current technology for integrating 3D IC, the fabrication of vertical conduction between chips is a new technique for achieving chip interconnection. The methods for integrating the signal transmission between stack chips include wire bonding, micro-bumps, through silicon via (TSV), and contactless interconnect such as capacitive-coupling, and inductive-coupling. The 3D stack techniques not only achieve high I/O density but also satisfy the demand for high-speed transmission and low power consumption.
Among these techniques, the most common one is TSV technology. Major semiconductor manufacturers in the world are investing a lot in developing through silicon via (TSV) fabrication technology for 3D IC in an attempt to package various digital logics, memories, or analog chip circuit into one single package, so as to greatly improve system functionality and speed. Different from the conventional IC package bonding and salient point stacking technology, TSV technology achieves the greatest density of stacking chips in three-dimensional directions, has the smallest size, improves the speed of the devices, reduces signal delay, and suppresses power consumption. Therefore, TSV is the key technology for 3D IC integration. The more the stack layers are, the more powerful the functions of IC become.
However, TSV 3D IC faces technical problems related to wafer thinning, chip stack, and heat dissipation processing. In addition, as TSV 3D IC technology continues to advance and be applied to actual fabrication, more problems about details of the front-end and back-end IC fabrication processes are revealed. The major disadvantages thereof are high production costs and low yield rate. For example, the silicon substrates may be affected by the mechanical force of drilling, which lowers the yield rate of the chips.
In addition, for non-contact capacitive coupling or capacitive coupling chip communication, the main concept of AC coupled interconnect (ACCI) is that connection of DC electrical components is not required in case of high-frequency transmission, and the signal transmission can be completed simply by a good communication link. Capacitive coupling interconnection is a wireless chip-to-chip connection technology, and this technology utilizes capacitive coupling to transit signals from one chip to a neighboring chip. Moreover, the circuit design for a capacitive coupling chip transmission terminal is simpler and only requires sufficient driving and small coupling capacitive area. Thus, it is suitable for the integration of multiple chips. Capacitive coupling interconnection has advantages such as smaller area usage, higher I/O density, lower delay, lower power consumption of chip-to-chip I/O capability, and high performance, make it possible for forming a 3D package with high performance and economic efficiency.
However, for AC coupling interconnection, the circuit design of package is very important. The circuit and transmission method of AC coupling interconnection are related to the recovery accuracy of the transmitted signals. Thus, design issues such as I/O signal integrity needs to be overcome. On the other hand, for capacitive coupling interconnection technology, a testing method thereof cannot be achieved in the conventional 3D IC technology yet.

Chip-to-chip signal transmission system and chip-to-chip capacitive coupling transmission circuit


A stereophonic device for headphones to which a monophonic signal or a stereophonic signal is inputted comprises an uncorrelating processing unit for reducing the correlation between two signals obtained by dividing the inputted monophonic signal into two channels or two signals constituting the inputted stereophonic signal, a reflected sound adding processing unit for adding a reflected sound, and a sound image localizing processing unit for controlling the position where a sound image is localized.

When music is reproduced using normal headphones, a sound image is localized in the head of a listener (in-head localization), so that a sound field having a spreading feeling cannot be reproduced.
An object of the present invention is to provide a stereophonic device for headphones in which a sound field having a spreading feeling can be reproduced and an audio signal processing program.

Stereophonic device for headphones and audio signal processing program


A semiconductor device 100 comprises a silicon substrate 102, an N-type MOSFET 118 including a high concentration-high dielectric constant film 108b formed on the silicon substrate 102 and a polycrystalline silicon film 114, and a P-type MOSFET 120 including a low concentration-high dielectric constant film 108a and a polycrystalline silicon film 114 formed on the semiconductor substrate 102 to be juxtaposed to the N-type MOSFET 118. The low concentration-high dielectric constant film 108a and the high concentration-high dielectric constant film 108b are composed of a material containing one or more element (s) selected from a group consisting of Hf and Zr. The concentration of the above-described metallic element contained in the low concentration-high dielectric constant film 108a is lower than that contained in the high concentration-high dielectric constant film 108b.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising an N-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and a P-type MOSFET both containing high dielectric constant films.
2. Related Art
In recent years, the utilization of a thin film having high dielectric constant called high-k as a component material for the semiconductor devices is actively investigated. Typical high-k material includes oxides of elements such as Zr, Hf and the like. The use of such materials for a gate insulating film of a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) reduces a silicon oxide-conversion electrical thickness, even though the physical thickness of the gate insulating film is increased to a certain level, thereby providing a physically and structurally stable gate insulating film. Thus, both or either one of an increase of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacity for enhancing characteristics of MOSFET and a reduction of gate leakage current as compared with a conventional case of employing silicon oxide can be achieved.
Japanese Laid-open patent publication No. 2002-280,461 discloses a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device including an N-type MOSFET and a P-type MOSFET employing such high-k material. The N-type MOSFET and the P-type MOSFET include a gate insulating film composed of a low dielectric constant film such as silicon oxide film and the like and a high dielectric constant film, and a gate electrode composed of a polycrystalline silicon or the like. The gate electrode is disposed so as to contact with the high dielectric constant film of the gate insulating film.
However, a comprehension is obtained according to the recent study, in which a phenomenon called Fermi level pinning is caused when the gate insulating film is composed of a high-k film and the gate electrode is composed of a polycrystalline silicon (C. Hobbs et al., entitled "Fermi Level Pinning at the PolySi/Metal Oxide Interface", 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers). It is considered that Fermi level pinning is caused when an energy level is created on the basis of chemical bonding of silicon with the above-described metal for composing the high-dielectric constant film being diffused through the polycrystalline silicon that composes the gate electrode, in vicinity of an interface on the side of the gate insulating film in the gate electrode.
When the metal composing the high dielectric constant film is diffused into the polycrystalline silicon of the gate electrode of the MOSFET, a depletion layer is created in the polycrystalline silicon in vicinity of an interface thereof with the gate insulating film. Fermi level pinning is occurred due to an influence of such depletion layer, and thus sufficient electrical field cannot be applied to the gate insulating film even though a gate voltage is applied, and eventually it becomes difficult to induce enough amount of carrier in the channel region. As a result, a problem is arisen, in which a threshold voltage is increased, and further a fluctuation in the threshold voltage is also increased.
Such Fermi level pinning is easy to be occurred in a P-type MOSFET that includes a gate electrode composed of a polycrystalline silicon containing a P-type impurity, in particular in a case of employing Hf and/or Zr for the high dielectric constant film.
In the meantime, high dielectric constant films having same composition and same film thickness are employed for gate insulating films of the N-type MOSFET and the P-type MOSFET, which respectively constitute internal circuits of LSI in conventional CMOS devices.
In order to improve the MOSFET characteristics by increasing the dielectric constant of the high dielectric constant film, it is preferable to have higher concentration of the metal such as Hf or Zr.
On the other hand, a threshold voltage for a P-type MOSFET employing a high dielectric constant film containing a specific element such as Hf, Zr and the like is increased, since a diffusion of a metal such as Hf or Zr causes Fermi level pinning in the P-type MOSFET as described above, and is eventually increased to a level that provides a difficult situation in establishing a desired threshold voltage by adjusting density of an impurity in the Si substrate.


An improved method for attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe is provided The improved method comprises forming a patterned adhesive layer on a side of a semiconductor wafer prior to singulation of the dies from the wafer. The adhesive layer is patterned such that wire bonding pads on the dies, as well as the streets between the dies, are free of adhesive material The adhesive layer may be deposited and patterned using a hot or cold screen printing process, by depositing and photopatterning a photosensitive adhesive, or using a resist etch back method. During a packaging process for attaching a die to a leadframe, the adhesive layer is heated and the lead fingers of the leadframe are placed in contact with the die under pressure. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the lead fingers, rather than a side of the dies, are coated with an adhesive layer.

In semiconductor manufacture, a single semiconductor die (or chip) is typically mounted within a sealed package. In general, the package protects the die from damage (e.g. breakage, physical abuse) and from contaminants in the surrounding environment (e.g. moisture, chemicals) In addition, the package provides a substantial lead system for connecting the electrical devices formed on the die to a printed circuit board or other external circuitry.
Each die has a lower surface (also referred to as the back of the die) that is devoid of circuitry, and an upper surface (also referred to as the face of the die) having integrated circuitry constructed thereon The integrated circuitry is electrically accessible via die wire bonding pads which may be arranged in a variety of configurations on the face or edges of the die.
Typically the initial component in the packaging process is a leadframe. The leadframe is a metal frame which supports several dies for packaging and provides the leads for the final semiconductor package A typical leadframe strip is produced from metal sheet stock (e.g. a copper alloy) and is adapted to mount several semiconductor dies. During a conventional packaging process, each die is attached to a mounting paddle of the leadframe utilizing an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is typically formed of an epoxy, acrylic, silicone, or polyimide material that is sandwiched between the bottom of the die and the mounting paddle.
Also, during the packaging process, the bond pads formed on the die are electrically connected to the leads of the leadframe using fine bond wires. Following the application of a polyimide protective layer to the face of the die, it, and a portion of the leadframe to which it is attached, is encapsulated in a plastic material, as are all other die-leadframe assemblies on the leadframe strip. After encapsulation, a trim and form operation separates the resultant interconnected packages and bends the leads of each package into the proper configuration.
Recent advances in semiconductor manufacture have led to higher circuit densities and improved packaging technologies. Some high density circuits, such as 16 mega bit memory devices, use the newly developed lead-on-chip (LOC) packaging technology. A lead-on-chip (LOC) semiconductor package is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,245 to Pashby et al, which is assigned to IBM.
In general, a lead-on-chip (LOC) die is formed without a mounting paddle for the die. The lead fingers of the leadframe not only electrically attach to the bond pads via the bond wires but also adhere to the face of the die and support the die during the encapsulation process. Prior to the encapsulation process, the die, in effect, is mounted to the lower surfaces of the lead fingers. This configuration provides superior heat transfer from the die and shortens the length of the bond wires. In addition, this configuration enhances the reliability of the package seal.
A common method of attaching and wire bonding a LOC die to a LOC leadframe is known as area wire bonding or A-wire bonding. A conventional automated A-wire bonding process includes several process steps. Initially, for attaching the die to the lead fingers of the leadframe, an adhesive tape having a thermoset adhesive on both sides is attached to the underside of the leadframe fingers. The face of the die is then attached to the adhesive tape using heat and pressure. An oven is then used to cure the adhesive tape. After the tape is cured, the leadframe is transferred to a wirebonder machine where the bond wires are connected to the bond pads of the die and to the lead fingers of the leadframe. Via holes in the adhesive tape allow the bond wires to be attached to the bond pads on the die.
In general, the A-wire process is an expensive and complicated manufacturing process. In particular, the adhesive tape is an expensive component which adds to the manufacturing costs of the packaged chip. In addition, with the A-wire process an accurately cut piece of adhesive tape must be precisely attached to the leadframe fingers for each die. This is a delicate process and requires a precise indexing of the die and a precise alignment of the adhesive tape with the die, and with the lead fingers. Moreover, any warpage of the adhesive tape during attachment to the leadframe fingers may cause voids and adhesion problems during attachment of the die.
The A-wire process also requires that different sized tape widths and different sized tape punches for each die size be stocked by a semiconductor manufacturer. This also adds to the expense and complexity of the process. Furthermore, after the adhesive tape is punched out, a large amount of tape is wasted by the process.
In view of the foregoing limitations in the packaging of LOC dies, there is a need in the semiconductor art for an improved method for attaching semiconductor dies and particularly LOC dies to a leadframe. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe during a chip packaging or encapsulation process. It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method for attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe in which an adhesive thermoplastic tape is not required It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved method for attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe that is effective, inexpensive and adaptable to large scale semiconductor manufacture.

Method for attaching a semiconductor die to a leadframe using a patterned adhesive layer


A method for determining an improved position fix by performing postprocessing on a realtime differentially corrected GPS position. A remote rover unit containing a GPS receiver is used to determine a differentially corrected position according to measured pseudoranges and realtime pseudorange correction vectors is broadcast by a base station. The rover unit applies realtime corrections to measurements to determine a more accurate realtime differential position. It then stores the realtime differential position and the realtime pseudorange correction vector. Subsequently, postprocessing is performed to determine a postprocessed pseudorange correction vector. A difference vector representing the difference between the realtime pseudorange correction vector and the postprocessed pseudorange correction vector is then determined. This difference vector is applied to the realtime differential position to calculate a more accurate, improved position fix. This same process can be applied to determine velocities as well.

GPS has been widely adopted in the fields of navigation and positioning. Through GPS, extremely accurate three-dimensional position, velocity, and timing information can be attained by users equipped with GPS receivers anywhere in the world. Basically, a constellation of orbiting GPS satellites continuously broadcasts encoded signals back to earth. Each of the twenty-four GPS satellites transmits its encoded signal containing relevant identification, position, and time information. A ground-based or airborne GPS receiver is then used to pick up and process the encoded signals received from a number of these GPS satellites. Based on the received GPS information, the receiver can obtain a position fix with an accuracy of approximately ten meters in each axis.
Although a ten-meter level of accuracy is exceptional in light of the relative distances involved, there are many applications, such as collision avoidance, surveying, mapping, tracking, etc., which require a much higher degree of accuracy. One technique for improving the accuracy is known as "differential" GPS. In differential GPS, a base station or beacon is placed at a known position (e.g., as determined by traditional surveying techniques). A GPS receiver housed within the base station measures its position based on GPS signals received from the satellites. Since the true position of the base station is already known, the differences between the measured versus the actual position can easily be determined. This difference represents the aggregate errors attributable to various natural, uncontrollable sources (e.g., satellite clock error, ephemeris error, tropospheric and ionospheric delay error, noise/quantization error. Once these errors have been determined, their effects can be minimized by applying realtime corrections. The base station continuously calculates and broadcasts updated realtime corrections. Assuming that a nearby remote "roving" GPS receiver also experiences similar errors, it can compensate for these errors by adjusting its measurements according to the realtime correction information received from a nearby base station or beacon. With standard real time differential GPS, position accuracies of 1-5 meters can be attained. A more detailed description of differential GPS is given by Blackwell, Overview of Differential GPS Methods, Navigation: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 32, No. 2, Summer 1985, pp 114-125 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,523,763 and 5,495,257.
Unfortunately, there are several limitations associated with differential GPS. One main limitation is the fact that the base stations are required to have a data transmission link with a speed of data transmission at a certain baud rate set forth in a defined specification. By today's standards, the specified baud rate appears to be quite low; however, it is well-established and universally adopted. This specified baud rate is insufficient and does not have the capacity to transmit the amount of differential correction information associated with the multitude of satellites necessary for maximum error compensation. Furthermore, it takes time for the base station to process and update the differential correction information, resulting in transmission delays. In addition, other errors, such as interpolation, ionospheric and tropospheric propagation errors, base station receiver errors, synchronization and other timing errors, may exist.
In order to minimize these errors, a technique known as "postprocessed" GPS was developed. With conventional postprocessed GPS, the measurement data gathered in realtime in the field by a roving GPS receiver is brought back to a central office and downloaded to a computer system. The computer system has access to a large database containing comprehensive GPS information relating to a number of base stations. Specially designed software compiles all of this information and applies rigorous processing to the downloaded data gathered in realtime. After performing iterative processing, postprocessed corrected position fixes are determined. In this manner, many of the latencies and timing errors associated with differential GPS are minimized, resulting in accuracies in the range of approximately less than 1 meter.
Although conventional post-processed GPS is extremely accurate, it suffers from several drawbacks. First, full measurement data are typically logged. This requires a high-capacity disk drive for storing the large amount of data or other forms of media are used--Ram, Flash memory, etc. Otherwise, the user would be required to make many trips back and forth to the field. Another disadvantage is that since full post-processing requires iterative recomputation of complete position/velocity fixes, a lengthy amount of time is expended and expensive, sophisticated computing resources are required.
In light of these and other problems, there is a need for a fast, efficient, and yet highly accurate method for determining post-processed positions/velocities. The present invention provides one solution, whereby the accuracies of differential GPS positions/velocities are improved with minimal amount of additional processing. The present invention also optimizes data transmission while minimizing the storage requirements of position/velocity, time, and differential correction information. Furthermore, the present invention actually provides a method to adjust realtime differential GPS positions and velocities with computed (postprocessed) differential measurement corrections without the need for logging full measurement data, and also without the need of iterative recomputation of complete position/velocity fixes during conventional postprocessing.

Global positioning system having postprocessed realtime corrected data


An Alternate Current (AC) white Light-Emitting Diode (LED) device is provided, which belongs to the technical field of white LED manufacturing. The problem to be solved by the present invention is to low-costly overcome a series of deficiencies such as the stroboflash of an AC driven LED, and the heat dissipation difficulty caused by an integrated packaging of multiple LEDs. A white LED unit includes an LED chip and a light emitting material that can emit light when being excited by the LED chip. The luminous lifetime of the light emitting material is 1-100 ms. The LED chip only comprises one PN junction. The light emitted by the LED chip is mixed with the light emitted by the light emitting material to form white light. The white LED unit is driven by AC with a frequency not more than 100 Hz. The white LED device of prevent invention uses the single PN junction chip, rather than the prior integrated packaged AC multi-LED chip.

Currently, the LED is used in the fields of illumination, display, backlight, etc., and attracts extensive attention due to its advantages such as energy saving, durability and being pollution free. There are many solutions for implementing the white LED, and presently the most mature technical solution for manufacturing the white LED is to implement white light emission by combining the blue light LED chip with the yellow fluorescent powder. Appl. Phys. Lett. published in 1967 (refer to volume 11, page 53) reports a light emitting material Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ which emits yellow light, with a maximum light emitting wavelength of 550 nm and a lifetime less than 100 ns. Appl. Phys. A published in 1997 (refer to volume 64, page 417) reports that white light emission of an LED is implemented using the yellow light emitted by Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ and blue light gallium nitride, which is the most mature technical solution for manufacturing the white LED at present. But in practical applications, with the increase of the temperature of the working device, the luminous intensities of the blue light LED chip and the fluorescent powder decrease, wherein the luminous intensity of the fluorescent powder decreases obviously, thus the usage of the LED is influenced.
The conventional LED is driven by the direct current (DC), but most of the household, industrial, commercial or public electricity is supplied in the form of AC, thus a rectifier transformer must be accompanied for AC-DC conversion when the LED is used for illumination, etc. But in the process of AC-DC conversion, a power loss up to 15˜30% will be caused. In addition, the conversion device has a short lifetime and a high cost, while it requires a lot of works and time in installation, so the efficiency is low.
The American patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,489,086 B2 "AC LIGHT EMITTING DIODE AND AC LED DRIVE METHODS AND APPARATUS" provides an AC LED device, which mainly enables an integrated packaged LED device to work in a frequency higher than 100 Hz, so as to compensate for the stroboflash of light emission of the LED device in the AC working state with a visual persistence effect of naked eyes. The Chinese patent No. 200910307357.3 discloses a light emitting material Y2O3•Al2O3•SiO2:Ce•B•Na•P with yellow long afterglow phenomenon and a white LED device using the same.
The Chinese patent CN100464111C discloses an AC LED lamp using LED chips of different emitting colors connected in parallel in an AC power supply, and it mainly describes different colors of LED chips used together for emitting white light, and the specific circuit thereof, such as red, green and blue light emitting chips. The international patent WO2004/023568A1 "LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICE HAVING LIGHT-EMITTING ELEMENTS" proposes to install a plurality of small LED chip arrays on a sapphire substrate, so as to provide a light emitting device that can be driven by an AC power supply. On the basis of similar ideas, the Seoul Semiconductor of South Korea and the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan integratedly package a lot of superfine LED grains onto a substrate referred to as AC LED chip. The core of the above AC LED technology is the microelectronic circuit processing technology integratedly packaging a lot of micro grains, e.g., the AC LED chip manufactured by the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan integratedly packages hundreds of tiny LEDs in an area of 1 mm2. But it is difficult to process the AC LED chip, and problems such as poor heat dissipation will be caused as the large number of microchips are integrated in a narrow substrate space.
In order to enable the white LED device to overcome the stroboflash under the AC power supply mode and improve the heat dissipation, persons skilled in the art always make unremitting efforts.

White LED device having LED chips directly driven by alternating current

Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science


In an embodiment, a memory controller in an integrated circuit may generate refreshes for one or more DRAMs coupled to the integrated circuit according to a refresh rate. The integrated circuit may include one or more temperature sensors. A rate of change of the temperature may be determined from the temperature sensors. If the rate is greater than a threshold, the memory controller may generate refreshes according to a refresh rate specified by the DRAMs. If the rate is less than the threshold, the memory controller may generate refreshes at a reduced refresh rate.

Technical Field
Embodiments described herein are related to refresh operation in dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
Description of the Related Art
DRAM is often used as the main memory system in various types of computing systems, from desktop or server computers to laptops, personal digital assistants, smart phones, and other portable devices. In many cases, the power consumed in the DRAM is a significant portion of the overall power. In portable systems, which often operate on a limited power supply such as a battery, reducing the power consumption of components in the systems is key to extending the time that the system can be operated on the limited power supply. Additionally, power consumption leads to heat generation, which must be dissipated in all types of systems.
DRAM memory cells store data as electrical charge on a capacitor, and are subject to leakage of the charge over time. That is, the stored charge can leak away and the value read from the memory cell after the charge has leaked away will be different than the value that was written, which leads to erroneous operation. To prevent the loss/corruption of data stored in the DRAM due to the loss of charge on the capacitor, the memory cells are refreshed periodically (reading the value from the cells and writing the value back). The power consumed to perform the refreshes can be a substantial portion of the overall power consumed in the DRAM.
The required refresh rate to prevent data loss/corruption is specified for a given DRAM, and it is temperature-dependent. As the temperature rises, leakage rates increase and thus the required refresh rate increases (e.g. refreshes need to occur more frequently). Many DRAMs are equipped with a temperature sensor, and the DRAM determines the required refresh rate based on the temperature sensed by the sensor. The DRAM includes a register that can be read to determine the required refresh rate. However, the temperature sensor implemented in most DRAMs is fairly coarse-grain (e.g. ranges of 10-20 degrees Celsius are commonly assigned the same refresh rate). The refresh rate for a given range is the refresh rate required for the high temperature of the range. If the temperature is near the low end of the range for a given refresh rate, the refresh rate is higher than actually required. Additionally, many DRAMs implement a single temperature sensor. To account for potential hot spots that are not near the location of the temperature sensor on the DRAM, the DRAM may apply significant margin on the temperature measurement. If the hot spots do not exist, the refresh rate is higher than actually required. In some cases, the margin may be as high at 10 degrees Celsius or more.


A system for controlling operation of a plurality of appliances includes first and second appliances. The first appliance is configured to report a power consumption via a network. A second appliance is configured to operate dependent on the power consumption reported by the first appliance.

Power generation and distribution infrastructure are finite resources. Often, sufficient power generating capacity is made available to a power distribution grid to meet peak power demand requirements within the grid. When the power demand is less than the peak demand, some of the excess power generating capacity may be idled. In some cases, such as when power generation capacity is needed to meet a peak seasonal load, such excess capacity may be idled for several months of the year. The capital cost associated with the idled excess capacity is spread among the power consumers on the grid throughout the year, increasing the overall cost of power delivery.
New methods and systems are needed to reduce the peak power demands on a power grid, and to otherwise reduce variation e.g. seasonal variation, of power demand to reduce the cost of providing excess capacity to meet peak demand requirements.


A gearshift to transmission controller interface is based on a controller area network and a gearshift interface interposed between the gearshift and associated displays and the network bus. The shift controller can be made universal to all transmission types of automated manual transmissions by incorporation of a library program relating to a transmission type.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to control arrangements for vehicle transmissions and more particularly to a common shifter interface and communication sub-system for use with automated manual transmission controllers sourced from different manufacturers.
2. Description of the Problem
Manual (standard) transmissions for motor vehicles may be fitted with transmission control modules to provide automated control of the transmission. The transmission control modules (TCMs) or, as they are sometimes called, smart vehicle transmissions, cooperate with a shift controller which provides operator controls and generates electrical signals indicating the operator's choices relating to mode control and gear shift selection exercised through the operator controls. The operator controls may appear conventional, for example a floor mounted gearshift lever may be provided, or they may be less conventional, such as steering wheel mounted buttons. Among the options typically provided the operator are: (1) the ability to select an operating mode, i.e. the operator may shift manually or leave gear selection to the TCM; (2) the ability to request an up or downshift; and (3) the ability to select the operating gear. U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,977 is an illustration of a smart transmission arrangement for a manual transmission. Smart transmissions made by different manufacturers have heretofore required their own unique shift control arrangements. A change in transmission has required either new programming of a transmission controller or new control arrangements. Operator commands to the transmission control modules thus have not been coupled to the TCMs over a data bus such as a controller area network notwithstanding the face that TCMs have typically been fitted for such communication with other vehicle controllers, such as the engine controller and a vehicle body computer (sometimes referred to as the electrical system control module or "ESC"). These systems are typically applied to trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles and differ from transmission for cars where mechanical linkage is used for control of a manual transmission.
Controller area networks (CANs) have proven effective at reducing the number of dedicated communication paths between the numerous switches, sensors, devices and gauges installed on the vehicles, having essentially replaced much of the control wiring of the classical motor vehicle harness with a single twisted pair bus. The widespread adoption of CAN's has been encouraged by the publication by the Society of Automotive Engineers of its SAE J1939 standard. However, shift controllers have not heretofore communicated with transmission control modules over a controller area network, even though transmission control modules have previously been connected to such networks.
The specific manner of implementing multiplexed communications is outside the scope of the present invention, which works within the defined SAE J1939 protocol. Details relating to wiring standards, standardized message formats and types and collision detection and contention access to the bus are well known. The J1939 protocol provides an open protocol, standard message format and definition of the performance requirements of the medium of the physical layer. A controller area network (CAN) may be readily implemented utilizing commercial integrated circuits such as the C167 CAN controller made by Siemens AG of Germany.
Controller area networks can link several digital controllers positioned around a vehicle along with an electrical system controller (ESC) for inter controller communication. Remote digital controllers are not addressed per se, but may be programmed to respond to any signal appearing on the bus to initialize a particular function. Transmission controllers may be a remote digital controller. The controllers may be programmed to allow the device to react to local conditions, signals received over the bus, and combinations of the two sources of data. The ESC may pass requests and instructions received for operations of certain devices, and execute vehicle load management programs.

Common control interface for diverse automated manual transmissions

International Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC


According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of processing calls includes configuring a gatekeeper to forward all dialed phone numbers to a call manager. The method also includes receiving a signal at the gatekeeper from a first endpoint requesting an IP address of a second endpoint corresponding to a particular dialed phone number. In response, the gatekeeper transmits to the first endpoint an IP address of the call manager rather than the IP address of the second endpoint. The call manager is operable to set up a call between the first and second endpoints wherein call media associated with the call does not travel through the call manager.

Communications is becoming increasingly important in today's society. In particular, video conferencing has become commonplace and an alternative to business travel. The proliferation of the internet has enhanced video conferencing capability, with IP video telephony becoming commonplace.
In one IP telephony example, two endpoints, such as IP video telephones, communicate with each other through the use of a gatekeeper. One example of a gatekeeper is a Cisco router running Cisco IOS software. In one example implementation, both endpoints register with the gatekeeper. Then, when at first one of the endpoints wishes to communicate with another endpoint, the first endpoint sends the phone number of the other endpoint to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper returns the IP address of the other endpoint. Using the received IP address, the endpoints can communicate with each other directly. Gatekeepers can also be used in communication contexts outside the IP video telephony environment, including transmitting data utilizing only audio media.
Although the use of gatekeepers to process calls is satisfactory for some purposes it is not entirely satisfactory in all respects.