An H-bridge micro inverter grid-connected device is invented to solve the problem that failure of any photovoltaic panel on the existing solar photovoltaic system cascade can cause efficiency reduction of the whole photovoltaic panel module. The H-bridge micro inverter grid-connected device comprises a single-chip microcomputer controller, a CPLD controller, a MOSFET full-bridge circuit, a high-frequency transformer, a half-bridge rectifying circuit, an SCR full-bridge circuit and a filter circuit, wherein the MOSFET full-bridge circuit is in the full-bridge type, the high-frequency transformer is a single-phase transformer with a central tap, and the SCR full-bridge circuit is applied. The integral structure above is characterized by the decreasing number of components, the reduction of power switches, and the simplification of the control circuits and driving circuits, so as to decrease the number of full-control switch components, improve the system reliability and reduce the system costs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an H-bridge micro inverter grid-connected device which belongs to the technical field of electrical engineering.
2. The Prior Arts
The common existing inverter grid-connected devices operate in high power. Many photovoltaic panels are needed to be connected in series in several groups, and then, different series photovoltaic panel modules are connected in parallel to form a photovoltaic array. DC generated by the solar panel array converges to the inverter beside the solar panel. In such photovoltaic system, the solar panel is formed by connecting multiple series photovoltaic panel modules in parallel. Like festival lights, if a battery in the series circuit does not work, the whole battery pack will fail. In addition, the situation can also occur when a partial shadow or particles shade the photovoltaic system. The result is that power generating capacity of solar energy decreases by 50% if only 10% of the solar photovoltaic system is shaded. The situation above is caused by unreasonable structure of the existing photovoltaic systems, which affects reliability, costs and efficiency of inversion. The reason is that multi-photovoltaic panel cascaded convergence inversion causes the fact that failure of some solar photovoltaic panels affects the whole photovoltaic power generation system. If the photovoltaic power generation structure above is not used, one method of the common existing inverters is that inversion to low-voltage AC is performed firstly, and then, the low-voltage AC is transformed by a self-adjusting power frequency transformer to AC which conforms to grid-connected requirements. However, the method requires high performance of transformers, and transformers are expensive and huge to users. Still, although the inverter circuit is simplified, the transformers have poor economical efficiency and reliability. Another common method is that the voltage of the current is boosted to a certain range by the DC/DC boost circuit firstly, and then, the current is inverted to AC of power frequency which conforms to grid-connected requirements. The common DC/DC method of high reliability and high stability needs many full-control switches and power diodes to design the whole solar inverter grid-connected device, so the method has the disadvantages of high costs, complex control and difficult system maintenance.


The present invention reduces magnetic fog noise of an actuator.

Many electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet computers and personal computers are equipped with a camera function, which is provided by a module, referred to a camera module integrating a camera element or lens and an automatic focusing mechanism.
To achieve automatic focusing or optical image stabilization (OIS), a camera module includes an actuator for locating the lens (or a lens group).
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a fundamental structure of an actuator 100. The actuator 100 is a voice coil motor (VCM), and includes a coil 101 and a permanent magnet 110. The actuator 100 generates a force in an X-axis direction. The coil 101 is long in size in the Y-axis perpendicular to the X-axis. The permanent magnet 110 produces magnetic flux densities B in opposite directions with respect to two sides S1 and S2 of the coil 101 extending along the Y-direction. From a perspective of one winding included in the side S1, a current I flows in a positive direction towards the Y-axis and acts with the magnetic flux density B in a positive direction of the Z-axis, and thus a Lorentz force in a positive direction of the X-axis is produced between the winding and the permanent magnet 110.F=BIL
In a situation where the permanent magnet 110 is fixed and the coil 101 is a movable coil type, the coil 101 moves in the direction of the X-axis. L is the length of the sides S1 and S2 in the Y-direction. From a perspective of the side S2, the current I flows towards a negative direction of the Y-axis and acts with the magnetic flux density B in a negative direction of the Z-axis, and hence F=BIL with respect to each winding is produced.
In the recent years, among camera modules provided in smartphones, the number of camera modules, which are introduced with a function of controlling at a high speed with high precision a position of a camera lens by detecting a position (displacement) of the camera lens and feeding back the position information, is constantly increasing. Particularly, by introducing feedback control for use of OIS, high precision image stabilization (or hand jitter correction) can be achieved. Thus, along increasing requirements on capturing without jittering a remote object under capturing in a darker environment, the number of cameras adopting OIS shall also continue to increase.
Further, in an automatic focusing (AF) function, feedback control is also introduced. As a result, the number of camera modules aiming at high-speed focusing and capturing or high-precision focal position maintenance also continues to increase.
To use such feedback control, the position (displacement) of a camera lens needs to be detected as described above. In most circumstances, camera modules adopt magnetic position detection devices, for the reasons such as: if an optical position detection device is used, there is a potential risk of forming ghost imaging due to leakage light entering a camera component; in addition, when the VCM in FIG. 1 is used as an actuator driving a camera lens, the permanent magnet 110 for the purpose of driving herein can also be used as a part of a magnetic position detection device.
When a VCM drive magnet is used as a position detection device, a condition of the presence of a drive coil provided opposite to the magnet needs to be taken into account. Assume that a position detection element such as a Hall element also needs to be configured opposite to a magnet, and a drive coil and the position detection element are configured close to each other. As generally known, a magnetic field is produced when a current is applied to a coil, and a magnetic flux produced by the magnetic field then enters the position detection element. As such, when a magnetic flux produced by a coil enters a position detection device, even if a camera lens is not moved, the position detection element nonetheless outputs a change in a position detection signal according to a change in the current. In the application, the above situation is referred to as magnetic fog noise. Such magnetic fog noise becomes noise in regard to the original position detection signal, leading to a concern in deterioration in the position control precision of the camera lens. In an ideal situation, a position detection element is configured, for example, at a position having extremely small magnetic fog noise.
Multiple configuration examples have been disclosed in regard to a position relationship between a drive coil used as a drive magnet and a position detection element configured opposite to each other. For example, patent document 1 discloses an example of configuring a position detection element on an inner side or an outer side of a drive coil winding. Further, patent document 2 discloses that two drive coils are configured side-by-side, with a position detection element configured therebetween.
FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C are brief diagrams of position relationships of drive coils and position detection elements (Hall elements) disclosed in patent documents 1 and 2.
As disclosed in patent document 1, FIG. 2A depicts an example of configuring a Hall element 102 on an inner side of a winding of a coil 101. In patent document 1, the Hall element is configured at a center of the coil winding, and FIG. 2A depicts an example of configuring the Hall element 102 near an inner edge of the coil 101 where a maximum magnetic flux density of the coil 101 occurs due to an edge effect.
As disclosed in patent document 1, FIG. 2B depicts an example of configuring the Hall element 102 on an outer side of the winding of the coil 101.
As disclosed in patent document 2, FIG. 2C depicts an example of configuring the Hall element 102, at a middle position of two coils 101 arranged side-by-side, at a position slightly deviated along a thickness direction of the coil.

Abstract: An actuator is used jointly with a position detection element to locate a lens in a direction of a first axis. A coil is formed in a manner of setting a second axis perpendicular to the first axis as a length direction, and has a first side and a second side parallel to the second axis, and a third side and a fourth side parallel to the first axis. A permanent magnet produces magnetic fields perpendicular to the first axis and the second axis and being in opposite directions with respect to the first side and the second side, respectively. During use, the position detection element is configured near the third side. The coil is split into multiple parts in a width direction on at least the third side.


Presented herein are techniques that provide for a way to associate a policy, or signal the policy for a user equipment (UE), directly from the UE traffic, inband or, in other words, within the data plane. The policies are effectively embedded in the address of the UE traffic. When the Neutral Host Network (NHN) receives the UE traffic, the policy can be determined directly from the address associated with the UE traffic. This provides for a unique way of integrating a service chain identifier in the Internet Protocol address of the UE to identify the services/policies to be applied to UE traffic in a stateless manner.

With the evolution of neutral hosting, it is common that an NHN provides mobility service for multiple participating service providers (PSPs) or enterprise services, also known as managed Private Long Term Evolution (LTE) services. The NHN provides a backhaul connection from the radio access network to different PSPs or private networks.
There are different policies that indicate certain processes/functions of different types to be applied for traffic from a User Equipment (UE) connecting to an NHN. In order to do that, policies are enforced and maintained on a User Plane Function (UPF) of a PSP. For each UE, the PSP UPF would need to maintain at least one policy. If the UE is associated with multiple network slices, then the number of policies/state entries that need to be stored on the PSP UPF increases, causing scaling issues.

Stateless policy and service chaining in neutral host network


Described are self-learning systems and methods for adaptive management of memory resources within a memory hierarchy. Memory allocations associated with different active functions are organized into blocks for placement in alternative levels in a memory hierarchy optimized for different metrics of e.g. cost and performance. A host processor monitors a performance metric of the active functions, such as the number of instructions per clock cycle, and reorganizes the function-specific blocks among the levels of the hierarchy. Over time, this process tends toward block organizations that improve the performance metric.

The performance and energy costs of processing within and across multi-processor computer systems vary dramatically in consequence of the shared memory resources. Processors can access local (physically close) memory considerably faster and more efficiently than non-local memory, such as storage that is local to another processor or shared between processors. Performance and power optimization are difficult in systems with many processors that have access to the same memory space.

Methods and systems for adaptive memory-resource management


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for a contextualized bot framework. In some implementations, there may be provided a method which may include receiving, by a bot of a contextualized bot network and via a client interface associated with the contextualized bot network, a request, the request comprising a text string sent by the client interface; generating, by the bot, a token based on the text string of the request; determining, by the bot, whether the token generated based on the text string of the request matches a stored token that is stored in a database, based on one or more parameters, the stored token being mapped to an address stored in the database, the address comprising instructions for responding to the request; selecting, by the bot, the address in response to the match between the token generated based on the text string of the request and the stored token to obtain data at the address; and presenting, by the bot, at the client interface, data obtained at the selected address to form a response to the request. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also disclosed.

The term "bot" refers to a software-based robot that performs at least one automated task. For example, a bot may be deployed to perform a simple task, while more complex bots, such as chatbots, can be deployed at a help desk or call center to simulate an actual human being responding to questions. Bots may take an unnecessarily long amount of time to perform tasks and respond to requests, as the bot searches across a library of responses to requests. In addition, bots may not have available all of the possible responses necessary to respond to requests. Thus, bots may be unable to respond to a request or may provide incorrect or inaccurate responses to requests if the requests do not exactly match one of the possible responses stored in the library of possible responses, such as when requests are misspelled, synonyms are used, and the like. Bots generally require customized implementations, so that deploying bots across a wide range of applications can require an unnecessarily large amount of integration and customization for each bot and corresponding application interacting with the bot.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An apparatus and method for isolation of selected ions of interest in a 2-D ion trap is provided. The 2-D ion trap of the invention has an octopole field which is obtained by modification of the electrodes, modification of the positioning of the electrodes or both. The 2-D ion trap of the invention also includes a means for forcing ion motion in the ion trap in a first and a second direction independently and sequentially.

Tandem mass spectrometry methods (MS/MS) are very useful for characterizing and/or quantifying a component of interest in a complex mixture and/or for deriving enhanced structural information from an analyte that yields limited fragmentation and/or has a feature that complicates quantification. Linear ion traps are one type of instrumentation commonly used for MS/MS. The term "linear ion trap" may include three dimensional ion traps (e.g. 3-D ion traps) made up of ring and end-cap electrodes forming a near ideal quadrupole field or ion traps comprising four pole rods (e.g., 2-D ion traps). In an ideal 3-D ion trap quadrupole field, a radio frequency (RF) field strength increases linearly both radially and axially and the repulsing pseudo-forces also increase linearly. The 2-D ion traps are made up of four rod electrodes in which the quadrupole field only changes along two coordinates (x, y) and remains constant along the third coordinate (z).
Typically, 3-D ion traps have a small octopole field in addition to the quadrupole field. The octopole component makes the 3-D ion trap a substantially non-linear resonating system (A. A. Makarov, Anal. Chem. 1996, 68, p. 4257-4263, Franzen, et al., Practical aspects of Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry, volume 1 p. 69 edited by R. E. March and J.F.J. Todd). This means that isolation is asymmetrical both below the m/z of interest and above it. With a positive sign of the octopole field the isolation window can be very sharp for m/z below the nominal m/z value and quite diffused above the nominal m/z value.
Isolation techniques such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,939 do not recognize the non-linearity of the ion trap and focus on the construction of the ejection waveforms based on the assumption of a linear resonance system. As a result the isolation procedure requires a substantial amount of time (i.e., on the order of 20 to 60 ms) and the width of the isolation window is typically greater than 1 Da.
Franzen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,157 (the '157 Patent) recognized the non-linear behavior and non-symmetrical ion behavior around the m/z of interest and disclosed the use of a non-linear resonance to facilitate the ejection of M+1 species from an ion trap. However when using the technique of the '157 Patent, it is typically difficult to obtain an isolation window width better then 1Da. Further the ejection of ions with masses higher than the m/z of interest typically requires repeating the procedure. When using the technique of the '157 Patent, it is desirable to have a lower number of ions stored in the ion trap. Thus, typically the total number of ions that can be stored in the ion trap prior to isolation (e.g., the "isolation storage capacity") is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,649,911 discloses a complex specially designed wave function used, with phase inversion at around the frequency that corresponds to the mass to be isolated, for trapping ions. Repeating application of the scan function is typically necessary to provide isolation of a well resolved ion species.
Superimposing a substantial contribution of an octopole field onto the pure quadrupole field of a 2-D ion trap has been suggested recently. (See Linear Quadrupoles with Added Octopole Fields, Sudakov at the Proceedings of the 51 ASMS, Canada, Jun. 8-12, 1993; and Franzen, U.S. Patent Publication U.S. 2004/0051036 A1). However, adding an octopole component in a 2-D ion trap utilizing prior art isolation methods typically results in a diffused isolation edge on the one side of the isolation window.
Accordingly, there is a need for isolation apparatus and methods for a 2-D ion trap with a superimposed octopole field.

Two dimensional ion traps with improved ion isolation and method of use


Coil-like or zigzag-like linear fastener elements formed of synthetic fiber mono-filaments are attached such that coupling heads project from a side edge of a fastener tape and at least one coupling head thereof located at a top end is moved to the inside of the fastener tape so as to substantially coincide with the side edge. Then, the fastener element is fused to the fastener tape in a state in which an inverted portion project inwardly while the coupling heads are in a non-coupling condition, so as to form a top end stop. The top end stop formed of the linear fastener element includes plasticity and provides an excellent tactile feeling without any burr on the surface thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a top end stop of a linear slide fastener in which linear fastener element row formed of synthetic fiber mono-filaments are mounted on side edges of a fastener tape, the top end stop being formed at a top end portion of the fastener tape by processing the linear fastener elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 46-1148, in a linear slide fastener in which linear fastener element row formed from synthetic fiber mono-filaments are sewed on a side edge of a fastener tape or a bent side edge of a fastener tape bent into the form of a letter U, as shown in FIG. 10, an appropriate number of the linear fastener elements 105 located on the top end portion of the slide fastener 112 are fused by ultrasonic processing means or high frequency processing means under a pressure. Consequently, the fastener tape 112, the core thread 116, the sewing thread and the like are fused together integrally and expanded widely to both sides with respect to the coupling heads 119 and inverted portions 120 of connected other fastener elements so as to form a top end stop 101 of the linear slide fastener.
Because in the top end stop 101 of the linear slide fastener shown in FIG. 10 described above, a few linear fastener elements 105 located at the top end portion of the slide fastener are fused by ultrasonic processing or high frequency processing under a pressure, so that the fastener tape 112, the core thread 116, the sewing thread and the like are fused together integrally. Therefore, burrs are likely to occur on the surface of the top end stop and the top end stop itself is rigid providing a bad feeling to the skin. For example, when this is used at an overlapping section of clothes such as shirts and jackets, the top end stop makes contact with the neck, providing a feeling of discomfort. Further, there is a fear that such linear fastener elements may be difficult to sew on clothes or the like.
The present invention has been accomplished in views of the above-described problems and a primary object of the present invention is to provide a normal type or hidden type linear slide fastener which has a plasticity without becoming rigid and is free of any burr on its surface, thereby ensuring an excellent tactile feeling, this top end stop being capable of being produced at a low cost with simple manufacturing means.
In addition to the above-mentioned object, another object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a normal type or hidden type linear slide fastener in which right and left coupling heads in the top end stop formed by fusing the linear fastener elements with the fastener tape are in a non-coupling condition while end faces of the inverted portions make contact with an inside wall face of a flange in a slider so as to stop the slider from sliding.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a normal type or hidden type linear slide fastener in which right and left coupling heads in the top end stop formed by fusing the linear fastener elements with the fastener tape are in a non-coupling condition while the inverted portions make contact with the front end of a flange of a slider so as to stop the slider from sliding.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a normal type linear slide fastener in which coil-like fastener elements or zigzag-like fastener elements are employed as the fastener elements in a normal type slide fastener, the top end stop being produced easily with this fastener element.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a hidden type linear slide fastener in which coil-like fastener elements are used as the fastener elements in the hidden type slide fastener, the top end stop being produced easily with this fastener element.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a good quality normal type or hidden type linear slide fastener in which, when the top end stop is manufactured with the linear fastener elements, a core thread is passed through coil-like fastener elements or zigzag-like fastener elements, thereby preventing the linear fastener elements from escaping from the sewing threads at the time of processing.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a linear slide fastener which is formed using the linear fastener elements and can be fixed easily and securely on a fastener tape in case of both the normal type and hidden type linear slide fasteners, the top end stop being formed strictly and stably.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a top end stop of a linear slide fastener which is manufactured using upper and lower leg portions projecting to the side of the sewing threads in the coil-like fastener elements or the zigzag-like fastener elements, the top end stop being formed with a high strength.


A hydraulic drive unit includes: a pump; a pair of supply-discharge lines; a valve block; a sealed tank; a suction line that leads hydraulic oil in the sealed tank to the pump; a connecting line that connects an air vent port of the pump to the suction line; and a gas-liquid separator that separates air and the hydraulic oil flowing through the connecting line from each other. The pump is disposed upward of the valve block and the sealed tank in a vertical direction.

There are cases where a drive unit for driving a hydraulic actuator including a pair of supply-discharge ports, such as a double-acting hydraulic cylinder or a hydraulic motor, is configured as a "closed circuit". It should be noted that the closed circuit herein refers to a circuit in which return oil from the hydraulic actuator is returned to a pump, whereas an "open circuit" refers to a circuit in which the return oil is returned to a tank.
In the closed circuit, the pump includes a pair of pump ports, and the pair of pump ports is connected to the pair of supply-discharge ports via a pair of supply-discharge lines. In accordance with the rotation direction of the pump, the delivery side and the suction side of the pump ports are switched with each other, and also, the supply side and the discharge side of the supply-discharge ports are switched with each other, and thereby the moving direction of the hydraulic actuator is changed. Usually, the closed circuit is also provided with a tank for storing hydraulic oil, and the tank is used for collecting a surplus amount of the hydraulic oil delivered from the pump and replenishing the suction side of the pump with the hydraulic oil.
In Patent Literature 1, the supply-discharge lines are provided with direction switching valves for removing air accumulated in the closed circuit. The direction switching valves switch the state of the supply-discharge ports between a state where the supply-discharge ports are connected to the pump ports and a state where the supply-discharge ports are connected to the tank. The closed circuit is provided with passages that form an open circuit via the direction switching valves so that the air in the closed circuit can be caused to flow out of the closed circuit into the tank together with the return oil.


A detector including an electrode formed from a first layer of conductive material, a readout line formed from a second layer of conductive material, and a via electrically connecting the readout line and the electrode. In one embodiment, the detector includes a source electrode and a drain electrode formed from the first layer of conductive material, and a data line formed from the second layer of conductive material, such that the source and drain electrodes are vertically offset from the data line. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the detector includes a gate electrode formed from the first layer of conductive material, and a scan line formed from the second layer of conductive material, such that the gate electrode is vertically offset from the scan line.

The invention relates generally to imaging systems. In particular, the invention relates to thin film transistors for use in detectors of such imaging systems and methods of making the same.
Non-invasive imaging broadly encompasses techniques for generating images of the internal structures or regions of a person or object that are otherwise inaccessible for visual inspection. For example, non-invasive imaging techniques are commonly used in the industrial field for inspecting the internal structures of parts and in the security field for inspecting the contents of packages, clothing, and so forth. One of the best known uses of non-invasive imaging, however, is in the medical arts where these techniques are used to generate images of organs and/or bones inside a patient which would otherwise not be visible.
One class of non-invasive imaging techniques that may be used in these various fields is based on the differential transmission of X-rays through a patient or object. In the medical context, a simple X-ray imaging technique may involve generating X-rays using an X-ray tube or other source and directing the X-rays through an imaging volume in which the part of the patient to be imaged is located. As the X-rays pass through the patient, the X-rays are attenuated based on the composition of the tissue they pass through. The attenuated X-rays then impact a detector that converts the X-rays into signals that can be processed to generate an image of the part of the patient through which the X-rays passed based on the attenuation of the X-rays. Typically the X-ray detection process utilizes a scintillator, which generates optical photons when impacted by X-rays, and an array of photosensor elements, which generate electrical signals based on the number of optical photons detected.
Some X-ray techniques utilize very low X-ray flux so that patient exposure can be extended. For example, fluoroscopic techniques are commonly used to monitor an ongoing procedure or condition, such as the insertion of a catheter or probe into the circulatory system of a patient. Such fluoroscopic techniques typically obtain large numbers of images that can be consecutively displayed to show motion in the imaged area in real-time or near real-time.
However fluoroscopic techniques, as well as other low X-ray flux imaging techniques, may suffer from poor image quality due to the relatively weak X-ray signal relative to the electronic noise attributable to the detector. As a result it is typically desirable to improve the efficiency of the detection process, such as by reducing the electronic noise attributable to the detector. For instance, various aspects of the thin film transistors (TFTs) employed to read out the detector elements may contribute to the overall electronic noise. For example, the source and drain of the TFT may be formed from the same layer of material as the data lines to which they connect. However, different electrical properties are typically desired in the data lines as compared to the source and drain and, therefore, configurations which improve data line performance may detriment source and drain performance and vice versa. For example, it may be desirable for the data lines to be relatively thick to reduce their resistance. However, thick source and drain lines will undercut during the wet etch performed during TFT formation, leading to a longer channel length. In general, the longer the channel, the greater the problems associated with electronic noise, which is a function of charge trapping which in turn is a function of the channel length. Additionally, the "on" resistance of the TFT is also a function of channel length resulting in slower pixel readout rates as channel length is increased. As a result, smaller channel lengths are generally desirable for improved TFT performance. Because of these contrary aspects, the data lines and/or the source and drain electrodes formed from the same layer of material (and, therefore, having the same thickness) may not have optimal performance.
Similarly, the scan line connected to the gate of the TFT may impact detector performance. In particular, the scan lines and gate are typically formed from same layer of material. However, as with the data lines, a thick scan line may be desirable to decrease the resistance of the scan line. The resulting thick gate electrode, however, may lead to leakage currents due to a larger step at the edge of the gate electrode. Therefore, improving the electrical properties of the readout lines (i.e., the scan lines and data lines) may inadvertently degrade detector performance in other ways due to the negative impacts on electrodes formed from the same respective layers of materials.
Therefore, there is a need for a thin film transistor that addresses some or all of the problems set forth above.

Thin film transistors for imaging system and method of making the same


The invention provides an electronic assembly including a semiconductor chip and a semiconductor package substrate having power and ground shunts. The power and ground shunts of the semiconductor chip include contact pads on a surface thereof that are electrically connected to one another to protect electrical signal contacts on the contact pads from high, low-frequency current. The power shunt in the semiconductor package substrate connects one power plane to another and the ground shunts in the semiconductor package substrate connects one ground plane to another. The power and ground shunts in the semiconductor package substrate dictate terminal pins thereon from high, low-frequency current.

1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic assembly including a semiconductor package substrate, a semiconductor chip mounted to the substrate, and a socket for the substrate.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are manufactured on semiconductor substrates and may include a plurality of electrical components such as transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors connected to one another through metal lines and vias above the electrical components to form a semiconductor chip.
Contact pads are formed on a surface of the semiconductor chip and other ones of the metal lines and vias connect selected ones of the contact pads to selected terminals of selected ones of the electrical components. These contact pads include voltage and drain contact pads and other ones of the contact pads include input signal and output signal contact pads. Solder balls or other electrical contacts are usually formed on the contact pads. A solder ball may be damaged if a current passing therethrough is very high, such as often occurs in solder balls that are used for providing electrical voltage to or providing electrical drain from the integrated circuit.
Similar problems exist in vias and pins of a semiconductor package substrate to which such a semiconductor chip is mounted. Terminal pins are often provided on a surface of the semiconductor package substrate opposing a surface to which the semiconductor chip is mounted. The terminal pins are used for complementarily mating with socket openings in a socket substrate. These terminal pins or the sockets may be damaged by power or ground currents that are very high.

Electronic assembly providing shunting of electrical current


A display sheet comprising a substrate carrying layers of material; including a polymer-dispersed chiral-nematic liquid-crystal layer having a first high reflection state within the visible light spectrum and a second less-reflective state in said spectrum, said states being changeable by an electric field, which states can be maintained in the absence of an electric field; a first transparent conductor disposed over said polymer-dispersed chiral-nematic liquid-crystal layer; and a second conductor, wherein said imaging layer is substantially a monolayer of said domains comprises a mixture of at least two differently reflecting liquid crystal materials, in which the λ maximums of the two materials are separated by 100 to 250 nm.

Bi-stable reflective displays based on PDLC are known. A polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) system contains droplets of liquid crystal material dispersed in a polymer matrix. Such systems are known in the art and have been disclosed by Doane et al. (Applied Physics Letters 48, 269 (1986)), West et al. (Applied Physics Letters 63, 1471(1993)) and by Stephenson (U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,673). The PDLC may be used to create passive matrix displays on flexible substrates. See also U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,107 to Yang et al., incorporated by reference. Chiral-nematic liquid-crystals, also referred to as cholesteric liquid crystals, have the capacity of maintaining (in a stable state) one of a plurality of given states in the absence of an electric field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,048 to Doane et al. and West et al. disclose a PDLC based bi-stable reflective display. The device comprises droplets of chiral nematic liquid crystal (CLC) in a polymer binder coated between two transparent electrodes. The CLC material can be switched between a reflecting planar state and a weakly scattering focal conic state by application of voltage pulses of different magnitudes. The planar and focal conic states are both stable at zero applied field. West et al. note a change in shape of the reflection spectrum of the CLC material when it is confined to the geometry of a dispersed droplet. They note that the reflectivity changes much less with observation angle compared to the original chiral nematic mixture. However, they disclose the spectrum of only a single CLC material with peak reflectivity of 564 nm and do not teach methods for obtaining a broadband reflecting display having a more neutral appearance. Furthermore, although they note that the domain structure of the dispersed system in the focal conic state scatters light uniformly over the visible portion of the spectrum with the back scattered intensity gradually increasing at lower wavelengths, they do not specifically teach methods to improve contrast of the display.
Stephenson in U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,673 discloses a PDLC based bi-stable reflective display. A neutral appearance in the reflective state is obtained by combining the reflections of droplets of CLC material doped to give reflections either in the blue, green and red part of the spectrum or the blue and yellow part of the spectrum. Stephenson does mention that the polymer-dispersed liquid crystals have good off-axis reflectivity but does not teach how this property is to be used to create more neutral looking displays with improved viewing angle dependence. Stephenson teaches that domains or droplets of liquid crystal in the light-modulating layer are smaller than the thickness of the layer so that multiple domains overlap. Stephenson further teaches that the contrast of the display may be improved by combining multiple overlapping domains comprising right handed and left handed chiral-nematics. However, Stephenson does not mention anything about the effect of this on the back-scattered intensity in the focal conic state.
T. Kakinuma et al., in "Black and White Photo-addressable Electronic Paper using Encapsulated Cholesteric Liquid Crystal and Organic Photoconductor," IDW '02, page 1345 to 1348 discloses a liquid crystal display using red (pink) and green capsules to create broadband. However, Applicants have determined that using an imaging layer having substantially more than a monolayer of domains (as shown by the enlarged portion of FIG. 1 results in relatively low contrast ratios.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,012 A to Yang et al. discloses a broadband reflective display having improved reflectivity as well as a lack of haze or opaqueness when viewed from various viewing angles, a reduced drive voltage compared to conventional devices, and an improved peak photopic reflectance. The broadband reflective display includes a plurality of pairs of substrates, a plurality of groups of alternating liquid crystal and polymer layers formed between each of the pairs of substrates, each of the groups of liquid crystal and polymer layers being reflective of different wavelengths of light.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,798 discloses (particularly in FIG. 7) a liquid crystal cell having multiple stable reflecting states between a colored reflecting state and a light scattering state in order to allow for a substantially white background. Under room light conditions, where light is incident on the cell from all directions, the light reflected from different domains has different colors because the incident angles θ in different domains are different. As such, the light observed by a human eye is an average of the reflection bands centered at different wavelengths and has a substantially white appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,752 to Khan discloses a liquid crystal device in which the liquid crystal material has a pitch length effective to reflect radiation having both the visible and the infrared ranges of the spectrum, either in a single region (single cell) between opposing substrates or in separate regions, for example, in stacked regions in which a first cell reflects red light and a second cell reflects blue light and a third cell reflects green light. Example 2 discloses a composition for a single cell display that reflects both visible and infrared radiation. The Examples do not employ domains of liquid crystal in a polymer matrix and the imaging layers are not coated on a flexible substrate.
Chiral-nematic liquid crystals reflect a portion of the visible spectrum when in a reflective state. It is preferable that the reflective state has neutral color balance. It would be useful to provide chiral-nematic displays exhibiting neutral density in the reflective state. It would be useful for such displays to be fabricated using simple, low-cost processes.

Reflective chiral-nematic liquid crystal display with broadband reflection

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Embodiments may determine user intent in conversations with dialogue systems so as to improve the quality of such conversations and to reduce the number of failed conversations. For example, a method may comprise receiving, at a dialogue system, a first text utterance from a user, generating a plurality of second text utterances at the dialogue system in response to the received text utterance, generating a third text utterance based on each generated second text utterance using a trained deep neural network model, generating a score indicating a quality of each conversation, wherein each conversation includes the first text utterance, one of the second text utterances, and the third text utterance based on the one of the second text utterances, and outputting to the user the second text utterance included in the conversation having the highest quality score.

The present invention relates to techniques to utilize a sequence-to-sequence deep neural network model to learn to generate user utterances and predict conversation quality in a human to bot dialogue setting
Goal oriented dialogue systems have become a prominent customer-care interaction channel for most businesses. However, not all interactions are smooth, and customer intent misunderstanding is a major cause of dialogue failure. Conversation data is complex and includes many data variants. The main reason for sub-optimal and failed conversations may be attributed to bot's misinterpretation of user request, that is, the user's information need or intent.
Typically, users express their intent at the beginning of the conversation, and the bot reacts with its most suitable response. Bot responses are dependent on user intents. Ultimately, an accurate bot response depends on its ability to correctly understand the intent. Bot misunderstanding of the user intent will most probably lead to an unsatisfactory response, which in turn will cause the user to react accordingly. For example the user might ask for a human agent, express negative sentiment, or rephrase the request.
Conventional solutions use some kind of intent prediction. In these solutions interpreting user needs is based, in naïve implementations, on analyzing the last utterance provided by the user, and in more sophisticated implementations, on analyzing the full conversation context, available till the point of prediction.
Accordingly, a need arises for improved techniques to determine user intent in conversations with dialogue systems so as to improve the quality of such conversations and to reduce the number of failed conversations.

User utterance generation for counterfactual analysis and improved conversation flow

International Business Machines Corporation


A radio frequency communication device and method for tuning an antenna attached thereto are disclosed. A radio frequency communication device is disclosed comprising internal circuitry and an antenna having a plurality of antenna segments associated therewith. Each antenna segment is associated with the antenna in either series or parallel relation through at least one of a fuse and an antifuse. In testing and tuning, a comparison is made to indicate whether the antenna is too short or too long. If the antenna is too short, an antenna segment may be attached to the antenna by initiating an antifuse. If the antenna is too long, an antenna segment may be detached from the antenna by blowing a fuse. If it is indeterminate whether the antenna is too short or too long, an antenna segment may be either attached or detached, the test repeated, and the results of the repeated test compared with the prior test to determine whether the correct action was taken.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for tuning a transmitting and receiving antenna to a resonant frequency. More particularly, the invention discloses an antenna, such as that used in conjunction with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, having a plurality of fuses or antifuses, or both, in conjunction therewith. The fuses and antifuses may be initiated to extend or shorten the antenna to tune to a resonant frequency.
2. State of the Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology uses electromagnetic energy as a medium through which to send information. Small radio frequency communication systems, such as a RFID tag, may be affixed to various articles so that the articles may be easily tracked during movement from one point to another, or identified, such as through a sales transaction. Therefore, one may tag objects such as items, animals, and people, to be identified or tracked automatically via a reader. The reader may be connected to a host computer which may additionally contain data related to an object's identification code associated with the RFID tag. Furthermore, an RFID tag conventionally also contains programmed information about an object to which it is attached. Through the use of such information, RFID technology may be used to identify objects automatically and without manual handling operations as is required in most bar code systems. In a conventional RFID tag system, a receiver, a transmitter, an antenna, and memory are implemented. RFID tags, their use and operation are well known in the art.
Additionally, the general structures and methods of fabricating RFID tags are well known in the art. RFID tags are enabled to receive, store, and transmit article-identifying data with a remote base station. RFID tags have been implemented using a variety of methodologies to allow a user to perform any number of desired identification functions. For example, RFID tags may comprise read-only or read-write capacity. Additionally, passive RFID tags may be implemented with an internal power source, or without an internal power source, drawing their power from the radio frequency (RF) energy transmitted from the reader. As well, RFID tags may be configured to operate at low, medium or high frequencies, depending on the needs for a desired application. U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,581 to Lilly et al. (Jul. 7, 1998) even describes an RF semiconductor circuit which may selectively operate at low, medium and high frequencies by switching between three separate antenna systems.
To function with a given system, an antenna must be tuned to the internal circuitry and signals transmitted and received by the system. Tuning systems and circuitry for adjusting the internal antenna circuits of RFID tags and similar circuitry are also known in the art. As indicated in FIG. 1, conventional RFID antenna tuning systems comprise internal circuitry 2, such as that ordinarily found in an RFID tag, an antenna tuning circuit 4 coupled to the internal circuitry 2, and an antenna 6 coupled to the antenna tuning circuit 4. The antenna tuning circuit 4 conventionally compares a signal characteristic, such as signal frequency or amplitude, of a received signal with a similar or other characteristic of a signal within the internal circuitry 2. By making adjustments to the antenna tuning circuit 4 settings, the RFID circuit may be tuned to a resonant frequency to optimally receive signals from a remote system transmitting to the internal circuitry 2, and optimally transmit the internal circuitry's 2 response. In this way, the received and transmitted signal amplitudes are maximized and, thus, more reliably interpreted by corresponding circuitry.
Adjustments to the antenna tuning circuit 4 may be made by the internal circuitry 2, or by a testing device during a testing process. In making adjustments to the RFID circuit settings to tune to a resonant frequency of a communication system, conventional antenna tuning circuits modify the impedance of the antenna tuning circuit 4 by adjusting a variable capacitive or variable inductive element, or both. Once a modification is made, or coincidental with the adjustment being made, the signal characteristics are again compared and more adjustments made until the resonant frequency settings have been determined. Examples of conventional radio frequency antenna communication systems using various forms of impedance adjustments are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,970,398 to Tuttle (Oct. 19, 1999), 5,777,581 to Lilly et al. (Jul. 7, 1998), 5,491,715 to Flaxl (Feb. 13, 1996), 5,448,110 to Tuttle et al. (Sep. 5, 1995), 4,780,724 to Sharma et al. (Oct. 25, 1988), and 4,486,723 to Lysobey (Dec. 4, 1984), the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The internal antenna tuning circuit components, however, undesirably add to the size of the device, particularly in RFID applications where a desire is for a smaller system. Additionally, by interposing capacitive and inductive components between the antenna and the internal circuitry, additional power is consumed in activating those elements, and additional heat is produced. Furthermore, radio frequency communication devices operating at higher frequencies (several hundred megahertz) are difficult to tune using variable circuit impedance elements such as inductors and capacitors. It is therefore desirable to have a small radio frequency transponder circuit, such as that used in RFID tags, which does not require an additional internal antenna tuning circuit so the overall system can consume less power, produce less heat and use less space.

Automated antenna trim for transmitting and receiving semiconductor devices


Aggregation of data in an interlocking trees datastore, especially when the interlocking datastore is a KStore is described. It details consolidating data into a summary or aggregation so that some particular desired analytic type of operation may easily be performed on the data. It uses a set of data constraints across the entire data set. This redefines the data set, which may be for example, individual receipts granular by week or month. When data is learned into a KStore, aggregation parameters may be collected and these parameters may be used to constrain the dataset recorded in K, and direct performance of an analytic on a particular a field value(s). Additional features and details are provided within.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to computing and in particular to the process in which data within an interlocking tree datastore is aggregated for expression in summary form, for various purposes such as performing distinct counts and statistical analysis.
2. Description of Related Art
Data aggregation is any process in which information is gathered and expressed in a summary form, to facilitate various purposes such as statistical analysis. Data aggregation methods for consolidating large amounts of complex data are fairly common in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,995, entitled "Real-time aggregation of data within an enterprise planning environment," U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002/0143783 and 2005/0060325, both entitled "Method of a system for data aggregation employing dimensional hierarchy transformation," and 2003/0009443, entitled "Generic data aggregation" teach methods for aggregating data that is stored in relational databases. The techniques taught in these references include mechanisms to consolidate data as new data sets or within OLAP cubes so that analysis can be performed through scripts and algorithms.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,995, entitled "Real-time aggregation of data within an enterprise planning environment," mentioned above, teaches how to divide a database into the relational data area, the transactional data area, and server. The server publishes data from the transactional area to the relational area. The transactional area supports real-time interaction and the relational area allows detailed statistical analysis and report generation.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002/0143783 and 2005/0060325, mentioned above, teach a method of aggregating data having at least one dimension logically organized into multiple hierarchies of items, whereby such multiple hierarchies of items are transformed into a single hierarchy that is functionally equivalent to the multiple hierarchies. In the hierarchy transformation process, a given child item is linked with a parent item in the single hierarchy when no other child item linked to the parent item has a child item in common with the given child item.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0009443, entitled "Generic data aggregation," and also mentioned above, teaches methods, devices for increasing the speed of processing data by filtering, classifying, and generically applying logical functions to the data without data-specific instructions.
The forgoing systems and methods can often produce satisfying results. However, they all appear to use relational databases and methods in attempts to increase the speed of data aggregation. They also appear to teach how to design structures within relational databases that enable the user to separate transactional from relational (stored) data.
The KStore technology addresses many common problems associated with relational databases and the aggregation of data, by modeling that data into a structure with a predefined process that relates all new data to existing data within the interlocking trees datastore model. As described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/385,421, entitled "System and method for storing and accessing data in an interlocking trees datastore" published as U.S. Patent Application Publication number 20040181547 on Sep. 16, 2004 and 10/666,382, entitled "System and method for storing and accessing data in an interlocling trees datastore" published as U.S. Patent Application Publication number 20050076011 on Apr. 7, 2005 the KStore data structure does not require any distinction between transactional data and stored (relational) data. A system for efficiently using an interlocking trees datastore as described in the '421 and '382 applications just mentioned was also described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/879,329.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Data aggregation user interface and analytic adapted for a KStore


In a system and method for charging a rechargeable battery having a protection circuit, the rechargeable battery operates according to a model that includes an ideal battery and an internal resistance. In the model, an electrode voltage develops across the ideal battery. An internal voltage drop equal to the difference between this electrode voltage and the battery voltage is developed across the internal resistance. The battery is charged with a charging voltage that may exceed the threshold voltage and the electrode voltage. The charging system and method ensures that (1) the voltage at the protection circuit is kept below the threshold voltage and (2) the electrode voltage is kept below the end-of-charge voltage.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for charging a rechargeable battery. More particularly, the present invention is directed to voltage controlled charging of batteries connected to a protection circuit.
NiCd (Nickel-Cadmium) and NiMH (Nickel-Metal-Hydride) rechargeable batteries are conventionally charged with a relatively high constant charging current until they provide an indication of full charge. Such indications include a sudden increase in the battery temperature and a drop in the terminal voltage of the battery. However, batteries based on lead and lithium chemistries (including lithium-ion, lithium-polymer and lithium solid state) do not provide these types of indications when reaching a fully charged state. Consequently, a conventional process for charging a battery with this type of chemistry involves monitoring the battery voltage to determine when the battery is fully charged.
A conventional lithium-based battery pack has maximum voltage specifications that should be observed for safe charging. One of these is a specified maximum charging voltage that is allowed to be applied to the terminals of the battery pack. It is desirable to keep the charging voltage at or below this predetermined maximum to avoid excessive generation of heat from resistive losses in the terminals.
A conventional electrical model for a lithium-based battery pack includes terminals and a battery electrically separated from the terminals by a terminal resistance and a protection diode. When charging current is applied to the battery pack, a voltage drop develops between the battery pack terminals and the battery inside it. The battery itself may be viewed as a series electrical connection between an ideal battery (comprising one or more cells) and an internal resistance. When charging current is applied to the battery pack, a voltage drop also develops between the internal resistance and the ideal battery.
A terminal voltage is measured across the terminals of the battery pack. The terminal voltage is the sum of two voltages: an internal battery voltage developed across the ideal battery, also known as an electrode voltage, and a terminal voltage drop from the battery pack terminals to the ideal battery. To determine the electrode voltage, the terminal voltage drop may be subtracted from the terminal voltage based on prior knowledge of the magnitude of the terminal voltage drop. Alternatively, the electrode voltage may be determined by measuring the battery voltage with negligible charging current.
Another important voltage specification of a lithium-based battery pack is an end-of-charge voltage. This is the electrode voltage developed across the ideal battery when it is fully charged. It is desirable to keep the electrode voltage from exceeding the end-of-charge voltage to avoid damage to the battery inside the battery pack.
The battery pack commonly includes a protection circuit that monitors a battery voltage, which is a voltage across the battery inside the battery pack. When charging with a high charging current, the monitored battery voltage is larger than the electrode voltage due to an internal voltage drop developed across the internal resistance of the battery. When charging with a low charging current, the internal voltage drop is small and the monitored battery voltage is close to the electrode voltage.
The protection circuit is conventionally used as a safety device which may be triggered to avoid substantially overcharge of the battery. The threshold voltage of the protection circuit may be set so that the protection circuit triggers when the monitored battery voltage exceeds the end-of-charge voltage by a predetermined amount.
The electrode voltage of the battery is kept at or below the end-of-charge voltage to prevent overcharging. In a conventional charging method, the maximum charging voltage may be defined as the end-of-charge voltage. The provided battery terminal voltage should not exceed this end-of-charge voltage.
Such a conventional method of charging a lithium-based battery avoids overcharging. However, the terminal voltage reaches the end-of-charge voltage very quickly when compared to the electrode voltage. This results in a decrease in the charging current at an early stage and a consequent inefficiency in charging.

Method and apparatus for charging a rechargeable battery


A 5-link independent suspension system for a motor vehicle may include a steering knuckle and a trailing link extending along a single axis. The trailing link may be connected to the steering knuckle and be configured to attach to a frame rail of the vehicle. The suspension system may further include an integral link connected to the steering knuckle and configured to attach to the trailing link.

A vehicle's suspension system plays a vital role in both serving to isolate the occupants of the vehicle from the irregularities of the road surface, and helping to control the stability of the vehicle by managing the relative position of the wheels to the vehicle body during the vehicle's operation. Suspension systems are divided into two main categories, dependent and independent, terms which refer to the ability of the opposing wheels (i.e., the wheels on the same axle) to move independently of each other. In general, with a dependent suspension, the movement of one wheel affects the orientation of the opposing wheel. An independent suspension, on the other hand, allows one wheel to move freely and unhindered by the opposing wheel, thereby allowing the wheels to react individually to the bumps and dips in the road surface. An independent rear suspension (IRS), for example, allows for the rear wheels of the vehicle to be independently sprung.
IRS systems can also take various forms, including, for example, a double wishbone suspension, a multi-link suspension, and an integral link suspension. A double wishbone suspension, for example, has two sets of lateral "A" arms, which are generally called upper and lower control arms, and toe links. Each control arm has two attachments to the body and a single attachment to the steering knuckle (or wheel carrier). The three knuckle attachments (upper arm, lower arm, and toe link) on each side establish the plane of each wheel and control both camber angle and toe angle while reacting to wheel loads. Each side is separate from the other half which serves to independently isolate the reaction of each wheel to the road surface.
A more refined form of the double wishbone suspension is the multi-link suspension, which conceptually separates the structural performance of each "A" arm into two tension/compression links. Thus, a conventional 5-link suspension system can be thought of as separating the upper control arm into an upper trailing link and a camber link, separating the lower control arm into a lower link arm and a spring link, and retaining the toe link. The orientation and length of each link governs the suspension's geometric performance as well as the magnitude of link loading when wheel forces are reacted.
An integral link suspension connects a steering knuckle to an isolated sub-frame by means of a lower control arm, a camber link and a toe link. The steering knuckle is directly connected to the lower control arm via a pivot point and indirectly via an additional link, the integral link. The integral link may, for example, decouple caster compliance from longitudinal compliance, thereby preventing the need for a trailing link or control blade. An integral link rear suspension is, therefore, softer in wheel recession rate vs. the conventional 5-link suspension, stiffer in caster stiffness vs. the conventional 5-link suspension, and allows for a lower rear body rail package for increased interior volume (since the upper trailing link is eliminated). Accordingly, the integral link suspension may provide a substantial reduction in cruising interior noise, while also significantly improving impact harshness and aftershake, as compared with the conventional 5-link suspension, while not compromising vehicle handling.
Although an integral link suspension system has various advantages over the conventional 5-link suspension system, a conventional integral link suspension typically costs and weighs significantly more than the 5-link suspension (which utilizes a compilation of relatively light and inexpensive two-force members) often making its use not feasible for standard applications.
It may, therefore, be advantageous to provide an IRS system that functions like an integral link suspension system (which provides the advantages of the integral link system vs. the conventional 5-link system), while having a cost and weight similar to that of the conventional 5-link system.

Integral 5-link independent suspension systems


A seat assembly is disclosed. The seat assembly includes a shell portion, a pair of harness straps, a seat cover, and a harness pad. The shell portion has an outer surface. The pair of harness straps have an upper portion. The seat cover has an inner surface. The harness pad includes a first portion and a pair of elongated pads. The first portion may be positioned between the outer surface of the shell and the inner surface of the seat cover. The pair of elongated pads may be connected to the head portion. The elongated pads may each be configured to slidably receive the upper portion of a respective one of the harness straps.

Child seats typically include two harness straps and a crotch strap, which may be used to secure a child to the seat. Each of the harness straps are provided with a slidable tongue, and the crotch strap is provided with a buckle. The tongues of the harness straps may both be selectively engaged by a latching mechanism located in the buckle of the crotch strap to secure the child to the seat. The harness straps include corresponding upper ends and lower ends, where the upper ends of the harness straps may be positioned over the arms and shoulders of the child, and the lower ends of the harness straps may be anchored to a seat pan. When a child is secured to the seat, the upper ends of the harness straps may be seated against the child's shoulders. Sometimes the edges of the harness straps press or bear against the child's shoulders, which may cause discomfort to the child.
Some child seats include two tubular cushions or pads that each receive the upper end of one of the harness straps. The pads may be seated against the child's shoulders, and are used to generally prevent the edges of the upper ends of the harness straps from bearing down against the child's skin. However, sometimes the pads may slide downwardly along the harness straps, and migrate to the lower ends of the harness straps. Thus, there exists a need for a child seat having improved pads for the harness straps.


In a graphical user interface, a method for automatically arranging the position of the windows on the desktop according to a weighting value in order to provide an intuitive disposition of the windows on the desktop. The windows are spread radially around the center of the display with the higher weighted windows closer to the center. The weight of a window for placement purposes is determined by a measure of importance for the window, such as area or the frequency with which the user operates on the window.

Data processing systems are usually provided with a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow a user to control the data processing system and to present the results of user actions on the system display. In a graphical user interface, applications and data are generally presented as objects depicted on a user interface. A user is then provided with a graphical, intuitive interface to a complex data processing system which permits graphic selection of depicted objects and manipulation of applications corresponding to those objects.
It is usually possible to simultaneously execute several software applications. The execution of multiple applications simultaneously is often referred to as "multitasking". It is desirable in such environments to allow the user to view some or all of the applications simultaneously. This is often accomplished by the utilization of the concept of "windows" wherein all or part of multiple applications are displayed in separate viewports of a computer system video display system. It is known to have multiple software applications present on a computer display simultaneously, one or more of which may be active at any given time, and which may be displayed in a window or icon.
There may be several windows simultaneously present on the desktop with each window displaying information that is generated by a different application program. Each application program presents information to the user through its window by drawing images, graphics or text within the window region. The user, in turn, communicates with the application by pointing at graphical objects in the window with a pointer that is controlled by a pointing device, such as a mouse, and then selecting the objects, or by typing information via a keyboard associated with the monitor. Selection of the objects may be effected by actuating the mouse to move the pointer onto or near the objects and pressing and quickly releasing, i.e. clicking, a button on the mouse, or by manipulating a cursor via the keyboard.
These user interface objects may be easily manipulated utilizing a standard set of interface commands. For example, the user may move the windows around on the display screen, change their sizes and appearances, shrink down a window to a so-called icon, rearrange the objects with respect to their relative background/foreground position so as to arrange the desktop in a convenient manner, etc.
There are a number of different graphical user interface environments commercially available which utilize the arrangement described above. These environments include the System 7 operating system developed by Apple Computer, Inc. (System 7 is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.), the Windows graphical user interface developed by the Microsoft Corporation (Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation) and the OS/2 Presentation Manager developed by International Business Machines Corporation (OS/2 and Presentation Manager are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation).
A problem in a graphical user interface is that when several applications are opened simultaneously, the desktop may assume a cluttered appearance. Some of the windows can overlay other windows, or other graphical elements, such as icons, which are displayed on the desktop. Therefore the user needs to move the foreground windows to operate on hidden elements. Furthermore, if more than one window should be used at the same time, it is necessary to arrange those windows to allow simultaneous interaction.
It is known in graphical user interfaces to provide automated techniques, which avoid the need to manually arrange each single window.
The two most popular techniques are called "tile" and "cascade". Both of them provide an automated arrangement of windows on the desktop, but present some drawbacks.
The tile technique, as shown in FIG. 1, modifies the size of each window and arranges all the windows side by side and top to bottom. It uses the whole desktop area, allowing the user to work with many windows at the same time, without overlaps, but completely hiding the desktop and all the other graphical elements. The windows usually have all the same size, which is dependent on the number of windows to be arranged. Therefore, if many windows are arranged using the tile technique, each window becomes quite small.
The cascade technique, as shown in FIG. 2, arranges the windows so that each window is offset on two sides from the window it overlaps. The windows appear to be stacked, one behind the other. This technique minimizes the desktop area where windows are displayed, but makes it difficult to work with two windows at the same time and results in substantial overlap of the windows.

System and method for arranging windows displayed by a graphical user interface


A pattern is aligned and exposed with a lithography system so that chips larger than the deflection field can be formed by exposing M.times.N fields in a mosaic pattern. The method corrects the deflection field to compensate for the orientation of a previous pattern on a substrate and compensates for errors due to height caused by the beam landing non perpendicular to the target. Two basic procedures disclosed are called "3-mark" which are only applicable to 2.times.2 arrays of fields, and "M.times.N" which covers the general situation, but with slightly less accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to lithography tools for the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs) and, more particularly, to the alignment and stitching of fields in a lithographic exposure system where there are locations at which alignment marks have been omitted intentionally or cannot be located on the substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lithography systems have been used to expose patterns on semiconductor wafers in the fabrication of large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits. Unfortunately, many lithography tools have a field size limited to less than the largest IC chips to be written. This is inconvenient for device designers because they prefer not to expend the extra effort to subdivide chips into field size components. Therefore, it is useful to join or "stitch" fields with sufficient accuracy that the assembly appears essentially as one large field. This is increasingly a problem with very large scale integration (VLSI) and wafer scale integration (WSI).
Electron (E)-beam, ion beam and some optical steppers are examples of tools which must "stitch" fields together to expose the larger chips which will be required in the future. Prior techniques for stitching fields together in E-beam systems are described, for example, by Donald E. Davis in "Stitching Technique for Electron-Beam Lithography System", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 21, no. 5, October, 1978, pp. 1875 and 1876, and in "Field Stitching Method", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 22, no. 1, June, 1979, pp. 114 and 115. The first of these techniques takes advantage of the fact that image quality is primarily restricted to radial distance. Thus, if the field size is reconfigured to a small dimension in one axis, the other dimension can be expanded. Unfortunately, this technique is limited to chips which have their short dimension less than the square root of two times the maximum square chip. The second technique described by Davis takes advantage of the fact that image quality of the registration beam can be significantly degraded from that required for pattern writing without a serious impact on mark detection. By making a field range three times the writing range, marks at the chip perimeter can be detected and used to register the "writing quality" central portion of the field. The requirement for a deflection range one and a half times the chip size limits potential chip size and also degrades accuracy because deflection errors increase with range.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,241 to Matsuda et al. for "Exposure Method with Electron Beam Apparatus" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,945 to Niijima for "Method and Apparatus for Charged Particle Beam Exposure" disclose two other techniques for stitching fields. The Matsuda et al. technique divides areas of a wafer into sub sections for the purpose of reducing the volume of pattern information which must be contained in the tool memory at any instant and/or for the purpose of reducing the number of registration marks which must be scanned. While this technique eliminates some of the multi-field writing problems by adjusting for writing plane deviations via beam focus and repositioning the exposure field center based on height measurements; the block size and field size which can be used are restricted because in-field distortions are not well corrected. The Niijima technique divides a semiconductor chips into blocks and adjusts the block patterns based on marks in the four corners. Some of the four marks may be imaginary and are calculated from the real marks. This technique also does not correct for in-field errors caused by target plane errors and so is limited in accuracy or field size.
The following describes the problems in terms of an electron beam system; however, it will be understood that the situation is similar for other tools as well. In electron beam lithography, when the beam does not land perpendicular to the target, it will be displaced from its intended position when the height of the target is not nominal. Target heights generally vary due to manufacturing tolerances and distortions caused by hot processing. For an electron beam deflection with the apparent rocking point not at an infinite distance from the target the beam will land at an increasing angle from perpendicular as it is deflected which produces an increasing error. When the target is tilted and the corners of the fields are adjusted to match the desired positions by application of the usual linear corrections (i.e., A+Bx+Cy+Dxy), there will be an error at internal points which can be corrected by the addition of x.sup.2 and y.sup.2 terms.
There are three categories of problems. First, the axes of previous level patterns which are to be overlaid may be translated and/or rotated from the axes of the exposure tool. Second, the patterns may have some degree of distortion caused by the previous level of exposure, subsequent processing, or distortions of the writing tool. Third, the current exposure may have additional distortions of the exposure beam position over portions of the field.
In the single field/chip situation, errors due to the first category and the linear portion of the second category are typically corrected by detecting registration marks in a previous level pattern at the four corners of the field and "stretching" the current field to match the observed mark locations. Errors due to the third category are typically compensated by adjusting the field to correct for expected distortions. The magnitude of distortions can be extrapolated from corner errors, height information, and knowledge of deflection geometry. Registration marks in the interior of the chip are highly undesirable because they create forbidden areas which can not be used for circuits and devices and may disrupt the regularity of large area designs; therefore, four marks may not be available at the field corners to correct individual fields of a multi-field chip.

Registration of patterns formed of multiple fields

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor wafer that includes providing a substrate of a single crystalline first material that has an unfinished or rough surface, and epitaxially growing at least one layer of a second material directly on the unfinished or rough surface of the first material. The second material has a lattice that is different from that of the first material and the epitaxial growing of the second material is advantageously performed before a final surface finishing step on the unfinished or rough surface of the substrate to increase bonding between the materials.

Heteroepitaxial layers such as silicon germanium ("SiGe") layers grown on single crystalline substrates such as silicon enjoy an increasing popularity for manifold applications in semiconductor technology. However, due to the difference in lattice between the substrate and the heteroepitaxially grown layer, misfit and associated threading dislocations are formed during growth of the heteroepitaxial layer.
One approach to producing defect-free heteroepitaxial layers is the growth of a graded buffer layer of SiGe on a silicon substrate where the germanium percentage of the SiGe layer is gradually increased starting from the substrate. The increase in germanium concentration can reach 100% germanium at the surface of the graded buffer layer. Grading up of a heteroepitaxial layer stack, however, results in a high degree of surface roughness and waviness of the resulting structures. In particular, the surface of such a structure is highly degraded by the so-called "cross-hatch" phenomenon caused by a stress release during growth of the heteroepitaxial SiGe layer.
Since a controlled surface nanotopography and low roughness are key issues in utilizing heteroepitaxial structures for integrated circuits, the rough and wavy surface of the heteroepitaxial SiGe layer must be planarized to remove surface nanotopography, and must be further polished by a chemical-mechanical polishing ("CMP") step to perfect surface roughness by keeping surface nanotopography at the same level. It is very difficult to balance the effects of planarization and polishing since geometry and surface nanotopography properties of the structure will be degraded by polishing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,803 shows a method for improvement in the surface roughness and reduction of the dislocation pile-up density of a heteroepitaxial layer by growing such a layer on a miscut silicon substrate. The miscut substrate has a crystallographic orientation off-cut to an orientation from about 1° to about 8° offset from the [001] direction. Such miscut substrates, however, are not commonly available and are therefore too costly to have practical uses in heteroepitaxial layer manufacturing. Thus, further improvements in these methods are necessary, and these are now provided by the present invention.

S.O.I.Tec Silicon on Insulator Technologies S.A.


A method is provided in one example and includes receiving data from a network element, determining a candidate data processing task for the received data based upon a first similarity metric between the received data and data currently associated with the candidate data processing task, and sending the received data to the candidate data processing task.

The phenomenal growth of mobile networking is presenting mobile operators with tremendous opportunities along with corresponding challenges as they race to add capacity and services to meet accelerating demands. Mobile operators worldwide are seeing tremendous growth in mobile data subscriptions and bandwidth usage. The emergence of free, "over-the-top" and offnet applications and services (such as those from Skype, gaming vendors, and applications stores is impacting the return on investment (ROI) of mobile operators. Consumers can utilize these applications and services, which use the operator's network, without providing even an incremental usage fee to the mobile operator. While operators benefit in the near term with new subscriptions, long term there are profitability challenges from the explosion of data traffic. To take advantage of the mobile internet explosion, mobile operators must add value to third party service transactions. This value can be extracted in terms of new revenue and profit. Without this value add, mobile operators risk becoming simply a bandwidth "bit pipe" provider. As a result, it is critical for mobile operators to invest strategically in their network assets allowing them to launch new services and go beyond flat-rate data plans. In current networks, various pieces of information (such as the location of a subscriber, the reachability of a subscriber, etc.) are distributed in various network elements throughout the network. Furthermore, there is no single entity in the network that can: aggregate the information present in the different network elements, correlate the information, and feed that information to various external entities.

System and method for abstracting and orchestrating mobile data networks in a network environment


Because of using as a light source a halogen lamp which is well stabilized in terms of both the quantity of light and the spectral ratio, it is unnecessary to read shading data whenever the reading of an image is initiated. The shading data can be read with a certain margin at the end of a copy job, when power is being given to an image reader or at given time intervals for making shading correction on the basis thereof. Reading the shading data can be carried out with a certain time margin without detriment to FCOT (First Copy Output Time) and CPM (Copy/Minute); enough time is allowed for acceptance of the shading data, so that data of a plurality of lines can be read and fault values, if any, can be removed therefrom. Therefore, the influences of dust, etc., even if present on the white reference plate, can be eliminated. In addition, since it is unnecessary to accept the shading data at the beginning of a copy job, the white reference plate can be located on platen glass on the tail end side rather than on the lead edge side; the white reference plate can be read under the same illuminating conditions as in reading the original document.

This invention concerns a shading data accepting system in an image data reader for reading image data from digital copiers, facsimiles, printers or other hardware.
Conventional shading correction at white levels will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 1(A-C).
A contact type of dot-sequential line sensor 50 is built up of a zigzag array of sensor elements connected with each other, each of said elements comprising five chips, for instance. The read-out video signal is placed under gain and offset controls by a gain control circuit 51 and an offset control circuit 52, respectively, and converted into digital data by an A/D converter 53, which is in turn separated by a multiplexer 54 into respective R, G and B signals. Outputs of a buffer 55 are converted into density data by logarithmic transformation corrected for shading by a subtraction circuit 57 and a memory 58, and placed under gray balance control by an END conversion table 60 for output to an IPS.
The goal of shading correction is to compensate for variations due to the illuminating characteristics of light sources and changes with year and non-uniformity of light source, variations in optical systems resulting from stains oh reflectors, variations in the sensitivity of sensors to pixels, etc. At the beginning of scanning, a white reference plate 41 located on the lead edge side is read out, as typically shown in FIG. 1b, and the readout data is stored in the shading memory 58 after logarithmic transformation. Acceptance of the white reference plate data takes place by sensing that a reader is lying just under the white reference plate 41 by a position sensor 59 and triggering the detected signal to allow the memory 58 to accept the read-out data. Then, the original document is sequentially read out by the line sensor 50 and, after logarithmic transformation, the data stored in the memory 58 is subtracted from the data read at the subtraction circuit for the purpose of shading correction.
Ideally, the light source illuminating the original document should be as large in terms of the quantity of light as possible with its spectral characteristics being flat. Indeed, however, there is unavailable such a light source; that is, currently available light sources give out R, G and B components at considerably different ratios. At one end is a daylight fluorescent lamp whose R to B ratio is relatively small and whose characteristics are flat. Although the fluorescent lamp has the general merits of being less in power consumption, having an R:G:B ratio approximate to 1:1:1 and being more enhanced than a halogen lamp in terms of blue, a heater is required for temperature control, because its quantity of light is considerably variable. Once copying has been initiated, however, that lamp remains lit, so that its temperature rises, only to decrease in the quantity of light. This also holds at a low room temperature; its temperature drops under the influence of air vagaries resulting from scanning, again only to decrease in the quantity of light. Thus, not only is some difficulty involved in keeping the fluorescent lamp at the best temperature (about 45.degree. C.) at which the maximum quantity of light is obtained, but the quantity of light is variable as well. A halogen lamp, on the other hand, is well stabilized in terms of the quantity of light but is far from satisfactory in terms of the R:G:B ratio, esp., in terms of the proportion of B. Accordingly, when it is intended to amplify the components R, G and B separately so as to put the signal strengths of such colors in order, it is required to separate the light into three colors at the analog signal stage and then amplify them separately for compositing. This is particularly true of the use of a contact type of dot-sequential sensor. Even when five chips are used as the line sensor, fifteen (3.times.5) amplifiers are needed, posing a problem in that the circuit costs much.
Using a rod lens array, the conventional contact type of dot-sequential line sensor has the advantages of being capable of reducing the power of the light source due to its high resolution and brightness and being made compact. However, it has a grave problem in connection with a zigzag array of line sensor chips, correction of a time lag corresponding to a positional deviation between adjacent chips, correction of chip joints, inter-chip differences in characteristics, etc. Another problem arises from the fact that the rod lens array has a very small focal depth;. even a slight separation of the original document from the platen surface renders the image out of focus. For these reasons, such a demagnification type of line-sequential line sensor as illustrated in FIGS. 2(A and B) has been proposed in the art.
As typically shown in FIG. 2a, the demagnification type of line-sequential line sensor is designed to focus image-bearing light from a platen surface 40 onto a CCD line sensor 60 through a demagnification type of optical system 61. As can be best seen from FIG. 2b, this line sensor 60 is built up of three R, G and B sensor elements 60a, 60b and 60c located at given intervals. The sensor elements are each formed of a single chip so that R, G and B signals can be obtained separately without offering such inter-chip variations as found in the case of the contact type of dot-sequential line sensor. This enables the colors to be placed under separate gain controls, thus making it possible to use illuminating hardware ill-balanced between R, G and B, for instance, a halogen lamp. Another advantage of using the demagnification type of optical system for the purpose of image formation is that the focal depth is large enough that the resulting image can be well in focus. In the case of the demagnification type of optical system, however, such a large focal depth itself becomes a problem. In other words, when the white reference plate is positioned on the platen surface, as typically shown in FIG. 1b, dust present on the platen surface, even if slight, forms an image, which is then read-out to add a glitch to the white reference data, so that the image signal read-out with pixels corresponding to the dust-carrying portion of the white reference cannot precisely be corrected for shading, giving a defective or streaked output image.
The white reference plate 41, when placed on the platen glass, is usually less stained but, when used with an automatic document feeder (ADF), is likely to be stained by dust entering between it and a movable member 42 located at the left end of the platen so as to allow for smooth discharge of the original document, as illustrated in FIG. 1c. This dust, if remains deposited onto the white reference plate, is particularly detrimental to image quality.
When using a conventional fluorescent lamp, there is a variation in the quantity of light between when the shading data is gleaned and when the image is read, because its quantity of light is unstable. This poses a problem in that "image fogging" or "discrete imaging" occurs as a result of shading correction.
Further, because of being placed on the lead edge side, the white reference plate is read to update the white reference data whenever scanning is initiated. In the mode of copying a small document placed at the end opposite to the register end or copying it continuously on an enlarged scale, however, it is impossible to update the white reference data, because the image reader is kept from returning to the white reference plate whenever scanning is initiated so as to increase the productivity of copies; because of the quantity of light varying in the meantime, the highlight area of the image is fogged or made discrete.

Shading data accepting system in image readers


A method of monitoring and/or controlling the motion of a moving coating material dispensing pattern or fiber is provided with a monitor that senses a medium such as sound, light or other form of energy near the space between the dispensing device nozzle and a substrate, and a monitoring signal is generated. Information relating to the pattern motion is extracted, and an output signal is generated representative of characteristics of the motion of the pattern in the space. One or more transducers are used to extract the information, which is analyzed, preferably by comparison of a frequency spectrum of the signal with a spectrum of standard signal, to detect deviations in the system operation from desired criteria. Optionally, the output signal is used to control parameters of the system. In another embodiment, plural spaced transducers detect the phase or orientation of the moving pattern and remove background noise, by inverting, summing, multiplying, and otherwise combining the signals. The invention is useful for detecting malfunctions of the system components, for real-time closed loop control of the process, and for quality control inspection of dispensing device components during manufacture.

Controlled fiberization is a process for the application onto substrates of coating materials, such as pressure sensitive adhesives. The process was developed from air-assisted and melt-blown technologies. It provides a method of applying a continuous fiber of adhesive on a substrate surface in a dense distribution of precise width, fine edge definition, and specific fiber thickness, and achieving a controlled uniform density of the adhesive material on the product.
With controlled fiberization, a high viscosity material such as adhesive is dispensed in a continuous flowable stream or fiber, usually in the form of a swirling three dimensional spiral pattern extending from a dispensing nozzle onto a substrate. The swirling movement of the pattern is a result of the ejection of the high viscosity material under pressure from a nozzle to form a continuous adhesive fiber, then directing streams of air onto the fiber from a circular array of skewed air jets spaced around the nozzle to propel and swirl the material into a rotating pattern which moves toward the substrate. The air streams, together with the forward momentum and centrifugal force of the ejected material, force the material into a rotating outwardly spiraling helical pattern in which its own cohesive and elastic properties hold it in a string-like or rope-like strand.
Controlled fiberization methods for the application of pressure sensitive adhesives and the devices using such methods are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,996 entitled ADHESIVE SPRAY GUN AND NOZZLE ATTACHMENT assigned to Nordson Corporation, Amherst, Ohio, the assignee of the present invention, and hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The use of controlled fiberization techniques requires, for the above described advantages to be realized and the industry demands to be met, proper control of the application process and proper functioning of the dispensing apparatus. Absent accurate control of the system parameters and proper function of the dispensing device, some or all the above advantages are lost, including particularly those affecting the quality of the products and the cost and efficiency of the dispensing operation.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide coating material dispensing systems and processes, particularly controlled fiberization dispensing systems and processes for the application of adhesives, as for example pressure sensitive adhesives, and to provide the dispensing operation with monitoring capabilities that can accurately, quickly and economically determine the performance of the system components and of the adhesive application process.

Method of monitoring parameters of coating material dispensing systems and processes by analysis of swirl pattern dynamics