An apparatus and method for controlling the taillight of a vehicle are disclosed. The apparatus includes a visible light wireless communication data generation unit, a brightness control unit, a variable pulse position modulation (VPPM) signal generation unit, and a light source. The visible light wireless communication data generation unit generates information about the operation of a vehicle. The brightness control unit generates a brightness control value that is used to control the brightness of a light source installed at the tail of the vehicle. The variable pulse position modulation (VPPM) signal generation unit controls a pulse position and a pulse width within a unit pulse section of a pulse that controls the light source based on the information about the operation of the vehicle and the brightness control value.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to technology for configuring and controlling the taillight of a vehicle and, more particularly, to a method of controlling a taillight which is capable of integrating the function of a sidelight indicative of the presence and width of a vehicle ahead of the driver, especially, during nighttime driving, and the function of a brake light operative to be automatically turned on when a driver steps on the brake of the vehicle and then providing the integrated function, and which is also capable of providing information about the operation of a vehicle to a following vehicle via visible light wireless communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, lights and display devices using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have rapidly spread into products for daily life, such as vehicles, traffic lights, billboards, TVs, monitors, mobile devices, special lighting and common lighting. The reason for this is that LED light sources have a longer lifespan, exhibit excellent power efficiency, facilitate digital control, and implement various colors, compared to existing light sources, such as fluorescent lamps or incandescent lamps. Furthermore, active research has been carried out into visible light wireless communication technology that adds communication functionality to LED lights and display devices, thereby achieving both the unique purpose of an LED light source and the purpose of a communication means.
Visible light wireless communication technology is communication technology that wirelessly transfers information using visible light in the wavelength range from 380 nm to 780 nm which is visible to the human eye. This technology is distinguished from existing wired optical communication technology and wireless infrared light communication technology using the infrared wavelength band in that this technology uses light in the visible ray wavelength band.
Unlike radio frequency (RF) wireless communication now being widely used, visible light wireless communication technology can be freely used without any regulations or permission in terms of a frequency use. Furthermore, visible light wireless communication technology is different from RF wireless communication in that it has excellent physical security and a communication link can be checked by a user's eye. Furthermore, visible light wireless communication technology has a convergence technology characteristic that enables both the unique purpose of a light source and communication functionality to be achieved.
Such visible light wireless communication technology includes variable pulse position modulation (VPPM) technology that is capable of performing both a modulation function for sending visible light wireless communication data and a function for controlling the brightness of a lighting source using LED lighting. In this technology, the bit "1" or "0" is represented depending on whether a pulse section in which a light source is turned on is located in the front or rear part of a unit symbol section, and the brightness of the light source can be changed by changing the temporal length of a pulse section in which the light source is turned on.
The brightness of LED lighting may be basically controlled using two methods. One of the two methods is a method of changing the amount of voltage or current applied to an LED light source via an analog circuit, and the other of the two methods is a pulse width modulation (PWM) method of controlling the time during which an LED light source remains turned along a time axis through digital control. In the above-described VPPM modulation technology, the brightness of a light source is controlled using the PWM method.
Each of the existing taillights of a vehicle usually includes two lamps. A sidelight and a brake light are mounted in a single frame and thus form the taillight. In general, the turning on and off of the sidelight is manually controlled by a driver, and the brake light is controlled so that it is turned on when a driver steps on a deceleration pedal in order to reduce the speed of a vehicle. Furthermore, the conventional sidelight and brake light of a vehicle are detected by only the visual perception of a driver who drives a following vehicle, but do not have the function for transmitting data from the sidelight or brake light of the preceding vehicle to a following vehicle via visible light wireless communication.
The conventional taillight of a vehicle is manually turned on or off by a driver. Accordingly, a problem arises in that a following vehicle may become endangered if the taillight of a preceding vehicle is not turned on in nighttime driving, or in that the battery of a vehicle may continue to be consumed because a driver does not turn off a taillight upon parking. Furthermore, it is difficult to provide light of a brightness optimized in proportion to external illumination because the brightness of the taillight is always maintained at a uniform level.
With the rapid replacement of conventional lamps with LED lamps in taillights mounted on various types of vehicles, there is an increasing need for convergence technology including wireless communication functionality using LED lamps and brightness control technology reflecting the characteristics of LED lamps.
As related art, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2009-0001105 discloses an LED lamp for the combined brake and tail light of an automobile.

Apparatus and method for controlling taillight of vehicle, capable of brightness control and visible light wireless communication

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A belt clip apparatus is provided that attaches to a case for a portable electronic device (e.g., a music player, video player, cell phone, etc.) that both swivels and pivots on two different axes. Such a clip can attach to an article of clothing and allow the user to view the screen and access the controls of an electronic device without having to first remove the device from the article of clothing. In one embodiment, the apparatus can stand on a flat surface in either an angled portrait or landscape orientation when attached to the case, thereby allowing the user to choose the optimal orientation for accessing the controls or viewing a screen on a portable device mounted within the attached case. The angle formed between the case and the belt clip can be varied so that the user can optimize the viewing angle of the attached portable electronic device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a belt clip for a portable electronic device and relates particularly to a belt clip that can swivel and pivot with respect to a case for the portable electronic device so that the belt clip may function as a stand when the electronic device is placed on a flat surface.
2. Description of Related Art
A belt clip is a known structure used to attach a portable electronic device or object to the belt of a user, allowing the user to carry the device on his belt. Examples of such portable electronic devices having belt clips include cell phones, pagers, music players (e.g., mp3, WMA, AAC, etc.) and/or video players, and CD players. One typical belt clip design has an elongated member secured at one end to the top of the back of a housing of a device (or a container holding the device) to form a clip with the back of the housing, such that a user's belt can be positioned between the elongated member and the housing. Often, the elongated member is hinged to the back of the housing, and biased (e.g., by way of a spring) against the back surface of the housing to retain the user's belt between the elongated member and the housing. The bottom of the elongated member may have a hook to facilitate retention of the belt.
Belt clips are often removably attached to the housing of a portable electronic device by a slidable member coupled to the belt clip having edges that can be positioned into grooves of the housing. This allows a user to remove the belt clip if it is not needed and to temporarily remove the device to view the screen or controls on the face of the device, or in the case of a cellular telephone, to place the phone to the user's ear. A drawback of such a belt clip, however, is that it requires additional user steps to detach and attach the belt clip each time the user needs to view the screen or access controls on the face of the device.
Another drawback of such a belt clip is that it is often rigidly held to the user's body, which greatly minimizes the amount of possible movement of the device (attached to the belt clip) relative to the user's body position, and often makes wearing the device uncomfortable. This is especially true when a user is seated and the electronic device digs into the top of the user's thigh.
Yet another drawback of such a belt clip is that it does not provide the ability to place a device (attached to the belt clip) on a flat surface in an angled, semi-vertical position in either a portrait or a landscape orientation so that the user can view videos and screen images in their optimal orientation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of fastening a portable electronic device to a belt clip that would allow the user to swivel, pivot, and/or tilt the device to easily view the screen of the device without having to first remove the portable electronic device from the user's belt. There is also a need for a belt clip that, when placed on a flat surface, can affix the attached portable electronic device in a semi-vertical position in either a portrait or a landscape orientation. Such a system would reduce the need for the user to remove the portable electronic device from the user's belt and/or the belt clip to view the screen or access controls and would eliminate the need for a separate case or device to hold the portable electronic device in an angled upright position, thus providing an improvement over currently available belt clips.

Rotating and pivoting belt clip that can be used as a stand


A light emitting diode (LED) backlight driving circuit includes a power supply, an LED light bar coupled to the power supply, a constant current driving chip that drives the LED light bar to light, and a comparing unit. The constant current driving chip includes an under-voltage protection pin that receives an under-voltage protection signal. An overvoltage collecting unit of the LED backlight driving circuit and an under-voltage collecting unit of the LED backlight driving circuit are coupled to an input end of the power supply, and an output voltage of the under-voltage collecting unit is directly input to the under-voltage protection pin. A reference voltage is input to a first input end of the comparing unit, and a second input end of the comparing unit is coupled to the overvoltage collecting unit. When an output voltage of the overvoltage collecting unit exceeds the reference voltage, the comparing unit sends the under-voltage protection signal to the under-voltage protection pin.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes an LCD panel and a backlight unit that provides a light source for the LCD panel, where the backlight unit includes a light emitting diode (LED) backlight driving circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, the LED backlight driving circuit includes a power supply, an LED light bar coupled to an output end of the power supply, and a constant current driving chip that drives the LED light bar to light. When voltage of the LED backlight driving circuit decreases, output current of the power supply increases, which easily damages components of the LED backlight driving circuit. Thus, an under-voltage protection pin of the constant current driving chip avoids voltage damages to the components of the LED backlight driving circuit, where the under-voltage protection pin detects an output voltage of the power supply. When voltage of the under-voltage protection pin is less than a trigger voltage of an inside of the constant current driving chip, the constant current driving chip performs a protection function, which allows an entire LED backlight driving circuit to stop working.
A typical LED constant current driving chip has only a function of under-voltage protection, when an input voltage of the constant current driving chip is too great, namely exceeds a range accepted by the constant current driving chip, which damages the constant current driving chip and affects the entire LED backlight driving circuit.

LED backlight driving circuit having divider units and method for driving the LED backlight driving circuit


During switching of an input rotation transmission mechanism, the actual engine rotational speed at the start of the switching and the speed changing ratio change amount owing to the switching operation are used as a basis for computing the target engine rotational speed of an engine and for computing the target speed changing ratio for an automatic transmission such that the rotational speed of automatic transmission on the side toward input rotation transmission mechanism nearly matches the rotational speed of input rotation transmission mechanism on the side toward automatic transmission, and shifting operation control for automatic transmission is executed in the opposite direction that is synchronized with the switching operation of input rotation transmission mechanism.

Usually a torque converter or other fluid transmission mechanism is arranged between an automatic transmission and an engine to boost the torque. Because the torque converter performs power transmission via a fluid, however, the transmission efficiency is poor, and this is undesirable.
In Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 2003-035353, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a type of input rotation transmission mechanism with a torque boosting function and having a high transmission efficiency is proposed. That input rotation transmission mechanism is composed of an epicyclic gear mechanism instead of a fluid transmission mechanism. It has a low-speed stage that reduces the input engine speed and a high-speed stage that transmits the input engine rotation as is. Because up-shifting and down-shifting are performed in the low-speed stage and high-speed stage, respectively, this input rotation transmission mechanism is also called a secondary transmission. As a substitute for the torque converter, it is inserted in the drive train between the engine and the automatic transmission, also known as the principal transmission. When the vehicle starts to move, the input rotation transmission mechanism is in the low-speed stage selection state, and from the neutral state in which the driving frictional elements of the back/forth switching mechanism of the automatic transmission are released, driving is effected by control to engage the driving frictional element.
In Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 2003-269600, which is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, there is taught a method of control for preventing gear-shifting shock by means of gear-shifting (shifting operation) with synchronization between the input rotation transmission mechanism and the automatic transmission.


A supporting base material for a tufted rotary finishing pad utilizes a three-layer laminate including an outer face layer of a crosslinked ionomer resin of ethylene and methacrylic acid copolymers reacted with a metal salt, an intermediate layer of an open polyester mesh, and an inner face layer of a non-woven polyester fiber. The tufted fiber finishing media is attached to the crosslinked ionomer resin face of the laminated base which is preferably heat formed to provide a curved pad edge. The base is extremely tough and durable, provides excellent shape retention, resistance to moisture, and resistance to fiber tear-out.

The present invention relates to surface finishing pads and, more particularly, to an improved support and backing for the finishing medium of a tufted fiber rotary finishing pad.
Surface finishing pads of tufted fiber construction, used for buffing and polishing a variety of surfaces, are well known in the art. Most typically, these pads are circular in shape and are driven by a rotary buffing machine in which the pads are mounted thereon by use of any of several devices, including threaded connectors and hook and loop fasteners.
Pads using a soft fiber finishing medium commonly use wool yarn, but other synthetic fiber yarns, used alone or blended with wool, are also used. The fiber yarns are typically attached to a stiff, but flexible, base or backing layer by utilizing well known tufting methods and apparatus. Such tufted pads provide a number of distinct advantages in certain surface finishing operations over, for example, open cell polyurethane foam pads. However, tufted finishing pads have a number of deficiencies, most of which relate to the underlying supporting base or backing for the tufted fibers, which backing also provides the interface for attachment to the buffing machine.
The finishing pad support or backing must be rigid enough to retain the pad shape, yet flexible enough to provide some cushioning effect during operation. The industry has generally adopted a laminated construction for the backing used to support tufted fiber finishing media. The backing should be resistant to moisture and water-based cleaning solutions, tough enough to withstand perforation and stitch tear-out during operation, and formable into a curved peripheral edge which will hold its shape during use. One common prior art backing comprises a layer of polyester film laminated between two layers of a woven jute fabric. The jute layers help lock the tufted fabric in place and the polyester layer provides shape retention. In addition, a further polyester backing layer is laminated to the jute surface opposite the tufted face to allow the pad to be heat formed with a circular peripheral edge, as is common in the industry. Unfortunately, jute is not particularly durable, swells in the presence of moisture, and may capture and hold finishing compound in use. An alternate media support and backing utilizes a base laminate comprising a non-woven polyester layer and a solid film of polyester fabric material. The tufted fabric may be first applied to the non-woven layer and the polyester film laminated to the sewn non-woven layer and formed with a curved peripheral edge, if desired. Polyethylene is a commonly used polyester material, but other plastic resin backing and support materials are also utilized. These layered polyester laminates, though somewhat more resistant to water than jute, still soften and lose their shape in use. In addition, these materials do not provide sufficient strength to prevent perforation and stitch tear-out as a result of the high shear forces incurred in use.
A further problem, common to all prior art tufted pads, is the tendency of the fibers to separate from the backing at the peripheral edge of the pad during use. Attempts have been made to add additional reinforcing strips to the edge, and to bond the radially outermost fibers to the backing along the edge. However, prior art backing materials have not proved to provide a satisfactory bond for wool or synthetic fibers, and added reinforcing strips increase the pad cost without providing cost-effective benefit.

Backing support for surface finishing pad


An optical system in which a coherent light beam is made more uniform in intensity in cross section. Two light shearing plates disposed at an angle to each other scramble the coherency of the light beam while homogenizing and expanding it. Each shearing plate has a partially reflecting element and a fully reflecting element. The resulting beam is of incoherent radiation having a high uniformity of illumination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical systems and more particularly to a system in which coherent radiation having variations of intensity is smoothed to provide a more uniformly illuminated image plane. More particularly the invention contemplates a laser light source of coherent light in which the light beam is modified to provide a beam of more uniformity in cross section. Such beams of high intensity and relatively uniform illumination are especially useful in the manufactures of semiconductor wafers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Increased resolution and throughput requirements in micromachining require use of powerful monochromatic light sources as provided by lasers. However, while monochromaticity of laser radiation helps to increase resolution, the high coherency reduces it as described in Principles of optics by Born and wolf, Oxford 1970 fourth edition. Thus, prior art systems have been designed to reduce or eliminate coherency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,508 reduces the coherency by breaking the beam into many spatially shifted parts using either a staircase prism, fiberoptic bundle, or an array of glass rods of different thicknesses. This, however, introduces a local loss of light due to diffraction on the edges of the staircase prisms or glass rod arrays, or obscuration of light by bevels and rolloffs, which result in a high non-uniformity of illumination.
A similar problem exists in another system of destroying the coherency, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,200. This system employs a coherency delay line installed between the laser and homogenizer. The delay line comprises two mirrors, one partially reflecting, and one totally reflecting, arranged so that light incident from the laser first strikes the partially reflecting mirror. A portion of the beam passes through and a portion is reflected back to the totally reflective mirror. The reflected portion is in turn reflected back to the partially reflecting mirror at a position spaced from the position of initial incidence, where again a portion is transmitted, and a portion is reflected. This process is repeated until the reflected beam traverses the partially reflective mirror and finally bypasses the partially reflective mirror altogether. The series of beams transmitted through the partially reflecting mirror and the final beam that bypasses it all together, are focused through a lens into the homogenizer. The partially reflective mirror coating is made in such a way that all portions of the light beam transmitted through it are substantially equal in intensity. This is achieved by making the thickness of partially reflective coating on the partially reflective mirror decreasing at each successive position of incidence by the beam.
The magnitude of the spatial shift between adjacent beams must be equal to or exceed their size, otherwise it can not enter or exit the system without the energy loss. Resulting energy distribution is very non-uniform because of voids between adjacent beams formed due to the nonuniformity of the input laser beam, edge diffraction or shear separation. To correct the nonuniformity of illumination a mirror funnel homogenizer is employed and a large number of reflections is required to correct the problem. Losses associated with each reflection, result in a low throughput of the device.


The present invention provides an automatic network-address-duplication detection method and an automatic network-address-duplication detection device which detect a duplication in two or more network addresses assigned to interconnected data transmission units on a network. A network layer communication controller in a data transmission unit, which runs under control of the link state routing protocol, has a MAC address acquisition circuit, which obtains the MAC address of the data transmission unit, stores the obtained MAC address into a link state packet, and sends the link state packet to the network. Upon receiving the link state packet from some other data transmission unit, the network layer communication controller obtains the system identification and the MAC address from the received link state packet, searches an NSAP-MAC address table for the obtained system identification and, if the same system identification is found, compares the MAC address obtained from the link state packet of the sending data transmission unit with the MAC address corresponding to the system identification that is found in the NSAP-MAC address table. If the two MAC addresses do not match, it is determined that the NSAP address is duplicated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for automatically detecting a data transmission unit with a duplicated network address, and more particularly to a method and a device for automatically detecting a data transmission unit with a duplicated address on a network under control of link state routing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, this type of address duplication detection system has been used for detecting the duplicated address of a data transmission unit on a local area network (LAN). An earlier patent disclosure dealing with this is found in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. A-3-212038.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the configuration of a LAN system using a conventional address duplication detection system.
FIG. 9 shows the format of a terminal initial packet. This terminal initial packet is sent either by a LAN terminal 28 in the LAN system shown in FIG. 8 when it starts sending packets or by a terminal adapter 29 when it detects that a line terminal 30 connected to it starts sending packets. The terminal initial packet is composed of the destination Media Access Control (MAC) address, the MAC address of the terminal, and the subscriber""s address.
FIG. 10 shows an address table stored in a network monitoring unit 26. When the terminal initial packet is received, the system searches the address table for a match. If the subscriber""s address in the terminal initial packet is not found in the table, the pair of the subscriber""s address and the MAC address is added to the table.
Now, assume that a LAN terminal 35 is added to the LAN system, shown in FIG. 8, with its subscriber""s address mistakenly set to the address of a line terminal 34, one of the existing terminals. The following describes how the conventional address duplication detection system works in this situation. In the following description, the subscriber""s address of the LAN terminal 35 is AAAA, its MAC address is 111111111111, the subscriber""s address of the line terminal 34 is AAAA, and the MAC address of the terminal adapter 29 is 222222222222.
When the line terminal 34 starts operation, the modem interface signal is activated and sent to the terminal adapter 29. Upon receiving this signal, the terminal adapter 29 sends the terminal initial packet in the format shown in FIG. 9 to the network monitoring unit 26 via the transmission line. In this case, the terminal initial packet contains the MAC address of 222222222222 and the subscriber""s address of AAAA.
Upon receiving the terminal initial packet, the network monitoring unit 26 checks if the subscriber""s address is already in the address table and if the MAC address stored in the address table matches the MAC address of the received terminal initial packet. In this case, the network monitoring unit 26 finds that the both are satisfied and then ends duplication checking. If the subscriber""s address is not stored in the address table, the network monitoring unit 26 adds the pair of the subscriber""s address and the MAC address to the address table.
On the other hand, when the LAN terminal 35 starts operation, it sends a terminal initial packet containing the MAC address of 111111111111 and the subscriber""s address of AAAA to the network monitoring unit 26. Upon receiving this terminal initial packet, the network monitoring unit 26 finds that the subscriber""s address is already in the address table but that the MAC address stored in the address table does not match the MAC address contained in the received terminal initial packet. That is, the network monitoring unit 26 detects a subscriber""s address duplication.
The automatic address-duplication detection device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. A-3-267845 is used on a ring LAN and in a data transmission unit connected to the ring LAN. To detect address duplications, this device uses two types of node address for each data transmission unit: a node address which is unique and is usually set in the unit and a test node address which is specifically prepared for testing and which does not duplicate with the node address. First, the device in the data transmission unit sends onto the ring LAN a line loopback frame containing the unique node addresses as the destination node address and as the sending node address. If the loopback frame is not sent back to the sending data transmission unit, then the device sends onto the ring LAN a line loopback frame containing the test node address as the destination node address and as the sending node address. If the frame is sent back to the sending transmission unit, then the device finds that a transmission unit with the node address of the sending transmission unit is on the network.
The systems and device according to the prior art have the following problems. The first problem is that, when a commercially-available router not compatible with the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. A-3-212038 is used to connect LANs, a remote LANs also requires a network monitoring unit in order to detect address duplications. The second problem with this system is that, if a network monitoring unit fails due to a power failure or an operation error, address duplications cannot be detected.
The problem with Japanese Patent Publication No. A-3-267845 is that the device detects a duplication only in the termination (or sending) unit but not in intermediate systems (routers).
It is an object of this invention to provide a method for automatically detecting a network address duplication in network addresses assigned to data transmission units (intermediate systems) which are installed not only in one LAN but also on a point-to-point line or in the interconnected networks connected via WAN (Wide Area Network). In particular, it is an object of this invention to provide a method for detecting an address duplication in a network under control of link state routing.
Accordingly, the present invention is an automatic network-address-duplication detection method for detecting duplicated addresses among a plurality of networked data transmission units under control of link state routing. On one data transmission unit, this automatic network-address-duplication detection method comprises the steps of transmitting a network-wide distribution packet, the transmission comprising the steps of (i) obtaining an address assigned to the one data transmission unit in the network; (ii) reading identification information on the one data transmission unit; adding the obtained address and the identification information to the network-wide distribution packet; and (iv) transmitting the network-wide distribution packet to the network. On another data transmission unit, this automatic network-address-duplication detection method comprises the steps of checking the network-wide distribution packet, the checking step comprising the steps of (i) receiving the network-wide distribution packet;(ii) extracting the identification information and the address of the sending data transmission unit from the received packet; (iii) searching a previously-prepared table for a pair of the identification information and the address of the sending data transmission unit, the table containing a plurality of pairs of the identification information and the address; and(iv) comparing the address contained in the received packet with the address corresponding to other identification information in the table.
The automatic network-address-duplication detection method according to this invention allows an NSAP address duplication to be detected simply by connecting a data transmission unit using the method of this invention to a console terminal for a predetermined period of time. Once the data transmission unit is connected, it sends the LSP containing a unique MAC address to the network at a regular interval and the other data transmission units, upon receiving the LSP, check the received LSP for an address duplication.
Furthermore, the automatic network-address-duplication detection method according to this invention detects duplicated network addresses even if the network contains data transmission units not using the method of this invention. This is because the LSP, which is always distributed to other data transmission units under control of link state routing, contains an MAC address.
The automatic network-address-duplication detection method according to this invention functions even when the network contains a WAN.

Automatic network-address-duplication detection method and device


Provided is a method for fabricating anti-reflection film with anti-PID effect. The method comprises: vacuuming a furnace tube, holding the temperature in the furnace at 420° C. and the pressure as 80 mTorr for 4 minutes; pretreating silicon wafers at 420° C. with a nitrous oxide flux of 3.8-4.4 slm and pressure of 1700 mTorr for 3 minutes; testing pressure to keep a inner pressure of the furnace tube as a constant value of 50 mTorr for 0.2-0.5 minute; pre-depositing at 420° C., with a ammonia gas flux of 0.1-0.5 slm, a silane flux of 180 sccm-200 sccm, a nitrous oxide flux of 3.5-4.1 slm, pressure of 1000 mTorr and radio frequency power of 4300 w for 0.3-0.5 minute; depositing a film at 450° C., with a ammonia gas flux of 2000-2200 sccm, a silane flux of 7000-7500 sccm, a nitrous oxide flux of 2-2.4 slm, pressure of 1700 mTorr and radio frequency power of 4300 w for 3 minutes; blowing and cooling the film at 420° C. with a nitrogen gas flux of 6-10 slm, pressure of 10000 mTorr for 5-8 minutes. The deposition steps may be more than 2 steps. The obtained anti-reflection film has anti-PID effect, thus can improve the electrical performance of solar cells.

Being a photovoltaic element for energy conversion, a solar cell is able to convert light energy into electric energy under the irradiation of sunlight, with the aim of achieving power generation. An anti-reflection film is deposited on the surface of a solar cell to reduce light reflection on the surface of the cell and thus effectively improve the conversion efficiency of the cell. Meanwhile, the anti-reflection film can play a role of surface passivation and for the solar cell as well. Therefore, these two aspects should be taken into consideration comprehensively during the selection of the anti-reflection film material. The optical anti-reflection film material suitable for crystalline silicon solar cells includes silicon dioxide, silicon nitride or other thin film materials.
At present, anti-reflection films are grown mainly using PECVD the technical principle of which is as follows: with a low-temperature plasma serving as an energy source, a sample is heated up to a predetermined temperature by glow discharge or additional heating elements, and then a proper amount of reactive gases is fed in, followed by the fact that a solid-state thin film is formed on the surface of the sample after the reactive gases are subjected to a series of chemical reactions and plasma reactions. At present during the production of solar cells, ammonia and silane are generally used as the reactive gases, which form, upon the completion of reaction, a dark blue thin film in which silicon nitride plays a role of anti-reflection while hydrogen may exist for the purpose of body passivation. PECVD coating proposes high requirements on both temperature and vacuum degree. There are complicated gas paths due to the participation of several different gases in the reaction. Moreover, since the reactive gases are usually toxic, flammable and explosive, there exist potential safety hazards.
Researches have shown that a high voltage between a circuit existing in a crystalline PV module and a grounded metal frame thereof will result in continuous degradation of the photovoltaic performance of the module. There are a variety of mechanisms resulting in such degradation, for example, the phenomenon of ion migration in the packaging material for the cell of the module and in the material of the upper surface layer and lower surface layer of the module due to the effect of the above high voltage; the occurrence of hot carriers in the cell; reduction of the active layer of the cell owing to the charge redistribution; corrosion of related circuits, etc. These mechanisms resulting in such degradation are referred to as Potential Induced Degradation (PID), polarization, electrolytic corrosion and electrochemical corrosion. The majority of the above phenomena are most likely to occur under humid conditions, and their degrees of activity are related to the degree of humidity. Meanwhile, what is also related to the degradation phenomena mentioned above is the degree of contamination that conductive substances, acidic substances, alkaline substances and substances with ions cause to the surface of the module. In a practical application scenario, the PID phenomenon of the crystalline solar cell module has already been observed. Depending on the cell structure, different materials of other components and designs, the PID phenomenon may arise in a case when its circuit and the grounded metal frame create a positive voltage offset or in a case when its circuit and the grounded metal frame create a negative voltage offset. Related papers have stated that leak current, through a path formed by the packaging material (typically EVA and the upper surface of glass) and the module frame, is regarded as the main cause for the PID phenomenon. So far, it is actually not very clear how the leak current is formed. In general, an insulation system, which is formed after a cell is packaged, using the packaging material, is imperfect for the above leak current, and meanwhile, it is supposed that metal ions derived from soda-lime glass are the main current carrying medium of the abovementioned leak current having the PID effect. In addition, related papers have shown that, under actual application conditions, a certain period of time after the sun rises in the morning tends to be a time period during which the PID effect becomes relatively strong, the reason for which is that dew condensation (particularly dews in summer and autumn) may occur on the surface of the crystalline PV module without power generation through the whole night, and as a result of that the photovoltaic system, with its surface relatively humid, will encounter the abovementioned system voltage offset within the certain period of time after the sun rises in the morning.
At present, the solutions for solving PID focus mainly on three levels, i.e., solar cells, modules and solar systems or solar parks. The resistivity of solar cells, diffusion sheet resistance, anti-reaction film and other process qualities all have influences on the anti-PID performance of solar cells. For PV module industries, EVA, tempered glass, aluminum frames and other auxiliary materials also function as a bridge for the occurrence of potential induced degradation, so the improvement of such auxiliary materials is an effective way to solve potential induced degradation. As to solar systems and solar parks, potential induced degradation may be avoidable to some extent by improving inverters and grounding modes as well as by other such approaches.
With a life span up to 25 years, PV modules face a high likelihood of severe climate conditions. Serious PID may greatly decrease the power output of a power plant (degradation of over 90%), causing a grave damage to the interest of operators and power plant investors.

Method for fabricating anti-reflection film with anti-PID effect

DONGFANG ELECTRIC (YIXING) MAGI SOLAR POWER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD


A system and method for producing an image of a vascular structure of a subject using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system includes performing a first pulse sequence to acquire a flow-dependent imaging data set from the stack of prescribed imaging slices following a first quiescent inflow time period (QITP). The process also includes performing a second pulse sequence without suppressing signal from spins flowing into the stack of prescribed imaging slices through either of the veins or arteries to acquire a flow-independent imaging data set. The flow-dependent imaging data and the flow-independent imaging data are subtracted to create a difference image of the stack of prescribed imaging slices illustrating the at least one of the arteries and the veins as having a bright contrast and another of the arteries and veins as having a suppressed contrast.

The present disclosure relates to magnetic resonance imaging More particularly, the disclosure relates to a system and method for selective imaging of arteries or veins using magnetic resonance imaging.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the nuclear spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. Usually the nuclear spins are comprised of hydrogen atoms, but other NMR active nuclei are occasionally used. A net magnetic moment Mz is produced in the direction of the polarizing field, but the randomly oriented magnetic components in the perpendicular, or transverse, plane (x-y plane) cancel one another. If, however, the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1; also referred to as the radiofrequency (RF) field) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, Mz, may be rotated, or "tipped" into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt, which is rotating, or spinning, in the x-y plane at the Larmor frequency. The practical value of this phenomenon resides in the signal which is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation field B1 is terminated. There are a wide variety of measurement sequences in which this nuclear magnetic resonance ("NMR") phenomenon is exploited.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged experiences a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The emitted MR signals are detected using a receiver coil. The MRI signals are then digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well-known reconstruction techniques.
Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and, related imaging techniques, such as perfusion imaging, use the NMR phenomenon to produce images of the human vasculature or physiological performance related to the human vasculature. There are three main categories of techniques for achieving the desired contrast for the purpose of MR angiography. The first general category is typically referred to as contrast enhanced (CE) MRA. The second general category is phase contrast (PC) MRA. The third general category is time-of-flight (TOF) or tagging-based MRA.
Contrast-enhanced MRA (CEMRA) is frequently used to evaluate vascular disease. Although arteries are well evaluated using CEMRA, it is problematic to show veins without troublesome overlap from arteries. Moreover, high contrast doses or a costly blood pool agent may be required. Furthermore, these techniques require the use of exogenous contrast material. Such agents are costly and expose the patient to added safety risks, namely, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. As such, non-enhanced MRA (NEMRA) techniques are helpful for the evaluation of suspected vascular disease in patients with impaired renal function, since they avoid the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.
Examples of newer non-enhanced techniques include quiescent-inflow single-shot (QISS) MRA, fresh blood imaging, and flow-sensitive dephasing, such as described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 12/574,856, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. QISS MRA has been shown to be a fast, accurate method for non-contrast MRA. However, imaging of veins can be problematic using traditional QISS techniques due to the intermittent nature of venous flow. In certain regions like the lower-extremities, venous flow may be entirely absent for extended periods of time, so that flow-dependent MRA techniques like QISS do not reliably show venous anatomy.
Additionally, flow-independent MRA techniques are potentially advantageous because they can be implemented as a 3D acquisition with excellent signal-to-noise ratio, high spatial resolution, and insensitivity to abnormal flow patterns. Flow-independent MRA techniques can be performed during the steady-state, after administration of a blood pool contrast agent, such as gadofosveset trisodium, or can be acquired without contrast agents using pulse sequences such as 3D balanced steady-state free precession. However, the projective images overlap between arteries and veins severely limits the diagnostic utility of images acquired using flow-independent MRA. Attempts have been made to suppress venous or arterial signal by applying a saturation pulse outside of the imaging region. However, the saturation pulse is ineffective because, unlike the case with thin, 2D slices, inflowing saturated blood undergoes T1 relaxation and substantially recovers its signal intensity before it penetrates far into a large, 3D volume.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a system and method for non-contrast-enhanced imaging arteries and veins and/or flow-independent MRA imaging techniques that do not suffer from the challenges set forth above and other challenges.

System and method for selective magnetic resonance imaging angiography of arteries or veins


A circuit for isolating a short-circuited integrated circuit (IC) formed on the surface of a semiconductor wafer from other ICs formed on the wafer that are interconnected with the short-circuited IC includes control circuitry within the short-circuited IC for sensing the short circuit. The control circuitry may sense the short circuit in a variety of ways, including sensing excessive current drawn by the short-circuited IC, and sensing an abnormally low or high voltage within the short-circuited IC. Switching circuitry also within the short-circuited IC selectively isolates the short-circuited IC from the other ICs on the wafer in response to the control circuitry sensing the short circuit. As a result, if the wafer is under probe test, for example, testing can continue uninterrupted on the other ICs while the short-circuited IC is isolated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to integrated circuits (ICs) fabricated on semiconductor wafers and, more specifically, to devices and methods for isolating a short-circuited IC from other ICs on a semiconductor wafer so that, for example, probe testing may proceed on the other ICs on the wafer despite the presence of the short-circuited IC.
2. State of the Art
As shown in FIG. 1, integrated circuits (ICs) 10 are small electronic circuits formed on the surface of a wafer 12 of semiconductor material, such as silicon, in an IC manufacturing process referred to as "fabrication." Once fabricated, ICs 10 are electronically probed to evaluate a variety of their electronic characteristics. Probing typically involves positioning needle-like probes (not shown) onto bond pads 14 on the surfaces of ICs 10 to test the ICs 10 using various electronic signals supplied through the probes. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,059,899 and 5,214,657 to Farnworth et al., in some cases, ICs 10 are tested using test probes that contact probe pads 16 positioned on the surface of a semiconductor wafer 12 rather than, or in addition to, contacting bond pads 14 on the ICs 10.
Sometimes shorts develop in some of the ICs 10 on a semiconductor wafer 12 as a result of fabrication errors. These shorts can interfere with the probe testing described above in a variety of ways. For example, in some instances, a supply voltage VCC, provided to ICs 10 on a wafer 12 through probes contacting bond pads 14 on the ICs 10 or probe pads 16 on the wafer 12, may be shorted to ground through one of the ICs 10. As a result, over-current protection circuitry, such as a fuse, present in testing equipment that provides the supply voltage VCC to the probes, will likely "trip" the equipment off-line, causing a brief but significant delay in the manufacturing of ICs 10 while the equipment is reset. In addition, such a VCC-to-ground short in an IC 10 may make the entire wafer 12 untestable until the IC 10 with the short is identified and either repaired or disconnected, which involves a separate manual process that can cause additional delays in the manufacturing process.
In other instances, a test signal VTEST supplied to a group of ICs 10 on a semiconductor wafer 12 through a probe pad 16 on the wafer 12 may be distorted for all of the ICs 10 in the group by, for example, a VTEST-to-ground or a VTEST-to-VCC short in one of the ICs 10 in the group. This distortion may interfere with probe testing of all of the ICs 10 in the group, and may require that the IC 10 with the short be manually identified and repaired or disconnected before the ICs 10 in the group can be successfully probe tested.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a device and method for isolating a short-circuited IC on a semiconductor wafer from other ICs on the wafer. Preferably, such a device and method should isolate a short-circuited IC before the IC interferes with probe testing of other ICs so the probe testing can continue uninterrupted.

Device and method for isolating a short-circuited integrated circuit (IC) from other ICs on a semiconductor wafer


Described examples include controllers and methods for controlling an inverter to drive a load and for detecting load faults by determining phasor values representing voltages and currents associated with the individual load phases based on sets of input values, determining voltage and current sequence components according to the phasor values, determining a sequence impedance value by recursively solving a set of update equations at least partially according to the voltage and current sequence components, and detecting a load fault when the sequence impedance value exceeds a threshold value.

AC induction motors and other multiphase electrical loads are often driven by a multiphase inverter providing AC output voltages and currents to the driven load. Degradation or faults in motor windings can contribute to motor failures or degradation of the driven motor load and/or the power source. Accordingly, detection of the onset of motor winding degradation and other load faults can be useful for proactive maintenance to avoid or mitigate the onset of overheating and/or stator winding insulation breakdown and the like.

Method and apparatus for load fault detection


A flat-panel projection display comprises a slab waveguide having a preferably embossed diffraction grating on one face, a lens for directing light into an edge of the waveguide, and in the focal plane of the lens a liquid-crystal modulator for modulating the intensity of the light as a function of lateral position and elevational direction of travel. The light is ejected from the slab waveguide by the grating at angles corresponding to the input angles, giving a virtual display. The light from the modulator can be expanded in one dimension by passing through a magnifying waveguide, followed by scattering in the plane by a screen and projection by a lens at the other end of the waveguide. Head-up and 3-D displays can be constructed using this principle.

Projection displays conventionally comprise a two-dimensional array of light emitters and a projection lens. The lens forms an image of the array at some plane in space, and if this imaging plane is far from the projection lens, so that the light rays are more or less parallel, then the effect of the projection lens is essentially to collimate light from any pixel on the two-dimensional array.
Projection displays are most commonly configured so that the image of the array falls on a large translucent screen, and a viewer looking at the screen will see a greatly magnified image of the picture on the two-dimensional array. However, it is becoming increasingly common for small projection displays to be mounted on the head of a viewer so that the projection display is directed towards the viewer's eye, and light collimated by the projection lens from a single pixel on the two-dimensional array of light emitters is subsequently focused by the viewer's cornea onto the retina so that the viewer sees an apparently distant image often known as a virtual image.
It is also possible to place a large-diameter projection display comprising a two-dimensional array of directional light emitters behind a liquid-crystal display or some other spatial light modulator in order to synthesize a three-dimensional image. See, for example, Travis, A. R. L., "Autostereoscopic 3-D display", Applied Optics, Vol. 29, no. 29, pp. 4341–3. One pixel at a time of the two-dimensional array of light emitters is illuminated, and an appropriate view of a three-dimensional object is simultaneously displayed on the liquid-crystal display in such a way that the view of the three-dimensional object is only visible if observed from the direction in which the rays of light collimated by the projection lens from the pixel are traveling. A sequence of views is repeated at a rate faster than that at which the eye can detect flicker, thereby time-multiplexing a three-dimensional image.
This display is three-dimensional but not holographic. It is possible in principle to create a holographic three-dimensional image by placing a two-dimensional array of point-source light emitters in the focal plane of the projection lens, illuminating each point source in turn, and displaying appropriate holograms on a liquid-crystal display placed on top of the projection lens so that each hologram is made visible to a different point of view in turn.
Head-mounted displays are bulky and users would prefer that they were flat. A head-mounted display can be made flatter using a slab waveguide incorporating a weak hologram, as shown by Amitai, Reinhorn and Friesem, "Visor-display design based on planar holographic optics," Applied Optics, Vol. 34, No. 8, pp. 1352 to 1356, 10 Mar. 1995. Light from a cathode-ray tube and hologram is coupled into the waveguide, and this light will be diffracted out of the waveguide (i.e. normal to the slab) by the hologram in directions which are determined by the pixel within the cathode-ray tube from which the light was emitted.
Three-dimensional images synthesized by time-multiplexing the illumination of a liquid-crystal display require the liquid-crystal display to have a fast-switching array of thin-film transistors and these are expensive. Trayner and Orr in U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,454 describe a device which avoids this by placing a hologram behind a conventional liquid-crystal display that directs the illumination of alternate rows to a left-eye or right-eye view. But both this and the switched-illumination concept are bulky, and do not exhibit the flatness needed for head-mounted displays.
Instead, a flat-panel three-dimensional display can be made by combining a projection display with a screen from which light shone parallel to the surface of the screen is ejected at one of a set of selectable lines along the screen, as described in the inventor's earlier application PCT/GB 97/02710 (WO 98/15128). One line at a time on the screen is selected, and simultaneously the projection display projects a line of pixels parallel to the screen so that they are ejected at the selected line. The same line of pixels on the projection display is altered repeatedly as each of the series of lines on the screen is selected in turn in such a way as to time-multiplex a complete image on the screen. Only one line of the projection display is used, so the array of light emitters need be only one line high, and if the emitted light is collimated in the plane of the screen then the projection lens need be only one or two millimeters high so that the combined projector and screen are flat.
If it is light from a three-dimensional display, albeit one whose array of light emitters is only one pixel high, that is directed parallel to the surface of the screen of selectable lines, then the image formed on the screen is three-dimensional. The three-dimensional display might comprise an array of light emitters behind a projection lens with a liquid-crystal display in front of the projection lens, as described above, but in order to put up several views within one line period of the display the switching rate of the liquid crystal would need to equal the number of views times the line rate of the display, and few liquid-crystal mixtures switch this fast.
Many other kinds of autostereoscopic and holographic three-dimensional display concepts exist and any could be used in a flat-panel system. Particularly interesting is an old concept comprising a group of small video projectors in the focal plane of a field lens. Each projector is positioned to form a view in the plane of the field lens just as if the lens were a translucent screen, but unlike a translucent screen the field lens collimates the light so that the picture is visible from only a single direction. The other projectors form views which are made visible by the field lens to other directions so that the viewer sees an autostereoscopic three-dimensional image. However, viewers prefer three-dimensional images to be autostereoscopic both in azimuth and in elevation, and little consideration has been given with this concept to making views vary with elevation.

Cambridge Flat Protection Displays Limited


The ‘Red Topaz’ apple tree originated as a spontaneous limb sport mutation discovered on a ‘Topaz’ apple tree. ‘Red Topaz’ is distinguishable from its parent by its fruit. ‘Red Topaz’ has a solid red overcolor and matures about ten days earlier than ‘Topaz.’

'Red Topaz' originated as a spontaneous mutation on a single limb of a 'Topaz' apple tree (not patented), discovered by the inventors in a cultivated apple orchard in Pencin u Liberce, Czech Republic in 1998. 'Red Topaz' was first asexually propagated by budding at Pencin u Liberce, Czech Republic in 1999, and has been shown to remain true to type over successive generations.


An open roof construction for a vehicle comprises an opening in a stationary roof part and a rollo assembly positioned below said roof opening intended for covering the roof opening. The rollo assembly comprises a rollo screen and a winding shaft for the rollo screen which is rotatable around a stationary axis of rotation, and the rollo screen, starting from the winding shaft, firstly extends in a first direction, next around a reversal member and finally back in an opposite second direction and ends at a rollo screen edge. The reversal member is movable in parallel to said first and second directions in correspondence with the amount of rollo screen being wound on or off said winding shaft. The rollo screen is provided with light emitting members which are activated through connections provided at the interface between said rollo screen edge and a stationary part of the open roof construction.

The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the invention firstly relate to an open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising a roof opening in a stationary roof part and a rollo assembly positioned below said roof opening and intended for covering the roof opening, wherein the rollo assembly comprises a rollo screen and a winding shaft for the rollo screen which is rotatable around a stationary axis of rotation, and wherein the rollo screen, starting from the winding shaft, firstly extends in a first direction, next around a reversal member and finally back in an opposite second direction and ends at a rollo screen edge which is attached to a stationary member of the open roof construction, wherein the reversal member is movable in parallel to said first and second directions in correspondence with the amount of rollo screen being wound on or off said winding shaft.

Open roof construction for a vehicle and rollo assembly therefor


A system and method are provided for channel equalization using a combination of frequency and phase compensation. The method receives a serial data stream input, and parallel processes the data stream input through a first and second path. The first path has a first frequency response, and the second path has a second frequency response, higher than the first frequency response. Signals are combined from the first and second paths, creating a frequency compensated signal. Then, the frequency compensated signal is parallel processed through a third path having a first time delay, and a fourth path having a fourth time delay, greater than the third time delay. The signals from the third and fourth paths are combined, created a phase compensated signal. In one aspect, the phase compensated signal is amplified, creating a voltage limited output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to digital communications and, more particularly, to a system and method for minimizing the effects of intersymbol interference in a data channel of binary coded information.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a signal recovered from a binary symmetric, non-dispersive channel in the presence of noise (prior art). Conventionally, the signal is filtered with a transfer function matched to the signaling waveform (in this case a one unit step) and thresholded at the voltage level most likely to yield the transmitted bit. To recover the transmitted information, a hard decision must be made on the value of the received bit. As the rates of high speed serial channels become higher and higher, intersymbol interference (ISI) becomes the limiting factor for reliable data transmission.
As a function of the filtering process, and sometimes as a result of the transmission process, pulse spreading (ISI) occurs. That is, the energy associated with a bit spreads to neighboring bits. For small degrees of spreading these effects of this can be limited to the nearest neighbors with modest degradation in performance. The ISI may be caused by various non-ideal effects of the transmission channels, such as bandwidth frequency selective behavior in backplane lines (e.g., FR4), or optical dispersion in the optical fiber.
After conversion from analog to digital signals, the ISI can practically seen as associated with one of three possible pulse spreading errors. The first possibility is that both the neighboring bits are a zero (no neighboring bits are a one). The second possibility is that only one of the neighboring bits (either the preceding or subsequent bit) is a one. Alternately stated, only one of the neighboring bits is a zero. The third possibility is that both neighboring bits are one. For each of these cases the likelihood of error in determining a bit value can be minimized if the high frequency components of the signal can be accurately recovered.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating received waveforms that are distorted in response to the intersymbol interference resulting from energy dispersion (prior art). The value at the output of the filter varies with each bit, and is essentially a random process, due to the non-deterministic nature of the information, and scrambling that is often used in the transmission of data streams. However, received bits can be characterized with probability density functions (PDFs), as shown.
Using a conditional feed-forward equalizer (FFE) with a decision feedback equalizer (DFE), bit value decisions can be made using the knowledge of the decision made on the preceding decoded bit and with a measurement of a subsequent decoded bit. Then, the corresponding probability density function can be selected to make a more accurate decision on the current bit decision. However, the cost and accuracy of conventional analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion circuits make such a solution impractical.
The degree of dispersion exhibited by a channel, and hence the separation of the conditional probability density functions, varies in response to a number of fixed and variable factors. Effective dispersion mitigation techniques must therefore be easily optimized to the channel and somewhat adaptive to changes in the channel due to aging, temperature changes, reconfiguration, and other possible influences.
Equalization is an effective method to combat the ISI and it has been used for various communication channels. The implementation of equalizers can be performed in either the digital or analog domains. Finding an efficient implementation of equalization can be especially challenging at rates greater than 10 gigabits per second (GB/s). Further, high speed CMOS circuits typically require more power, as the current for the enabling CMOS circuitry increases non-linearly at higher operating frequencies.
It would be advantageous if intersymbol interference caused by energy dispersion in a received data channel could be minimized.
It would be advantageous if an equalization process could be developed that was both simple and energy efficient.

Channel equalization using frequency and phase compensation


Semiconductor chips are packaged by injection molding while continuously feeding a lead frame, characterized by using for the injection molding a hydrogenated polymer (A) obtained by the hydrogenation of a polymer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of a specific norbornene derivative or a monomer mixture comprising said norbornene derivative and other monomer copolymerizable therewith, wherein said injection molding for the packaging is carried out under the conditions of a resin temperature in the range of 280.degree. C. to 360.degree. C.; the molding temperature in the range of Tg -80.degree. C. to Tg +10.degree. C., wherein Tg is the glass transition temperature of the hydrogenated polymer (A) is Tg; and the injection pressure in the range of 10 to 200 kgf/cm.sup.2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging method for sealing a semiconductor chip and to a packaged chip prepared by such method.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, thermosetting resins, such as epoxy resins, silicone resins, urethane resins, or the like, are used as sealing materials for semiconductor chips used in electronic parts. They are thus useful resins for effecting such operations as potting, sealing, coating, transfer molding methods, or the like.
However, the difficulty with using conventional sealing materials is that thermosetting resins require a preliminary precuring which lengthens the curing time and requires a two step process involving postcuring. In an attempt to solve this problem, the prior art has suggested using thermoplastic resins, instead of thermosetting resins, and direct injection molding of the thermoplastic into a mold containing the semiconductor.
Reference is made to the methods disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Nos. 248546/1989, 75662/1990, 31451/1988, 106963/1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,861, which all refer to the use of thermoplastic resins instead of thermosetting resins. However, the thermoplastic resins proposed by this prior art have proven to be insufficient. For instance, the use of polyphenylene sulfide, liquid crystal polymers, or similar thermoplastic resins, have the drawback that they are not particularly adherent to the lead frames frequently used in electronic devices, so that fillers are needed to improve adhesiveness. Unfortunately, however, while adhesiveness is improved by the use of fillers, flowability is impaired. To avoid this problem, smaller molecular weight resins must be used, but this, in turn, lowers the strength of the resin. In addition, fillers render the resins opaque and thus interfere with its usefulness as a sealant, which requires good light transmissivity.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 31451/1988 there is disclosed a light-emitting diode which uses an olefinic polymer having an alicyclic structure as a thermoplastic resin. But here again, adhesiveness to the lead frame is a particular problem. Moreover, the use of such resins have the additional problem of possessing inadequate resin heat resistance which cannot withstand the temperatures of soldering, so that the resin often fails during processing of the semiconductor into the electronic device.
Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 105610/1987 discloses another alternative method of sealing with a resin by the RIM formation using a resin formed from a norbornene monomer. The problem with such resins, again, is their inherent poor heat resistance.
Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 106963/1991 discloses still another attempt at solving the problem. In that reference an optical disk substrate is used as a hub into which a metal part is inserted. The insertion is accomplished using a molding resin composition comprising a hydrogenated norbornene ring-opened polymer and rubber. Again this type of resin fails to solve the problem noted above, since blends of resins and rubber are generally opaque and interfere with light transmissivity.
Both Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 72535/1989 and Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 30238/1981 disclose sealing of electronic parts using injection molded poly-4-methyl-1-pentene. However, polymers of 4-methyl-1pentene are characterized by poor adhesiveness to lead. Copolymers of 4-methyl-1-pentene with grafted unsaturated carboxylic acid will improve adhesion, but requires an additional polymerization step for the graft modification, thereby undesirably complicating the production process. Moreover, a consistently high quality product is difficult to achieve and requires simultaneously good purification and efficient grafting, thereby further complicating resin preparation.
The attempt to convert from a thermosetting resin to a thermoplastic resin for injection molding to reduce molding time has therefore not been successful. Either the alternative resin is characterized by insufficient heat resistance, or other poor heat characteristics, such as poor heat cyclability, or it is characterized by poor light transmission properties or poor long term reliability, or the like. Alternatively, such alternative resins have been unsuccessful since they are not easily molded without deformation of the connecting wires or without breakage of the semiconductor chips.


Processes of bonding lithium plates to other metal substrates are provided, using lithium plates preformed with a surface having indentations imposed therein, wherein that surface is placed against the substrate, which reduces the force required to achieve interface bonding.

Developing markets, such as lithium batteries and electrochromic glass, have needs for thin coatings of lithium metal vapor deposited on various materials. Many vapor deposition processes transfer lithium from solid lithium bonded to a metal substrate (a "lithium target") via plasma energy directed onto the lithium surface under controlled vacuum conditions. Due to its relatively low melting point and low mechanical strength, the lithium portion of the lithium target must be firmly attached or bonded to a stronger, electrically conductive substrate with good heat transfer properties to maintain dimensional rigidity and avoid excessive melting. The substrate is usually a metal plate such as copper, stainless steel or titanium. Ideally the substrate should not react or alloy with the lithium to avoid contamination of the lithium.
A suitable lithium target can be made by casting molten lithium onto a metallic substrate in order to achieve a solder type bond. While this process gives acceptable bonding strength, it has several drawbacks. Heating the substrate above the melting point of lithium to assure good wetting can potentially distort the substrate due to thermal stresses. The process of handling molten lithium is further complicated by the necessity to handle it in an inert atmosphere such as a vacuum or argon to avoid contamination and burning of the lithium from reaction with air. Finally as with any casting process, dimensional control is difficult due to volume changes that occur as the lithium changes from a liquid to a solid phase on freezing.
Processes are available for making lithium targets by cold bonding solid lithium plates to a substrate at or near room temperature. Options for cold bonding to form the targets include using adhesives or direct cold welding in which the metals are pressed together under high enough pressure to create mechanical and metallurgical bonds. In some cases subsurface cooling channels in the substrate limit the amount of pressure that can be applied without damaging the substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 8,864,954 cites the use of "adhesion" layers such as indium (In) or epoxy filled with silver (Ag) to attach lithium to substrates. Bonding lithium to substrates with adhesives is challenging due to the excessive reactivity of lithium with common adhesives such as epoxies. These adhesion layers introduce unwanted contaminants to the sputtering process and complicate reclamation of residual lithium from spent targets.
Therefore, there is a need for processes that make lithium targets which do not suffer from the drawbacks of currently available processes.

Processes for low pressure, cold bonding of solid lithium to metal substrates


A production execution method of the present invention includes the steps of storing in a storage facility at least one kind of material, among various kinds of material used to produce desired goods, calculating a producible quantity of goods based on an already procured quantity or already stocked quantity of the various kinds of material using a calculation processor, and deciding a quantity equal to or below the producible quantity as a production execution quantity. Thereafter, the production executing quantity is set by being divided into two or more smaller quantities wherein a required quantity of the material is then taken out from the storage facility for each set quantity for each setting so that production of the decided production execution quantity of goods can be executed in sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a production execution method for producing goods comprised of various kinds of material and particularly to a production execution method capable of rapidly taking out all material necessary for production, from storage facilities at the starting time of production, and executing production of the production execution quantity in sequence.
2. Description of the Background Art
As conventional technologies relating to a production execution method, there are known those which are described, for example, in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-306861, and in UNMANNED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM GUIDEBOOK issued by Distribution Research Co. (Ryutsu Kenkyu Sha) on Jul. 20, 1986, p. 114-120, under Subtitle of "UNMANNED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM SEEN IN AUTOMOBILE/MACHINERY FACTORIES OF SYSTEM CASE NUMBER 3" (hereinafter referred to as "Unmanned Transportation System Guidebook").
The conventional technologies described in the above mentioned publication, etc. will now be described. Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-306861 discloses a method for making and amending a production schedule, in which a supply quantity for each part (material, etc. and a consumption quantity required for assembly are found in time series from a part supply schedule. The part supply schedule is developed with reference to a product constitution file information under a production schedule of products (goods) in view of facilities specification file information and part stock file information. The production schedules are guidance displayed on a displayer so that they can be easily compared. A warning is output when the consumption quantity has exceeded the supply quantity and the production schedule of products is automatically amended.
Also, Unmanned Transportation System Guidebook referenced above describes an automobile body assembling line, which executes production in such a manner as that goods (material, etc.) required for production are made beforehand. Those goods which have been made beforehand are palletized for each kind, lot and destination and thereafter, are stored in a miniature automatic warehouse of a temporary storage type. A pallet of the pertinent kind is then automatically taken out of the warehouse and automatically supplied to a (production) main line in synchronism with consumption on the main line.
However, the above-mentioned conventional technologies have the following problems.
That is, the production schedule making and amending method described in Japanese Patent Early Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-306861 is designed such that the production schedule of goods is automatically amended (reduced) based on quantity of material which are already stocked. However, it does not teach nor even suggest at all that after the quantity equal to or below the quantity which can be produced (hereinafter referred to as the "producible quantity") is decided as a production execution quantity, such decided production execution quantity is set and divided into two or more smaller quantities, and material which will be required for each quantity which has been set, are taken out of the storage facilities for each setting.
On the other hand, the automobile body assembling line described in Unmanned Transportation System Guidebook is designed such that it is a necessary assumption for executing production that the required material are either already procured or already in stock, and on the foregoing assumption, a pallet for the pertinent kind of goods is automatically taken out of the warehouse and supplied to the main line in synchronism with consumption on the main line. However, it does not disclose nor even suggest that the producible quantity of material is calculated based on the quantity of material already procured or already in stock.


Disclosed are various embodiments for providing a power-efficient driver architecture supporting rail-to-rail operation in full duplex mode. A driver is configured to drive a duplex signal over a transmission medium. A hybrid is configured to recover a received signal from the duplex signal. The received signal is generated by a remote transceiver. The driver is configured to drive the duplex signal based at least in part on the received signal recovered by the hybrid.

Compared with newer forms of Ethernet, 10Base-T Ethernet employs a greater line voltage swing of 5.0 V at the line driver. 100Base-T Ethernet employs a line voltage swing of 2.0 V, while 1000Base-T Ethernet employs a line voltage swing of 4.0 V. To handle these different characteristics, a multi-mode Ethernet transceiver may employ multiple line drivers. Such line drivers may be current-mode line drivers and/or voltage-mode line drivers.
A current-mode line driver may correspond to a Norton equivalent circuit having a floating current source. Since the current source is high impedance, the output impedance of the driver may be formed by a termination resistance in parallel with the load. The current used by a current-mode line driver may be high because the impedance seen by the current source is the termination impedance in parallel with the load impedance. For example, half of the current may be consumed by the termination impedance. Thus, more current is required to create the voltage swing across the load that terminates the line at the remote end.
By contrast, with a voltage-mode line driver, a differential voltage source may drive the line with a very low impedance. The local termination impedance may be in series connection with the voltage source and may consume, for example, half of the voltage drop of the voltage source. Compared to the voltage-mode line driver, the current-mode line driver may be driven from lower supply voltages and may be easier to implement but may consume more power.


A method and apparatus for delivering anti-tachycardia pacing in an adaptive manner is disclosed. A cardiac rhythm management device, such as an implantable pacemaker, having anti-tachycardia pacing capability delivers anti-tachycardia pacing therapy in accordance with a selected pacing protocol upon detection of a terminable arrhythmia. The protocol is selected from a library of available protocols. A record of the successes and failures of each available protocol in converting tachyarrhythmias is maintained in a result table for use in selecting the protocol.

Tachyarrhythmias are abnormal heart rhythms characterized by a rapid heart rate, typically expressed in units of beats per minute (bpm). Examples of tachyarrhythmias include supraventricular tachycardias (SVT's) such as sinus tachycardia, atrial tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation. The most dangerous tachyarrythmias, however, are ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). Ventricular rhythms occur when an excitatory focus in the ventricle usurps control of the heart rate from the sinoatrial node. The result is rapid and irregular contraction of the ventricles out of electromechanical synchrony with the atria. Most ventricular rhythms exhibit an abnormal QRS complex in an electrocardiogram because they do not use the normal ventricular conduction system, the depolarization spreading instead from the excitatory focus directly into the myocardium. Ventricular tachycardia is characterized by distorted QRS complexes occurring at a rapid rate, while ventricular fibrillation is diagnosed when the ventricle depolarizes in a chaotic fashion with no recognizable QRS complexes. Both ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are hemodynamically compromising, and both can be life-threatening. Ventricular fibrillation, however, causes circulatory arrest within seconds and is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death.
Cardioversion (an electrical shock delivered to the heart synchronously with the QRS complex) and defibrillation (an electrical shock delivered without synchronization to the QRS complex to terminate ventricular fibrillation) can be used to terminate most tachycardias, including SVT's, VT, and VF. The electric shock terminates the tachycardia by depolarizing all excitable myocardium which prolongs refractoriness, interrupts reentrant circuits, discharges excitatory foci. A class of cardiac rhythm management devices known as an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) provides this kind of therapy by delivering a shock pulse to the heart when fibrillation is detected by the device.
Another type of electrical therapy for tachycardia is antitachycardia pacing (ATP). In ATP, the heart is competitively paced with one or more pacing pulses in an effort to interrupt reentrant circuits causing the tachycardia. Modern ICD's typically have ATP capability so that ATP therapy is delivered to the heart when a tachycardia is detected, while a shock pulse is delivered when fibrillation occurs. Although cardioversion/defibrillation will terminate tachycardia, it consumes a large amount of stored power from the battery and results in patient discomfort owing to the high voltage of the shock pulses. It is desirable, therefore, for the ICD to use ATP to terminate a tachyarrhythmia whenever possible. Generally, only cardioversion/defibrillation will terminate fibrillation and certain high rate tachycardias, while ATP can be used to treat lower rate tachycardias. An arrhythmia which is regarded as terminable by ATP therapy, based upon rate or other factors, will be referred to herein as a terminable arrhythmia.
In most ICD's with ATP capability, ventricular fibrillation (VF) is distinguished from ventricular tachycardia (VT) using rate-based criteria so that ATP or shock therapy can be delivered as appropriate. The heart rate is usually measured by detection of the time between successive R waves (i.e., ventricular depolarizations). A measured heart rate is classified as a tachycardia when the rate is in a VT zone, defined as a range of rates above a tachycardia detection rate (TDR) but below a fibrillation detection rate (FDR). A measured heart rate above the FDR, on the other hand, is in the VF zone and is classified as a fibrillation. In a typical device, a tachycardia with a heart rate in the VT zone is treated with ATP therapy in order to avoid an unnecessary painful shock to the patient, and a defibrillation shock is delivered if the pacing fails to terminate the arrhythmia. It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for delivering ATP therapy in a manner that increases the likelihood that ATP therapy will terminate an arrhythmia without resorting to a defibrillation shock.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adaptive anti-tachycardia therapy apparatus and method


A method of achieving ion beam uniformity control using ion beam blockers. The method includes generating an ion beam, detecting a current profile of said ion beam with an ion beam blocker unit, wherein said detected current profile is an initial current profile, blocking a portion of said ion beam with said ion beam blocker unit to achieve a second current profile that is different from the initial current profile, and implanting said ion beam into a workpiece after said blocking.

Ion implantation is a standard technique for introducing conductivity-altering impurities into a workpiece. A desired impurity material is ionized in an ion source, the ions are accelerated to form an ion beam of prescribed energy, and the ion beam is directed at the surface of the workpiece. The energetic ions in the beam penetrate into the bulk of the workpiece material and are embedded into the crystalline lattice of the workpiece material to form a region of desired conductivity.
In one instance, a ribbon ion beam is used to implant the workpiece. A ribbon ion beam cross-section has a long dimension and a short dimension. The long dimension, for example, may be referred to as a width or x-direction, though other orientations are possible. The ribbon ion beam may be formed using a parallelizing lens or may be a scanned spot beam.
Occasionally, the ribbon ion beam may not be perfectly uniform. In the case where the ribbon beam is a scanned spot beam, non-uniformities in the ribbon are typically minimized by scanning the spot beam entirely or almost entirely off of the workpiece and by adjusting the time dependence of the scanning of the spot. However, under some circumstances, for instance when the spot beam current is large or the beam energy is small, it is common for the spot size of the ion beam to increase. The requirement of scanning the spot beam entirely or nearly entirely off the workpiece has the consequence that, for a large spot beam, relatively little beam current is utilized on the workpiece, which reduces the productivity of the implanter. The technique of minimizing non-uniformities by adjusting the time dependence of the scanning of the spot is known to be more complicated and less likely to succeed as the spot size increases.
Ribbon ion beam uniformity is one factor that affects implantation. Non-uniform ribbon ion beams may result in imprecise doping or implantation. For example, more heavily-doped stripes may be formed on the surface of a workpiece. An incorrect dose may cause deleterious yield effects if the devices are non-functioning due to the increased or decreased dose. Therefore, there is a need in the art for uniformity during implantation and, more particularly, uniformity during implantation on scanned spot beam implanters. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed.

Ion beam uniformity control using ion beam blockers

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


A dental reamer having one or more cutting sections and one or more spiral grooves. The dental reamer has at least one cutting edge having a cutting point, characterized in that a tangent to the cutting point tends to superimpose itself on a tangent to a diameter of a circle in which the cutting sections are inscribed, wherein the diameter passes through the cutting point. The invention provides a reaming cut that, in a surprising manner, reduces or even eliminates the spiral displacement (i.e., uncontrolled advancement of the reamer) that results from rotation of the prior-art reamers, while still maintaining an excellent reaming efficacy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dentistry equipment, and, in particular, to dental reamers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dental reamers having one, two, or three spiral grooves have already been described. For example, French patent application 82 20903 describes a dental reamer that tapers down to its tip, of the type having three spiral grooves with a progressive pitch such that the free spaces between the cutting edges increase as one moves from the tip of the reamer towards its handle.
Although French patent application 82 20903 provides an improvement over dental reamers having only one or two spiral grooves, the improvement is limited. In practice, the dental reamer proposed in French patent application 82 20903 has been found to result in undesirable spiral displacement in the canal to be reamed during the continuous rotation of root canal treatment. As used in this specification, spiral displacement refers to the tendency of reamers of the prior art to advance within the canal as a result of the rotation of the reamer itself, rather than solely as a result of pressure applied by the dentist. If spiral displacement occurs, the dentist will not have complete control over the reaming process which can lead to serious problems for the patient.
The present invention addresses this limitation in the prior art. Further aspects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.


Method of making a two-sided fiberglass tape measure with two differently colored nylon resin coatings characterized particularly in that a device is used that can coat simultaneously both sides of a fiberglass tape, both top and bottom, in a single forming step, yet producing two different colorations.

This invention relates to a method of making a two-sided fiberglass tape measure with two differently colored nylon resin coatings, characterized particularly in that a device is used that can coat simultaneously both sides of fiberglass tapes, both top and bottom, in a single forming step that produces two different colors.
A general method for making a fiberglass tape measure comprises the following steps: numerous strands of fiber glass yarn, typically 26 strands, are aligned uniformly through an aligning racket, followed by a baking step. After heating, the fiberglass yarn is pulled in an orderly manner through a positioning grid into a mold containing 26 holes aligned in a horizontal line. A coating device is used to coat said fiberglass yarn before it is introduced into a 13.5 mm wide, 0.5 mm thick forming apparatus, so that a blank single colored tape is formed. The tape is then pressed in a roller, followed by printing of the scales. The process of making a fiberglass tape measure is thus completed. However, as is well known, tape measures have scales on both sides, with a metric scale on one side, and a standard scale on the other. My aim as the inventor of this method, facing the fact that the traditional technology of making fiber glass tape measures requires a breakthrough, was to make a fiberglass tape measure characterized by two distinctive colors, while simultaneously overcoming the technical limitations of the traditional method of producing a fiber glass tape measure coated with a one-color nylon resin. After intensive study and development aimed at improving the process for the production of the invented product and after many trials and amendments, I eventually, developed the Method for Producing a Two-sided Fiberglass Tape Measure with Two Differently Colored Nylon Resin Coatings, which is the subject of this invention.
The aim of this invention was to provide a method for producing a double-sided fiberglass tape measure with two differently colored nylon resin coatings, so that each side of the fiberglass tape measure displays its own distinctive color, while simultaneously overcoming the technical limitations of the traditional method for making fiberglass tape measures with a one-color nylon resin coating.
In order to understand in greater detail the features of the forming method, and the gist of the claim, the following description is provided, accompanied by manufacturing flow diagrams. The advantages of this invention will then be understood more readily.


A rapid exchange balloon catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, said catheter comprising: a tubular metal shaft body extending from the proximal end along a majority of the total length and having an inflation lumen arranged therein, a plastics distal end portion bonded to the metal body in extension thereof, said distal end portion being provided with an inflation lumen in communication with a balloon, and a guide wire lumen, said guide wire lumen extending from a proximal side port to a distal end opening. To reduce the resistance to kinking, the metal body comprises a transitional region having reduced stiffness at the position of bonding to the plastics distal end portion compared to a more proximal position along the metal body.

Catheters have found widespread use in medical procedures, such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or for delivery of stents. Most catheters are guided to the application site by sliding the catheter along a guide wire, which has been carefully advanced and arranged within the patient. During advancement of the catheter along the guide wire, it is important to keep the guide wire steady. Ordinary catheters are guided to the application site in a patient by sliding the catheter along a guide wire extending all the way through a lumen of the catheter from the proximal end to the distal end thereof. To enable the physician to hold or manipulate the guide wire during advancement of the catheter along the guide wire, it is necessary to have an excess length of guide wire. The guide wire must hence have a length of about twice the length of the catheter, e.g. 3 m in total, which greatly impedes the procedure. An important sub-category of catheters are catheters of the well-known so-called rapid exchange type, which greatly facilitate operation, especially exchange of catheters if it is found during a procedure that a different kind or size of catheter is needed for the specific purpose. In the rapid exchange catheter, the guide wire only passes through a minor part of the catheter at the distal end thereof, whereas along a majority of the catheter, the guide wire runs in parallel with the catheter. Hence it is not necessary to have an excess length of guide wire. However the rapid exchange catheter provides some challenges, especially with regard to resistance to kinking of the catheter.
An important feature of catheters is the transmission of force, the so-called push force, from the proximal end to the distal end of the catheter. This transmission significantly affects the physician's ability to direct the distal end of the catheter into a body lumen of a patient by manipulating the proximal end thereof. Another important feature of catheters is the flexibility of the distal end to bend and conform to the body lumen wall without causing any injury to the lumen wall. Hence catheters, especially of the rapid exchange type, are commonly manufactured of a metal proximal shaft portion of relatively stiffness, and a relatively flexible plastics distal portion bonded to the metal shaft portion. An abrupt change of properties between the shaft portion and the distal portion however increases the risk of twist and kinking. Hence there is a need to provide a good transition between the relatively stiff proximal section to the relatively more flexible distal section to provide a sufficient resistance to twist and kinking while maintaining flexibility and ability to bend.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,423 discloses a catheter with a reinforcing member at a rapid exchange junction. Although this construction has some effect on the kink resistance, it is somewhat difficult to manufacture and hence expensive. This is due to the fact that the construction introduces a separate element, namely a reinforcing member, which must be securely bonded to the catheter. The reinforcing member must be stocked and handled inevitably raising the cost, and further there is an increased risk of leakage from the catheter due to the extra joints, thereby raising the costs to skilled personnel and quality check.
It is hence an object of the invention to provide an alternative catheter with reduced risk of kinking.

Rapid exchange balloon catheter and method for making same