An anti-virus blade provides anti-virus services to a storage system and eliminates the need to develop an interface to initiate a scan operation at the blade. An anti-virus engine executed at the blade receives a request to scan data maintained by the storage system. The anti-virus engine creates a stub file (e.g., a file that has the same name as the Currently Amended file indicated in the request, but does not contain data) and issues an I/O command to the file. A file framework module executed at the blade intercepts the I/O to the dummy file and passes the I/O to an anti-virus application, which is registered with the file framework to receive I/Os from the anti-virus engine. The anti-virus application, in turn, initiates a scan operation by issuing a read request to the stub file, without receiving the request for scanning directly from the storage system.

A storage system is a processing system adapted to store and retrieve data on behalf of one or more client processing systems ("clients") in response to external input/output (I/O) requests received from clients. A storage system can provide clients with a file-level access to data stored in a set of mass storage devices, such as magnetic or optical storage disks, tapes, or non-volatile memory (and thus can be implemented as a network-attached storage (NAS) device). Alternatively, a storage system can provide clients with a block-level access to stored data (and implemented as a Storage Area Network (SAN) device), rather than file-level access, or with both file-level access and block-level access. Data storage space has one or more storage "volumes" comprising of a cluster of physical storage disks, defining an overall logical arrangement of storage space.
Network storage devices provide convenient data access, centralized storage and data management solutions for an enterprise. Because an enterprise's most important assets are often contained in its information, it is essential to maintain data integrity and keep the data virus-free. For example, a single virus-infected file in a storage system can infect large amounts of data, thereby causing disruption to storage services and other difficulties.
Anti-virus solutions have been offered by various vendors to provide security and data integrity for storage systems. One such a solution represents a server that executes an anti-virus application that provides virus scanning, pattern updates, event reporting, and anti-virus configuration. Exemplary servers 190 in communication with a storage system 120 via Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) are shown in FIG. 1. Each server 190 can be a computer system executing Windows® operating system provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Server 190 executes an anti-virus application 146, which can be provided by Trend Micro, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., by Symantec Corporation of Cupertino, Calif., or by any other manufacturer. In order to perform virus checking of the data stored at the storage system 120, an anti-virus application has to be able to receive requests for scanning from the storage system, to obtain data from the storage system to scan, and to provide results of the scanning to the storage system. To this end, manufacturers of anti-virus applications typically have to modify an anti-virus application to enable the application to perform these tasks. For example, a component, such as a scan server 192, can be implemented on the server 190 for purposes of receiving requests for scanning, sending the requests to the anti-virus application, and providing results of the scanning to the storage system. Such a scan server can be ServerProtect® provided by Trend Micro of Cupertino, Calif. Furthermore, manufacturers of anti-virus applications also implement a Common Internet File System (CIFS) client or network file system (NFS) client that would allow an anti-virus application to send requests for data to be scanned to and otherwise communicate with the storage system using the protocol that is understood by the storage system.
Still with reference to FIG. 1, storage system 120 can be a storage system provided by Network Appliance of Sunnyvale, Calif. As shown in FIG. 1, storage system 120 can be registered with multiple servers 190. However, each server is dedicated to a single storage system. When a user of a client system ("client") 110 attempts to access data on the storage system 120 or to store new data, an anti-virus client 122 executed at the storage system 120 issues a request to one of the registered servers 190. Scan server 192 at server 190 receives the request and sends the request for scanning to anti-virus application 146. The anti-virus application 146 initiates a scan operation by issuing a request for data to storage system 120. The anti-virus application 146 uses, for example, a CIFS client or NFS client (not shown in FIG. 1) to translate the request to the protocol that can be understood by the storage system. A protocol layer at the storage system (the protocol layer is not shown in FIG. 1) receives the request, passes the decoded request to a file system or a volume manager (shown in FIG. 2), obtains the data for scanning, and sends the data to the anti-virus application 146. The anti-virus application 146 scans data for viruses and sends the results of the scanning to the scan server 192. The scan server 192, in turn, provides the results of the scanning to the storage system 120. Based on the scan results, client system 110 is either allowed to access data or denied access to the data.
The above-described approach, however, has a number of drawbacks. A chief among them is that it requires each anti-virus manufacturer to develop an interface, such as a scan server, to communicate with the storage system and to issue requests to scan data to an anti-virus application. Developing the interface at the storage system often requires manufacturers of storage systems entering into licensing arrangements with the manufacturers of anti-virus applications, which may be costly. Since only few manufacturers develop scan servers, users of client systems are limited to the number of manufacturers of anti-virus solutions. Moreover, a request for data is processed in a protocol stack of the storage system, thereby slowing down the performance of the storage system.
Accordingly, what is needed is a seamless, easy-to-deploy, and high-performance anti-virus solution for storage systems.


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device has forming a first metal wire in a groove formed in an insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, forming an interlayer dielectric on the insulating film and the first metal wire, forming a via hole by etching the interlayer dielectric, forming a first barrier metal on sidewalls of the via hole, forming an organic film in the via hole having the first barrier metal formed therein, etching the first barrier metal exposed by performing an etchback on the organic film to a predetermined position, forming a trench integrally with an upper portion of the via hole by etching the interlayer dielectric to a predetermined position, forming a second barrier metal on the first barrier metal and sidewalls of the trench in the via hole, after the organic film remaining in the via hole is removed, and forming a second metal wire in the via hole and the trench having the second barrier metal formed therein.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and also relates to the semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having wires formed by a dual damascene process, and also relates to the semiconductor device.
As a process for forming wires of a semiconductor device, there has been a via-first dual damascene process that involves a low-k interlayer dielectric (a low dielectric constant film (a low-k film)). In this dual damascene process, a single damascene wire is formed on an insulating film, with a barrier metal being interposed between the single damascene wire and the insulating film. The low-k film such as a SiOC composition film is formed on the single damascene wire. A via hole is formed in the low-k film on the single damascene wire, and a wire groove is formed on the via hole. A wiring metal material is then provided to fill the via hole and the wire groove via a barrier metal. In the process of forming the via hole, the low-k film is etched by a resist processing technique and the reactive ion etching (RIE) technique, and the resist is removed by the Asher technique.
During the RIE process, however, the surface of the low-k film is exposed to a plasma atmosphere. As a result, the carbon (C), the methyl group (CH3), or the aryl group (CH substituent) in the low-k film are desorbed, and a SiO film is formed on the surface of the etched low-k film. Exposed to the air, the SiO film absorbs moisture to form a damaged layer (a SiOH layer) on the surface of the etched low-k film. The barrier metal reacts with the OH group in the damaged layer, to form an oxide film on the surface of the barrier metal. The oxide film lowers the reliability of the wires. During the Asher process, a damaged layer is also formed.
In a case where the damaged layer is removed by wet etching with the use of a chemical solution containing a HF-based substance, the low-k film is deformed by the amount corresponding to the removed damaged layer. As a result, a width of the trench (particularly, the via diameter) becomes greater, and hinders miniaturization of the semiconductor device.
As described above, by the conventional semiconductor device manufacturing process, it is difficult to increase a reliability of the wire and prevent an increase in a width of the trench during the dual damascene process (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-5010).

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and said semiconductor device


1,4-Dideoxy-1,4-imino-L-arabinitol is chemically synthesized from D-lyxonolactone by formation of the pyrrolidine ring by joining the nitrogen between C-1 and C-4 and inversion of configuration at both C-2 and C-4, with the C-3 and C-5 hydroxyl groups being protected throughout the synthesis sequence by benzylidenation. The product is preferably isolated as the hydrochloride salt and is useful as an inhibitor of .alpha.-glucosidase and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

This invention relates to a method for the chemical synthesis of 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-L-arabinitol.
Both the D and L enantiomers of 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-arabinitol are known compounds. They can be described alternatively as analogues of furanose sugars or as polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines.
Analogues of sugars, in which the ring oxygen has been replaced by nitrogen and the anomeric oxygen has been removed, usually.sup.1 but not always.sup.2 cause inhibition of the enzymic hydrolysis of the corresponding glycosidic bond. Although a number of naturally occurring analogues of hexoses containing six or more carbon atoms have been reported.sup.3, nitrogen analogues of only two pentoses, 2-deoxyribose and D-arabinose, have so far been isolated as natural products and these are pyrrolidine rather than piperidine derivatives. CYB3 (1), an analogue of 2-deoxyribose, was isolated from Castanospermum australe.sup.4 although, as yet, no significant biological activity has been described. Nectrisine (2),.sup.5 an imine nominally derived from dehydration of 4-amino-4-deoxy-D-arabinose, is an immunomodulator isolated from a fungus which shows potent inhibition of .alpha.-glucosidase and .alpha.-mannosidase activity..sup.6 DAB1 [1,4-Dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol] (3), isolated from both Angylocalyx boutiqueanus.sup.7 and Arachniodes standishii,.sup.8 is a powerful inhibitor of yeast .alpha.-glucosidase.sup.9 and also inhibits different mouse gut dissacharidases to different degrees..sup. 10 Some studies on the mechanism of insect antifeedant activity of DAB1 have been reported;.sup.11 additionally, compounds such as DAB1 may be carcinogenic to rodents..sup.12 Also DAB1 inhibits the hydrolysis of sinigrin and progoitrin by thioglucosidases from mustard and the cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae..sup.13 DAB1 also inhibits phloem unloading and/or utilization of sucrose, resulting in insufficient sucrose transport from cotyledons to roots and hypocotyls. .sup.14 ##STR1##
The structure of DAB1 (3) was established by synthesis of both DAB1 and its enantiomer LAB1 (4) from L-arabinose.sup.15 and from D-xylose..sup.9,16 other syntheses of DAB1 and its stereoisomers have been reported from carbohydrate.sup.17 and other chiral pool starting materials,.sup.18 by sequences involving the use of aldolases as the key step,.sup.19 and by other methods..sup.20 LAB1 (4) was shown to be a potent inhibitor of the .alpha.-L-arabinofuranosidase III of Monilinia fructigena;.sup.21 although LAB1 is a much weaker inhibitor of yeast .alpha.-glucosidase than is the natural product DAB1, LAB1 is a much more powerful inhibitor of some mouse gut .alpha.-glucosidases than is DAB1;.sup.22 molecular modifying studies have been used to account for the observation that LAB1 is about ten times more powerful an inhibitor of sucrase than DAB1.sup.23. A number of polyhydroxylated nitrogen heterocycles were screened as agents for the inhibition of HIV-induced syncthia formation,.sup.24 of which LAB1 was among the most powerful antiviral agents..sup.25 Derivatives of LAB1 have also been shown to have antiviral activity..sup.26
The use of LAB1 as a strong inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,520, and its use as an intermediate in the synthesis of antiviral derivatives is disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 4,876,268.


An electronic device connecting a single telephone line conductor pair to voice, data modem, and facsimile equipment automatically detects the nature of each incoming call and switches the telephone line to the appropriate equipment connection without requiring human intervention. Incoming calls are classified by the detection or lack of detection of CNG and data modem reverse originate, or originate carrier signal evoked by sending mixed ringback and data answer carrier. The invention forwards distinctive ring and optionally detects, stores, and forwards Automatic caller Number Identification (ANI) signals to selected equipment. To protect incoming and outgoing calls from interruption, the invention provides busy signal to the devices not selected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to devices used to connect a single subscriber telephone line to voice, data modem, and facsimile devices
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art provides numerous, but incomplete methods to connect voice, data modem, and facsimile equipment to a single subscriber telephone line. The most common form of the prior art connect only fax and voice to a single subscriber line and do not process data modem calls. In all instances of prior art, proper switching of the line to voice, fax, and data modem equipment requires special subscriber line services such as distinctive ring or human intervention on the calling or receiving end to properly distinguish between voice, data modem, and facsimile calls. In some instances of prior art, this intervention takes the form of additional DTMF sequences which maybe stored as a part of the dialing sequence used by the caller's equipment or entered by the caller manually. This requires either the caller have prior knowledge of the DTMF sequence required by the receiving device or the receiving device query the caller for the DTMF sequence. In another example, the voice caller must respond vocally to a stored query so that a voice signal detection circuit in the receiving equipment can identify a voice call. This intrusive method fails when the caller pauses sufficiently, as can happen with a PBX operator momentarily on hold, or with a speaker unfamiliar with the selected language of the stored message. In instances of prior art where carrier signals are placed on the subscriber line to query the presence of a fax or data modem, the methodology used is intrusive to voice callers.
Examples of relevant prior art, all of which contain one or more of the above limitations, are U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,218 to Hashimoto (1987), U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,312 to Horton et. Al. (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,153 to Streck (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,049 to Streck (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,741 to Liu (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,764 to Bowen (1990), U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,071 to Mozer et. al. (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,132 to Coleman et. Al. (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,427 to Godbole (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,489 to Telibasa (1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,972 to Lorenz et. Al. (1992), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,736 to Moriizumi (1993).


An integrated circuit is provided with a tracing mechanism that is responsive to data access misses to insert a data place holder within a stream of trace data. When the missed data is later returned, this is inserted into the stream of traced data as a later data value. Analysis of the stream trace data may subsequently correlate between instructions that gave rise to data misses and the late data that was subsequently returned.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems providing tracing mechanisms to enable data accesses to be traced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As data processing systems increase in complexity whilst it is desired to also reduce development time for new systems, there is a need to improve the debug and tracing tools and mechanisms that may be used within the development of data processing systems. Tracing the activity of a data processing system whereby a trace stream is generated including data representing the step-by-step activity within the system is a highly useful tool in system development. However, with the general move towards more deeply embedded cores, it becomes more difficult to track the state of the core via externally accessible pins. Accordingly, as well as off-chip tracing mechanisms for capturing and analysing trace data, increased amounts of tracing functionality are being placed on-chip. Examples of such on-chip tracing mechanisms are the Embedded Trace Macrocell provided by ARM Limited, Cambridge, England in association with their ARM7 and ARM9 processors.
A further problem associated with the tracing of data processing operations is that the increasing sophistication of data processing systems in the pursuit of speed and parallelism has led to a complication in the way in which operations are sequenced. In early data processing systems, the processor would execute each program instruction in turn and wait until that program instruction had completed before commencing the execution of the next program instruction. However, in order to increase the program instruction processing throughput, various techniques have been adopted whereby different instructions may be executed in parallel, in a pipeline fashion or in a manner whereby the completion of an instruction is not always required before the next instruction can be commenced. An example of this type of more sophisticated behaviour is the response of data processing system to load misses.
A load miss can occur when a data processing system seeks to load a data value (which may be data for processing or an instruction word) from a memory location. If that data value is present within a local cache memory, then the load instruction may be completed rapidly, possibly in a single clock cycle. However, should a load miss occur whereby the load of the data value cannot be satisfied from the cache and requires a slower non-cache access, such as to a main memory, then the data value will not be returned for possibly many processing cycles. Rather than halt data processing, it is known to provide systems, such as the ARM1020T processor, in which other program instructions can continue to execute whilst the data from the previous load miss is still awaited providing those later instructions do not require or depend on the data value that has not yet been retrieved.
In such a system supporting continued operation after data access misses, a problem arises in providing meaningful tracing in that the instruction stream being executed does not easily correlate with the data values being returned from memory accesses as observed on the memory busses.


An approach is provided in which an information handling system converts a first set of text to synthesized speech using a text-to-speech converter. The information handling system then converts the synthesized speech to a second set of text using a speech-to-text converter. In response to converting the synthesized speech to the second set of text, the information handling system analyzes the second set of text against a filtering criterion and prevents usage of the synthesized speech based on the analysis.

Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech using a speech synthesizer that is implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) converter converts normal language text into speech, or renders symbolic linguistic representations (e.g., phonetic transcriptions) into speech. Internet services use text-to-speech converters to convert text into speech for various applications such as streaming donation messages.
Internet services typically use profanity filters in text-to-speech environments that automatically scan user posts or comments as they are submitted and automatically changes or censors particular words or phrases. Expletives are typically partially replaced, completely replaced, or replaced by nonsense words. This relieves administrators or moderators of the task of constantly patrolling incoming text for inappropriate language. In a text-to-speech environment, however, malicious users submit messages that in-place profanity filters determines are non-offensive, but become verbally offensive when pronounced through text-to-speech technology. For example, streaming services read donation messages aloud and creative donators often create offensive language through the phonetic pronunciations of a combination of non-offensive words.

Text filtering based on phonetic pronunciations

International Business Machines Corporation


This application provides an uplink reference signal sending method and apparatus, a base station, and user equipment (UE). The method includes: configuring, by the base station, M pieces of uplink reference signal resource information for the UE; and sending, by the base station, the M pieces of uplink reference signal resource information to the UE, so that the UE sends uplink reference signals based on different uplink reference signal resource information with different beamforming gains. A path loss is compensated for by using a beamforming technology. In addition, the base station configures the M pieces of uplink reference signal resource information for the user equipment UE, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signals by using different relatively uplink reference signal resource information based on different beamforming gains. Therefore, uplink reference signal sending efficiency is improved.

Spectra are essential resources in wireless communication. In a modern communications system such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, or a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an operating carrier frequency is usually below 3 Gigahertz (GHz).
With emergence of smart terminals, in particular, video services, current spectrum resources already have difficulty in meeting an explosively growing requirement of a user for a capacity. A high frequency band, in particular, a millimeter-wave band, that has a higher available bandwidth gradually becomes a candidate frequency band for a next-generation communications system. However, the high frequency band results in a larger path loss. Particularly, factors such as atmosphere and vegetation further increase a wireless propagation loss.
For uplink reference signal sending performed by user equipment (UE), a beamforming technology is an effective method for reducing a path loss. However, in the prior art, a base station configures same uplink reference signal resource information for different formed beams, and different formed beams usually have different beamforming gains. Apparently, when the base station configures same uplink reference signal resource information for formed beams with different gains, relatively low uplink reference signal sending efficiency is caused.

Uplink reference signal sending method and apparatus, base station, and user equipment


The invention relates to a method of determining the motion vector of tissues in a biological medium. This method comprises the steps of: —acquiring a sequence of echographical images at a given repetition rate, —digitalising said echographical images and storing the so-digitalised images, —defining a digital pseudo echographical pulse, —effecting in a plurality of directions a convolution of said digital pseudo echographical pulse with said digitalised images and deducing therefrom at each point of said medium a plurality of pseudo echographical signals associated with said plurality of directions, —determining an estimate over said plurality of directions of the phase shift between two successive pseudo echographical signals and deducing therefrom the magnitude and the direction of said motion vector.

Tissue motion is usually measured by use of a method known as Tissue Doppler Imaging consisting in recording the successive responses of a medium to ultrasonic excitations generated at a given repetition rate, the phase shift between two successive response signals being directly related to the motion vector component along the excitation beam axis. However, this method only enables the measurement of the motion vector component along this axis.
On the other hand, a classic 3D echography method is not likely to provide a satisfactory solution, because it is not practically possible to record simultaneously several orientations which could allow the reconstruction of the overall motion vector due to the required complexity and high cost it involves and/or accessibility constraints.

Method and device for determining the motion vector tissues in a biological medium


A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and traffic management computing device that obtains one or more parameters for a packet. Firewall policies each corresponding to a logical firewall are applied to the parameters for the packet. A policy log for each of at least a subset of the firewall policies or a hit count for one or more of rules in an access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies is generated. The policy log includes an indication of one or more actions corresponding to at least one rule in the access list of each of the subset of the firewall policies, wherein the at least one rule matches one or more of the parameters of the packet. At least one of the generated policy log or hit counts for one or more of the at least a subset of the firewall policies is output.

Many computer networks include firewalls as standalone devices or as a module of a traffic management or other network device capable of providing additional services. Traffic management computing devices including firewall functionality can be configured to provide services, such as accelerating, optimizing, and/or load balancing network traffic exchanged between client computing devices and the server computing devices, for example. Traffic management computing devices can implement firewalls in order to restrict unauthorized and/or malicious network traffic from accessing network resources.
Accordingly, firewall administrators deploy firewall policies on the traffic management computing devices, which are often very complicated and include a significant number of rules for analyzing network traffic. Based on the analysis, an action corresponding to a matching one of the rules is taken for a packet. The actions generally include allowing the packet to proceed to the destination, allowing the packet to be analyzed by a next firewall policy in a different context, or denying the packet. Over time, there is generally a need to update or modify a deployed firewall policy.
However, currently there is no efficient way for a firewall administrator to determine the effect of a policy change prior to deploying a new or modified policy. Due to the complexity of the policies, one change may have unintended consequences on other policies or the network traffic. Accordingly, firewall administrators often deploy a new or modified policy and then roll it back and replace it with a prior policy when an issue arises in a live environment. This type of validation process is often disruptive for users and is inefficient for firewall administrators. Additionally, currently there is no effective way for a firewall administrator to test or visualize the operation of a firewall having many firewall policies in various contexts.

Methods for validating and testing firewalls and devices thereof


An assemblage for forming a lithographic printing plate is disclosed. The assemblage contains a receiver support with a rough hydrophilic surface; a layer containing a poly(cyanoacrylate) binder; and a donor support. When the assemblage is exposed with a high intensity laser beam, the binder is transferred to the hydrophilic surface of the receiver support to produce a lithographic printing plate. The transfer requires relatively low exposure and no post processing is necessary.

Lithographic printing plates for offset printing have traditionally been produced using analog optical methods. These methods are time consuming, require wet processing and careful process control. Dry methods have been disclosed such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,572 where a hydrophilic polymer layer is converted to a hydrophobic polymer imagewise. This method requires high energy photons such as those emitted by xenon flash lamps or relatively expensive gas lasers or doubled YAG lasers. It is not well suited for use with relatively inexpensive near IR diode lasers. There are examples, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,958, utilizing a single layer of polymer and absorber material where laser exposure chemically converts the polymer nature from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,183 a similar method is disclosed where a hydrophilic layer containing pigments is rendered hydrophobic when exposed to laser radiation and is used on a lithographic press without further processing. This process, however is relatively insensitive and impractical, requiring about 1 to 2 watts of laser power while exposing only 10 cm/sec. There are also photosensitive methods described that require traditional chemical processing as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,506,779; 4,020,762; 4,063,949.
Ablative methods have been disclosed where the top layer is etched from a plate to form relief patterns such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,054,094 and 4,347,785. These methods require expensive extremely high power lasers. In other cases, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,094, a hydrophilic surface is ablated to reveal an oleophilic underlayer. A similar approach was taken in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,339,737 and 5,351,617 where a top coat is ablated and then wiped to expose an underlayer. These processes require two layers coated on a suitable substrate. One layer is ink receptive and the other wettable by fountain solution. At least one of the layers contains an absorber material either homogeneously mixed or heterogeneously dispersed therein. Intense near IR radiation from a focused laser causes ablation or loosening of the top layer. Debris left behind from incomplete ablation must be wiped or otherwise removed from the plate surface. For these applications a coating should be easily removable with modest laser exposure while unexposed areas must be tough enough to withstand normal press conditions. An improved ablation plate was disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 08/614,437, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,780, that used a novel binder consisting of polymeric cyanoacrylate. No post treatment was necessary, however, removing the last traces of material can be difficult and exposure dependent. As a result background toning was sensitive to exposure conditions. Cyano containing polymers have also been recognized for their barrier properties in laser ablative imaging films as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,591, and as gas generating propellants in proofing systems as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,016, however, printing plate applications have special requirements and materials that work in one application do not necessarily work in others. Thus it does not follow that binder materials will work well in all three applications. To make an acceptable printing plate it is not sufficient that the transferred material be easily removed from the donor or that they are good propellants for other incorporated materials. Components, or their decomposition products, must have good adhesion to the receiver surface and good cohesive strength. Furthermore, transferred material must be relatively insoluble in press fluids such as ink and fountain solution and they must be abrasion insensitive for long run length.
Nitrocellulose, for example is a well known binder for ablation and material transfer applications it ablates well but does not hold up well to conventional printing press conditions when it has been transferred to a hydrophilic receiver such as anodized aluminum.
Material transfer methods for printing plate preparations are well known in the art, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,945,318, and 3,964,389. In this method a donor sheet was placed in face-to-face contact with a receiver plate. The donor consisted of a coating on transparent Mylar.RTM. polyester film containing an absorber, such as carbon, an oleophilic material and a self oxidizing binder, such as nitrocellulose. In this disclosure, the hydrophilic receiver was a roughened anodized Al plate. A scanning focused laser was used to heat the donor imagewise. Intense rapid heating causes components of the donor film to be transferred to the receiver. Many other materials have been suggested for use as binders in transfer plate donors such as, phenol and cresol-formaldehyde resins (novalak resins), urea-formaldehyde, melamine-formaldehyde, alkyd resins, polyester resins, polyacrylate, polymethacrylate and polyethyacrylate, polyamindes (nylon), poly vinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, poly vinylidene chloride polystyrene, copolymers of styrene and butadiene, and poly alkylene-polyethylene as were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,513. Still others include methyl methacrylate, Butvar 76 (a reaction produce of poly (vinylalcohol and butyraldehyde)), alkyd resin, Cymel 301 (a melamine derivative), araldite 485-E50 (an epoxy resin), DeSoto 461-114 (a styrene-allyl alcohol copolymer) and novalac resin (cresol formaldehyde), as for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,389; and vinylchloride and vinylacetate copolymer, Cymel (a UV crosslinkable polymer system), and hexamethoxymethylmelamine as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,493. Many of these binders, nitrocellulose for example, have been found to work quite poorly and must be supplemented with other transferable ink receptive components or layers to be useful on press. Under these extreme conditions some materials, will undergo reversible or irreversible decomposition. The prior art does not distinguish which among these many polymers produces plates with superior press characteristics.

Laser-induced material transfer digital lithographic printing plates


A system and method for connecting two fluid carrying tubes includes a first tube having a lumen therethrough and an open end, and a bubble elimination port proximate the open end and in fluid communication with the lumen, and a second tube having a lumen therethrough and an open end. The first and second tubes are connected in a first position, wherein the lumen of the first tube and the lumen of the second tube form a fluid-tight circuit and the bubble elimination port is open to the circuit, to eliminate any bubbles in the fluid circuit. The first and second tubes then are connected in a second position, wherein the lumen of the first tube and the lumen of the second tube form a continuous, fluid-tight circuit and the bubble elimination port is closed to the fluid circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for connecting two or more fluid carrying tubes. More particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus for connecting blood carrying medical tubing in a continuous fluid circuit without introducing bubbles or other environmental contaminants into the tubing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Extracorporeal procedures are well known. In these procedures, blood generally is withdrawn from a patient through cannulation, treated (e.g. by pumping, oxygenation, filtering, or the like), and reintroduced to the patient through cannulation. For example, in a cardio-pulmonary bypass procedure, blood may be withdrawn through cannulation at a first site, oxygenated upstream, and reintroduced through cannulation at a second site.
In preparing to perform one of these extracorporeal procedures, one blood carrying tube must be connected to another blood carrying tube. It is important in making this connection to avoid introducing air or other contaminants into the fluid circuit. In particular, air bubbles can cause an embolism or other medical complications that may be fatal to the patient.
Before initiating an extracorporeal procedure, each of the blood carrying tubes typically is primed with a conventional priming fluid, such as a saline-based priming solution, and then clamped at a location proximate the end portion thereof, to assure that each is filled as full as possible with such fluid. The open ends of the primed tubes are then slowly connected together while a syringe or other device provides a continuous stream of solution to the connection site. A variation of this technique may be used when the fluid circuit includes a roller-type pump. In this variation, a perfusionist rotates the pump head of the pump in a forward direction to perform a "roll-up" technique, which continuously advances priming fluid out of the blood tube during the connecting stage.
These techniques have a number of drawbacks. First, each technique requires a degree of training to make a bubble free connection. For example, in the former technique, connection under a stream of fluid may cause air entrainment, resulting in bubbles in the tubing. The latter technique is limited to a roller-type pump, and may not be used with a centrifugal pump, or the like. Each of these techniques requires two people to perform the connection. In addition, since these procedures rely upon flowing fluid to keep air out, they tend to be messy since some of that flowing fluid necessary escapes from the system. Also, after completion of the connection, it often is not possible to disassemble the cannula and tubes if bubbles then are detected in the tubes. Moreover, these techniques are not easily repeatable, and are difficult to perform under emergency conditions.
It is also known in the art to use a connector tube for connecting the open ends of two-fluid carrying tubes. Such a connector tube preferably is a short, rigid cylindrical tube, and may include securing structure, such as barbs, at each end for securely connecting the previously open ends of the fluid carrying tubes to form a closed fluid channel or circuit.
An improvement on this technique includes a hard, barbed, connector tube provided with a branch or side-arm luer port. The luer port may be used for collecting and eliminating any air bubbles trapped in the fluid circuit after connection.
These techniques also have a number of drawbacks. Initially, when a connector tube is inserted in the open end of one fluid carrying tube, it functions as an extension of that tube for connecting to the second tube. Thus, this system includes all of the above-discussed drawbacks. The branches or luer fittings also have a drawback in that they introduce an element that protrudes from the fluid circuit during procedure. This protrusion may catch on surrounding objects or accidentally be broken off, resulting in inconvenience or possibly major blood loss during procedure. Moreover, these protrusions form vestiges that remain on the side wall of the connector tube of the fluid circuit. These vestiges are discontinuities that form stagnation zones in the fluid circuit that tend to cause thrombi.

Bubble-free connector for liquid carrying tubing


Disclosed are a non-evaporation type getter excellent in gettering effect, capable of maintaining the inside of a gas-tight container in a display apparatus, particularly a flat panel display apparatus or the like, in a high vacuum condition, easy to mount and less liable to contaminate the inside of the gas-tight container, a display apparatus including the getter, and methods of manufacturing the same. The non-evaporation type getter (20) includes a molded body including at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Al, V, and Fe as a principal constituent thereof, the molded body formed by powder injection molding. The molded body is composed of a porous body having a porosity of 10 to 30%.

In recent years, there have been proposed flat panel display apparatuses in which phosphors are irradiated with electron beams emitted from electron emission sources, such as field emission devices, to cause the phosphors to emit light, and thereby forming an image, such as a field emission display (hereinafter abridged to FED).
In an FED, a substrate provided with electron emission sources arranged in a matrix form and a substrate provided with phosphors are disposed opposite to each other with a minute gap therebetween, the peripheries of the substrates are sealed to form a gas-tight container, the inside of the gas-tight container is maintained in a high vacuum or an ultrahigh vacuum, and the phosphors are irradiated with electron beams emitted from electron emission sources to cause the phosphors to emit light, and thereby displaying an image.
For an assured operation of the FED, it is necessary to maintain the inside of the gas-tight container formed between the substrates in an ultrahigh vacuum (a pressure of not higher than about 1×10−6 Pa). This is because, at a lower degree of vacuum (namely, at a higher pressure), field emission devices used as the electron emission sources are contaminated, leading to a trouble regarding the electron emission characteristics (emission characteristics) and shortening the life of the FED.
Thus, in a flat panel display apparatus including therein a gas-tight container with a high degree of vacuum, such as the FED, a vapor-deposition-type getter is disposed inside a getter chamber disposed at an end portion of the gas-tight container, in order to enhance the degree of vacuum inside the gas-tight container by the gettering effect. In addition, provision of a non-evaporation-type getter inside the gas-tight container also has been proposed.
In the flat panel display apparatus, such as the FED, the gap between a front substrate and a back substrate is as minute as about 1.5 mm or less, and it is difficult to bring the inside space to an ultrahigh vacuum, but it is important to maintain all locations in the inside space at a uniform degree of vacuum. Besides, in an operation of the FED, the irradiation of a phosphor surface with electrons discharged from the field emission devices causes liberation of a gas or gases. When a gradient of the degree of vacuum is generated as a result of the liberation of a gas or gases, the region where the field emission devices are formed on the back substrate the field emission devices may be contaminated depending on the location, and the emission characteristics at the contaminated portions are degraded, resulting in a shortening of the life of the FED. Therefore, with only the vapor-deposition-type getter disposed only at an end portion of the gas-tight container, generation of a gradient of the degree of vacuum cannot be obviated. In view of this, in the flat panel display apparatuses such as the FED, the need to dispose non-evaporation-type getters in a dispersed manner has been increasing, in order to maintain the inside of the gas-tight container at a uniform ultrahigh vacuum.
Conventionally, the non-evaporation-type getters have been formed by vapor deposition or sputtering. In the formation of the non-evaporation-type getters, it is necessary to form the non-evaporation-type getters at positions for avoiding the field emission device pattern and the phosphor pattern, resulting in a difficulty on a manufacturing process basis that an accurate masking treatment is needed. If the masking is unsatisfactory and the field emission devices are contaminated due to vapor deposition or the like, a trouble as to emission characteristics is generated, and the life of the flat panel display apparatus, such as the FED, is shortened.
Incidentally, there have also been proposed some methods of forming non-evaporation-type getters by a film forming process other than vapor deposition and sputtering. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-159697 proposes a method of producing a non-evaporation-type getter by a powder processing molding or powder press molding sintering technique.
According to the method disclosed in the publication, however, cracking or deformation is liable to occur at the time of sintering due to such causes as a distribution of the shrinkage factor, so that there is the limitation that it is impossible to form a non-evaporation-type getter having a complicated shape. Besides, the powder molding leads to the problem of dusting.
As a method of disposing and fixing a non-evaporation-type getter formed by the powder press molding sintering technique or the like in the inside of a flat panel display apparatus, there has been proposed a method of fixing the non-evaporation-type getter by use of an adhesive, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-311638. In the method, however, it is difficult to achieve masking at the time of applying the adhesive. Besides, depending on the kind of adhesive, a gas may be liberated from the adhesive during or after a thermal activating treatment of the getter, leading to a lowering of the gas absorbing capability of the getter or to contamination of the field emission devices, with the result of degradation of the emission characteristics. In addition, to obviate such an inconvenience, it is necessary to devise a measure for preventing the liberation of gas from the adhesive.
Thus, particularly in a flat panel display apparatus, it has been very difficult to dispose the non-evaporation-type getter.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances. Accordingly, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a non-evaporation-type getter which is excellent in gettering effect, capable of maintaining the inside of a gas-tight container in a display apparatus, particularly in a flat panel display apparatus or the like, in a high vacuum condition, easy to mount and less liable to contaminate the inside of the gas-tight container, a display apparatus including the getter, and methods of manufacturing the same.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a flat display apparatus capable of enhancing the reliability characteristic of emission of electron beams from electron emission sources, such as field emission devices, and contriving a longer life, and a method of manufacturing the same.

Non-evaporation type getter, display unit and production method for them


A method of producing a transistor having a source and drain diffusion layer formed so that is has a junction of a shallow depth and is low in parasitic resistance and parasitic capacitance. The method allows the manufacture of a transistor having a gate insulator formed on a principal plane of a semiconductor substrate, a gate electrode formed on the gate insulator, and source and drain diffusion layers of one conductivity type formed on the principal plane of the semiconductor substrate across the gate electrode. A semiconductor thin film layer doped with an impurity of the same conductivity type is selectively deposited on the principal plane of the semiconductor substrate on which the source and drain diffusion layers are formed. A facet face is formed at an end portion of the semiconductor thin film which opposes to a sidewall of the gate electrode. The facet face has an inclination angle between a sidewall face of the gate electrode and the principal plane of the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a structure of and a method of producing an MISFET.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an MISFET and a method of producing it, in order to reduce the gate length of the MISFET while suppressing a short channel effect (a phenomenon where, as the gate length becomes short, the threshold voltage drops or the device is prevented from entering a non-conducting condition), the depth of the source and drain region should be reduced substantially in proportion to the gate length.
Normally, a source and drain region of an MISFET is formed by implanting an impurity into a substrate by ion implantation and then heating the substrate to electrically activate the impurity (so that the impurity enters into site positions of the substrate crystal). In this instance, in order to make the thickness of a diffusion layer of the source and drain region shallow, either the energy of ion implantation is reduced to reduce the implantation range of the ions or the annealing time is reduced, or the processing temperature is lowered to suppress diffusion of the impurity. With the ion implantation described above, however, a channeling phenomenon occurs wherein the impurity profile trails the end in the depthwise direction toward a particular crystal orientation in which the collision probability with atoms of the substrate is low. Particularly, this phenomenon occurs remarkably with atoms having a small mass number such as boron atoms. Further, for electric activation of the impurity, unrestricted reduction of the annealing time or unrestricted lowering of the processing temperature is not an option. For these reasons, realization of a shallow junction required by submicron devices is increasingly difficult.
Further, even if a shallow junction is realized with an MISFET, the MISFET still has a problem of the parasitic resistance. In particular, as the reduction of the MISFET proceeds, the resistance of the channel portion of the MISFET device decreases. Conversely, the parasitic resistance of the source and drain region tends to increase because the depth thereof decreases. Therefore, although the performance of the intrinsic device is improved, the performance of the entire device is suppressed by the parasitic resistance, and this greatly reduces the advantage of size reduction very much.
Thus, in order to realize a reduced MISFET, it is required that the source and drain diffusion layer be formed with a small depth and a low resistance. As a means of achieving this, a device structure wherein the source and drain region is elevated with respect to the substrate has conventionally been examined. A method of producing such a structure is disclosed in IEDM Technical Digest, 1987, pp. 590-593. FIGS. 1(a) to 1(c) are sectional views illustrating successive steps of the method of producing a reduced p-channel MOSFET disclosed in this paper. The prior art disclosed in the paper is hereinafter referred to as the first prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1(a), isolation 22 is first formed on the surface of silicon substrate 21, and then gate insulator 23 and gate electrode 24 are successively formed. Further, cap insulator 25 is formed on gate electrode 24. Thereafter, low concentration diffusion layer 26 is formed. Here, the formation of low concentration diffusion layer 26 is performed by ion implantation of boron, and the impurity concentration is adjusted to approximately 10.sup.18 atoms/cm.sup.3.
Then, sidewall insulator 27 for covering a sidewall of gate electrode 24 is formed as shown in FIG. 1(b). The film thickness of sidewall insulator 27 is approximately 100 nm. Thereafter, elevated source and drain 28 is formed on low concentration diffusion layer 26 described above. This elevated source and drain 28 is formed by selective growth of a silicon single crystal. Then, an impurity of boron is implanted into the selectively formed elevated source and drain 28, and then annealing for activation is performed. In this instance, for the ion implantation, a method wherein boron is implanted, so that the end of the implanted boron region may reach the inside of the semiconductor substrate, or another method, wherein boron is implanted so that almost all of it is contained in, elevated source and drain 28 and is then diffused into the substrate by subsequent annealing, may be available. However, since the diffusion increases the end trailing phenomenon of the impurity profile compared with that in its initial condition, the former method is preferably employed for the production method.
A p-channel MOSFET having elevated source and drain diffusion layer 28A as shown in FIG. 1(c) is formed in such a manner as described above. Here, the diffusion layer of the source and drain region of the MOSFET has a structure (hereinafter referred to as LDD structure) which has a region of a low impurity concentration (normally called lightly doped drain region) and another region of a high impurity concentration.
A method of forming a source and drain region different from the first prior art described above is disclosed in IEDM Technical Digest, 1992, pp. 853-856. FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are sectional views illustrating successive steps of the method of producing a reduced n-channel MOSFET disclosed in the paper just mentioned. This prior art is hereinafter referred to as the second prior art.
Referring to FIG. 2(a), isolation 32 is first formed on the surface of silicon substrate 31 and then gate insulator 33, gate electrode 34, cap insulator 35 and sidewall insulator 36 are successively formed. Thereafter, elevated source and drain 37 is formed. Here, elevated source and drain 37 is formed by selective growth of a silicon single crystal. Further, facet 38 is formed at a location where elevated source and drain 37 contacts with sidewall insulator 36, and a lower face 38' closely contacts with the gate sidewall insulator.
Then, ion implantation of phosphor into elevated source and drain 37 is performed, and then annealing is performed. Source and drain diffusion layer 37A is formed in this manner on elevated source and drain 37 as shown in FIG. 2(b), and source and drain junction surface 39 is formed in a portion of silicon substrate 31.
Differences of the second prior art from the first prior art will be described below except for the difference in conductive type. In particular, the first difference is that the diffusion layer of the source and drain does not have the LDD structure. Instead, however, the thickness of sidewall insulator 36 is reduced to several tens of nanometers so that phosphor implanted into elevated source and drain 37 by ion implantation may reach a location below gate electrode 34 by the ion implantation and thermal diffusion. The second difference is in that facet 38 (a surface which appears during epitaxial growth and is directed in a particular crystal orientation) is formed at a portion of elevated source and drain 37 formed by the selective growth at which elevated source and drain 37 contacts with sidewall insulator 36. Due to the presence of facet 38, an increase of the parasitic capacitance between gate electrode 34 and source and drain diffusion layer 37A, when the sidewall insulator is formed thin, is suppressed.
Meanwhile, an MISFET, which employs a semiconductor selectively grown in order to obtain a junction surface of a shallow depth, and a method of producing the same are reported in SSDM Extended Abstracts, 1994, pp. 999-1000. The prior art disclosed in the paper just mentioned is hereinafter referred to as third prior art. As seen in FIG. 3(a), isolation 42 is first formed on the surface of silicon substrate 41 and then gate insulator 43 and gate electrode 44 are successively formed of polysilicon. Thereafter, thermal oxides 45A and 45B are formed on the surfaces of silicon substrate 41 and gate electrode 44 by thermal oxidation. In this instance, since the rate of oxidation is different between substrate 41 and gate electrode 44, thermal oxide 45A of a greater thickness is formed on gate electrode 44. Thereafter, oxide films 45 are etched by isotropic etching, and only silicon substrate 41 is exposed while thicker thermal oxide 45A remains around gate electrode 44. Then, single crystal 46 of p-type silicon-germanium mixed crystal doped with boron is selectively grown only on the exposed surface of silicon substrate 41. By the steps described above, such a p-type MOSFET as shown in FIG. 3(b) is formed.
The first and second prior arts have a basic idea that, where the extent of the impurity after completion of the ion implantation step and the annealing step is represented by depth a and the thickness of the elevated source and drain is represented by b, b is subtracted from a to decrease the depth of the junction from the surface of the semiconductor substrate and the thickness of the source and drain region is maintained by the elevated source and drain to reduce the parasitic resistance. However, the method wherein the junction depth is determined by subtraction involves a great error of the junction depth. For example, where a=100 nm, b=50 nm and the relative error for both a and b is .+-.10%, the junction depth is a-b=50 nm and the maximum error of the junction depth is 100 nm.times.0.1 +50 nm.times.0.1=15 nm, and consequently, the relative error of the junction depth (=15 nm/50 nm) amounts to .+-.30%. It is difficult to control the dispersion in relative error of the junction depth.
Further, the first and second prior arts have a common disadvantage in that, since ion implantation is employed, the concentration of the source and drain diffusion layer in the inside of the substrate cannot be raised sufficiently due to an influence of the trailing of the end of the impurity profile described above. Where the impurity concentration is represented by N and the depth is represented by x, the following equation (1) given below stands approximately at the end portion: EQU d(log.sub.10 N)/dx=C (1)
Here, if concentration N at junction depth x=x.sub.j from the surface of the semiconductor surface is placed as N.sub.j, then concentration N.sub.s at the surface of the substrate (at the lower surface of the elevated source and drain) is approximately given by the equation (2): EQU N.sub.s =N.sub.j .times.10.sup.cx.sub.j (2)
where C is a constant.
In ion implantation, the trailed end is great, or in other words, C is small. Consequently, N.sub.s does not become sufficiently high, and the resistance of a portion of the source and drain region, which is positioned below the surface of the substrate, does not exhibit a sufficiently reduced value. In the elevation structure, the resistance of the source and drain layer below the sidewall, above which there is no elevated layer, has a comparatively high rate. Therefore, reduction of the resistance of the portion of the source and drain region in the substrate is important.
The first prior art has a drawback in that the short channel effect and the magnitude of the parasitic resistance almost depend upon the structure of the LDD portion. Since the LDD portion is produced by an ordinary production method, the depth of the LDD portion cannot be reduced very much, and if only the source and drain diffusion layer of a high concentration is formed shallow, the improvement in short channel effect will be slight. Further, since the parasitic resistance of the LDD portion of a low concentration has a significant impact on the parasitic resistance of the source and drain region, the resistance reduction effect by the elevation is also small. Accordingly, the characteristic of the MISFET device exhibits little or no improvement from that of a device having an ordinary LDD structure.
The second prior art has a drawback in that, since the sidewall insulator of the gate electrode has a reduced thickness, the parasitic capacitance between the gate electrode and the source and drain region is large. In order to suppress the parasitic capacitance, a facet is utilized in the second prior art. However, the capacitance reduction effect is restricted because, in order to achieve the effect of reduction of the junction depth while ion implantation is employed, a portion (38' in FIG. 2) at which the sidewall insulator of the gate electrode and the elevated source and drain closely contact with each other must be provided. Further, in this instance, since a region which is not doped with the impurity is produced at a portion of the elevated source and drain, the resistance reduction effect is reduced.
On the other hand, with the third prior art, since ion implantation is not employed and a source and drain diffusion layer is formed by selective growth of crystal doped in advance, a junction of a shallow depth can be produced with a high degree of controllability. However, if the thickness of the selective growth layer is set to such a low value (as recited in the document, e.g. 15 nm) that the parasitic capacitance does not matter, an increase in resistance that arises from the fact that the junction depth is shallow is not suppressed sufficiently. On the contrary, if the thickness of the selective growth layer is increased, a decrease in resistance by elevation of the source and drain can be anticipated. In this instance, however, the parasitic capacitance creates a problem more serious than those of the two foregoing prior arts. In the third prior art which makes use of solid phase diffusion, the extent of the impurity in a lateral direction is small, and the distance between the selective growth layer and the gate must be set much closer (approximately 10 nm) than those in the two foregoing prior arts so that the impurity of the source and drain may reach a location below the gate. Otherwise, the driving capacity of the MISFET device is damaged remarkably. As a result, the parasitic capacitance between the diffusion source and the gate is greatly increased, and the speed of operation of the circuitry is decreased. The production method of the third prior art has another drawback in that it is difficult to form a complementary construction, that is, to integrate both n-type and p-type MISFETs on a single substrate. Where ion implantation is employed as in the prior arts 1 and 2, a complementary MOSFET can be formed readily by covering, upon ion implantation into the source and drain of one conductivity type, the region of the other conductivity type with a photoresist. However, in the third method wherein a diffusion layer doped in advance is formed, such a simple method as used in the first and second prior arts cannot be employed.

Production method for a MISFET, complementary MISFET


A charging station assembly capable of generating and delivering a conditioned airflow while charging a battery of a vehicle. The temperature and flow rate of this conditioned airflow may be controlled based on the ambient conditions and battery status. The conditioned airflow may be directed toward an outside heat exchanger of a refrigerant system of the vehicle to enhance capacity. The conditioned airflow may also be routed to a battery pack for direct cooling or heating through additional ventilation system. In hot ambient conditions, the charging station provides cool air to facilitate battery cooling. In cold ambient conditions, the charging station provides hot air to facilitate battery heating. This charging station assembly shifts the load from the vehicle refrigerant system to the charging system, thereby improving battery thermal management capability, while eliminating the need for an oversized refrigerant system.

With the rapid advance of fast charging technologies for vehicles, the cooling demand of batteries during charging has increased dramatically, from a few kW in normal charging to potentially 15+ kW in direct current fast charging (DCFC). Such a large load requires the refrigerant system of a vehicle to be sized well above the standard configuration, especially for charging during hot ambient. For example, the displacement of an electric compressor may have to increase from 30+ cubic centimeter (cc) to 40+ cc or even 50+ Xcc. The rest components in the system, such as chiller, condenser, and air conditioning (AC) lines, all need to be upsized accordingly. This not only causes significant development and validation efforts, but introduces a system that is generally oversized for the vast majority of use cases. The new system may suffer from packaging constraint, as well as reduced efficiency (hence range loss) due to degraded efficiency of larger compressor and increased system pressure drop. On the other hand, in cold winter months, fast charging may be slowed if the battery temperature is too low. This requires batteries to be heated to enable a sufficient charging rate, taxing the heating system of a vehicle. In extremely cold regions (below −20 degrees C.), enhanced battery heating and shortened charging times are especially desired.
The present background is provided only as illustrative context for the application of the principles of the present disclosure and is not intended to be limiting. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the principles of the present disclosure may be applied in other contexts equally.


A proton-conductive membrane for electrochemical applications, particularly for use in fuel cells, is provided. The membrane consists of a polymer based on a base polymer, other than a vinyl polymer, which includes aromatic rings and also sulfonic acid groups which are bound covalently directly to the aromatic rings of the base polymer, that is, without spacer groups therebetween.

The invention relates to a proton conductive membrane for electrochemical applications, a polymer for the manufacture of the membrane and the use of the membrane in a fuel cell.
Fuel cells are considered to be promising low-emission alternatives for conventional energy generation apparatus. For mobile applications, the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEM) is of particular interest. A proton-conductive polymer membrane is the main component in this type of fuel cell. Nafion®, which is a perfluorinated polymer with sulfonic acid side groups as produced by Dupont and similar products made by Asahi are still the market-dominating membrane materials for electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
Much research has been done with the aim to use other polymers as membrane materials in fuel cells. These polymers however are almost exclusively sulfonated materials whose proton conductivity is based on sulfonic acid groups.
In a relatively recent publication (M. Yamabe, K. Akijama, Y. Akatsuka, M. Kato, Novel phosphonated perfluorocarbon polymers, Eur. Polym. J. 36(2000) 1034–41), the synthesis of perfluorinated polymers with phosphonic acid side groups based on perfluorovinyloxy-substituted phosphonic acid as monomers is described which are then co-polymerized with tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoropropylvinyl ether. The use of such polymers in fuel cells is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,032.
Additional fuel cell membranes of polymers with phosphoric acid side groups are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,411. These known polymers are made by radical homo- and co-polymerization of α, β, β-trifluorosstyrol-4-phosphoric acid esters and subsequent ester hydrolysis. The product obtained is a polystyrol with perfluorinated main chain, which functionalizes on the phenyl rings with phosphoric acid groups.
Additional polymers for use in fuel cells are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,482. They are fluorine-free styrol copolymers with a mixed functionalization from sulfonic acid and phosphonic acid groups. The patent describes primarily SEBS-copolymers whose styrol units can be phosphonated by conversion with CICH2PO(OR)2. In the product, the phosphonic acid groups are not directly bound to the aromatic rings but by way of a methylene unit.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,685 deals with the phosphonization of vinyl polymers which are used however for the development of cation exchanger membranes. The phosphonization of polybenzimidazole is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,639; here lithium hydride is converted with BrCF2PO(OR)2. In the product obtained, the phosphonic acid groups are bound covalently to nitrogen atoms of the imidazole rings by way of CF2 units.
The first research for the use of phosphonated polymers in fuel cells was published by Cabasso (X. Xu, I. Cabasso, Preliminary study of phosphonate ion exchange membranes for PEM fuel cells, Polym. Mat. Sci. Eng. 68(1993) 120–121). For the manufacture of membranes, a phosphonated polyphenyl oxide and polymer blends prepared therefrom were used. Also in this polymer, whose synthesis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,754, the phosphonic acid groups are separated from the aromatic rings of the polymer main chain by the methylene units. These alkylene spacers reduce the chemical stability of the materials with respect to oxidation means and therefore detrimentally affect the long-term stability of the membranes during operation of a fuel cell.
An essential disadvantage of the initially mentioned perfluorinated materials such as Nafion® is the high price of these materials. With the use of fluorine-free aromatic polymers, it might be possible to lower the material costs without detrimentally affecting the chemical stability. The literature therefore includes numerous examinations directed at the sulfonization of polysulphones, polyether ketones, polyether ether ketones, polyamides and polyphosphazenes. However, all these materials have numerous disadvantages.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an arylpolymer with phosphonic acid side groups, which can be used for the manufacture of improved proton-conductive membranes. It is further an object of the invention to provide such a membrane.

Proton conductive membrane for electromechanical applications


A method of and WLAN device that is arranged and constructed to control service acquisition includes a transceiver for coupling to a second WLAN device; a user (I/O) for interacting with a user; and a controller for deciding whether the transceiver will enter a service acquisition mode thereby coupling to said second WLAN device by; determining a parameter that corresponds to a present environment for the WLAN device; comparing the parameter to a predetermined value to provide a comparison, the predetermined value defining, in part, an environment where service for the WLAN device is desirable; analyzing the comparison according to a rule to provide a decision; and enabling the service acquisition mode when the decision is favorable; and otherwise forgoing service acquisition.

Local Area Networks (LANs) are becoming more popular. Wireless LANs (WLANs) are being deployed and planned for in homes and small businesses. These WLANs are often a means of replacing or avoiding the installation and maintenance required for wired networks while providing some limited freedom of movement for users of the WLANs. Various specifications are available or are in some stage of development that describe the operation or interface between communications devices for various protocols or types of systems.
Examples of WLAN systems include the Bluetooth, Home RF, and 802.11 a and b systems and similar systems being proposed in Europe. All of these systems have some form of service acquisition mode that equipment operating according to the respective specifications utilizes in order to form a connection with another unit or units in the system. Due to the ad-hoc nature of these systems in general one does not know whether any other units are available and if so whether services that you desire are available. Since most of these systems operate in ISM frequency bands according to frequency hopped or other spread spectrum schemes with large numbers of "channels" the service acquisition procedures can be quite involved, relatively lengthy in time, and require numerous transmissions and other power intensive activities without any assurance that service will be acquired. An acquisition attempt can result in the loss of any security that anonymity may have been providing (you can not hack what you do not know exists) and repeated attempts can quickly deplete a battery for those wireless units that are battery powered, more or less essential for freedom of movement.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for controlling service acquisition in a WLAN device thereby improving battery life and security for the user of the WLAN device.

Method and apparatus for controlling service acquisition in a local area network device


A system for determining the sequence and placement of pages for a multiple-page document. A user selects a number of pages on each side of a sheet. A total number of pages is defined for a document. An initial value is set for a sheet index that counts each sheet in the document. A current page (F) for a current sheet is then defined. A total number of sheets in the document (S) is calculated by dividing the total number of pages for the document by a total number of pages on one sheet. A total number of sheets remaining after the current sheet (Sl) is calculated by using the equation: S-(sheet index+1). A set of coefficients C1, C2, and C3 is selected for the current page based on the number of pages on each sheet side. A current page number is calculated for the current page by using the equation: C1+F+C2*S+C3*Sl. The current page number for the current page is recorded. Selecting a set of coefficients, calculating a current page number, and recording the current page number are repeated for each remaining page on the current sheet. When all of the remaining pages are on the current sheet have been determined, the sheet index is incremented. Finally, for each remaining sheet, the process is repeated from the step of defining a current page number (F) for a current sheet, and extending through the step of incrementing the sheet index.

In today's complex society, planning and organizing are essential tasks for managing a rigorous schedule. Many people utilize various tools for managing their hectic schedules. Such tools include electronic organizers, planners, daily calendars and software programs designed to allow a user to manage her own calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts. Typically, an individual uses at least one of these tools by referring to it throughout the day in order to keep up with appointments, tasks, and other important matters.
One apparent problem with some computer-oriented planning systems is that when the user wants a printed copy of her schedule or other relevant information, these systems are limited to printing one page of information onto each side of a single sheet of paper. As a result, should the user want to print, for example, a personal calendar for the next two weeks, a minimum number of seven sheets of paper would be printed if a double-sided printer is used. In this scenario, the user must carry around a personal calendar on a relatively thick stack of papers, which is certainly inconvenient for the user.
To further elaborate, many computer-oriented systems are also incapable of providing a printing arrangement beyond the one-half page case, whereby two pages of information are printed on each sheet side using a double-sided printer. In this case, a booklet may be formed by the user after printing the stack of sheets by: stacking the printed sheets in numerical order; folding the sheets in half; and stapling the sheets together along a center spine. Again, there is an issue of convenience, as well as practicality, which the user faces with this printing limitation.
Other systems, such as the "PUBLISHER" program and the "CREATIVE WRITER" program, employ a printing arrangement known as French-fold print. This printing arrangement prints four pages on one side of a sheet in quarter pages, whereby two of the four printed pages are upside down. After the sheet is printed, the paper is French folded by folding the sheet in half two times. For example, some greeting cards and announcements are printed and folded in this above-described manner. The problem with this printing arrangement is that a multiple-page booklet cannot be formed.
Furthermore, since many systems are incapable of printing beyond the two pages per side scheme, it is also reasonable to conclude that these systems are not designed to provide a numbering scheme beyond this limitation.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that is capable of printing multiple pages on a single sheet of paper, beyond the two pages per sheet limit. In addition, there is a need for a system that is capable of printing multiple sheets containing multiple pages to create a multiple-page document. Finally, there is a need for a system that is capable of determining the sequence and placement of pages for a multiple-page document in response to a print context defined by the user.

System for determining the sequence and placement of pages for a multiple-page document


An image encoder for encoding the image data so as to make the image quality of a selected area better than that of the other areas without increasing the amount of data is disclosed. The encoder comprises an area selecting section for selecting a specific area in an image, an area position and shape encoding section for encoding the position and shape of the selected area, a coding parameter adjusting section for adjusting various parameters used to control the image quality and the amount of data in encoding a dynamic image and performing control so that the image quality of the area is encoded more preferably than the image quality of the other areas, a parameter encoding section for encoding the above parameters, a dynamic image encoding section for encoding input dynamic-image data by using the above various parameters, and an encoded data integrating section for combining encoded data by the area position and shape encoding section, the parameter encoding section and the dynamic image encoding section and transmit or store the data. An image decoder applied to the image encoder is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image encoder/decoder, in particularly to an image encoder/decoder for encoding/decoding digital image data at a high efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image encoding, a method for making the image quality of a specific area better than that of the other areas is hitherto proposed.
In the case of the method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 5-130603, for example, the minimum quantization step size is used in the area of a speaker among a plurality of persons in a videoconference and the quantization step size is controlled in an area other than the area of the speaker in accordance with a bit rate. Similarly, in the case of the method described in the document "A Study on Picture Quality Improvement Technique for Video Codec" (SHARP Technical Report, No. 6, December 1994, pp. 25-30), the image quality of the facial region is made better than that of other region by detecting the facial region out of an image and decreasing the quantization step size specified in macro-blocks in the detected area.
Moreover, in the case of the method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 5-75867, the image quality of important areas in an image is improved by using all coefficients of DCT (discrete cosine transform) to encode a specified area and using only some of the DCT coefficients to encode the other areas.
Any method is characterized by making the image quality of a selected area better than that of the other areas without changing the standard encoding method represented by H. 261.
Moreover, it is hitherto studied to store the image of background in a memory and apply it to predictive encoding in the case of encoding for a videophone. For example, in the case of the method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 64-32788, a portion hidden behind a person in a background image is successively added to a background-image memory whenever the portion appears according to movement of the person. Thereby, a more perfect background image can be obtained.
The above mentioned methods of controlling the quantization step size or limiting the number of DCT coefficients, in order to make the image quality of a selected area better than that of the other areas without changing the standard encoding method, cannot control the image quality due to difference of other encoding parameters. Specifically, the number of pixels in a frame (spatial resolution) and a sub sampling rate of a frame (time resolution) are the same in both of the selected area and the other areas. Therefore, the above image encoding method cannot make the image quality of the selected area better than that of the other areas by adjusting encoding parameters other than the quantization step size and DCT coefficients.
Moreover, the method of storing a background image in a memory assumes that the background image is stationary. Actually, however, a dynamic image having movement in the background may be encoded when a person moves behind a speaker or a videophone is used in a car, and thereby a scene outside of a window is included in the background. In this case, it is necessary to give a slight movement to the background image instead of completely stopping it.


The invention relates to compounds represented by Structural Formula I, which can bind to CCR9 receptors and block the binding of a ligand (e.g., TECK) to the receptors. The invention also relates to a method of inhibiting a function of CCR9, and to the use compounds represented by Structural Formula I in research, therapeutic, prophylactic and diagnostic methods.

Chemokines are a large and growing family of nearly forty 6–14 kD (non-glycosylated) heparin binding proteins that mediate a wide range of biological functions (Taub, D. D. and Openheim, J. J., Ther. Immunol., 1:229–246 (1994)). The chemokines can be divided into families based on the position of four cysteine residues that form two disulfide bonds (Kelner, G. S., et al., Science, 266:12395–1399 (1994); Bazan, J. F., et al., Nature, 385:640–644 (1997); Pin, Y., et al., Nature, 385:611–617 (1997)). Chemokine receptors can also be divided into families based on the type of chemokine they bind, although, no clear structural differences have been identified that distinguish the receptor sub-families (Mackay, C. R., J. Exp. Med., 184:799–802 (1996)).
Chemokines play a vital role in leukocyte adhesion and extravasation. For example, in various in vitro assays, chemokines can induce the chemotaxis or transendothelial migration of leukocytes (Taub, D. D. and Openheim, J. J., Ther. Immunol., 1:229–246 (1994)), while in vivo injection (Taub, D. D., et al., J. Clin. Invest., 97:1931–1941 (1996)) or overexpression of chemokines (Fuentes, M. E., et al., J. Immunol., 155:5769–5776 (1995)) can result in leukocyte accumulation at the site of chemokine injection or expression. Antagonists of chemokines can prevent leukocyte trafficking (Bargatze, R. F. and Butcher, E. C., J. Exp. Med., 178:367–372 (1993)) and may have beneficial effects on acute and chronic inflammation (Sekido, N., et al., Nature, 365:654–657 (1993); Karpus, W. J., et al., J. Immunol., 155:5003–5010 (1995)). Chemokines have also been reported to modulate angiogenesis (Gupta, S. K., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92:7799–7803 (1995)), hematopoiesis (Taub, D. D. and Openheim, J. J., Ther. Immunol., 1:229–246 (1994)) as well as T lymphocyte activation (Zhou, Z., et al., J. Immunol. 151:4333–4341 (1993); Taub, D. D., et al., J. Immunol., 156:2095–2103 (1996)). In addition, several chemokine receptors act as co-receptors, along with CD4, for entry of M tropic and T tropic HIV-1 (Choe, H., et al., Cell, 85:1135–1148 (1996); Feng, Y., et al., Science, 272:872–877 (1996)).
Several subsets of CD4 lymphocytes can be defined based on their expression of various adhesion molecules that are known to effect trafficking to different physiologic sites (Mackay, C. R., Curr. Opin. Immunol., 5:423–427 (1993)). For example, CLA+ve memory CD4 lymphocytes traffic to the skin (Berg, E. L., et al., Nature, 174(6):1461–1466 (1991)), while CLA−veα4β7+ve memory CD4 lymphocytes traffic to mucosal sites (Hamman, A., et al., J. Immunol., 152:3282–3292 (1994)). Leukocyte adhesion to endothelium is thought to involve several overlapping steps including rolling, activation and arrest. Rolling leukocytes are exposed to factors expressed at the adhesion site resulting in activation of the leukocyte and up-regulation of integrin-mediated adhesion. As a consequence of such integrin-mediated interactions, leukocytes arrest on the endothelium (Bargatze, R. F. and Butcher, E. C., J. Exp. Med., 178:367–372 (1993); Bargatze, R. F., et al., Immunity, 3:99–108 (1995)). Leukocyte activation and up-regulation of integrin molecules occurs via a pertussis toxin sensitive mechanism that is thought to involve chemokine receptors (Bargatze, R. F. and Butcher, E. C., J. Exp. Med., 178:367–372 (1993); Campbell, J. J., et al., Science, 279:381–383 (1998)).
Memory CD4+ lymphocytes can be grouped based upon the expression of certain chemokine receptors. For example, CXCR3, CCR2 and CCR5 (Qin, S., et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 26:640–647 (1996); Qin, S., et al., J. Clin. Invest., 101:746–754 (1998); Liao, F., et al., J. Immunol., 162:186–194 (1999)) are all expressed on subsets of memory CD4 lymphocytes, and certain chemokines act selectively on naive T cells (Adema, G. J., et al., Nature, 387:713–717 (1997)). Furthermore, several chemokines which are ligands for such receptors have been shown to be expressed in inflammatory sites (Gonzalo, J. A., et al., J. Clin. Invest., 98:2332–2345 (1996)) and in some cases in lymph nodes draining a challenged site (Tedla, N., et al., J. Immunol., 161:5663–5672 (1998)). In vitro derived TH1/TH2 lymphocyte lines have also been shown to differentially express chemokine receptors. Specifically, TH1 lymphocytes have been shown to selectively express CXCR3 and CCR5, while TH2 lymphocytes selectively express CCR4, CCR8 and CCR3 (Bonecchi, R. G., et al., J. Exp. Med., 187:129–134 (1998); Sallusto, F. D., et al., J. Exp. Med., 187:875–883 (1998); Sallusto, F., Science, 277:2005–2007 (1997); Andrew, D. P., et al., J. Immunol 161:5027–5038 (1998); Zingoni, A., et al., J. Immunol., 161:547–555 (1998)). Interestingly, in some cases the chemokines for these respective chemokine receptors, such as MDC for CCR4 and IP-10 for CXCR3, are induced by cytokines associated with a TH1/TH2 environment (Andrew, D. P., et al., J. Immunol 161:5027–5038(1998); Luster, A. D., et al., Nature, 315:672–676 (1985)).

CCR9 inhibitors and methods of use thereof


A potty trainer is provided including a chair having an opening for receiving waste from a seated child. Also included is a desk coupled to the chair for providing a working surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to potty trainers and more particularly pertains to a new potty trainer and desk combination for facilitating potty training.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of potty trainers is known in the prior art. More specifically, potty trainers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art potty trainers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,580; U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,820; U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,680; U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,672; U.S. Patent Des. 361,625; and U.S. Pat. No. 35,633.
In these respects, the potty trainer and desk combination according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of facilitating potty training.


A method and an apparatus for improving the gray-scale linearity of a plasma display. At least two types of gray-scale allocations are mixed for forming the original gray scale, or different gray scales are mixed to derive the original gray scale, so as to obtain the required brightness. Therefore, by using multiple combinations to adjust the original gray scale, the required brightness is obtained, and the gray scale linearity for all the gray scales is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a method and an apparatus for improving gray-scale linearity, and more particular, to a method and an apparatus for improving gray-scale linearity of a plasma display.
2. Related Art of the Invention
The earliest dynamic image that the human beings are people were able to see is was the documentary film movie. Later on, with the invention of cathode ray tube (CRT) successfully derives the came commercialized televisions, which then become the an essential appliance for every family. The cathodes ray tubes are became further applied to as the desktop monitor in computers industries for several decades. However, due to the irresolvable radiation problems and the very large volume occupied by the electron gun, the very large displays made thereof gradually have fallen behind the trends of being thin, light and of large-area.
To address the above problems, flat panel displays have been developed. The currently developed flat panel displays include liquid crystal display (LCD), field emission display (FED), vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), organic light emitting diode (OLED) and plasma display panel (PDP). Among these flat panel displays, the plasma display panel is often time applied to digital television and has great market potential due to the advantages of high resolution, high image quality, and large display area.
The generation of plasma display panel is to improve the drawbacks of cathode ray tube. It is easy for to have the electron beam to approach the screen corner by simply deflecting the electron beam with by a large angle. However, the large deflection angle results in an excessively large spot, such that the image and picture are distorted, and the resolution around the screen corners of the cathode ray tube is poor. When the internal space of the cathode ray tube is continuously expanded, it is difficult to maintain high vacuum. Therefore, fabrication of large screen is difficult. In addition, the cathode ray tube does not have the memory functions. To resolve theses drawbacks, Dr.″s D. L. Bitzer and H. G. Slottow have developed the plasma display panels.
With respect to the basic structure, the plasma display panel can be classified into DC type and AC type displays. The display theory includes applying a voltage to a cell where the X-axial electrode and the Y-axial electrode intersects. When the voltage approaches to a certain level (such as 180V), the gas atom is electrically ionized. The energy level of the inert gas is thus enhanced. When the inert gas atom returns from the high energy level to the ground energy level, an ultraviolet light is generated. The fluorescent material coated in the discharge space is then excited by the ultra-violet light to emit visible light within a specific frequency. The structures for DC plasma display panel and the AC plasma display panel are very similar. For example, the intersections between the X-axial electrodes and the Y-axial electrodes are the space for discharge luminescence. The difference is that the electrode of the AC plasma display panel is coated with a dielectric layer (such as MgO), while the electrode of the DC plasma display panel does not include such a layer. Therefore, the X-axial electrodes and the Y-axial electrodes are directly exposed in the discharge space, such that electrons and ions are induced on the wall to result in the memory function.
The plasma display panel can displays various illuminations by through sustain pulse control. With regards to the method of gray scale display for the AC plasma display panel, the sustain pulse period of a field (typically 1/60 sec.) is distributed into several sub-fields (SF), where each sub-field has several a different sustain pulseperiod. By using different combinations of the sub-fields, different gray scales are displayed. To give a clearer picture, referring to FIG. 1, the brightness weight of the sub-field of an AC plasma display panel is illustrated. In FIG. 1, a field is divided into 9 sub-fields SF0 to SF8. Each sub-field includes a constant address period 102 and a different sustain period 104 according to the number of the sustain pulses. The more the sustain pulses are, the longer the sustain period 104 lasts. Assuming that 8 bits are used to represent the gray scale of the plasma display panel, there are 256 gray scales, 0-255, to be represented. Assuming that the gray scale 1 is corresponding corresponds to 20 sustain pulses, the number of sustain pulses for the sub-field SF0 is thus 20. If the number of sustain pulses for the sub-fields SF1 to SF8 are 40, 80, 140,260, 520, 920, 1360 and 1800, respectively, the sub-fields SF1 to SF8 represents the gray scales 2, 4, 7, 1 3, 26, 46, 68 and 90, respectively. Other gray scales can be assembled by allocation of different sub-fields. For example, the gray scale 5 can be assembled by the sub-fields SF0 and SF2, and the gray scale 15 can be represented by the combination of the sub-fields SF1 and SF4. Generally speaking, a simple linear relationship between the allocated gray scale and the brightness is expected. If, As as shown in FIG. 1, if the weight ratio of the number of the sustain pulses for each sub-field is SF0:SF1:SF2:SF3:SF4:SF5:SF6:SF7:SF8=1:2:4:7:13:26:46:68:90, two problems occur:
(1) The brightness ratio for each sub-field will not be 1:2:4:7:13:26:46:90; and
(2) Even with the brightness ratio of 1:2:4:7:1 3:26:46:90, the brightness after combination is lower than the sum of each sub-field.
The above two problems seriously affect the linearity between gray scale and brightness, so as to affect the display quality.
To improve the gray scale linearity of the plasma display panel, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,032, Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu disclosed a method for changing number of sustain pulses. In this method, the number of sustain pulses for each sub-field is adjusted to improve the linearity for gray-scale versus brightness. For example, when the number of sustain pulses of gray scale 4 is 60, and the measured brightness of the gray scale 4 is lower than 60 cd/m2, the number of sustain pulses for the gray scale 4 is increased to 80, such that the brightness is increased to 60 cd/m2 to improve the linearity for gray scale versus brightness. However, by applying such method to the example as shown in FIG. 1, as 9 fields require only 9 kinds of sustain pulses, only 9 parameters are provided for adjustment, so that the gray scale linearity for all gray scales cannot be improved.
Another method to improve the gray scale linearity of the plasma display panel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,032 by Korean Manufacturer LG. Such method employs image distortion compensation unit to add a pseudo pulse in the sustain pulse region of the sub-field to increase the brightness of the sub-field, so as to improve the linearity of gray scale versus brightness. Similarly, by applying this method to the example in FIG. 1, only 9 sustain pulses are provided by 9 sub-fields. Therefore, only 9 parameters are provided for the added pseudo pulse for adjustment. One cannot improve the gray scale linearity for all gray scales.

Method and apparatus for improving gray-scale linearity of plasma display