A continuous reinforced composite material, including a first sheet with at least two polymer layers and a first fabric layer operatively coupled therebetween. The first sheet having at least one border where at least some of the fibers of the first fabric layer are continuous thereby having no free ends at the border. The composite material further includes a second sheet with at least two polymer layers with a second fabric layer operatively coupled therebetween. The second sheet having at least one border where at least some of the fibers of the second fabric layer are continuous thereby having no free ends at the border. The composite material further includes a seam wherein the borders of the first sheet and second sheet overlap and are operatively coupled to one another. A method of making a continuous reinforced composite material, including providing a first sheet having two polymer layers and a reinforcing fabric layer disposed between the polymer layers, the fabric layer having at least some continuous fibers without free ends on at least one border of the first sheet. The method further includes providing a second sheet having two polymer layers and a reinforcing fabric layer disposed between the polymer layers, the fabric layer having at least some continuous fibers without free ends on at least one border of the second sheet. The method further includes overlapping the respective borders having continuous fibers of the first and second sheet and seaming the first sheet and the second sheet at the overlapping borders.

This invention relates to forming a continuous reinforced composite material.
Reinforced composite materials (e.g., reinforced thermoplastics) are used in a wide variety of industrial, transportation, and engineering applications. For example, composite materials may be used for lining containers (e.g., cargo hulls and landfills) or for covering, protecting, and containing materials (e.g., during transportation in ships, trucks, and rail cars, and during storage either within or outside containers). Reinforced thermoplastics may be made with a reinforcing grid interposed between two or more polymer films to enhance the physical properties of the thermoplastic material. The reinforcing grid is typically a scrim of woven or nonwoven fabric around which the polymer films are bonded or laminated.
The reinforced laminates are typically manufactured as mill roll goods in a variety of widths and lengths depending on the machine or machines involved in the lamination process. Typical roll good widths may range from one to twenty feet, while roll good lengths may vary from one hundred to ten thousand feet. In many applications, the surface area to be lined or covered exceeds the size or is incompatible with the shape in which sections of the reinforced thermoplastic material may be economically manufactured. In such cases, the reinforced laminates are seamed together to achieve the desired shape and size. The reinforced laminates are first overlapped to the extent necessary for a particular seaming process (e.g., heat, hot air, wedge, or radio frequency). A seam is then formed by bonding the two reinforced laminates together to create a continuous reinforced composite material. However, when using existing reinforced composite materials and methods of seaming, the seam may not retain the performance characteristics (e.g., tear resistance) of the individual sections of the reinforced laminate, thereby leading to areas having increased susceptibility to operational failure.
For example, referring to FIG. 10, two sheets of reinforced thermoplastic material 20, 25 may be overlapped and coupled to form a seam 30. Each sheet of reinforced thermoplastic material 20, 25 may include two or more layers of a polymer film 31, 32 between which is coupled a scrim 35 of horizontal reinforcing fibers 39, 40 (i.e., oriented in the width or fill direction of the mill roll good) and longitudinal reinforcing fibers 45, 46 (i.e., oriented in the linear or machine direction of the mill roll good). During manufacture, the scrim 35 of the reinforced thermoplastic material 20, 25 extends across the width of the mill roll good such that the horizontal reinforcing fibers 39, 40 terminate in free ends 41a, 41b.
When a seam 30 is formed by overlapping the borders 42, 43 containing the horizontal reinforcing fibers 39, 40 having free ends 41a, 41b, the tensile strength of the seamed material may be reduced significantly (e.g., approximately 30%) as compared to the individual sheets. The strength of the seam 30 is dependent primarily on the type of seam created, the width of the seam, and the bonding properties of the polymer films and not the strength of the reinforcing fibers of the scrim. Therefore, referring to FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, a seam 50 formed between two sheets of such a reinforced thermoplastic material 55, 60 may demonstrate horizontal and/or longitudinal fiber pull from the seam and separation when exposed to longitudinal, horizontal, and diagonal tensile forces, (e.g., as depicted by arrows 61a, 61b, 62a, 62b, 63a, and 63b, respectively). The separation of the reinforcing fibers renders the seamed material susceptible to operational failure.

Forming a continuous reinforced composite material


An improved client network address translation (“NAT”) system is provided. A memory allocation scheme is provided for initializing connection control blocks with the client NAT addresses when a storage pool of connection control blocks are allocated. This avoids the costly overhead as connections are created and destroyed. Unlike the prior art solutions, once the connection control blocks of the present invention are allocated, they remain in effect until the storage subpool is deleted. Secondly, the allocation scheme enables a large pool of client NAT addresses and reclaim client NAT addresses as subpools are allocated and freed.

Private networks are commonly connected to the Internet through one or more routers so that hosts (PCs or other arbitrary network entities) on the private network can communicate with nodes on the Internet. Typically, the host will send packets to locations both within its private network and on the Internet. To receive packets from the Internet, a private network or a host on that network must have a globally unique 32-bit IP address. Each such IP address has a four octet format. Typically, humans communicate IP addresses in a dotted decimal format, with each octet written as a decimal integer separated from other octets by decimal points.
Global IP addresses are issued to enterprises by a central authority known as the Internet Assigned Number Authority ("IANA"). The IANA issues such addresses in one of three commonly used classes. Class A IP addresses employ their first octet as a "netid" and their remaining three octets as a "hostid." The netid identifies the enterprise network and the hostid identifies a particular host on that network. As three octets are available for specifying a host, an enterprise having class A addresses has 224 (nearly 17 million) addresses at its disposal for use with possible hosts. Thus, even the largest companies vastly under use available class A addresses. Not surprisingly, Class A addresses are issued to only very large entities such as IBM and ATT. Class B addresses employ their first two octets to identify a network ("netid") and their second two octets to identify a host ("hostid"). Thus, an enterprise having class B addresses can use those addresses on approximately 64,000 hosts. Finally, class C addresses employ their first three octets as a netid and their last octet as a hostid. Only 254 host addresses are available to enterprises having a single class C netid.
Unfortunately, there has been such a proliferation of hosts on the Internet, coupled with so many class A and B licenses issued to large entities (who have locked up much address space), that it is now nearly impossible to obtain a class B address. Many organizations now requiring Internet access have far more than 254 hosts—for which unique IP addresses are available with a single class C network address. It is more common for a mid to large size enterprise to have 1000 to 10,000 hosts. Such companies simply can not obtain enough IP addresses for each of their hosts.
To address this problem, Network Address Translation ("NAT") has been proposed. See K. Egevang and P. Francis, "The IP Network Address Translator (NAT)," Request For Comments "RFC" 1631, Cray Communications, NTT, May 1994 which is available at http://andrew2.andrew.cmuedu/rfc/rfc1631.html and is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. NAT is based on the concept of address reuse by private networks, and operates by mapping the reusable IP addresses of the leaf domain to the globally unique ones required for communication with hosts on the Internet. In implementation, a local host wishing to access the Internet receives a temporary IP address from a pool of such addresses available to the enterprise (e.g., class C 254 addresses). While the host is sending and receiving packets on the Internet, it has a global IP address which is unavailable to any other host. After the host disconnects from the Internet, the enterprise takes back its global IP address and makes it available to other hosts wishing to access outside networks.
To implement NAT, a translation system must be provided between the enterprise private network and the Internet. Unfortunately, as the translation system is positioned between the enterprise and the Internet, communication performance can be degraded if NAT is not performed efficiently. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art Internet/Enterprise computer network configuration 10, where a server load balancer is used to distribute requests to different servers in the intranet 18. In this case, client NAT is necessary to force all responses to be returned to the server load balancer. In this example, client 12 issues a request from the Enterprise organization. The client's request designates a source IP address "C"(S=C) and a virtual server IP address "V" (D=V). The client's request is transmitted to the Internet 14 and arrives at the Enterprise's server load balancer 16. The server load balancer 16 translates both the source and destination IP address to "N1" and "R1," respectively. "R1" is the IP address of one of the real servers 20, 22, or 24 chosen by the server load balancer. "N1" is a generated IP address that is advertised within the intranet 18 so that routing tables (of network devices within the intranet 18) are updated to cause all responses sent to "N1" to be routed to the server load balancer. This is necessary because the server load balancer must maintain connection state information and perform a reverse translation. The translation of the C to "N1" is called client NAT. The server load balancer 16 then routes the request to "R1" (say 20). Server 20 generates a response to the request causing it to be routed to the server load balancer 16. Before the response can be routed to the client, the server load balancer must reverse the translation. "N1" is translated to "C" and "R1" is translated to "V." The source address of the response message is set to "V" (S=V) and the destination address is set to "C" (D=C) . If client NAT were not employed, the response could be routed to router 26, resulting in network errors.
A major source of overhead of the NAT translation process is the allocation and management of client NAT addresses and their associated address pools each time a new address is required for each new connection that is initiated by the client device. Prior art solutions to this problem have either required substantial hardware resources or have otherwise created a bottleneck between the enterprise private network and the Internet. There is, therefore, a need in the art for providing a NAT that consumes fewer resources and yet provides faster performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method allocation scheme for maintaining server load balancers services in a high throughput environment


A method is provided for forming a single-phase c-axis PGO film overlying a Pt metal electrode. Although the method is summarized in the context of a Pt bottom electrode, it has a broader application to other noble metals. The method comprises: forming a bottom electrode mixture of Pt and Pt3O4; forming a single-phase c-axis PGO thin film overlying the bottom electrode; and, forming a top electrode overlying the PGO thin film. Forming a bottom electrode mixture of a Pt and Pt3O4 includes: forming a Pt first layer; and, forming a second layer, interposed between the first layer and the PGO thin film, of fully oxidized Pt3O4. In other aspects, forming a bottom electrode mixture of Pt and Pt3O4 includes forming a polycrystalline mixture of Pt and Pt3O4. A c-axis PGO film capacitor is also provided. Again, a Pt bottom electrode is described, along with other noble metal bottom electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication and, more particularly, to a ferroelectric capacitor that uses a bottom electrode mixture of a noble metal and noble metal oxide to promote c-axis nucleation and growth of a PGO ferroelectric film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pb5Ge3O11 (PGO) single-phase thin films exhibit ferroelectric properties when oriented along their c-axis. A c-axis oriented PGO film has desirable memory characteristics that make it suitable for use in one-transistor (1T) memory devices.
It has been found that PGO thins film grown on an Ir substrate exhibit stronger c-axis orientation than PGO grown on a Pt substrate, under equivalent deposition conditions. By comparing the XRD spectrum of Ir and Pt substrates (see FIGS. 1A and 1B), it can be seen that the Pt substrate shows a stronger preference for (111) peaks than Ir, at comparable film thicknesses. Since the crystal structure and lattice constant of Ir and Pt are about the same, 3.839 and 3.923 respectively, and the lattice constant of PGO is a=10.251 and c=10.685, the question arises as the whether the crystalline orientation may be a factor in promoting c-axis PGO nucleation and growth.
Although Ir bottom electrodes are known to enhance nucleation and the growth of c-axis PGO, Ir has one significant drawback. Ir is difficult to polish. Therefore, it can be a problem to use simple chemical-mechanical polish (CMP) processes, to form self-aligned gate structures in one-transistor integration, when using Ir as bottom electrode. Typically, an etching process must be used to define the Ir bottom electrode, which can induce etching damage at the gate and source/drain regions. Furthermore, a buffer polysilicon layer and a conductive barrier layer between the bottom electrode and polysilicon gate are usually needed in order to reduce the etching damage to the source drain region. These extra steps make the 1T integration process more complicated. However, Pt is easily polished.
It would be advantageous if Pt bottom electrodes could be used in 1T fabrication processes instead of Ir, to simplify the polishing processes.
It would be advantageous if Pt bottom electrodes could be formed that promote c-axis orientation in an overlying PGO ferroelectric thin film.

Mixed noble metal/noble metal oxide bottom electrode for enhanced PGO c-axis nucleation and growth


A piston pump for conveying cryogenic fluids, especially liquid hydrogen, permits reliable transport of relatively large amounts of the fluid at high conveying pressures even with horizontal operation of the pump. The actual pump is inserted in an inner casing pipe (3, 25) of a vacuum housing. The pump is connected by a thread at one end of the housing and sealed against the atmosphere by an O-ring. The cylinder of the piston pump is sealed with respect to the inner casing pipe on the high-pressure side as well as on the low-pressure side by means of synthetic resin gaskets.

The invention relates to a piston pump for conveying a fluid in the very low temperature range, with a pump casing comprising an inner casing pipe and fashioned as a vacuum housing, a cylinder being arranged in the inner casing pipe, a piston being displaceable in the longitudinal direction in this cylinder, one end of the cylinder being associated with a high-pressure side and the other end of the cylinder being associated with a low-pressure side of the piston pump, and a piston rod guide means adjoining the cylinder on the low-pressure side wherein a piston rod, connected at one end with the piston and at the other end with a drive mechanism located outside the pump casing, is displaceable in the longitudinal direction.
Conventional low-temperature pumps are used for pumping liquid nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon. Since, in these areas of application, the lowest usage temperature is at about -200.degree. C., and the heat of evaporation is relatively great, the conventional pumps need not meet any stringent requirements with respect to insulation and sealing. Additionally, these liquefied gases are produced in a relatively economical way.
However, the low-temperature pumps of the state of the art are not suited for pumping liquid hydrogen, on account of the high refrigeration losses occurring therein. Hydrogen exhibits merely 1/6 of the heat of evaporation of nitrogen; the temperature of liquid hydrogen is at -2530.degree. C., and its viscosity is very low. Besides, production of liquid hydrogen is costly. For these reasons, special requirements must be met by lowest-temperature pumps which are to be suitable for conveying fluids in the lowest-temperature range of below -250.degree. C., especially for pumping liquid hydrogen.
Although there are sporadic suggestions of pumps said to be suitable for conveying liquid hydrogen (see German Patent 3,621,727 and European Patent 0,069,324), these are so-called immersion pumps, installed from above in a vessel filled with liquid hydrogen. This arrangement may be suited for laboratory pumps of low pressures, as well as for relatively small conveying quantities. However, since only small-sized, lightweight drive mechanisms can be flanged to these pumps, the latter are not suitable for producing high-pressure hydrogen in larger conveying quantities, on account of the high driving forces and thus gearing masses required therefor. Besides, when engaged in high-pressure compression of hydrogen, the pumps must meet very much higher demands than when conveying small amounts at low pressures. This is due to the difficult physical properties, such as heat of evaporation, temperature, and viscosity of the liquid hydrogen.


Disclosed is a lubricating oil composition containing an oil of lubricating viscosity and a particularly effective mixture of a nitro-substituted diphenylamine and a diarylamine which together provide superior oxidation inhibition.

Diarylamine antioxidants are known and have been widely used to improve the thermal-oxidative stability and/or light induced degradation in numerous products used in engineering; for example, they can improve the performance properties in lubricants, hydraulic fluids, metal working fluids, fuels or polymers, just to name a few.
Commonly, these diarylamines have been alkylated, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,112 which discloses an improved process for alkylating diphenylamine and U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,559 which discloses alkylated diphenylamines as stabilizers. Alkaryl substituted diphenylamines and phenylnapthylamines (such as α-methylstyryl-diphenylamine) are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,533,992; 3,452,056 and 3,660,290. Electron withdrawing groups attached to one or more of the phenyl rings has been found to diminish or completely destroy the inhibition ability of the base diphenylamine. Berger et al. Inhibition of Hydrocarbon Autoxidation, Developments in Polymer Stabilization-6, Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, 1983, pp 1-27, demonstrated that in a paraffinic oil (Shell Ondina 33, a mixture of high-boiling cycloalkanes and isoalkanes) at 130° C. the addition of nitro groups to a diphenylamine (inhibition coefficient of forty-one) completely destroyed the catalytic activity with a resulting inhibition coefficient to zero for 4-nitro-diphenylamine and bis-(4-nitro)-phenyl-amine. The authors explained that the unpaired electron density in the diarylnitroxyls was strongly de-localized as shown by electron spin resonance spectroscopic studies, and that as a result radical reaction would occur at the nitroxyl function but also undesirably at the aromatic rings. The authors concluded that under conditions of auto-oxidation the intermediate nitroxyl would he attacked by peroxyl radicals on the aromatic ring, eventually resulting in destruction of the inhibitor.
Additionally, alkyl substituted 1,2-dihydroquinoline and polymers thereof, have been employed as antioxidants, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,910,918. While, U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,491 discloses the reaction product of an alkyl substituted 1,2-dihydroquinoline with a diarylamine. Tetrahydroquinones and substituted tetrahydroquinones have also have also been disclosed as antioxidants, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,794,020; 3,362,929; 4,692,258 and 4,965,006; while U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,741 discloses certain N-substituted tetrahydroquinolines. Likewise decahydroquinolines and substituted decahydroquinolines have been employed as antioxidants, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,998,468 and 4,069,195.
Synergist and antagonist combinations of antioxidants have been disclosed. Effective synergistic mixtures of antioxidants are typically compounds that intercept oxidation by two different mechanisms. For example, those in which one compounds functions as decomposer of peroxides and the other compound functions as an inhibitor of free radicals. Well known heterosynergism has been disclosed between sulfur and phosphorous containing compounds (such as sulfides, dithiocarbamates, phosphites and dithiophosphates) and aminic or phenolic antioxidants. U.S. Pat. No. 2,718,501 discloses a synergistic mixture of a sulfur-containing compound, such as a wax sulfide or dioctadecyl disulfide, and an aromatic amine compound having at least 2 aromatic rings, such as phenyl alpha-naphthyl amine, for use in preventing oxidation in lubricating oils. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,663 discloses an extreme pressure lubricant composition containing from 0.01 to 5 percent each of sulforized oleic acid, C18-C22 alkenyl succinic acid, chlorinated paraffin wax containing from 20 to 60 percent chlorine, diphenylamine and N,N-salicylal-1,2-propylenediamine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,292 discloses stabilized alkyl substituted diaryl sulfides for use as functional fluids where the stabilizer can be diaryl amine or alkylated phenol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,792 discloses lubricants having an antioxidant mixture of a primary amine and an antioxidant selected from aromatic or alkyl sulfides and polysulfides, sulforized olefins, sulforized carboxylic acid esters and sulfurized ester-olefins.

Synergistic lubricating oil composition containing a mixture of a nitro-substituted diarylamine and a diarylamine


Provided is a multiphase clock generation circuit (1) including: a phase-locked loop circuit (10) for generating multiphase clock signals based on a reference clock signal; a frequency profile holding circuit (20) for holding a frequency profile of each of the multiphase clock signals, starting output of the frequency profile in response to a start signal, and for updating the frequency profile with a predetermined cycle based on the reference clock signal; and a clock selection circuit (30) for selecting a clock signal with an arbitrary phase from among the multiphase clock signals based on the frequency profile, and for feeding back the selected clock signal to the phase-locked loop circuit (10).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiphase clock generation circuit, and more particularly, to a multiphase clock generation circuit capable of changing a frequency of a multiphase clock signal to be generated.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a clock generation circuit is used in various semiconductor devices so as to generate clock signals. Examples of the clock generation circuit include a multiphase clock generation circuit capable of generating a plurality of clock signals with different phases (hereinafter, referred to as "multiphase clock signals"). The multiphase clock generation circuit is used as, for example, a clock generation circuit for a pulse width modulation circuit. The pulse width modulation circuit is a circuit for controlling a pulse width of a pulse width modulation (PWM) pulse which is generated in response to the multiphase clock signals.
The pulse width modulation circuit is used for, for example, a laser beam printer (LBP). The laser beam printer is widely used because of its high-resolution, silent, and high-speed features. In such apparatus, tone (i.e., density) is controlled based on an H width of a pulse for each dot to be printed.
Here, FIG. 12 shows a simple block diagram of the laser beam printer, and description is given of the laser beam printer. The laser beam printer controls a laser beam output from a laser beam 103 by using PWM pulse signals output from a pulse width modulation circuit 104. Then, the laser beam printer applies the laser beam onto a printing material (for example, paper) 101 through a lens 102 to thereby perform printing. Note that the printing is performed for each line by scanning the printing material with the laser beam in one direction.
FIG. 13 shows an example of printing results. As shown in FIG. 13, the printing is performed for each dot d and the tone of each dot is adjusted based on a width of a printing area p provided in each dot. In the laser beam printer, the position and width of the printing area p are controlled with the H width of the PWM pulse signal. Accordingly, in order to obtain an image with high definition, it is necessary for the pulse width modulation circuit 104 to control the pulse width with high precision. In order to achieve such performance, the pulse width modulation circuit 104 controls, with high precision, the pulse width of the PWM pulse signal to be output using the multiphase clock signals.
JP 2006-20109 A and US 2006/0001467, which are assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, each disclose an example of the pulse width modulation circuit 104. FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of the pulse width modulation circuit 104. The pulse width modulation circuit 104 generates multiphase clock signals with 256 phases based on a reference clock signal. Then, a synchronous position detection circuit 120 detects which multiphase clock signal is synchronized with a horizontal synchronous signal to be used as a reference for starting a scan, and outputs a synchronous position detection signal. A digital pulse data signal processing circuit 130 converts input digital pulse data into rise information or fall information of the PWM pulse based on synchronous position detection results so as to synchronize the horizontal synchronous signal with the PWM pulse. A multiphase clock selection circuit 140 selects a specified clock signal from among the signals contained in the multiphase clock signals based on the rise information and the fall information. A pulse width modulation signal generation circuit 150 generates a pulse width modulation signal (PWM pulse) based on the selected clock signal.
Specifically, the pulse width modulation circuit 104 enables control of the pulse width of the PWM pulse signal with high precision by using the multiphase clock signals. However, in the laser beam printer incorporating a plurality of drums, the frequency of the multiphase clock signal has to be finely adjusted in some cases so as to correct variation in characteristics of the drums. In this case, it is inefficient to change the frequency of the reference clock signal for each pulse width modulation circuit, so the frequency of the multiphase clock signal to be output from the multiphase clock generating circuit 110 is changed. In view of the above, JP 2005-20083 A and US 2004/257124 each disclose a technology of changing the frequency of the clock signal to be generated, by using the multiphase clock signals.
FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of a clock generating circuit 202 disclosed in US 2004/257124, and description is given of the clock generating circuit 202. The clock generating circuit 202 inputs an output clock signal CLKO to a delay-locked loop (DLL) 208 and generates multiphase clock signals with 10 phases. Further, in response to a control signal output from a control circuit 203, any one of the multiphase clock signals is selected by a selector 209. Then, the selected clock signal (selected clock signal CLKS) is fed back.
With the above-mentioned configuration, the clock generating circuit 202 controls the frequency of the output clock signal CLKO to be set high in a case where the fed-back selected clock signal CLKS has a phase which is delayed from that of the output clock signal CLKO (or a reference clock signal CLKR). Specifically, the clock generating circuit 202 selects a clock signal to be fed back from among the multiphase clock signals, to thereby control the frequency of the output clock signal CLKO.
However, in the laser beam printer, not only the variation in characteristics of the drums but also variation in characteristics of a lens 102 is caused. The variation in characteristics of the lens 102 is caused during a process of producing the lens, and variation in strain characteristic is caused depending on positions in the lens. When the variation in the characteristic of the lens 102 is caused, there arises a problem in that, for example, a width and a position of a printing area p do not correspond to the pulse width of the PWM pulse, depending on a dot position.
In the prior art, the multiphase clock signals are generated using the delay-locked loop 208. Then, by using the generated multiphase clock signals, the frequency of the multiphase clock signal output from the multiphase clock generating circuit 110 can be changed.
However, as the results of study, the inventor(s) of the present invention has(have) found it difficult to control the frequency with enough precision to correct the variation in characteristic of the lens 102, at phase intervals between the multiphase clock signals generated using the delay-locked loop 208. Further, if the frequency of the multiphase clock signal is changed in response to the control signal sent from an external portion as in the control circuit 203, it is difficult to give a desired change characteristic (hereinafter, referred to as "frequency profile") to the frequency of the multiphase clock signal according to the characteristics of the lens 102.


A tunneling device is provided to assist in passing a suture or tape into a body. The tunneling device includes an outer assembly and an inner member or stylet, having a light transmissive distal tip, positioned within the outer assembly. The outer assembly is provided with a light port or guide to transmit light towards the distal tip of the stylet. The disclosed illuminated tunneling device is particularly adapted for use in an Intravaginal Slingplasty procedure. The illuminated tunneling device can be provided with an external source of light or may include an integral self-contained source of light. Additionally, a light guide, or light tube, may be formed integral with the outer tubular member or may be provided as a separate element.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for illuminating an Intravaginal Slingplasty (IVS) tunneling device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for illuminating the tip of an IVS tunneling device to allow illumination of an incision within the vaginal canal and, more particularly, to provide an illuminated tip of an IVS tunneling device, the location of which can be viewed unassisted through the abdominal wall with the naked eye.
2. Background of Related Art
Recurrent female urinary incontinence, or the inability to control urination, is a major and debilitating problem affecting millions of women in the United States alone. A particular type of urinary incontinence that frequently occurs in women is "stress urinary incontinence," which occurs during coughing, straining, or heavy lifting. A typical procedure to alleviate this problem is the insertion of a tape or a suture beneath the urethra to provide support and pressure on the urethra to avert unintentional discharge.
Various devices have been designed to facilitate the insertion of the tape to provide support for the urethra. One particularly useful device employs a hollow tube or tunneling device and stylet to safely insert the tape without abrasion to surrounding tissues. An exemplary a device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,344 to Petros et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
A particular type of Intravaginal Slingplasty (IVS) procedure involves forming an incision in the midline of the vaginal wall and using the tunneling device to advance a first end of the suture or tape, adjacent one side of the urethra, to a position immediately beneath the abdominal wall. The tip of the tunneling device is located by palpating the tip through the abdominal wall and then making an incision at that point. The tape is then pulled through the incision and secured either external to the abdominal wall or subcutaneously. A similar procedure is performed to pass a second end of the tape around an opposing side of the urethra to a position adjacent a second location at the abdominal wall and similarly secured thereby forming a sling about the urethra.
Occasionally, problems arise in identifying and locating the vaginal incision with the tip of the surgical instrument. Furthermore, in those patients having significant fatty deposits adjacent the abdominal wall, the usual method of locating the tip of the surgical instrument beneath the abdominal wall through palpation may not be possible.


A method of forming a bond structure for use with integrated circuits and semiconductor electronics and carrier assemblies is disclosed. Metallurgical paste is screen printed through a stencil and the stencil is left in place during the reflow process. The melting point of the bond structure and the metallurgical paste is lower than the melting point of interconnects on the electronic components and less than the decomposition temperature of the carrier assemblies to which the electronic components are bonded.

Carrier assemblies of organic laminate composite materials are increasingly used as high density and high performance electronic multi-chip modules and single chip modules. Common methods to attach the chips to the carrier board include controlled collapse chip connect, flip chip attach, and wire bonding methods.
Controlled collapse chip connect (C4) uses interconnection pads positioned in a peripheral or area array on the face of a semiconductor chip. These interconnection pads typically are mounds or hemispherical bumps coated with high melting point lead solder. The semiconductor chip is then positioned on a carrier having a corresponding array. The solder bumps of the semiconductor chip in contact with these pads are reflowed; melting of the solder bumps induces bond formation via metallurgical reaction and wetting of the solder to the carrier pad surfaces to form solder joints. Upon cooling the solder joints solidify and electrical and mechanical interconnections are is produced.
Flip chip attach uses peripheral or area array of interconnection pads similar to those used for controlled collapse chip connect but solder bumps may or may not be present on the semiconductor chip. The chip is inverted or "flipped" so that the semiconductor device pads align with corresponding pads on the carrier to which the chip is attached. Bonding and electrical contact is established using several methods, such as the use of conductive adhesives or solder, or welding, or other methods which form either metallurgical or adhesive bonds between the semiconductor pads to the carrier pads. For flip chip attach, solder bumps, if present on the chip, are generally not reflowed.
Wire bonding is also used to establish an electrical connection between the semiconductor chip and the carrier. Wires are ultrasonically bonded from the semiconductor chip pads to pads on the carrier. The semiconductor device could be mounted with adhesive or with solder onto the carrier.
In general, use and selection of a given chip attach method is in pall determined by carrier materials temperature compatibility. For example, C4 of chips with high lead (Pb) bumps is not viable as an attachment method on some flexible circuits or fiberglass reinforced circuit boards. Temperatures required for the C4 attach exceed the decomposition temperatures of many adhesives required for lamination of flexible circuit layers. Similarly, the C4 process temperatures also exceed decomposition temperatures of most epoxies used as the matrix material in fiberglass reinforced rigid printed circuit boards. For chip on board compatibility on these flexible printed circuit or printed circuit board materials wirebonding processes are generally used. In order to provide compatibility with these flexible printed circuit or printed circuit board materials, however, a low melting point alloy must be present on either carrier pad surfaces or on the semiconductor chip solder bumps.
The methods devised to apply a small uniform volume of the low melting point solder onto the carrier or onto the interconnects of the semiconductor device typically are complex and require specialized tools. U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,806 entitled "Method of Forming Dual Height Solder Interconnection" to Agarwala et al., is a method of providing a semiconductor chip with a bump structure of low melting point solder on top of a high melting point solder bump. The dry processing technique of '806 with vapor deposition and sputtering alters the geometry of the solder bump to increase the integrity of the connection. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,143 to Ference et al. entitled, "Apparatus and Method for Injection Molding Solder and Applications Thereof" provides a process known as molten solder inject in which molten solder is dispensed under pressure through a heated nozzle attached to a pattern of apertures which is aligned to either semiconductor chip or carrier surfaces. Subsequent cleaning, bump flattening, recleaning, and independent fluxing operations are then necessary to finalize the flip chip attachment assembly.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,730 and 5,410,805 to Pasch et al. disclose the attachment of semiconductor chips possessing high melt solder bumps to cards with low melt solder deposits with specific consideration given to flux containment using a preform sandwich. Methods of providing the solder-on-solder structure are not disclosed.
Another technique-to attach a semiconductor device having an array of raised high melting point solder bumps to an organic carrier involves first electroplating the organic carrier with a low melting point solder, such as tin/lead (Sn/Pb). The use of card platings, however, is expensive and has solderability restrictions such as short shelf life. The electroplating technique, moreover, is not conducive to easily reworking and/or replacing any semiconductor device on the carrier. The depth of the electroplating is relatively thin and the electroplated material forms an alloy with higher melting point characteristics when attachment reflow occurs. Depending upon the plating material used and the extent of alloy formation, removal and replacement of a semiconductor device may damage the carrier, and the interconnection pad sites may have to be redressed.
In view of the shortcomings of the methods presently used, a need exists for a simpler method to provide metallurgically active bond structures on the electrical interconnects of an electronic component, such as a semiconductor device and its carrier, and for a method that is thermally compatible with the carrier materials, especially in the field of high density single chip module/multi chip module manufacturing.
One object of the invention is to provide a cost effective method to coat area array interconnects on semiconductor devices with low melting point solder using commonly available tools in the semiconductor chip assembly industry. The object is realized by transferring the solder or other metallurgical paste with in situ stencil placement, printing, and reflow of solder paste onto area array interconnects.
It is yet another object of the invention to attach semiconductor devices to carriers comprised of materials that are incompatible with standard C4 reflow processes and associated reflow temperatures. By applying low melting point solder or other metallurgical paste onto the area array interconnects on the carrier, thermal compatibility is achieved which yields the additional advantage of greater flexibility with surface treatment of the interconnects.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a bond structure that facilitates removal of semiconductor devices and recycling of the remaining semiconductor/carrier assemblies. The object is achieved by the presence of a layer of low melting point solder on the semiconductor device interconnects because reheating and remelting this layer permits easy removal of defective or obsolete semiconductor devices from carrier surfaces at temperatures that don't damage the carrier.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide bond structures that facilitate simple replacement of semiconductor devices and carrier rework compatible with materials comprising the carrier to which replacement devices are to be attached. Once a semiconductor device is removed as described above, reattachment of replacement semiconductor devices is easy if the replacement devices have the bond structure of the invention. Again, the layer of low melting point solder on the semiconductor device interconnects permits the use of reattachment processes that are compatible with the carrier materials.
It is still another object of one embodiment of the invention to provide the bond structure on the semiconductor device rather than the carrier. An additional advantage is that the placement of the semiconductor device onto the carrier is more stable and, prior to reflow attachment, misalignment is avoided. Also, as opposed to processes where low melting point solder is directly applied to the carrier, the process step of flattening the carrier solder is eliminated.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a process which can be used with both semiconductor devices or chips and wafers. The process herein permits device customization and high volume wafer fabrication of devices because the process to make the bond structure is compatible with low temperature flip chip attachment and rework requirements.
It is yet another object of the invention to use screen printing to coat low melting point solder or metallurgical paste onto electrical and/or mechanical interconnects having different geometries. The conductive materials forming part of the interconnects have a melting point higher than the solder or metallurgical paste. When a layer of low melting point solder is melted onto raised interconnects, a standoff between the semiconductor device and the carrier is created. This standoff decreases susceptibility of the interconnect to thermal fatigue which, of course, extends the life of solder joint.
It is yet another object to use a stencil or screen printing process in which the stencil and substrate materials are compatible with the electronic devices, the metallurgical paste, and the carriers during the elevated temperature exposure required for low melting point metallurgical paste reflow.

Application of low temperature metallurgical paste to form a bond structure to attach an electronic component to a carrier

International Business Machines Corporation


A golf putter, with an extended length shaft having an upper end adapted to be held against the front of the golfer's body in an anchor position during the putting stroke.. A club head is affixed to the lower end of the shaft, and has a planar ball-striking face formed thereon. A shaft grip is positioned intermediate the upper and lower ends. The shaft grip extends backwardly from the shaft means away from and transverse to the ball-striking face of the club head. The shaft grip is positioned along the length of the shaft to enable gripping thereof by the golfer's other hand. The shaft grip may be one elongated member, or a pair of vertically spaced elongated members. When the spaced elongated members are used, the shaft may be separated at the inner ends of the elongated members while the outer ends are connected together to form a U-shaped shaft grip whereby the shaft grip becomes a part of a continuous shaft having a U-shaped bend intermediate the club head and the upper end of the shaft.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to golf putters in general and, in particular, to golf putters which can be used to stroke a putt with a minimum of body movement to improve accuracy.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
A major part of the game of golf is putting, which requires a great deal of precision. There are a wide number of different types of putting strokes, each of which are slightly different from each other. These strokes all have one common ingredient and that is that the stroke is to be precisely repeated each time. Difficulty arises in achieving that precise repetition
For example, in the most common putting stroke with available commercial, standard length putters, the golfer addresses the ball in a stance that is parallel to the target line, bends over the target line, and strikes the ball by moving the putter back and forward with his arms. While most think that only the arms are moving, in fact there are minute weight and body balance changes that all take place during the putting stroke. These minute body motion changes affect the wrists, elbows, upper arms, hips, knees and ankles, all at the same time. These minute changes begin the instant we initiate the stroke, creating initial moderate upper body motion and changing the weight and body balance.
Preferably, the conventional putting stroke is one fluid motion. The ankles and feet evert and invert with the back swing and reverse follow on the forward swing, with a right foot plantar flex. The knees flex and the quadriceps and hamstrings contract isometrically as the golfer addresses the ball. The back is straight in the coronal and sagittal planes, but rotates around the vertical axis as the shoulders rotate with respect to the plane of the feet. This truncal rotation occurs because the hips do not rotate as much as the shoulders.
All of the above-noted changes are relatively minute, except for the arm swing. The usual result is a "hip arc" putter path motion as the ball is stroked, causing the putter face to be "open" at the end of the back swing and "closed" at the end of the forward swing. While the "open" and "closed" positions are only slight deviations, they are nonetheless deviations from the required putter face orientation at the point of impact, i.e. perpendicular to the desired path for the ball to travel. So, considering all of the variables noted above, even though each has only a minute impact, it is not hard to understand why it is so difficult to obtain and maintain a correct, repetitive putting stroke--even for professional golfers.
Obviously, since the ability to have a good, repetitive putting stroke is so important, a number of products have been developed to improve putting strokes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,228 discloses a putter configuration which is used in a modified croquet style stance using the golfer's arm as a part of a pendulum arm. However, because of the relatively short shaft, constant modification of the golfer's stance is required in order to use the putter for various length putts, causing inconsistent results.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,207 also teaches the use of a modified croquet style putting using an extended length or long shaft putter. While the position and stance variation problems are alleviated by this configuration, the golfer's body has a tendency to twist as the putter is swung, introducing the "hip arc" effect described above.
Another interesting development is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,668. While this putter was developed for use by golfers who are handicapped by having only one arm for use during the putting stroke, it does help reduce some unwanted body motion. This putter has an extended length shaft, with the top end of the shaft having affixed thereto a semi-circular C-shaped band which is adapted to support the shaft about and against the upper portion of the golfer's forearm. The shaft is bent intermediate the club head and top end into a generally horizontally disposed V-shape, with the top leg of the V defining a handle or gripping area. However, the C-shaped band engaging the forearm is also moving during the swing, so that there is no fixed reference point.
Therefore, none of the above-noted or other prior art putters meet the goal of reducing or eliminating as many of the physical geometric body control variables as possible.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved golf putter.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved golf putter which eliminates unnecessary body movement and reduces other body control variables during the putting stroke.
Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become apparent when the following description is take in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A rotor blade for a wind turbine is disclosed. The rotor blade includes a flange section configured to connect the rotor blade to a rotor hub; and an airfoil section extending outward from the flange section. The flange section is comprised of a carbon reinforced polymer.

The present disclosure generally relates to wind turbines, and, more particularly, to a flange section for connecting a rotor blade to a hub of a wind turbine.
Wind turbines have received increased attention as an environmentally safe and relatively inexpensive alternative energy source. With this growing interest, considerable efforts have been made to develop wind turbines that are reliable and efficient.
Generally, a wind turbine includes a rotor comprised of a hub and a plurality of blades mounted on the hub. The rotor is usually coupled to a generator through a gearbox. The generator is mounted within a housing or nacelle, which is positioned on top of a tubular tower. Utility grade wind turbines (i.e., wind turbines designed to provide electrical power to a utility grid) can have large rotors (e.g., thirty or more meters in diameter). Blades of such a rotor transform wind energy into a rotational torque or force that drives the generator. The rotor is supported by the tower through a bearing that includes a fixed portion coupled to a rotatable portion.
Apart from the aerodynamic design of a wind turbine rotor blade, the quality and weight of the rotor blade are essentially determined by the design of the blade root section. This blade root section connects to the rotor hub at what is referred to as the blade root joint. The blade root joint is a critical aspect of wind turbine rotor blades, as it transfers all of the aerodynamic force from the rotor blade to the remaining part of the wind turbine unit.
One difficult aspect of the design of the blade connection to the rotor hub is the load transfer from the fiber composite structure of the rotor blade to the metal structure of the rotor hub. Such a load transfer is difficult in principle due to the substantially different properties of the materials involved. Furthermore, the rotor loads are concentrated at the blade root portion, and the rotor hub and the loads exhibit a highly dynamic load spectrum.
The root section of the rotor blade is generally thicker, when compared to other blade sections, to accommodate high loads. In conventional wind turbines, the root section of the rotor blades is made of glass fiber reinforced polymers ("GFRP") with T-bolt joints. The length of the root section of the rotor blade made of glass fiber reinforced polymers will typically be in the range of approximately 1.2 to 1.4 meters. The glass fiber reinforced polymer is generally oriented at 0 and +/−45 degrees relative to a longitudinal axis of the rotor blade in order to carry bending and shear loads. The blade root joint is typically evaluated by the fatigue life of the joint bolts.
It is expected that the electricity from clean wind resources will require more and bigger wind turbines. As the size of the rotor blade is increased, the design of the root section becomes more and more important with respect to the strength and weight of the materials used.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a root section for a rotor blade that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.


A display driver, which comprises: a first predetermined voltage level providing apparatus, for providing a first predetermined voltage level group comprising at least one first predetermined voltage level; a first image data providing apparatus, for outputting a first image data; and a detection controlling circuit, for determining if an output terminal of the first image data providing apparatus is pre-charged to the first predetermined voltage level according to a relation between an absolute value of a voltage level of the first image data and an absolute value of the first predetermined voltage level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display driver and a display driving method, and particularly relates to a display driver and a display driving method which can avoid thermal energy generation via pre-charging.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A driving chip for a LCD (liquid crystal display) always comprises two main parts: a source driver and a gate driver. The gate driver controls turning on/off operations for the TFT (thin film transistor) in the LCD. Also, the source driver transmits image data (the gray level necessary for displaying an image) to the LCD after the TFT is conductive.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a source driver for prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the source driver 100 comprises an amplifier OP1 and a switch device SW1. The equivalent resistor R1 and the equivalent capacitor C1 indicate the equivalent resistance and the equivalent capacitance for the LCD. The amplifier OP1 outputs the image data signal IS1 to the LCD. However, for such structure, if an output terminal of the amplifier OP1 is pulled up or pulled down to a voltage that the image data needs (ex. VT1 or VT2 in FIG. 2), all current generated by the pulling up or pulling down operation must flow through the resistor for the amplifier OP1 itself and the switch device SW1 at the output terminal of the amplifier OP1. Therefore, larger thermal energy is generated.

Display driver and display diving method


Within a secure messaging environment, a determination is made that a request to send a message has been generated by a user. A message protection policy configured to process the message within the secure messaging environment is identified. The message protection policy specifies that, within the secure messaging environment, a secured digital certificate, other than a user-assigned digital certificate of the user, is configured with an associated private key to digitally sign the message on behalf of the user. Based upon the message protection policy, a determination is made to digitally sign the message using the private key of the secured digital certificate. The message is signed on behalf of the user using the private key of the secured digital certificate.

The present invention relates to certificate use within messaging environments. More particularly, the present invention relates to generalized certificate use in policy-based secure messaging environments.
Digital certificates, such as those, for example, based upon the X.509 standard used in a public key infrastructure (PKI), may be used to both sign and encrypt data using, for example, a public-key cryptographic standard (PKCS), such as PKCS#7. Data that has been digitally signed in this case uses the private key of the originator (or sender) of the data and the data is verified by the recipient using the public key of the sender's certificate. Data that is encrypted utilizes the public key of the intended recipient to encrypt the data for that particular recipient, and the recipient uses the private key of the recipient to decrypt the data.

Generalized certificate use in policy-based secure messaging environments

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An differential LNA has first and second input MOS transistors, with differential inputs applied to their respective control gates and differential outputs taken at their respective drains. The gate-to-drain, Cgd, feedback capacitances of the first and second input MOS transistors are neutralized by respective gate-to-source, Cgs, capacitances in the two neutralizing MOS transistors. A first neutralizing MOS transistor has its control gate coupled to the control gate of the first input MOS transistor, its source node coupled to the drain node of the second input MOS transistor, and its drain node coupled to a fixed potential. A second neutralizing MOS transistor has its control gate coupled to the control gate of the second input MOS transistor, its source node coupled to the drain node of the first input MOS transistor, and its drain node coupled to the same fixed potential. In this manner, similar and opposite potential differences between the gate-and-drain and the drain-and-source regions of the first input MOS transistor are reproduced in gate-and-drain and drain-and-source regions of the first neutralizing MOS transistor. A similar affect is produced in the second input and second neutralizing MOS transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of differential low noise amplifiers, LNA. Specifically, the present invention relates to improving input-output isolation in an LNA.
2. Description of the Related Art
The first stage of a high frequency receiver is typically a low-noise amplifier, LNA. The LNA is particularly a key component in wireless communication applications. In such systems, LNAs are used to receive and amplify a signal from an antenna without adding significant noise to the receiver. In addition to amplifying a received signal, typically the LNA is also required to provide a specific input impedance at a prescribed operating frequency. This impedance requirement is particularly important since the impedance quality can greatly affect the performance of passive filters that may precede the LNA. Overall the LNA is one of the most important circuit blocks in a receiver chain for determining the noise performance of the overall receiver chain.
The input impedance requirement places practical limitations on the physical configuration of an LNA-type amplifier. That is, basic (lower frequency) amplifier configurations and techniques may not be suitable for LNA applications. For example, the basic common-source amplifier configuration 9 (shown in FIG. 1) is not suitable for a LNA applications. Common-source amplifier 9 includes an MOS transistor 11 having its source terminal directly coupled to hard ground, GND, its drain coupled to Vcc via a load resistor RL, and its control gate coupled to a signal source 12. Signal source 12 has an inherent output (i.e. source) impedance RS, and outputs an input signal, Vin, to amplifier 9 via source impedance RS. In order to reduce signal reflection and maximize power transfer, amplifier 9 is typically required to provide an input impedance, Rin, that matches source impedance RS. A typical value for RS is 50Ω, and a correspondingly matching input impedance Rin of 50 Ω is likewise typically required at the input of amplifier 9. It is to be understood that this value of 50Ω is purely for illustrative purposes, and any other value for source impedance RS may be defined without deviating from the present discussion.
Nonetheless, a common method of meeting this input impedance requirement is to simply place a matching 50 Ω input resister, i.e. Rin, across the input terminal of common source amplifier 9. This approach is indeed suitable for many lower frequency applications, but it is ill-suited for high frequency applications (i.e. at which LNA-type amplifier are typically used). Input resister Rin adds thermal noise and attenuates a received signal. These two effects generally result in unacceptable noise figures, which make the use of a physical input resistor unsuitable for high-frequency, low-power applications, and thus unsuitable for LNA-type amplifiers.
The active component of an LNA-type amplifier is typically an MOS transistor, whose control gate structure in essence constitutes a parallel plate capacitor. Consequently, the control gate of the MOS transistor exhibits an inherently capacitive input impedance. Therefore, attempting to use the control gate as the input to an MOS transistor to provide an ohmic (not capacitive) input impedance (such as a matching 50Ω input resistance) without adding a physical resistor (to avoid the noise characteristics of physical resistors) may appear to be a futile endeavor. However, MOS transistors have what is termed a nominally capacitive input impedance, and not a purely capacitive input impedance. A physical MOS transistor does exhibit a real input impedance component in addition its capacitive input impedance component. This real impedance component is at least partly due to a finite carrier velocity in the channel (i.e. bottom plate) of an MOS transistor, which results in a bottom plate potential that lags an applied potential at the control gate and thus exhibits a resistive component in its input impedance. Since this lag effect is dependent upon the frequency of an applied input signal, the value of the input ohmic resistance is likewise dependent upon frequency. Nonetheless this phenomena permits an LNA-type amplifier to provide a resistive input impedance without a physical input resistor, within a prescribed operating frequency range.
By increasing this lag effect, an ohmic input impedance without the added noise of a real resistor can be created at the control gate of an MOS transistor. There are several methods for increasing this lag effect in the channel of the transistor, such as simply elongating the channel of the transistor. However, this approach affects the overall performance of the transistor. Generally in an LNA amplifier, inductive source degeneration is used to enhance the lag of current flow in the channel due to an applied input signal. An advantage of this approach is that the real (i.e. ohmic) component of the input impedance can be controlled by selection of an appropriate inductance at the source terminal of the MOS transistor.
This approach is illustrated in FIG. 2, where inductor Ls is added at the source electrode of MOS transistor 11 to provide inductive source degeneration. In this case, the input impedance Zin effectively behaves as a series RLC network with a resistive component proportional to the inductance value of Ls. It should be noted that the input impedance Zin would be purely resistive only at resonance (i.e. where the reactive components of the input impedance cancel out), and thus impedance matching is typically provided for only a narrow frequency range of operation. However, LNA-type amplifiers are typically used in narrow band applications, so this narrow-band operation limitation is typically not critical a hindrance.
With reference to FIG. 3, since inductor Ls provides the desired input resistance only when operating at resonance, a second gate inductor Lg is typically applied at the control gate of transistor 11 to assure that resonance is achieved. That is, the inductance value of Ls necessary for providing a desired input ohmic impedance is first selected. Typically the desired input impedance is selected to match the source resistance Rs of the input signal source 12. The value of Ls needed to produce the desired input resistance, however, may not necessarily be at resonance at the desired operating frequency of the LNA. Since Ls will produce a purely resistive impedance only when the input loop is at resonance, gate inductance Lg is then adjusted to provide enough series inductance with the gate input to push that the input loop into resonance at the desired amplifier operating frequency for the given value of Ls.
With reference to FIG. 4, where all elements similar to those of FIGS. 1–3 have similar reference characters and are described above, a more complete view of a basic LNA structure includes a voltage bias generator 13, a coupling capacitor Cp, and a third inductor Ld coupling the drain electrode of MOS transistor 11 to the Vcc power rail. Voltage bias generator 13 establishes the operating point for the LNA, as determined from power constraints. Coupling capacitor Cp provides DC blocking to prevent disturbance of the gate-to-source biasing of transistor 11. The inductance value of inductor Ld operates in conjunction with the drain capacitance of MOS transistor 11 to increase gain and provide bandpass filtering at the output.
The LNA of FIG. 4 is a single-ended structure, and it is therefore sensitive to parasitic ground inductance. This can be remedied by using a differential LNA structure, as shown in FIG. 5, where all elements similar to those of FIG. 4 have similar reference characters. The differential structure 17 includes a current source 19 that establish a virtual ground 15 at the point of symmetry between the two differential branches.
The differential LNA 17 operates on both true Vin and complement Vin′ forms of an input signal and thus has a true 17a and complementary 17b LNA branch. All elements in the complementary LNA branch 17b that complement those of the true LNA branch 17a have similar reference characters with the addition of prime symbol (′), and their behavior is similar to those of the true LNA branch 17a, as described above in reference to FIGS. 2–4. For simplicity, two input signal sources 12 and 12′ providing two respective input signals Vin and Vin′, along with their corresponding source impedances Rs and Rs′, are shown. It is to be understood, however, that Vin and Vin′ are complements of each other and may originate from a single, distant differential signal source. Similarly, two voltage bias generators 13 and 13′ are shown, but it is to be understood that a single voltage bias generator may be used to bias both the true 17a and complementary 17b branches of differential LNA 17.
Current source 19 isolates virtual ground node 15 from parasitic ground inductances so that the real component of the input impedance is controlled primarily by Ls (or Ls′). An additionally benefits of the differential LNA structure is that it rejects common-mode disturbances as well as improving linearity and dynamic range.
Differential LNA structures began to be used more and more staring in the late 1990's. Use of differential LNA's was driven by the increasing use of the direct conversion receiver (DCR). The DCR topology with differential structures helps improve second order inter-modulation and linearity.
LNA-type amplifiers, however, typically do not have the simplified structures of FIGS. 4 and 5. This is because although the noise figure is not much affected by the gate-to-drain capacitance, Cgd, of MOS transistor 11, Cdg can affect the input impedance. Additionally, the output of an LNA is typically tuned differently than the input, and thus it is helpful to isolate the output form the input. Also it is important prevent leakage from the output signal back to the input stage since the leakage can radiate out through the input stage. For example, an LNA may receive and amplify a signal from an antenna while adding some noise. If its isolation between the input and output is not at a certain level, the signal at the output can go back to the antenna where it can radiate and create interference for other applications or other users of the same application.
With reference to FIG. 6, most low noise amplifiers found in the literature use a cascode topology to reduce the effects of the input transistor's 11 Cgd. In FIG. 6, a single-ended configuration is shown for the sake of clarity, but it is to be understood that the structure of FIG. 6 can be readily extended to a differential LNA structure. The cascode topology replaces the single input transistor 11 with a cascode structure 20 consisting of two transistors, the primary input transistor 11_in in series with a cascode transistor 11csc. The control gate of cascode transistor 11csc is typically tied to the high power supply Vcc to maximize the voltage across input transistor 11_in. The operation of a cascode structure 20 is well known and is not elaborated upon here. In essence, the cascode transistor 11csc reduces the gain of the common-source configuration of input transistor 11_in, and thereby reduces the capacitor multiplying action of the Miller effect upon input transistor 11_in, while at the same time providing isolation between the control gate of input transistor 11_in and the output at the drain of cascode transistor 11csc. Thus, the cascode structure 20 improves the isolation between the input and the output. This implies that an input signal received by an antenna (not shown) and applied to the LNA will ideally have no reflections from the output of the LNA back to the input.
Also shown in FIG. 6 is an example of a typical voltage bias circuit 13. Voltage bias circuit 13 may consist of reference resistor Rref in series with a diode-connected transistor 21, with a bias resistor Rbias coupling the gate of transistor 21 to the gate of input transistor 11_in. The reference current through diode-connected transistor 21 is determined by the value of Rref and the voltage difference between Vcc and the Vgs of transistor 21. Rref is typically made large enough so that its noise current is small enough to be ignored. Transistor 21 essentially forms a current mirror with input transistor 11_in, by which the bias operating point of input transistor 11_in is established.
With reference to FIG. 7, a differential LNA-type amplifier with a cascode structure is shown for the sake of completeness. All elements similar to those of FIG. 6 have similar reference characters and are described above. For the sake of clarity, as in the case of FIG. 5, the bias circuitry and input signals are duplicated for the true and complement branches of the differential LNA, but it is to be understood that a single bias circuit may bias both branches of the differential LNA and the true and complementary input signals may originate from a common differential signal source. Also as in the case of FIG. 5, the complementary components have a prime symbol (′) appended to their corresponding reference character, and are described above. The complementary outputs are therefore available at nodes Out and Out′.
Although the cascode structure reduces the Miller effect and provides isolation between the input and output, and is consequently very popular in LNA architectures, it achieves these benefits at the sacrifice of voltage headroom. That is, the available voltage headroom (i.e. the difference between Vcc and GND as further reduced by voltage drops across any series-connected components between Vcc and GND) for circuit operation is reduced by requiring two transistors 11_in and 11csc in series, as opposed to the single transistor 11 of the basic LNA structure of FIGS. 4 and 5. This means that it will take a smaller Vin signal level to saturate the cascode LNA circuits of FIGS. 6 and 7 as compare to the basic LNA circuits of FIGS. 4 and 5.
Other methods of compensating for, or neutralizing, the Miller effect are known, but are not considered suitable for modern LNA applications. For example, a neutralization technique developed for AM radio broadcast in the 1920's for a single-ended amplifier uses a tapped inductor, or autotransformer, to provide a feedback signal through a capacitor to the input of an active device that is 180° out of phase with the output of the active device. Application of this technique to a non-LNA MOS amplifier is shown in "The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrate Circuits", © Cambridge University Press 1998, © Thomas H. Lee 2004, by T. H. Lee, page 296, which is hereby incorporated by reference. But this approach is unsuited for integrated circuit, IC, implementation due to the large area requirements and poor quality of integrated tapped transformers.
A second approach based on a similar principle, but which traditionally has not been broad applicable to integrated circuits, makes use of the dual outputs of a differential amplifier being 180° out of phase to eliminate the need for the autotransformer. This approach is described in "The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrate Circuits", © Cambridge University Press 1998, © Thomas H. Lee 2004, by T. H. Lee, pages 296–297, which is hereby incorporated by reference. In this case, the output of one branch of a differential amplifier is coupled to the input the second branch through a capacitor, and vise-versa. In order for this neutralization technique to be applicable to MOS integrated circuits, precise matching of the feedback capacitor with the Cgd of the amplifier transistor is required. However, since the Cgd of an MOS transistor is voltage-dependent (i.e. it varies with an applied potential) precise matching with the feedback capacitor has not been realizable. Therefore, this technique has traditionally had only limited application in semiconductor amplifiers. This difficulty in matching capacitances is particularly important in LNA amplifiers, where a mismatch in the feedback capacitor could set-up a separate resonance through the feedback capacitor leading to instabilities. Consequently, this approach has traditionally been limited to vacuum tube technology, which have highly linear and relatively constant coupling capacitances.
What is needed, therefore, is a method of isolating the input and output of an integrated MOS LNA circuit without losing additional voltage headroom, as compared to the basic MOS LNA circuit.

Neutralization techniques for differential low noise amplifiers


A platform-independent, usage-independent, location-independent quote configuration system is described. The present invention, operating in a computer network, is a quote configurator comprising, 1) a client module, the client module having a platform-independent user interface for receiving quote input and command selections from a user, the quote input and command selections including product selection and selection of information indicative of business rules, and 2) a server coupled to the client module across the network, the server having access to quote data and business rules, the server including a platform-independent server interface configured to receive the quote input and command selections from the client module, the server validating the quote input based on the quote data and the business rules.

Pricing and quotation information is produced at different points and different geographic locations in the sales process. Some of the key triggers used to produce this information include product sales, volume discounts, warranty terms, sales/lease contract terms, contract renewals or modifications, or special customer requests. Often times, quotations or quotes produced as a result of these triggers vary substantially based on the business unit or geographic location for which a particular quote is targeted. These variations are also caused by the different computer platforms, systems, usage models and networks used to assemble the quote information. Variations can also be caused by lack of, or differing, in-depth knowledge of the specific business rules and discounts that apply to each scenario, location, and business unit. In some cases, duplicate and redundant information must be reformatted or translated to a form compatible with a component of the quote generation system. In other cases, information must be manually entered. This is due in large part to the rigid data input requirements of conventional quote configuration systems.
The limitations in current quote configuration systems result in quotes that are difficult to generate and maintain, which contain errors that impact the customer and the business units, and require manual entry of redundant information at each step of the process.
Thus, a platform-independent, usage-independent, location-independent quote configuration systems which is capable of encapsulating the business logic and business unit expertise to produce consistent, accurate results is needed.

Platform-independent, usage-independent, and access-independent distributed quote configuraton system


A system and method combining real-world actions and virtual actions in a gaming environment. In one aspect, a massively multiplayer environment combines the real world actions and virtual actions of a participant to influence both character metrics and game play within one or more games provided by the service. In the real world or location-based events, game play occurs in and around links explicitly created between real world locations and virtual representations of those locations within the game.

The console and personal computer-based video game experience has evolved from one in which an isolated gaming experience was provided into one in which users on a variety of processing devices such as personal computers and mobile devices can interact with each other to share a common game experience. One example of a system that enables users to communicate with each other is Microsoft's Xbox 360 Live® online game service. Using such systems, users are provided with a rich interactive experience which may be shared in real time between friends and other gamers.
Massively multiplayer games have been popularized by the availability of the internet. Such games allow players located all over the world to participate in the game under the control of a service administrator. Such games can provide an environment for social interaction between players.
Other types of social interaction are provided by social networks. Location-based social systems allow users to share information on their location-based activities with friends using the same system. Some location-based social networks provide users with incentives to visit locations and "check in" once present at the location.

Virtual and location-based multiplayer gaming


A robot wrist structure includes: a case, a first motor, a second motor, a first transmission mechanism, a second transmission mechanism, a first driving bevel gear, a second driving bevel gear, a driven bevel gear, a retaining fame, and an output connecting member; wherein the first motor and the second motor are mounted on the case, the first driving bevel gear, the second driving bevel gear and the driven bevel gear are respectively rotatably mounted in the retaining frame, the first driving bevel gear and the second driving bevel gear are both in mesh with the driven bevel gear, the first motor is connected to the first driving bevel gear by the first transmission mechanism, the second motor is connected to the second driving bevel gear by the second transmission mechanism, and the output connecting member is fixedly connected to the driven bevel gear.

An industrial robot generally includes a plurality of robot arms, and various operations and functions are achieved by swinging of the robot arms. A robot wrist is a key component for achieving swinging of the robot arms. A traditional robot wrist mainly includes a wrist base and a wrist case. The wrist case is generally defined as a fork structure, and the wrist base may be rotatably mounted on a fork end of the wrist case. A plurality of driving mechanisms and reduction mechanisms are mounted in the wrist case, to drive the wrist base to side swing relative to the wrist case. The degree of freedom of the movement of the traditional robot wrist is limited to a side swinging direction.

CLOUDMINDS (BEIJING) TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.


Ice for use in a beverage, wherein the ice comprises a core, an active zone, an external surface, and caffeine. The ice particle has a depth from each point of the external surface extending perpendicularly inwards. It also has a total particle mass. The caffeine in the ice particle has a total caffeine mass, and the ice particle has an ice caffeine concentration equal to the total caffeine mass divided by the total particle mass. The active zone includes at least 40% of the total caffeine mass and local caffeine concentrations of at least 150% of the ice caffeine concentration. At least 67% of the total caffeine mass is contained within a caffeine depth in millimeters from the external surface no greater than 1.06 times the cube root of the total particle mass in grams. The core has local caffeine concentrations of less than 150% of the ice caffeine concentration.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ice for use in beverages, and related methods for making and using such ice. More specifically, the invention relates to ice for use in cooling beverages wherein one wishes to include caffeine, and related methods for making and using such ice.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of ice, i.e., water in its frozen or solid state, for cooling beverages of course is extremely well known. Commercially-available beverage ice is usually manufactured, typically in ice making machines, and thus controls can be exercised regarding purity, geometry or shape, texture and the like. Beverage ice comes in a variety of geometric shapes or forms. Some of the more popular varieties include square-faced or cubic, rectangular-faced or cuboid, spherical, hemispherical, crescent-shaped, tubular, flaked or crushed ice, and others.
It is common in public beverage serving establishments to fill a beverage glass with ice, and then to pour the beverage components (a soft drink, liquor components, mixers, etc.) into it on top of the ice. Typically, the ice is added up to the top rim of the glass, and the beverage component or components are added, either in specific, measured amounts or in approximate amounts by visual inspection. In some instances, a remaining volume of the glass is filled with a mixer, such as water, soda, juice, etc. There are also instances where a lesser amount of ice is used, such as an amount that would be sufficient to fill only about a third or half of the beverage glass, and instances where a beverage is first poured into a glass and ice is then added. The liquid beverage components, which may be referred to simply as "beverage," often are at ambient temperature when dispensed into the glass. Thus, some melting of the ice occurs promptly, and the process of heat transfer and melting then occurs. Stirring or agitation may be used to modify and enhance the process.
The usual function of beverage ice of course is to cool the beverage. The ice is colder than the beverage, and when the beverage and ice are combined, heat from the beverage is absorbed by the ice, thus reducing the temperature of the beverage. It should be noted that the ice initially may be at a temperature below its melting or fusion temperature. For pure water at atmospheric pressure, the melting point or fusion temperature is 0° centigrade ("C") or 32° Fahrenheit ("F"). The ice may, however, be cooled below this point. As is well known in such fields as physical chemistry and thermodynamics, for ice below its fusion temperature, as heat is added, the temperature of the ice will increase in inverse proportion to its heat capacity or specific heat. For pure water at standard temperature and pressure, the specific heat capacity is 1.00 calories per gram-degree centigrade (cal/g/° C.). For ice consisting of pure water at atmospheric pressure, the specific heat is 0.50 cal/g/° C. That is, if one calorie of thermal energy is inputted into one gram of ice, this input will cause the temperature of the ice to rise by 0.50° C. As additional heat is slowly added, the temperature of the ice will rise until it reaches the melting point or fusion temperature of 0° C. (32° F.). At this fusion temperature, the addition of further thermal energy will not cause the temperature of the ice to rise, but instead will cause it to transition from solid state to liquid state, i.e., to change its phase from solid to liquid, or melt.
In the context of ice in a beverage, upon mixing, the beverage is usually at a temperature that is higher than that of the ice. Thus, given that heat is transferred from higher temperature regions to lower temperature regions, heat in the beverage is transferred across the solid-liquid boundary at the surface of the ice and into the body of the ice, i.e., the bulk ice. This heat transfer process causes the temperature of the beverage to decrease and the temperature of the ice to increase substantially without melting until the fusion temperature of the ice is reached at its surface. At that temperature, the additional heat transferred from the beverage to the ice causes the surface of the ice to melt. Because the associated heat of fusion is 80 cal/g/° C., the melting of ice absorbs 80 calories ("cal") of heat energy from the surrounding beverage for each gram ("g") of ice melted. As a result, the principal part of the cooling effect of beverage ice derives from melting. This melted ice, or liquid water, is then physically diffused or convected away from the ice surface and into the bulk liquid of the beverage.
When a room temperature beverage and ice are mixed, the amount of ice melted during the "initial cooling phase," defined herein as the cooling of the beverage from its initial temperature to about 40° F. (4.4° C.), will vary somewhat according to several factors. These factors include the temperature of the beverage when poured and the starting temperature of the ice. Another cause for variation is that cooling of an alcoholic beverage can require the melting of up to about 13% less ice than would be required with a non-alcoholic beverage due to reduced specific heat capacity resulting from the alcohol content. As a general approximation, however, for each gram of beverage that is cooled in the initial cooling phase, about 0.20 to 0.26 grams of ice melt. These amounts result from the above-described thermodynamic phenomena.
A beverage might be cooled with the exact amount of ice that, on complete melting, would cool the beverage to the desired drinking temperature. In most instances that amount would be similar per gram of beverage to the values given above. Ordinarily, however, a greater amount of ice than this is used, e.g., about 0.5 to about 1.5 grams of ice per gram of beverage. Amounts of ice such as these can provide faster cooling, a reserve cooling capacity to keep the beverage cool during the period of drinking even as some heat is absorbed from the environment, and there is typically economic advantage to a proprietor compared to minimal use of ice, since for a given beverage container size less beverage needs to be dispensed to fill the container. Personal preference could be another reason for such use.
Caffeine is a well-known and widely-used chemical, often used or consumed in beverages. It functions as a stimulant to the central nervous system. Short term effects include increased energy and alertness, which many find to be desirable or advantageous.
In caffeine-containing beverages caffeine concentrations are ordinarily in the range of about 2.8 to 5.9 milligrams ("mg") per fluid ounce ("oz") (mg/oz) of beverage for carbonated soft drinks, about 10 to 17 mg/oz for non-espresso coffee, about 3.8 to 7.5 mg/oz for teas, and about 9.4 to 16 mg/oz for typical eight-ounce energy drinks. A minimal advantageous dose that may be consumed at one occasion can be considered to be about 23 mg, corresponding to 8 ounces of a caffeinated soft drink such as Coca-Cola®. More commonly, however, those wishing to enjoy the advantages of caffeine typically consume about 50 to 100 mg of caffeine per serving, and when consuming more than one serving, from about 50 to about 250 mg of caffeine at an occasion. The maximum safe amount of caffeine consumed at one occasion is widely considered to be about 300 mg. In terms of concentration of caffeine in a beverage, the Food and Drug Administration has determined that caffeine may be used safely in beverages at concentrations of up to 0.02%.
Typically, for those who wish to consume a caffeine-containing beverage, they select a beverage that has the caffeine already included or incorporated into the beverage. A coffee drink would be an example. The caffeine is a component of the coffee bean from which the coffee beverage is made, and caffeine therefore is inherently incorporated into the beverage from the outset. Energy drinks provide additional examples, wherein caffeine is inherently included in the beverage, or is added during the beverage manufacturing process.
Alternatively, a non-caffeine-containing beverage may be converted to a caffeine-containing beverage, or the amount of caffeine already present in a beverage may be increased, simply by adding caffeine. The caffeine may be in solid form, e.g., such as a powder, a tablet, a capsule, etc. Chocolate, for example, usually contains caffeine, and could be dissolved into a beverage as a caffeine-providing component. The caffeine also may be in liquid form, typically contained in a solution. Adding a caffeine-containing energy drink to a non-caffeine-containing beverage would be an example. To illustrate, one may wish to add a small amount of energy drink to an alcoholic beverage to enjoy the benefits of the caffeine while enjoying the beverage.
This general approach of adding caffeine to a preexisting beverage at or near the point of consumption, however, can be disadvantageous in a number of respects. It is necessary, for example, for the caffeine component to be made physically present and available at the point of addition. If the addition is to occur in a restaurant, bar, lounge or other public establishment where drinks are served, for example, the caffeine component must be procured and maintained as a separate item of inventory. Caffeine is not generally available on a small scale for use as a beverage additive in a non-industrial setting. Further, addition of caffeine in the most commonly-produced pure form, which is powdered or crystalline, generally requires stirring for full dissolution to occur, and even then dissolution may be slow. In the context of professional establishments serving beverages, it is generally impractical for servers to spend more than a threshold minimum amount of time to prepare a beverage. For example, even 30 seconds of added preparation time in many cases is commercially unacceptable, and in nearly all cases disadvantageous.
Another disadvantage of adding caffeine powder to a beverage is that in many instances, beverages are carbonated or include a carbonated component such as a cola soda or tonic water. Carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in the liquid. The addition of caffeine powder to such a beverage provides seed or nucleation particles, which cause the dissolved gas to become less soluble and be released from the liquid phase. This results in sudden fizzing and significant loss of carbonation.
Yet another disadvantage of direct addition of caffeine involves safety and health. Concerns have been raised recently about excessive doses of caffeine in beverages. Indeed, deaths are presently being attributed by some to energy drinks containing large amounts of caffeine. A common guideline is that nutritional supplements, inclusive of energy drinks, should not contain more than 300 mg of caffeine per serving. Another guideline is that, in beverages, the caffeine concentration should be no greater than 0.02%.
Where caffeine itself can be added to a beverage, it is possible, whether by error or intention, for larger amounts of caffeine to be added than would be healthy or safe.
In some instances, caffeine-containing beverages have been frozen. Caffeine-containing colas, for example, have been frozen to yield a frozen slush or solid ice that contains the caffeine from the cola. In such instances, however, the caffeine is dispersed homogeneously within the ice cubes or particles. Some caffeine is delivered, but much of it remains in the unmelted ice left in the container after the beverage has been consumed. In the example described herein above, that could include about 50% or more of the caffeine initially in the cola. Generally, such ice essentially acts as a frozen beverage source which, on melting, provides the same beverage in liquid form. In some instances, ice used to cool a beverage has comprised a frozen caffeine beverage or aqueous caffeine solution and has provided caffeine to beverages in the melting process. For example, a caffeine-containing soft drink such as Coca-Cola® or a relatively more concentrated aqueous caffeine solution could be frozen into ice cubes without employing features of the invention. If such ice cubes are mixed with a beverage and the beverage cooled by them, some caffeine is released into the beverage according to the proportion of such ice that melts. Such ice, if used to cool a beverage, would in most cases release into the beverage within the first few minutes of drinking only from about 15%-50% of the contained caffeine. If the caffeine amount released by such ice in the first few minutes of drinking were a desired amount, then with further melting while drinking the beverage, the amount of caffeine consumed could exceed the desired amount by a large factor, even by five times. Such a wide potential variation in caffeine delivery could present a health risk in some cases, and is disadvantageous in nearly all cases. Accordingly, there is a need for means to provide a controlled, desired amount of caffeine for a broad range of instances of drinking a beverage where it is desired to add caffeine to the beverage.


A capacitor multiplier including a capacitor, a first voltage follower, a first impedance element, and a second impedance element is provided. The input terminal of the first voltage follower is electrically connected to the first terminal of the capacitor. Wherein, the voltage level of the output terminal of the first voltage follower changes along with the voltage level of the input terminal thereof. The first terminal of the first impedance element is electrically connected to the first terminal of the second impedance element. The second terminal of the first impedance element is electrically connected to the first terminal of the capacitor. The second terminal of the second impedance element is electrically connected to the output terminal of the first voltage follower.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a capacitor multiplier which is suitable for providing large capacitance in an integrated circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
In general circuit designs, capacitor devices of large capacitances are usually required in the circuits. For example, error amplifier and capacitor are usually used in a general circuit for frequency compensation to improve the performance of the circuit. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the voltage converter 100 includes an integrated circuit (IC) 110, an inductor L11, a load capacitor C11, feedback resistors Rf1, Rf2, a compensating resistor Rz1, and a compensating capacitor Cz1. Since the voltage converter 100 is a typical buck DC-DC voltage converter, the operation detail will not be described here again. Generally speaking, to compensate the low-frequency pole of the voltage converter 100, the capacitance of the compensating capacitor Cz1 has to be very large. Thus, the compensating capacitor Cz1 has to be disposed outside the IC 110.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a voltage converter which uses another compensating technology. Referring to FIG. 2, the voltage converter 200 includes an IC 210, an inductor L21, a load capacitor C21, a feedback resistor Rf, a compensating resistor Rz2, and compensating capacitors Cz2, Cz3. Here, the voltage converter 200 is a typical buck DC-DC voltage converter, and the operation detail thereof will not be described again. Generally speaking, the capacitance of the compensating capacitor Cz3 is much smaller than the capacitance of the compensating capacitor Cz2. To compensate the frequency appropriately, the capacitance of the capacitor Cz2 has to be very large. Thus, the compensating capacitor Cz2 has to be disposed outside the IC 210.
However, the added compensating capacitors occupy very large circuit area since large capacitances are required. Thus, capacitors used for compensation are generally disposed outside the ICs. Such design will certainly put limit to the present trend of downsizing products. Therefore, product volume and cost can be reduced effectively if the capacitors having large capacitance can be disposed inside the ICs.

Industrial Technology Research Institute