An armature winding includes a plurality of strand groups each having strands transposed and bound in at least two rows and multiple tiers, and a main insulator for covering the strand group. The strands belonging to a strand group on one side of a central strand group has a cross-sectional area smaller than that of the control strand group, and the strands belonging to the strand group on the other side of the central strand group has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the central strand group.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to armature windings and a dynamo-electric machine using the same, and more particularly, to armature windings suitable for exposure to a varying magnetic field, such as armature windings of a turbine generator, by way of example, and a dynamo-electric machine using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Armature windings for conventional turbine generators are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,641. As illustrated in FIG. 17, in an example described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,641, a plurality of strands arranged in multiple tiers are transposed in the middle, and transpose angles of the strands are determined to be 360°, 540°, and the like, as shown in FIGS. 18A, 18B, depending on the power and mechanical dimensions of a particular type of machine for fitting in a slot, such that flux linkages are canceled out within the slot to reduce a loss caused by circulating currents which flow among strands. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 17, a strand 11 positioned at the topmost tier of the right row is transposed to the topmost tier of the left row, i.e., on a strand 1 (2n), and right-hand strands 12, 13 positioned at the topmost tier of the right row are sequentially transposed to make the overall winding in a stranded structure. Also, the transpose angle used herein is a 360° transposition in which strands 11, 15 wound from a shaft end I are transposed, and make a round to return to the same positions at a shaft end II, or a 540° transposition in which the strands are transposed further by an extra half cycle. In this event, the angle such as 360° and 540°, and the pitch of transposition are selected such that magnetic fields interlining between windings are canceled out within a fixed iron core 30. For example, the angle and pitch are selected such that a total of magnetic flux φ31 and φ33 interlining between strands 11 and 15 are equal to a magnetic flux φ32 which interlinks in a reverse direction.
JP-A-47-12513 also describes armature windings for a turbine generator. As illustrated in FIG. 19, in this example, two rows of strand group 2 are disposed outside of a strand group 1 transposed over two rows, and strands 21, 22, 23 and the like are interposed to surround the strand group 1. This is intended to reduce a circulating current loss caused by a radial flux φr2.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,821,641, even though strands are transposed in a strand group, a magnetic flux φ1 interlining at the end I and a magnetic flux φ2 interlining at the end II have the same polarity as each other through a transposition of 360°, so that a magnetic flux (φ1+φ2) interlinks within a closed loop defined by strands 11, 15, and the like. With a transposition of 540°, on the other hand, the magnetic flux φ1 interlinking at the end I of the strands 1, 15 and the magnetic flux φ2 interlining at the end II have the polarities which cancel each other, but the magnetic fields φ1, φ2 are not equal in magnitude because the strands are different in radial position at the end I and end II. In other words, the flux linkage, corresponding to the difference (φ1−φ2) in field strength, remains, thus making it difficult to thoroughly cancel out circulating currents which flow around the strands 11, 15. Thus, there exists not a few current component which circulates among strands.
When a cross-sectional area of strands must be ensured, a winding as shown in FIG. 20 has been used, in which a plurality of transposed strand groups are arranged in parallel. Since such a structure cannot at all cancel out a radial magnetic flux φr2 which interlinks between the strand group 1 and strand group 2, even an increased currents circulate among the strands.
On the other hand, JP-A-47-12513, which is a technique for reducing the radial magnetic flux, involves a complicated structure in which the strand group 2 is arranged in a double configuration to surround the strand group 1, as illustrated in FIG. 19, requiring a large number of manufacturing steps. Also, for example, the strand 11 must be transposed onto a strand 1 (2n), and a strand 21 is further transposed on the step, thus making it difficult to maintain a uniform gap between strands. For this reason, an appropriate insulating strength cannot be maintained.

Armature windings and dynamo-electric machine using the same


A hermetically sealed compact contains a cosmetic substance. The compact includes an integral two-piece insert having a cover piece coupled to a base piece by an integral living hinge. The cover piece of the insert has a circular cavity with a pair of ridges, while the base piece has a peripheral wall that slides within a groove to form the seal. As the integral insert obtains the closed configuration, the evacuated air makes a distinctive audible sound, indicating to the user that the hermetic seal has been established.

Conventional compact cases hold makeup or cosmetics, such as, powders, eye shadow, eyeliner, lipstick, or other beauty aids. Compacts often provide a mirror for viewing the face, thereby facilitating the process of applying the makeup to the face.
A compact usually includes a lid or a cover section hingeably coupled to a base or a container section. Either the cover section or the base section can be pivoted about the hinge to obtain the closed configuration of the compact, thereby providing a convenient storage device. The mirror is typically disposed on the inside of the compact cover section. The base section of conventional compacts usually includes a metal pan for containing the makeup. Alternatively, the makeup can be directly stored in a cavity in the base section.
Compacts also allow for a pad, a brush, or other application device to be disposed between the makeup and the cover, when the compact is in the closed configuration. Makeup is usually applied by rubbing or dipping the application device (e.g., the pad or brush) in the pan or cavity holding the makeup. The application device is then used to transfer the makeup to the face.
A popular type of cosmetic currently available in most retail stores is a Color-Stay™ or color-fast makeup or cosmetic. The popularity of these cosmetics apparently stems from the ability of the makeup to remain applied to the skin surface for a prolonged period of time without rubbing off or fading. Color-fast cosmetics contain a somewhat volatile chemical component that requires air-tight or hermetic storage to prevent or inhibit drying, hardening, and cracking of the cosmetics. In particular, the color-fast cosmetic must be stored in a hermetically sealed container. Therefore, color-fast cosmetic containers often must undergo and pass a loss-in-weight test to establish that an air-tight seal has been effected.
Conventional compacts are usually arranged as a one-piece unit so that one hand opens and holds the compact, while the other hand applies the makeup to the skin surface of the face. In contrast, conventional color-fast cosmetic cases include a container with a screw-on cap that effects a hermetic seal when in the closed configuration. Thus, the user must contend with two separate pieces, which makes applying the makeup a more difficult task, i.e., it is more difficult for the user to unscrew the cap and apply the makeup at the same time.
To apply the color-fast cosmetic from its cosmetic case, the user must unscrew the cap and place it somewhere so that one hand can hold the container that stores the makeup, while the other hand is free to apply the makeup to the skin surface of the face with greater dexterity. In having to lay the screw-on cap somewhere during the process of applying the color-fast makeup, the potential exists for the cap to be misplaced or lost, especially in a crowded public restroom during a social function. Without the screw-on cap to hermetically seal the unused portion still remaining in the container, the color-fast makeup dries, hardens, and its quality deteriorates. As a result, the user must incur an additional expense by purchasing new makeup.
Another problem with current color-fast cosmetic cases occurs when the user is not aware that the screw-on cap is not properly closed, e.g., sealed, on the container. If the hermetic seal is not established as a result of incomplete or improper closure of the color-fast cosmetic case, the makeup dries, hardens, and cracks.
Other color-fast makeup cases utilize a complex method of opening and closing. These cases require that the user follows unconventional directions to appropriately open and close the makeup case. Thus, these cases often require additional steps to open and close the case which can annoy the user.
Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive and simple-to-use compact case capable of effecting an air-tight or hermetic seal. Further, there is a need for an air-tight, hermetically sealed compact case that passes the loss-in-weight test. Further still, there is a need for a hermetically sealed compact case that can be manufactured as a one-piece unit and can be simply opened and closed. Even further still, there is the need for an air-tight compact case that generates an audible indication whenever the hermetic seal is established.

Hermetically sealed cosmetic compact case


Male and female mating pieces of a gas-assisted electrosurgical accessory connector are connectable together by radially contacting a sealing surface formed on one mating piece with a resilient radially-compressible sealing member carried on the other mating piece. A gas-tight seal exists along a length of the sealing surface as the two mating pieces connect with relative connection movement. The existence of the gas-tight seal over a range of relative connection movement maintains the seal if the mating pieces should become slightly disconnected. The mating pieces are also restrained against separation from one another. A recess is formed in one of the mating pieces and a retention member carried on the other one of the mating pieces is biased into contact with the recess. Separation of the two connected members requires manual force to extract the retention member from the recess. The amount of manual force required is greater than that normally experienced from movement during use, thereby inhibiting unintentional separation.

Electrosurgery involves the application of radio-frequency (RF) electrical energy to cut a patient's tissue, to coagulate blood flow from the tissue, or to both cut and coagulate simultaneously. An electrosurgical generator creates the RF electrical energy, and the RF energy is applied to the tissue by an applicator or pencil-like handpiece which is manipulated by a surgeon to cut and coagulate. Gas-assisted electrosurgery additionally involves conducting the RF energy to the tissue in a stream of ionized conductive gas. The gas stream clears blood and other fluids from the surface of the tissue, thereby allowing the RF energy to interact directly with the tissue without the fluid diverting all or part of the electrical energy away from the tissue. The transfer of the RF energy through the ionized gas stream directly to the tissue without diversion from fluid achieves an enhanced electrosurgical effect. U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,175 and Re U.S. Pat. No. 34,780 are exemplary of gas-assisted electrosurgery apparatus. Both of these U.S. patents are assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
A nozzle at the distal end of the handpiece shapes the gas into a flow stream of desired characteristics. An electrode is positioned within the nozzle to ionize the gas and to transfer the RF energy into conductive pathways within the gas stream. An accessory hose conducts the gas flow from a gas delivery apparatus to the nozzle, and an accessory conductor conducts the RF energy from an electrosurgical generator to the electrode within the nozzle. The accessory hose and conductor and the nozzle and electrode are part of the gas-assisted electrosurgical accessory.
An accessory connector connects the accessory hose and conductor to a housing of a gas-assisted electrosurgical unit, which includes the electrosurgical generator and gas delivery apparatus. The accessory connector permits different gas-assisted electrosurgical accessories to be used and replaced as necessary or desirable. One mating piece of the accessory connector is connected to the accessory handpiece, and another complementary mating piece of the accessory connector is connected to the housing of the gas-assisted electrosurgical unit. The accessory connector transfers the gas flow and RF energy from the gas-assisted electrosurgical unit into the accessory hose and onto the accessory conductor of the accessory.
In some gas-assisted electrosurgery accessories, such as probes used in gastrointestinal electrosurgical applications, the pencil-like handpiece and the cord are either not used or they are considerably modified in form. For example, in a gas-assisted gastrointestinal electrosurgical probe, the accessory hose takes the form of a small diameter gas-conducting tube that extends directly from the accessory connector to the end of the gas-conducting tube where the nozzle is located. The accessory conductor extends within the gas conducting tube. No pencil-like handpiece exists, because the end of the gas-conducting tube with the nozzle and the internal electrode is manipulated by an endoscope or a laparoscope into which the probes inserted. A gastrointestinal probe of this type is an example of a gas-assisted electrosurgery accessory used to perform minimally invasive electrosurgical procedures. A variety of other types of accessories using handpieces and different lengths of cords and different configurations of nozzles are available to perform other open types of electrosurgical procedures.
The accessory connector should transfer the gas flow and the RF electrical energy without leakage to the ambient environment. In a typical gas-assisted electrosurgical procedure, the surgeon selects a desired gas flow and a desired amount of electrosurgical energy to be applied to the tissue. In many cases, the amount of gas flow and the amount of the electrical energy are coordinated to achieve a desired electrosurgical effect. If gas leaks from the accessory connector, the desired amount of gas will not be delivered from the nozzle, and the desired electrosurgical effect may not be achieved. Similarly, if current leakage or conduction of some of the RF energy occurs at the accessory connector, the desired electrosurgical effect may not be achieved. RF energy leakage at the accessory connector or any other location along the cord or within the handpiece, can cause an unintended burn to the surgeon, operating room personnel or the patient, or may damaged the electrosurgical generator.
An example of a gas-assisted electrosurgery accessory connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. Re 34,780. The gas sealing capability of the accessory connector described in this U.S. patent is achieved by an axial contact seal. The gas-confining integrity of such a seal depends upon the two mating pieces of the accessory connector remaining in an axially forced-together relationship. Such a relationship is achieved by screwing together the complementary threads of the two mating pieces until the two sealing surfaces axially contact one another. While this threaded-together relationship provides an effective gas-tight axial contact seal in most circumstances, it is possible for the threaded connection of the two mating pieces to loosen over the relatively lengthy duration of many surgical procedures due to the continual movement of the cord and the handpiece. It is not unusual for the threaded connection to loosen if the cord is accidentally stepped on, pulled or bumped by operating room personnel while performing the surgical procedure. Loosening of the two connected mating pieces of the accessory connector, even to a small degree, is likely to cause the sealing surfaces of the accessory connector to separate slightly, resulting in a leak gas.
The surgeon and the operating room personnel are not likely to recognize a leak at the accessory connector. The surgeon's attention is focused almost exclusively on creating the desired affects at the surgical site. The surgeon depends almost exclusively on the operating room personnel to supply the necessary equipment for use when the surgeon needs that equipment. In addition to serving the needs of the surgeon, the operating room personnel are focused on many other responsibilities associated with the surgical procedure, such looking after and monitoring as the welfare of the patient. The tissues encountered during a typical electrosurgical procedure vary substantially in electrical impedance and vascularity, both of which have a significant impact on the electrosurgical effect achieved. Since the surgeon expects variations in the surgical effect due to tissue differences, the surgeon may not recognize that the performance of the gas-assisted electrosurgical unit may have become compromised as a result of a gas leak at the accessory connector, resulting from continual movement of the cord and the handpiece during the procedure or from the cord having been accidentally stepped on, pulled or bumped during the surgical procedure.
The problems of gas leaks at the accessory connector may be aggravated with gas-assisted gastrointestinal electrosurgical probes. A relatively small diameter gas-conducting tube is required for insertion into an instrument channel of the endoscope or laparoscope. The endoscope or laparoscope must be relatively narrow to permit it to be inserted within a lengthy hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract or to be inserted within an inflated body cavity. The gas flow rate through the relatively small diameter gas-conducting tube is less, causing the effect of a relatively small leak to magnify the extent of deviation of the gas flow from the nozzle, thereby impacting the expected performance.
These and other considerations have led to the improvements of the present invention.

Gas-assisted electrosurgical accessory connector and method with improved gas sealing and biasing for maintaining a gas tight seal


A golf club with a head provided, on its upper part, with a neck on which is affixed the lower part of a handle by the neck and the handle fitting into each other. The base of the contact surface of the golf club, between the external side of the neck and the internal side of the handle, is distant from the base of the neck, by which the latter connects to the upper part of the head, at a predetermined length which is equal to that which will eventually be subjected to bending.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a mounting device for the head of a golf club on the handle.
2. Description of Background and Other Information
A golf club is conventionally made of a metal handle, and the head is connected to it by an upward extension called the "neck". The assembly of the head and the handle generally occurs by fitting and bonding, particularly by gluing, of the handle on the neck. The head of the golf club constitutes the official hitting component. For the hit to be correct, it is necessary that this head rest completely flat on the ground, the handle of the club then forming the angle in relation to the horizontal plane of the ground, this angle constituting the angle called the "lie" of the handle.
It can be easily conceived that the angle of lie of a golf club varies as a function of the player and essentially depends on his playing position and height. In the case of a club such as a "putter", the three angles of lie are generally defined corresponding to three positions of the golf player, namely, a median position and two extreme positions obtained by a shift of about 2.degree. from the axis of the handle on either side of the median position. It is attempted, particularly in the case of the precision clubs such as "putters", to be able to easily modify the angle of lie in a manner to adjust it to the playing position of the player.
Different solutions have been proposed to resolve this problem, and particularly that consisting of deforming the neck after assembling the golf club. In the case of traditional "putters", that is "putters" in which the upper part of the head supporting the neck possesses a certain malleability in relation to the head, strictly speaking, the deformation occurs at the level of this upper part and is progressively distributed along the length of it.
On the contrary, in certain "putters" called "swan neck", the upper part of the head has a structure which gives it a rigidity so that it cannot bend. In this case, the bending stress is supported by the neck and is exercised on it at the level of the connection zone between the base and the upper part of the head. However, this zone is particularly narrow so that the bending stress often leads to a break in the base of the neck or an abrupt break in the alignment between it and the handle.
It has also been proposed to adjust the angle of lie to the desired value by using a system of shims provided on the neck and/or on the inside of the handle, whose relative thicknesses are combined to pass incrementally from a median value of the angle of lie to the upper or lower values, as disclosed in commonly owned French Application No. 88.06187 filed on Jun. 2, 1988.

Device for the attachment of the head of a golf club on the handle


A deceleration control apparatus and method for controlling deceleration of a vehicle where a controller is operable to set a target vehicular speed calculated based on a turning condition of the vehicle and a lateral acceleration limitation value. The controller is also operable to apply deceleration to the vehicle based on the actual vehicular speed and the target vehicular speed and to correct the deceleration used when the vehicle is traveling along a detected curve. Correcting the deceleration can be done by, for example, correcting the lateral acceleration limitation value.

There are known deceleration controllers for vehicles. For example, in Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. Hei 10[1998]-278762, a safe vehicular speed for making a curve is computed based on a given turning condition of the vehicle and an allowable level of lateral acceleration preset according to a road-surface friction coefficient. The speed is automatically reduced to a safe vehicular speed, or lower, by an automatic braking system if the vehicle is about to exceed the safe vehicular speed in order to prevent spinning, drifting and overturning.


The invention involves the extraction process of a glow plug pencil (23) or a broken pencil (23) which is stuck in a cylinder head (13) housing (11) of a glow plug engine comprising a lower (19) and upper (17) part, so that the upper part (17) forms a shoulder (21) with the lower part (19), the pencil (23) being stuck in the lower part (19). The process is remarkable in that it includes a step (a) for drilling a bore in the pencil (23) according to the longitudinal direction of the latter which is performed with the use of a drill bit (1) comprising a drilling part (5) with flutes (7) and a shank (3) respectively having a diameter smaller and greater than the lower part diameter (19) of the housing (11) so that the shank (3) forms a shoulder (9) with the drilling part (5), and in that step a) for drilling the bore includes the drilling of the pencil (23) until the said shoulder (9) of the drill bit (1) is positioned to a stop against the shoulder (21) of the housing (11).

The invention belongs to the process and tooling area for the automobile mechanics and specifically involves the processes and tools for the extraction of glow plug pencils related to a vehicle engine, for example a motor vehicle.
On a diesel engine, the air should be warm enough at the end of compression to allow fuel ignition. When the engine is cold the glow plugs enable the creation of a hot spot which increases the temperature of the combustion chambers and leads to the fuel ignition. On new engines with "common rail" technology, glow plugs are also used to reduce smoke emissions when the engine starts and to take part in the post-combustion-to-regeneration phase of the particulate filter.
Conventionally, glow plugs include a metal body with a terminal on one end and a pencil on the other end. The terminal corresponds to the open end of a connecting central shank going through the glow plug in a longitudinal direction so as to reach the pencil. The terminal is connected to the electrical system of the vehicle. The pencil includes a heating coil that extends partly in the combustion chamber. When the power of the glow plug is on, this spiral will heat and warm up the combustion chamber.
The glow plugs are housed in the cylinder head of the engine. The housing of each spark plug crosses the cylinder head from the outside up to a combustion chamber. Since the pencil tool of the glow plug is narrower than the body, the housing includes a lower part to house the pencil and another one wider to house the body of the plug. The lower part forms a shoulder section with the upper part, and leads to the combustion chamber. The housing part of the spark body includes an inner thread at the mouth that allows you to screw the glow plug in its housing. When the glow plug is worn and must be changed, the latter is unscrewed from its housing by the outside. When unscrewing, it may happen that the glow plug breaks and the pencil is still stuck in its narrow housing. This break may appear at the shoulder level of the plug housing or within the lower part of the housing
There are very well known processes and tools that enable the removal of the pencil being stuck in its housing. Traditionally, the processes include a first step for drilling a bore in the pencil with the use of a drill bit that has a diameter smaller than the pencil diameter, then a step dealing with the thread of the bore using a tap, a step for screwing an extractor in the thread, and finally a step for extracting the pencil with the removal of the extractor screwed to the pencil.
During the drilling step, it is important to center the drill bit properly against the pencil. For this purpose, document DE202012008592 describes a guide in two parts with a second guide donned on a first guide, and is positioned before the drilling step. To begin, the first guide is screwed into the thread of the plug housing, then the second guide slides into the housing of the plug body until it has reached the edges of the pencil housing. The second guide is then set on the first one using a hex wrench and a clamping screw. The second guide is hollow and allows the drill bit to go through during the drilling step. So that the drill bit does not penetrate too far with a risk of weakening the pencil, or even of breaking it, a ring is visible around the drill bit shank. This ring is fixed at a certain distance from the drill bit using a hex wrench and a clamping screw, letting it free to drill the pencil properly while preventing it to go too far. The drilling step ends when the ring is inserted until it is positioned to a stop against the second guide.
Unfortunately, such a guide does not correspond to all types of engine environment, especially when these are congested. The mounting of the second guide on the first one then becomes very difficult because there is not sufficient space to tighten with the hex wrench. The same goes for the tightening of the ring on the drill bit. In addition the installation of the ring at a good distance from the second guide requires a prior marking in relation to an intact and similar glow plug. There is therefore a need for a process and extraction tools for the pencil of a glow plug that are both operated in a congested engine environment and which do not require the use of an intact and similar glow plug.
Furthermore, diesel combustion in the combustion chamber leads to high pressures that may be responsible for the distortion of the pencil open end as set in this chamber, in particular in the event of the injector failure leading to the combustion chamber. The pencil extraction through the plug housing is then impossible. Therefore, there is also a need for a process and tools that enable the extraction of a pencil differently.

Extraction process of a glow plug pencil for a motor vehicle and the tooling set for the implementation of such a process


A first shaft and a second shaft are connected coaxially. A torsion bar converts a torque applied between two shafts into a torsion displacement. A multipolar magnet is fixed to the first shaft. One set of magnetic yokes is fixed to the second shaft and disposed in a magnetic field generated by the multipolar magnet. The magnetic yokes are opposed to each other via an air gap in an axial direction. A magnetic sensor is provided for detecting the density of magnetic flux generated in the air gap. A non-magnetic spacer is disposed between the magnetic yokes as a means for positioning the magnetic yokes. The spacer and the magnetic yokes are integrated by resin molding.

This invention relates to a torque sensor detecting a shaft torque applied to a rotary shaft as change of magnetic flux density (i.e., strength of magnetic field).
As a conventional technique, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-149062 (FIG. 13) discloses a torque sensor.
According to this torque sensor, as shown in FIG. 13, a first shaft 100 and a second shaft 110 are coaxially connected by a torsion bar 120. A multipolar magnet 130 is fixed to the first shaft 100 (or one end of the torsion bar 120). One set of magnetic yokes 140, fixed to the second shaft 110 (or the other end of the torsion bar 120), is disposed in a magnetic field generated from the multipolar magnet 130. The magnetic yokes 140 are opposed to each other via an air gap in the axial direction. A magnetic sensor 150 detects the density of magnetic flux generated in the air gap.
Each of the magnetic yokes 140 has a plurality of claw poles disposed at equal pitches in the circumferential direction. The claw poles of respective magnetic yokes 140 are spaced with a predetermined air gap in the axial direction and are angularly offset from each other by a half pitch in the circumferential direction.
The magnetic yokes 140 and the multipolar magnet 130 are disposed in such a manner that the center of each claw pole of the magnetic yokes 140 agrees with a magnetized boundary line (i.e., a boundary between N-pole and S-pole), to obtain a neutral point where the output (voltage) of magnetic sensor 150 becomes zero in the condition that the torsion bar 120 causes no torsion (i.e., when no torque is applied to the torsion bar 120).
The above-described prior art document discloses a fixing portion 160 used for positioning the set of magnetic yokes 140. However, the detailed arrangement of fixing portion 160 is not disclosed and accordingly it is not apparent how the magnetic yokes 140 are positioned (especially, in the circumferential direction). Furthermore, it is not clear how the condition of magnetic yokes 140 positioned by the fixing portion 160 is retained.

Torque sensor for detecting a shaft torque


An injector head for feeding a tool string support member downhole is described. The injector head includes a first gripping device and a second gripping device. The first and second gripping devices are adapted to grip a tool string support member passing through an injector head passageway. The injector head further includes an actuator movable between a first position and a second position wherein, movement of the actuator between the first and second positions moves at least a portion of both of the first and second gripping devices towards or away from a passageway longitudinal axis.

Downhole tools and equipment are run downhole on support members such as cables or coiled steel tubing. These support members, together with the tools or equipment that they support, are forced downhole using equipment such as an injector head.
An injector head is conventionally used to feed coiled steel tubing from surface down a hydrocarbon well. An injector head consists of a pair of opposed chains between which the coiled tubing is sandwiched. The chains are fitted with rubber blocks in an arrangement like a tank track. Each chain and rubber block arrangement is wrapped around a pair of cogs, one or both of the cogs being driven. The rubber blocks grip the coiled tubing and as the chains rotate in opposite directions about the cogs, the coiled tubing is pushed downhole.
Conventional injector heads have drawbacks however. Quite often the coiled tubing is not centred in the injector head causing one chain to apply a greater pressure than the other chain resulting in wear on one of the chains.
Additionally, chains are expensive and difficult to maintain, requiring constant lubrication with the associated potential for environmental damage. In the event of failure of the chains, significant downtime can result.


The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for performing a defect inspection of a die image using adaptive care areas (ACAs). The use of ACAs solve the problem of handling rotations of components that require rotating care areas; handling the situation where each care area requires its own rotation, translation, or affine transformation; and the situation of decoupling intensity differences caused by defects or process variation from intensity differences caused by size variations.

Evolution of the semiconductor manufacturing industry is placing greater demands on yield management and, in particular, on metrology and inspection systems. Critical dimensions continue to shrink, yet the industry needs to decrease time for achieving high-yield, high-value production. Minimizing the total time from detecting a yield problem to fixing it determines the return-on-investment for a semiconductor manufacturer.
Fabricating semiconductor devices, such as logic and memory devices, typically includes processing a semiconductor wafer using a large number of fabrication processes to form various features and multiple levels of the semiconductor devices. For example, lithography is a semiconductor fabrication process that involves transferring a pattern from a reticle to a photoresist arranged on a semiconductor wafer. Additional examples of semiconductor fabrication processes include, but are not limited to, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), etch, deposition, and ion implantation. Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated in an arrangement on a single semiconductor wafer and then separated into individual semiconductor devices.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during semiconductor manufacturing to detect defects on wafers to promote higher yield in the manufacturing process and, thus, higher profits. Inspection has always been an important part of fabricating semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits (ICs). However, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, inspection becomes even more important to the successful manufacture of acceptable semiconductor devices because smaller defects can cause the devices to fail. For instance, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, detection of defects of decreasing size has become necessary because even relatively small defects may cause unwanted aberrations in the semiconductor devices.
In some semiconductor inspection recipes, users draw care areas, which are rectangles defined by their width, height, and x and y offset from a fixed origin such as the die corner. The care areas are defined at setup time using a single wafer. During inspection, these care areas are placed with respect to the die corners for each wafer to be inspected thereafter. Under certain conditions, this approach is sufficiently accurate for inspection. However, there are several use cases where this approach lacks accuracy and is insufficient. For example, aligning the dies and shifting the care areas can negatively affect accuracy.
If there are multiple dies that composite a single die (e.g., reconstituted dies) then each constituent die will vary in placement with respect to the die corner. This prevents the care areas from being offset by a common shift. Thus, each care area needs to have its own adjustment, which can include shift and rotation.
Previous approaches cannot account for changes in size of the underlying feature. For example, if the bond pads in a current wafer are of a different size than the wafer on which care areas were drawn, parts of the bond pad may go uninspected or may cause nuisance defects.
Previous approaches also cannot account for when multiple layers are visible and there are care areas around structures in each layer. The individual layers may have some shift due to the stepper, and so a global alignment will not be able to shift care areas properly.
FIGS. 1-4 provide examples and additional explanation of the problems solved by the present disclosure.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a die image 100. Within die image 100 are square features 101, redistribution layer (RDL) 102, and pillar features 103. Die image 100 is an example of a die with features in ideal alignment and ideal scale. This ideal alignment and ideal scale is discernable when a care area is overlaid on the die image.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the placement of care areas on a die image 200. A plurality of care areas have been overlaid (dotted lines) on features including square features 201 with square care area regions overlaid, RDL features 202 with rectangle care area regions overlaid, and pillar features 203 with circle care area regions overlaid. In FIG. 2, the depicted care areas are in alignment with and are properly scaled to the features 201, 202, and 203 on the die image 200.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a die image 300. Within die image 300 are square features 301, RDL features 302, and pillar features 303. Die image 300 is an example of a die with features in non-ideal alignment or non-ideal scale in accordance with some of the use cases discussed herein. This non-ideal alignment or non-ideal scaling is discernable when a care area is overlaid on the die image.
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the placement of care areas on a die image 400. A plurality of care areas have been overlaid (dotted lines) on features including square features 401 with square care area regions overlaid, RDL features 402 with rectangle care area regions overlaid, and pillar features 403 with circle care area regions overlaid. In FIG. 4, the depicted care areas are out-of-alignment with and improperly scaled to the features 401, 402, and 403 on the die image 400.
In summary, the previous methods do not address the core problem of a spatial shift of the underlying structure.
Therefore, improved defect identification methods and systems are needed.

Adaptive care areas for die-die inspection


A servo system includes a first member and a second member that is positionable relative to the first member. A position error signal causes the second member to be positioned at a desired location relative to the first member. The position error signal includes a position error due to a disturbance in the servo system, and the position error is reduced by attenuation of a disturbance signal as a non-linear function of the amplitude of the disturbance signal.

A disk drive is a data storage device that stores servo and user data in substantially concentric tracks on a data storage disk. During disk drive operation, the disk is rotated about an axis while a transducer reads data from and/or writes data to a target track of the disk. A servo loop positions the transducer above the target track while the data transfer occurs. The servo loop uses servo data read from the disk as position feedback to maintain the transducer in a substantially centered position above the target track.
The servo data includes magnetic flux transitions such that when the transducer passes over the flux transitions the transducer generates a read signal. The read signal can be demodulated and decoded to provide a position error signal that indicates the position of the transducer relative to a track. The position error signal is used by the servo loop to correct the position of the transducer relative to the track.
Disturbances in the disk drive can increase position errors by introducing disturbance signals into the position error signal. Such disturbances can have a variable amplitude at a very narrow frequency band. For example, non-repeatable run out (NRRO) is a random disturbance due to a rocking mode excited by imperfections of balls in the disk drive spindle motor bearing. The disturbance amplitude varies from disk drive to disk drive and from time to time.
Attempts have been made to reduce the position error in the position error signal that is due to disturbances such as NRRO. In one conventional approach, a notch filter attenuates narrow-band disturbance signals in the position error signal. In order to provide adequate attenuation, the notch filter has a sharp and deep decrease in gain around the frequency of the disturbance. The amount of notch is determined empirically. However, this approach has a number of drawbacks. First, there is always a fixed level of attenuation regardless of the disturbance level, which can vary significantly. Further, the disturbance may not occur in all disk drives, and not all the time. For example, there may be more disturbance due to temperature rise or other excitation effect/force. A conventional linear disturbance signal attenuator uses a notch filter to attenuate the disturbance signal even if there is no, or minimal, disturbance. This increases position error and lowers performance.
Further, a notch filter affects the error transfer function over the entire frequency range. (The error transfer function is the frequency response that determines the position error.) Because the resulting error transfer function is distorted by the notch filter from its highly optimized original shape, the performance is worse if the targeted disturbance is not present in the position error signal. Additionally, the fixed (linear) notch filter causes ringing in the steady-state response due to the exaggerated frequency response at the notch frequency.
As a compromise, some conventional servo controllers use a notch filter with very weak attenuation (around 3 dB). However, weak attenuation is insufficient when the disturbance is large. A notch filter for attenuating disturbances is further complicated because the notch frequency can fall on a phase cross-over frequency, where robustness constraints severely limit notch design.
Another conventional approach uses a state estimator with an internal model principle to estimate a torque disturbance form. The estimator is based on Kalman filter theory, requiring that statistical characteristics be known a priori to design the filter. However, this is also a linear system that suffers from similar problems as the notch filter. Such a linear system deteriorates the performance of the servo controller if the target disturbance is very small or not present.
Accordingly, there is a need for reducing the position error in a position error signal due to narrow-band disturbance that introduces a disturbance signal in the position error signal while maintaining servo controller performance.

Disturbance signal reduction in servo systems


An adaptive array radio apparatus (1010) includes an A/D converter (1200.1–1200.n) receiving respective signals from an array antenna for conversion into a digital signal from an analog signal, a down sampling device (1210.1–1210.n) receiving an output from the A/D converter (1200.1–1200.n) for down-sampling, and an adaptive array processing unit (1250) receiving an output from a synchronizing position estimation device (1230) to carry out adaptive array processing. In accordance with a timing adjust signal for the down sampling device (1210.1–1210.n), the minimum square error signal is output from the adaptive array processing unit (1250). Accordingly, calibration processing having transmission directivity of an adaptive array radio device can be carried out properly.

In the field of mobile communication systems (for example, Personal Handyphone System: PHS) evolving rapidly these few years, a PDMA (Path Division Multiple Access) system that allows radio mobile terminal devices (hereinafter, terminal) of a plurality of users to effect spatial multiple access to a radio base system (hereinafter, base station) by dividing the same time slot of the same frequency spatially has been proposed in order to improve the usage efficiency of radio frequency.
In this PDMA system, the adaptive array technique is employed. Adaptive array processing is directed to extract a signal properly from a desired terminal by calculating a weight vector composed of reception coefficients (weight) for respective antennas of the base station for adaptive control, based on a reception signal from a terminal.
By such adaptive array processing, the uplink signal from the antenna of each user terminal is received by the array antenna of the base station, and then separated and extracted with reception directivity by the reception weights of the current user terminal.
Since there is no variation in the propagation path (the zone between the antenna end of the base station and the antenna end of the terminal) assuming that the time difference between reception and transmission at the base station is 0, the downlink signal from the base station to the relevant terminal is transmitted from the array antenna of the base station with transmission directivity towards the antenna of the relevant terminal by applying the reception weights obtained at the time of receptions as transmission weight information.
The adaptive array processing set forth above is well known in the field of art, and described in detail in, for example, "Adaptive Signal Processing by Array Antenna" (Kagaku Gijutsu Shuppan), issued Nov. 25, 1998, pp. 35–49, "Chapter 3: MMSE Adaptive Array" by Nobuyoshi Kikuma. The operating mechanism thereof will be described briefly hereinafter.
In the following description, the base station that provides downlink transmission directivity control with respect to a terminal employing such adaptive array processing will be referred to as adaptive array base station hereinafter.
In the PDMA set forth above, the signal of each user is separated using a frequency filter, time synchronization between the base station and each user mobile terminal device, and a mutual interference canceller such as an adaptive array.
FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a transmission and reception system 2000 of a conventional base station for PDMA, realized using an adaptive array radio device.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 8, four antennas #1–#4 are provided to establish identification between a user PS1 and a user PS2.
In a reception operation, the outputs of antennas are provided to an RF circuit 2101 to be amplified by reception amplifiers, and then frequency-converted by a local oscillation signal. The converted signals have the unnecessary frequency signal removed by filters, are subjected to A/D conversion, and then applied to a digital signal processor 2102 as digital signals.
Digital signal processor 2102 includes a channel allocation reference calculator 2103, a channel allocating apparatus 2104, and an adaptive array 2100. Channel allocation reference calculator 2103 calculates in advance whether the signals from two users can be separated by the adaptive array. Based on the calculation result, channel allocating apparatus 2104 provides channel allocation information including user information, selecting frequency and time, to adaptive array 2100. Adaptive array 2100 applies a weighting operation in real time on the signals from the four antennas #1–#4 based on the channel allocation information to separate only the signals of a particular user.
[Configuration of Adaptive Array Antenna]
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a transmission and reception unit 2100a corresponding to one user in adaptive array 2100. The example of FIG. 9 has n input ports 2020-1 to 2020-n to extract the signal of the desired user from input signals including the signals of a plurality of users.
The signals input to respective input ports 2020-1 to 2020-n are applied via respective switch circuits 2010-1 to 2010-n to a weight vector control unit 2011 and respective multipliers 2012-1 to 2012-n.
Weight vector control unit 2011 calculates weight vectors w1i–wni using input signals, a unique word signal corresponding to the signal of a particular user stored in advance in memory 2014, and the output of an adder 2013. As used herein, subscript "i" implies that the weight vector is employed for transmission/reception with the i-th user.
Multipliers 2012-1 to 2012-n multiply the input signals from input ports 2020-1 to 2020-n by weight vectors w1i–wni, respectively. The multiplied result is applied to adder 2013. Adder 2013 adds the output signals from multipliers 2012-1 to 2012-n to output the added signals as a reception signal SRX(t). This reception signal SRX(t) is also applied to weight vector control unit 2011.
Transmission and reception unit 2100a further includes multipliers 2015-1 to 2015-n receiving an output signal STX(t) to be transmitted from the adaptive array radio base station to multiply the same by respective weight vectors w1i–wni applied from weight vector control unit 2011 for output. The outputs of multipliers 2015-1 to 2015-n are applied to switch circuits 2010-1 to 2010-n , respectively. Specifically, switch circuits 2010-1 to 2010-n provide the signals applied from input ports 2020-1 to 2020-n to a signal receiver unit 1R in a signal receiving mode, and provides the signal from a signal transmitter unit 1T to input/output ports 2020-1 to 2020-n in a signal transmission mode.
[Operating Mechanism of Adaptive Array]
The operating mechanism of transmission and reception unit 2100a of FIG. 9 will be described briefly here.
For the sake of simplfying the description hereinafter, it is assumed that there are four antenna elements, and two users PS effect communication at the same time. In such a case, signals applied to reception unit 1R from respective antennas are represented by the equations set forth below.RX1(t)=h11Srx1(t)+h12Srx2(t)+n1(t)  (1)RX2(t)=h21Srx1(t)+h22Srx2(t)+n2(t)  (2)RX3(t)=h31Srx1(t)+h32Srx2(t)+n3(t)  (3)RX4(t)=h41Srx1(t)+h42Srx2(t)+n4(t)  (4)
Signal RXj(t) represents a reception signal of the j-th (j=1, 2, 3, 4) antenna. Signal Srxi(t) represents a signal transmitted by the i-th (i=1, 2) user.
Coefficient hji represents the complex coefficient of a signal from the i-th user received at the j-th antenna, and nj(t) represents the noise included in the j-th reception signal.
The above equations (1)–(4) may be represented in vector form as follows:X(t)=H1Srx1(t)+H2Srx2(t)+N(t)  (5)X(t)=[RX1(t), RX2(t), . . . RX4(t)]T  (6)Hi=[h1i, h2i, . . . , h4i]T, (i=1, 2)  (7)N(t)=[n1(t), n2(t), . . . n4(t)]T  (8)
In equations (6)–(8), [ ] T denotes the transposition of [. . . ]. Here, X (t) represents the input signal vector, Hi the reception signal coefficient vector of the i-th user, and N (t) a noise vector.
The adaptive array antenna outputs as a reception signal SRX(t) a synthesized signal obtained by multiplying the input signals from respective antennas by respective weight coefficients w1i–wni, as shown in FIG. 9.
Given these preliminaries, the operation of an adaptive array in the case of extracting a signal Srx1(t) transmitted by, for example, the first user is set forth below.
Output signal y1 (t) of adaptive array 2100 can be represented by the following equations by multiplying input signal vector X(t) by weight vector W1.y1(t)=X(t)W1T  (9)W1=[W11, W21, W31, W41]T  (10)In other words, weight vector W1 is a vector with the weight coefficients wj1 (j=1, 2, 3, 4) to be multiplied by the j-th input signals RXj (t) as elements.
Substituting input signal vector X (t) represented by equation (5) into y1(t) represented by equation (9) yields:y1(t)=H1W1TSrx1(t)+H2W1TSrx2(t)+N(t)W1T  (11)
By a well known method, weight vector W1 is sequentially controlled by weight vector control unit 2011 so as to satisfy the following simultaneous equations when adaptive array 2100 operates in an ideal situation. As used herein, the adaptive array processing to obtain such weight vectors determines the optimum weight by minimizing the difference (error signal) between the reference signal that is the desired array response and the actual array output signal. In this minimization of the error signal, the minimum mean square error (MMSE) method is employed.H1W1T=1  (12)H2W1T=0  (13)
If weight vector W1 is perfectly controlled so as to satisfy equations (12) and (13), output signal y1(t) from adaptive array 2100 is eventually represented by the following equations.y1(t)=Srx1(t)+N1(t)  (14)N1(t)=n1(t)w11+n2(t)W21+n3(t)W31+n4(t)W41  (15)
Specifically, signal Srx1(t) emitted from the first of the two users will be obtained for output signal y1(t).
In FIG. 9, input signal STX(t) for adaptive array 2100 is applied to transmitter unit 1T in adaptive array 2100 to be applied to respective one inputs of multipliers 2015-1, 2015-2, 2015-3, . . . , 2015-n. To the other inputs of these multipliers, weight vectors w1i, w2i, w3i, . . . , wni calculated by weight vector control unit 2011 based on reception signals described above are copied and applied.
The input signals weighted by these multipliers are delivered to corresponding antennas #1, #2, #3, . . . , #n via corresponding switches 2010-1, 2010-2, 2010-3, 2010-n for transmission.
Identification of users PS1 and PS2 is made as set forth below. A radio wave signal of a cellular phone is transmitted in frame form. The radio wave signal of a cellular phone is mainly composed of a preamble formed of a signal series known to a radio base station, and data (voice and the like) formed of a signal series unknown to the radio base station.
The preamble signal series includes a signal stream of information to identify whether the current user is the appropriate user to converse for the radio base station. Weight vector control unit 2011 of adaptive array radio base station 1 compares the unique word signal corresponding to user A output from memory 2014 with the received signal series to conduct weight vector control (determine weight coefficients) so as to extract the signal expected to include the signal series corresponding to user PS1.
[Calibration of Adaptive Array Radio Device]
However, even if there is no variation in the propagation path, difference in transmission characteristics such as in the phase rotation and amplitude variation between transmission and reception signals will occur between the reception signal path and the transmission signal path due to the physical difference between the reception signal path and the transmission signal path in the adaptive array base station (for example, due to the difference in the path length, difference in the properties of the device such as amplifiers and filters included in the reception circuit and the transmission circuit, and the like).
If there is difference in the transmission characteristics between the transmission and reception signals within the adaptive array base station, the optimum transmission directivity cannot be directed to the terminal of the transmission destination based on the method that directly employs the reception weight set forth above as the transmission weight.
Thus, calibration is generally carried out to compensate for the difference between the transmission characteristic of the reception signal path and the transmission characteristic of the transmission signal path within the base station at the time of shipment from the factory to achieve the optimum transmission directivity.
FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram to describe the configuration of a calibration system 3000 directed to conducting, at the time of shipment from the factory, calibration with respect to adaptive array base station 3010 identified as the base station.
Referring to FIG. 10, calibration-system 3000 includes an adaptive array radio device 3010 that is the subject of calibration, a clock generator 3020 to generate a reference clock for the calibration mode, signal generators 3030.1 and 3030.2 generating modulating signals to be used for calibration, a spectrum analyzer 3040 to measure the power of a signal transmitted from adaptive array radio device 3010, a power divider 3060 arranged between signal generators 3030.1, 3030.2 and adaptive array radio device 3010, a circulator 3050 to selectively pass through a signal in a direction from a node corresponding to signal generator 3030.2 of power divider 3060 towards spectrum analyzer 3040 and in a direction from signal generator 3030.2 towards power divider 3060, attenuators 3070.1-3070.n provided between the nodes corresponding to the plurality of antennas of adaptive array radio device 3010 and the plurality of input/output nodes of the power divider, and a control personal computer (referred to as "control PC" hereinafter) 3100 to control the calibration operation.
Power divider 3060 may be a Butler matrix.
A conventional calibration operation will be described briefly hereinafter.
Based on a measurement device control signal from control PC 3100, signal generators 3030.1 and 3030.2 generate modulating signals for calibration. These modulating signals are applied to adaptive array radio device 3010 via power divider 3060 and attenuators 3070.1-3070.n.
At adaptive array radio device 3010, the transmission weight is adjusted so as to have directivity with respect to a signal from signal generator 3030.1 in accordance with the radio device control signal from control PC 3100. If the transmission characteristic of the reception signal path matches the transmission characteristic of the transmission signal path of adaptive array radio device 3010 in this state of affairs, the power of the signal towards signal generator 3030.2, i.e. the power detected by spectrum analyzer 3040, should be "0".
However, in practice, there is deviation in the transmission characteristic of the reception signal path from the transmission characteristic of the transmission signal path in adaptive array radio device 3010. Therefore, a correction value must be applied to the amplitude and phase of the transmission weight calculated at adaptive array radio device 3010 so as to adjust the power detected at spectrum analyzer 3040 to become "0".
To this end, the correction values to be applied to the amplitude and phase of the transmission weight calculated at adaptive array radio device 3101 are sequentially modified while monitoring the measurement value of spectrum analyzer 3040 to find an optimum correction value.
By such a procedure, calibration can be conducted with respect to adaptive array radio device 3010.
However, in the conventional calibration system 3000 set forth above, the reception timing of adaptive array radio device 3010 is in synchronization with the signal output timing of signal generators 3030.1 and 3030.2 of the measurement system based on a clock signal from a common clock generator 3020.
If the sampling timing of analog-digital conversion (A/D conversion) carried out during signal processing at adaptive array radio device 3010 is an integral multiple of or is 1/integer times the external clock in such a system, the timing between the measurement system and adaptive array radio device 3010 can be made to match without any error. In practice, the sampling timing of A/D conversion is not an integral multiple of or 1/integer times the external clock. Therefore, there is some error between the timings thereof. Thus, there was a problem that there is an error in the calibration correction value.
It is to be further noted that calibration processing is carried out with the synchronization of the reception signal fixed, based on the assumption that the apparatus is configured so as to establish synchronization between the measurement system and adaptive array radio device 3010. However, even with such measurement form based on fixation, the occasion arises where there is deviation of approximately several symbols in synchronization between adaptive array radio device 3010 and the measurement system due to aging and the like. There was a problem that the clock must be adjusted again on such events.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a radio apparatus that can conduct calibration processing of transmission directivity properly for an adaptive array radio device, a calibration system, a calibration method of transmission directivity, and a calibration program of transmission directivity.

Radio device, radio device calibration system, calibration method, and calibration program


A method and apparatus for controlling a gain of an amplifier of a cable modem operating in a full duplex (FDX) mode. A cable modem includes an amplifier configured to amplify a received signal, a power meter configured to measure a power of the received signal on a plurality of channels, and a control unit configured to estimate a maximum expected power to receive on the plurality of channels based on the measured power and set a gain of the amplifier based on the maximum expected power. The cable modem is configured to operate in a full duplex mode. The channels include a full duplex upstream channel, a full duplex downstream channel, and a legacy downstream channel. The maximum expected power may be estimated via a sounding procedure. A power spectral density may be measured and the maximum expected power may be derived from the power spectral density.

FIG. 1 shows an example cable network 100. The multiple systems operators (MSOs) infrastructure (e.g. a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) network) includes two primary components: a cable modem (CM) 110 and a cable modem termination system (CMTS) 120 that are connected via a hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network 130. The cable modem 110 is located at or near the customer premises and the CMTS 120 is located at the cable network headend. The cable modem 110 may or may not be a DOCSIS 3.1 FDX-compatible cable modem.
A cable modem input amplifier is used to scale the input signal such that an optimal signal-to-quantization noise ratio is achieved at an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) output, while avoiding undesirable clipping. In former generations of the DOCSIS standards (i.e. DOCSIS 3.1 and previous versions), this could be achieved by implementing an automatic gain control (AGC) mechanism that measures the signal power continuously and adjusts the amplifier gain accordingly.
FIG. 2 shows an example implementation of an AGC in a cable modem. The output of the amplifier 210 (e.g. a low noise amplifier (LNA)) is measured by a power meter 220 and a feedback signal is sent back to the amplifier 210 via a low pass filter 230 for controlling a gain of the amplifier 210.
Since the signal power at the receiver input is stable the gain setting converges after a short period of time. The cable modem's upstream (US) signal is transmitted in bursts, whereas cable modem's downstream (DS) signal, which is the signal transmitted by the CMTS (the device transmitting the downstream to and receiving the upstream from all the cable modems and controlling the cable plant) is typically present all the time (continuous). Furthermore, cable modem's upstream and downstream signals occupy different regions of frequency spectrum as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows the DOCSIS 3.1 spectrum plan for mid-split configuration. The DOCSIS 3.1 standard also defines sub-split and high-split spectrum plans where the upstream band ends at different frequencies and the downstream band starts at different frequencies. Both the sub-split and high-split spectrum plans also provide a sufficient guard band.
As shown in FIG. 3, the downstream band 310 and the upstream band 330 are separated by a guard band 320 of 23 MHz from 85 MHz to 108 MHz. Therefore, the downstream and upstream can be isolated from each other using a diplexer (filters). The guard band 320 provides a sufficient transition band for practical analogue filter implementation. With the filters in place, the signal at the input to the low noise amplifier in the receiver may only contain a downstream signal, which is in a continuous mode, and therefore has stable power over time.
In the recently developed DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex (FDX) systems it is not possible to isolate upstream and downstream signals at the cable modem input as it was in the legacy DOCSIS 3.1 systems. The reason is that a dedicated spectral region (called FDX band) is used to convey both upstream and downstream signals and hence the cable modem has to be able to receive and transmit in the FDX band. The FDX band 430 is located between the upstream-only band 420 and the downstream-only band 410 as shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 4 shows the DOCSIS FDX spectrum plan. The FDX band 430 is divided into several sub-bands 432 (e.g. 3 sub-bands as shown in FIG. 4). Individual cable modems operate in a frequency division duplex (FDD) mode, meaning that a cable modem is not required to receive and transmit at the same time in the same FDX sub-band 432. Accordingly, each sub-band 432 is dedicated for either upstream or downstream traffic for each cable modem. Thus, there are 8 possible resource block allocations (RBA). The FDX sub-bands 432 are not fixed in their bandwidth or their location on the frequency axis. The DOCSIS FDX standard defines 8 different layouts of these FDX sub-bands 432. In addition, there are no guard-bands defined between the FDX sub-bands 432. For these three reasons (i.e. 8 different possibilities for the RBA, 8 different layouts of the FDX sub-bands 432, and lack of guard-bands between FDX sub-bands 432) protection of the cable modem's input from upstream signals by filtering may not be achieved efficiently and flexibly. Separating upstream and downstream by filtering would require 8 different filter banks which need to be selected dynamically with each change of the RBA. The selected FDX sub-bands layout requires different filter corner frequencies of the filter bank which requires to design cable modems specific for the FDX sub-band layouts. Additionally, due to the lack of guard-bands between the FDX sub-bands 432 and the finite slope of filter edges of analog filter designs would cause a significant reduction of data throughput. Hence the gain control mechanism has to be capable to optimize the LNA gain in the presence of upstream and downstream signal components.
FIG. 5 shows a self-interference signal and an interference signal to other cable modems in a cable network plant. A cable modem 510a transmits an upstream signal 502 to a CMTS 520 and receives a downstream signal 504 from the CMTS 520. The upstream signal originated by the signal transmitted by the cable modem 510a itself may appear on the receiver of the cable modem 510a since the isolation of the coupling circuitry (i.e. a coupler 540) combining upstream and downstream is not ideal. In addition, the cable modem 510a also gets a reflected upstream signal 508 of its own transmission from various points in the network, such as taps 530 in the physical coaxial cable plant. Taps 530 are passive devices used to combine upstream signals from different cable modems and to split downstream signal power to provide it to different cable modems. This signal component is called a self-interference (self IF) signal 508. The signal from the own transmitter is known and hence can be canceled by echo cancellation techniques before it reaches the amplifier input. Once the self-interference signal is largely cancelled using echo cancellation, the influence of this signal power on the LNA input can be neglected in a steady state.
On the other hand, a cable modem also receives an upstream signal transmitted in the FDX band from other cable modems. The upstream signals go through the coaxial plant between the cable modems including the taps 530. The taps 530 provide some isolation but it is not ideal. The example in FIG. 5 shows that an upstream signal 506 transmitted by a cable modem 510a appears at the receiver of a cable modem 510b. An upstream signal transmitted by one cable modem may appear at the receive input of other cable modems in some cases with a power level several dBs above the downstream power level.
An upstream signal is transmitted in bursts and hence the input signal power is not constant and can change abruptly by 10 dB or more. These changes may occur when other cable modems start transmitting upstream bursts, which couple to an input of a cable modem caused by the finite isolation of taps or other coupling devices on the coaxial plant. The time when power changes occur is unpredictable and hence a conventional gain control loop would not converge but always adapt to the changing power conditions. A constant gain receive chain from the input to the demodulator is required to be able to decode the signal without data loss or without using excessive margins.

Method and apparatus for controlling a gain of an amplifier of a cable modem


A method for setting a price for a product sold online by a subject merchant is provided. The method comprises accessing price information of at least one other merchant of the same product by applying a shopping robot to two or more shopping sites, including at least one price comparison site, with other offerings of the same product by other merchants; accessing pricing rules for the subject merchant that cover sales originating from the comparison site; applying the pricing rules to adjust the current product price at which the subject merchant offers the product on the two or more shopping sites to be more competitive; and responsive to a price adjustment that would reduce the product price so as to violate a specified profitability goal, increasing the shipping charges with which the merchant offers the product with the price adjustment on the two or more shopping sites.

Comparison shopping services like Froogle, Amazon, Yahoo Shopping, PriceWatch, NexTag, and Shopping.com provide on-line merchants with a free or relatively inexpensive way to gain access to new prospective customers. An online merchant provides one or more product descriptions and the corresponding pricing for display in a comparative listing with the same or similar products offered by other merchants. This may include just the goods price for each merchant or also shipping and handling pricing (and any necessary tax calculation), so that a true total price can be determined by a visitor to the comparison shopping service who wishes to explore and to place an order to a listed merchant. However, the very nature of comparison-shopping leads to price sensitive purchases and may tend to reduce the profit margins of online merchants that participate in such services.
It is often difficult for merchants to know the price at which their competition is selling a particular product. A number of other patent applications (e.g., U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 20040249643 and 20050071249) address this problem. However, the systems described in those publications focus on price setting and do not consider other adaptive changes such as modifying shipping cost that might affect marketplace positioning, nor do they address how to administer more than one price per item or the cost or type of the sales channels being used. In the following discussion of the invention, the term channel includes but is not limited to at least one comparison shopping service, at least one marketplace, at least one merchant shopping site or a combination of the three (for example a group comprising two comparison shopping services and a merchant shopping site, or a group comprising one shopping service, one marketplace, and three merchants.) That is, a channel represents one or more Internet sites where products are promoted and/or sold, and where some commonality makes it worthwhile to study sales of such sites together.
One technique that is available today to assist merchants in optimizing their business is "A/B Testing." This service, offered by providers such as Optimost and Offermatica, is typically used to evaluate web site layout, product placement, or the effectiveness of different promotional offers. For instance, if a merchant desires to know if its profits will be better by offering customers a discount of $10 on a $100 order or $20 on a $200 order, an A/B test might be appropriate. Traditionally, an A/B test provides one variation (the "A" purchase option) to a statistically significant sample of web site users and another variation (the "B" purchase option) to another statistically significant group of uses. (Note that the number of samples required for a statistically significant test is a function of the amount of performance difference between the "A" variation and the "B" variation, and is not generally known before the test.) The A/B test provider then measures the effectiveness or profitability of each option and determines if "A" or "B" (if either) results in better performance than a baseline option, typically the current offer.
Recently, A/B testing providers have expanded into multi-variate testing where multiple variations on multiple dimensions of a purchase option may be tested simultaneously. For example, a web site might test two different site layouts and two different promotions simultaneously, resulting in four possible combinations being tested. If a merchant attempts to test many different choices of multiple variables simultaneously, this multivariate approach may require an unrealistic number of experiments to determine reasonable solutions. Although A/B and related multivariate testing can be used to optimize product prices, coupon offers, or shipping promotions, one known problem with A/B testing is that it treats variables as discrete choices rather than recognizing that some of these variables may be continuous, non-linear, or even discontinuous. It is reasonable to expect that a price-demand curve will often have these characteristics and may not be most efficiently and accurately found by A/B testing. For more detail on these problems, one can review "AB Testing: Too Little, Too Early?" by John Quarto-vonTivadar, Future Now, Inc., 2005, or U.S. Patent Publication 20040204979). As a further example of A/B testing limitations, consider a product that has a peak in sales at a price of $95, but has identical, lower sales at prices of $90 and $100. If the merchant attempts A/B testing at $90 and $100, the merchant will not see any performance difference and will never find the ideal price of $95 because that price was never evaluated. Another limitation of A/B testing to consider is that it only looks at the merchant's pricing and sales data. A merchant might more quickly identify the peak profit point of the price-demand curve by observing prices at which other merchants are offering the product. For the above reasons, there is a need in the art for a better price optimization technique than A/B testing.
Typically, comparison-shopping services do not process transactions directly (although Amazon and eBay are exceptions). Instead they forward prospective customers to the merchant's website. The comparison services receive revenue either 'per click' for directing customers to a merchant website or on a pay-per-click advertising model for ads that are shown alongside the merchant's price data on the comparison site.
Typically, online stores offer a single price per product regardless of from which referring site a customer arrived at the merchant's site. Therefore, if a merchant identifies that a competitor on a particular comparison site is selling a product for a lower price and matches or beats the offer, the merchant will change its price on its website, which is then the offered price for all customers, whether or not they discovered the merchant from the particular comparison shopping service where the merchant was trying to maintain price competitiveness. Thus the merchant may lower its profit margin for all orders of that product.
Further, prior art comparison-shopping services typically compare a single price per product per merchant. Because some sales channels, such as auction sites, support multiple prices such as buy-it-now, bid start and reserve prices, it may be more useful for the merchant to address separately these multiple types of pricing per product for the merchant's various on-line sales channels.
Further, many comparison-shopping services compare the product price but not the "total price" after including shipping charges to a certain destination. So two merchants may charge the same for the product but their shipping prices may differ considerably.
A key problem to solve is that merchants need to use comparison-shopping services to attract customers but need a better way to optimize their profit margin based upon the information available to the customer at the time of their shopping. For example, a merchant that normally sells a product for $200 may be willing to sell it for $150 to match a competitor on a comparison site. But the merchant only wants to offer the $150 price if the customer is at a shopping comparison site where competitors are offering a price such that $150 may be attractive. If other merchants on the comparison-shopping site are offering extremely low prices, the merchant may need also to determine whether its cost structure and overall selling strategy permit it to offer an equivalent or lower price. To do this requires more functionality, optimization logic, and tighter integration with e-commerce stores than is offered by existing e-commerce offerings.
Another problem that merchants face is knowing what prices the market will bear. For instance, a product selling well at a price of $12.50 may sell equally well at $12.75, but then not sell well at $12.99. Traditionally, brick and mortar merchants may estimate price and demand curves via 'test marketing' that offers different prices or products to customers of stores in different locales. However, this form of test marketing does not apply to e-commerce stores, because the location of the computers hosting the store has no relevance to the location of the customer.
A further problem is how a merchant should decide which of its products to sell on which sales channels, because the sales channels have different pricing models that include listing fees, insertion fees, final value fee at sale, upload fee, store fee, picture fee, fees based on category, credit card fee and transaction fee. Determining the true cost of a channel is important to merchants, since a product's total channel cost affects the effectiveness of the channel. The price of product is also a consideration; some channels' costs are prohibitively expensive for low-cost-low margin products while others are not effective for high-priced products. Another problem is when to re-list or when to abandon auction sales that did not result in finding a buyer. For example if sales channel "A" charges a flat rate of $2.00 for each product sold, then a merchant selling products with profit margins that are less than $2.00 will lose money using channel "A". However, if sales channel "B" charges 1% of product cost, then the merchant can sell those same products with a margin of less than $2.00 but greater than 1% of product cost on channel "B" and still make a profit.
It would be desirable to have tools to assist on-line sellers in selecting prices that improve sales and profitability.

System for on-line merchant price setting


A turbine blade with a pressure side wall having a plurality of radial extending near wall cooling channels to provide near wall cooling, where each radial channel includes a converging channel with an opening that discharges cooling air out from the blade tip in a direction offset toward an on-coming hot gas flow to reduce leakage. A plurality of radial cooling channels extends along the pressure side wall and a concave shaped depression formed in the pressure side wall adjacent to the radial channels provides a deflecting surface for the flow on the pressure side wall surface. If the blade tip forms a squealer pocket, then the suction side tip rail can also include radial extending channels with converging channels formed within the tip rail to discharge cooling air toward the leakage at the suction side tip rail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine, and more specifically to a turbine blade with near wall cooling and tip sealing.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
In a gas turbine engine, turbine airfoils such as rotor blades and stator vanes are cooled by passing pressurized cooling air through internal cooling air passages to produce convection cooling, impingement cooling and even film cooling of the outer airfoil surface in order to allow for higher gas flow temperatures across these airfoils. Higher turbine inlet temperatures allow for higher efficiencies of the turbine and therefore of the engine. However, the highest obtainable turbine inlet temperature is limited to the metal properties of the airfoils. Improved cooling and sealing of these airfoils will allow for higher temperatures and therefore improved performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,232 issued to Moore on Dec. 30, 1997 and entitled COOLED AIRFOILS FOR A GAS TURBINE ENGINE discloses a turbine blade with pressure and suction side walls formed around a cooling air feed chamber, where the two walls include rows of radial extending cooling air passages that extend along the entire airfoil surface and provide convection cooling to the airfoil walls. FIG. 1 shows this blade cooling system. Re-supply holes connected each radial passage to the feed chamber to re-supply cooling air and produce impingement cooling of the inner wall surface. Film cooling holes also discharge film cooling air from the radial passages and onto the outer airfoil surface. The cooling air from the radial passages also discharges out from the blade tip to produce sealing against the blade outer air seal of the engine shroud.
FIG. 2 shows one disadvantage of the blade cooling radial channels of the prior art discussed above. For the blade mid-chord section cooled with the radial flow channels, the near wall radial flow channel at the tip discharge section experiences external cross flow effect. This is represented by the arrows in FIG. 1. Because of this cross flow effect, an over-temperature will occur at the locations of the blade pressure tip regions. This external cross flow effect on the near wall radial flow channel is caused by the non-uniformity of the radial channel discharge pressure profile and the blade tip leakage flow across the radial channel exit location.


A method and system for wireless mobile unit communication within a wireless network having geographic areas for preferred communication usage is provided. An estimated geographic location of a mobile unit is determined. The mobile unit is provided with relative position data of at least one preferred communication area relative to the determined mobile unit estimated location. The mobile unit is then relocated to a preferred communication area based on the relative position data. Preferably, a request for a pre-designated preferred communication area location is initiated by a mobile unit transmission and received by a network base station. The mobile unit can be equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) to determine the mobile unit's estimated location. Transmission of estimated location data can be dependent upon whether the mobile unit or the network calculates relative position data.

Wireless communication systems are well known in the art. Generally, such systems comprise communication stations which transmit and receive wireless communication signals between each other. Typically, base stations are provided which are capable of conducting wireless concurrent communications with a plurality of subscriber stations generically known as wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs), which include mobile units. Generally, the term base station as used herein includes, but is not limited to, a base station, Node B, site controller, access point, or other interfacing device in a wireless environment that provides wireless access to the network with which it is associated. The term WTRU as used herein includes, but is not limited to, a user equipment, mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, pager, or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment.
WTRUs include personal communication devices, such as phones, video phones, and Internet ready phones that have network connections. In addition, WTRUs include portable personal computing devices, such as PDAs and notebook computers, with wireless modems that have similar network capabilities.
WTRUs that are portable or can otherwise change location are referred to as mobile units. For mobile units, preserving battery life is generally an important consideration in designing both the mobile unit and communication networks in which it operates. There are several ways to achieve the goal of reduced power consumption in a mobile unit. For example, an increase in the number of connecting base stations within a geographic region can translate into decreased power needed for mobile unit communications.
FIG. 1a illustrates a mobile unit 104 in a wireless local area network (WLAN) 106 where a base station 102 is located at the center of the WLAN 106. As the mobile unit 104 travels away from the base station 102, the WTRU 104 and the base station 102 must increase power to ensure the same quality of service (QoS) in their wireless communication.
FIG. 1b illustrates a WLAN 112, a mobile unit 107 and nine base stations 101, 103, 105, 109, 111, 113, 115, and 117. The dense concentration of base stations reduces the distance from the mobile unit 107 to each base station. This allows the mobile units and base stations to use less transmitting power, because of the shorter distances. Such dense concentration of base stations reduces power requirements due to transmission distance, but at a cost of increased interference. The increase in interference may require the mobile units and base stations to increase transmitting power, thereby nullifying the power conservation and attendant battery life preservation.
A system can reduce interference by determining the location of each mobile unit and focusing a base station's antenna beam pattern at each mobile unit's direction. Focusing an antenna's beam pattern is also known as beam forming.
FIGS. 2a–c illustrate antenna radiation patterns in a system using beam forming such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/305,595 owned by the assignee of the present application. FIG. 2a illustrates a base station 10 with an antenna pattern 12 that concentrates radio frequency energy to and from a mobile unit UE1 based on the mobile unit's relative location.
Beam forming can be selectively utilized in the servicing of multiple wireless concurrent communications with multiple beams or a single beam which is controlled based upon factors such as location and relative interference. FIGS. 2b and 2c illustrate two different scenarios of base station 10 concentrating radio frequency energy to and from mobile units UE2 and UE3 based on different mobile unit relative locations.
To utilize beam forming, the location of the mobile unit must first be determined. Location determination can be achieved by any of a variety of known methods. For example, the mobile unit can determine its own location using a built-in global positioning system (GPS) receiver and report its location to the network. A network can also determine the location of a mobile unit using AOA (Angle of Arrival), TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival), or Doppler techniques. A hybrid method can be used where a network assists a mobile unit to determine its own location. Generally, each method produces an estimate of the relative mobile unit location with an associated margin of estimation error.
There are many ways for service providers to offer and control network access. For example, a popular wireless local area network protocol with one or more WLAN access points may be built on the IEEE 802.11b standard. In some such networks, selected WLAN service may be provided in relatively small, well defined geographic areas known as "hot spots." These areas allow users the ability to go "on-line" with their mobile units and access a wireless network.
"Hot Spot" WLAN communication systems can advantageously be deployed in many locations, such as airports, coffee shops, and libraries. Access to these networks is typically achieved through a user authentication procedure. As the IEEE 802 families of standards are always evolving, such procedures are not yet fully standardized in the WLAN technology area.
Applicants have recognized a problem with "hot spot" communications in that a user may have trouble locating where the hot spot communication areas are, more particularly where the user should be physically located to obtain the best QoS within the WLAN.

Location based method and system for wireless mobile unit communication


A pixel structure includes a backup thin film transistor with a float gate electrode or a float drain electrode and a working thin film transistor. When the pixel of the working thin film transistor does not work, the backup thin film transistor replaces the working thin film transistor to drive the pixel. The method of repairing the pixel is to cut off the connection between the drain electrode of the working thin film transistor and the pixel electrode, and then to connect the main gate electrode or the drain electrode of the backup thin film transistor to the gate electrode or the drain electrode of the working thin film transistor, such that the backup thin film transistor can replace the working thin film transistor to drive the pixel electrode.

In general, to repair a defective pixel of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), a bright point of the pixel is often converted to a dark point or a gray point, but this pixel is still a permanent defective pixel.
FIG. 1 shows the conventional equivalent circuit of a pixel structure to explain the circuit of a TFT LCD. As shown in this figure, for a pixel, the gate electrode 410 electrically connects to a scan line 200, the source electrode 420 electrically connects to a data line 100 and the drain electrode 430 electrically connects to a pixel electrode 300.
FIG. 2 is the conventional equivalent circuit of a repaired pixel, which is repaired into a dark point. The drain electrode 430 of the pixel is shortened at a repair point 510 to electrically connect to a scan line 200. Since the pixel electrode 300 is electrically connected to the scan line 200 directly, the defective pixel shows a dark point.
FIG. 3 is the equivalent circuit of a repaired pixel, which is repaired into a gray point. The drain electrode 430 of the pixel is shortened at a repair point 520 to electrically connect to a data line 100. Since the pixel electrode 300 is electrically connected to the data line 100 directly, the defective pixel becomes a gray point.
However, the dark point or the gray point, which is still a defect of a TFT LCD, influences display performance. Furthermore, a bright point is a critical defect for a TFT LCD, so it is repaired into a dark point or a gray point. However, the display performance of a TFT LCD is still not significantly improved because of the permanent existence of a defective pixel. So, how to repair a defective pixel into a normal pixel and to prevent the defect is an important technique.

Pixel structure having two TFTs connected to pixel electrode, second TFT having floating main gate electrode and top gate electrode, with repair method connecting the gate electrodes of the two TFTs


Moving pictures are played back and displayed in a “moving picture display area” of a liquid crystal monitor. If a menu/OK button is pressed and a still picture extract command is issued during playback of moving pictures, then a predetermined number of frames of the still picture data obtained immediately before, immediately after, and before and after the moment when the still picture extract command is input is extracted together with the still picture data obtained at the moment when the still picture extract command is input from the moving picture data at predetermined intervals. Then, it is played back and displayed in a “still picture display area” of the liquid crystal monitor, and is recorded as a still picture file in a memory card.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing program and an image processing apparatus, and more specifically to an image processing program and an image processing apparatus capable of extracting a still picture from moving pictures and recording the extracted image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a still picture is segmented from captured moving pictures, and recorded on a record medium as still picture data separately from the original moving picture data.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-177453 discloses an apparatus capable of taking a favorite scene with a shutter key pressed while confirming moving pictures played back on a screen so that the scene can be printed as a still image on the apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-152165 also proposes extracting an output scene at predetermined time intervals from moving pictures recorded on a record medium, and outputting the scene as a still picture on another record medium.