Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. In some systems, a user equipment (UE) may perform channel state information (CSI) measurements on one or more reference signal transmissions received from a base station. Based on the CSI measurements, the UE may generate a CSI report, and the UE may transmit the CSI report to the base station. In some cases, the generated CSI report may include a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may indicate whether the second portion of the CSI report includes full-band CSI feedback or partial-band CSI feedback. The second portion may provide the CSI feedback for one or more identified sub-bands. In some cases, the second portion may include a sub-band index indicating the identified sub-bands. Additionally or alternatively, the second portion may include a bitmap indicating a correspondence between multiple CSI feedback values and multiple corresponding sub-band indexes.

The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to partial-bandwidth feedback for beam combination codebooks.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, wireless devices may perform beamforming to shape or steer an antenna beam along a spatial path from a transmitting wireless device to a receiving wireless device. In some cases, performing beamforming may involve the transmitting wireless device constructing a precoding matrix based on feedback received from the receiving wireless device and precoding transmissions based on the precoding matrix. This precoding procedure may define how the beams are constructed using the different antenna elements of an antenna array at the transmitting wireless device. The amount of feedback generated by and received from the receiving wireless device may increase with the number of beams, layers, and sub-bands over which a beamformed transmission is transmitted. As the amount of feedback increases, the overhead of providing the feedback may result in reduced efficiency or excess latency in the communications for the wireless device.

Partial-bandwidth feedback for beam combination codebook


A diaphragm valve 1 is provided with a body 2 having a flow-in passage 6, a flow-out passage 7, and a valve seat 8 formed between the passages; a diaphragm 3 installed in the body 2 and permitted to rest on and move away from the valve seat 8; and a driving means 4 installed on the body 2 to allow the diaphragm 3 to rest on and move away from the valve seat 8, wherein synthetic resin films 5 of predetermined thickness are coated on fluid-contacting parts 25 of the afore-mentioned body 2 and diaphragm 3. A diaphragm valve in accordance with the present invention prevents corrosion of the valve members caused by accumulation and adherence of substances produced by thermal decomposition, and prevents clogging caused by substances produced, and prevents seat leakage when applied in the vacuum exhaust system of a semiconductor manufacturing facility.

Generally, a gas having high chemical reactivity is supplied to the process chamber used in the semiconductor manufacturing facilities and the like. Accordingly, the vacuum exhaustion system for the process chamber is required to exhaust high reactivity gases in safety and with a high degree of efficiency.
Normally, the piping system in the semiconductor manufacturing facilities comprises a system to supply a gas to the process chamber, the process chamber, the vacuum exhaustion system, vacuum pumps, a diaphragm valve and the like. For the vacuum pumps, a plural number of pumps, that is, a primary pump (of the high vacuum type) installed immediately after the process chamber and a secondary pump (of the low vacuum type) installed on the secondary side thereof are employed. A turbocharged molecular pump is used for the high vacuum type one, while a scroll type pump is used for the low vacuum type one.
To effect an efficient exhaustion from the process chamber, it is necessary to employ an exhaustion pump having a high compression ratio which can operate with a high velocity of exhaustion (1/min) even if the suction pressure is low. However, in reality, the vacuum exhaustion pump having a high compression ratio is not easily available. Therefore, in the conventional system for the vacuum exhaustion from the process chamber, in order to deal with two challenges, i.e., one that the gas is to be exhausted with a high degree of efficiency using a pump having a relatively low compression ratio, and the other that the pump overload is to be avoided by keeping small a pressure difference between the primary side and secondary side of the vacuum exhaustion system, the pipings having a large diameter (a nominal diameter of approximately 4 inches) have been employed. For the same reason, the diaphragm valve with a large diameter has been employed.
The fluid flow is classified into two regions, i.e., the viscous flow region and the molecular flow region with regard to the relationship between the pressure and the inside diameter of the flow passage. To effect an efficient exhaustion, it is required that the exhaustion be conducted in the viscous flow region. To achieve the viscous flow region, the inside diameter D of the flow passage should be L≦D (where L: the mean free path of the gas molecule and D: the inside diameter of the flow passage). There exists the relation, L=4.98×10−3 /P, between the mean free path of the gas molecule L and the pressure P. On the basis of this, the relationship between the pressure and the inside diameter to attain the viscous flow region inside the pipings is obtained. Accordingly, by raising the pressure higher, the mean free path L can be made smaller with the result that the inside diameter D of the pipings to attain the viscous flow region is made small.
However, as stated above, with the conventional pump having a comparatively small compression ratio (approximately 10), it is not possible to raise the pressure on the discharge outlet side. For example, if the pressure on the chamber side (the intake inlet side) is 10−3 Torr, the discharge outlet side pressure becomes as low as approximately 10−2 Torr. This means that the pipings having an inside diameter of 5 cm or more are required to attain the viscous flow region with more certainty. As a result, with the conventional vacuum exhaustion system, there is a problem that since the piping system having a large diameter is required, the facilities are made large-sized. Further, there is another problem that since a larger inside diameter of the vacuum pipe system means a larger volume inside the pipe, it takes a longer time for the vacuum exhaustion Furthermore, to effect the exhaustion operation efficiently in a short time by the vacuum exhaustion system, an expensive vacuum pump having a large compression ratio and a high velocity of exhaustion is needed.
In recent years, however, the pump having high performance capabilities, or specifically, one which realizes a high compression ratio of approximately 103˜104 has been developed. As a result, it is now possible to increase the discharge side pressure of the primary pump to approximately 30˜50 Torr even when the internal pressure of the process chamber is around 10−3 Torr. Accordingly, by optimizing the pressure conditions of the process chamber and the vacuum exhaustion system, it is now possible to secure the viscous flow region in the pipings having a small diameter of approximately 0.5 cm.
However, if the pressure is raised as mentioned above, moisture or gas condenses in the vacuum exhaustion piping system and adheres to the inside of the pipings.
Further, even if the condensation and adherence of water, moisture or gas caused by the pressure rise do not occur, the decomposition of the gas remaining inside the pipings happens when the vacuum pump is out of operation. As a result, substances produced by the gas decomposition accumulates inside the pipings and piping parts of the valve, causing the corrosion of the parts, the clogging of the valves by the substances as produced and the valve seat leakages.
To solve such problems, it is required to keep the inside of the piping system lower than the saturated vapor pressure of gas, water or moisture therein. Hence, it is a common practice, with the vacuum exhaustion system, to effect heating (baking). (In the case of water, the saturated vapor pressure is 17.53 Torr at 20° C.) That is, when the temperature is raised by the heating, the saturated vapor pressure rises, making it difficult for the condensation and adherence of water, moisture or gas to occur with the result that the risk of the corrosion and cloggings is reduced. It is known that it is desirable to raise the temperature to approximately 150° C., considering the type of the gas inside the vacuum exhaustion system.
However, the gas is decomposed (or dissociated) when the temperature rises. Here occurs another problem that the substances produced by the decomposition of the gas adhere to the inside of the pipings and, as a result, cause the corrosion and the like.
The decomposition of the gas is caused by catalysis of the metal components of the inner wall of the pipings. FIG. 3 illustrates, as an example, the relationship between the temperatures and the decomposition of various gases in the case of Spron. As apparent from FIG. 3, the gases which are 100 ppm at the room temperature, starts decreasing due to the decomposition along with the rise of the temperature.
In the system for the vacuum exhaustion of the process chamber, a direct touch type metal diaphragm valve is commonly used as, for example, shown in the Patent Literature 1.
Basically, the said diaphragm valve comprises a body provided with a flow-in passage, a flow-out passage, and a valve seat formed between the passages; a diaphragm installed in the body and permitted to rest on and move away from the valve seat; and a driving means installed in the body operating to allow the diaphragm to rest on and move away from the valve seat.
[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent No. 3343313

Diaphragm valve for the vacuum exhaustion system


A self-oscillating resonator (SOR) may be used to control current through light emitting diodes (LEDs). The SOR may be started and stopped by a controller coupled to a transistor switch in the SOR. The controller may output a control signal that starts and stops the SOR by coupling a supply voltage or a ground to a base of the transistor switch in the SOR. Additional control over the current output to the LEDs may be gained through a resistive DAC coupled to the SOR and duty cycling the SOR.

Driver circuits in lighting devices are used to drive current through a light, such as a compact fluorescent (CFL) tube. In particular, the driver circuit receives an input voltage and outputs an appropriate voltage for the light. For example, a driver circuit may receive a line voltage of 120 Volts at 60 Hertz and output a voltage of approximately 80 Volts at several kilohertz for a CFL tube, or other parameters as required by the specific light. Self-oscillating resonators (SOR) may be used to generate the output voltage of the driver circuit.
FIG. 1 is a circuit illustrating a conventional self-oscillating half-bridge driver for compact fluorescent (CFL) tubes. A circuit 100 includes a start-up stage 102, including a DIAC 104. The circuit 100 also includes a half-bridge self-oscillating resonator stage 112, including transistors 112A and 112B. The circuit 100 further includes a load stage 132, including a CFL bulb 134. An RC timer, including the resistor Rstart and the capacitor C2, along with the DIAC 104 act to start-up the self-oscillating resonator stage 112 by injecting current into a base of the transistor 112B to start oscillation. A transformer 114 couples the load stage 132 to the transistors 112A and 112B to provide feedback and allow self-oscillation in the stage 112. Thus, the self-oscillating resonator stage 112 acts as a power converter for converting power from a line input voltage to a voltage appropriate for the CFL bulb 134.
However, the circuit 100 of FIG. 1 may not be optimal for use with certain loads, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally, the circuit 100 of FIG. 1 provides no control over the power conversion and thus no control over the output of the CFL bulb 134. For example, there is no dimming capability in the circuit 100 of FIG. 1.
Shortcomings mentioned here are only representative and are included simply to highlight that a need exists for improved lighting systems, particularly for consumer-level devices. Embodiments described here address certain shortcomings but not necessarily each and every one described here or known in the art.

Self-oscillating resonant converter-based light emitting diode (LED) driver


The pipe end burnishing tool has a tool shank with an axis of rotation, a first end adapted to be clamped to drill chuck, a second end, and a stop surface on the second end. A cup member is driven by the tool shank and axially moveable along the axis of rotation. An inside member is also driven by the shank and axially movable along the axis of rotation. A cup spring urges the cup toward the stop surface. An inside member spring urges the inside member away from the first end and also urges the cup member toward the first end. Conical burnishing surfaces on the cup and the inside member cooperate to burnish pipe ends. These burnishing surfaces float in line with the ends of pipes.

This invention relates to a pipe end burnishing tool and more particularly to a burnishing tool having inside and outside conical burnishing surfaces that float axially on a shank driven by a hand drill while burnishing a pipe end.
Burnishing tools, such as the tool disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,696, are used to removed burrs and sharp edges from the cut ends of pipes. These burrs and sharp edges are removed from the outside surfaces of pipe ends to facilitate the attachment of couplings to pipe ends. Burrs and sharp edges are removed from inside surfaces of pipe ends to ensure free flow of liquids and gases through pipes. Burrs and sharp edges are also removed from the inside surfaces of conduit pipe ends to prevent damage to the insulation on wires that are to be pulled through the conduits.
Burnishing tools, for pipes that are less than 2 inches in diameter, work well when one burnishing surface is fixed relative to a tool shank and the other burnishing surface is axially movable relative to the shank. When burnishing the ends of pipes with a diameter of 2 inches or more, there is a tendency for the pipe to become locked between the inside conical burnishing surface and the outside conical burnishing surface. A pipe, that is locked between two burnishing surfaces, rotates with the shank when the shank is rotated by an electric drill and burrs and sharp surfaces are not removed.
The surfaces that are burnished on the ends of pipes with a diameter of two inches or more, when using a burnishing tool that has one conical burnishing surface fixed relative to the tool shank, become elliptical if the tool shank is not coaxial with the pipe. When using a hand drill, coaxial alignment between the tool shank and the pipe is nearly impossible to maintain. Elliptical burnished surfaces tend to produce two areas that are not adequately shaped and two areas that have too much material removed and are therefor too thin. Both areas that are too thin are potentially weak and could fail. An elliptical outer surface on a pipe end may also result in a weak connection between the pipe and a coupling. If the coupling is threaded, the depth of threads will vary and the joint will be weakened. If the coupling is soldered, there may be excess solder in some areas of the joint and insufficient solder in other areas. Either excess solder or insufficient solder between a pipe surface and a coupling surface can result in a weak joint.
Alignment between the axis of the tool shank and the pipe axis is less critical when the pipe has a diameter of less than 2 inches than it is if the pipe has a diameter of 2 inches or more.
The pipe end burnishing tool for removing burrs and sharp surfaces from the ends of pipes includes a tool shank. The tool shank has an axis of rotation, a first end adapted to be clamped in a drill chuck, and a second end. A spring abutment surface on the tool shank faces axially toward the second end. A stop surface on the second end of the tool surface is normal to the axis of rotation and faces toward the spring abutment surface. A cup member mounted on the tool shank is rotatably driven by the tool shank and axially movable along the axis of rotation. A cup conical burnishing surface faces radially inward and axially toward the second end of the tool shank. An inside member mounted on the shank is rotatably driven by the tool shank and axially moveable along the axis of rotation. An inside burnishing surface faces radially outward and axially away from the first end of the tool shank. A cup spring acts on the spring abutment surface on the tool shank and the cup member and urges the cup member axially toward the second end of the tool shank. An inside member spring acts on the inside member and urges the inside member toward the stop surface on the second end of the shank.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent with reference to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying descriptive matter.

Pipe end burnishing tool with floating surfaces technical field


A tracking system includes a global positioning system (GPS) module and a modem for mobile communications both attached to a pet (or other trackee), and a virtual fence (which includes a base station sending a signal to a certain range and a receiver attached to the pet (or other trackee) and receiving the signal sent by a base station when the receiver is within the range of the base station). A portable virtual fence system includes a signal-sending base station, and a signal-receiver worn by a to-be-fenced pet or other trackee. Advantageously, the base station is portable.

Some work already has been done to design various tracking systems in which global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking technology is used. Some examples are as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,591 issued Apr. 2, 1996 to Chapman, for "Global status and position reporting system."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,640 issued Jan. 9, 2001 to Durst et al., for "Pet locator." Use of a global positioning satellite system (50) is disclosed.
U.S. patent application published Feb. 21, 2002, by Marlena Edwards, discloses "Animal collar including tracking and location device." The animal collar is provided with a global positioning (GPS) unit that communicates with GPS satellites to determine the geographic coordinates of the animal collar. U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,879 issued Apr. 13, 2004 to Edwards for "Animal Collar including tracking and location device."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,358 issued May 22, 2001 to Durst et al., for "Mobile object locator."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,001 issued Jul. 16, 2002 to Durst et al., for "Object locator."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,778 issued Aug. 27, 2002 to Durst et al., for "Pet locator."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,480,147 issued Nov. 12, 2002 to Durst et al., for "Portable position determining device."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,380 issued Jan. 21, 2003 to Curatolo et al., for "Security and tracking system."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,518,919 issued Feb. 11, 2003 to Durst et al., for "Mobile object locator."
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2003/0109988 was published Jun. 12, 2003 by Geissler et al., for "Three-dimensional GPS-assisted tracking device."
WO 03/058273 A1 was published 17 Jul. 2003 for "Method and system for locating a specific animal from a distance," by Karst.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,556 issued Aug. 12, 2003 to Curatolo et al., for "Security and tracking system."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,693,585 issued Feb. 17, 2004 to MacLeod for "Self-contained selectively activated mobile object position reporting device with reduced power consumption and minimized wireless service fees."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,492 issued Mar. 2, 2004 to Touchton et al., for "Satellite animal containment system with programmable boundaries."
In an article dated Sep. 15, 2004, PetsMobility announced a cellular telephone for pets called PetsMobility™ PetsCell™ that is said will allow pet owners to talk to their pets. Also, if their pet is lost and someone finds their pet wandering the streets, supposedly the stranger will approach the pet and press a button on the pet's collar to cause a call to be made to the pet owner, which seemingly is only a high-tech variation of a normal pet-identification tag. The PetsCell™ two-way communication device is said to be optionally available with an optional GPS tracking chip and a fibre optic camera for search and rescue applications.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20040180668 published Sep. 16, 2004, by Dean Owens et al., discloses an "Auxiliary switch-activated GPS-equipped wireless phone" which is said to accommodate applications such as Alzheimer patients, truck-tracking, kid-tracking, and pet-tracking.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20040239508 published Dec. 2, 2004, by Masao Kaneko, discloses a "Position movement alarm system" for a child, a wanderer, or a pet animal using GPS satellites and cellular phone system.
U.S. patent application No. 2005/0001814 was published Jan. 6, 2005 by Anton et al., for "Location tracking device."
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2005/0035865 was published Feb. 17, 2005 by Brennan et al., for "Pet locator system."
Another, non-GPS communication network has been known, namely, GSM. The following is mentioned as background regarding GSM technology:
WO 03/079773 was published 2 Oct. 2003 by Thorstensen et al., for "A system and method for tracking individuals."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,213 issued Aug. 3, 2004 to Durst et al., for "Object locator."
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20040192352 published Sep. 30, 2004 by Vallstrom et al., is for "Energy efficient object location reporting system."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,171 issued Feb. 22, 2005 to Durst et al., for "Mobile object location."
The following are also mentioned as background:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,094 issued Feb. 11, 1997 to Greear, Jr., for "Animal tracking system with transmitter attachable to an animal's collar."
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20050257752, was published Nov. 24, 2005 by Langer for "Pet accessory with wireless telephonic voice transmitter."

Pet tracking systems, other tracking systems, and portable virtual fence


The present invention provides a novel process for preparing a substituted aromatic compound such as an aromatic halo compound or a salt thereof through a transformation reaction of an aromatic diazonium salt from an aromatic amino compound at stable high yields utilizing a novel Sandmeyer-like reaction using a nitroxide radical compound as a reaction catalyst.

The processes shown below are known as processes for preparing a substituted aromatic compound such as an aromatic halo compound through a transformation reaction of an aromatic diazonium salt from an aromatic amino compound.
A process for preparing a cyanobenzene derivative, comprising treating an aniline derivative (A) with a diazotization reagent and treating the benzenediazonium salt derivative (B) formed with a monovalent copper catalyst such as copper (I) cyanide (C-1) is based on a known Sandmeyer reaction or its analogous reaction (Sandmeyer-like reaction), as shown in the following scheme (see e.g., Patent References 1 to 2 and Non Patent References 1 to 5):
wherein X− represents the counter anion of the diazonium salt; and R0 represents a hydrogen atom or one or more substituents on the benzene ring.
Since the aromatic diazonium salt (B) obtained by the diazotization of aniline derivative (A) is generally an unstable and highly reactive intermediate, this well-known Sandmeyer reaction or its analogous reaction involves treating the aromatic diazonium salt (B) with a source material for substituents such as hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, potassium iodide, sodium iodide, hydrogen cyanide, sodium cyanide, potassium cyanide, sulfuric acid, potassium sulfite, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite, hypophosphorous acid, or a hydroxyaryl derivative in the presence of a monovalent metal copper catalyst to prepare a substituted aromatic compound (D-2 to D-9) such as an aromatic cyano compound (D-1). In this context, hydrochloride, oxalate, sulfate, nitrate, perchlorate, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, or the like is used as a salt in the aromatic diazonium salt. Hydrochloride, oxalate, or tetrafluoroborate is generally used.
Alternatively, known processes for preparing the desired substituted aromatic compound (D) through a transformation reaction of an aromatic diazonium salt without use of a copper catalyst include: 1) a process for preparing a heteroaromatic halo compound from a heteroaromatic diazo compound in the presence of a source material for halogen such as hydrogen bromide without use of a copper catalyst; and 2) a process for preparing a heteroaromatic hydride compound from a heteroaromatic diazo compound in the presence of hypophosphorous acid without use of a copper catalyst (see e.g., Patent Reference 3).
Nitroxide radical compounds are known as organic free radicals that exist very stably. Such nitroxide radical compounds, typified by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO), represented by the following formula (5j):
are commercially available as organic synthetic reagents and are used as oxidation reagents, for example, for the oxidation of a primary alcohol into an aldehyde, in organic synthesis (see e.g., Non Patent References 6 to 8).
Use of a nitroxide radical compound in a Sandmeyer reaction or its analogous reaction has previously been reported only in the literature showing that in the course of studies on various conditions including copper catalysts and temperatures as to the synthesis of a halothiazole derivative from an aminothiazole derivative, the ratio and yield of products did not differ between the addition of a nitroxide radical compound 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO) and the non-addition thereof (see e.g., Non Patent Reference 9). Thus, only a monovalent copper catalyst is a known catalyst that can promote a transformation reaction of an aromatic diazonium salt during a Sandmeyer reaction or its analogous reaction to prepare a substituted aromatic compound such as an aromatic cyano compound (D-1).
Meanwhile, a substituted aromatic compound prepared by a Sandmeyer reaction or its analogous reaction is often used as an intermediate for pharmaceutical preparation. Compounds shown below can be taken as an example.
A compound represented by the following formula (E) [hereinafter, also referred to as compound (E)]:
or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof or a hydrate thereof, is a compound that exhibits an FXa inhibitory effect, as disclosed in Patent References 4 to 6, and is useful as a preventive and/or therapeutic drug for thrombotic and/or embolic diseases (see e.g., Patent References 4 to 6). The thiazole derivative 5-methyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothiazolo[5,4-c]pyridine-2-carboxylic acid (13) or a salt thereof is a compound that is important as an intermediate for preparation of FXa inhibitor compound (E) or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof, or a hydrate thereof, as shown in the scheme shown below (see e.g., Patent References 4 to 6).
For preparation of compound (13) or a salt thereof, its precursor bromide compound (11a) [compound represented by formula (11) in the scheme shown below wherein X10 is a bromine atom] or a salt thereof is important. A Sandmeyer reaction using a monovalent copper catalyst has been reported as a preparation method thereof (see e.g., Patent Reference 7). Alternatively, a copper catalyst-free method (see e.g., Patent Reference 8) has also been reported, but does not offer high reaction yields.
wherein X10 represents a halo group.

Process for preparing a compound by a novel sandmeyer-like reaction using a nitroxide radical compound as a reaction catalyst


A vacuum receptacle and method is provided for accumulating, holding and disposing of liquids and certain solids that are withdrawn from the mouths of dental patients by a suction tube or other apparatus placed in the patient's mouth during dental procedures. The receptacle incorporates a vacuum outlet port to which a vacuum pump line is attached. The vacuum pump line pulls air and dental debris through the receptacle from a waste inlet port which is connected through a hose to the tube in the patient's mouth. A baffle is provided to impact and decelerate the dental debris as it enters the receptacle. Once decelerated, the dental debris falls to the bottom of the receptacle where it accumulates up to a predetermined level whereupon a float assembly activates a discharge pump. The discharge pump is connected to a waste outlet port that removes the accumulated fluid waste via an internal waste outlet tube. In the event the float assembly or discharge pump fails and the waste in the canister continues to accumulate, a vacuum safety float assembly is activated by the rising waste. Upon activation, the safety float assembly temporarily disables the vacuum pump thereby preventing further accumulation.

Heretofore, vacuum systems that have been utilized in extracting the liquid and debris from dental patient's mouth or from another source during a dental procedure have posed several problems for the dental practitioner. Among these problems are the wastefulness and untimeliness involved in disposing of the liquid and debris. In some systems, running water is utilized to establish a vacuum which is directed to the place to be evacuated such as the patient's mouth and which extracts the liquid and dental debris therefrom and transports it to the vacuum source which, in this case, is the continually running water. A significant disadvantage of such a system is that a very large amount of water must be utilized during the continuous operation of the system which must then be discarded. Since the water which operates the system must be discarded during its use and may contain deleterious matter in the form of dental debris, significant environmental problems may arise. Obviously, one such environmental problem is the high rate of water usage during operation.
Other systems, while not employing continually running water as a vacuum source, nonetheless utilize a centrally-located debris canister or variant thereof wherein the extracted debris is collected during operation. Such a debris canister must periodically be emptied and, as a result, the centrally-located system must be shut down at that time. Such a system can present a significant problem when the canister must be emptied while the dentist is performing a dental procedure on a patient. Some systems incorporate mechanisms which are able to sense the moment of need for emptying the debris canister and are further capable of disposing of the contents therein. However, such systems most often require installation in close proximity to a floor drain which can be impractical or impossible. Additionally, even if floor drain access is practical, these systems fail to collect and accumulate particulate solid waste, allowing same to enter the drain creating the potential for future plumbing problems.
Common to each of the aforementioned dental vacuum systems is the problem associated with obtaining optimal dental waste mass flow rates while minimizing both negative vacuum pressures necessary for such flow rates and facility space needed for locating the vacuum canisters. The optimal dental waste mass flow rate is approximately five cubic feet per minute. Heretofore, such a mass flow rate was obtainable only when 40-55 gallon debris canisters and their associated high required negative vacuum pressures were used in conjunction therewith. Such is the case because prior art systems have no means of decelerating the entering debris, such that as the volume of the canister used decreases, the likelihood of the debris being undesirably sucked into the vacuum pump line increases. Thus, when smaller debris canisters were used, the maximum available mass flow rates declined correspondingly.
Additionally, installation or removal of the prior art dental vacuum systems requires considerable plumbing and property improvements to access the required water, vacuum lines and electricity. In such a case, the considerable inconvenience and expense incurred by the dental professional are obvious.
What is needed in the art is an improved dental vacuum receptacle that is independently operable at individual dental treatment stations, accumulates liquid and solid waste from dental procedures and facilitates pumping of this waste out to an overhead plumbing system at such time as the quantity of waste demands. The receptacle should also access any necessary water, electricity and waste removal from overhead utility access thereby permitting expeditious and convenient installation while minimizing or eliminating the need for altering the structure within which the receptacle is used. In addition, the system should enable optimal dental waste mass flow rates while drastically reducing both negative vacuum pressures needed to obtain such flow rates and facility space needed for locating the vacuum canisters.
The present invention accomplishes these objectives by providing a vacuum receptacle that accumulates and holds liquids and certain solids that are withdrawn from the mouths of dental patients by a suction tube or other apparatus placed in the patient's mouth during dental procedures. The receptacle incorporates a vacuum outlet port to which a vacuum pump line is attached. The vacuum pump line pulls air through the receptacle from a waste inlet port which is connected through a hose to the tube in the patient's mouth. Along with the air coming into the receptacle through the waste inlet port is the fluid and solid sediment debris from the patient's mouth. In order to improve the dental waste mass flow rate capability of the receptacle and to prevent suction of the fluid and sediments into the vacuum pump line, a baffling system is provided to impact and decelerate the fluids and sediments as they enter the receptacle. Once decelerated, the fluid and sediments fall to the bottom of the receptacle where they accumulate up to a predetermined level whereupon a float assembly activates a discharge pump. The discharge pump is connected to a waste outlet port that removes the accumulated fluids via an internal waste outlet tube. The sediment is collected at the bottom of the receptacle whereupon the sediment may be periodically disposed of as solid waste, thereby minimizing, if not eliminating the threat of plumbing damage. In the event the float assembly or discharge pump fails and the waste in the canister continues to accumulate, a vacuum safety float assembly is activated by the rising waste. Upon activation, the safety float assembly temporarily disables the vacuum pump thereby preventing further accumulation.
Listed below are samples of patents based in part on dental suction devices. These patents are merely representative of the art and do not suggest the teachings of the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,033 (1973) to Keiper, II discloses a dental oral evacuating system which includes a receptacle unit through which liquid and solid waste material passes after withdrawal from the oral cavity and means to connect the receptacle to a source of flushing liquid for said receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,959 (1982) to Rosander discloses an apparatus for separating solid particles, particularly mercury compounds and alloys, from a fluid, such as dental waste water, contaminated therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,910 (1983) to Cattani discloses a console specifically designed for the suction tubes of suction units used in dentistry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,383 (1985) to Jerzy discloses a gravity separator intended for use in dental suction apparatus comprising at least one sucker having a suction mouthpiece and a sucker line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,374 (1986) to Hofmann discloses a separator for incorporation into dental suction apparatus for separating from the suction stream liquid and solid materials coming from the mouth of a patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,978 (1986) to Motola et al. discloses a vacuum operated dental evacuation system.


A holder (1) for a mobile telephone (3), which is intended for being mounted in a car has a holder (29), which surrounds and firmly holds the telephone. A fastening member (5) is intended for fastening the holder to the interior of the car. The fastening member (5) is angular and the holder is, via a universal joint (21), fastened to a first angle leg (10) of the fastening memeber (5). The other angle leg (6) is intended for being pressed into the slot between the glass pane and frame of the front door of the car which is closest to the driver.

The present invention relates to a holder for a mobile telephone intended for being mounted in a car, craft or another means of conveyance, comprising a holder portion which is adapted to one end of the mobile telephone to surround and firmly hold the latter, and a fastening portion for fastening the holder to the interior of the car.
Use of mobile telephones is steadily growing. The fact that mobile telephone instruments are getting progressively smaller and better as well as less expensive contributes to this. The largest group of users is comprised of sales representatives, fitters, inspectors and other occupational groups who do a large amount of travelling. This requires a mobile telephone to be mounted in the car. It is an obvious requirement that the telephone instrument should be accessible as readily as possible in the car. Previously, this was not the case. Until now it was most common to fasten the mobile telephone instrument on the dashboard between the front seats, or on the central console between the front seats. This is a most unsuitable position for the telephone instrument, since it requires use of the right hand to grip the instrument. This will cause reduction of road safety, and many accidents are caused by uncontrolled maneuvering by the car driver when servicing the telephone, since it is necessary to let go of the steering wheel with ones right hand and lean over to the side. What happens in practice is that one takes the telephone instrument with one's right hand and very often changes it over to one's left hand to carry on the conversation. This implies that one must in fact let go of the steering wheel with both hands for a moment. When the conversation is ended and the instrument is to be put in place again the same maneuver has to be repeated in the opposite sequence. Lately, some producers delivered so called "handfree" telephone instruments, meaning that the instrument may stay in place in its holder while a conversation is in progress. Still, however, one has to press down a key on the telephone, both to start and to finish the conversation. What appears to be most hazardous to traffic when a mobile telephone is used, is to dial a number consisting of many figures, and this is as hazardous with the last mentioned kinds of telephones and with the above described manner of mounting.


The principal object of this embodiment is to provide regular feedback about the packet losses from a receiver to a sender in a RTP based network, based on which the sender then decides to control its transmission rate resulting in better quality of experience (QoE) for the receiver. Another object of the embodiment is to propose a method and system to send and receive feedback using lightweight protocol packets on a periodic or on as-per-required basis in a RTP based network. A further object of the embodiment is to propose a method and system to calculate and forecast Round Trip Times (RTT) at a RTP receiver in a RTP based network using double exponential smoothing methodology to calculate packet losses in that RTT.

Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is a connectionless, stateless protocol with no reliability built in to the protocol i.e. it does not guarantee any in-order delivery of packets. It also does not support any retransmission mechanism. For historic reasons, RTP was always meant to carry traditional voice traffic over Internet Protocol (IP). For a specific application like Voice, a protocol like Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) is not the best suited transport mechanism as a delayed voice packet is better treated as lost rather than being retransmitted later. For these reasons, RTP was a much better suited protocol for carrying voice over IP. With the advent of websites like YouTube, Google Videos, News websites and other video based websites, video has become that much of an integral part of transmission. Since video actually means video and voice together, RTP was the default transport, Internet applications chose to stream video to the billions of users watching videos. Video is inherently bandwidth intensive. With compression techniques abound, the size of the contents being packed into RTP packets has certainly seen a reduction, but really there is no comparison with the original format, namely voice.
As RTP is a pure transport layer protocol, RTP does not contain enough information for carrying out OAM (Operations, Administration and Management) kind of operations viz. statistics collection, network monitoring etc. To build this capability, a control protocol, RTCP (Real-time Transport Control Protocol), was introduced which acted as a support to RTP. RTCP is a simple point to point protocol that contains various mechanisms for the two end points to exchange statistics such as jitter and packet loss to determine the current state of the network. RTCP packets have a fairly large overhead and are typically allocated only 5% of the total bandwidth. This causes inefficient monitoring of the link as these packets are sent after large time delays rather than in a short, periodic and proactive manner. These RTCP packets contain generic information and too time insensitive when we look at the type of content being carried in them, namely video.
The current RTP standard [RFC 5248] employs the RTCP (RTP Control Protocol) as the feedback mechanism. The RTCP protocol contains 2 packet type's viz. SR (sender Reports) and RR (receiver Reports) to exchange control information between the sender and the receiver, which are heavy in nature and occupy valuable bandwidth. Moreover, the RTCP packets do not contain up to date information to calculate packet event loss rate that actually mirrors the network congestion state correctly.
Transmission interval of the RTCP reports is linearly proportional to the size of the group of which multiple senders and receivers are part of. As the group size increases, the sender and receiver reports are sent less frequently. Moreover, RTCP control traffic is allocated only 5% of the total bandwidth available which causes the information contained in the sender and receiver reports to be less accurate and less in step with the current state of the network.
The current RTCP protocol only allows the calculation of a cumulative packet loss i.e. it defines packet loss as the fraction of lost packets is defined to be the number of packets lost divided by the number of packets expected based on the highest sequence number received in RTP packets. What is not reflected is this calculation as to over how many RTT times has this happened. To accurately calculate packet loss, the packet loss event rate is required.

Providing feedback to media senders over real time transport protocol (RTP)


A nonvolatile memory device includes a memory cell array having cell strings that each includes memory cells stacked on a substrate in a direction perpendicular to the substrate. A row decoder is connected with the memory cells through word lines. The row decoder applies a setting voltage to at least one word line of the word lines and floats the at least one word line during a floating time. A page buffer circuit is connected with the cell strings through bit lines. The page buffer senses voltage changes of the bit lines after the at least one word line is floated during the floating time and outputs a page buffer signal as a sensing result. A counter counts a number of off-cells in response to the page buffer signal. A detecting circuit outputs a detection signal associated with a defect cell based on the number of off-cells.

Embodiments of the present disclosure described herein relate to a semiconductor memory, and more particularly, relate to a nonvolatile memory device and an operation method thereof.
A semiconductor memory is classified as a volatile memory, in which stored data disappear when power is turned off, such as a static random access memory (SRAM) or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a nonvolatile memory, in which stored data are retained even when power is turned off, such as a flash memory, a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM), or a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM).
The flash memory device is configured to store data by changing threshold voltages of memory cells. In the case where a leakage current occurs due to a channel hole breakout, threshold voltages of memory cells are not changed to a target threshold voltage or greater, thereby causing an increase in the number of erroneous data bits of data bits read from the memory cells.

Nonvolatile memory device and operation method of detecting defective memory cells


The present disclosure relates to a method for use with an electronic design. Embodiments may include receiving one or more user defined processor configurations at a processor generator. Embodiments may also include generating a customized testbench based upon, at least in part, the user defined processor configurations and generating an RTL model while the customized testbench is generating.

Customizable processors that perform intensive data processing are designed to provide programmability in the performance-intensive dataplane of the system-on-chip (SoC) design. Not only do they combine the capabilities of a digital signal processor (DSP) and a central processing unit (CPU), but they can be customized to maximize efficiency for a target application.
While processors are often used for the control functions in SoC designs, designers turn to register-transfer-level (RTL) blocks for many data-intensive functions that control processors can't handle. However, RTL blocks take a long time to design and even longer to verify, and they are not programmable to handle multiple standards or designs. The most common embedded microprocessor architectures—such as the ARM®, MIPS, and PowerPC processors—were developed in the 1980s for stand-alone microprocessor chips. These general-purpose processor architectures, or CPUs, are good at executing a wide range of algorithms with a focus on control code, but SoC designers often need more performance in critical datapath portions of their designs than these microprocessor architectures can deliver. To bridge this performance gap, the two most-used approaches are to run the general-purpose processor at a higher clock rate (thus extracting more performance from the same processor architecture), or to hand-design acceleration hardware that offloads some of the processing burden from the processor. Running a general-purpose processor core at a high clock rate incurs a power and area penalty, and designing acceleration hardware takes additional development time, not just for the design but for verification of the new acceleration hardware. In fact, verification can consume as much as 70% to 80% of the total design time. Customizable processors can achieve high performance and lower energy consumption, save time, and provide design flexibility versus hand-coded RTL hardware or a general-purpose processor.

System and method for generating power-aware electronics


Disclosed are methods of producing super-absorbing polymeric networks of polyaspartates from crosslinked polysuccinimide. In one preferred aspect, polysuccinimide is first reacted with an organic crosslinking agent, preferably an organic base containing at least two primary amine groups, to form a gelled crosslinked polysuccinimide. The gelled crosslinked polysuccinimide is then base hydrolyzed to a gelled polymeric network of polyaspartate and deswollen with at least one liquid alcohol to a polymeric network of polyaspartate which demonstrates super-absorbing capability in water and in electrolyte solution. Super-absorbing polymeric networks of polyaspartates can also be produced in a single reaction vessel by sequentially crosslinking a polysuccinimide with an organic crosslinking agent in an aqueous reaction medium, optionally containing a mineral acid, and then hydrolyzing the crosslinked polysuccinimide to produce a polymeric network of polyaspartate.

The term "water-swellable polymeric networks" as used herein refers to highly crosslinked polymers which have a propensity to swell or gel in the presence of water. Water-swellable polymeric networks have found wide use in a variety of applications. See, for example, Odian, G., Principles of Polymerization, 3rd Edition, published by Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1991 and Glass, J. E., Ed. "Polymers in Aqueous Media Performance Through Association," Advances in Chemistry Series 223, published by the American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C., 1989).
Water-swellable polymeric networks which are well known in the polymer arts include, but are not limited to, carboxymethylcellulose, crosslinked polyacrylates, graft copolymer hydrolysis products of starch-acrylonitrile, polyvinyl alcohol resins, polyethylene oxide resins and polyacrylonitrile resins.
Several problems are associated with such polymeric networks. First, their water absorbency properties are greatly reduced in the presence of salts, such as sodium chloride, which are often present in the environments where such polymeric materials are used. Second, most of these polymeric materials are not readily biodegradable and thus contribute to the overall chemical burden on the environment when they are released into effluent streams.
Some crosslinked polypeptides containing a high percentage of anionic amino acids, such as aspartic acid or glutamic acid, are useful as super-absorbing materials. Some of these are disclosed in International Patent Publication WO 92/17525 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,936 to Donachy, et al. Such materials have improved saline absorbency and are biodegradable. However, they require amino acids as starting materials and these are relatively expensive.
Koskan, et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,057,597, 5,116,513, 5,219,952 and 5,221,733 describe inexpensive methods for the manufacture of polysuccinimide and polyaspartic acid. The chemical modification of polysuccinimide to produce useful polyaspartates is well known. For example, Neri, et al., in the article, "Synthesis of alpha, beta-Poly[(2-hydroxyethyl)-D,L-aspartamide], a New Plasma Expander," Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 16, pp 893-897, (1973) describe the modification of polysuccinimide with ethanolamine.
Fujimoto et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,380 describe the formation of modified polypeptides having hydrophobic and hydrophilic substituents as side chains obtained by reacting polysuccinimide with at least one primary or secondary aliphatic amine and hydrolyzing the resulting polyamide derivative with alkali to produce polypeptides that are useful as surface active agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,085 to Nagatomo describes a method of producing alkali-unstable water-insoluble super-absorbing polymers by partially crosslinking polysuccinimide with a diamine compound in an organic solvent or aqueous solution and hydrolyzing the imide ring of the reaction product with aqueous alkali metal hydroxide under controlled pH conditions to avoid unfavorably hydrolyzing the amide linkage in the main chain. However, the Nagatomo method requires careful process controls in multiple steps which adds costs to the process.
There is an ongoing need and desire, therefore, for an economical method of substantially rapidly producing biodegradable, polyaspartate-based super-absorbing polymeric networks with improved electrolyte tolerance.


A method of forming a direct, copper-to-copper, connection between levels in an IC is disclosed. A via interconnection is formed by isotropically depositing a barrier material in a via through an insulator to a lower copper level, and then anisotropically etching the via to remove the barrier material covering the lower copper level. The anisotropic etch leaves the barrier material lining the via through the insulator. The subsequently deposited upper metal level then directly contacts the lower copper level when the via is filled. A dual damascene interconnection is formed by etching an interconnection trench in an insulator and anisotropically depositing a non-conductive barrier material in the trench bottom. Then a via is formed from the trench interconnect to a lower copper level. As above, a conductive barrier material is isotropically deposited in the trench/via structure, and anisotropically etched to remove the barrier material covering the lower copper level. The insulating barrier material, lining the trench and via, remains. An IC via interconnection structure and a dual damascene interconnection structure, made in accordance with the above described methods, are also provided.

This invention relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) processes and fabrication, and more particularly, to copper interconnection structures, and a method of forming copper interconnection structures, without intervening contamination barrier layers, to improve electrical conductivity between the copper levels.
The demand for progressively smaller, less expensive, and more powerful electronic products, in turn, fuels the need for smaller geometry integrated circuits, and large substrates. It also creates a demand for a denser packaging of circuits onto IC substrates. The desire for smaller geometry IC circuits requires that the interconnections between components and dielectric layers be as small as possible. Therefore, research continues into reducing the width of via interconnects and connecting lines. The conductivity of the interconnects is reduced as the surface area of the interconnect is reduced, and the resulting increase in interconnect resistivity has become an obstacle in IC design. Conductors having high resistivity create conduction paths with high impedance and large propagation delays. These problems result in unreliable signal timing, unreliable voltage levels, and lengthy signal delays between components in the IC. Propagation discontinuities also result from intersecting conduction surfaces that are poorly connected, or from the joining of conductors having highly different impedance characteristics.
There is a need for interconnects and vias to have both low resistivity, and the ability to withstand volatile process environments. Aluminum and tungsten metals are often used in the production of integrated circuits for making interconnections, or vias, between electrically active areas. These metals are popular because they are easy to use in a production environment, unlike copper which requires special handling.
Copper (Cu) is a natural choice to replace aluminum in the effort to reduce the size of lines and vias in an electrical circuit. The conductivity of copper is approximately twice that of aluminum, and over three times that of tungsten. As a result, the same current can be carried through a copper line having half the width of an aluminum line.
The electromigration characteristics of copper are also much superior to those of aluminum. Aluminum is approximately ten times more susceptible than copper to degradation and breakage through electromigration. As a result, a copper line, even one having a much smaller cross-section than an aluminum line, is better able to maintain electrical integrity.
There have been problems associated with the use of copper, however, in IC processing. Copper contaminates many of the materials used in IC processes and, therefore, care must be taken to keep copper from migrating. Various means have been suggested to deal with the problem of copper diffusion into integrated circuit material. Several materials, particularly refractory metals, have been suggested for use as barriers to prevent the copper diffusion process. Tungsten, molybdenum, and titanium nitride (TiN) are examples of refractory metals which may be suitable for use as copper diffusion barriers. However, the adhesion of copper to these diffusion barrier materials has been an IC process problem, and the electrical conductivity of such materials is an issue in building IC interconnects.
Metal cannot be deposited onto substrates, or into vias, using conventional metal deposition processes, such as sputtering, when the geometries of the selected IC features are small. It is impractical to sputter metal, either aluminum or copper, to fill small diameter vias, since the gap filling capability is poor. To deposit copper, various chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques are under development in the industry.
In a typical CVD process, copper is combined with an organic ligand to make a volatile copper compound or precursor. That is, copper is incorporated into a compound that is easily vaporized into a gas. Selected surfaces of an integrated circuit, such as diffusion barrier material, are exposed to the copper containing gas in an elevated temperature environment. When the volatile copper gas compound decomposes, copper is left behind on the heated selected surface. Several copper compounds are available for use with the CVD process. It is generally accepted that the molecular structure of the copper compound, at least partially, affects the conductivity of the copper film residue on the selected surface.
Connections between metal levels, such as copper, which are separated by dielectric interlevels, are typically formed with a damascene method of via formation between metal levels. The underlying copper film is first completely covered with the dielectric, a typical dielectric is silicon dioxide. A patterned photoresist profile is then formed over the dielectric, and an interconnection trench is etched into the dielectric. Another layer of resist has an opening, or hole, in the photoresist overlying the trench, corresponding to the area in the dielectric where the via is to be formed. The dielectric not covered with photoresist is then etched to remove oxide underlying the hole in the photoresist. The photoresist is then stripped away. A thin film of copper, or some other metallic material, is then used to fill the via and trench. A layer consisting of dielectric with a copper via through it now overlies the copper film. The excess copper remaining is removed with a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process, as is well known in the art. The result is an "inlaid", or damascene, structure.
The formation of copper interconnects requires the copper lines be completely surrounded with barrier layers. The barrier layers can be either conductive or non-conductive. Additional process steps are required in the fabrication process to protect existing barrier layers from etching and to prepare these barrier layers surfaces to adhere to copper and other IC materials. Conductive barriers must also be prepared to have a good electrical interface with metal levels. Barrier layers may be deposited as a film between the various metal levels and dielectric interlevels of the IC. The damascene process may require the formation of additional barrier layers during the formation of a damascene via and trench. Most, preexisting, conductive barrier layers degrade conductance between the copper via and metal levels, but these barriers are often difficult to remove. Procedures have been developed to minimize the resistance between a copper via and an interfacing conductive barrier layer. In addition, compromises are often made between adhesion and conduction characteristics.
A co-pending application, Ser. No. 08/717,267, filed Sep. 20, 1996, entitled, "Oxidized Diffusion Barrier Surface for the Adherence of Copper and Method for Same", invented by Nguyen et al., Attorney Docket No. SMT 123, which is assigned to the same Assignees as the instant patent, discloses a method for oxidizing the diffusion barrier surface to improve the adherence of copper to a diffusion barrier. In low speed electrical circuits the resistance offered by a thin level of oxide is unnoticeable. However, in higher speed applications even a small amount of resistance can increase the propagation delay of electron current across an oxide layer. The primary purpose of this, above mentioned, patent application is to improve the ability of copper to remain deposited on a surface, not on improving the conductivity between copper and another surface.
Another co-pending application, Ser. No. 08/717,315, filed Sep. 20, 1996, entitled, "Copper Adhered to a Diffusion Barrier Surface and Method for Same", invented by Charneski and Nguyen, Attorney Docket No. SMT 243, which is assigned to the same Assignees as the instant patent, discloses a method for using a variety of reactive gas species to improve copper adhesion without forming an oxide layer over the diffusion barrier. However, the focus of this patent is to improve copper adhesion, not to improve the conductivity of copper deposited on a surface.
Another co-pending application, Ser. No. 08/729,567, filed Oct. 11, 1996, entitled, "Chemical Vapor Deposition of Copper on an ION Prepared Conductive Surface and Method for Same," invented by Nguyen and Maa, Attorney Docket No. 114, which is assigned to the same Assignees as the instant patent, discloses a method of preparing a conductive surface, such as a barrier layer, with an exposure to the ions of an inert gas to improve electrical conductivity between a conductive surface and a subsequent deposition of copper. However, the primary purpose of this invention is to prepare a conductive surface that is substantially free of by-products and IC process debris.
Tsuchiya et al., in the article "Ultra-Low Resistance Direct Contact Cu Via Technology Using In-Situ Chemical Vapor Cleaning", 1997 Symposium on VSLI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pg. 59-60, disclose a method forming a dual damascene direct connection between two copper levels. The connection is formed through two dielectric layers to an underlying copper levels, with barrier layers between the three levels. However, no method is disclosed for forming a via connection between metal levels without an intervening barrier layer. Neither is a method disclosed for forming a dual damascene connection through a single dielectric interlevel when barrier layers must be fabricated for the interconnection trench.
It would be advantageous to employ a method of minimizing the resistance between a copper via and an interfacing metal level in an IC.
It would be advantageous to employ a means of selectively forming barrier layers in a via or damascene structure to eliminate the poorly conductant interfaces between copper and conductive barrier layers.
It would be advantageous to employ a method of selectively depositing and selectively etching barrier layers in the formation of a via or damascene structure. Further, it would be advantageous if the method reduced the number of process steps, and improved the conductivity between metal levels.
It would be advantageous to employ a method of selectively forming barrier layers in an IC interconnect to prevent copper contamination, and selectively removing barrier layers to enhance conductivity between copper levels.
Accordingly, in an integrated circuit including a first metal horizontal level, a first barrier layer overlying the first metal level, a first dielectric interlevel overlying the first barrier layer, and a second barrier layer overlying the first dielectric interlevel, a method is provided for forming a low resistance interconnect between metal levels comprising the following steps:
a) etching selected overlying areas of the first barrier layer, the first dielectric interlevel, and the second barrier layer to form a via, exposing vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel and selected areas of the first metal level; PA1 b) conformally depositing a third barrier layer over the vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel and the first metal level selected areas exposed in step a); and PA1 c) anisotropically etching, in the horizontal direction, to selectively remove the third barrier layer deposited over the first metal level selected areas, but not the vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel. A via, having barrier surface sidewalls, is prepared to directly connect the first metal level with a subsequently deposited metal level. PA1 a) etching selected areas of the first dielectric interlevel second thickness, forming a damascene interconnection trench, and exposing vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel second thickness and selected horizontal surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first thickness; PA1 b) anisotropically depositing, in a horizontal direction, a second barrier layer over the first dielectric interlevel, to overlie the selected horizontal surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first thickness exposed in step a), and minimally cover the vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel second thickness; PA1 c) etching selected overlying surfaces of the second barrier layer deposited in step b), selected horizontal surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first thickness, and the first barrier level, exposing vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first thickness and selected areas of the first metal level, whereby a via is formed from the trench to the first metal level selected areas; PA1 d) conformally depositing a third barrier layer over the vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel second thickness exposed in step a), the second barrier layer deposited in step b), and the first metal level selected areas and vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first thickness exposed in step c); and PA1 e) anisotropically etching, in the horizontal direction, to selectively remove the third barrier layer overlying the first metal level selected areas, but not the third barrier layer overlying the vertical sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first and second thicknesses. A damascene process via and trench, having barrier sidewall surfaces, are prepared to directly connect the first metal level with a subsequently deposited metal level.
Also provided, in an integrated circuit (IC), is a low resistance metal level via interconnection comprising a metal level, a dielectric interlevel overlying the first metal level, and a via through selected areas of the dielectric interlevel, exposing sidewall surfaces of the dielectric interlevel and selected areas of the metal level. The via interconnection further comprises a barrier layer over the sidewall surfaces of the dielectric interlevel, formed by conformally depositing barrier layer material over the sidewall surfaces of the dielectric interlevel and the metal level selected areas, and anisotropically etching, to selectively remove the barrier layer over the metal level selected areas. A via, having barrier surface sidewalls, is prepared to directly connect the metal level with a subsequently deposited metal level.
In an integrated circuit including a first metal horizontal level, a first barrier layer overlying of the first metal level, and a first dielectric interlevel overlying the first barrier layer, the first dielectric interlevel having a first thickness and a second thickness overlying the first thickness, a method is provided for forming a low resistance dual damascene interconnect between metal levels comprising the following steps:
Also provided, in an integrated circuit (IC), is a low resistance metal level dual damascene interconnection comprising a horizontal metal level, a dielectric interlevel overlying the metal level, the dielectric interlevel having a first thickness and a second thickness overlying the first thickness. The damascene interconnection further comprises a damascene interconnection trench formed through selected areas of the dielectric interlevel second thickness, exposing vertical sidewall surfaces of the dielectric interlevel second thickness and selected horizontal surfaces of the dielectric interlevel first thickness. In addition, the damascene interconnection comprises an insulating barrier layer formed by anisotropically deposition, in a horizontal direction, to overlie the selected horizontal surfaces of the dielectric interlevel first thickness.
The damascene interconnection comprises a via through selected overlying areas of the insulating barrier layer, and the first dielectric interlevel first thickness, exposing sidewall surfaces of the dielectric interlevel first thickness and selected areas of the metal level. Finally, the damascene interconnection comprises a conductive barrier layer formed by conformally depositing the conductive barrier layer material over the sidewall surfaces of the first dielectric interlevel first and second thicknesses, the selected horizontal surfaces of the dielectric interlevel first thickness, and the metal level selected areas. Then, the conductive barrier is anisotropically etched, in the horizontal direction, to selectively remove the conductive barrier layer deposited over the metal level selected areas. The damascene process via and trench, having conductive barrier surface sidewalls, are prepared to directly connect the metal level with a subsequently deposited metal level.

Low resistance contact between integrated circuit metal levels and method for same


A lens-fitted photo film unit is pre-loaded with unexposed photo film, and includes a taking lens. A shutter device is disposed between the taking lens and the photo film, and cocked in response to a winding operation of the photo film. The shutter device has a shutter blade for opening/closing a photographic light path in response to an external releasing operation. A flash device has a flash emitter window, and emits flash light in response to operation of the shutter device. Before inspection of the lens-fitted photo film unit, a front of the flash emitter window or a periphery of a front of the light path is covered by use of a light-shielding member. The light-shielding member avoids entry of flash light emitted from the flash emitter window into the light path. The flash device is charged. The shutter mechanism is cocked. The shutter mechanism is released while the light-shielding member covers the front. An operation of opening/closing of the shutter mechanism is inspected in response to the releasing operation. An operation of flash emission of the flash device is inspected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for inspecting a lens-fitted photo film unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for inspecting a lens-fitted photo film unit incorporating an electronic flash device.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
There is a lens-fitted photo film unit pre-loaded with photo film and incorporating a simple structure for taking exposures. In the lens-fitted photo film unit, the photo film is wound each time after one frame is exposed. The movement of the photo film in the winding operation is utilized for cocking a shutter mechanism, a one-frame advancement of the photo film and a rotation of a counter wheel by one step. The lens-fitted photo film unit incorporates an electronic flash device which emanates flash light in response to a releasing operation of the shutter mechanism, so that a photograph can be taken easily even indoors or at night.
The prevalent types of the lens-fitted photo film unit are pre-loaded with a photo film cassette of the 135 type. Also there is a type of lens-fitted photo film unit pre-loaded with the photo film cassette of the IX240 type. In the photo film cassette of the IX240 type, the photo film has a train of perforations arranged therein. The photo film cassette includes a plastic cassette shell for containing a roll of the photo film.
The photo film includes an effective exposure region and ineffective regions defined different from the effective exposure region. The effective exposure region is adapted to taking exposures in the lens-fitted photo film unit or a camera. The ineffective regions are determined as areas where exposures are inhibited. The perforations are arranged along an edge only of the effective exposure region of the photo film. The perforations are alternately arranged with two intervals being longer and shorter which are alternately repeated. One frame is exposed inside each of sections having the longer interval. Sections having the shorter interval are associated with intervals between the adjacent frames. The photo film for the photo film cassette does not have extra frames, but has the number of available frames determined for the photo film. The ineffective regions are used for development, and wound back into the cassette shell.
In a manufacturing process of the lens-fitted photo film unit, performance of the shutter mechanism is inspected after loading of the photo film together with inspection of winding the photo film. For example, a shutter speed of the shutter mechanism is measured and evaluated for the inspection of the shutter mechanism.
For the lens-fitted photo film unit with the flash device, it is conventionally general to inspect the shutter mechanism in a manner separate from inspection of the flash device. This is because a photo sensor of a reflection type for detecting movement of a shutter blade should be prevented from being affected by flash light of the flash device, and also because the ineffective region should be kept from being exposed by the flash light. However the inspecting manner of the shutter mechanism separate from the inspection of the flash device takes long time, is conspicuously slow in the manufacturing process, and is inconsistent to improvement of efficiency.

Method and apparatus for inspecting lens-fitted photo film unit


In a method for testing the thermally induced unbalance of a rotating machine part, in particular the rotor of a turbogenerator, the rotating machine part or the rotor balanced at normal temperature is brought in the demounted state first to nominal rotational speed and held at this, while its temperature is varied and, at the same time, the transient variations in oscillations of the rotating machine part or rotor which are caused are measured. During the test, the rotating machine part or the rotor is surrounded at least partially by a closed heating cell, a cooling medium flows around and/or flows through the rotating machine part or the rotor in the heating cell, and the heating of the rotating machine part or of the rotor takes place essentially due to the flow-dynamic losses arising from the interaction of the rotating machine part or of the rotor with the circulating cooling medium.

Rotors of large turbogenerators, before being built into the stator, are normally subjected at the manufacturer's to a test, referred to as "warm-up", which follows the balancing of the rotor in the cold state in the centrifuge. The "warm-up" is intended to simulate the thermally induced unbalances of the rotor which occur during the normal operation of the ready-assembled machine, so that a deviating oscillation behavior can be detected at an early stage and corrected even during production.
A thermally induced warping of the rotor and the oscillations generated as a result of this reversible and reproducible unbalance are based on two critical mechanisms:    the rotor has reached its nominal rotational speed, and the rotor winding is held against the centrifugal forces, for example by means of wedges.    In this state, an elongation of the rotor winding occurs and causes a relative movement between the rotor body and the rotor winding.
The forces and mass displacements may, in principle, bring about a variation in the balanced state of the rotor. The measured rotor oscillation will therefore vary. While the turbogenerator is in operation, this variation occurs during an increase in load on a power station and during the reduction in power of the latter and can be tested on the solitary generator rotor in a predetermined "warm-up" test method.
A test method employed at the present time comprises the investigation of the oscillation behavior of a balanced rotor which rotates in a test stand at the nominal rotational speed, while at the same time a predetermined rotor temperature profile is applied. The rise in the mean winding temperature (MWT) is in this case generated as a result of the application of an exciting current, such as will be fed in during the operation of the machine at the installation location. The rotor winding is thereafter cooled, in that the exciting system is switched off and the rotor continues to be operated at nominal rotational speed in the ventilated test stand. This test method, admittedly, is very close to the mechanisms which give rise to thermal unbalance during subsequent operation. However, it requires a considerable outlay in terms of the set-up of the test stand: electromagnetic shields, cooling, an exciting system, sufficient drive power and suitable measuring and monitoring systems.
In another method, the rotor is first balanced in the centrifuge and is then rotated at nominal rotational speed until a predetermined mean winding temperature is reached by virtue of the ventilation losses (flow-dynamic losses which increase the temperature of the cooling medium and consequently of the copper). This method may last through a disproportionately long time during which both the rotor body and the winding heat up. As a result, some important mechanisms of the rotor unbalance are not reproduced, and experience has shown that this leads to disadvantages in terms of the evidential force of such tests.

Method for testing the thermally induced unbalance of a rotating machine part, in particular the rotor of a turbogenerator, and device for carrying out the method


An action toy consisting of a vertically mounted compression spring with a weighted top, and a means for preventing the base of the spring from bouncing away from the surface on which it is standing when the spring is compressed and released. The invention includes weighted projections extending horizontally and attached just below the top of the spring and clamps or weights on the base. It also includes a spring adjustment means on the base, a means of imbedding the ends of the springs, a means of indexing the top weight and the base weight with reference to each other and finger grips on the base. A piping of light weight non-attenuating material can be snaked around the coiled spring. A closure is added to the base and a filament is attached between the top of the spring and the base.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a toy depending on the action of a compression spring when compressed by added weight and external pressure in particular to a spring where the force of the spring and the added weight on top of the spring give the spring a long slow period, one full cycle, and a seemingly perpetual gyrating and/or bouncing motion. To the adult user it is educational, relaxing and pleasing. When doll like features are added to the weights, the base and the other controlling parts the entire unit reverts to a fascinating, bouncing, belly laughing doll appealing to children of all ages. In both forms it can be used for advertising purposes or as a decoration.
2. Description of Prior Art
Springs as a support and a means of dampening bouncing weights go back to the discovery of steel. However, all patents applied for were either for dampening devices, such as shock absorbers, door operators or pop-up devices such as Jack-in-the-Boxes. There apparently was no need for industrial devices utilizing a free gyrating and bouncing motion. Toys and amusement devises on the other hand tried to evolve into the gyrating and bouncing motion but failed.
One of the earliest spring action toys was a pop-up as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 202,990 issued Apr. 30, 1878 to C. E. Chinnock for a Jumping Toy the spring of which was compressed into a pneumatic device that delayed pop up. To escape the pneumatic control the spring had to be heavy duty causing the base to leave the ground when activated and this along with the friction of the clothing covering the spring made this a one shot deal with no gyration.
The next spring action toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,276,224 issued Aug. 20, 1918 to J. Isaacs for a Figure Toy in which a heavy duty compression spring mounted to a base has attached to the top of it an extra heavy weight head with a full body that entirely covers the spring. The Head is depress and released. The weight of the head makes it a projectile with the sole purpose of propelling the spring and its base off the ground and have the base make a noise when it lands. The weight of the head, the heavy duty spring required, the friction of the body cover and the raising of the base off the ground all make this a one shot pop-up action with no gyration.
Another such spring body toy is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,456 issued Dec. 10, 1940 to M. M. Janas for a Toy Doll where the spring is used to allow manual manipulation, stretching and bending, of the body, which then slowly returns to its original shape due to the resilient memory of the spring. There is no gyration.
The first of many spring mounted hobbyhorses as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,869 issued Nov. 2, 1948 to D. L Richards for a Hobbyhorse where the child sits on the horse and rocks back and forth. The strength of the spring necessary to support a child prevents bouncing. Over the years the chain legs where replace by an every increasingly stronger, stiffer, heavy spring and sometimes concealed guides that limited rocking such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,198 issued Jun. 6, 1978 to T. L Petersen for a Coil Spring Device.
'Rapid vibrating motion' was achieved as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,464,665 issued Mar. 15, 1949 to G. Anderson for a Spring Supported Figure where a spring, loosely wound encompasses a light weight figure and is hung from a stand. The weight of the spring extends it downwards simulating a cage. Any force applied to the spring causes it to 'vibrate'. This indicates an extremely light weight figure, almost weightless, and a fairly heavy duty spring which causes rapid slight oscillations (vibrations). The spring is an extension spring, not a compression spring. The spring used in a Slinky is an extension spring. If the base of the spring is set upon a table and the top released, the top will settle down completely around the figure with the coils making very close contact with each other. The spring cannot be compressed. The spring action only works when the device is hung or held from the top.
A compression spring, vertically mounted, is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,862 issued Sep. 1 1959 to N. Thomas for an Articulated Toy which consists of a standing doll with head mounted on top of the spring and with feet mounted on the base of the spring and arms pivotally mounted to the base of the head and holding a glass of beer. The doll is fully clothed. When you press down on the dolls head he lowers the glass of beer. When you release the dolls head he raises the beer to his mouth. Gyration is not a factor in this patent.
A compression spring, vertically mounted, is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,176,431 issued Apr. 6, 1965 to D. W. Richardson for a Resilient Action Figure Toy in which a vertically standing compression spring has weightless 'simulated facial characteristics' attached to the front of the spring and weightless simulated feet attached to the bottom of the spring. Because this spring as shown is basically just a spring it will just pop-up into the air at an angle and in combination with the facial features attached to the front of the spring unbalancing it, it will fall over before it oscillates. The inventor, therefore, made claim to a modified spring with a 'lower helical' spring that has a lower center of gravity, with a 'larger relative diameter' and flat base with an attached upper 'relatively smaller diameter' helical spring. The action of these two springs connected as described goes against Newton's Laws of Motion and Hooke's Law. Hooke's law F=−kX states that these two springs can never oscillate in unison at the same cycle and will fight each other. Newton's Law of action and reaction states that the opposing oscillations will balance each other out, the larger lower spring almost instantly consuming all the kinetic and potential energy of the smaller upper spring. The upper spring will never oscillate or sway independently. It will vibrate a few times and stop becoming an excessive dead weight. The bottom spring with its low center of gravity and heavier spring wire with a wider diameter base and an excessively heavy head will be unable to sway horizontally or maintain a vertical oscillation for any 'prolonged periods of time' as claimed. Also depriving it of the ability to oscillate for any prolonged period of time is the low profile of the spring with the coils very close together. The low profile helical shape does not allow one to depress it enough to give it the necessary energy it requires, and the spring with its flat base will still jump off the ground at an angle dissipating immediately what little energy is put into the action.
A compression spring, vertically mounted, is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,861 issued Mar. 24, 1970 to A. E. Goldfarb for a Game Apparatus And Time-Delayed Action Unit in which a head with suction cup is attached to the top of the spring but the spring sits on a base to which it is not attached. The suction cup is pressed against the base and slowly releases causing the head and the spring to pop-up. No gyration is involved. The reason for including this patent in our search documents is that from this patent evolved the ubiquitous wobbly-headed figures for which apparently no patent was ever issued. If a patent where issued it would indicate a concealed, lengthy, stiff spring which simply allows the head to wobble back and forth and not up and down and requiring continuous activation such as a bouncing car.
In a gyrating toy of the present invention the safety features of assembling the spring to the weights, the safety features in operation, the durability of its construction, the utilizing of the weights and spring in accordance with Newton's and Hooke's Laws to obtain a vastly longer duration of gyration with a slower, higher and more pleasing cycle as opposed to a vibration, the stability of the toy when standing alone, the ease of production, the aesthetics of the toy and/or of the doll enable the toy to be used safely, easily and enjoyably by both adult and child.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including forming a pad oxide layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming a spacer oxide layer pattern on sidewalls of the pad oxide layer, and forming a nitride layer on the pad oxide layer. The method further includes forming a groove in the nitride layer by selectively removing the spacer oxide layer pattern, forming a trench in a region where the groove is formed, and filling the trench with a thermal oxide layer so as to form a shallow trench isolation (STI) layer. In the method, the line width of the STI layer depends on the thickness of the spacer oxide layer, and so the STI layer can be formed to a line width W smaller than a design rule.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming shallow trench isolation (STI) in a semiconductor device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, as a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor has become highly integrated, a conventional local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) process has been replaced with a shallow trench isolation (STI) process.
In a typical STI process, a trench is formed by etching a silicon substrate using a silicon nitride pattern formed on the silicon substrate. Subsequently, an insulation layer is formed on the trench and the silicon nitride pattern, which is then planarized by a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process so as to expose the silicon nitride pattern. Finally, the silicon nitride pattern is removed to expose the silicon substrate, so that a field insulation layer, that is an STI layer, is formed.
However, in such an STI layer, a line width thereof depends on a design rule of the photolithography and etching processes, and so an STI layer having a smaller line width than the design rule cannot be formed.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form part of the prior art with respect to the present invention.

Method of forming shallow trench isolation


A housing for a supercharger assembly is provided having an inner wall at least partially defining a rotor cavity. A layer is formed from a sacrificial polymeric material and is provided on at least a portion of the inner wall. The layer is operable to provide approximately zero running clearance and improve scuff resistance between the first and second rotors and the inner wall. The sacrificial polymeric material is applied to the inner wall by insert molding to form the layer. A method of forming the housing is also provided.

Roots-type and screw-type positive displacement compressors are employed in industrial and automotive applications. The compressor or supercharger may be operatively connected to an internal combustion engine to increase the amount or volume of intake air communicated to the internal combustion engine thereby increasing the volumetric efficiency of the internal combustion engine. The supercharger typically includes two interleaved counter-rotating rotors, each of which may be formed with a plurality of lobes operable to convey volumes of intake air from an inlet passage to an outlet passage for subsequent introduction to the internal combustion engine. The efficiency of the supercharger is dependent on the running clearances between the two rotors and between each of the two rotors and a housing within which the two rotors are rotatably supported.


An apparatus for applying a curve transfer function to an input signal comprises a first set of memory for storing values representing boundary points or distance differences along a curve of the transfer function, a second set of memory for storing slope values of lines connecting adjacent boundary points along the curve, a counter unit for maintaining a position count indicating position along the curve of the transfer function with respect to the stored boundary point values, an addressing unit, responsive to the position count, for selecting, from the second set of memory memory, the slope value corresponding to the position count, an accumulator for adding the selected slope value to an accumulator output value; and a comparator and data latch for determining when the accumulator output value corresponds to the input signal, and for selecting the corresponding accumulator output value as an output signal representing the application of the curve transfer function to the input signal.

In vehicles, parameter measurement and display systems such as fuel gauge systems may be very nonlinear. This nonlinearity can be caused by several factors, including nonlinearity in the parameter measurement device, such as the sender, irregularity in the shape of the parameter vessel, such as the fuel tank, and nonlinearity in the display device itself, such as the analog gauge or digital display. All of these factors may add up to a total system nonlinearity.
The result of this nonlinearity may be noticed by many vehicle operators during a period of driving when, for example, the fuel gauge takes a long time go from "full" to "3/4 full," but appears to go from "3/4 full" to "empty" faster.
A known method of compensating for system nonlinearities is to use a ROM (or equivalent) look-up table between system circuitry and the display device. The ROM look-up table is addressed by a digital signal from the measurement circuitry representative of the parameter measurement. The ROM contains data, at that address, which drives the display device to an accurate reading of the parameter measurement. The relation between the ROM input address and output data may correspond to points along a curve that represents the system nonlinearity, so that, as a result, the display is driven linearly.
Look-up tables require a large amount of memory, which in turn requires a large amount of silicon area and may be relatively expensive. A major benefit of look-up tables is that they can be programmed, meaning that the only adaptation necessary for different systems with different nonlinearities is re-programming of the data in the memory. What is desired is circuitry to compensate for system nonlinearities, that maintains the adaptability of look-up tables but does not require the silicon area or the expense.