An organic light emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same are proposed. The organic light emitting display device includes a display unit having a plurality of sub-pixels, each of which includes a pixel electrode and a counter electrode facing each other and a light emitting layer interposed therebetween; an encapsulation substrate, which covers the display unit; and an auxiliary electrode, which is formed on a surface of the encapsulation substrate, which faces the display unit, and is connected to the counter electrode. Using the structure, voltage drop may be effectively reduced by connecting an auxiliary electrode formed on an encapsulation substrate to a counter electrode, thereby improving reliability of an organic light emitting display device employing the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display device having an enhanced structure for preventing voltage drop at a counter electrode and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an organic light emitting display device embodies colors as holes and electrons injected by anodes and cathodes are recombined at a light emitting layer and emit light and has a stacked structure in which the light emitting layer is interposed between a pixel electrode, which is an anode, and a counter electrode, which is a cathode.
A unit pixel of such an organic light emitting display device includes sub-pixels including a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel, where a desired color is embodied in combination of three colors of the sub-pixels. In other words, each of the sub-pixels has a structure in which a light emitting layer emitting one color from among red, green, and blue is interposed between two electrodes, and color of the unit pixel is embodied by suitably combining lights of the three colors.
Meanwhile, the counter electrode is generally formed as a thin metal film which covers all sub-pixels. However, since thickness of a metal film is inversely proportional to resistance of the metal film, voltage drop frequently occurs due to high resistance of a counter electrode.
As a result, it is difficult to embody clear images and reliability of an organic light emitting display device employing the same is deteriorated. Therefore, it is necessary to resolve the problems.

Organic light emitting display device and manufacturing method thereof


The transmission power of a retransmission packet is controlled in the event of a packet retransmission request being sent from a receiving side in a wireless mobile communication system supporting hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) transmission. In a method of controlling transmission power of retransmission packets by a mobile terminal in a wireless mobile communication system supporting hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) transmission, the method includes steps of receiving, from a base station, gain information associated with the sequence of the retransmission packets; determining, using the gain information, transmission power of one of the retransmission packets; and transmitting the retransmission packet with the determined transmission power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless mobile communication system supporting hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) transmission, and more particularly, to a method of controlling the transmission power of a retransmission packet according to sub-packet identifier (SPID) information.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
HARQ transmission is a link adaptation technique used to provide higher data rates for emerging services utilizing wireless Internet communication via a mobile communication system. Other forms of link adaptation, including transmit power control schemes, are used in conjunction with HARQ transmission to increase receiver reliability when demodulating and decoding the transmission. In a known power control scheme for use in a conventional mobile communication system, the power level of a transmitted signal to be received by a base station is controlled (adjusted) in response to a specific request from the receiver side, to enable data reception for a desired quality of service (QoS) level. Specifically, transmit power control is performed in a mobile communication system to solve the near-far problem occurring in a reverse link, whereby the transmission power of each terminal of both near and far terminals is individually controlled based on the respective power levels received at a specific base station, such that each power level is adjusted to a predetermined level.
There are technical difficulties, however, in simultaneously adopting multiple link-adaptation techniques into an integrated mobile communication system. For example, there are compatibility obstacles to overcome when simultaneously adopting a transmit power control scheme, i.e., a feature of the reverse link, in a mobile communication system together with forward-link features such as adaptive modulation and coding (AMC).
Meanwhile, once an error is detected in a received data packet, a wireless mobile communications system supporting HARQ transmission compensates for the error using the conventional techniques of automatic retransmission request transmission and forward error correction, by temporarily storing (rather than aborting) transmission-failed packets in memory so that the previously received and temporarily stored data may be combined with retransmitted data to secure a higher decoding probability. HARQ transmission, which is carried out by the physical layer in a wireless mobile communications system, is classified as type I, II, or III, based on the amount and type of data included in ensuing retransmissions of a failed data packet. In HARQ type I, if an error occurs in an initial transmission, the same information is fully retransmitted to enable the receiving side to use Chase combining. In HARQ types II and III, which require higher coding gains than in Chase combining, redundancy is incremented in each retransmission, whereby a receiving side can lower a code rate when performing code combining. HARQ types II and III are distinguished based on whether each transmission is self-decodable, whereby HARQ type II is self-decodable and HARQ type III is not.
Meanwhile, the transmission power of a data packet transmitted via a reverse link in a mobile communication system is based on a traffic-to-pilot ratio or TPR, which is calculated for each of a known set of data rates as the ratio of the pilot channel's transmission power to the traffic channel's transmission power and is known to the base station and the mobile terminal. The TPR is determined based on a nominal gain value and an adjustment gain value, each of which are values typically expressed in decibels. The nominal gain value corresponds to a specific or "nominal" situation and serves as a known reference to the mobile terminal, while the adjustment gain value varies situationally, i.e., according to the mobile terminal usage, and is transmitted via signaling from the base station to the mobile terminal.
In performing HARQ transmission in a reverse link of a conventional wireless mobile communication system, the power level for initial packet transmission is set equal to that of packet retransmission. In doing so, a transmitting side applies an identical TPR, which is determined at the time of initially transmitting a packet, to any packet retransmitted later, so that a retransmission packet is transmitted by the same transmission power. Therefore, in case of retransmitting the packet in a reverse link, the same higher transmission power of the retransmission packet, which has been set equal to that of the initial transmission packet, increases an interference amount of the reverse link unnecessarily.
Moreover, the increased interference of the reverse link decreases throughput and unnecessarily increases the number of packet retransmissions necessary for a successful instance of transmission number. Therefore, in performing HARQ transmission in a wireless mobile communication system, the transmission power of successive retransmission packets should be controlled to improve system performance.

Method of controlling transmission power of retransmission packet and mobile terminal using the same


An instruction rollback processor system according to the present invention is provided. The instruction rollback processor system includes: an instruction window buffer storing a plurality of instructions not yet executed and are arranged in a predetermined order; a multiplexer receiving an output of the instruction window buffer; and a rollback unit connected between the output side of the multiplexer and another input of the multiplexer.

1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to pipeline processing computer. In particular, it relates to an instruction rollback processor system, an instruction rollback method, and an instruction rollback program with low cost and high performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In central processing units (CPU), since parallel processing speed increases as the number of stages of pipeline increases, an increased number of pipeline stages tends to be used. However, as the number of stages of the pipeline increases, restart time for the pipeline increases. This may lead to the shortcoming of the processing speed decreasing. When an out-of-order CPU cannot dispatch, when an instruction cannot be completely executed by an in-order CPU, or when a cache miss occurs during the execution of a load instruction, it is necessary to refill data and then re-issue instructions. Though there is a question whether instructions that may be re-issued can be terminated, those instructions are stored in an instruction window buffer in a conventional example. This operation is a part of rollback control. The load instruction and subsequent instructions have to be held and reserved for a predetermined time period, which is relevant to the depth of entry of the instructions.
With a conventional microprocessor system, re-issuing an instruction may be required due to an occurrence of data cache miss after that instruction has been issued. Conventionally, due to this, the instruction is kept within an instruction window buffer even after that instruction has been issued, and when it is determined that re-execution thereof is required, the instruction kept in the instruction window buffer is re-issued. This requires that the instruction should be stored in the instruction window buffer for a predetermined time period, creating a problem in which part of the instruction window buffer, which has a large cost per area, is occupied with entry and maintenance of the instruction.

Instruction rollback processor system, an instruction rollback method and an instruction rollback program


Provided is a plasma display panel (PDP) that displays images by generating discharges in discharge cells in response to a power supplied through a metal electrode disposed toward a surface of the plasma display panel on which images are displayed. The PDP includes a first substrate and a second substrate facing each other; a plurality of barrier ribs that define a space into a plurality of discharge cells between the first and second substrates; a plurality of sustain electrode pairs that extend in a direction between the first and second substrates, and consist of transparent electrodes having light transmittance and bus electrodes formed of a metal, wherein the bus electrodes are made of a dark component that absorbs light and a bright component that reflects light; a plurality of address electrodes crossing the sustain electrode pairs; a first dielectric layer covering the sustain electrode pairs; a second dielectric layer covering the address electrodes; phosphor layers formed in the discharge cells; and first reflectors disposed on surfaces of the bus electrodes facing the center of the discharge cells to prevent light generated in the discharge cells from being absorbed by the bus electrodes and to reflect the light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments relate to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel that displays images by generating discharges in discharge cells in response to a power supplied through a metal electrode disposed toward a surface of the plasma display panel on which images are displayed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent times, plasma display panels, which are expected to replace conventional cathode ray tube display devices, have received much attention. Plasma display panels display images using visible light emitted through a process in which a phosphor material formed in a predetermined pattern in a space is excited with ultraviolet rays generated by a discharge of a discharge gas in the space when a discharge voltage is applied to the electrodes.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional plasma display panel (PDP).
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical alternating current type PDP 10 includes an upper plate 50 on which images are displayed and a lower plate 60 coupled to the upper plate and parallel to the upper plate 50. Sustain electrode pairs 12 in which an X electrode 31 and a Y electrode 32 form a pair are formed on a front substrate 11 of the upper plate 50. Address electrodes 22 crossing the X and Y electrodes 31 and 32 of the front substrate 11 are disposed on a rear substrate 21 of the lower plate 60 that faces a surface of the front substrate 11 where the sustain electrode pairs 12 are disposed.
A first dielectric layer 15 in which the sustain electrode pairs 12 are buried and a second dielectric layer 25 in which the address electrodes 22 are buried are respectively formed on the front substrate 11 and the rear substrate 21. A protective layer 16 is usually formed of MgO on a rear surface of the first dielectric layer 15, and barrier ribs 30 that maintain a discharge distance between the front substrate 11 and the rear substrate 21 and prevent electrical and optical cross-talk between discharge cells are formed on an front surface of the second dielectric layer 25.
Red, green, and blue phosphor layers 26 are coated on both side surfaces of the barrier ribs 30 and on an entire surface of the second dielectric layer 25 where the barrier ribs 30 are not formed.
The X electrode 31 and the Y electrode 32 include transparent electrodes 31a and 32a, respectively, and bus electrodes 31b and 32b, respectively. A space formed by the pair of the X electrode 31 and the Y electrode 32 and the address electrodes 22 crossing the X and Y electrodes 31 and 32 is a unit discharge cell 70 which forms one discharge unit.
The transparent electrodes 31a and 32a are formed of a conductive transparent material that can generate discharges and does not interrupt the progress of light emitted from phosphor layers 26 toward the front substrate 11. The transparent material can be indium tin oxide (ITO). Also, the bus electrodes 31b and 32b are usually formed of a metal having a high electrical conductivity, and have a double layer structure comprising a black bus electrode layer (not shown) and a white bus electrode layer (not shown). The black bus electrode layer, which is located on a side of the transparent electrodes 31a and 32a, increases bright room contrast by absorbing external light, and the white bus electrode layer, which is located on a side of the discharge cell, increases brightness by preventing the absorption of visible light emitted from the discharge cells. However, to form the bus electrodes 31b and 32b made of the black and white bus electrode layers, two processes are required. Therefore, recently, the bus electrodes 31b and 32b are sometimes formed in one process by forming the black and white bus electrode layers as one unit to simplify the processes.
However, in this case, since the whiteness is reduced, the visible light generated in the discharge cells is absorbed by the one-unit type bus electrodes, and the brightness is reduced.


A bracket 12 for mounting an electrical connector 28 to a trailer hitch assembly 10 is described. The bracket 12 is formed from a single sheet of material which is bent at two 90.degree. angles L1 and L2 to form a top section 12C and a first extension 12A and a second extension 12B. The top section 12C with the two extensions 12A and 12B have a U-shape which conforms with a hitch bar 22 having a rectangular or square cross-section on a trailer hitch assembly 10. The first and second extensions 12A and 12B are provided with securing holes 20 through which a nut and bolt assembly 18 is inserted to secure the bracket 12 to the hitch bar 22. The second extension 12B extends beyond the bottom 22B of the hitch bar 22 and has an aperture 14 through which an electrical connector 28 is mounted.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bracket for mounting an electrical connector to a trailer hitch assembly. In particular, the present invention relates to a bracket for mounting an electrical connector to a trailer hitch assembly wherein the bracket has a U-shaped section to fit over the trailer hitch which has a rectangular or square cross-section and extensions which extend past the hitch and are connected by bolts to secure the bracket to the hitch.
(2) Prior Art
The prior art has shown various brackets some with a U-shaped construction as a method of attachment. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 324,990 to Gary describes a light support bracket with a U-shaped end.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 223,082 to Fromm describes a bracket for automotive condensers which has an L-shaped construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,436,533 to Thompson describes a door hook with a hook-jaw at one end which fits over the door such that the teeth on the hook-jaw penetrate into the top edge of the door to secure the hook to the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,114 to Shaw describes a light fixture which employs a clip. The clip portion has a hook which is adapted to slip over the top of the back plate of the music rack. The depending leg portion of the clip may be bent inwardly to provide a spring-like grip to frictionally secure the clip to the back plate of the music rack.
Other prior art which is less relevant to the present invention includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,183 to Svoboda; U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,707 to Stewart; U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,476 to Burkle and U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,433 to Lane.
Although, the U-shaped hook attaches the bracket onto the device for which it is secured, the vibration and excessive movement involved in the use of a trailer hitch assembly would render such a force fit inadequate. Additionally, due to the metal construction of most trailer hitches, it is not realistic to attempt to secure the bracket by attaching the bracket directly into the trailer hitch as this would involve some means of puncturing the metal hitch. Therefore, there remains a need for a bracket for use on trailer hitch assembly which is easy to mount and yet secure so as to withstand the vibration of the vehicle and which will not damage the trailer hitch assembly to which it is mounted.

Bracket for supplying an electrical connector


A method of inhibiting a subject's eyes from being exposed to projected light when the subject is positioned in front of a background on which an image is displayed comprises capturing an image of the background including the displayed image, processing the captured image to detect the existence of the subject and to locate generally the subject and masking image data used by the projector to project the image corresponding to a region that encompasses at least the subject's eyes, the image data masking compensating for differing camera and projector viewpoints.

During presentations, use of a projector to project an image onto a projection screen so that the image can be seen by attendees is common. In many instances, presenters interact with the displayed images using a pointer to highlight and emphasize displayed information. During such interactions, presenters must often move between the projector and the projection screen and into the projected image. If the presenter moves into such a position and turns to face the audience, the projected light can be blinding. Subjecting a presenter's eyes to light of this nature is of course undesired.
Techniques to avoid exposing a presenter's eyes to projected light have been considered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,173 to Vlahos et al. discloses a method and apparatus for inhibiting projection of selected areas of a projected image. The apparatus includes a video projector for projecting a desired video image onto a projection screen. An infrared source close to the video projector uniformly floods the projection screen with non-visible infrared radiation. An infrared sensitive camera, close to the video projector, observes the projection screen and sees only the uniform infrared illumination flooding the projection screen. Upon entry of a subject into the projected video image, the infrared radiation reflected from the subject will not match that of the projection screen and thus, the subject area can be identified. All pixels of the projected video image, in the area occupied by the subject, are inhibited before reaching the video projector. This allows the subject to look directly at an audience without being blinded by light projected by the video projector.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,604 to Vlahos discloses a method and apparatus for inhibiting the projection of a shadow of a presenter onto a projection screen. Left and right rectilinear corrections of an image are simultaneously projected onto the projection screen from each of two positions that are off-axis on opposite sides of the centerline of the projection screen such that both projections register as a single image. A center of mass of the presenter's silhouette is generated. A vertical join line is located on the projection screen directly behind the presenter's center of mass. The portion of the projected image from the left projector that extends to the right of the join line is inhibited. The portion of the projected image from the right projector that extends to the left of the join line is also inhibited thereby providing the full projected image on the projection screen from the left and right image segments, without either segment projecting the image onto the presenter and without casting the presenter's shadow onto the projection screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,653 to Kobori et al. discloses an anti-glare device for a projector designed to minimize stimulus to the eyes of a presenter. A displayed image captured by a camera is compared with an input image signal to generate a difference image and thus, detect the location of the presenter. The input image signal is then masked so that pixels corresponding to the area at which the presenter is located are set to black. The resulting projected image signal is then projected onto the projection screen.
Although the above-references disclose techniques to inhibit projected light from being directed into the eyes of a presenter, the systems disclosed in these references suffer disadvantages. For example, although the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,173 to Vlahos et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,604 to Vlahos avoid light projected by the projector from being directed into the eyes of a presenter, the systems still expose the presenter's eyes to infrared light. Also, each of the above-described systems determines a tight-mask defining the location of the presenter and thus, requires high-resolution cameras.
As will be appreciated, there exists a need for a projection system designed to protect a presenter's eyes from virtually any form of projected light, which is easy to manufacture and cost effective. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for inhibiting a subject's eyes from being exposed to projected light when the subject is positioned in front of a background on which a projected image is displayed.

Method and apparatus for inhibiting a subject's eyes from being exposed to projected light


The pump/generator apparatus and method provides a series of pump/generator devices, having magnets in place of conventional bearings, to generate electrical energy, creating a pump/generator for flowing liquids or gases. Stator coils on the outside of the housing gather electric current. The apparatus requires initial input power from an external power source to start the pumping and provides an initial external reservoir of liquid or gas flowing into the apparatus. A hollow turbine housing receiving flowing gas or liquid, encloses a freely spinning hollow drive cylinder. A helicoidal impeller gives the drive cylinder thrust to spin. Ring magnets vertically support the helicoidal impeller allowing the drive cylinder to float freely in the pipeline. Stator coils wind around and ring the exterior side of the housing to generate electric current.

Fluid pumps and generator devices are found or utilized in residential waterlines, hotels, office buildings, water park pump systems, pools, car washes, laundry services, city water mains and water towers, and hydroelectric dams; and anywhere fluid, including water, is being moved through pipes. Although there are many liquid and gas pumps in the industry, there is a need for a pump/generator apparatus to both generate secondary power and pump liquid or gas, which is low maintenance, having higher flow rates than the current devices, which would at the same time have universal applicability and is lighter and more compact, and efficient, without having the commonly used bearings. Contamination from bearings, from grease or debris, or from shafts and shaft seals that would normally be used in pumps and generators for liquid or gas matter cause resistance to the moving parts. Two advantages to a bearing-less apparatus are a longer lifetime and higher efficiency for new uses.
Friction creates heat and loss of potential energy as well as wear on parts. Using magnets in place of traditional bearings and other moving parts creates a low friction environment. Supporting a moving part while under load without causing significant friction but still having the ability to move liquids or gas, or generate electricity by the movement of liquids and gases, is a great advantage, thereby reclaiming significant energy being used in flowing pipelines without restricting flow of the liquid or gas.
While there are centrifugal pumps, pumps with external motors or drives, pumps with bearings, and electrical generators; there are no "liquid pumps/generators" or "gas pump/generators" found on the market, devices which may act as both a pump and a generator with the structural characteristics of the invention. Nor is there technology providing the same or similar results in the current industry, such as with wind farms, hydroelectric dams and solar power. There are no inventions in the related art which have the structure of the invention or teach the disclosures of the invention, such as having a suspended, frictionless device, with no points of contact between the stationary housing and spinning cycle, as would be found with devices having conventional bearings. As well, there are no inventions in the related art which generate electricity in a closed pipe system requiring no external source of power after initial sourcing and generation of power as in the invention.
The US Patent Application to Kazadi No. 2010/0270805 ("Kazadi") discloses a wind turbine having magnets for generating supplemental energy and levitating a drive shaft in a friction free manner. Kazadi discloses magnets used as an axle to reduce friction, as well as one or more stationary points of contact between the cylinder and the impeller. The embodiment of the invention discloses no points of contact, and no seals or conventional bearings. The only contact with the spinning drive cylinders of the embodiment of the present invention is fluid propelling the impellers.
The US Patent Application to Zeuthen et al No. 2011/0062716 ("Zeuthen") discloses a wind turbine having magnetic bearings that are ball-like rather than non-cylindrical. Zeuthen utilizes magnets to aid against an asymmetrical loading for a wind turbine, thereby providing a "sideways" push, as opposed to the bearing-like thrust disclosed by the embodiment of the present invention made from two opposing ring magnets pushing in one elevational direction in the pump/generator devices. As well, Zeuthen discloses a center axis to rotate on itself, having a bearing in the center of the cylinder restricting fluid passing through the cylinder, unlike the structure of the invention, which has no fluid restriction.
The Hoskin U.S. Pat. No. 622,474 ("Hoskin") discloses a fluid turbine having a helical impeller, bearings and an armature of an electromagnetic motor, requiring an iron core exterior of the turbine. In particular, Hoskin provides a side feed structure to power the invention, and side inlet and exit ports due to centrifugal effect on the fluid, rather than top or bottom feed with an opposing exit as the present invention. Hoskins would not use or teach the use of the magnetic bearings of the invention due to the uneven pressures that would be caused by the side inlet and outlet. Also, the embodiment of the present invention uses a serpentine coil in the devices, turning the generators into fully reversible pumps.
Hoskin would not teach providing magnetic bearings because it requires an iron core coil in that invention, which would cause an attraction between the iron core inside the coil and the magnetic drive cylinder resulting in energy loss, making it inoperative for such an intended purpose, teaching against any combination, and not create the friction-free assembly structure of the invention for generating energy supplemental to the turbine. The invention uses iron free serpentine, copper coils, and not a conventional coil arrangement. Therefore, the prior art would not be available in the turbine art, despite their use of impellers for generating electricity.
U.S. Patent Application to Schöb, No. 2013/0164161 ("Schöb") discloses a centrifugal pump and the use of an external electric drive motor to produce rotational energy, not the structure of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.
Schöb would not teach the use of generating coils on the outside of the cylinder as in the invention because such use would be non-enabling, interfering with its drive and bearing coils. As well, Schöb, while disclosing magnets and coils, does not teach the use as a generator or the reverse flow of fluid, in addition to other disclosures of the embodiments of the invention.
Other related art discloses the use of conventional bearings located within the cylinder housing restricting the flow of liquid or gas and other structures differing from the cylinder structure of the present invention. Some related art uses ferromagnetic materials such as conventional bearings which would not teach the embodiments of the present invention due to constant attraction and pull from the permanent magnets. All the related art discloses structural differences to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. None of the aforementioned related art contain or disclose all the same structures or structural characteristics of the invention.

Pump/generator over-unity apparatus and method


A method for developing shallow trench isolation in a semiconductor device includes forming an ion diffusion area by implanting fluorine ions where a trench is to be formed in a semiconductor substrate before forming the trench, performing an annealing process or a tilt ion implantation process to diffuse the fluorine ions into both sides corresponding to the upper corners of the trench, wherein the fluorine implantation process increases the oxidation rate of the upper corners of the trench to be more than that of the semiconductor substrate when a light oxidation proceeds for preventing damage to the semiconductor substrate in forming the trench. Accordingly, the upper corner portions of the trench are formed to be rounded so as to distribute an electric field, thereby preventing a hump phenomenon when the completed semiconductor memory device is operated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for developing a shallow trench isolation (hereinafter, called STI) in a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to an improved method for forming an upper corner of a trench used to achieve STI in a semiconductor memory device, which is rounded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIGS. 1A through 1H, description of the conventional STI method will now be given in detail.
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a first oxide film 12 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 11, and a nitride film 13 is formed on the first oxide film 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, a photoresist pattern 14 is formed on the nitride film 13, and the first oxide film 12 and the nitride film 13 are patterned by using the photoresist pattern 14.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the photoresist pattern 14 is removed, and then a trench 15 is formed in the semiconductor substrate 11 by etching the substrate 11 using the patterned nitride film 13 as a hardmask.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, by performing a light oxidation, a second oxide film 16 is formed on the inner surface of the trench 15, and, as shown in FIG. 1E, a third oxide film 17 is formed on the entire resultant upper surface by using a high density plasma (HDP) deposition. Here, the trench is filled with the third oxide film 17.
As shown in FIG. 1F, the entire resultant surface of the construction is polished using an apparatus (not illustrated) for a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Then, as shown in FIG. 1G, the residual nitride film 13 is removed by etching, and finally, as shown in FIG. 1H, the oxide films 12, 16, 17 are removed by etching, except the portions of the second and third oxide films 16, 17 filled in the trench 15, whereby the conventional STI process of the semiconductor memory device is completed.
As shown in FIG. 1H, the semiconductor structure formed by the conventional STI method has an upper corner portion of 15a of the trench formed in a rectangular construction. Thus, when the completed semiconductor memory device is operated, an electric field is concentrated in the corner portion 15a, resulting in a hump phenomenon.

Method for developing shallow trench isolation in a semiconductor memory device


Flicker occurs in a flicker-noticeable area consisting of pixels with no pixel value variations. An image processing device (100) includes a variance calculation unit (101) that obtains a variance of an area consisting of a target pixel and neighboring pixels included in a first frame, and changes, according to the variance, the rate at which an error generated at the target pixel through tone level restriction is distributed within the frame and between frames. The image processing device (100) includes an error diffusion unit (113) that distributes the error generated at the target pixel to the neighboring pixels included in the first frame based on an intra-frame error diffusion rate and an intra-frame error distribution weight, and distributes the error generated at the target pixel to a target pixel and neighboring pixels included in the second frame based on an inter-frame error diffusion rate and an inter-frame error distribution weight.

When a video signal having M levels of tone is input into a display device that can display a video signal having up to N levels of tone (N<M) (M and N are natural numbers), the display device cannot display (express) all information of the M tone levels of the input signal. In that case, the display device, such as a plasma display device, uses a technique for expressing a video image corresponding to the input video signal as faithfully as possible only using the tone levels that can be displayed with the device. Error diffusion is one such technique (one such process).
Error diffusion is to distribute (diffuse) an error that is generated through tone level restriction at a pixel of an I-th frame (I is a natural number) or at a pixel of a frame preceding the I-th frame to other pixels (unprocessed pixels) of the I-th frame at which tone level restriction is yet to be performed and to pixels of an (I+1)th frame or frames following the (I+1)th frame. This technique enables the tone levels that cannot be displayed with the display device to be expressed using a plurality of other pixels in a spatial direction (pixels within the same frame) and a plurality of other pixels in a temporal direction (pixels at the same position in different frames and their neighboring pixels). This technique enables the display device to produce a video image with good reproducibility of tone levels.
However, one problem associated with this technique is that flicker may occur when an error generated in the I-th frame is distributed to the (I+1)th and following frames. Flicker occurs when the error accumulates through repeated distribution, and can cause pixels of one frame to have values different from the values of the corresponding pixels of the preceding and following frames. For ease of explanation, error diffusion is assumed to be performed only in the temporal direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the pixels of the I-th to the (I+3)th frames at the same position each have a pixel value of 40, whereas the corresponding pixel of the (I+4)th frame has a pixel value of 50. Such pixel value deviation causes flicker to occur in a video image displayed by the display device.
To overcome this problem, one method proposes to reduce unnecessary noise and reduce flicker by calculating the absolute value of a difference between a current video signal (a target pixel) and a video signal (pixel) delayed in each of a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, and a temporal direction of an image formed using the current video signal, determining that a smaller absolute value of the difference between the signals means that the two signals have a higher correlation, and distributing an error of the target pixel at a higher rate to a pixel determined to have a higher correlation with the target pixel (see, for example, Patent Citation 1).
FIG. 17 shows the conventional technique (conventional image processing device (error diffusion device)) described in Patent Citation 1.
A dot storage unit 102, a line storage unit 103, and a frame storage unit 1401 shown in FIG. 17 delay an input signal (input video signal), and calculate a difference between a target pixel and its corresponding pixel in each of a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, and a frame direction (temporal direction). Although the term "field" refers to a group of video signals in Patent Citation 1, the components in FIG. 17 use the term "frame" to replace the field because whether to use a frame or a field is not essential to the technique.
Absolute value calculation units 1409A to 1409C each calculate the absolute value of an input difference, and output the calculated absolute value to a weight determination unit 1404.
The weight determination unit 1404 receives the absolute values of the differences output from the absolute value calculation units 1409A to 1409C, and calculates a weighting coefficient of each pixel in a manner that the error generated at the target pixel is distributed at a higher rate to a pixel having a smaller absolute value of the difference from the target pixel.
An error addition unit 105 adds an error to the input signal, which is delayed to adjust its processing timing, and outputs the resulting signal to a tone level restriction unit 1406.
The tone level restriction unit 1406 outputs, to a dot error storage unit 14071, a line error storage unit 14072, and a frame error storage unit 1408, the upper n bits of the input signal to which the error has been added ((m+n)-bit signal) as an output signal (output video signal) and the lower m bits of the signal as an error element.
Each of the dot error storage unit 14071, the line error storage unit 14072, and the frame error storage unit 1408 receives the error element output from the tone level restriction unit 1406. Each of the dot error storage unit 14071, the line error storage unit 14072, and the frame error storage unit 1408 first delays the error element and then multiplies the error element by its weighting coefficient to generate a weighted error element, and outputs the weighted error element to the error addition unit 105.    Patent Citation 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-155565

Image processing device, image processing method, program, recording medium and integrated circuit


A bi-frequency symmetrical patch antenna includes two bi-frequency symmetrical radiation units, each having a first band radiation section and two second band radiation sections, to radiate a feed-in signal in a selected direction. Further, the antenna has a power distribution unit, to evenly distribute the feed-in power, corresponding to the feed-in signal, to each bi-frequency symmetrical radiation unit. The power distribution unit has two side arms connecting respectively to each bi-frequency symmetrical radiation unit to increase the bandwidth range of the bi-frequency antenna.

With continuous developments of wireless communication technology, nowadays users can transmit information through wireless communication systems without geometric restrictions. An antenna is one of the important elements in wireless communication. At present the antenna made from a printed circuit board is most popular. It is easier to fabricate and costs less.
The commonly used wireless communication standards now are IEEE802.11 a and IEEE802.11b announced by the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Institute (IEEE). IEEE802.11a is for the band of 5 GHz. IEEE802.11b is for the band of 2.4 GHz. Design of the antenna baseboard has to comply with the corresponding bandwidth. If a wireless communication system has to be used in two different bands at the same time, matching antennas have to be provided. This causes inconvenience. To meet the requirement of different bands, adopting a bi-frequency antenna design is a growing trend. However, the present bi-frequency antenna still has drawbacks, such as an insufficient bandwidth and integration difficulties.
Hence how to provide a broadband bi-frequency antenna is one of the research and development focuses in the industry.


Methods and systems for reservoir targeting, the systems implementing methods comprising filtering a plurality of values in a three-dimensional model to eliminate values which are below a threshold to create a filtered three-dimensional model; developing a first matrix from the filtered three-dimensional model representing a two-dimensional model of the reservoir, wherein the first matrix includes a plurality of cell center locations, cell areas, and the plurality of values; developing a second matrix from the first matrix using a distance-weighted sum of the plurality of values; and selecting target locations from the second matrix based on the distance-weighted sum of the plurality of values.

Historically, to arrive at a set of targets for the placement of wells for the extraction of hydrocarbons, a manual process is used in which the surfaces representing the top, bottom surface, or intermediate surface of the reservoir is interpreted from seismic data to place the targets. In this process, the surface is overlaid with a color-coded attribute overlay, which may be comprised of attributes indicating the porosity, permeability, saturations, or other characteristics of the reservoir. Based on the color-coded attributes, the target locations are visually selected, the attribute color coding being the primary indicator of the target location.
In the above method, since the color coding is used as the primary cue for target location, it is very difficult to take into consideration the drainage radius and an entire three-dimensional model of a reservoir, because only the attributes of a surface are being considered. To take into consideration the entire three-dimensional model of the reservoir, this method would entail sequentially evaluating adjacent layers of the reservoir until the entire reservoir is completely evaluated, while attempting to remember the attributes associated with each of the previous layers. This a very tedious and time consuming process.
In another historically used and more accurate method than the above, the raw seismic data is visually analyzed for so called "bright spots." The bright spots are basically high or low amplitude attribute areas indicative of the porosity, permeability, saturations, or other characteristic of the reservoir. In this process, a geocellular model of the entire reservoir is created rather than evaluating a selected horizontal surface of the reservoir and filtering the model to only display the areas or "bright spots" that have certain desirable attributes. In similar fashion to the previous method, in this method, the targets are also manually selected on the resulting geobodies. This is also a time consuming and inaccurate method of locating targets.
Therefore, there is a need for an automated method for locating targets for a hydrocarbon reservoir. A method where a user sets a series of filters for processing a three-dimensional geocellular model, an expected drainage radius for each target, and the maximum number of allowable targets. Then a computer implemented method traverses the geocellular model targeting areas that meet the filtering criteria and target spacing constraints. The method may eliminate overlapping targets; therefore, the method may optimize the location of each target by optimizing the cells that are targeted. If more target areas meet the filtering and spacing criteria than the maximum allowable number, the method may only display targets in the most desirable areas by evaluating the cells under each target both horizontally and vertically and weighing each target location.
This automated process would be more desirable than the process discussed above of interpreting a surface of the reservoir, because the entire three-dimensional model of the reservoir may be taken into account, and the implemented selection process results in a more accurate selection of desirable target locations than the human selections based on visual inspection of the attributes overlaid on the surface. Furthermore, this automated process would be more accurate when compared to the method using the geocellular model, because the spacing radius may be optimized and the targets are weighted based on the cells under each target so that the placement is much more optimized than if done by human analysis. This automated process may result in an increase in accuracy and substantial time savings in the process of locating targets for well placement.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed at overcoming one or more of the above deficiencies described in the art.

System and method for automated reservoir targeting

Landmark Graphics Corporation, a division of Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.


A device-coupled golf club 80 includes a club head 64 which is assembled with a shaft 22 by use of a coupling device 40. Club head 64 is formed with a hosel 68 which is formed with a bore 70 having threads 76 formed in an upper portion thereof and a floor 74 at the base thereof. Coupling device 40 is formed with a body 41 having a bore 42 formed axially therethrough. A flange 44 is formed radially outwardly from one end of the body 41 and is formed with threads 50 from the flange toward the opposite axial end of the body. A ferrule 56 is located on shaft 22 and a tip end 30 of the shaft is inserted into bore 42 of body 41 and secured there by an epoxy glue 82. An exterior surface of body 41 is formed with threads 50 which engage threads 76 formed within bore 70 of hosel 68 to removably secure device 40 with head 64 whereby shaft 22 is assembled with the head 64 to form club 80.

This invention relates to a device-coupled assembly and to a device used therewith and particularly relates to a golf club formed by a shaft which is coupled to a golf club head through a coupling device and further relates to the coupling device.
Golf clubs are typically formed by a shaft which is coupled to a club head. The shaft is formed with a relatively large width or diameter at one end, referred to as the butt end, and a relatively small width or diameter at the opposite end, which is referred to as the tip end. The shaft is typically tapered uniformly from the butt end to the tip end and may be formed with a short cylindrical length at the tip end. The shaft could be formed in other configurations if desired. A hollow stem, commonly referred to as the hosel, is formed with and extends outwardly from the head. The hollowed portion, or opening, of the hosel typically conforms to the shape and size of the exterior of the shaft at the tip end thereof to facilitate assembly of the tip end of the shaft within the hosel. For example, the hosel could be cylindrical for receipt of the short cylindrical length of the tip end of the shaft.
Currently, in one technique for manufacturing golf clubs, the tip end of the shaft is coated with a bonding agent such as an epoxy glue and is then placed into the opening of the hosel. Thereafter the epoxy glue cures to provide a permanent bond between the tip end of the shaft and the hosel to thereby join the shaft to the club head to form the golf club. With such a bonded arrangement between the shaft and the hosel, it is impossible to reverse the assembly without destruction of either, or both, the tip end of the shaft and the hosel of the head. From a practical standpoint, this eliminates the opportunity for the user of such clubs to remove the shaft from assembly with the head.
The ability to uncouple the shaft from the head may be desirable for a variety reasons. For example, the shaft or head of a currently used club may be damaged or worn and the user may wish to keep the component which is not worn or damaged and replace the other component. Also, it may be desirable to transport and or store the shaft independently of the head when the club is not in use in a manner similar to the dismantling of a pool cue stick for the same purpose. Further, there are numerous fitting shops where a golfer can practice and experiment with a number of different golf clubs to determine which club is most suitable for the golfer. In such a practice and experimenting environment, it would be most practical if the golfer could assemble selected shafts with selected heads on an interchangeable basis to locate the optimum combination of shaft and head to further enhance the golfer's playing of the game of golf.
While many coupling devices have been designed over the years for coupling a shaft to a club head, some of these devices are interposed axially between the shaft and the hosel. Thus, such a device forms a portion of the length of the club and presents a potentially weak link in the area of the coupling device. Also, with such a device, there are no laterally overlapping portions of the shaft and hosel which would tend to provide necessary lateral strength when the club is swung to hit a golf ball.
A few coupling devices of past design do allow the tip end of the shaft and the head or hosel to be in lateral alignment. Typically though, devices of this type undesirably add bulk to the club compared to an unaltered club.
Devices of the types noted above, add mass, weight and length to critical areas of a club thereby creating an imbalance in the parameters of the club which could undesirably affect the golfer's swing and impact with the ball.
Thus, there is a need for a device for removably coupling one object, such as a golf club shaft, to another object, such as a golf club head or hosel of the head. There is a further need for such a device where, when comparing the device-coupled club with a directly coupled shaft and head, the presence of the device does not alter the mass of the head and the swing weight and the natural frequency of the club. Further, there is a need for such a device for use in forming a club where, in comparison with the directly coupled club, the mass and the total length of the club remain unchanged by the addition of the device and the length of the tip end of the shaft which is inserted into the head and/or the hosel is the same as the directly coupled club.

Device-coupled assembly and device used therewith


A liquid-crystal display device performs a feedback process. A video signal is written on pixels on a unit by unit basis, each unit including a plurality of pixels (six pixels, for example). Scan pulses output from RGB LCD panels are supplied to a driver IC that supplies the RGB LCD panels with a variety of timing signals. A delay amount from the scan pulses from the optimum state thereof is measured. The delay amount is accounted for in a pulse that samples and holds the video signal, i.e., a pulsewidth control clock pulse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, a method of controlling the display device, and a projection-type display apparatus and, in particular, to a display device which concurrently writes a video signal on a plurality of pixels at a time in a horizontal direction on a display having a matrix of pixels, a method of controlling the display device, and a projection-type display apparatus incorporating the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid-crystal display (LCD) devices employing pixels as a display element typically use a digital signal processor IC that is manufactured using a MOS process of a gate array. After being subjected to a predetermined signal process of the digital signal processor IC, digital data is digital-to-analog converted by a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter. The resulting analog signal is then supplied to a liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel through an LCD driver. The LCD panel includes a matrix of pixels, each including a liquid crystal cell.
Since a write speed of the LCD panel is not high enough to successively write an input video signal on the dots (pixels) one by one, the video signal is typically written onto a plurality of pixels in a horizontal direction of the display at a time. In such a liquid-crystal display device of multi-pixel simultaneous writing, a sequentially and successively input video signal must be converted into a parallel signals to be written on a plurality of pixels at a time.
For example, in a liquid-crystal display device that writes the video signal on six horizontal pixels at a time, a sequentially input video signal is converted to six parallel video signals for the six respective pixels having the same timing. The six parallel video signals are then concurrently written onto six signal lines within a duration of time for the six pixels. This parallel processing is performed by an LCD driver when the video signal is subjected to a sample-and-hold process.
A sample-and-hold pulse for use in the parallel processing is generated as a timing signal in synchronization with a horizontal synchronization signal. The signal lines for conducting six-parallel video signal are physically connected to the LCD panel. A start position of the video is uniquely determined by the timing signals and a display start timing signal to the LCD panel.
The LCD panel includes signal line selection switches to select six signal lines at a time. The signal line selection switch selects six signal lines at a time to simultaneously write the video signal on the six pixels at a time. The signal line selection switches are selected in response to a switch pulse (a writing signal) successively generated in synchronization with the video signal. When the signal line selection switches are successively selected, the video signal is simultaneously conducted to the six signal lines through the selected signal selection switch.
The switch pulses and the video signal are distorted by the effect of resistances and capacitances of the signal lines that conduct these signals. An optimum display cannot be obtained without adjusting the phase relationship between the switch pulses and the video signal. An inappropriate phase relationship between the switch pulses and the video signal may leak the video signal to a location ahead of or behind the right position thereof by six pixels, thereby presenting double pictures. For example, if the phase relationship is destroyed when a single vertical line is displayed, the signal vertical line may appear on a location ahead of or behind the right location by six pixels.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-108299 discloses a technique which adjusts the phase relationship between a timing signal for simultaneously writing a video signal, namely, a switch pulse (writing signal) and the video signal with a precision of at least dot clock frequency without changing the center position of an image. In accordance with this conventional art, a timing generator adjusts the phase of the pulse signal serving as a reference for use in the generation of the switch pulse so that the phase relationship between the video signal and the switch pulse is adjusted without changing the center position of the image with a precision of at least the dot clock frequency.
The conventional art is effective for adjusting the phase relationship between the writing signal for simultaneously writing the video signal and the video signal on a liquid-crystal display device prior to a shipment thereof, but is ineffective for adjusting the phase relationship subsequent to the shipment. Even if an optimum adjustment is achieved prior to the shipment, the phase relationship may be destroyed due to a delay in liquid-crystal driving pulses because circuit elements are subject to temperature cycles and aging after shipment. An optimum image is not achieved.

Display device, method of controlling the same, and projection-type display apparatus


A method, apparatus and program storage device for verifying existence of a redundant Fiber Channel path is disclosed. The present invention verifies that a redundant path exists prior to moving the WWNN and WWPN. Thus, if the path being used for Fiber Channel communication is lost, connectivity can be restored when the source of the original connection can access the physical interface where the WWNN and WWPN have been moved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to Fibre Channel networks, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for verifying existence of a redundant Fibre Channel path.
2. Description of Related Art
As computers and peripheral devices continue to improve in performance and capability, the limitations imposed by traditional parallel interfaces are becoming more apparent. Higher performance processors demand higher throughput of systems. Hardware is advancing to address this demand, but the interfaces used currently cannot ultimately keep up. To solve the problem, serial interfaces such as Fibre Channel are beginning to be designed into hardware. With higher data transfer rates, Fibre Channel offers ample performance for current as well as future demands.
Fibre Channel is a high performance, serial interconnect standard designed for bi-directional, point-to-point communications between servers, storage systems, workstations, switches, and hubs. It offers a variety of benefits over other link-level protocols, including efficiency and high performance, scalability, simplicity, ease of use and installation, and support for popular high-level protocols.
Fibre channel employs a topology known as a "fabric" to establish connections between ports. A fabric is a network of switches for interconnecting a plurality of devices without restriction as to the manner in which the switch can be arranged. A fabric can include a mixture of point-to-point and arbitrated loop topologies.
In Fibre Channel, a channel is established between two nodes where the channel's primary task is to transport data from one point to another at high speed with low latency. The Fibre channel switch provides flexible circuit/packet switched topology by establishing multiple simultaneous point-to-point connections. Because these connections are managed by the switches or "fabric elements" rather than the connected end devices or "nodes," fabric traffic management is greatly simplified from the perspective of the device.
In a high availability, Fibre Channel switching environment, a second set of "redundant" elements are provided in the event of a failure condition. The number and make-up of the redundant elements parallel the primary elements, and operate as back-up resources if the primary elements fail. As such, in the event of such a fail condition, a switchover to the redundant elements can greatly minimize the loss of transmitted data frames.
Most modern computer networks, including switched and arbitrated-loop fibre-channel networks, are packet oriented. In these networks, data transmitted between machines is divided into chunks of size no greater than a predetermined maximum. Each chunk is typically packaged with a header and a trailer into a packet for transmission. In Fibre-Channel networks, packets are known as Frames.
A Fibre-Channel network having at least one switch is a switched Fibre-Channel fabric. A Fibre-Channel switch is a routing device generally capable of receiving frames, storing them, decoding destination information from headers, and forwarding them to their destination or another switch further along a path toward their destination. A network interface for connection of a machine to a Fibre Channel fabric is known as an N_port, and a machine attached to a Fibre-Channel network is known as a node. Nodes may be computers, or may be storage devices such as RAID systems. An NL_port is an N_port that supports additional arbitration required so that it may be connected either to a Fibre Channel Fabric or to a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop, and an L_port is a network interface for connecting a node to a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop.
A device including an N_port, L_port, or an NL_port together with hardware for high-speed connection to a machine is a Fibre Channel host bus adapter (physical HBA). For example, a physical HBA may comprise a printed circuit card having one or more NL_ports communicating through a PCI bus interface to an edge connector for connection to a PCI bus of a machine. A physical HBA may, but need not, also incorporate a processor for controlling its ports and its connection to the machine.
A Fibre Channel Switched Fabric may connect one or more Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops. In a switched Fibre Channel fabric, there may be more than one possible path, or sequence of links, loops, switches, routers, etc. that may be traversed by a frame, between two nodes. Multiple paths may be intentional, providing extra capacity or redundancy to protect against switch, node, or line failures, or may be unintentional consequences of network topology.
Multiple paths between two nodes may also be provided through multiple Fibre Channel arbitrated loops. For example, an initiator node may have two NL_ports, one connected to each of two Fibre Channel arbitrated loops. If each of these loops connects to an NL_port of a target node, then multiple paths from the initiator to the target node exist. This could provide redundancy should a failure occur on one of the arbitrated loops.
As nodes, switches, and links are added to or removed from the network, any local topology database must be updated to reflect valid devices on the network, and valid paths through the network to those devices. Nodes also may determine one or more paths of the valid paths to a given device to be an "active" path. An active path is a path that may be used for exchanges.
The Fibre Channel specifications define Class 1 and Class 4 services to be virtual-circuit, or connection, based services between pairs of nodes. Packets of a given sequence in these services must arrive in-order with respect to other packets of the same sequence. The specifications presume that frames transiting between nodes of each pair follow a virtual circuit between the nodes—all following the same path through the network from node to node and arriving in-order.
Links, loops, and switches of a network may fail. Fibre channel networks may provide more than one path between a pair of nodes. Multiple, redundant, paths provide redundancy to allow continued communications between a pair of nodes should one or sometimes more, but not all, links, loops, or switches, and therefore paths through the network, fail.
Fibre Channel (FC) devices are identified by Nodes and their Ports. Fibre Channel requires each Port to have an unchangeable World Wide Port Name (WWPN). Fibre Channel specifies a Network Address Authority (NAA) to distinguish between the various name registration authorities that may be used to identify the WWPN. Fibre Channel identifies each Node with an unchangeable World Wide Node Name (WWNN). However, in a single port Node, the WWNN and the WWPN may be identical.
One method of providing redundant Fibre Channel connectivity is to provide a mechanism to move World Wide Node Names (WWNN) and World Wide Port Names (WWPN) from one physical interface to another in the event that the original location fails to function or can no longer be reached. However, if the path being used for Fibre Channel communication is lost, connectivity can only be restored if the source of the original connection can access the physical interface where the WWNN and WWPN are moved.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, apparatus and program storage device for verifying existence of a redundant Fibre Channel path.

Method, apparatus and program storage device for verifying existence of a redundant fibre channel path


A fluid heater includes a heating circuit, a temperature monitoring circuit, a controller, and an overheat sensing element. The controller is disposed in a control unit and is in circuit communication with a temperature gauge and a power supply switch, the controller being configured to operate the power supply switch in response to feedback from the temperature gauge to maintain the heater at a setpoint temperature. The overheat sensing element is disposed in a heater housing proximate to a thermal fuse and is in circuit communication with the controller to provide an indication to the controller when the overheat sensing element reaches an overheat temperature lower than the critical temperature. The controller is configured to operate the power supply switch to reduce or shut off power to the heating element in response to receiving the indication that the overheat sensing element has reached the overheat temperature.

Regulators and other fluid control devices are often used to step down process line pressures (e.g., up to 5000 psig) to instrument pressures (e.g., up to 100 psig), for example, to allow for analysis or measurement of the process fluid, such as, for example, natural gas or petrochemical process fluids. This significant reduction in pressure may also cause a decrease in temperature due to the Joule-Thomson effect which can also cause condensation of gases, which is often undesirable for gas entering instrumentation systems.
To counter the Joule-Thomson effect and reduce the condensation of gas, a fluid heater may be provided in the fluid system. While the heater may be provided in series with a flow control device experiencing the pressure drop, in some embodiments, a fluid heater is integrated into a flow control device, such that the heater is in direct contact with the process medial within the flow control device, for maximum thermal efficiency. One example of such a heated flow control device is the KEV Series Electrically Heated Vaporizing Pressure-Reducing Regulator, manufactured by Swagelok Co. and described in the Pressure Regulators—K Series catalog (MS-02-230, Rev L), which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Electrical heater for flow control device


A method to facilitate network-based commerce includes determining a site that a user accesses, the site being one of multiple sites operated by a network-based commerce facility. A category list available for the site is retrieved, the category list identifying categories of offerings available via the site. The category list is communicated to the user. The site is a regional site, and the category list is a region-specific category list.

Electronic commerce (a.k.a., e-commerce) technology holds the promise of introducing efficiencies into marketplace and trading activities by automating many trading activities, providing near real-time information to both buyers and sellers and providing convenient channels between buyers and sellers. The ubiquity of the Internet, in particular, has led to the widespread utilization of this technology as a platform for the conducting of electronic commerce and for providing global on-line marketplaces. The increasing globalization of business and trading, no doubt facilitated by the Internet, has exposed a number geographic and regional challenges to electronic commerce. For example, the automated functionality provided by an electronic commerce facility may be unsuitable for global deployment for language, cultural and other reasons.

Method and system for listing items globally and regionally, and customized listing according to currency or shipping area


A process for generating in-situ low-cost atmospheres suitable for annealing and heat treating ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys, brazing metals and ceramics, sealing glass to metals, and sintering metal and ceramic powders in a continuous furnace from non-cryogenically produced nitrogen containing up to 5% residual oxygen is presented. The disclosed process involves mixing nitrogen gas containing residual oxygen with a pre-determined amount of a reducing gas such as hydrogen, a hydrocarbon, or a mixture thereof, feeding the gaseous mixture through a non-conventional device into the hot zone of a continuous heat treating furnace, converting residual oxygen to an acceptable form such as moisture, a mixture of moisture and carbon dioxide, or a mixture of moisture, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and using the resultant gaseous mixture for annealing and heat treating metals and alloys, brazing metals and ceramics, sintering metal and ceramic powders, and sealing glass to metals.

Nitrogen-based atmospheres have been routinely used by the heat treating industry both in batch and continuous furnaces since the mid seventies. Because of low dew point and virtual absence of carbon dioxide and oxygen, nitrogen-based atmospheres do not exhibit oxidizing and decarburizing properties and are therefore suitable for a variety of heat treating operations. More specifically, a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen has been extensively used for annealing low to high carbon and alloy steels as well as annealing of non-ferrous metals and alloys such as copper and gold. A mixture of nitrogen and a hydrocarbon such as methane or propane has gained wide acceptance for neutral hardening and decarburization-free annealing of medium to high carbon steels. A mixture of nitrogen and methanol has been developed and used for carburizing of low to medium carbon steels. Finally, a mixture of nitrogen, hydrogen, and moisture has been used for brazing metals, sintering metal and ceramic powders, and sealing glass to metals.
A major portion of nitrogen used by the heat treating industry has been produced by distillation of air in large cryogenic plants. The cryogenically produced nitrogen is generally very pure and expensive. To reduce the cost of nitrogen, several non-cryogenic air separation techniques such as adsorption and permeation have been recently developed and introduced in the market. The non-cryogenically produced nitrogen costs less to produce, however it contains from 0.2 to 5% residual oxygen, making a direct substitution of cryogenically produced nitrogen with non-cryogenically produced nitrogen in continuous annealing and heat treating furnaces very difficult if not impossible for some applications. Several attempts have been made by researchers to substitute cryogenically produced nitrogen directly with that produced non-cryogenically but with limited success even with the use of an excess amount of a reducing gas. The problem has generally been related to severe surface oxidation of the heat treated parts both in the cooling and heating zones of the furnace, resulting in rusting and sealing. The use of non- cryogenically produced nitrogen has therefore been limited to applications where surface oxidation, rusting and sealing can be tolerated. For example, non-cryogenically produce nitrogen has been successfully used in oxide annealing of carbon steel parts which are generally machined after heat treatment. Its use has, however, not been successful for controlled oxide annealing of finished carbon steel parts due to the formation of scale and rust.
To exploit the cost advantage offered by non-cryogenically produced nitrogen over that produced cryogenically, researchers have been working on processes or methods to substitute non-cryogenically produced nitrogen for that produced cryogenically. For example, furnace atmospheres suitable for heat treating applications have been generated from non-cryogenically produced nitrogen by removing residual oxygen or converting it to an acceptable form in external units prior to feeding the atmospheres into the furnaces. Such atmosphere generation methods have been described in detail in French publication numbers 2,639,249 and 2,639,251 dated Nov. 24, 1988 and Australian patent application numbers AU45561/89 and AU45562/89 dated Nov. 24, 1988. The use of an external unit considerably increases the cost of non-cryogenically produced nitrogen for the user in controlled furnace atmosphere applications. Thus, industry has not adopted non-cryogenically produced nitrogen for these applications.
Researchers have also been experimenting with the addition of a number of reducing gases with non-cryogenically produced nitrogen into the hot zone of furnaces in attempts to produce atmospheres acceptable for heat treating ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys. For example, methanol has been added with non-cryogenically produced nitrogen in batch furnaces to successfully generate atmosphere suitable for carburizing carbon steels. This process has been described in detail in papers titled , "Carburizing with Membrane N.sub.2 : Process and Quality Issues", published in Heat Treating, pages 28-32, March 1988 (P. Murzyn and L. Flores, Jr.), "New Method of Generating Nitrogen for Controlled Atmosphere Heat Treatment at Torrington Shiloh Plant", published in Industrial Heating, pages 40-46, March 1986 (H. Walton), "The Use of Non-Cryogenically Produced Nitrogen in Furnace Atmospheres", published in Heat Treatment of Metals, pages 63-67, March 1989 (P. F. Stratton) and "How PSA Nitrogen Works in a Heat Treating Shop", published in Heat Treating, pages 30-33, November 1989 (D. J. Bowe and D. L. Fung). This process, as mentioned above, is suitable for carburizing carbon steels only in the batch furnaces. It has neither been tried nor used for carburizing parts in continuous furnaces. Furthermore, it has not been used successfully for annealing and heat treating parts made of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys in continuous furnaces with separate heating and cooling zones.
Other reducing gas such as methane has been added into the hot zones of continuous furnaces with non-cryogenically produced nitrogen in attempts to generate atmospheres suitable for oxidation and decarburization-free annealing or hardening of carbon steels. The use of methane has, however, not been successful due to excessive oxidation and decarburization of the parts, as described in the paper by P. F. Stratton referred to above. The author concluded that the oxidation and decarburization problems were related to the slow rate of reaction between oxygen and methane at low temperatures and short residence times in the continuous furnaces used for oxide and decarburize-free annealing. The paper also concluded that non-cryogenically produced nitrogen would be cost competitive to cryogenically produced nitrogen only at residual oxygen levels below about 0.2%, if at all possible.
Hydrogen gas has also been tried as a reducing gas with non-cryogenically produced nitrogen for oxide-free annealing of carbon steels in a continuous furnace. Unfortunately, the process required large amounts of hydrogen, making the use of non-cryogenically produced nitrogen economically unattractive.
Japanese patent application number 62-144889 filed on Jun. 10, 1987 discloses a method of producing non-oxidizing and non-decarburizing atmosphere in a continuous heat treating furnace operated under vacuum by introducing 1% or less hydrogen and low-purity nitrogen with purity 99.995% or less into the hot zone of the furnace through two separate pipes. The key feature of the disclosed process is the savings in the amount of nitrogen gas achieved by increasing the operating pressure form 40 mm Hg to 100-150 mm Hg. This patent application does not set forth any information relating to the quality of the parts produced by using low-purity nitrogen in the furnace nor is there any disclosure in regard to the applicability of such a method to continuous furnaces operated at atmospheric to slightly above atmospheric pressures.
An atmosphere suitable for heat treating copper in a continuous furnace has been claimed to be produced by using a mixture of non-cryogenically produced nitrogen with hydrogen in a paper titled, "A Cost Effective Nitrogen-Based Atmosphere for Copper Annealing", published in Heat Treatment of Metals, pages 93-97, April 1990 (P. F. Stratton). This paper describes that a heat treated copper product was slightly discolored when all the gaseous feed containing a mixture of hydrogen and non-cryogenically produced nitrogen with residual oxygen was introduced into the hot zone of the continuous furnace using an open feed tube, indicating that annealing of copper is not feasible using an atmosphere generated by using exclusively non-cryogenically produced nitrogen mixed with hydrogen inside the furnace. Although there is no explicit mention about residual oxygen in the furnace, the reported experimental results do suggest incomplete conversion of residual oxygen in the furnace to moisture. At best the prior work suggests using atmosphere generated by prereacting residual oxygen present in the non-cryogenically produced nitrogen with a small amount of hydrogen in an external unit for heat treating copper.
Based upon the above discussion, it is clear that there is a need to develop a process for generating low-cost atmospheres inside continuous heat treating furnaces suitable for annealing and heat treating ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys using non-cryogenically produced nitrogen and a reducing gas such as hydrogen, a hydrocarbon, or a mixture thereof.

In-situ generation of heat treating atmospheres using non-cryogenically produced nitrogen


A corrugated structured packing sheet has surface texturing that may be in the form of a grid of indented and raised structures. Each indented structure is separated from some or all of adjacent ones of the indented structures by the raised structures. The raised structures form rows of peaks and interconnecting saddles. Microchannels extend along adjacent ones of the indented structures and the interconnecting saddles and intersect the corrugation valleys at an angle in the range of 20 to 75 degrees. The surface texturing may be or include wavy parallel grooves in an upper edge region adjacent the upper edge and a lower edge region adjacent the lower edge and may be or include parallel groove segments in the bulk region that are oriented obliquely to upper and lower edges of the structured packing sheet.

The present invention relates generally to mass transfer columns and, more particularly, to structured packing used to facilitate mass and heat transfer between fluids in such columns.
Mass transfer columns are configured to contact at least two fluid streams in order to provide product streams of specific composition and/or temperature. The term "mass transfer column," as used herein is intended to encompass columns in which mass and/or heat transfer is the primary objective. Some mass transfer columns, such as those utilized in multicomponent distillation and absorption applications, contact a gas-phase stream with a liquid-phase stream, while others, such as extraction columns, may be designed to facilitate contact between two liquid phases of different densities. Oftentimes, mass transfer columns are configured to contact an ascending vapor or liquid stream with a descending liquid stream, usually along multiple mass transfer surfaces disposed within the column. Commonly, these transfer surfaces are defined by structures placed in the interior volume of the column that are configured to facilitate intimate contact between the two fluid phases. As a result of these transfer surfaces, the rate and/or degree of mass and heat transferred between the two phases is enhanced.
Structured packing is used in columns to provide the heat and/or mass transfer surfaces. One type of structured packing uses a plurality of crimped sheets that form corrugations comprised of alternating peaks and valleys. The corrugated structured packing sheets are positioned in an upright, parallel relationship to each other and are arranged so that the corrugations of each sheet extend at an angle to a longitudinal axis of the column and at an angle with respect to the corrugations of each adjacent sheet in a crisscrossing relationship. The structured packing sheets are joined together to form a structured packing module in which fluid passages are formed in the valleys of the crisscrossing corrugations. The structured packing module may form a structured packing layer that fills a horizontal internal cross section of the column or the structured packing module may be in the form of individual bricks that are positioned end-to-end and side-by-side to form the structured packing layer. Multiple structured packing layers are normally stacked on top of each other with the orientation of the sheets in one layer rotated with respect to the sheets in adjacent structured packing layers.
Various types of surface texturing have been applied to the structured packing sheets in order to facilitate the spreading of the liquid phase across the surface of the structured packing sheets and thereby maximize mass and energy transfer between the vapor and liquid phases as they flow through the structured packing layer. A single type of surface texturing is normally applied over the entire surface area of the structured packing sheet. One type of surface texturing uses grooves that extend in a lateral direction that is parallel to a top and a bottom edge of the structured packing sheet. If the structured packing sheet is not level, the grooves will be inclined from the horizontal and the liquid that travels along the grooves will preferentially flow in one direction, leading to maldistribution of the liquid and a reduction in the mass transfer efficiency.
Another type of surface texturing that normally has a higher mass transfer efficiency than the grooves comprises a uniform grid of indented and raised structures in which each indented structure is separated from an adjacent indented structure by a raised structure. The indented structures on one face of the structured packing sheet form the raised structures on the opposite face of the structured packing sheet and vice versa.
The raised structures that surround the indented structures form rows comprising peaks and interconnecting saddles, with the saddles and indented structures forming rows of microchannels along which liquid preferentially flows. The rows and microchannels are inclined and intersect the top and bottom edges of the structured packing sheet at an angle, such as a 45 degree angle. It has been found that the spreading pattern of the liquid is influenced by these microchannels. When they are in general alignment with the corrugation valleys, once the liquid enters a corrugation valley it tends to follow the microchannels and remain within the corrugation valley. Ideally, the liquid would be able to exit the corrugation valleys by flowing over the corrugation peaks and entering other corrugation valleys to facilitate lateral spreading of the liquid.
A need thus exists for an improved structured packing on which liquid is able to more uniformly spread across the structured packing surfaces, increasing the active and effective surface area on which liquid-vapor interaction is occurring, and thereby obtain increases in mass transfer efficiency.

Structured packing module for mass transfer columns


A system and method for effectuating a self-timed clock (STC) loop for memory access operations wherein an Embedded Test and Repair (ETR) processor engine is utilized for optimizing an access margin value. Upon compiling a semiconductor memory instance based on its configuration data, a default access margin value is passed to a wrapper interface associated with the memory instance. In one implementation, an adjusted access margin value is determined by an optimization algorithm operable to be executed on the ETR processor engine, which adjusted access margin value is used for generating the STC signal with a particular time setting that is optimized for a memory instance of a given size.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor memories. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for providing adjustable access margins in a semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of Related Art
Silicon manufacturing advances today allow true single-chip systems to be fabricated on a single die (i.e., System-On-Chip or SOC integration). However, there exists a "design gap" between today's electronic design automation (EDA) tools and the advances in silicon processes which recognizes that the available silicon real-estate has grown much faster than has designers' productivity, leading to underutilized silicon. Unfortunately, the trends are not encouraging: the "deep submicron" problems of non-convergent timing, complicated timing and extraction requirements, and other complex electrical effects are making silicon implementation harder. This is especially acute when one considers that analog blocks, non-volatile memory, random access memories (RAMs), and other "non-logic" cells are being required. The gap in available silicon capacity versus design productivity means that without some fundamental change in methodology, it will take hundreds of staff years to develop leading-edge integrated circuits (ICs).
Design re-use has emerged as the key methodology solution for successfully addressing this time-to-market problem in semiconductor IC design. In this paradigm, instead of re-designing every part of every IC chip, engineers can re-use existing designs as much as possible and thus minimize the amount of new circuitry that must be created from scratch. It is commonly accepted in the semiconductor industry that one of the most prevalent and promising methods of design re-use is through what are known as Intellectual Property ("IP") components—pre-implemented, re-usable modules of circuitry that can be quickly inserted and verified to create a single-chip system. Such re-usable IP components are typically provided as megacells, cores, macros, embedded memories through generators or memory compilers, et cetera.
It is well known that memory is a key technology driver for SOC design. It is also well known that performance parameters such as access time, overall memory cycle time, power consumption, et cetera, play a pivotal role in designing a memory circuit, whether provided in an embedded SOC application or as a stand-alone device. These parameters can be critically dependent on the topology of a memory array. For high-speed memories, accordingly, it is desirable that these parameters such as access time are optimized regardless of the memory array sizes.
To achieve efficiency, access operations in most memories today are provided to be self-timed. That is, memory accesses typically require only a rising edge of an external clock signal, which is used to manufacture an internal memory clock that provides a time base for access operations. A shutdown signal is subsequently generated for effectuating access shutdown. Thus, in essence, a Self-Timed Clock (STC) is imposed on the memory accesses.
Many techniques are available for generating the self-timed access clock in current memories. Regardless of the implementational variations, the basic concept remains the same: selecting a particular array wordline (WL) based on address signals specified for an access operation, monitoring array bitline(s) (BLs) to determine if they have discharged to a particular level, and turning off the WL at an appropriate time.
It should be appreciated that the conventional STC schemes are highly sensitive to the array sizes because the electrical characteristics—therefore, timing delays—are topology-dependent. As a consequence, while a specific STC arrangement may be satisfactory with respect to a memory device of particular size and aspect, it may be entirely inadequate for other memory sizes. This deficiency is especially exacerbated in compilable memories which, by definition, are capable of generating numerous memory instances having different array sizes, aspect ratios, and I/O configurations, thereby necessitating different STC settings to optimize read accesses.

System and method for providing adjustable read margins in a semiconductor memory


A method of making a composite structure including at least a plating film disposed on a substrate having at least a surface portion formed from a metallic base material. The method includes the steps of discharging a composite plating solution containing insoluble particles from a nozzle and impacting the composite plating solution on the surface portion of the substrate at a predetermined flow rate. During at least a portion of the discharging and impacting steps, the surface portion of the substrate is abraded with the insoluble particles in the plating solution discharged from the nozzle. A voltage can be applied between the base material and the nozzle, which are electrically connected by the plating solution, to thereby deposit a plating film on the surface portion of the substrate by electroplating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plating method for forming a composite structure including a plating film on a metal base substrate, and in particular to composite structures suitable for use as or as components in car bumpers, rear-view mirrors, reflectors, electric and electronic parts, precision machine parts, air plane parts, engine pistons, bus-bars, electrical cables, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The preparation of various products by plating substrates prepared from iron and aluminum base materials with a plating film is well known in the art. According to conventional processes, the plating step is typically preceded by pretreatment of the metallic base material which forms the substrate. The pretreatment usually involves removing oxide film and stains from the surface of the material. Oxide films adversely deteriorate the adhesive strength between the metallic base material and the plating film; therefore, removal of the oxide films by pretreatment improves the adhesive strength between the plating film and the metallic base material.
Aluminum base material is more likely to be oxidized by air and develop an oxide film thereon than most other metal base materials. However, even if an oxide film is removed from the surface of aluminum material, the surface will re-oxidize during the plating process and adversely affect the adhesive strength between the metallic base material substrate and the plating film.
To avoid the above drawback, especially in relation to substrates formed from aluminum base materials, a zinc immersion process has been used for preventing re-oxidization of aluminum base materials. The zinc immersion process is usually performed as follows. First, the surface of an aluminum base material is degreased by solvent degreasing and alkaline degreasing. Then, the surface of the material is etched with an etchant. The principal component of the etchant is sodium hydroxide. Since the etched base material contains various kinds of impurities, copper and magnesium smuts or stains are prone to be formed on the surface. The smuts need to be removed for the plating film to adhere well to the base material. A smut removing treatment is thus performed on the base material with an acid such as an acid selected from the group consisting of nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid.
Once the smuts are removed from the aluminum base material by acid treatment, the treated aluminum base material is subjected to a zinc immersion process (or a zinc alloy immersion process). In this immersion process, the base material is processed in a zinc immersion solution. The principal component of the solution is sodium hydroxide and zinc oxide. This process removes the thin oxide film on the surface of the base material and forms a zinc film on the exposed surface. The formed zinc film is removed with nitric acid. The base material is then subjected to another immersion process, which forms a zinc film having a more uniform thickness.
After performing each of the above-mentioned pretreatment steps, the aluminum base material covered with the zinc film is subjected to a known electroplating process. In the electroplating process, the base material is immersed in a plating solution and a voltage is applied between electrodes. This forms an electroplating film on the surface of the base material.
As is apparent from the foregoing description, the above-described conventional plating method requires many steps (often more than ten steps, including the pretreatment and the electroplating) for forming a plating film having a sufficient peel strength (or delamination strength) on the surface of the base material substrate. The large number of steps associated with this conventional plating method complicates the plating procedure and commands the provision of an extremely large facility in order to accommodate all of the equipment needed to perform each of these steps.
The disadvantages associated with the above-discussed conventional method are compounded even further where a plating film having a plurality of regions each containing a different composition (e.g., a different concentration of insoluble particles or metallic components or mixtures of plating solution) is prepared. For example, it is sometimes desirable to prepare a plating layer having a first region proximal to the outer surface of the film with a certain composition, and a second region proximal to the opposing surface contacting the base material with a different composition. In this case, a plurality of separate plating solutions, with each plating solution having a different composition from the others, is needed to prepare the different regions of plating layer. Similarly, where several types of products are prepared, and each of the product types contains a plating film having a specific metal composition that differs from the metal compositions of the other product types, the provision of a different plating solution for each product type is required. The provision of a plurality of plating baths to obtain the above-discussed variations of plating films in accordance with conventional techniques further complicates the plating procedure and still further increases the cost for and space needed in the production facility.
In the above-discussed conventional electroplating methods, after pretreatment is completed the aluminum base material is immersed in a plating solution, and a voltage is applied between electrodes. This forms an electroplating film 52 on the surface of a base material 51 as shown in FIG. 14.
As further illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 14, the plating film 52 electroplated on the base material 51 develops an internal residual stress in the shrinking or compressive direction. The residual stress is believed to be attributable to the absorption of hydrogen atoms by metal ions in the plating solution when the plating film 52 is being formed. The absorbed hydrogen atoms generate hydrogen gas, which is expelled as the plating film 52 is being deposited. The expulsion of the hydrogen gas provides the plating film 52 with a microscopically porous structure, thereby generating a compressive force toward the center portion of the plating film 52. The residual stress in the shrinking direction is thus generated. The residual stress in the plating film 52 can lead to the formation of cracks in the plating film 52 or cause the film 52 to delaminate from the base material 51.
If the material 51 has a narrow groove 53 as shown in FIG. 15 or a recess, it is difficult to introduce the plating solution into the groove 53, and especially difficult to contact the solution to the bottom of the groove 53, by practicing the conventional immersion technique. Consequently, the groove 53 often is not covered with the electroplating film 52 when coated in accordance with conventional processes. Accordingly, the prior art method often fails to produce the desired plated products.
A need therefore exists to provide a process for making a composite structure comprising a substrate formed from a metal base material and a plating film electroplated on the metal base material, in which the composite structure can be produced in a more efficient and cost effective manner, and in which the resulting composite structure is not prone to cracking or delamination and has the plating film formed in narrow grooves and recesses.