A fishing lure having: (a) a shaft with rearward end and forward end; (b) a rear loop at rearward end of the shaft; (c) a hook affixed to rear loop; (d) a weighted body on shaft next to rear loop; (e) a bearing bead rotatably mounted on shaft next to weighted body; (f) a spinner rotatably mounted on shaft next to bearing bead, the spinner being a predetermined cut length of tubular material having a longitudinal center line axis, tubular material having angled cut ends with planar surfaces, tubular material having two apertures through which the shaft projects; the two apertures being through the surface of the tubular material between angled cut ends and aligned at an angle to the longitudinal center line axis, the shaft traversing the cross section of the tubular material; and (g) a front loop to attach a fishing line at forward end of the shaft.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to artificial fishing lures, and more particularly refers to a fishing lure having a spinner.
2. Description of Prior Art
Fishing lures having a spinner rotatably mounted on the lure shaft have been in existence for well over a hundred years. The rotation of a spinner around the axis of a lure creates certain actions in the lure as it travels through the water. These actions can attract fish to strike at the lure. Flashing, spinning, vibrating, fluttering, and wobbling are desirable actions associated with spinner type fishing lures. When in use, lures having one or more spinners might, at the most, accomplish three to four of the identified actions at one time. The most common and popular spinner has been one with an elliptical outline having a dished cross-section similar in shape to a spoon. This spinner, often identified as a spinner blade, is generally provided with an aperture at one end. Through the aperture, a clevis is attached to the spinner. The spinner is mounted on a shaft by means of the clevis allowing them to rotate around the lure's shaft. Another form of spinner has somewhat of a symmetrical shape with dual blades diametrically opposed to each other. Such dual-bladed spinners are often identified as propeller blade spinners. A dual-bladed spinner has a central pivoting location, and at this location, an aperture in the spinner allows the spinner to be rotatably mounted on a shaft. The central line of the dual-bladed spinner is commonly shown to be perpendicular to the lure shaft. A dual-bladed spinner can be rotatably mounted at an inclination to the shaft; however, this would require a bearing member having an elongated aperture to be fixed to the spinner blade. The configuration and orientation of the spinner's blade when the lure passes through water causes rotation of the spinner around the shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,478 to Lowes (1968) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,182 to Turbeville (1970) have, in association with their inventions, dual-bladed spinners similar in appearance to a propeller. U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,980 to Bassett (1984) and U.S. patent application. Ser. No. 20010047608 from Cox (2001) depict more recent adaptations of dual-bladed spinners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,980 to Bassett (1984) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20010047608 from Cox (2001) depict more recent fishing lures having their adaptations of dual-bladed spinners.
To make most all currently manufactured spinner blades, including Bassett's and Cox's preferred material for their dual-bladed spinners, sheet metal material is used. The basic spinner outline is die-cut from the sheet metal, and then, the spinner's final configuration is achieved by forming or bending the cut spinner piece. Sheet metal material is used because the metal material is able to conform and stay in the desired formed or bent shape.
The dual-bladed spinner for the fishing lure associated with U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,980 requires a fabricated bearing member having an elongated aperture affixed into an opening at the center of the spinner. The shaft of the fishing lure passes through the aperture of the bearing member. This bearing member is needed during rotation of the spinner to maintain a desired inclined angle of the dual-bladed spinner's central line to the longitudinal axis of the lure shaft.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20010047608 is limited to a lure having only one dual-bladed spinner, which means that a multi-directional fluttering action cannot be developed.
3. References Cited
U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,478August, 1968Lowes43/42.14U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,182October, 1970Turbeville43/42.14U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,980May, 1984Bassett43/42.14U.S. Patent Appl. No.December, 2001Cox43/42.1920010047608
4. Objects and Advantages of the Invention
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure which will attract game fish and to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure which when in use has all the desirable actions of spinning, flashing, vibrating, fluttering, and wobbling generated at one time to be attractive to game fish.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure with a spinner that is unusually different in appearance and in use of material than has been made available to fishermen.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a fishing lure having an unusually different spinner(s) of the type described which can be simply and inexpensively manufactured from readily available materials.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a fishing lure with its unusually different spinner(s) that can be manufactured in very small to large sizes for use in attracting various sizes of freshwater and saltwater game fish.
In the development of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, all the above identified objects have been met. In meeting these objects the advantages of the present invention is established. They are described under "DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION."

Spinner for fishing lure and with the spinner rotatably mounted thereon


An apparatus (100), including: a base (102) configured to retain a liquid therein; an abrasive mat (200) configured to rest on a bottom of the base and to support a saw blade in a horizontal orientation; and a blade slot (612) configured to hold the saw blade in a vertical orientation.

Saw blades used to cut wood often see a buildup of pitch and gum on the teeth of the saw blade. The buildup of pitch and gum must be removed periodically so that the pitch and gum do not interfere with the cutting action of the blade. Many woodworkers clean their blades by first soaking the blade in a solution suited for removing the pitch and gum. They then use a wire brush and go over every tooth on one side then flip the blade over to repeat same process on the other side. This process requires a lot time because there are many teeth to be cleaned. As a result, many woodworkers do not clean their saw blades as often as would be optimal. This results in cuts with saw marks and burns. These saw marks can mislead the woodworker into thinking the blade is dull and to send the blade out for re-sharpening. However, re-sharpening is expensive and can change the width, geometry, and/or the angle of the teeth, which is not ideal. Hence, there is room in the art for improvement.


Beverage production device for producing a beverage from a single-use capsule containing a beverage ingredient, comprising: a brewing unit that receives the capsule in a cavity defined by first and second engaging members that enclose the capsule and press it at a flange-like rim in a liquid seal-tight manner. At least one of the first and second engaging members comprises a substantially annular pressing portion for applying a sealing pressure on the flange-like rim of the capsule, the first and second engaging members being configured in relative closure at the nip to leak to a liquid injected in the cavity when a capsule is not present. One of at least the first or second engaging members comprises, at its annular pressing portion, at least one passage arranged for controlling liquid leakage only within a limited angular radial direction when the first and second engaging members are closed at the nip.

The background of the present invention is the field of beverage production system using capsules which contain beverage or other comestible (e.g. soup) ingredients. By means of an interaction of these ingredients with a liquid, a beverage such as coffee or tea can be produced. The interaction can be for example a brewing (e.g., extraction) or dissolution process. Such a capsule is particularly adapted to contain ground coffee in order to produce a coffee beverage by having hot water under pressure enter the capsule and draining a coffee beverage from the capsule.
Systems and methods for obtaining beverages from substances containing capsules are known, for example, in EP-A-512470. Patent application EP 1 654 966 proposes an improvement for providing better sealing upon closure of the extraction system so as to better control the extraction characteristics, particularly the opening and extraction pressures. To do that, the capsule is equipped with an attached seal or a seal that forms an integral part of the cartridge so that each new brewed capsule seals perfectly into the extraction system, thereby avoiding any risks of water leaking and bypassing through the cartridge nip to the outside. An advantage of the invention is that it provides a renewed seal each time a capsule is used. Another advantage is that it allows the capsule to be released more easily by preventing the capsule from "sticking" in the capsule cage through the effect of suction or vacuum. To do that, the invention may provide air passages such as grooves on the pressing edge of the capsule cage.
However, one problem of the device is that when water is injected in the brewing unit, when no capsule is present, and since the brewing unit does not close in a liquid impervious manner, the unit will leak in an uncontrolled manner through the nip.


A ventilation system for an article of footwear is disclosed. The ventilation system may be configured to direct air from outside the article of footwear to the inside of the article of footwear. The ventilation system may include a sole layer and a sockliner configured to lie on top of the sole layer. One or more paths may be formed within the sole layer to provide a pumping mechanism during the normal course of providing cushioning for the user. The paths may be activated by forefoot or heel based pressure to force air from the exterior of the article of footwear to a sockliner directly above the sole layer. An air inlet extending through a sidewall of the sole layer may allow outside air to enter the path within the sole layer. An opening in the sockliner may allow air inside the path to enter inside the article of footwear.

The present disclosure relates generally to an article of footwear and, more particularly, to a ventilation system for an article of footwear.
Over time, articles of footwear have been developed for numerous activities. Articles of footwear commonly lack sufficient ventilation. This problem is particularly common for articles of footwear used for strenuous activities. It would be advantageous for a sports shoe to have a ventilation system.

Ventilation system for an article of footwear


A transflective liquid crystal display panel is disclosed. The transflective liquid crystal display panel includes an array substrate and a storage capacitor disposed on the array substrate. The array substrate includes a transmitting region, a capacitor region, and a transistor region. The storage capacitor preferably includes a first transparent conductive layer covering the transmitting region and the capacitor region, a dielectric layer disposed on the first transparent conductive layer, and a second transparent conductive layer disposed on the dielectric layer. A planarizing layer is disposed on the second transparent conductive layer, and a reflective layer is then disposed on the planarizing layer of the transistor region.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly, to a transflective liquid crystal display panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By having characteristics of lightness, less radiation, and low power consumption, liquid crystal displays have gradually replaced conventional cathode ray tubes and become the dominant product in the display market. Typically, a liquid crystal display includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer filled between the array substrate and the color filter substrate. The array substrate includes a plurality of pixels arranged in the manner of a matrix, in which each of the pixels is defined by a plurality of scan lines arranged horizontally and a plurality of data lines arranged vertically. Thin film transistors are used as switch elements for each pixel, and pixel electrodes are used to drive liquid crystals to adjust brightness of the pixels. Blue, green, and red color filters disposed on the color filter substrate are utilized to generate lights of different colors, thereby producing high quality color images. Depending on their source of lights, liquid crystal display panels are categorized into transmitting liquid crystal display panels, reflective liquid crystal display panels, and transflective liquid crystal display panels.
Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a transflective liquid crystal display panel according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional transflective liquid crystal display panel includes at least a pixel 12 and a plurality of scan lines 20 and data lines 22 surrounding the pixel 12. The pixel 12 also includes a transmitting region 14, a capacitor region 16, and a transistor region 18, in which capacitors and thin film transistors are disposed in the capacitor region 16 and the transistor region 18 respectively.
It should be noted as the specification (such as contrast, viewing angle, response time, and NTSC values) of liquid crystal display advances, numerous metal structures are fabricated into the transistor and capacitor region of the display. This design not only raises the complexity of the display panel but also reduces its aperture ratio and results in lowered transmitting rate. Due to the nature of having both transmitting and reflecting mode, the reduction of the pixel area of a transflective liquid crystal display becomes much more difficult as the resolution of the display increases. This increases the proportion of non-transparent structures in the pixel region and affects the optical performance of the display panel significantly. If the aperture ratio of the display panel is increased by reducing the number of storage capacitors, problem such as electrical instability will result. Consequently, how to effectively increase the aperture ratio of a liquid crystal display pane has become an important task.

Transflective liquid crystal display panel


An integrated circuit with probeable and routable interfaces is disclosed. The integrated circuit includes multiple micro-pillars that are attached to the surface of the integrated circuit, and multiple macro-pillars also attached to the surface of the integrated circuit. The micro-pillars provide an electrical interface to the integrated circuit during regular operation. The macro-pillars provide an electrical interface to the integrated circuit both during regular operation and during testing of the integrated circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to integrated circuits. More particularly, it relates to probeable and routable interfaces for integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits may interface to external circuitry using a number of different techniques. For example, a flip chip integrated circuit may interface to external circuitry using small solder balls attached to micro-pillars located on the integrated circuit. Integrated circuits may be tested before being packaged or bonded to other integrated circuits. However, as the micro-pillars become smaller in size, the cost for probing and testing the integrated circuit increases. Thus, there is a need for better approaches to the use of micro-pillars.

Mixed-sized pillars that are probeable and routable


A font memory for a display includes a ROM with a storage region divided into a program storing region and a font data storing region, divided into a mono-font data storing region and a color font data storing region, and designed to map and store data in three segment storage regions in the color font data storing region with respect to a character CRA code defining characteristics of color font data. Three segment storage regions in the color font data storing region, in which color font data corresponding to a CRA code, which is not displayed on a screen, of CRA codes of color font data with respect to a specific font, are to be written, have a mono-font storage diversion changeable storage region that stores therein mono-font data with respect to a font other than the specific font.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a font memory for display. More specifically, the invention relates to a font memory for display, which is capable of changing the number of fonts to be stored in an assigned storage region when an on screen display (which will be hereinafter abbreviated to OSD) font is stored in, e.g., a read-only memory (which will be hereinafter abbreviated to ROM).
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, mono-font data are displayed by single font data since color data are separately assigned and since it is sufficient just to display only a pixel position. On other hand, a color font for OSD is displayed by three font data of red (which will be hereinafter abbreviated to R), green (which will be hereinafter abbreviated to G) and blue (which will be hereinafter abbreviated to B) so that the font can be displayed with full color by changing the position of pixels forming the font and the rate of three colors (R, G, B).
For each of mono-font and color font of the OSD font, a predetermined number of data are stored in a font ROM. Conventional OSD fonts can not change the number of fonts since the number of color fonts and the number of mono-fonts are fixed. In the OSD, there are some cases where the number of mono-fonts to be displayed is insufficient although there is an unused color font. In such cases, the number of mono-fonts can be increased by writing mono-font data, which are to be displayed, in a region of a ROM, in which font data of a color font is to be written. However, as described above, as that the amount of color font data is three times as large as the amount of mono-font data, the data storage region of the ROM is not effectively used.
In some cases of conventional font memories, they could not be provided with any assignment region segments in which mono-fonts and color fonts are to be stored, respectively. For example, discriminate bits for mono-/color fonts are stored in a VRAM for assigning a display font, and an end address for each font is stored in the VRAM. By assigning the discriminate bit and the end address, the data mapping of fonts is treated as a block of data. Such conventional font memories using RAMs can flexibly change the number of mono-fonts and color fonts. In order to achieve this, it is required to previously calculate the number of discriminant bits and the end address to grasp these data.
On the other hand, fonts displayed by OSD are stored in a storage region of a ROM which is assigned by a character code (which will be hereinafter referred to as a CRA code). However, this CRA code has not been used for efficiently storing font data via processing operations, such as an operation for changing the assigned storage region, in view of the difference in data amount between mono-fonts and color fonts, although the CRA code has been used for assigning mono-fonts and color fonts to regions of the ROM.
As described above, in some cases of conventional font memories for display, they could not be provided with any assignment region segments in which mono-fonts and color fonts are to be stored, respectively. In these cases, when a display font is stored in a ROM, three color font data are required for a single mono-font data. Therefore, a storage region in which the mono-font data is to be written is insufficient, so that there is a problem in that the number of mono-fonts capable of being stored is limited.
If the font memory comprises a VRAM, the number of mono-fonts and color fonts can be changed by assigning a discriminant bit and an end address for a mono-font and color font. In order to achieve this, the discriminant bit and the end address must be previously calculated, so that there is a problem in that the processing is complicated.


A process for biologically controlling the preharvest accumulation of aflatoxin in soil-borne crops. Non-aflatoxigenic strains of Aspergillus parasiticus having all of the relevant identifying characteristics of NRRL 18786 and NRRL 18991 are shown to inhibit aflatoxin production by native toxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus or Aspergillus parasiticus in the soil environment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the preharvest control of aflatoxin in crops. This is accomplished by inoculating either the crop or the soil in which it is grown with non-aflatoxigenic strains of Aspergillus parasiticus (A. parasiticus), deposited and designated as NRRL 18786 and NRRL 18991.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Aflatoxins are potent hepatotoxic, carcinogenic compounds produced by fungi, particularly Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) and A. parasiticus [Cast, (1989) Mycotoxins: economic and health risks. Report 116. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology). When these fungi invade and grow in agricultural commodities such as peanuts, corn, and cottonseed, the resulting contamination with the aflatoxins often makes the commodity unfit for consumption. They are a serious threat to humans and animals [Cast, Counc. Agric. Sci. Technol. Rep., Vol. 80, (1979), Ames, IA., 56 pp.]. The four naturally-occurring aflatoxins are designated B.sub.1,B.sub.2,G.sub.1, and G.sub.2 and will hereafter be collectively referred to as aflatoxin.
The United States peanut industry has identified aflatoxin contamination of peanuts as the number one problem for which a solution is needed [Consensus Report of the National Peanut Council Quality Task Force (1987) National Peanut Council].
Because peanuts are used primarily for food, strict regulatory limits for the amount of aflatoxin allowable in finished peanut products have been established. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has an action level of 20 parts per billion (ppb) of total aflatoxins in finished products, several states are considering much stricter limits for aflatoxin in food. For this reason the U.S. peanut industry has a goal to ensure the delivery of aflatoxin-free peanut products by the year 2000.
Although aflatoxin contamination of peanuts can occur during postharvest curing and storage, the most significant source of contamination is usually preharvest contamination, which occurs during periods of late-season drought stress as peanuts are maturing. The only known method for controlling preharvest aflatoxin contamination in peanuts is irrigation [Cole, R. J. (1982), Dev. Ind. Microbiol. Vol. 23, pp. 229-236; Cole, R. J., Aflatoxin Contamination of Groundnut: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Oct. 6-9, 1987, ICRISAT Center, India], an option that is unavailable to the majority of peanut growers.
It has previously been found that co-cultivation of either A. parasiticus or A. flavus with species of Penicillia reduce levels of aflatoxin production while co-cultivation with Fusaria had no such effect [Ehrlich, et al., Experientia, Vol. 41, pp. 691-693, (1985)]. These tests did not involve the use of a soil environment. Co-cultivation with A. niger completely eliminated the production of aflatoxin by a producer culture of A. flavus [Wicklow, et al., Phytopathology, Vol. 70, pp. 761-764, (1980)]. This testing was done under laboratory controlled conditions in which the food source involved sterilized corn kernels.

Non-aflatoxigenic aspergillus parasiticus strains and their use in controlling aflatoxin contamination

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A meter equipped with thermocouples which measure the combustion gas temperature used to calculate the heat flux at selected locations of a boiler furnace wall comprised of a series of tubes conveying pressurized water and separated by membranes. The meter extends through an opening in the membrane and is mounted on the outside of the furnace wall.

The present invention relates in general to measurement of heat flux in different furnace locations and more particularly to an attachable heat flux meter using thermocouples.
The measurement of the heat absorbed by a furnace wall can be calculated by knowing the difference between the temperatures of two points that are parallel to the flow of heat through a material that separates the heating source from the cooling source. In large steam generating boilers, the combustion of the fuel inside the furnace creates combustion gases and ash particles that radiate energy to the enclosure walls of the furnace. The enclosure walls consist of pressurized water cooled tubes that are connected with metal bars, referred to as membrane or webs, and which provide a gas tight barrier that keeps the high temperature furnace gases inside the enclosure. The radiant heat from the combustion gases inside the furnace are absorbed by the furnace walls and the rate at which the heat is absorbed by unit area is referred to as heat flux.
Many different known concepts are used to determine the heat flux absorbed in a location of a furnace. Calorimeter, Gardon gage, heat pipes and various thermocouple types of heat flux probes are used and they vary in cost and effectiveness.
One known chordal heat flux measurement device is manufactured by The Babcock and Wilcox Company. This type of measurement device requires drilling at least two openings along the surface of a boiler tube and installing a thermocouple into each of the openings. The ends of the thermocouples are located at the crown of the tube (the closest point along the curvature of the tube that heat can be absorbed on the inside of the furnace wall) at an acceptable distance apart. Using the temperature readings from the thermocouples and knowing the distance that the thermocouples are apart provides data that are used in calculating the heat flux of the energy absorbed by the tube. In most applications, an additional thermocouple is attached to the unheated side of the tube so as to measure the temperature of the fluid flowing through the tube. A brochure that describes a SDF type of chordal thermocouple is entitled xe2x80x9cChordal Thermocouplesxe2x80x9d and is available from The Babcock and Wilcox Company.
Another heat flux meter called the Fluxdome is marketed by Land Combustion Inc. This device is used for boiler applications to measure the heat flux at a point on a tube, and consists of thermocouples that are placed into a metallic cylinder that is welded on the crown of the furnace tube. The heat flux is determined from the measured temperature difference between the two thermocouples, knowing the distance between the couples and the thermal conductivity of the material in which the thermocouples are embedded.
All such known devices require the placement of thermocouples or other measuring devices on the furnace tubes by drilling into the tube. This is undesirable and dangerous since it weakens the tube wall. A device is thus needed that will not require entering the furnace enclosure or the weakening of the furnace tube walls.
The present invention solves the previously mentioned problems associated with prior art devices by attaching a heat flux device to the boiler tube membrane. The concept of this invention is to measure the heat flux at the membrane location of the furnace wall. The attachable heat flux meter is inserted into an opening that is drilled into the center of the membrane between two tubes of the furnace wall. This opening is drilled through the membrane and is sized slightly larger than the diameter of the metal cylinder of the heat flux device. The device allows the heat absorbed on the surface of the metal cylinder to flow down the cylinder and into the membrane of the furnace wall. The heat flux meter is attached to the outside or casing side of the furnace by welding the bracket of the device to the membrane.
The measurement of the heat flux is determined in a similar fashion as the chordal thermocouple. Two thermocouples are installed in the meter at a set distance apart. The heat flux is calculated through known heat conduction equations. By knowing the temperatures from the two thermocouples, the vertical distance between the two thermocouples, and the conductivity of the material in which the thermocouples are imbedded, the heat flux at the membrane location can be calculated by a known equation.
In view of the foregoing it will be seen that one aspect of the present invention is to provide a heat flux measurement device that does not require penetration of pressure parts such as the furnace wall tubes.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a heat flux measurement device that is easily installed from the outside or casing side of the furnace.
These and other aspects of the present invention will be more fully understood from a review of the following description of the preferred embodiment when considered with the accompanying drawings.


A function module with built-in heat dissipation device. The function module includes a first circuit board, a second circuit board, a first height-compensation heat spreader, a second height-compensation heat spreader, and a heat dissipation fin. The first circuit board has a first surface, a first and second device. The second circuit board has a second surface facing the first surface, a third device, and a fourth device. The first height-compensation heat spreader has a first face, contacting the first and second devices simultaneously, and a third face, opposite to the first face. The second height-compensation heat spreader has a second face, contacting the third and fourth devices simultaneously, and a fourth face, opposite to the second face. The heat dissipation fin is disposed between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a function module, and in particular to a function module with built-in heat dissipation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor process technology has developed, the operating speeds thereof increased accordingly, such that a single electronic device may incorporate multiple functions. However, due to such designs, it is difficult to simultaneously control heat dissipation, signal quality, and electromagnetic radiation in the electronic device.
Generally, electronic devices communicate via a printed circuit board (PCB). In a computer system, electronic devices, such as a central processor unit (CPU), a chipset, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an accelerated graphics port (AGP), or dynamic random access memory (DRAM), are disposed on different areas of a motherboard. To solve heat dissipation problems for each electronic device, a conventional solution is provided for each electronic device.
For example, a combination of a heat dissipation fin, a heat pipe, and a fan is usually used for the CPU. The heat dissipation fin and/or the fan are usually used for the chipset or the GPU. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional heat dissipation device 20 of a notebook computer including a heat conduction layer 21, a heat pipe 22, a heat dissipation fin 23, and a fan 24 is used to dissipate heat for a device 10 such as a CPU. The heat dissipation device 20 operates as follows: first, the heat conduction layer 21 is abutted against the device 10 to conduct heat from the device 10 to a larger area such that heat density is reduced; next, the heat pipe 22 guides heat from the heat conduction layer 21 to the heat dissipation fin 23 at a further end; finally, airflow is produced by the fan 24, following the direction of arrows A and B through the heat dissipation fin 23, and thus, heat is carried away from the heat dissipation fin 23 by the airflow.
The heat dissipation device 20 is challenged by thermal resistance from heat conduction and heat convection. The thermal resistance of heat conduction includes contact resistance between the device 10 and the heat conduction layer 21, diffusion resistance of the heat conduction layer 21, contact resistance between the heat conduction layer 21 and the heat pipe 22, thermal resistance of the heat pipe 22, contact resistance between the heat pipe 22 and the heat dissipation fin 23, and diffusion resistance of the heat dissipation fin 23. Additionally, the airflow produced by the fan 24, attempting to carry heat away from the heat dissipation fin 23, generates the thermal resistance of heat convection.
As mentioned above, the conventional heat dissipation device 20 is challenged by thermal resistance of heat conduction and convection. To effectively solve the heat dissipation problem of a motherboard with a plurality of electronic devices thereon, a heat dissipation device with better efficiency is required to increase heat conduction and dissipation and minimize thermal resistance thereof.

Function module with built-in heat dissipation device


The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit structure that includes a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region having an area less than about 10 micron×10 micron; a first material layer over the semiconductor substrate and patterned to have a first circuit feature in the first region and a first mark in the second region; and a second material layer over the first material layer and patterned to have a second circuit feature in the first region and a second mark in the second region. The first mark includes first mark features oriented in a first direction, and second mark features oriented in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The second mark includes third mark features oriented in the first direction, and fourth mark features oriented in the second direction.

Semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) fabrication involves forming multiple material layers with designed patterns on a semiconductor wafer. Each layer has to be aligned with previous layers such that the formed circuit can function properly. Various marks are used for this purpose. For example, alignment marks are used for alignment between a photomask and the semiconductor wafer. In another example, overlay marks are used to monitor overlay deviation between the layers on the wafer. As semiconductor technology continues progressing to circuit layouts having smaller feature sizes, the alignment requirement becomes more stringent and the alignment/overlay marks are expected to take less wafer area. However, the current overlay marks take a large chip area and cannot be shrunk much due to the resolution of the optical tool used to monitor the overlay marks. In this situation, more chip areas are needed for the overlay marks, resulting in higher manufacturing cost and chip cost. Furthermore, if additional overlay marks are needed in the circuit areas, it is more challenging due to overlay mark size and the place/route concern. It is desired, therefore, to provide an overlay measurement method and a structure for monitoring and controlling in-chip overlay with less silicon area.

Structure and method for E-beam in-chip overlay mark

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A seat adjustment apparatus for adjusting seat elements of a seat in a motor vehicle comprises a gear mechanism housing of an electric motor/gear mechanism unit attached to a fitting part of a first seat element by an attachment element. A rotation movement can be transmitted to a rotation axis by the gear mechanism unit of the electric motor/gear mechanism unit. The attachment element can be attached to the gear mechanism housing by an end region and has an expansion plug part which projects through a recess in the fitting part, and has a passage opening axial to the recess in the fitting part and an identical cross section. An expansion element, which radially expands the expansion plug part, can be inserted into the passage opening.

The invention relates to a seat adjustment apparatus for adjusting seat elements of a seat in a motor vehicle, wherein an electric motor/gear unit is fastened to a fitting part of the first seat element by means of a fastening element and a rotational movement is able to be transmitted to a rotational axis by means of the electric motor/gear unit.
By means of such a seat adjustment apparatus, in particular, the backrest of a seat is able to be adjusted in its inclination relative to the seat cushion.
To this end, the electric motor/gear unit has to be fastened to the fitting part of the seat element to be adjusted.


An interpolator utilizes two ranks of transistors to generate a plurality of interpolator currents within the confines of a low power supply voltage. The first rank of transistors are underdriven, thereby generating a plurality of partially switched currents having shallow Gaussian-shaped functions. The partially switched currents are then spatially amplified by the second rank of transistors to reduce the overlap of the currents from adjacent transistors. The first rank of transistors are driven ratiometrically by the difference of two control currents, thereby eliminating errors caused by inaccurate resistors and current sources. A biasing op-amp senses the interpolator currents and servos the first rank of transistors, thereby regulating the interpolator currents to a value determined by a reference voltage which is temperature compensated. Thus, the biasing op-amp automatically compensates for temperature variations and manufacturing uncertainties in devices throughout the entire interpolator. A current generator utilizes a current mirror scheme and current replication techniques to cancel transistor alpha effects, thereby generating precise ratiometric drive currents from a low power supply voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to interpolators, and more particularly, to interpolators having two ranks of transistors and ratiometric control.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variable gain amplifier using a continuously interpolated attenuator includes an attenuator network, a series of transconductance (gm) stages, an interpolator, a main amplifier, and associated support circuitry. The attenuator receives an input signal and generates a series of progressively attenuated signals at a series of tap points. Each gm stage is coupled to one of the tap points to receive one of the attenuated signals. The outputs from the gm stages are connected together and taken to the main amplifier so that the overall output signal is the sum of the output signals from all of the gm stages. The interpolator steers a bias current to the gin stages in response to a control signal such that, when the highest gain is selected, the gm stage closest to the input end of the attenuator is active, and the remaining gm stages are effectively off. As the gain is reduced, the interpolator steers the bias current to gin stages further away from the input end of the attenuator, thereby selecting gm stages that receive progressively attenuated versions of the input signal.
Some examples of interpolators used in variable gain amplifiers having continuously interpolated attenuators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,684,431 and 5,077,541, both having a common inventor with the present application. Another example of an interpolator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,478 also having a common inventor with the present application. These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
In one aspect of the present invention, two ranks of transistors are utilized to generate interpolator currents. An input signal is applied to the first rank of transistors which generate a set of partially switched currents which greatly overlap the currents generated by adjacent transistors. The second rank of transistors spatially amplifies the partially switched currents, thereby reducing the overlap of the currents from adjacent transistors.

Interpolator having dual transistor ranks and ratiometric control


Disclosed herein is a system architecture capable of processing fixed length and/or variable length data packets. Under the method of the invention, incoming data packets are queued together according to their corresponding switch processing parameters (SPPs), and then the commonly-queued data packets are processed through a switch fabric as a single unit. In one aspect of the invention, the commonly-queued data packets are processed by the switch fabric as a single train packet. In another aspect of the invention, the commonly-queued data packets are sliced into a set of subtrain packets. A switch fabric then processes the set of subtrain packets in parallel using a plurality of switch planes. Both aspects of the invention can be implemented with a plurality of packet formatters and deformatters linked to a switch fabric in various configurations, including multi-path and hierarchical switching systems. a multichannel switching system.

Today's Internet applications, such as web browsing, on-line shopping, and voice over IP (VOIP) are ubiquitous. The growing popularity of the Internet and new high bandwidth applications, such as video-on-demand (VOD), distance learning, video conferencing and medical/imaging are causing a dramatic increase in network traffic. Statistics show that average Internet traffic is doubling every three months. Meanwhile, an increasing number of applications require various levels of QoS, with guarantees of low latency and minimum bandwidth.
One way to handle the increasing demands is to increase the bandwidth capacity of switches. FIG. 1 shows a conventional switch in which incoming data packets 100 are processed according to their switch processing parameter (SPP) 102. The SPP may include a destination port number, priority, or other parameters within the data packet that is used by the switch to determine the appropriate switching process for the packet. The switch 104 must be able to perform global processing of all incoming data packets and route those data packets to the proper output port in accordance with the SPP of the data packet. As can be seen in FIG. 1, data packets with an SPP of "Y" are switched to output port 1 while data packets with an SPP of "X" are switched to output port K. However, as line rates increase, the interval time between the arrival of successive minimum-sized data packets at the input ports decreases, thereby decreasing the amounts of time available for global processing. Thus, the conventional switch has a fundamental scaling limitation as line rates increase because the line rate may increase to a level beyond the processing capability of the switch.
The mismatch that is developing between increasing line rates and switch processing capabilities has resulted in a bottleneck that occurs at switch nodes. Therefore, it is desirable to scale a switch so that it has higher bandwidth capacity. Two methods that are known in the art for scaling systems to higher capacities are multi-channel switching and bit slicing.
Under the multi-channel approach, multiple physical ports of a switch are grouped as a higher rate logical port. An example of such a switch is shown in FIG. 2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,679 issued to Kim et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,352 issued to Min et al., the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, disclose switches implementing the multi-channel switching approach. Multi-channel switching can provide high rate switching by exploiting the concept of channel grouping. As shown in FIG. 2, several input ports are grouped together as a channel, as are the output ports. Instead of being routed to a specific output port, data packets are routed to any output port belonging to an appropriate channel. With this configuration, several low rate ports can be grouped together and served as a high rate channel, thereby providing higher throughput. However, while multi-channel switching increases the bandwidth capacity for one logical channel, it does not increase the capacity of the system as a whole.
Under the bit slicing approach, each incoming data packet is divided into a number of subpackets. The subpackets are then passed in parallel through a switch fabric having a plurality of switch planes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,550 issued to Follett, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a switch using bit slicing. FIG. 3(a) depicts an example of a switch using the bit slicing approach. FIG. 3(b) depicts a data packet before and after being sliced in the switch of FIG. 3(a). As the data packet 110 arrives at the input (point A2) of the slicing unit 106, the data packet will have the form as shown in FIG. 2(b). The slicing unit 106 will then slice the data packet evenly into N sub-packets, wherein N is the number of switch planes in the switch fabric. Each sub-packet maintains the same routing information or SPP of the data packet from which it was sliced, and each sub-packet contains 1/N of the original data packet from which it was sliced. The switch fabric is comprised of N identical switch planes 108 that are stacked together to provide a set of switches through which the sub-packets are processed in parallel. Each switch plane will process only 1/N of the original data packet rather than the full original data packet. After the sub-packets are processed by the switch fabric, they arrive in parallel at an assembler unit 116. The assembler unit then reconstructs the original data packet 110.
Because the number of switch ports is increased by a factor of N (there are N switch planes with K ports, as opposed to the switch of FIG. 1 which has only one switch plane with K ports) and because the line rate of each port remains constant, the stacked switch fabric used with bit slicing increases the overall system bandwidth capacity. However, because each successive sub-packet that reaches the switch will have a shorter length (only 1/N of the original data packet), the switch fabric must be able to process each sub-packet at N times the rate of processing in the single switch plane case. This property of bit slicing creates a problem when the switch is further scaled (larger and larger values for N), or when the line rate of the ingress ports is very high, because eventually a point is reached where the switch fabric does not have a sufficient amount of time to process a sub-packet before the next subpacket arrives. For the sub-packet, at each of the K ports of the switch plane, the switch plane must basically read the SPP, determine which output port is associated with that SPP, and route the sub-packets to the appropriate output port in accordance with the SPP in a non-blocking manner.
For example, when using bit slicing to scale an ATM switch from OC-48 (a line rate of approximately 2.488 Gb/s (gigabits per second)) to OC-192 (a line rate of approximately 10 Gb/s), the amount of time that the switch has to process each ATM cell decreases by a factor of four from 170 ns to 42.5 ns. With only 42.5 ns to process a subpacket, a switch running on a clock of 100 MHz must be able to perform global header processing every four clock cycles. Efficient implementations of switches having K input ports usually require K clock cycles to perform global header processing. So, for K=16 (as is common), 16 clock cycles are typically required. So when a switch has 42.5 ns to process a packet, the clock rate would need to be 400 MHz, which is very difficult to implement in a current VLSI design. Therefore, it is apparent that while bit slicing does result in a switch that can be scaled to a higher capacity, bit slicing suffers from a limitation in that the degree of scaling is limited by the speed at which the switch fabric can process SPPS.
It is therefore desirable to develop a switch that can be scaled to a high capacity without surpassing the switch fabric's ability to process incoming packets.

Method and apparatus for high speed packet switching using train packet queuing and providing high scalability


An exhaust cleanup filter which, even if the exhaust temperature is low as during vehicular driving under low load, can trap PM efficiently to prevent clogging by PM buildup and which also is effective in purifying the exhaust from a diesel engine that does not use any burner or heater to remove PM. The cleanup filter is for purifying the exhaust from diesel engines and comprises particulate ceramic porous bodies that have a three-dimensional network structure, as well as artificial pores and communication channels in the interior, with some of the pores being partially exposed on the surfaces of the porous bodies.

Exhaust from diesel engines on buses, trucks, etc. contain particulate matter, NOx (nitrogen oxides), etc. The particulate matter in turn contains insoluble organic fractions such as soot (carbon or C) and sulfates that are generated as the result of oxidation of sulfur in gas oil, as well as soluble organic fractions (SOF) such as HC either unburned or contained in lubricants. If released into atmospheric air, these fractions cause air pollution or adversely affect the human body, which are by no means desirable. To deal with this problem, a need has recently come to be realized to require by laws and regulations that diesel-powered vehicles such as buses and trucks should be equipped with devices that can control or eliminate PM and other harmful materials in diesel emissions.
In order to trap diesel particulate matter (hereunder sometimes abbreviated as PM) within the exhaust system, honeycomb filters shaped from ceramic materials were developed and have been known as diesel particulate filters (DPF). These honeycomb filters are available in two types, the straight flow type and the whirl flow type. In the former type, a large number of cells are formed within a matrix as partitioned by thin porous walls, with a catalyst being carried on the wall surfaces such that PM, CO, HC, etc. in the exhaust stream passing through the cells are reduced in concentration or rejected as they come into contact with the wall surfaces (prior art technology 1).
In the latter, whirl flow type, the matrix itself is a large number of cells that are made of a porous material and which are closed at their inlet and outlet alternately so that the exhaust stream entering one cell at the inlet passes through the thin porous partition to come into another cell from which it emerges through the outlet.
The soot component of PM is trapped by the partition on its surface or within pores in it. Honeycomb filters of the whirl flow type are classified in two sub-types, one having the catalyst carried both on the surfaces of cell partitions and within pores in the partitions and the other having no catalyst supported (prior art technology 2). In the former case, PM trapped on the surfaces of cell partitions and in their interior are catalytically removed by oxidation and in the latter case, the trapped PM is removed by combustion with a burner or a heater.
Also known is an exhaust cleanup apparatus using two types of honeycomb filter in combination, one being of the straight flow type and the other being of the whirl flow type, that are arranged in the same direction as the emission flow (Japanese Patent No. 3012249). The straight flow type honeycomb filter which is loaded with a regenerating oxidation catalyst system is provided in the upstream area of the tailpipe on a diesel engine and the whirl flow type honeycomb filter which is adapted to trap PM is provided in the downstream area. The regenerating oxidation catalyst system in the straight flow type honeycomb filter oxidizes NO (nitrogen monoxide) in the exhaust to generate more oxidative NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) whereas the downstream, whirl flow type honeycomb filter oxidizes the trapped PM with NO2 to generate CO2, thereby reducing the level of PM.
According to this technique, the concentration of PM on the filters is continuously reduced, thereby ensuring that PM will not be so much deposited on the filters as to make further trapping of PM impossible. This offers the advantage of allowing for continuous regeneration of the filters (prior art technology 3).
However, the prior art technologies described above have their own problems. In prior art technology 1, the soot (carbon or C) in PM is not oxidized but simply released into the atmosphere. Further, if the exhaust temperature is low as on engine start-up, PM is directly deposited at the inlets of cells or the inner surfaces of their walls to plug the cell pores, thereby increasing the pressure loss.
In prior art technology 2, if no catalyst is supported on the surfaces of cell partitions or in their interior, PM deposited on the surfaces of cell partitions is removed by combustion with a burner or a heater. This presents various problems including the need to provide a heating and combustion means such as a burner or a heater, overall complexity of the apparatus, high failure rate and high cost. In addition, the use of a heater can cause abnormal combustion of PM deposited on the filter, often leading to fusion and cracking of the filter matrix.
If a catalyst is supported on the cell partitions, PM deposited on the filter is removed by oxidation at comparatively low temperature, so there will be no fusion or cracking of the matrix. On the other hand, when the exhaust temperature is low as on engine start-up or while the vehicle is driving at low speed or under small load, PM is oxidized insufficiently and prone to be deposited on the surfaces of filter cell partitions or in the cell interior. The exhaust passing through the pores in the cell partitions can cause various other problems such as increased chance of clogging, higher exhaust temperature due to increased back pressure of the exhaust, abnormal combustion of the deposited PM and fusion of the filter.
In prior art technology 3, the exhaust passes through the cell partitions in the filters for such a very short time that the remainder of NO2 that has been spent to oxidize PM is not reduced to NO but simply discharged to the outside. If the exhaust temperature is low, say at 250° C. or less, the filters allow for only insufficient PM oxidation with NO2 and the PM is deposited on the surfaces of cell partitions in the filters to cause various problems such as clogging, greater burden on the engine due to increased back pressure of the exhaust, abnormal combustion of PM due to increased exhaust temperature, fusion of the filters and their failure.
The present invention has been accomplished under these circumstances and has as an object providing an exhaust cleanup filter which, even at low exhaust temperature as is encountered during vehicular driving in a city, can achieve efficient reduction in the concentration of PM in the exhaust from diesel engines without being plugged by PM deposits.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cleanup filter that can achieve efficient reduction of the concentration of PM in the exhaust from diesel engines without using any burners or heaters to remove PM.
A further object of the invention is to provide a cleanup filter that can achieve efficient reduction of the concentration of PM in the exhaust from diesel engines without suffering increased exhaust temperature due to clogging and in which abnormal combustion due to PM deposits and filter fusion are less likely to occur.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an exhaust cleanup filter which, even if the engine is running at high rpm (under high load) during high-speed vehicular driving, is less likely to experience a blow-off of the PM trapped in it but can be regenerated efficiently.


A simplified coherency controller supports multiple exclusively active fully coherent agent interfaces and any number of active I/O (partially) coherent agent interfaces. A state controller determines which fully coherent agent is active. Multiple fully coherent agents can be simultaneously active during a short period of a transition of processing from one to another processor. Multiple fully coherent agents can be simultaneously active, though without a mutually consistent view of memory, which is practical in cases such as when running multiple operating systems on different processors.

Cache coherency is used to maintain the consistency of data in a distributed shared memory system. A number of agents, each usually comprising one or more caches, are connected through a fabric or a central cache coherency controller. This allows the agents to take advantage of the performance benefit of caches while still providing, among various agents, a consistent view of data within a shared physical address space.
Cache coherency protocols are usually based on acquiring and relinquishing permissions on sets of data, typically called cache lines containing a fixed amount of data (e.g. 32 or 64 bytes). Typical permissions are:                None: the cache line is not in the agent and the agent has no permission to read or write the data.        Readable: the cache line is in the agent and the agent has permission to read the cache line content stored locally. Multiple agents can simultaneously have read permission on a cache line (i.e. multiple readers).        Readable and writable: the cache line is in the agent and the agent has permission to write (and typically read) the cache line content. Only one agent can have write permission on a cache line, and no other agent can have read permission at the same time.
There is usually a backing store for all cache lines (e.g. a DRAM). The backing store is the location where the data is stored when it is not in any of the caches. Data is constantly being updated or changed in the system. Thus, at any point in time, the data in the backing store may not be up to date with respect to the latest copy of a cache line, which may be in an agent. Because of this, cache lines inside agents often includes an indication of whether the cache line is clean (i.e. it has the same value as in the backing store) or dirty (i.e. it needs to be written back to the backing store eventually since it is the most up-to-date version).
The permission and "dirtiness" of a cache line in an agent is referred to as the "state" of the cache line. The most common set of coherency states is called MESI (Modified-Exclusive-Shared-Invalid), where Shared corresponds to the read permission (and the cache line being clean) and both Modified and Exclusive give read/write permissions, but in the Exclusive state, the line is clean, while in the Modified state, the line is dirty and must be eventually written back. In that state set, shared cache lines are always clean. There are more complex versions like MOESI (Modified-Owned-Exclusive-Shared-Invalid) where cache lines with read permission are allowed to be dirty. Other protocols may have separate read and write permissions. Many cache coherency state sets and protocols exist.
In the general case, when an agent needs a permission on a cache line that it does not have, it must interact with other agents directly or through a cache coherency controller to acquire the permission. In the simplest "snoop-based" protocols, the other agents must be "snooped" to make sure that the permission requested by the agent is consistent with the permissions already owned by the other agents. For instance, if an agent requests read permission and no other agent has write permission, the read permission can be granted. However, if an agent already has write permission, that permission must be removed from that agent first before it is granted to the original requester.
In some systems, the agent directly places snoop requests (also known as snoops) on a bus and all agents (or at least all other agents) respond to the snoop requests. In other systems, the agent places a permission request to a coherency controller, which in turn will snoop the other agents (and possibly the requesting agent itself).
In directory-based protocols, directories of permissions acquired by agents are maintained and snoops are sent only when permissions need to change in an agent. Snoop filters may also be used to reduce the number of snoops sent to agents. Snoop filters keep track of the content of the agents and do not send a snoop to an agent if it knows that the agent does not need to change its permissions.
Data and permissions interact in cache coherency protocols, but the way they interact varies. Agents usually place requests for both permission and data simultaneously, though not necessarily. For instance, in one case an agent that wants to place data in its cache for reading purposes and has neither the data nor the permission can place a read request including both the request for permission and for the data itself. However, in another case an agent that already has the data and read permission but needs write permission may place an "upgrade" request to write permission, but does not need data.
Likewise, responses to snoop requests can include an acknowledgement that the permission change has happened, but can also optionally contain data. The snooped agent may be sending the data as a courtesy. Alternatively, the snooped agent may be sending dirty data that has to be kept to be eventually written back to the backing store.
Agents can hold permission without data. For instance, an agent that wants to write a full cache line may not request data with the write permission, as it knows it will not use it (the agent will overwrite the data completely). In some systems, holding partial data is permitted (in quanta of sectors, bytes, or other units). This is useful to limit data transfers, though it makes the cache coherency protocol more complex.
Many cache coherency protocols provide two related ways for data to leave an agent. One is through the snoop response path, providing data as a response to a snoop. The other is a spontaneous write path (often called write back or evict path) where the agent can send the data out when it does not want to keep it anymore. In some protocols, the snoop response and write back paths are shared.
Fully coherent agents are capable of both owning permissions for cache lines and receiving snoop requests to check and possibly change their permissions, triggered by a request from another agent. A common type of fully coherent agent is a microprocessor with a coherent cache. As the microprocessor needs to do reads and writes, it acquires the appropriate permissions, and potentially data, and puts them in its cache. Many modern microprocessors have multiple levels of caches inside. Many modern microprocessors contain multiple microprocessor cores, each with its own cache, and often a shared second-level cache. Other types of agents may be fully coherent such as DSPs, GPUs and various types of multimedia agents comprising a cache.
In contrast, I/O coherent (also called one-way coherent) agents do not use a coherent cache, but they need to operate on a consistent copy of the data with respect to the fully coherent agents. As a consequence, their read and write request may trigger coherency actions (snoops) to fully coherent agents. In most cases, this is done by having either a special bridge or the central coherency controller issue the appropriate coherency action and sequence the actual reads or writes to the backing store if necessary. In the case of a small bridge, that bridge may act as a fully coherent agent holding permissions for a small amount of time. In the case of the central coherency controller, it tracks the reads and writes, and prevents other agents from accessing cache lines that are being processed on behalf of the I/O coherent agent.
Referring now to FIG. 1, cache coherent system 100 includes central coherency controller 102 where the requests from I/O agent 106 and coherent agents 108 and 110 trigger coherency resolution logic 104 to send snoops to coherent agents 108 and 110. In general, fully coherent agents use the full extent of the cache coherency protocol and interactions between fully coherent agents can be extremely complex. On the other hand, interactions triggered by I/O coherent agents, such as agent 106, are simpler as the number of combinations of requests and cache line states is limited, and there is no interaction the other way as I/O coherent agents are not snooped.
As a consequence, a system with one fully coherent agent and one or more I/O agent is fairly simple, while a system, such as the system 100, with two or more fully coherent agents is much more complex. A more complex system has a higher risk of bugs, is larger, requires more area, and has longer latency to respond to requests.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a process 200 starts at step 202 with a coherent requestor sending a coherent request to a coherency controller. At step 204, the coherency controller receives the coherency request and determines if data is part of the coherency request. The process 200 continues to step 206 if there is a data needed as part of the coherency request. At step 208, the coherency controller sends snoops to all coherent agents. At step 210, the snooped coherent agents send responses and data, if the data is valid. At step 212, the coherency controller collects the snoop responses to determine which response had data. If the snoop response(s) had no data, then the process moves to step 214. At step 216 the coherency controller sends a read to memory and at step 218 the memory provides the requested data to the coherent requestor and the coherent requestor completes the transaction at step 224. On the other hand, if at step 212, it is determined that a snoop response includes data at step 220, then at step 222 the coherency controller forwards the snoop data to the coherency requestor and the coherent requestor completes the transaction at step 224.
If at step 204 it is determined that the request does not need data, then the process 200 continues to step 236. At step 238, the coherency controller sends snoops to all coherent agents. At step 240, the snooped coherent agents send responses and data, if the data is dirty. At step 242, the coherency controller collects the snoop responses to determine which response had dirty data. If a snoop response had dirty data, then the process moves to step 244. At step 246 the coherency controller writes data to memory. At step 248 the coherency controller transmits a coherent response with no data to the coherency requestor. At step 250, the coherent requestor receives the response and completes the transaction. If at step 242 it is determines that the snoop response has no data, then the process 200 continues to step 252 and then to step 248 as noted above.
Therefore, what is needed is a simpler coherency controller that supports two or more fully-coherent agents and one or more I/O coherent agent.

Simplified controller with partial coherency


An image blur correction apparatus includes a correction lens, a first guide section, a second guide section, a first driving section, a second driving section, and a position detection section. In the image blur correction apparatus, the first and second driving section has first and second coils, a magnet to apply magnetic force to the first and second coils, and a yoke to support the magnet. The two coils are disposed in an intersecting and overlapping relationship with each other such that the direction of propelling force generated by the first coil and the direction of propelling force generated by the second coil are directed to the first direction and the second direction, respectively. The position detection section detects the magnetic force of the magnet to detect the position of the correction lens.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image blur correction apparatus for correcting image blur caused by a shake, vibrations or the like of an image pickup apparatus upon image pickup by such control as to move, upon occurrence of such a shake or the like of the image pickup apparatus, a correction lens in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of a lens system so that the optical axis of the correction lens may be brought into alignment with the optical axis of the lens system. The present invention further relates to a lens apparatus having an image blur correction apparatus of the type described and an image pickup apparatus which includes a lens apparatus of the type described.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image pickup apparatus such as digital still cameras and video cameras have exhibited remarkable enhancement in performance, and now, everybody can simply pick up a still picture or a moving picture of high picture quality and high performance. Such enhancement in performance of image pickup apparatus relies much upon improvement in performance of a lens, a CCD element (solid-state image pickup element) and an image processing circuit.
However, in whatever manner the performance of a lens, a CCD element and so forth is improved, if a shake or a sway occurs with a hand which supports the camera (image pickup apparatus), then a shake occurs with a screen especially having a high resolution, resulting in blur of a picked up image. Therefore, some comparatively high-priced cameras incorporate an image blur correction apparatus for correcting image blur which arises from a shake or the like of the image pickup apparatus upon image pickup. However, such image blur correction as described is demanded originally not by such a high class model as is used by a professional who professionally picks up an image but by the majority of the public who have rather poor image pickup experience. In other words, the image blur correction is demanded by image pickup apparatus of popular models.
Further, strong demands for reduction in size and weight are directed to cameras (image pickup apparatus), and generally cameras which are light in weight and easy to handle are used favorably. However, existing image blur correction apparatus have a comparatively great size. Therefore, if an existing image blur correction apparatus is incorporated in a camera body, then the camera comes to have a correspondingly increased size, contrary to the demand for reduction in size and weight. Besides, existing image blur correction apparatus require a large number of parts and have a problem that a high cost is demanded by the increased number of parts.
A lens apparatus of the type described is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-186823 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). In particular, Patent Document 1 discloses a lens apparatus which incorporates an anti-vibration apparatus disposed in a camera or the like for detecting vibrations of a comparatively low frequency and preventing image blur using the detected vibrations as information for image blur prevention. The anti-vibration apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is hereinafter referred to as first background art apparatus. The first background art apparatus is a camera anti-prevention apparatus including a correction optical mechanism disposed in a lens barrel having lens groups held thereon and configured to displace the optical axis of the lens groups, a vibration detection section configured to detect vibrations applied to the lens barrel, and an anti-vibration control section configured to drive the correction optical mechanism based on a signal from the vibration detection section to perform anti-prevention action. The correction optical system includes a correction lens, a fixing frame configured to fix the correction lens thereto, a first holding frame configured to hold the fixing frame for movement in a first direction different from the direction of the optical axis of the lens groups, a second holding frame secured to the lens barrel and configured to hold the first holding frame for movement in a second direction different from the direction of the optical axis and the first direction, first and second driving sections including first and second coils and first and second magnetic field generation members opposing to the first and second coils and configured to move the first and second holding frames in the first and second directions, respectively, and first and second position detection sections configured to detect the amounts of movement of the fixing frame and the first holding frame in the first and second directions, respectively. At least one of the first and second magnetic field generation members and the first and second position detection means is provided on a fixed member secured to the lens barrel and including the second holding frame.
According to the anti-vibration apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 which has such a configuration as described above, an advantage can be anticipated that the anti-vibration apparatus can respond to vibrations of high frequencies without the increase of the cost and without the necessity for a large space.
Another existing lens apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-188430 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2). In particular, Patent Document 2 discloses an image blur suppression apparatus for a camera for use for suppression of vibrations of the camera to which vibrations of comparative low frequencies are applied. The image blur suppression apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 is hereinafter referred to as second background art apparatus. The second background art apparatus determines, based on detection information of vibrations produced on a lens barrel, a correction amount for displacement of an optical axis necessary for suppression of image blur on an image plane and controlling the movement of a correction optical system, which is supported in a floating fashion so as to be movable in a diametrical direction with respect to the lens barrel, in accordance with the correction amount. The second background art apparatus includes a first holding frame configured to support the correction optical system in a floating fashion so as to support the correction optical system for movement in a first direction defined in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis but against movement in any other direction, and a second holding frame configured to support the first holding frame for movement in a second direction different from the first direction within the plane but against movement in any other direction. The second holding frame is secured to the lens barrel.
According to the anti-vibration apparatus for a camera disclosed in Patent Document 2 which has such a configuration as described above, an advantage can be anticipated that a problem of an out-of-focus state upon suppression of image blur is eliminated because the correction optical mechanism for displacing the optical axis in order to suppress image blur can be supported against movement by a configuration which does not provide a component of movement in the direction of the optical axis to the correction lens.
A further existing lens apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-311995 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3). In particular, Patent Document 3 discloses a lens driving apparatus for an optical apparatus which is hereinafter referred to as third background art apparatus. The third background art apparatus is a lens driving apparatus which includes a first driving section configured to drive a lens accommodating section in which a lens is held in a first direction within a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, and a second driving section configured to drive the lens accommodating section in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction within the plane. The first and second driving sections are disposed along an axis parallel to the optical axis of the lens.
According to the lens driving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 which has such a configuration as described above, an advantage can be anticipated that reduction in size of the lens driving apparatus for driving a correction lens for correcting blur of an image can be achieved (refer to paragraph [0039] of the Patent Document 3).
However, in all of the first to third background art apparatus, in order to detect the position of the correction lens, a position detection section formed from a combination of a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a light receiving element such as a semiconductor detection element is provided. Uneconomically, a great number of parts are demanded for the position detection section and also an increased number of assembly steps are requisite, which gives rise to a problem of increase of the cost.

Image blur correction apparatus, lens apparatus and image pickup apparatus


Method and system for making a partially coated product (5) having at least one coated area (6) and at least one non-coated area (7). Means (1) are provided for providing a digital representation of the product, including a cover layer (8) for each intended non-coated area which covers the intended non-coated area (7) and an isolation layer between them (9) which is isolated from the product's outside surface. A production device (2) is provided which is arranged to produce the product, including its respective cover and isolation layers under control of the digital representation. Means (3) for coating (10) the product are provided, including its respective cover layers. Finally, removing means (4) are provided which are arranged for removing the respective cover and, when applicable, isolation layers, including their coating, from the respective intended non-coated areas.

Coating of plastics is common practice now for years, for example for the metallization of plastics. Selective metallization of e.g. plastic or ceramic products is an upcoming discipline, originated by the advent of technologies like MID, MEMS, two components die casting, and the aim at miniaturization and weight saving. One important aim of metallization is to obtain light weight products comprising electrically conductive circuits upon (three dimensional) products like electrical connector parts, sensors, actuators, antennas etc. By means of selective metallization traditional loose copper wires may be replaced by integrated metal traces upon the product surface. The developments during the last years clearly focus on 3-D applicable techniques.

Method and apparatus for making partially coated products

Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO


A diametrically adjustable and collapsible holder for drinking vessels having a vertical position plate, two semi-round arms fixed with an arm holding base pivotally connected with the position plate, and a plate cap also pivotally with the position plate to be swung open for 90.degree. or closed together relative to each other. The semi-round arms define a round hole for a drinking vessel such as a cup or a can to fit therein and to sit on an inner surface of the plate cap. The semi-round arms are provided with gear teeth to engage each other to enable both arms to move inward or outward to enlarge or contract the hole they define.

A conventional collapsible holder for drinking vessels shown in FIGS. 1 comprises a vertical position plate 10, a holding plate 11 pivotally connected with an upper inner side of the position plate 10 and a plate cap 12 pivotally connected with a lower inner side of the position plate 10 and two plate springs 13, 14 with an upper sloped portion and a lower sloped portion fixed vertically spaced apart in parallel on an inner surface of the position plate. Then the holding plate 11 and the plate cap 12 are collapsed relative to the position plate 10 to become flat or to be swung open for 90.degree. to each other for holding a drinking vessel put through down the hole in the holding plate 11 to sit on an inner surface of the plate cap 12. But the size of the hole for a drinking vessel is constant, not adjustable, and inconvenient.

Shih Tzyy Kuoo, Shan Shahng Shiang, Tainan Shien


In implementations of anti-static lens coatings, a device lens comprises an anti-static material disposed on an exterior of the device lens. A hard coat material is disposed as a layer over the anti-static material, where the anti-static material is effective to prevent static build-up on the layer of the hard coat material. The anti-static material can include a first surface treatment disposed on the anti-static material, where the first surface treatment binds the anti-static material to the device lens. The anti-static material can also include a second surface treatment disposed on the anti-static material, where the second surface treatment binds the anti-static material to the hard coat material.

The increasing portability of electronic devices allows users to take these devices to previously unforeseen environments and to be used in a multitude of ways. This portability, however, also increases the likelihood that the electronic devices will be subject to conditions that may be harmful to the electronic devices, such as drops, bumps, foreign materials, and so forth. Electronic devices often have a display and/or external surfaces that are covered with a lens, which may be made of plastic or glass, for example. Plastic lenses that cover all or part of an electronic device are often electrical insulators that accumulate static charge, which attracts foreign materials such as lint and dirt to the lens. These plastic lenses typically have an exterior hard coat, because the lenses are susceptible to scratching, marring, gouging, and fracture under relatively mild use conditions, such as being carried in a purse. However, effective hard coats often contain particulates that increase a dielectric constant of the lens above a dielectric constant of the lens alone. Even though the lens is protected from physical damage by the hard coat, the increased dielectric constant of the hard coat has an unintended effect of causing even more foreign materials to be attracted to the electronic device.


A data analysis method for an integrated circuit process is described, for analyzing the results of at least an in-line quality test, a product test and a yield test done to the products of the IC process. The products are divided into a normal group and an abnormal group based on the result of the in-line quality test, and are divided into a qualified group and an unqualified group based on the result of the yield test. A categorization step is performed to define the intersection of the unqualified group and the normal group as a first problematic group and to define the intersection of the unqualified group and the abnormal group as a second problematic group. By analyzing one or both of the two problematic groups, the major yield killer can be identified so that process modification can be made accordingly to improve the yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for analyzing numerous test data. More particularly, the present invention relates to a data analysis method for analyzing the test results of an integrated circuit (IC) process or a semiconductor process.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid development of the IC industry, the market of electronic devices grows quickly. Most electronic elements like semiconductor chips and photoelectric devices (e.g., LED, LCD panel or PDP) are made with many steps and are similar in that their products are manufactured lot by lot with various quality tests performed through the whole process to monitor the product yield.
To adjust related machine parameters and correct deviations in an IC process, many in-line quality tests are conducted during the IC process. After the IC process is finished, various product tests are conducted. The products that pass certain product tests and thus satisfy the quality requirements of the client are called qualified products, of which the percentage among all products is defined as the product yield.
When the yield of an IC process is still low, identifying the major yield killer of the IC process is relatively easy. After the yield is raised to a certain level like 80%, however, the correlations of different test results with respect to the yield are close to each other, and large noises are present in the test data greatly increasing the possibility of mis-interpretation. Hence, it is quite difficult to identify a major yield killer, so that the identification takes much time and labor while the yield is not surely improved.

Data analysis method for integrated circuit process and semiconductor process


An apparatus for frustrating unwanted access to data stored with a host device includes: (a) A data disrupting unit coupled with the host device for disrupting the data in response to an action signal. (b) At least one power source unit coupled with the host device. (c) A sensor unit coupled with the host device and with the at least one power source unit. The sensor unit is configured and coupled for sensing at least one alert condition associated with the host device. The sensor unit generates an alerting signal when at least one respective alert condition of the at least on alert condition is sensed. At least one respective power source unit of the at least one power source unit responds to the alerting signal to present the action signal to the data disrupting unit.

The present invention is directed to security apparatuses and methods for electrical devices, and especially to security apparatuses and methods for microprocessors, non-volatile memory devices and similar electronic devices storing data. It is desirable to frustrate or deny unwanted access is to data stored in electronic devices.
By way of example and not by way of limitation, a security algorithm is sometimes used to safeguard data in a programmable non-volatile memory device. The security algorithm employs a security key for limiting access of those seeking access to data stored in the non-volatile memory device. Such limiting of access to information is an age-old challenge.
Recently manufacturers of some host devices have taken design steps to assure users of their devices are restricted to using the manufacturer's accessories. Host devices being so designed include, by way of example and not by way of limitation, portable computing devices, PDA (Portable Digital Assistant) devices, mobile phones and similar devices that use accessories. Accessories include by way of further example and not by way of limitation, batteries, automobile charging cords and similar accessory devices. Profits from sales of accessories sometimes have greater profit margins than do profits from sales of the base devices themselves. By way of example and not by way of limitation, manufacturers of lap top computing devices have installed firmware or software using a programmable memory such as a programmable flash memory configured to accept only certain accessory devices for operation. In devices so equipped, a user may find that an after-market battery manufactured by an entity other than the manufacturer of a portable computing device will not operate with the portable computing device. This design result is sometimes effected using a security algorithm in firmware. The security algorithm usually employs a security key, or keys, stored separately from the algorithm. The security key is a data set of digital information that must be known to the accessory sought to be installed. If the accessory successfully communicates in a predetermined manner with the host device into which it installed, then the host device will accept the accessory and operate properly with the accessory. Sometimes the functionality of the accessory is not completely negated by a failure to properly communicate with the security algorithm. By way of example and not by way of limitation, an automobile charging cord for operating a host device using a car's battery will also charge the host device's battery when fully functional. If the automobile charging cord does not properly communicate with the security algorithm in the host device, only operation using the car's battery may be permitted without permitting charging of the host device's battery from the car's battery.
Users may be expected to attempt to circumvent such security provisions in order to be able to freely use any accessory they wish to use. By way of example and not by way of limitation, if a user can learn the security key used with the security algorithm employed by the host device, the user can "fool" the host device into accepting a non-approved after market accessory not manufactured by the manufacturer of the host device or approved supplier. If access to the security data could be prevented a user could not circumvent the security provisions in place in the host device. Alternately one may frustrate access to security data, ensuring that the security data is altered or otherwise rendered unusable when an attempt is made to accomplish such unwanted access.
There is a need for an apparatus and method for frustrating or otherwise preventing unwanted access to data stored with a host device.

Apparatus and method for frustrating unwanted access to data with a host device


A circuit and method for charging the plate electrodes of a plurality of memory cells. The plate electrodes are initially charged by a voltage generator having a large current driving capacity. After the plate electrodes have reached a predetermined threshold voltage, the large-capacity generator is disconnected or deactivated, and the cells are driven by a second, small capacity generator during a standby period. Switches are responsive to a control signal for selectively enabling and disabling the first and second voltage generators. The control unit initially sets the control signal in accordance with the plate electrode voltage level and a clock signal.

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM), such as found in computers, is used to store binary data. Each location or "cell" of DRAM holds a single "bit" of information, which may have a value of "1" or "0". In each memory cell, this value is represented by the presence or absence of charge on a capacitor. When a DRAM power supply is first turned on or initialized, the plate electrodes of these capacitors are maintained at electrical ground for a short time until the power supply has stabilized. The plate electrodes are then precharged to a predetermined voltage by a voltage generator.
An example of this conventional technique is illustrated in FIG. 1. Conventional circuit 10 includes cell plate voltage generator 12 having an output voltage at node A; switching transistors MN1 and MP1 for connecting and disconnecting the output voltage of voltage generator 12 to and from terminal Vcp, which is connected to the cell plate; switching transistor MN2 for grounding the Vcp terminal; and a signal P-U which activates and deactivates switches MN1, MP1 and MN2.
FIG. 2 is a timing chart which illustrates the operation of conventional circuit 10. After the power supply (shown in FIG. 2 as signal P) is first turned on and has stabilized, signal P-U shifts to a high level. When signal P-U goes high, it turns off transistors MN1 and MP1, thereby isolating node A and terminal Vcp from each other. At the same time, terminal Vcp is coupled to ground by the activation of switching transistor MN2. After a brief time (such as to allow establishment of a back bias voltage), the signal P-U returns to low, thereby activating switching transistors MN1 and MP1 to couple voltage generator 12 to terminal Vcp.
To increase DRAM capacity, one needs to use more cells. This in turn increases the overall capacitance of the plate electrodes. In order to continue charging these larger numbers of plate electrodes in a very short period of time, it is necessary to use a more powerful voltage generator having a larger current driving capacity. Unfortunately, these large capacity generators are continuously operated, even during standby periods. As a result, power losses reach unacceptable levels.

Initial setup circuit for charging cell plate


A pulse jet system and method is disclosed. In an example, the pulse jet system includes a combustion chamber, intake ports to deliver combustion agents to the combustion chamber, an expansion chamber to cool a combustion product following combustion of the combustion agents in the combustion chamber, and an exhaust to exit the cooled gas from the expansion chamber. In another example, the pulse jet system includes a combustion chamber with intake ports to deliver combustion agents to the combustion chamber, wherein the combustion chamber is part of a four cycle engine. The pulse jet system also includes an expansion chamber to cool a combustion product following combustion of the combustion agents in the combustion chamber.

Chemical production techniques are often complex, requiring large installations or facilities, e.g., as factories. These chemical production facilities often emit a wide range of pollutants and thus are heavily regulated. In addition, the chemical production equipment often is specifically configured to product a particular chemical composition. Any change in the chemical composition often requires that the chemical production equipment be reconfigured, which can be costly and time consuming, both undesirable qualities at a large chemical production facility.

Pulse jet water desalination and purification


A magnetic resonance logging instrument is provided. The magnetic resonance logging instrument (10) may comprise a superconducting magnet system (12) operable to produce a static magnetic field and disposed within a housing (19). An antenna system (14) operable to produce and sense a radio frequency magnetic field may be disposed, in part, within the housing (19) and coupled to the superconducting magnet system (12). A cryogenic cooling system (16) operable to cool the superconducting magnet system (12) may also be disposed within the housing (19). A power system (18) operable to supply power to the superconducting magnet system (12), the antenna system(14), and the cryogenic cooling system(16) may also be provided.

Magnetic resonance logging instruments are often used in oil field applications to determine the various properties of an earth formation. The magnetic resonance logging instrument is lowered into a bore-hole and non-intrusively measures the various properties in the different strata of the earth formation. The measurements can determine various petrophysical properties of the fluids in the earth formation, as well as providing information about the porosity, permeability, and wetability in the earth formation. Most importantly, magnetic resonance measurements can be used to separately identify and map the oil, water, and other constituents within the earth formation.
Magnetic resonance logging instruments generally operate by first locally placing the earth formation in a static background magnetic field, in which the unpolarized magnetic moments of the hydrogen atoms in the earth formation precess at a characteristic frequency. A polarizing pulse of radio-frequency power is then applied to the earth formation at this same frequency, causing the magnetic moments of the hydrogen atoms to align in a common direction. The polarizing pulse is then turned off, and the time in which this signal decays is the relaxation time "T1." An antenna is used to detect the radio-frequency signal from the precessing polarization of the hydrogen atoms in the earth formation, and the rate in which this signal decays is the free induction decay "T2." T1 and T2 are a sensitive measure of the physical and chemical environment that the hydrogen atoms are located. For example, T1 and T2 can be used to determine whether the hydrogen atoms are part of a water molecule or in a hydrocarbon, and whether the hydrogen atoms are tightly bound in a micro porous region or part of a larger fluid volume. The pulse-and-listen process described above can be repeated to produce a spin echo of the first pulse, which provides enhanced analyzing power.
Conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments utilize a single permanent magnet within the logging instrument to produce the magnetic field. The permanent magnet only provides a magnetic field strong enough to measure the properties of the earth formation approximately twenty centimeters into the earth formation. At twenty centimeters the properties of the earth formation have been compromised by the drilling operation and drilling fluids utilized to produce the well. Accordingly, conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments are not capable of peering into the earth formation past the zone affected by drilling operations. In addition, conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments must proceed at very slow speeds in order to take measurements. The slow speed drastically increases the amount of time to fully log a well.
In addition, conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments cannot readily distinguish oil from water. In order to distinguish between oil and water, the instrument requires a region of relatively uniform magnetic field within the earth formation. Conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments do not provide such a uniform magnetic field.
Furthermore, conventional magnetic resonance logging instruments cannot readily distinguish between hydrogen atoms from sodium atoms. The resonate frequency of sodium atoms is a multiple of the resonate frequency of hydrogen atoms and causes an aliasing signal that is indistinguishable from the hydrogen signal.