Provided is a means for professors and tutors to easily queue and manage students in a video conference session during online office hours or similar scenarios in which the professor gives one student one-to-one attention while other students wait their turn but are able to listen. Students queue in order of arrival, transparency is provided to students so that they know where they are in the queue relative to other students, and provides students with real-time status updates, thus reducing frustration and making the experience of waiting and queuing more psychologically palatable and pleasant. There is a current student having a one-on-one session with the professor; the rest are waiting and listening in the queue. Further, the professor need only click one button in order to place the current student at the back of the queue and bring the next student in the queue into the one-on-one session. A virtual reality room also has a queue.

Historically, professors have always held office hours at colleges and universities (and so have teachers at high schools and elementary schools to a lesser extent). Typically, a professor schedules office hours for two hours a week, the students line up in the hallway and enter the professor's office one at a time in order to ask questions, receive feedback, etc. Tutors may also have similar drop-in hours in which students line up outside the tutor's office and enter one at a time. One disadvantage with this approach is that the students in the hallway cannot hear what is being said in the professor's office: each student may have the same question about a math problem from a recent examination, but, the professor must explain the same problem over and over again as each student enters.
A similar inefficiency is seen in a doctor's waiting room, for example. Many patients may be waiting in the waiting room, all with questions about flu symptoms, but only one patient at a time is allowed into the examination room with the doctor. Although there is the issue with patient privacy, much of the information that the doctor gives to these patients must be repeated to each and every patient that enters the examination room ("these are flu symptoms," "you should rest, drink fluids, etc.," and "see me again if any further symptoms such as high fever develop").
As computing devices become more ubiquitous and more mobile (e.g., laptops, mobile telephones), as professors and students choose to work remotely and even take classes remotely, and as the recent pandemic forces more professors and students to meet online, professors and students are choosing to hold office hours, tutoring sessions, etc., using video conferencing software in which the parties meet online.
Not surprisingly, the makers of video conferencing software have attempted to model their products on the historical notion of office hours, unfortunately bringing the old inefficiencies and even more importantly, introducing new inefficiencies and problems. For instance, video conferencing software (and professors) allows students to schedule online meeting times in time slots, such as 1 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 1:30 p.m., etc. Such scheduling is highly inefficient because if one student does not show up for his or her time slot the professor has nothing to do for those fifteen minutes and the next student does not know that the earlier student did not show up. Or, a student may only take two minutes and again, the professor has thirteen extra minutes. Similarly, if a professor needs eighteen minutes to explain the concept to a student, that means that the next student spends a frustrating three minutes either trying to get the professor's attention (via the conferencing software, text messages, etc.) or simply gives up and does not attend the time slot, leaving more time vacant.
Some video conferencing software uses the concept of a "waiting room" in which any waiting students are admitted to an intermediate screen and are allowed to join the video conference session with the professor when the professor admits the student. But, the students in the waiting room have no idea how many other students are in the waiting room and thus how long they might be waiting, and they certainly cannot hear what is occurring during the actual online session between the professor and another student. If each of a dozen students has the same question about a math problem on a recent examination, the professor must repeat this information a dozen times. Another problem with online appointment-based models for video conference sessions is that a student with a question on the day of the online office hours may not have enough lead time to schedule an appointment.
Further, professors have to wrestle with managing the waiting room using the video conferencing software (while he or she is trying to conduct an online meeting), listen for their landline to ring, mobile telephone or other messaging application in case a student needs to cancel a session, change a session, or is simply running late. Professors also have to worry about how to customize a message (if any) in the online waiting room and must limit the time each student has in order to squeeze everyone into the schedule. Even though scheduling software does exist, it is not well integrated with the video conferencing software and again, does not solve the problems described above that scheduling introduces.
Accordingly, improved techniques and systems are desired that improve upon existing video conferencing technology in order to provide for more efficient and productive video conferences between professors and students.


A system and method is provided to allow a video conference participant to establish and direct a video conference through a control network separate from the conference network that sustains the conference. A video conference switching system host machine responds to control signals conveyed by a control network to the switching system from a participant-accessible control system. The host machine generates adaptor conference signals that are interpreted to appropriately configure a crosspoint switch in correspondence with the control signals. The switching system may operate in continuous presence or video follows audio modes. In continuous presence mode, the host machine generates adaptor conference signals that are interpreted to convey to the participants a combination video signal composed from the individual video signals. In the video follows audio mode, detected voice signals result in a switch configuration according to a video follows audio protocol or rule set. The control system is available, preferably, on a participant desktop PC or workstation and may be preferably accessed through a graphical user interface. In a preferred embodiment, signals from the participant-directed control system are conveyed by TCP/IP protocol to the host machine on the control network which may be as simple as a POTS network or more sophisticated such as an INTRANET or the INTERNET. The control signals are captured from the control network by a modem or other terminal device appropriate for the control network technology. An ISDN network or other digital network may provide the conference network for maintenance of the video conference.

Video conferencing systems allow multi-dimensional communication between participants separated by physical distance. The advancement of video conferencing provides businesses and individuals a rich communication experience that combines video with audio and effectively simulates the face-to-face communication that is a lynch-pin of understanding.
Early video conferencing systems required networks dedicated to the video conference. For example, in prior systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,686,698, 4,710,917, 4,847,829, and 5,014,267 to Tompkins et al., audiovisual terminals are linked with a video-conferencing switch through a coaxial cable network. The dedication of the network and associated terminals resulted in high cost and limited flexibility, but provided quality video conferencing at an early date.
The advent of PC-based video conferencing systems has made video conferencing a more economical proposition. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,954 to Arshi et al. discloses a relatively low-cost PC-based video conferencing system. Low cost has, in the past, however, usually meant limited switching sophistication that limits the conference to two participants. If more than two parties wish to participate, a video switching system is required. Video conferencing switching systems have generally included a "multi-point" control unit (MCU) which, typically, includes multiple communication ports that can be selectively interconnected to provide appropriate connection among participant terminals or devices.
Typical switching systems have required conferences to be scheduled in advance. Generally, a fairly complex and indirect methodology must be followed that typically implicates a reservation system or operator that controls the MCU to initiate and direct the video conference according to a prearranged schedule. Conference set-up complexity, both in terms of operator involvement and conference command structure have delayed the inevitable ubiquity of video conferencing.
On-demand conferencing based on user control from a touch-tone (DTMF) keypad is described in Bellcore Generic Requirements GR-1337-CORE. The method described in GR-1337 requires, however, a complex command structure and set-up times which are generally lengthy. Audio conferencing based on the GR-1337-CORE model has benefitted from recent innovations such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,090 in which a graphical user interface is purportedly provided to simplify call set-up. On-going graphical control of a video conference is not, however, provided.
Other systems such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,017 to Landante et al. have provided an MCU that purportedly responds to DTMF signals from an end-point terminal to create a conference. Such systems however, impose DTMF codes on the video or audio network that sustains the conference and apparently do not contemplate incompatibilities between participant end-point equipment.
What is needed therefore, is an economical video conferencing switching system that may be controlled by a participant through a control network separate from the network which sustains the conference and which displays attendant compatibility for disparate participant terminal equipment while providing a straight-forward control system and methodology.

Control network-directed video conferencing switching system and method


Comprising, in order from an object side: a first lens group G1 having positive refractive power; a second lens group G2 having negative refractive power; an aperture stop S; a third lens group G3 having positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group G4 having positive refractive power; upon zooming from a wide-angle end state to a telephoto end state, the distance between the first lens group G1 and the second lens group G2, the distance between the second lens group G2 and the aperture stop S, the distance between the aperture stop S and the third lens group G3, and the distance between the third lens group G3 and the fourth lens group G4 being varied, and the distance between the aperture stop S and the fourth lens group G4 being constant; and a predetermined conditional expression being satisfied, thereby providing a variable magnification optical system which is compact in size and has a high variable magnification ratio and high optical performance, an optical apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a variable magnification optical system.

There has been proposed a variable magnification optical system whose most object side lens group has positive refractive power and which is suitable for an interchangeable lens for a photographing camera, an electronic still camera, a video camera or the like, for example, in Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 2008-292562.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Variable magnification optical system, optical device, and method for producing variable magnification optical system


An array of memory cells includes buried access lines having conductively doped semiconductor material. Pillars extend elevationally outward of and are spaced along the buried access lines. The pillars individually include a memory cell. Outer access lines are elevationally outward of the pillars and the buried access lines. The outer access lines are of higher electrical conductivity than the buried access lines. A plurality of conductive vias is spaced along and electrically couple pairs of individual of the buried and outer access lines. A plurality of the pillars is between immediately adjacent of the vias along the pairs. Electrically conductive metal material is directly against tops of the buried access lines and extends between the pillars along the individual buried access lines. Other embodiments, including method, are disclosed.

Memory is one type of integrated circuitry, and may be used in electronic systems for storing data. Memory is usually fabricated in one or more arrays of individual memory cells. The memory cells are configured to retain or store memory in at least two different selectable states. In a binary system, the states are considered as either a "0" or a "1". In other systems, at least some individual memory cells may be configured to store more than two levels or states of information. The stored memory may be non-volatile wherein the memory state is maintained for a considerable period of time, and in many instances where power is completely removed from the circuitry. Alternately, the memory may be volatile, requiring to be refreshed (i.e., rewritten), and in many instances multiple times per second.
One type of non-volatile memory is phase change memory. Such memory uses a reversibly programmable material that has the property of switching between two different phases, for example between an amorphous, disorderly phase and a crystalline or polycrystalline orderly phase. The two phases may be associated with resistivities of significantly different values. Presently, typical phase change materials are chalcogenides, although other materials may be developed. With chalcogenides, the resistivity may vary by two or more orders of magnitude when the material passes from the amorphous (more resistive) phase to the crystalline (more conductive) phase, and vice-versa. Phase change can be obtained by locally increasing the temperature of the chalcogenide. Below 150° C., both phases are stable. Starting from an amorphous state and rising to temperature above about 400° C., a rapid nucleation of the crystallites may occur and, if the material is kept at the crystallization temperature for a sufficiently long period of time, it undergoes a phase change to become crystalline. Reversion to the amorphous state can result by raising the temperature above the melting temperature (about 600° C.) followed by rapid cooling.
In phase change memory, a plurality of memory cells is typically arranged in rows and columns to form an array or sub-array. Each memory cell is coupled to a respective select or access device which may be implemented by any switchable device, such as a PN diode, a bipolar junction transistor, a field effect transistor, etc. The access device is often electrically coupled with, or forms a part of, what is referred to as an access line or word line. A resistive electrode is electrically coupled with the switchable device, and comprises heater material which is configured to heat up upon sufficient current flowing there-through. The phase change material is provided in proximity to the heater material, thereby forming a programmable storage element. The crystallization temperature and the melting temperature are obtained by causing an electric current to flow through the heater material, thus heating the phase change material. An electrode, typically referred to as a bit, digit, or select line, is electrically coupled to the phase change material.
Other types of memory may not use phase change material, with perhaps the simplest and smallest form of a memory cell comprising a pair of electrodes having programmable material positioned there-between.

Arrays of memory cells and methods of forming an array of memory cells


A metric, Investment Participation at Cost (IPAC) has been developed to determine the amount of money working in an investment vehicle. IPAC has particular application in a complex, private equity investment vehicle. Using IPAC, an investor can get a repeatable, readily understood indication of the amount of working money left in an investment. Further using IPAC, the investor, financial advisor or other interested party can, based on the money still working in any one or more investments, better determine the overall risk profile of an investment portfolio. An investment portfolio can be changed based on the risk profile as so determined.

The ability to determine risk apportionment in an investment portfolio is fundamental to the development and management of the portfolio. It is well recognized that different investors, depending on both their individual life situations and personal financial goals, need investment portfolios having different risk profiles. For example, an investor having substantial assets and desiring a high-return, long-term investment may look favorably on a portfolio biased towards high-risk investments. Such an investor does not anticipate the need to liquidate investments in the short term and will hence tolerate the volatility associated with high risk investments in light of the ultimately high expected return.
In contrast, an investor facing retirement in a relatively short period of time and facing the necessity of liquidating investments in order to fund that retirement may look more favorably on an investment portfolio biased towards lower risk investments.
The risk profile of an investment portfolio depends upon the determined inherent risk of the investment vehicles and the amount of resource, usually measured in monies, that is invested in the various investment vehicles. It may be perfectly acceptable, for example, to have a moderate or low risk portfolio with one or more high-risk investments, so long as the amount of correlation of risk among investments remains moderate in view of the overall investments.
Risk determinations and hence portfolio profiles are more readily determined where the investment vehicles are publicly traded securities or fixed-income investments. Readily available methodologies exist for determining the amount of an individual investment in such vehicles. Many information sources are available to advise on the risks associated with such vehicles. Thus, it is relatively straight-forward to determine the relative risks and monies invested in such publicly traded vehicles. Portfolio structuring and management can then be performed based on, as discussed above, each individual's personal situation and goals.
It is more difficult to make such determinations for private investments and particularly for complex private investments.
Considering, for example, a simple equity investment in a privately held company, it can be seen that there is no reliable and repeatable methodology or metric for determining the current value of an investment after it is initially made. Valuation of the company for purposes of private funding rounds give some indication as to the transient value of an equity investment at the time of closing of a round. However, this is not a regularly available or reliable metric by which an investor can judge the value of his investment. One reason is that such private funding rounds are relatively few and far apart. They do not account for interim market changes or even regular daily or even hourly market changes that may actually affect the value of the private equity of a company. Further, the valuation for private funding is typically set by a relatively few interested parties, particularly the principals of the company and the investors. This clearly will not produce the rigorous results, as does the scrutiny of the vastly larger number of potential investors in a public market.
As a private investment vehicle becomes more complex, the issues associated with valuing an investment in that vehicle also become more complex. Considering, for example, a private equity fund having multiple investors and multiple investments, the issues associated with valuing an investment in the fund become appreciably more complex. The difficulty of determining the value of investments in complex, private investment vehicles makes it difficult or impossible to accurately analyze the risk profile of an investment portfolio including investments in such vehicles. In fact, not only is value difficult to determine in these situations, but the term "value" itself has well-defined legal meanings that have no readily determined correlation to complex private financial investment vehicles.
It would be useful to have a repeatable, supportable methodology and metric for determining the current amount of an investor's investment in a private investment vehicle at any given time, termed herein the "working money" or amount of money working in any given financial vehicle. Such a metric and methodology would enable a more accurate risk assessment of a portfolio and enable the development of an investment portfolio having a risk profile that meets the needs of the associated investor. Such a metric and methodology would further facilitate decisions such as whether to buy, sell or hold an investment. Such methods, systems and apparatuses are described and claimed herein.

Methods and systems for managing investments in complex financial investments


A payment device includes a biometric sensor configured to receive a biometric measurement from a user. The payment device also includes a display configured to selectively display sensitive payment account information for a payment account of the user. The payment account is associated with the payment device. The payment device further includes a processor and instructions stored in non-transitory machine-readable media. The instructions are configured to cause the payment device to receive the biometric measurement from the biometric sensor. The user is authenticated if the biometric measurement matches a stored biometric of the user. Upon authenticating the user, the sensitive payment account information is displayed on the display. The sensitive payment account information is removed from the display a first predetermined time period after authenticating the user.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of systems and methods for facilitating payment transactions. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for facilitating payment transactions using payment devices with enhanced security features.
Payments for products and services are often completed using credit cards, debit cards, checks, or cash. When a card is lost or stolen (e.g., physically or electronically), it may be used for unauthorized purchases until the holder notifies the issuing bank and the bank puts a block on the account. Still, it is possible for a thief to make unauthorized purchases on a card before the card is canceled. A cardholder could incur significant losses from transactions made before the cardholder or the card issuer realizes that the card has been compromised.
A common security measure on all cards is a signature panel; however, a signature may be relatively easy to forge. Further, some jurisdictions require identification or a signature only for purchases above a certain amount (e.g., $50), unless otherwise stated in the policy of the merchant. Therefore, stolen cards are vulnerable to multiple small-value fraudulent transactions without significant security measures. Another common security measure is to require the user (e.g., customer) to key in some identifying information, such as the user's ZIP code. This method may deter casual theft of a card found alone; however, if the card holder's wallet is stolen, it may be trivial for the thief to deduce the information by looking at other items in the wallet. For instance, a U.S. driver license commonly has the holder's home address and ZIP code printed on it. Accordingly, enhanced card security features would be desirable.

Payment devices with enhanced security features


Aspects of a method and system for transmission and/or reception of signals utilizing a delay circuit and a DDFS are provided. In this regard, a first signal may be delayed by 90°, via a plurality of delay elements and variable capacitance, to generate a second signal. The first and second signal may be mixed to generate a first LO signal, which may be utilized for a first frequency conversion. A second LO signal may be generated via a DDFS and may be utilized for a second frequency conversion. A digital input word of the DDFS, a value of the variable capacitance, and/or at least a portion of the delay elements, may be programmatically controlled based on a desired frequency for transmission and/or desired frequency for reception. The first frequency conversions may be up-conversions and/or down-conversions to/from baseband, one or more intermediate frequencies, and/or RF.

With the rapidly increasing dependence on electronic communications and the accompanying efforts to make these communications faster and cheaper, the complexity of designing communications systems is also increasing. For example, available frequency bands, which are regulated by organizations such as the FCC in the USA, are becoming increasingly scarce. Moreover, existing frequency bands are becoming increasingly congested due to the plethora of users and devices in existence. Accordingly, efforts exist to develop wireless technologies which operate at higher, less congested frequencies.
For example, in 2001, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated a large contiguous block of 7 GHz bandwidth for communications in the 57 GHz to 64 GHz spectrum. This frequency band was designated for use on an unlicensed basis, that is, the spectrum is accessible to anyone, subject to certain basic, technical restrictions such as maximum transmission power and certain coexistence mechanisms. The communications taking place in this band are often referred to as '60 GHz communications'. With respect to the accessibility of this designated portion of the spectrum, 60 GHz communications is similar to other forms of unlicensed spectrum use, for example Wireless LANs or Bluetooth in the 2.4 GHz ISM bands. One advantage associated with 60 GHz communications is that since a very large bandwidth of 7 GHz is available, very high data rates may be achieved. However, a disadvantage of 60 GHz communications is that conventional processes, technologies, and circuit topologies may be unable to realize circuits for transmitting, receiving, or otherwise processing signals of up to extremely high frequencies.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for transmission and/or reception of signals utilizing a delay circuit and DDFS


The present disclosure relates to a system and method for coordinated laser delivery and imaging during an interventional procedure. A method may include activating an imaging source to provide a pulsed imaging signal and activating a laser source to provide a pulsed laser signal while the imaging source remains activated. The method may include coordinating the pulsed laser signal and the pulsed imaging signal to output each pulse of the pulsed laser signal and each pulse of the pulsed imaging signal in non-overlapping time windows. A system may include a controller in communication with the laser source and the imaging source for coordinating the output of the laser signal and the imaging signal.

Human blood vessels often become occluded or blocked by plaque, thrombi, other deposits, or emboli which reduce the blood carrying capacity of the vessel. If the blockage occurs at a critical place in the circulatory system, serious and permanent injury can occur. Medical intervention, such as an angioplasty or balloon dilation, is usually performed when significant occlusion is detected. For example, laser based catheter devices are often used to ablate the occlusions in the vessels (that is, perform atherectomy or removal of the stenosis).
Imaging technology is used to provide visualizations of surgical areas in the human body including vascular spaces. Standard fluoroscopy provides a two-dimensional (2D) view of the relative position and direction of a vascular space. Intravascular imaging technologies provide a visualization of the interior of vascular spaces and include, for example, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and optical coherence reflectometry (OCR). When intravascular imaging
technologies are used in conjunction with laser based ablation devices, the laser energy and vibration may cause interference with the imaging signal (e.g., ultrasound or light reflectance) of the intravascular imaging device.
SUMMARY
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a laser ablation and imaging system is provided including a laser source operative to provide a laser signal and an imaging source operative to provide an imaging signal. The laser signal and the imaging signal each include a plurality of pulses. The laser ablation and imaging system includes at least one delivery device operative to output the laser signal and the imaging signal to a target area. The laser ablation and imaging system further includes a controller in communication with the laser source and the imaging source. The controller is operative to coordinate the laser signal and the imaging signal such that each pulse of the laser signal and each pulse of the imaging signal are output in non-overlapping time windows.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a laser ablation and imaging method is provided. The method includes activating an imaging source to provide a pulsed imaging signal. The method further includes activating a laser source to provide a pulsed laser signal while the imaging source remains activated. The method further includes coordinating the pulsed laser signal and the pulsed imaging signal to output each pulse of the pulsed laser signal and each pulse of the pulsed imaging signal in non-overlapping time windows.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing certain instructions is provided. The non-transitory computer-readable medium contains instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processor to perform the following: activate an imaging source to provide a pulsed imaging signal; activate a laser source to provide a pulsed laser signal while the imaging source remains activated; and coordinate the pulsed laser signal and the pulsed imaging signal to output one or more laser pulses of the pulsed laser signal and one or more imaging pulses of the pulsed imaging signal in an asynchronous manner such that the one or more laser pulses and the one or more imaging pulses are emitted from a catheter in non-overlapping time windows.
The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide an understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neither an extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its various aspects, embodiments, and configurations. It is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detailed description presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects, embodiments, and configurations of the disclosure are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In certain instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the disclosure or that render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

System and method for coordinated laser delivery and imaging


A mixing valve has a housing holding a fixed valve plate a flat outer surface generally centered on and perpendicular to an axis and formed offset from the axis with a pair of angularly offset and axially throughgoing inlet ports and offset therefrom with a pair of axially throughgoing outlet ports. Hot and cold water is supplied under pressure to the inlet ports and passages in the housing connect the outlet ports to respective users, e.g. a faucet and a shower. A movable valve plate in the housing has an inner surface flatly engaging the outer surface of the fixed valve plate and an opposite outer surface and is formed with an axially throughgoing inlet port alignable with the fixed-plate inlet ports and offset from the respective inlet port an axially throughgoing outlet port alignable with the fixed-plate outlet ports. A cover element fixed in the housing to the outer surface of the movable plate forms a fluid-flow passage at the outer surface between the movable-plate inlet port and the movable-plate outlet port. An actuator can shift the cover element and movable plate between a closed position with one of the movable-plate ports out of alignment with the respective fixed-plate ports and blocked by the fixed-plate outer face and two open position in each of which the movable-plate inlet port aligned with at least one of the fixed-plate inlet ports and the movable-plate outlet port aligned with a respective one of the fixed-plate outlet ports.

A standard single-lever flow-control valve has a fixed valve plate formed with a pair of inlet ports respectively connected to hot- and cold-water inlet lines and, offset therefrom, an outlet port connected to an outlet line normally leading to a faucet. A movable valve plate sitting atop this fixed valve plate has a mixing cavity open toward the fixed plate and movable to variously overlap the ports. When the movable plate is pivoted about a normally upright axis perpendicular to the interface between the plates it can align more of one of the inlet ports with the mixing cavity and less of the other inlet port to vary the ratio of hot and cold water fed to the outlet port, and when slid in a front-to-back direction parallel to the plate interface it can control the overall extent of overlap to vary the overall flow from the inlet ports through the mixing cavity to the outlet port.
Typically the movable valve plate is pivoted on the bottom end of a lever that is centrally pivoted on a housing liner that is coupled to the movable plate to rotate it about the upright axis. The upper end of the lever is fitted to a handle that is raised and lowered to control volume rate of flow and that is pivoted from side to side to control outlet temperature.
It is known from European patent application 0,392,441 of P. Scheffer to provide an extra outlet port for a second user, that is so that the same mixing valve can feed, for example, a faucet constituting a first user and a shower constituting a separate second user. The lever must be thrown to one side or the other to control the respective user, normally working in 180.degree. offset positions for the two users. Thus such a mixing valve can only be mounted where there is ample room to move and manipulate its actuating lever. Furthermore the displacement through 180.degree. to change users is inconvenient even when there is enough room to do it.
In European 0,309,443 of C. Dagiantis such a valve is shown which has three valve disks and that can supply two different users. This arrangement is quite complex, prone to leakage, and expensive to manufacture.


A high-temperature motor pump is operated by a method wherein coolant is supplied in a manner to maintain the temperature thereof sufficiently high to keep its viscosity at a low level for smoothly flowing in a narrow gap between a rotor and a stator. Thus, the coolant performs a cooling function without frictional loss, and thereby the motor pump is stably operated with little energy loss.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-temperature motor pump and a method of operating thereof, and more particularly to a high-temperature motor pump for pumping a high temperature liquid for use in a boiler system or a nuclear power plant and a method of operating thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional high-temperature motor pump comprises a pump portion for pumping a high temperature liquid and a motor portion having a motor for driving the pump portion. These portions are housed in a liquid-tight chamber, and a coolant flow is provided in the motor portion for cooling the motor to pass through a narrow gap between a stator and a rotor.
One example of such a pump is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 1-174231, in which a coolant is cooled by an external heat exchanger and introduced into the motor.
However, in the above motor pump, since the coolant flows through the narrow gap between a stator and a rotor in the motor to conduct cooling, if the coolant temperature is excessively low, a high viscosity of the coolant leads to a high friction loss.

High-temperature motor pump and method for operating thereof


Disclosed herein is a method of optically producing a clock, in which clock components are extracted from the spectrum of a transmitted optical signal and the influence of noise and jitter on the extracted clock components is reduced, thus improving the stability of an optical communication system. In the clock producing method of the present invention, a plurality of clock components are extracted by filtering out frequency bands between neighboring intensity peaks, and then a clock having reduced noise and jitter is produced by logically ANDing two or more of the plurality of clock components extracted at the step of extracting the plurality of clock components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of optically producing a clock from an optical signal in an optical communication system, and more particularly to a method of optically producing a clock, in which clock components are extracted from the spectrum of a transmitted optical signal and the influence of noise and jitter on the extracted clock components is reduced, thus improving the stability of an optical communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of optical communication, transmission speed has been rapidly increased. This increase of transmission speed requires the improvement of a transmitting end technology in which desired data are converted into optical signals and the improvement of a signal processing rate at which transmitted optical signals are received and restored to original data at a receiving end. A method of optically producing a clock is employed so as to recover original data at the receiving end of an optical communication system. Such a method of optically producing a clock may be exemplified by a method using the self-pulsation of a laser diode and a method using an optical loop mirror.
However, the conventional methods are disadvantageous in that devices for producing desired clocks are difficult to be fabricated and the stability of an optical communication system is deteriorated by noise and jitter.

Method of optically producing clock and apparatus thereof

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The cell observation device and method aims to easily study the correlation between initial states of cells and their reactions without using a synchronous culture method. For this purpose, the cell observation device includes an image acquisition unit acquiring an image of a specimen including a plurality of cells; a stimulating unit applying a predetermined stimulation to the plural cells; a determining unit determining initial states of the plural cells from the image which is acquired by the image acquisition unit before the stimulating unit applies the stimulation; a finding unit finding reactions of the plural cells to the stimulation, from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit after the stimulating unit applies the stimulation; and a generating unit generating information on correlation between the initial states and the reactions of the plural cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell observation device and a cell observation method for observing reactions of cells, and more particularly, to a cell observation device and the like suitable for screening in a development process of medicinal products.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally practiced to culture a large number of cells by using a known synchronous culture method (see, for example, Reference 1), to uniformalize states (for example, the timing of a mitotic phase of a cell cycle) of the large number of cells and observe reactions of the cells to stimulation such as the introduction of a drug. According to this method, an average reaction of the large number of cells can be observed.
Reference 1: R. Weimer, T. Haaf, J. Kruger, M. Poot, M. Schmid, "Characterization of centromere arrangements and test for random distribution in G0, G1, S, G2, G1, and early S′ phase in human lymphocytes", Human Genetics 88:673-682 (1992)
However, the aforesaid synchronous culture method needs very complicated works. Further, in order to study the correlation between initial states (for example, states immediately before the stimulation is applied) of a large number of cells and their reactions, a large variety of specimens composed of cells in different initial states have to be prepared by the synchronous culture method, which requires enormous labor and time.
Here, an experiment conducted by the present inventors will be described. In this experiment, the correlation between the initial states of the large number of cells and their reactions was studied by the combination of conventional methods. First, a large variety of specimens are prepared by the synchronous culture method. Specifically, a cell suspension at a logarithmic growth phase is adjusted to a concentration of 5×105 cells/ml, a thymidine solution is added thereto so that the final concentration (different depending on the kind of the cells) becomes 0.5 to 2.5 mM, and the cells are cultured in a CO2 incubator for 16 to 24 hours. This operation causes the large number of cells in the specimen to synchronize in a boundary of a gap phase (G1 phase)/a DNA synthesis phase (S phase) and in the S phase of a cell cycle. Next, cell culture supernatants (substances on the surface) are removed by centrifugal separation and are returned to a culture solution to be cultured for 15 hours. This operation causes the large number of cells in the specimen to enter the boundary of a gap phase (G2 phase)/a mitotic phase (M phase). Further, a thymidine solution is added so that the final concentration becomes 0.5 to 2.5 mM, and the cells are cultured for 16 to 24 hours in the CO2 incubator. This operation causes the large number of cells in the specimen to synchronize in the boundary of the G1 phase/the S phase. Note that, in order to know in which phase of the cell cycle the large number of cells in the specimen are synchronized, a DNA amount of each of the cells may be measured by using a known flow cytometry after the cells are dyed with propidium iodidle (PI). The inventors of the present invention prepared a large variety of the specimens in different cell initial states (here, phases of the cell cycle) in the above-described manner.
Then, an expression amount of ion channels on cell surfaces was measured in each of a large variety of the specimens. The ion channel is small conductance (SK) type 2 of calcium-activated potassium channels. A known Western blot method using anti-SK2 channel antibody was implemented for the measurement. FIG. 4 shows the measurement result. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis shows time, with the start time of the GI phase of the cell cycle being defined as 0, and the time of each of the S phase and the G2 phase/M phase can be seen. The vertical axis in FIG. 4 shows relative density of an expression amount of the ion channels. It has been found out from this measurement result that the expression amount of the ion channels increases/decreases depending on each phase of the cell cycle. Generally, the expression amount of the ion channels correlates with the reaction of a cell (in this case, potential change of a cell membrane), and therefore, the above measurement result implies that the reaction of the cells changes depending on each phase of the cell cycle. Specifically, in the case of the SK2 channel, reactivity is high in the G1 phase and reactivity lowers in the S phase and the G2 phase/M phase.
As described above, in order to study the correlation (for example, FIG. 4) between the initial states of cells and their reactions by using the conventional method, a large variety of specimens in different cell initial states has to be prepared by the synchronous culture method, which requires enormous labor and time.

Cell observation device and cell observation method


A vehicle has a safe and a utility device operable for performing a task having a result capable of being measured. A local processor is associated with local storage, each of which is housed in a safe preventing access thereto. An operator input console associated with the local storage is carried by the vehicle and is disposed outside the safe. A positioning system associated with the local processor generates position information of the vehicle during operation of the utility device. A sensor associated with the utility device and the local processor generates result information of the result of the operation of the utility device. The local processor stores in the local storage the position information, the result information, and the operator input information. The operator input console and the local processor are adapted and arranged preventing access to the local storage in response to operation of the operator input console.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for monitoring vehicles and equipment.
2. Related Art and Prior Art Statement
The widespread existence of companies that utilize fleets of motor vehicles for carrying out work related activities is commonplace in the modern world. Local ordinances and laws, company procedures and policies, and liability concerns necessitate that the owners of work related motor vehicles keep careful track of their vehicles during use, and document the use of any utility equipment incorporated therewith used to perform certain tasks, such equipment used to clean sewer/collection lines including vacuums and hoses, equipment used to lift objects such as cranes and lifts, equipment used to transport and dispense material such as concrete drums and dump receptacles, equipment used to transport and dispense cable or wiring such as spools, etc. Although existing vehicle tracking systems are able to adequately monitor and track vehicle location and also the location of utility equipment incorporated therewith, existing systems suffer in that they are inherently unreliable, fail to provide a way to adequately collect information and safeguard it from unauthorized access and tampering, and fail to provide a way to collect information that is able to reliably show that the equipment managed and maintained by a vehicle was actually put to use. Given these and other deficiencies in the art, the need for certain new and useful improvements is evident.

Vehicle and equipment monitoring apparatus


Alerting a calling party in a Voice over IP (VoIP) setting that a called party might not be able to hear ring tones. In response to a call arriving on an IP connection, the audible level of ring-tones that are generated by a microphone associated with a VoIP computer application is sampled, and responsive to the audible level of ring-tones being below a minimum threshold, a message is transmitting to the calling party via any available connection that the called party might be unable to hear the ring-tones.

Communication has always been a key element of our society, and even more so in present time where communication is required to be nearly instant. Over time, types of communications have evolved, traditional remote telecommunication is progressively being replaced by internet based communications, and today 80% of the new generation of home-users use the traditional phone less, switching to more interactive types of communication that embrace technology such as VoIP that provides audio & video components at a cheaper cost than traditional telephony methods. VoIP technology is becoming more accessible and sometimes as a free service across the globe. VoIP is proposed as part of internet packages offered by service providers as a competitive argument. From a business point of view VoIP technology is also very important, as more & more company employees are able to work remotely in the comfort of their own home. Thus, internet services such as VoIP are important, especially when users need to communicate one-to-one1 or to participate in teleconferences, which often require audio or video services. In both cases, private & company users, depend on good functionalism of their computer devices to see and hear properly. The invention focuses on the audibility function in addressing the problem of muted, low level or disabled audio devices and noisy environments when incoming VoIP calls are received at a called party location. Users are often not in front of their computer screens even if their computers are operating; in such cases, they rely on an audible sound (a ring-tone) to be notified of incoming calls. However, the computer sometimes cannot play ring-tones. This can happen for different reasons; for example, 1. the sound system has been switched off, or the volume lowered or muted, 2. sound has been redirected to a headset, 3. the called party location might be excessively noisy.
In these cases, if a called party happens to be away from the computer, he or she will not be able to hear the ring-tones of an incoming VoIP call. A calling party is also unaware of such conditions at the called party location and will probably respond inappropriately, such as continued ringing or repeated calls. The invention can be especially important for urgent incoming calls when ring-tones cannot be heard.

International Business Machines Corporation


A silver halide color photosensitive material comprises a blue-sensitive layer, a green-sensitive layer, a red-sensitive layer and a non-light-sensitive layer on a support. The silver halide color photosensitive material contains a compound selected from the following type 1 and type 2 compounds, and wherein the blue-sensitive layer meets the relationship of the following formula (I):SB(370 nm)/SB(420 nm)<0.7  (I)wherein SB(λ) represents a spectral sensitivity at a wavelength of λ,                (type 1)        a compound capable of undergoing a one-electron oxidation to thereby form a one-electron oxidation product thereof, wherein the one-electron oxidation product is capable of releasing further one or more electrons accompanying a subsequent bond cleavage reaction, and        (type 2)        a compound capable of undergoing a one-electron oxidation to thereby form a one-electron oxidation product thereof, wherein the one-electron oxidation product is capable of releasing further one or more electrons accompanying a subsequent bond-forming reaction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide color photosensitive material of high speed improved with respect to static-induced fog and radiation-induced fog, and relates to a silver halide color photosensitive material which can reduce cissing occurring at high-speed coating, etc. and can be produced stably.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques have been employed for enhancing the photo-sensitivity of silver halide photosensitive materials.
Recently, the technique of sensitizing with the use of a compound capable of being one-electron oxidized to thereby form a one-electron oxidation product which by the subsequent bond cleavage reaction, can further emit one electron has been reported (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. (hereinafter referred to as JP-A-) 9-211769 and U.S. Pat. No. (hereinafter referred to as "USP") 5,747,235). Moreover, the technique of sensitizing with the use of a compound capable of being one-electron oxidized to thereby form a one-electron oxidation product which by the subsequent bond cleavage reaction, can further emit one electron or more electrons has been reported (see, for example, JP-A's-2003-114487 and 2003-114488).
On the other hand, with respect to photosensitive materials, the greater the enhancement of sensitivity, the more serious the problem of photographic characteristics deterioration by prolonged storage. The causes of the photographic characteristics deterioration by prolonged storage involve not only hitherto well-known heat and moisture but also natural radiation (environmental radiation or cosmic rays). The photosensitive material having been exposed to natural radiation suffers an increase of fog density and, accompanying the same, a deterioration of graininess. The silver halide photosensitive materials having the sensitivity enhanced by the techniques described in the above literature suffer intense radiation-induced fog, so that improvement has been desired thereto.
The photosensitive materials are brought into contact with various materials during the production, use for shooting and development processing thereof. For example, when a photosensitive material is in wound form during the processing, the back layer provided on the back side of the support may be brought into contact with the surface layer. Further, while being conveyed during the processing, the photosensitive material may be brought into contact with stainless steel, rubber rollers, etc. When brought into contact with these materials, the photosensitive material at the surface (gelatin layer) thereof is likely to have positive charge and occasionally induces unwanted electric discharge with the result that undesirable exposure marks (known as static marks) remain on the photosensitive material. Incorporating of a material capable of controlling the spectral sensitivity in the ultraviolet region in the protective layer is known as means for reducing undesirable exposure marks on the photosensitive material even when unwanted discharge occurs.
The photosensitive materials having been sensitized by the use of compounds as the above spectral sensitivity controlling material pose a problem of static-induced fog.

Silver halide color photosensitive material


A title is determined from a document image of an unspecified format based upon likelihood of containing a title in each of minimal circumscribing rectangles. The likelihood is determined based upon information obtained during character recognition of the image contained in the minimal circumscribing rectangles. The information includes a font type, a recognition assurance level, character code and so on.

In the prior art attempts of extracting a title from documents, one of the significant factors is whether the documents are in a predetermined format. If input documents have a predetermined layout, the position of a title area or a minimal circumscribing rectangle is used to extract information on title. On the other hand, if the input documents are in a free form or do not have a rigid layout, one way is to manually extract a title.
To efficiently extract a title from documents in a free form, Japanese Patent Laid Publication Hei 9-134406 and Japanese Patent Hei 5-274471 disclose prior attempts to use layout features of the documents. Japanese Patent Hei 5-274471 discloses a priority scheme in selecting a title-containing area. The priority scheme includes (1) an area's relative closeness to the upper left comer in a document image, (2) a number of characters contained in an adjacent area, and (3) a number of characters in the area and the adjacent area. The above priority is determined by using minimal circumscribing rectangles, and no character recognition is performed. Japanese Patent Laid Publication Hei 9-134406 discloses a selection of a title based upon a projection histogram of a document image. Regions of the projection histogram are compared to a pair of predetermined threshold values to determine a title area. Although the above prior attempts provide some success in determining a title in documents, the accuracy still remains a problem.

Method and system for extracting title from document image


A method of forming isolation structures in semiconductor substrates comprising exposing a region of the semiconductor simultaneously to a transforming agent and to a viscosity reducing agent so that the transforming agent transforms a portion of the substrate into an isolation structure and the viscosity reducing agent reduces the viscosity of the isolation structure during formation. In one embodiment, a silicon substrate is exposed to oxygen in the presence of fluorine so that a silicon oxide isolation region is formed. The fluorine reduces the viscosity of the silicon oxide isolation region during formation which results in less lateral, bird's beak encroachment under adjacent masking stacks and also results in lower internal stress in the isolation region during formation. The lower internal stress and the lessened lateral encroachment result in thicker and improved isolation regions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to semiconductor integrated device design and fabrication and, more particularly, to techniques for isolating active areas of integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor integrated circuit technology advances to Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) technologies, the devices on wafers shrink to sub-micron dimensions and the circuit density increases to several million devices per chip. Since the devices are closer together, isolation of the devices from each other becomes more problematic and more difficult to achieve. As such, the manufacturability and reliability of these devices are of great importance to the semiconductor industry and have received increasing attention recently.
For a given chip size, an increase in the number of active circuit components requires that they be placed in close proximity to each other, thus forcing a corresponding reduction in the surface area of the circuit that can be occupied by electrical isolation structures. The trend for reducing the chip surface area consumed by electrical isolation structures, while maintaining the necessary electrical isolation of adjacent active components, has led to the development of several different isolation techniques.
The most common isolation fabrication technique is a process known as LOCOS (for LOCalized Oxidation of Silicon). In the LOCOS process, the substrate is oxidized to form an isolation structure over the selected regions. These oxidized regions are known as field oxide regions and they are typically positioned so as to separate active areas on the wafer where devices, such as transistors, will subsequently be formed.
In the conventional LOCOS technique, the process typically begins with the growth of a thin pad oxide layer over the wafer surface. The function of this layer is to prevent transfer of stresses between the silicon substrate and the subsequently deposited layers. Following this, a layer of silicon nitride mask is deposited on top of the pad oxide layer and lithographically defined to retain the nitride over the active device regions of the wafer. The nitride layer is etched from the area between the active device areas where the field oxide (silicon dioxide) isolation structure is to be thermally grown.
Although the LOCOS process offers high reliability and proven high volume manufacturing compatibility, the effectiveness of this technique is limited by two important factors. One factor is active area loss due to lateral encroachment of the growing field oxide, often referred to as "bird's beak" encroachment, and the other factor is the problem of the field oxide isolation region thinning during formation which occurs especially in the narrow fields during the field oxide growth stage.
These problems are illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a cross-section of a portion of a silicon substrate 40 having field oxide isolation regions 50a and 50b formed between a plurality of nitride masking stacks 60. The masking stacks 60 are positioned over the active areas 70 of the wafer 40. The lateral oxide encroachment into the active area is denoted by the distance labeled "W", and the field oxide thicknesses for the narrow and the wide regions are denoted as "t.sup.n.sub.ox " and "t.sup.w.sub.ox " in isolation structures 50a and 50b, respectively. The bird's beak encroachment is the result of lateral diffusion of the oxidants at the edges of the nitride masking stack and this bird's beak encroachment causes the oxide layer to grow under and lift the edges of the nitride masking stack.
Although the length of the lateral encroachment depends upon a number of parameters, including the thickness of the pad oxide, nitride and isolation oxide layers, as well as the oxidation temperature and pressure, the encroachment is generally related to the balance between the stress on the wafer from the masking stack, which inhibits the encroachment, and the stress generated by the growth of the field oxide which encourages encroachment. Both of these stresses introduce an increased number of stress induced defects into the silicon substrate adjacent to the active area, thereby increasing the junction leakage current of devices formed in these areas and, as such, reducing the overall reliability of the device.
Another limitation of LOCOS isolation technologies for submicron structures is the phenomenon of the field oxide thinning effect. Typically, narrower field oxide isolation regions formed on the substrate are thinner than wider field oxide isolation regions. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein the wider isolation region 50b on the right hand side is thicker than the narrower isolation region 50a on the left hand side (T.sub.ox.sup.n <T.sub.ox.sup.w). This inconsistent thickness of the field oxide isolation regions may also be associated with the build up of stress in the silicon substrate which can reduce the oxidation rate and hence the final oxide thickness.
Furthermore, for a given masking stack thickness on a wafer, the stress generated during the field oxide growth is observed to be a function of the field width. In fact, it is believed that the stress created by the field oxide growing in narrower spacings is sufficient to reduce the diffusivity of the oxidant through the oxide thereby reducing the thickness of the isolation regions. As a result of the field oxide thinning effect, device isolation characteristics in narrow isolation regions can be substantially reduced which can result in unwanted conductivity between the devices formed in adjacent active areas.
This problem has led to techniques for reducing the stress during the growth of the field oxide. For example, it is known that the stress exerted by the growing field oxide can be controlled by varying the viscosity of the field oxide. In particular, reducing the viscosity of the growing field oxide allows oxide to flow better. Methods of reducing the viscosity of the field oxide include employing either a high temperature oxidation process or a high pressure oxidation process (HiPOX). In semiconductor technology, a high temperature oxidation process can be either wet or dry oxidation carried out at a temperature of approximately 1000.degree. C. High temperature oxidation generally reduces the thinning problem in narrow field oxidation regions. This is due to a decrease in field oxide viscosity, which results in an increased oxide flow and a decreased level of stress in the field oxide allowing greater oxide growth. Unfortunately, raising the growth temperature is not a reasonable solution to the bird's beak problem as higher temperatures severely increase bird's beak oxide encroachment under the nitride masking stack. Since both minimal isolation region thinning and lateral oxide encroachment are essential for a high quality and defect free isolation process, there is a need for a better process to provide required viscosity reduction.
In this respect, the HiPOx (for High Pressure Oxidation) process may comprise an improvement. In fact, the HiPOx process reduces the field oxide thinning effect and also reduces the length of bird's beak since the oxidation can be performed at a lower temperature range and in a shorter time period under the high pressure. A HiPOx process is typically carried out at a temperature range of 900-1000.degree. C. and under a pressure range of 20-25 Atm. The oxidation process takes place in a high pressure furnace by using an O.sub.2 gas ambient (dry oxidation) or a steam of H.sub.2 O (wet oxidation) as oxidants.
However, even though the HiPOx process provides some advantages over other field oxide growth techniques, problems with the process and the special high pressure equipment have limited its acceptance in the industry. In particular, there are significant safety problems associated with high pressure oxidation due to the high pressure gasses that are used during the process. To address these safety problems, and also to accomplish the process, expensive and large high pressure furnaces and related equipment must be used to perform the process.
As is apparent, there is a need in current semiconductor technology for improved methods of forming isolation regions to reduce lateral encroachment and thinning of the isolation structures, thereby permitting smaller isolation structures to be used. To this end, there is a need to reduce the viscosity of the oxide during the field oxidation isolation process thereby reducing the stress during the oxidation processes. Further, there is a particular need for a technique for forming isolation regions whereby the viscosity is lowered, without using special equipment and the resulting thickness is highly uniform.

Process to improve the flow of oxide during field oxidation by fluorine doping


A flexible polymer solid electrolyte material useful in battery technology is described. The flexible solid electrolyte comprises a first block that has the ability to solvate alkali metal salts. The flexible solid electrolyte comprises a second block that has the ability to incorporate lithium ions within microphase separated spherical domains, wherein the lithium ions are from a secondary lithium source. The flexible solid electrolyte further comprises a second lithium salt.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention describes a flexible polymer solid electrolyte that is useful in battery technology. The flexible polymer solid electrolyte comprises a first block, a second block comprising a polymer that incorporates ions of a first lithium salt within the microphase separated spherical domains of the polymer, and a second lithium salt.
2. Related Art
In recent years, interest in polymeric batteries has increased dramatically. Current configurations have a liquid or gel electrolyte along with a separator between the anode and cathode. This leads to problems with electrolyte loss and decreased performance over time. The highly reactive nature of such electrolytes necessitates the use of protective enclosures, which add to the size and bulk of the battery.
Polymer electrolytes are more compliant than conventional glass or ceramic electrolytes. Lightweight, shape-conforming, polymer electrolyte-based battery systems could find widespread application as energy sources in miniature medical devices such as pacemakers, wireless endoscopes, implantable pumps, treatment probes, and untethered robotic mobile manipulators.
The complex forming capability of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with alkali metal salts, introduced by Fenton et al., Polymer 14:589 (1973), has been the starting point for an abundance of published work on polymer electrolytes for use in batteries. A semicrystalline polymer, PEO, has been a focal component in the design of numerous dry, solvent-free electrolytes involving blends (see Rajendran et al., J. Solid State Electrochem. 6:560 (2002)), block copolymers (see Gray et al., Macromolecules 21:392 (1988), Harris et al., Macromolecules 35:3772 (2002), Ryu et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 152:A158 (2005), and Singh et al., Macromolecules 40:4578 (2007)), branched networks (see Kim et al., Polym. Eng. Sci. 34:1305 (1994)), ceramic fillers (see Croce et al., Nature 394:456 (1998), Croce et al., Electrochim. Acta 46:2457 (2001), Croce et al., J. Power Sources 162:685 (2006), and Kurian et al., Electrochim. Acta 50:2125 (2005)), room-temperature ionic liquids (see Seki et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 110:10228 (2006) and Shin et al., Electrochem. Commun. 5:1016 (2003)), and specialized salts (see Borghini et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 142:2118 (1995) and Appetecchi et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 148:A1171 (2001)). It is important to carefully tailor the polymer electrolyte matrix to attain appreciable levels of conductivity in a solid-state medium.
Thus, there is a need for a solid electrolyte that exhibits high ion transport at room temperature compared to traditional solid polymer electrolytes.

Polymer solid electrolyte for flexible batteries


A method of manufacturing a stamper/imprinter for use in patterning of a recording medium, comprising sequential steps of:                (a) providing a permanent master comprising a body of a substantially rigid material having a surface with a topographical pattern formed therein comprising a patterned plurality of spaced-apart recesses with a plurality of non-recessed areas therebetween, the topographical pattern corresponding to a pattern to be formed in a recording medium;        (b) forming a layer of a substantially rigid material over the surface of the permanent master with the topographical pattern formed therein;        (c) separating the layer of a substantially rigid material from the master, the layer of a substantially rigid material having an imprinting surface with a topographical pattern formed therein replicating the topographical pattern of the permanent master; and        (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) multiple times with the permanent master provided in step (a) to form a plurality of stampers/imprinters.

Recording media of various types, e.g., magnetic, optical, magneto-optical ("MO"), read-only memory ("ROM"), readable compact disks ("CD-R"), and readable-writable compact disks ("CD-RW") are widely used in various applications, e.g., in hard disk form, particularly in the computer industry for storage and retrieval of large amounts of data/information. Typically, such media types require pattern formation in the major surface(s) thereof for facilitating operation thereof. For example, magnetic and magneto-optical (MO) recording disks require formation of servo patterns for positioning the read-write transducer over a particular band or region of the media; ROM disks require formation of memory patterns therein; and CD-R and CD-RW disks require formation of wobble groove patterns therein.
Magnetic and magneto-optical (MO) recording media are conventionally fabricated in thin film form; the former are generally classified as "longitudinal" or "perpendicular", depending upon the orientation (i.e., parallel or perpendicular) of the magnetic domains of the grains of the magnetic material constituting the active magnetic recording layer, relative to the surface of the layer.
In operation of magnetic media, the magnetic layer is locally magnetized by a write transducer or write head to record and store data/information. The write transducer creates a highly concentrated magnetic field which alternates direction based on the bits of information being stored. When the local magnetic field applied by the write transducer is greater than the coercivity of the recording medium layer, then the grains of the polycrystalline magnetic layer at that location are magnetized. The grains retain their magnetization after the magnetic field applied by the write transducer is removed. The direction of the magnetization matches the direction of the applied magnetic field. The pattern of magnetization of the recording medium can subsequently produce an electrical response in a read transducer, allowing the stored medium to be read.
A typical contact start/stop (CSS) method employed during use of disk-shaped recording media, such as the above-described thin-film magnetic recording media, involves a floating transducer head gliding at a predetermined distance from the surface of the disk due to dynamic pressure effects caused by air flow generated between mutually sliding surfaces of the transducer head and the disk. During reading and recording (writing) operations, the transducer head is maintained at a controlled distance from the recording surface, supported on a bearing of air as the disk rotates, such that the transducer head is freely movable in both the circumferential and radial directions, thereby allowing data to be recorded and retrieved from the disk at a desired position in a data zone.
Adverting to FIG. 1, shown therein, in simplified, schematic plan view, is a magnetic recording disk 30 (of either longitudinal or perpendicular type) having a data zone 34 including a plurality of servo tracks, and a contact start/stop (CSS) zone 32. A servo pattern 40 is formed within the data zone 34, and includes a number of data track zones 38 separated by servo tracking zones 36. The data storage function of disk 30 is confined to the data track zones 38, while servo tracking zones 36 provide information to the disk drive which allows a read/write head to maintain alignment on the individual, tightly-spaced data tracks.
Although only a relatively few of the servo tracking zones are shown in FIG. 1 for illustrative simplicity, it should be recognized that the track patterns of the media contemplated herein may include several hundreds of servo zones to improve head tracking during each rotation of the disk. In addition, the servo tracking zones need not be straight radial zones as shown in the figure, but may instead comprise arcs, intermittent zones, or irregularly-shaped zones separating individual data tracks.
In conventional hard disk drives, data is stored in terms of bits along the data tracks. In operation, the disk is rotated at a relatively high speed, and the magnetic head assembly is mounted on the end of a support or actuator arm, which radially positions the head on the disk surface. If the actuator arm is held stationary, the magnetic head assembly will pass over a circular path on the disk, i.e., over a data track, and information can be read from or written to that track. Each concentric track has a unique radius, and reading and writing information from or to a specific track requires the magnetic head to be located above that track. By moving the actuator arm, the magnetic head assembly is moved radially on the disk surface between tracks. Many actuator arms are rotatable, wherein the magnetic head assembly is moved between tracks by activating a servomotor which pivots the actuator arm about an axis of rotation. Alternatively, a linear actuator may be used to move a magnetic head assembly radially inwardly or outwardly along a straight line.
As has been stated above, to record information on the disk, the transducer creates and applies a highly concentrated magnetic field in close proximity to the magnetic recording medium. During writing, the strength of the concentrated magnetic field directly under the write transducer is greater than the coercivity of the recording medium, and grains of the recording medium at that location are magnetized in a direction which matches the direction of the applied magnetic field. The grains of the recording medium retain their magnetization after the magnetic field is removed. As the disk rotates, the direction of the writing magnetic field is alternated, based on bits of the information being stored, thereby recording a magnetic pattern on the track directly under the write transducer.
On each track, eight "bits" typically form one "byte" and bytes of data are grouped as sectors. Reading or writing a sector requires knowledge of the physical location of the data in the data zone so that the servo-controller of the disk drive can accurately position the read/write head in the correct location at the correct time. Most disk drives use disks with embedded "servo patterns" of magnetically readable information. The servo patterns are read by the magnetic head assembly to inform the disk drive of track location. In conventional disk drives, tracks typically include both data sectors and servo patterns and each servo pattern typically includes radial indexing information, as well as a "servo burst". A servo burst is a centering pattern to precisely position the head over the center of the track. Because of the locational precision needed, writing of servo patterns requires expensive servo-pattern writing equipment and is a time consuming process.
An approach for overcoming, or at least alleviating, the above problems associated with writing of magnetic patterns in a magnetic layer, e.g., servo patterns, is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,104 to Bonyhard, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. According to this approach, a method for forming a magnetic transition pattern, such as a servo pattern, in a layer of a magnetic material comprises steps of:
1) aligning a magnetic disk immediately adjacent a master servo-writer medium, the latter constituted of a magnetic layer having a greater agnetic coercivity than the former, wherein the servo-writer medium has a master servo pattern magnetically stored thereon which defines a plurality of concentric tracks;
2) applying a magnetic assist field to the aligned master servo-writer medium and magnetic disk, the magnetic assist field having a substantially equal magnitude at all tracks on the aligned master servo-writer medium and magnetic disk; and
3) rotating the aligned master servo-writer medium and magnetic disk relative to the magnetic assist field.
However, the above-described method incurs several drawbacks associated with its implementation in an industrially viable manner. Specifically, a "one-of-a-kind" master writer with a very high write field gradient is necessary for writing the requisite high intensity, master magnetic servo pattern onto the master disk, and a complicated means for rotating the aligned master servo-writer disk and "slave" workpiece magnetic disk is required, as is a complex system for controlling/regulating/rotating the intensity (i.e., magnitude) and directions of the magnetic assist field.
Commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/082,178, filed Feb. 26, 2002, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an improvement over the invention disclosed in the aforementioned commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,104, and is based upon the discovery that very sharply defined magnetic transition patterns can be reliably, rapidly, and cost-effectively formed in a magnetic medium containing a longitudinal or perpendicular type magnetic recording layer without requiring expensive, complicated fabrication of a master disk.
Specifically, the invention disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/082,178 is based upon recognition that a stamper/imprinter (analogous to the aforementioned "master") comprised of a magnetic material having a high saturation magnetization, Bsat, i.e., Bsat≧about 0.5 Tesla, and a high permeability, μ, i.e., μ≧about 5, e.g., selected from Ni, NiFe, CoNiFe, CoSiFe, CoFe, and CoFeV, can be effectively utilized as a contact "stamper/imprinter" for contact "imprinting" of a magnetic transition pattern, e.g., a servo pattern, in the surface of a magnetic recording layer of a magnetic medium ("workpiece"), whether of longitudinal or perpendicular type. A key feature of this invention is the use of a stamper/imprinter having an imprinting surface including a topographical pattern, i.e., comprised of projections and depressions, corresponding to a desired magnetic transition pattern, e.g., a servo pattern, to be formed in the magnetic recording layer. An advantage afforded by the invention is the ability to fabricate the topographically patterned imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter, as well as the substrate or body therefor, of a single material, as by use of well-known and economical electro-forming techniques (described below in more detail).
According to this invention, the magnetic domains of the magnetic recording layer of the workpiece are first unidirectionally aligned (i.e., "erased" or "initialized"), as by application of a first external, unidirectional magnetic field Hinitial of first direction and high strength greater than the saturation field of the magnetic recording layer, typically≧2,000 and up to about 20,000 Oe. The imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter is then brought into intimate (i.e., touching) contact with the surface of the magnetic recording layer. With the assistance of a second externally applied magnetic field of second, opposite direction and lower but appropriate strength Hre-align, determined by Bsat/μ of the stamper material (typically≧100 Oe, e.g., from about 2,000 to about 4,500 Oe), the alignment of the magnetic domains at the areas of contact between the projections of the imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter (in the case of perpendicular recording media, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2) or at the areas facing the depressions of the imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter (in the case of longitudinal recording media, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 3) and the magnetic recording layer of the workpiece is selectively reversed, while the alignment of the magnetic domains at the non-contacting areas (defined by the depressions in the imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter) or at the contacting areas, respectively, is unaffected, whereby a sharply defined magnetic transition pattern is created within the magnetic recording layer of the workpiece to be patterned which essentially mimics the topographical pattern of projections and depressions of the imprinting surface. According to the invention, high Bsat and high μ materials are preferred for use as the stamper/imprinter in order to: (1) avoid early magnetic saturation of the stamper/imprinter at the contact points between the projections of the imprinting surface and the magnetic recording layer, and (2) provide an easy path for the magnetic flux lines which enter and/or exit at the side edges of the projections.
Another process which has been recently studied and developed as a low cost alternative technique for fine dimension pattern/feature formation in a substrate surface is thermal imprint lithography. A typical thermal imprint lithographic process for forming nano-dimensioned patterns/features in a substrate surface is illustrated with reference to the schematic, cross-sectional views of FIGS. 4(A)–4(D).
Referring to FIG. 4(A), shown therein is a stamper/imprinter 10 including a main (or support) body 12 having upper and lower opposed surfaces, with an imprinting layer 14 formed on the lower opposed surface. As illustrated, stamper/imprinter 14 includes a plurality of features 16 having a desired shape or surface contour. A workpiece 18 carrying a thin film layer 20 on an upper surface thereof is positioned below, and in facing relation to the molding layer 14. Thin film layer 20, e.g., of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), may be formed on the substrate/workpiece surface by any appropriate technique, e.g., spin coating.
Adverting to FIG. 4(B), shown therein is a compressive molding step, wherein stamper/imprinter 10 is pressed into the thin film layer 20 in the direction shown by arrow 22, so as to form depressed, i.e., compressed, regions 24. In the illustrated embodiment, features 16 of the imprinting layer 14 are not pressed all of the way into the thin film layer 20 and thus do not contact the surface of the underlying substrate 18. However, the top surface portions 24a of thin film 20 may contact depressed surface portions 16a of imprinting layer 14. As a consequence, the top surface portions 24a substantially conform to the shape of the depressed surface portions 16a, for example, flat. When contact between the depressed surface portions 16a of imprinting layer 14 and thin film layer 20 occurs, further movement of the imprinting layer 14 into the thin film layer 20 stops, due to the sudden increase in contact area, leading to a decrease in compressive pressure when the compressive force is constant.
FIG. 4(C) shows the cross-sectional surface contour of the thin film layer 20 following removal of stamper/imprinter 10. The imprinted thin film layer 20 includes a plurality of recesses formed at compressed regions 24 which generally conform to the shape or surface contour of features 16 of the molding layer 14. Referring to FIG. 4(D), in a next step, the surface-imprinted workpiece is subjected to processing to remove the compressed portions 24 of thin film 20 to selectively expose portions 28 of the underlying substrate 18 separated by raised features 26. Selective removal of the compressed portions 24 may be accomplished by any appropriate process, e.g., reactive ion etching (RIE) or wet chemical etching.
The above-described imprint lithographic processing is capable of providing sub-micron-dimensioned features, as by utilizing a stamper/imprinter 10 provided with patterned features 16 comprising pillars, holes, trenches, etc., by means of e-beam lithography, RIE, or other appropriate patterning method. Typical depths of features 16 range from about 5 to about 200 nm, depending upon the desired lateral dimension. The material of the imprinting layer 14 is typically selected to be hard relative to the thin film layer 20, the latter comprising a thermoplastic material which is softened when heated. Thus, suitable materials for use as the imprinting layer 14 include metals, dielectrics, semiconductors, ceramics, and composite materials. Suitable materials for use as thin film layer 20 include thermoplastic polymers which can be heated to above their glass temperature, Tg, such that the material exhibits low viscosity and enhanced flow.
Referring now to FIG. 5, schematically illustrated therein, in simplified cross-sectional view, is a sequence of processing steps for performing nano-imprint lithography of a metal-based workpiece, e.g., a disk-shaped substrate for a hard disk recording medium, utilizing a stamper/imprinter with a lubricated imprinting surface, as disclosed in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/946,939, filed Sep. 6, 2001, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In a preliminary step according to the method, a thin film of a thermoplastic polymer, e.g., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), is spin-coated on the substrate surface. In another preliminary step, a stamper/imprinter, e.g., formed of Ni, having an imprinting surface with a negative image of servo pattern features having a lateral dimension of about 600 nm and a height of 170 nm is fabricated by conventional optical lithographic patterning/etching techniques and provided with a thin layer of an anti-sticking or release agent. In the next steps according to the disclosed invention, the system of substrate/workpiece and Ni-based stamper/imprinter is heated to above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the PMMA, i.e., above about 105° C., and the negative image of the desired pattern on the imprinting surface of the stamper/imprinter is embossed into the surface of the thermoplastic PMMA layer at a pressure of about 10 MPa. The stamper/imprinter is then maintained in contact with the PMMA layer and under pressure until the system cools down to about 70° C., and then removed from the substrate/workpiece to leave replicated features of the imprinting surface in the surface of the PMMA layer. Subsequent processing of the imprinted substrate/workpiece involves selective removal of substrate material utilizing the imprinted layer of thermoplastic material as a pattern defining (etching) mask, followed by removal of the imprinted layer of thermoplastic material.
Still another process which has been recently studied and developed as a low cost alternative technique for fine dimension pattern/feature formation in a substrate surface is imprinting of a sol-gel layer on a substrate surface, as for example, disclosed in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/852,084, filed May 10, 2001, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
According to the process disclosed therein, problems attendant upon the use of very hard surfaced, high modulus materials, e.g., of glass, ceramics, or glass-ceramic composites, as substrates in the manufacture of hard disk recording media are addressed, and the invention is based upon the discovery that the surfaces of such materials may be modified, i.e., reduced in hardness, so as to facilitate formation of servo patterns therein, as by a simple and conveniently performed embossing process. According to the invention, modification (i.e., reduction) of surface hardness of high modulus substrates for use in the manufacture of thin film recording media is obtained by first forming a relatively soft sol-gel coating layer on the substrate surface, embossing the desired servo pattern in the exposed upper surface of the relatively soft sol-gel layer utilizing a stamper/imprinter with an appropriately patterned imprinting surface comprising a patterned plurality of depressions and protrusions having a negative image of the desired servo pattern, and then converting the embossed, relatively soft sol-gel layer to a relatively hard glass-like layer while retaining the embossed servo pattern therein. The thus-formed substrate with embossed servo pattern in the exposed surface thereof is then subjected to thin film deposition thereon for forming the layer stack constituting the magnetic recording medium. The inventive methodology advantageously provides servo-patterned recording media without requiring servo-writing subsequent to media fabrication.
Stampers/imprinters for use in a typical application, e.g., servo pattern formation in the recording layer of a disk-shaped, thin film, longitudinal or perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprise an imprinting surface having topographical features consisting of larger area data zones separated by smaller areas with well-defined patterns of projections and depressions corresponding to conventionally configured servo sectors, as for example, disclosed in the aforementioned commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,104. For example, a suitable topography for forming the servo sectors may comprise a plurality of projections having a height in the range from about 20 to about 500 nm, a width in the range from about 0.01 to about 1 μm, and a spacing of at least about 0.01 μm.
Stampers/imprinters suitable for use in performing the foregoing patterning processes may be manufactured by a sequence of steps as schematically illustrated in FIG. 6, which steps include providing a "master" comprised of a substantially rigid substrate with a patterned layer of a resist material thereon, the pattern comprising a plurality of projections and depressions corresponding (in positive or negative image form, as necessary) to the desired pattern to be formed in the surface of the stamper/imprinter. Stampers/imprinters are made from the "master" by initially forming a thin, conformal layer of an electrically conductive material over the patterned resist layer and then electroforming a substantially thicker ("blanket") metal layer on the thin layer of electrically conductive material, which electroformed blanket layer replicates the surface topography of the resist layer. Upon completion of the electroforming process, the stamper/imprinter is separated from the "master", which is then re-used for making additional stampers/imprinters.
As indicated above, processes for manufacturing stampers/imprinters for use in optical and magnetic disk pattern replication involve the transfer of a pattern in a resist layer, e.g., a rastered pattern, to the metal imprinting surface of a stamper/imprinter. However, separation of the stamper/imprinter from the mechanically fragile, patterned resist layer of the "master" frequently incurs damage to the resist surface, which damage disadvantageously results in the "master" being unusable for making additional stampers/imprinters. Thus, it is common practice to make a "family" of stampers/imprinters, i.e., wherein a first, or "father" stamper/imprinter is formed from the master and then used for making a "mother" stamper/imprinter, and then the "mother" stamper/imprinter is used for making at least one "son" stamper/imprinter. However, the additional replication steps involved in making the "family" of stampers/imprinters typically results in a loss of fidelity of the pattern which is to be replicated in the recording medium.
Another drawback/disadvantage associated with the use of a "master" comprising a patterned resist layer is that the depth of the pattern features formed in the resist layer is constrained, i.e., limited, by the process utilized for defining the pattern in the resist layer. More specifically, the thickness of the photoresist layer determines the maximum depth of the pattern features. Therefore, if deeper features are desired, resist thickness must be increased. However, such increase in resist thickness incurs a disadvantage in that an increased exposure dose is required for patterning therein, leading to an increase in the pattern recording time.
In view of the foregoing problems attendant upon the use of a conventional "master" with its mechanically fragile resist layer for pattern definition in the stamper/imprinters manufactured therefrom, there exists a need for means and methodology for manufacturing stampers/imprinters for recording media patterning which are free of the above-described problems, drawbacks, and disadvantages associated with the use of conventional "masters" for manufacture of stampers/imprinters for recording media patterning. Moreover, there exists a need for methodologies and instrumentalities which facilitate rapid, cost-effective patterning of various types of recording media, including, but not limited to, formation of servo patterns in magnetic and magneto-optical (MO) recording media.
The present invention addresses and solves the aforementioned problems, drawbacks, and disadvantages associated with the use of conventional "masters" for manufacture of stampers/imprinters for recording media patterning, while maintaining full compatibility with the requirements of automated manufacturing technology.

Utilizing permanent master for making stampers/imprinters for patterning of recording media


The semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor substrate, a first wiring layer, a second wiring layer, a second semiconductor substrate, a first conductive portion, and a second conductive portion. The first wiring layer includes a first electrode pad and a first inductor electrically connected with each other. The second wiring layer includes a second inductor and a second electrode pad electrically connected with each other. The first conductive portion is formed in the second semiconductor substrate, the second wiring layer, and the first wiring layer so as to reach the first electrode pad from the back surface of the second semiconductor substrate. The second conductive portion is formed in the second semiconductor substrate and the second wiring layer so as to reach the second electrode pad from the back surface of the second semiconductor substrate. The first inductor and the second inductor are disposed so as to face each other.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same.
Conventionally, a semiconductor device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-54800 has been known.
The semiconductor device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-54800 includes a first semiconductor chip and a second semiconductor chip. The first semiconductor chip has a first multilayer wiring layer. A first inductor is formed inside the first multilayer wiring layer. The second semiconductor chip has a second multilayer wiring layer. A second inductor is formed inside the second multilayer wiring layer.
The first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip are stacked so that the first multilayer wiring layer and the second multilayer wiring layer face each other. The first inductor and the second inductor are faced to each other in plan view.
The first semiconductor chip has a first non-facing region not facing the second semiconductor chip, and the second semiconductor chip has a second non-facing region not facing the first semiconductor chip. The first multilayer wiring layer has a first external connection terminal in the first non-facing region. The second multilayer wiring layer has a second external connection terminal in the second non-facing region.
In the semiconductor device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-54800, the first external connection terminal and the second connection terminal are electrically connected with the lead frame through wire bonding. Since the first external connection terminal and the second external connection terminal are oriented in opposite directions with each other, in the semiconductor device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-54800, a process for performing wire bonding is complicated.
Other objects and novel features will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same