An operation method of a non-volatile memory is provided. The operation method is that a reading operation is performed to a selected nitride-based memory cell, a first positive voltage is applied to a word line adjacent to one side of the selected memory cell and a second positive voltage is applied to another word line adjacent to the other side of the selected memory cell. The operation method of this present invention not only can reduce a coupling interference issue but also can obtain a wider operation window.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operation method for a memory structure, in particular, to an operation method for a non-volatile memory and a method for improving coupling interference of a nitride-based memory.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical non-volatile memory cell has a floating gate and a control gate made by doped polysilicon. The floating gate is disposed between the control gate and a substrate. And, the floating gate is in a floating state and is not electrically connected to any circuit. The floating gate is used to store charges, while the control gate is used to control a data writing/reading operation. The memory cell having the floating gate structure can be used as one bit/cell, single level cell (SLC) or multi-level cell (MLC) and made into a NAND-type array structure.
In addition to the aforementioned floating-gate-based memory cell, a nitride-based memory cell that uses silicon nitride to be a charge trapping layer as a replacement for the polysilicon floating gate has become another mainstream non-volatile memory cell. What makes the nitride-based memory cell more outstanding than the floating-gate-based memory cell is the fabrication process can be easily integrated and the nitride-based memory cell can store 2 bits of data or multi-bits of data. Furthermore, it is often expected that the nitride-based memory cell has no coupling interference issue. The coupling interference issue occurs when the distance between each two devices is too close, thereby resulting in a threshold voltage shift (Vt shift), which is the most important limitation when the aforementioned floating gate based memory cell is continuingly miniaturized.
However, the applicant of this present invention first disclosed that the nitride-based memory structure has similar issue to the aforementioned coupling interference issue. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between currents and voltages measured when performing a reading operation on two different sized memory cells and applying a negative bias voltage to word lines at two sides of the memory cell. In FIG. 1, —▪— represents the measurement results of the currents and the voltages according to a smaller sized memory cell D2; —●— represents the measurement results of the currents and the voltages according to a bigger sized memory cell D1; X axis represents a gate voltage (VG); and Y axis represents a read current. As shown in FIG. 1, after the size of the memory cell is miniaturized, which means a spacing between each two adjacent word lines is shorten, the read current is more prone to be impacted by the bias change of adjacent word lines.
Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are a top view of a bit line layout and a diagram illustrating a relationship between bit counts and Vt shift values for different word lines respectively. FIG. 2A illustrates 8 word lines WL0˜WL7 arranged in parallel, wherein the critical dimension of the word lines is 60 nm. In FIG. 2B, —∘— represents a voltage distribution curve as a whole, and —●—, —▴—, —▾— and —♦— are the voltage distribution curves for the word lines WL1, WL3, WL5 and WL7 respectively. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, when the bits of the word lines WL0, WL2, WL4 and WL6 are programmed to reach a "0" state, the Vt shift values of the adjacent word lines WL1, WL3, WL5 and WL7 increase.
It can be deduced from the experiment results provided by the applicant of the present invention that when miniaturizing the memory cell, if the distance between each two adjacent word lines is too close, it results in the coupling interference issue of the nitride-based memory cell. Moreover, it is known from FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B that the Vt shift values of the word lines, WL1, WL3 and WL5 which have interference from two sides are bigger; while the Vt shift value of the word line WL7 which has interference from one side is smaller.
In addition, referring to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are Vt distribution diagrams for the nitride-based memory cell without consideration of the coupling interference issue and in consideration of the coupling interference issue respectively. As shown in FIG. 3A, numeral 310 represents the Vt distribution curve when the data storage state is "1"; numeral 320 represents the Vt distribution curve when the data storage state is "0"; and an operation window W1 represents the difference between two different data storage states. As shown in FIG. 3B, the coupling interference issue makes the Vt where the data storage state is "1" shift to be a curve marked as numeral 312, and makes the Vt where the data storage state is "0" shift to be another curve marked as numeral 322. At this moment, if comparing an operation window W2 with the operation window W1, W2 is relatively narrower than W1. In light of the above, when defining the operation windows, the coupling interference issue will have different influences to different data storage states of the nitride-based memory.
As discovered by the applicant of the present invention, the coupling interference issue exists in the nitride-based memory, and thereby the Vt of the memory cell is increased and it makes the operation window narrower; therefore, the applicant of the present invention looks for methods to improve the problem, so that the technique development of the non-volatile memory cells can advance forward.

Operation method of non-volatile memory and method of improving coupling interference from nitride-based memory


A client information handling system (IHS) connects to a network in a manner that provides transparent network connectivity. In one embodiment, the client IHS includes a polling application that monitors the network connection to determine if the client IHS exhibits a connected status or a disconnected status. An interceptor application in the client IHS permits transmission of a request for a network task from the client IHS if the client IHS currently exhibits a connected status. However, the interceptor application intercepts and stores a request for a network task if the client IHS currently exhibits a disconnected status. At a later time when the client IHS again exhibits a connected status, the interceptor application transmits the stored request over the network. In this manner, the user of the client IHS experiences transparent network connectivity and need not worry with respect to the network connection status of the client IHS at any particular point in time.

In both the modern office and home environments, it is common to connect a client information handling system (client IHS) to a host or server via a network therebetween. Unfortunately, the network that connects the client IHS to the server may experience occasional service outages that effectively disconnect the client IHS from the network. This of course interrupts any communication that the client IHS may conduct with the server.
Currently, it is typically the user's responsibility to be aware of whether the client IHS has an active network connection or an inactive network connection. In other words, it's up to the user to determine if the network is available to perform a network related task. If the network is not available, then generally the network related task is not performable at that time. Some software applications attempt to address this problem. For example, some client email programs may maintain a local replica of a mail database on the client IHS. When the user composes an email message and selects "send", the email message remains in a local replica database in the client IHS until a network connection is available. If the client IHS currently has an active network connection, then the client IHS immediately sends the email message over the network to the mail server. However, if the client IHS does not currently have an active network connection, such as during a mail server outage, then the client IHS saves the message in its database and sends the message once the network connection again becomes available. While this approach is helpful, unfortunately it only solves the problem if the particular software application in use includes this feature.
What is needed is a method and apparatus that relieves the user of the burden of determining when a client IHS has a network connection to perform network related tasks.

Method and apparatus for providing transparent network connectivity

International Business Machines Corporation


The present utility model relates to submersible motor and its protector. A shared assembling base is provided to support and fix one end of the housing of the submersible motor and protector, the submersible motor has a main shaft to connect through the protector. The end of the assembling base connecting with the protector has a thrust bearing to support the motor shaft and form a thrust bearing chamber with the seal base of the protector, the shared assembling base has a cooling oil connecting passage, the isolation chamber where the bag is put in is formed between the seal base and assembly head base of the protector, a mechanical seal outside the assembly head base is provided for acting on the main shaft.

The existing low power submersible motor and protector with power range 3.1 KW-6.2 KW which conforms to the National Standard of GB/T16750.1˜16750.3-1997 is designed with separate structure to be convenient for machining and transportation due to the complicated structure and overlength of the protector and the motor shaft and protector shaft are connected by a coupling while being used. The protector and submersible motor with separate structure also make the different component structure complicated, that is, the submersible motor must have a assembly head base next to the protector, a trust bearing must be set outside of assembly head base to support the shaft and release the axial force; The protector must have an assembly base next to the motor and a seal seat and a center support seat must be set between the assembly head base and assembly base, a thrust bearing must be set on the center support seat to support the transmission shaft and release the axial force, and a mechanical seal which resists sand, impurity and well fluid must independently be set outside of the assembly base and side of the center support seat. As a result of the above the protector is divided into three chambers by the different functional bases. The installation and downhole operating has some difficulty after the transmission shaft of the above protector with complicated structure connects with the main shaft of motor.
Inventive Content
The present utility model relates to low power oil filled submersible motor and its protector with easy installation and operating, which is designed for resolving the technology problem that it's difficult for the above said submersible motor and protector with separate structure to install and operate.
The present utility model uses the following technology: one end of the shared assembling base supports and fixes the motor housing and another end supports and fixes the protector housing, the submersible motor has a main shaft to connect through the protector, the end of the assembling base connecting with the protector has a thrust bearing to support the motor shaft and form a thrust bearing chamber with the seal base of protector, the shared assembling base has a connecting passage for cooling oil to connect the inner chamber of the motor with the chamber of the thrust bearing of the protector the isolation chamber where the bag is put in is formed between the seal base and assembly head base of the protector, a mechanical seal is provided outside the assembly head base for acting on the transmission shaft.
The present utility model also may use the following technical measures:
The housing of the said protector is supported by the shared assembling base and seal base of the protector, the housing is connected with the related base by thread.
The said shared assembling base is connected with the motor housing by an inner end plate at the housing end, the shared assembling base has the bolts to connect with the screw holes on the inner end plate.
The technical effect and advantages of this utility model are: This structure makes the different component parts simplified reasonably, comparing with the separate structure, the submersible motor part omits the thrust bearing, the protector part omits the center support base and the mechanical seal of its side, which makes this combined protector become two chambers structure and make the total length of the protector shortened obviously. The shared assembling base of this combined structure replaces the submersible motor assembly head base and protector assembly base of the separate structure so that the submersible motor and protector become a integrative body by rigid connecting, it's very convenient for transportation and downhole installation and operating. Testing shows that not only every technical criteria of this combined structure conforms to the national standard of GB/T16750.1˜16750.3-1997 but also the total length is shortened obviously, taking the product with 60 HZ, 7.5 HP as example, the total length of this combined structure is only 1331 mm and which is 1500 mm shorter than the total length of former separate structure. This utility model has the obvious advantage of simple structure, small body, low cost and easy transportation and operating.

Combined low power oil filled submersible motor and its protector


A flexible battery a first electrode layer, a first current collector layer disposed on the first electrode layer, where a plurality of through-holes is defined in the first current collector layer, a separator disposed on the first current collector layer, a second current collector layer disposed on the separator, where a plurality of through-holes is defined in the second current collector layer, and a second electrode layer disposed on the second current collector layer.

1. Field
The invention relates to secondary batteries, and in particular, to flexible secondary batteries.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recent development of electronic technology has led to rapid expansion of markets for various electronic devices, such as smartphones, smart pads, electronic books, watch-shaped telephones and mobile medical devices, which may be bonded to the human body, in addition to mobile phones, game players, portable multimedia players ("PMP"s) and MPEG audio layer-3 ("MP3") players. Due to the growth of the markets for such mobile electronic devices, a demand for batteries that are suitable for driving the mobile electronic devices is increasing.
In particular, for convenience during use of mobile electronic devices, a demand for flexibility of a battery is gradually increasing. Also, for ease of installation of a battery in a limited space of the mobile electronic devices, a required flexibility level of a battery is further increasing.
If a battery that is not sufficiently flexible is bent, a stress may be focused on, for example, an interface of a separator and electrode active material layers of two electrodes, an inner interface of an electrode active material layer, or an interface of an electrode active material layer and a current collector, thereby causing peeling. This may negatively affect performance and lifespan of the battery.
A typical and commercially available lithium ion secondary battery may have a structure of current collector-positive active material layer-separator-negative active material layer-current collector. If a battery having such a structure is repeatedly deformed, relative positions of reacting electrodes or an interval between electrodes may be changed, thereby leading to an unstable electrochemical reaction that may cause a decrease in performance of a battery, and more seriously, a short.


A method for operating an internal combustion engine enables an improved determination of a preferred position of a shaft of the internal combustion engine. The preferred position of the shaft is derived here on the basis of a signal characterizing a course of combustion of the internal combustion engine as a function of a phase relation determined between this signal and the preferred position of the shaft.

Methods for operating an internal combustion engine are known, in which a preferred position of a shaft of the internal combustion engine is determined. For example, providing an inductive sensor for internal combustion engines, which scans the teeth on the starter gear rim and determines a rotational speed value therefrom, is known from European Patent No. EP 0 661 433. Furthermore, the top dead center of at least one cylinder is marked by a marker. For this purpose, one tooth is omitted or a tooth is marked accordingly.

Method for operating an internal combustion engine


A reversible drive system is provided that is particularly adaptable to low-power drives in which precision mechanical control must be obtained with the lowest possible cost and the highest reliability. The drive is described as incorporated in a lead screw drive in which a control nut reciprocates between two fixed positions. At the end of the movement in one direction, the control nut strikes a fixed abutment that stops the motion thereby increasing the load on the drive motor and causing an increase in the current drawn by the motor. This increase in current is utilized to disconnect the power source from the motor. In such systems, in particular where there is a large reduction in the speed between the motor and the driven object, as with the use of a lead screw drive arrangement, it is desirable to store energy at the end of each stroke that is available to decrease the starting torque required to reverse the direction of motion. To provide additional starting torque, the motor coupling includes a lost-motion coupling by which no significant load is placed on the motor until the output shaft of the motor, or an element driven by the motor, has moved through some fraction of a revolution. For most applications a lost-motion arrangement equivalent to about one hundred eighty degrees of motion is practical.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to motor drive systems and in particular to reversible motor drives in which the travel of the drive mechanism is limited by mechanical blockage.
2. Description of Related Art
In many different types of small devices it is necessary to limit the travel of a particular mechanical movement and to then reverse the direction of travel. It is usual to interrupt the travel at the desired point by use of some device for sensing when the moving structure has reached some predetermined position. For example, a mechanical switch, a photodetector or other sensing device may be used to control the drive system. In many low-power drives, however, where cost and space are important considerations, it is advantageous to merely stop the motor by mechanical means and then to remove or reverse the current to the motor by responding to the lack of motion or the typical increase in the current drawn by the electric motor. Such a system may utilize a slip clutch in series with the motor, as described in the above-mentioned application Ser. No. 07/727,647, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,260. In most instances, however, the use of mechanical stop means has been avoided by the use of more expensive sensor mechanisms. One reason for using such sensors is because of the tendency of such drive systems to "freeze" at the end of the mechanical stroke, particularly in drives having a substantial speed reduction, into a condition where the typical low-power inexpensive motor does not generate sufficient starting torque to initiate the drive in the opposite direction.


A nucleic acid molecule comprising a variant inc coding strand is disclosed as a regulator of plasmid copy number. Also disclosed is a replicon comprising the nucleic acid molecule, a promoter, and an origin of replication. Also disclosed is a vector comprising the replicon. Also disclosed is a recombinant microorganism comprising the vector.

Plasmids play an important role in biotechnology, providing a means for introducing, modifying, and removing target genes from microorganisms, and for producing corresponding proteins encoded by the target genes. Plasmids are nucleic acid molecules that occur naturally in a diverse range of microorganisms of the domains Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota, that are physically separate from chromosomes of the microorganisms in which they occur, and that replicate independently of the chromosomes. Plasmids are typically double-stranded circular DNA molecules, but can also be linear DNA molecules and/or RNA molecules. Plasmids occur in a range of sizes, from about 1 kb to more than 2 Mb. For example, according to a recent review article of Shintani et al., Frontiers in Microbiology 6:242 (2015), wide variations of size were observed among 4602 plasmids found in the GenBank database, with the plasmids ranging in size from 744 bp to 2.58 Mb, and having an average size of 80 kb. Plasmids also occur in a range of copies per cell. For example, plasmids are generally characterized as low copy, e.g. 1-20 copies per cell, medium copy, e.g. 20-100 copies per cell, or high copy, e.g. 500-700 copies or more per cell. Plasmids can be modified to include target genes.
A challenge associated with using plasmids in biotechnology is that biotechnological applications generally require stable incorporation of target genes in microorganisms and careful control of yield of the target genes and their corresponding protein products during cultivation, but efforts to accomplish one can work against accomplishing the other. During cultivation of a microorganism including a plasmid with a target gene, it is generally advantageous to have the plasmid segregate stably as cells of the microorganism grow and divide, so that a high percentage of cells of the microorganism will include the target gene throughout the cultivation. It also is generally advantageous to have the target gene remain structurally stable, maintaining a constant nucleotide sequence, to ensure production of only intended products. It also is generally advantageous to express a target gene at a level that is sufficiently high to achieve a desired result, e.g. production of a corresponding protein product in sufficient quantities and in an active form. Unfortunately, techniques for replicating plasmids and expressing target genes from the plasmids, particularly at high levels, exert metabolic burdens on cells. This can lead to plasmids being lost from cells and/or mutations changing expression levels or identity of target genes. This also can lead to aggregation and inactivity of corresponding protein products. Thus, balancing stable incorporation and control of yield during use of plasmids in biotechnical applications is generally an empirical process, involving trial and error.
Plasmid copy number is an important consideration regarding both stable incorporation and control of yield. The copy number of a plasmid is generally determined by three factors, the origin of replication of the plasmid, the size of the plasmid, including target genes included therein, and cultivation conditions. Regarding origins of replication, plasmids can be classified in incompatibility groups based on features of their replication, particularly their origins of replication. Specifically, a plasmid generally includes a replicon, corresponding to a region of the plasmid that replicates from a single origin of replication. A plasmid also generally includes genes that encode proteins that recognize the origin of replication of the plasmid and initiate replication there. Interactions between the proteins of the plasmid and the origin of replication determine specificity of replication and copy number of the replicon, and thus of the plasmid. Plasmids that have identical origins of replication are classified within the same incompatibility group, based on the plasmids being incompatible with each other regarding segregational stability. Plasmids that have different origins of replication may be classified within different incompatibility groups, if the plasmids are compatible with each other. Regarding size of the plasmid, increasing size generally leads to an increasing metabolic burden associated with replication of the plasmid and expression of target genes from the plasmid, and thus to a decrease in copy number of the plasmid. Regarding cultivation conditions, these also affect metabolic burden, and depending on specific conditions, can result in an increase or decrease in copy number.
Of the three factors, the origin of replication is generally the primary consideration in choosing a plasmid for a particular application, because the origin of replication establishes a base line for copy number. Unfortunately, no general approaches exist for predictably changing the base line for copy number of a plasmid by modifying the origin of replication of the plasmid. Determining whether and to what extent a particular origin of replication could be modified to change copy number also would be an empirical process.
RepFIC is an exemplary replicon. As described by Saadi et al., Journal of Bacteriology 169:1836-1846 (1987), RepFIC is a replicon of IncFI plasmids. RepFIC is present in complete form in plasmid P307. RepFIC also is present in truncated form in plasmid F. RepFIC encodes an RNA, termed inc RNA. The inc RNA of RepFIC determines incompatibility of the RepFIC replicon based on its sequence and structure.
The RNA sequence of inc RNA has been inferred from the DNA sequence of the RepFIC replicon. The inferred sequence of inc RNA of RepFIC varies depending on the source of the RepFIC replicon. The inferred sequence also varies depending on the 5′ end and the 3′ end predicted for the inc RNA.
For example, the inc RNA of RepFIC of plasmid P307 is encoded by a DNA coding strand corresponding to the reverse complement of nucleotides 575 to 665 of a portion of the RepFIC replicon, as disclosed by Saadi et al. This coding strand corresponds to a sequence of 91 nucleotides as provided within SEQ ID NO: 23, specifically nucleotides 8-98 of SEQ ID NO: 23. Also according to Saadi et al., the inc RNA of RepFIC of plasmid F is encoded by a DNA coding strand that differs from that of the inc RNA of RepFIC of plasmid P307 by substitutions of two bases. This coding strand corresponds to a sequence of 91 nucleotides as provided within SEQ ID NO: 21, specifically nucleotides 8-98 of SEQ ID NO: 21. Also for example, according to GenBank, the inc RNA of RepFIC of Escherichia coli strain K-12 is encoded by a DNA coding strand corresponding to the reverse complement of GenBank Accession AP001918.1, location 3747 to 3839. This coding strand corresponds to a sequence of 93 nucleotides as provided within SEQ ID NO: 21, specifically nucleotides 1-93 of SEQ ID NO: 21. Also according to GenBank, a non-coding RNA sequence of E. coli strain to1C, termed copA, which corresponds to inc RNA, is encoded by a DNA coding strand corresponding to GenBank Accession CP018801.1, location U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,463,977 to 3,464,067. This coding strand corresponds to a sequence of 91 nucleotides as provided in SEQ ID NO: 21, specifically nucleotides 8-98 of SEQ ID NO: 21. Also according to GenBank, a sequence of E. coli strain NCM3722 F-like plasmid, which apparently corresponds to inc RNA, is encoded by a DNA coding strand corresponding to the reverse complement of GenBank Accession CP011496.1, location 37765 to 37862. This coding strand corresponds to a sequence of 98 nucleotides as provided in SEQ ID NO: 19.
The inc RNA of RepFIC is predicted to have a stem-loop structure. According to Saadi et al., this structure is believed to be critical for function of the inc RNA.
According to Saadi et al., the inc RNA of RepFIC differs from inc RNA of another replicon, RepFIIA, by nine base pairs. Based on this difference, the RepFIC replicon and the RepFIIA replicons are compatible. In contrast, as noted, also according to Saadi et al., the inc RNA sequence of plasmid F differs from the inc RNA sequence of plasmid P307 by two bases. According to Saadi et al., this difference has no demonstrable effect on incompatibility, meaning that a plasmid expressing the inc RNA sequence of plasmid F would be incompatible with a plasmid expressing the inc RNA sequence of plasmid P307.
Saadi is silent regarding copy number of plasmids including the RepFIC replicon. Saadi also is silent regarding use of such plasmids for biotechnological applications.
Use of mutant RNA polymerases is another potential approach to alter the copy number of a plasmid. RNA polymerase plays a role in transcription. RNA polymerase also plays a role in replication of chromosomes and plasmids. RNA polymerase sequences have been determined in many bacteria, providing a basis for identifying conserved regions within RNA polymerases. For example, Lee et al., Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 57:56-65 (2013), provides an alignment of a C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase β′ subunits from 21 strains. Structures of bacterial RNA polymerases also have been determined. For example, Mukhopadhyay et al., Cell 135:295-307 (2008), reports that structures reveal that RNA polymerases have dimensions of ˜150 angstromsט100 angstromsט100 angstroms and a shape reminiscent of a crab claw. The RNA polymerase β′ subunit makes up a pincer, termed a "clamp," and part of an active center cleft.
Two mutations in the rpoC gene of E. coli, which encodes the RNA polymerase β′ subunit, have been reported to cause a decrease in copy number of ColE1-type plasmids. Specifically, Ederth et al., Molecular Genetics and Genomics 267:587-592 (2002), identified a single amino acid substitution (G1161R) and a 41-amino acid deletion. Both are located near the 3′-terminal region of the rpoC gene. The two mutations cause over 10-fold and 20-fold reductions in copy numbers of ColE1 plasmids, respectively (presumably corresponding to decreases of over 90% and 95%, respectively). Ederth et al. proposed that altered expression from promoters for RNA II and RNA I, which encode a preprimer for DNA polymerase I and an antisense inhibitor of the preprimer, may cause the decrease.
A mutation in rpoC also has been reported to cause an increase in copy number of plasmid pBR322. Specifically, Petersen et al., Journal of Bacteriology 173:5200-5206 (1991), identified a single amino acid substitution (G1033D), which also is located near the 3′-terminal region of the rpoC gene, that causes an increase in copy number of pBR322 at a semi-permissive growth temperature of 39° C. Petersen notes that mutation also causes an increase in chromosomal copy number.
Unfortunately, no general approaches exist for predictably modifying RNA polymerase β′ subunit to obtain further mutants that change copy number of a plasmid. Determining whether and to what extent a particular mutation may alter copy number of a plasmid also would be an empirical process. Also, no general approaches exist for predictably modifying RNA polymerase β′ subunit to obtain such mutants that would not cause a corresponding change in chromosomal copy number.
As noted above, plasmid copy number tends to be an important consideration regarding balancing stable incorporation and control of yield during use of plasmids in biotechnical applications, but no general approaches exist for predictably changing the base line for copy number of a plasmid by modifying the origin of replication of the plasmid. Accordingly, a need exists for origins of replication that are modified to change the base line for copy number of plasmids including the modified origins of replication. A need also exists for further mutants of RNA polymerase β′ subunit that are modified to change copy number of plasmids, ideally without causing a corresponding change in chromosomal copy number.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nucleic acid molecules comprising a variant inc coding strand


A domain (101) has a primary e-mail server (103) with an e-mail delivery address (109), and at least one backup e-mail server (105) with an e-mail delivery address (111). A trap manager (115) adds at least one trap e-mail delivery address (113) to an e-mail delivery address list (107) associated with the domain (101), the trap e-mail delivery address (113) resembling a backup e-mail server delivery address (111) and pointing to the trap manager (115). The trap manager (115) receives (201) e-mail sent to the trap address (113), and determines whether received e-mail comprises spam (119).

Spam e-mail is a significant and growing nuisance. As used herein, "spam" is any unsolicited e-mail, i.e. email that is sent to a computer user without the user's consent.
When legitimate e-mail is sent to a given domain, the originating e-mail system sends the e-mail to the primary e-mail server for that domain. The domain can also have at least one backup e-mail server. A backup e-mail server should receive e-mail only when the primary e-mail server is unreachable by an e-mail sender. Some senders of spam have realized that backup e-mail servers are sometimes not as well secured as primary e-mail servers. Whereas a primary e-mail server might have a filter or other mechanism installed to detect incoming spam, backup servers are sometimes more vulnerable. Additionally, primary e-mail servers are sometimes configured to accept all incoming e-mail originating from one of their backup e-mail servers. Thus, backup e-mail servers are viewed as a good target by many senders of spam, who often send their spam directly to a backup e-mail server in an attempt to bypass the security of the primary e-mail server. What is needed are methods, computer readable media and systems to detect such attempts.

Detecting spam e-mail with backup e-mail server traps


An electric storage device includes: an external terminal having an exposed face exposed outside from an outer covering; a current collector disposed inside the outer covering and connected to the external terminal; and an electrode assembly disposed inside the outer covering and connected to the current collector. The electrode assembly is formed by winding sheet-shaped positive electrode and negative electrode into a flat shape with a separator interposed therebetween and housed in the outer covering so that curved portions obtained by the winding are positioned on a lid body side and a bottom face side. A lid body has an electrolyte solution filling portion that opens to a clearance formed between the curved portion of the electrode assembly and the outer covering.

Conventionally, there is a sealed battery, disclosed as a battery that is an example of an electric storage device, in which, when a meeting portion between a periphery of a lid body and an opening portion of a battery is sealed, the meeting portion is partially unsealed to form a clearance portion and the clearance portion is sealed after filling electrolyte solution through the clearance portion (see Patent Document 1).


In a fuel cell assembly (100, 200), a diffusion layer (113, 114, 201) comprises an electroconductive film (133, 133a, 133b) formed integrally with a separator (115, 116, 115a) so as to form a unitary separator-diffusion layer assembly (130, 131, 130a, 203). The electroconductive film of the diffusion layer can be formed on the separator by a process comprising physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, spin coating, sputtering or screen printing.

A fuel cell comprises an electrolyte layer and a pair of catalyst carrying electrodes (referred to as catalyst electrode layers) placed on either side of the electrolyte layer, and generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction between fuel fluid such as hydrogen or alcohol and oxidizing fluid such as oxygen or air, which are supplied to the corresponding catalyst electrode layers, with the aid of the catalyst.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional embodiment of a fuel cell assembly. As shown, this fuel cell assembly 1 comprises an electrolyte layer 10, a pair of catalyst electrode layers 11, 12 disposed on either side of the electrolyte layer 10, a pair of diffusion layers 13, 14 disposed on either outer side of the catalyst electrode layers 11, 12, and a pair of separators (or flow distribution plates) 15, 16 disposed on either outer side of the diffusion layers 13, 14. The separators 15, 16 can be formed by etching a silicon substrate, for example, and formed with channels (or recesses) 20 for defining a flow passage for a fuel fluid (e.g., hydrogen gas) or an oxidizing fluid (e.g., oxygen gas) in their surface facing the diffusion layers 13, 14. The diffusion layers 13, 14 are provided to diffuse the fluids evenly over the electrolyte layer 10 as well as to contact the catalyst electrode layers 11, 12 to thereby transmit electric potential of the electrode layers 11, 12 to outside, and typically formed of an electroconductive porous material such as a carbon paper or a carbon cloth. When the separators 15, 16 are made of an electroconductive material or an insulating or high-resistance material covered with an electroconductive film, external electrodes may be attached to the separators 15, 16. Further, in order to prevent undesirable leakage of the fluids, seal members 17, 18 are disposed between the electrolyte layer 10 and the separators 15, 16 so as to surround the diffusion layers 13, 14.
The fuel cell assembly 1 is formed by stacking these component parts and applying a tightening force on them in the stacking direction so that the adjacent component parts are closely pressed to each other. For this purpose, a pair of backing plates 21, 22 are provided on either outer side of the separators 15, 16, a plurality of rods 23 extend through the backing plates 21, 22, and nuts 24 are engaged with threaded ends of the rods 23 so that the rotation of the nuts 24 can produce the pressure in the stacking direction. A required tightening pressure can be varied for different combinations of component parts to be pressed together. However, it should be noted that because the diffusion layers 13, 14 made of a carbon paper/cloth or the like have a rough surface, a particularly large contact pressure is needed between the diffusion layers 13, 14 and the separators 15, 16 in order to prevent the fluids from leaking as they pass through the diffusion layers 13, 14. Also, when the separators 15, 16 are formed of an electroconductive material such as a metal or the surface of the separators 15, 16 is covered with an electroconductive film to thereby allow the voltage of the diffusion layers 13, 14 to be transmitted to outside through the separators 15, 16, it is required to make the diffusion layers 13, 14 and the separators 15, 16 contact each other with a large pressure in order to reduce the contact resistance therebetween.
However, in order for the diffusion layers 13, 14 and the separators 15, 16 to stand the large pressure, they need to have a high mechanical strength, which could lead to a larger component size and/or higher manufacturing cost. Further, in the above structure, the tightening force applied to the separators 15, 16 and the diffusion layers 13, 14 is also imposed on other component parts which may not require such a large tightening pressure, and therefore these component parts also need to have a high mechanical strength. The large tightening force also tends to necessitate a bulky tightening structure (i.e., backing plates 21, rods 23 and nuts 24). These factors can undesirably increase the weight, volume and manufacturing cost of the fuel cell assembly 1.
The electrolyte of the electrolyte layer 10 may consist of a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE). However, the SPE can function as an ion conducting membrane only when impregnated with water, and the SPE when impregnated with water significantly increases its volume. The volume of the SPE can also change depending on the temperature. Such volume increase of the SPE can generate stress inside the fuel cell assembly 1. Therefore, when the externally applied tightening force is large, the pressure applied to the component parts may become excessively high, which can cause a problem such as breaking the seal members 17, 18. Controlling the pressure at a constant level would result in an undesirably complicated operation.
Generally, in the fuel cell assembly 1, it is preferable that the diffusion layers 13, 14 have high electric conductivity to effectively conduct the potential of the catalyst electrode layers 11, 12 to outside. Also, a smaller surface roughness of the diffusion layers 13, 14 is preferred to lower the contact resistance between them and the adjoining component parts (e.g., catalyst electrode layers 11, 12 or separators 15, 16). Further, so long as a favorable diffusion capacity is achieved, thinner diffusion layers 13, 14 are preferred to achieve a smaller (thinner) fuel cell assembly 1. However, in the conventional diffusion layers 13, 14 made of a carbon paper or carbon cloth, there has been a limit to the increase in the conductivity as well as reduction in the thickness and surface roughness.

Fuel cell assembly, separator-diffusion layer assembly for fuel cell assembly and manufacturing method therefor


Apparatus and a method for utilizing a memory bus write buffer to blend up-to-date data stored in a processor cache and being written back to memory with data in the write buffer being written to the same memory address by a bus master in order to maintain data coherency. The circuitry also utilizes the memory bus write buffer to write valid data furnished in a bus master write over up-to-date data in the write buffer being written to the same memory address from a processor cache in order to maintain data coherency. Combining the data from the two sources prior to writing it to memory eliminates at least one write operation by the write controller along with any associated ECC value generation, may eliminate a number of read/modify/write back operations with any associated ECC value generations, and can double the effective depth of the buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to personal computer systems and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for blending write back data from a central processing unit cache with increments of data being written to memory by a bus master in order to maintain data coherency.
2. History of the Prior Art
In order to increase the speed of operation of personal computer systems, the operational speed of central processing units has constantly been increased.
Increasing the processor clock speed is one manner by which the speed of processors is increased. State of the art processors typically run at a faster clock speed than do other components of the computer.
When the clock speed of a central processing unit is increased, the processor conducts its operations more rapidly than do other parts of a personal computer system. For example, a fast central processing unit writes to main memory much more rapidly than main memory can store the data written because memory cannot be accessed constantly at the rate of processor writes. Because of this, many prior art systems utilize write buffers on the memory bus between the central processing unit and main memory. Such a write buffer stores data at the rate at which a processor is writing to main memory while the data is not transferred to main memory until main memory is ready to accept the data. Write buffers are particularly advantageous when used with processors and other circuitry which have been designed to transfer data in bursts. Burst transfers are fast because a processor transfers a number of increments of data to be written on a memory bus or a local bus during a single bus access using only a single set of control signals. Transferring a plurality of increments of data to a write buffer allows the processor to pursue other operations using data and instructions in its caches without having to wait for the slower memory operations to complete. In this manner, the processor may be kept running at higher speeds.
Similar write buffers are now utilized in a number of computer systems for buffering data being transferred to main memory from a bus master positioned on a local bus.
Another manner in which the speed at which processors, and thus computer systems, function is increased is by the use of processor caches. A processor cache stores data and commands which have been recently used by the processor so that this information is more rapidly available to the processor than it is in main memory. In a typical system, when the processor accesses a memory address, the addressed information read from memory is sent both to the processor and to the processor cache; the information sent to the cache often includes additional information surrounding the addressed information sufficient to fill an entire cache line. The information is stored in the cache with its memory address where it is available for later use. A processor cache may be accessed in a fraction of the time required for memory access. Since software processes tend to use the same data and commands repeatedly, the information is much more likely to be accessed in the cache than in memory. The use of processor caches greatly speeds the operation of the processor.
Computer systems utilizing processors such as the i486 and Pentium manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., utilize a relatively small high speed primary cache (called an L1 cache) which is a part of the circuitry of the processor chip and provide control circuitry for joining a larger off-chip secondary cache (called an L2 cache) to assist the primary cache.
One problem systems using processor caches have is in maintaining the coherency of data so that any data used is up to date whether it is accessed from in a cache or in main memory. In systems using processor caches, when a processor writes data to a memory address, that data is immediately sent to the primary processor cache. With processor caches which function on what is termed a "write through" basis, the data sent to the cache is also immediately written back to memory. In this manner, the same data exists in both the cache and main memory; and coherency problems do not arise. However, the need for each write to be transferred immediately to memory places a substantial load on the memory bus (as well as on other parts of the system) and may slow the operation of the system.
When a processor writes data to memory in a system using a cache which functions on what is termed a "write back" basis to maintain coherency of the data in the cache and memory, the data written immediately by the processor to the primary processor cache is written back to memory only when the data is actually needed. For example, a cache may need to write data back to memory only when the cache is flushed, when a valid cache line is deallocated to provide space for a line of new data in the cache, or when the only valid copy of data is in the processor cache and another processor wants to use, or partially overwrite, that data. In each of these cases, the only valid copy of the data may be in the cache so that a write to memory is required to assure that the data in main memory is not stale. Although most computers systems do not include multiple processors, a bus master such as a direct memory access controller (DMA), a SCSI controller, or the like often needs to read data from or write data to main memory. Consequently, computer systems having write back caches also require that data in processor caches be written back to memory before that data may be accessed by these bus master devices. The need to write data back to memory from a processor cache is obvious where a bus master must read from memory since the data it will read may be stale unless up-to-date data in the processor cache in written back to memory before the read operation.
However, when a bus master must write to memory, the processor cache must also write back modified lines to ensure that the latest data is not lost. Since it is possible the bus master to overwrite only a part of the data in a modified cache line while the cache only writes back data in cache line increments, modified data in the cache must be detected and written back to memory before the bus master write to ensure data coherency. A write of cache data which is more up-to-date than main memory data before a bus master write causes an entire cache line of modified data to replace data in memory at those memory locations corresponding to the cache line; and a write of less than a cache line from a bus master to the memory address merely updates the modified data in memory. If the cache write back were not to be performed at this time, the data from the bus master (which is considered to be the most recent) would be written over by a modified cache line and lost.
The need for write backs from the cache during bus master write operations is more obvious when error correction code (ECC) is stored with data in memory. Error correction code is generated as a part of an error correction process and is used to detect storage errors in memory arrays and correct some of those errors. An error correction process uses a math function to compute during storage an error correction code (referred to herein as a check value or ECC value) which is unique to the data stored. A check value is stored in memory in association with the data. When the data is read back, a determination is made whether the data read would produce the check value stored with the data. If the data would not produce the check value stored, some change has occurred in the data or the check value since they were stored. If the value has changed, then the data and the check value read from memory are sometimes used to accomplish the correction of the data depending on the type of error.
An ECC value is computed for an entire bus width increment of data. An ECC value for a sixty-four bit bus width increment of data stored in main memory may be eight bits. Such a value allows detection of all one and two bit errors, the detection of errors in four consecutive bits in certain types of memory, and the correction of all single bit errors. Since an ECC value is computed each time data is written to memory, a write to memory is done in bus width increments. To accomplish a write to memory of data less than the width of the memory bus (e.g., one byte or one word of a double word wide bus), a memory controller typically must read the data at the address in memory, modify the data read from memory with the new data being written, and write the modified data back to memory in a bus width increment. This is a time consuming process.
A bus master on the local bus may write to memory in less than bus length increments. If it does so when using ECC values to protect data in memory, the process is slow compared to writing bus width increments of data. More importantly, if a bus master writes a data increment less than a bus width to memory, then the data in the memory space is read back by the memory controller to complete the write. If the data in memory is stale because the only valid copy is in the processor cache, then the write to memory by the bus master will include stale data. A later write back from the processor cache may or may not update the data correctly. Consequently, the data in memory must be updated by writing back the cache data whenever a controller attempts to access a particular address for which the only valid copy is stored in the processor cache.
Because the ECC value is checked against the data to make sure that what is being read is what was stored, each time data is written to memory in increments less than the memory bus width, the controller must read, modify, and write the modified data back. Moreover, for each read step, the controller must also compare the data read and the check value to see if errors have occurred and then must compute a separate check value for each set of modified data written back to memory. For word increments written on a quad word memory bus, this requires four comparisons and four check value computations for each quad word individually written to memory.
In prior art computer systems, the process of writing back the data from a processor cache in order to update data for a write from a bus master controller and then writing the data furnished over the bus has been conducted in two separate stages. In the first stage, the data is written from the cache into the processor-to-memory write buffer and then to memory. In the second stage, the bus data is written into a bus-to-memory write buffer and then to memory. Two writes to the same location are required which slows the operation of the computer system. If either write requires a read/modify/write operation, the time for accomplishing these steps is even greater.
It is desirable to increase the speed of writing to memory from a bus master in a personal computer system using write buffers and write back caches.

Method and apparatus for blending bus writes and cache write-backs to memory


Methods and apparatus to control hot-start weld current for arc ignition are disclosed. An example welding-type power supply includes a power converter to output welding-type current, a temperature monitor to determine a temperature of an electrode using at least one of a temperature measurement or a thermal model, and a current controller to control a hot-start weld current output by the power converter based on the temperature of the electrode.

The invention relates generally to welding systems, and more particularly to methods and apparatus to control hot-start weld current for arc ignition.
Igniting weld current in a welding process can be difficult and/or inconsistent, particularly for inexperienced operators. A conventional method to improve arc ignition is to increase the weld current for a short time when the arc is ignited.


The invention relates to a process of producing polybutylene terephthalate by direct esterification and then melt polycondensation, characterized in that a specific catalyst composition is used, said catalyst composition comprising an organotitanium compound as primary catalyst in an amount of 0.01 to 1.0% by weight of terephthalic acid; and an alkaline metal salt of borate, pyroborate or metaborate as secondary catalyst in an amount of 0.001 to 1.0% by weight of terephthalic acid. By using said catalyt composition, amount of THF by-product generated can be reduced more than 30%, and the reaction rate of esterification can be increased over 20%.. (FIG. 2)

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a method for producing polybutylene terephthlate (PBT) by direct esterification and a catalyst composition therefor, and in particular, to a method comprising esterifying terephthalic acid with 1,4-butane diol followed by polycondensation in the presence of organic titanium compounds as primary catalysts and alkaline metal borates as secondary catalysts to produce PBT.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous literature references and patents relating to synthesis of polybutylene terephthlate (PBT). Although most of these comprise transesterification processes of dimethyl terephthalate(DMT), but a process of direct esterification of terephthlic acid (TPA) had been developed in 1949 as described in U.S. Pat No. 3,936,421. Since 1970, DMT processes have been commercialized sequentially by Celanese, US and the like, however, since TPA process has an advantage over DMT process in the sense of cost, a trend for synthesis of PBT by changing from DMT process into TPA process became apparent. Since the 1970's, the patent literature reported about producing PBT by TPA processes were mostly focused on the studies of selection of catalysts, composition, feed ratio, reaction mechanism and kinetics.
Synthesis of PBT by TPA process has a most difficult technical bottleneck at cyclisation of butane diol (BDO) into tetrahydrofuran (THF) under acid catalysation, such that, if BDO loss is higher than 0.2 mole per mole of TPA, i.e., at a mole ratio of BDO/TPA of 1.7, the loss of BDO is higher than 11%, then TPA process will be no longer more economical than DMT process, that is why most patents relate to the lowering of THF by product formation.
Generation of THF by cyclisation of BDO is predominantly subjected to acid catalysation. Although the solubility of TPA in BDO is low, however, because of strong acidity of TPA, there is sufficient quantity of acid generated acid to catalyze dehydration of BDO, as described in two routes of mechanism shown in FIG. 1. In the presence of acid (H+), BDO will form a carbonium-ion intermediate with excess electron pair of oxygen atom and then form THF via route 1 or 2 shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, route 1 is a mechanism of SN1 type, comprising dehydration and then cyclisation to form a cyclic intermediate, and finally, deprotonation into formation of THF, wherein the rate is determined on the bonding rate in the cyclisation of C.sub.1 and C.sub.4 in the primary carbonium-ion, which is a first order reaction. While route 2 is a SN.sub.2 type mechanism, wherein OH.sub.2 at position C.sub.1 is a leaving group, whereas OH at C.sub.4 position is an entering group, and the reaction rate is determined on the rate of leaving of OH2 group as well as entering of H to form cydic product which is a second order reaction.
FIG. 2 is a schematic flowsheet of PBT polymerization, wherein those referred by numerals are activation energies of various reaction. In their study on direct esterification of PBT by utilizing model molecule, Pilati et al. (Polymer 17, 799 and 22, 1566) found that the activation energy for formation of THF from BDO is 30.9 kcal/mole, which is higher than that of step 1 of 22.9, but lower than those of step 3 (33.7) and step 5 (33.7), so that reaction at elevated temperature although increases the rate of efficiency of esterification but it also promotes the cyclisation of BOD, while reaction at low temperature may reduce the cyclisation of BOD, but it also reduces the rate of esterification.
Patents relate to the synthesis of PBT via direct esterification process are as follow:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,421: uses organic titanium and tin compounds as catalysts, loss of BOD can be reduced, and it also reports that addition of 2-8% of water can increase mixing and dispersing of terephthalic acid and butane diol which results into increasing of initial esterification rate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,858: uses also a combination of titanium and tin type catalysts in order to obtain a minimum esterification time and hence to generate less amount of THF.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,444: uses titanium-based catalyst and preheats butane diol to reaction temperature, whereupon terephthalic acid is added slowly so as to decrease the generation of THF.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,759: uses also titanium-based catalyst, mole ratio of BDO:TPA is 5:1, and completes esterification at 225 C. in order to reduce generation of THF.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,213 and 4,439,597: before terephthalic acid is exhausted or 20-30% thereof left unconverted yet, begins to evacuate and carry out polycondensation reaction. When the input mole ratio of BDO/TPA is low then the esterification rate will be slow, on the other hand, if the mole ratio of BDO/TPA is high, the loss of butane diol will be great, hence the optimum mole ratio is in the range of 1.5-1.8. The temperature of esterification is in the range of 208 C. to 212 C.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,241: mole ratio of BDO/TPA at initial reaction stage is 0.6-1.0, addition of BDO takes place at latter stage of reaction.

Catalyst composition for production of polybutylene terephthalate via direct esterification process

National Science Council of Republic of China


An apparatus for optical modulation is provided. The apparatus includes a modulator structure and a heater structure. The modulator structure comprises a ring or disk optical resonator having a closed curvilinear periphery and a pair of oppositely doped semiconductor regions within and/or adjacent to the optical resonator and conformed to modify the optical length of the optical resonator upon application of a bias voltage. The heater structure comprises a relatively resistive annulus of semiconductor material enclosed between an inner disk and an outer annulus of relatively conductive semiconductor material. The inner disk and the outer annulus are adapted as contact regions for a heater activation current. The heater structure is situated within the periphery of the optical resonator such that in operation, at least a portion of the resonator is heated by radial conductive heat flow from the heater structure. The apparatus further includes a substantially annular isolation region of dielectric or relatively resistive semiconductor material interposed between the heater structure and the modulator structure. The isolation region is effective to electrically isolate the bias voltage from the heater activation current.

One type of optical modulator that has promise for high-speed applications such as exascale computing and next generation optical communications is the resonant optical modulator. A resonant optical modulator includes an optical resonator that is typically a waveguiding ring or disk of silicon, although other geometries and other materials are not excluded. An input and output optical beam is coupled to the resonator by directing the beam through a waveguide, which may e.g. be a rectilinear planar waveguide, situated within an evanescent coupling distance of the resonator.
Within a characteristic wavelength band, such a modulator is relatively transmissive when light coupled into the modulator excites a resonant mode of the resonator, and is less transmissive when it goes out of resonance with the coupled light. The resonance may be controlled by, e.g., thermal or electronic modification of the optical velocity within the resonator.
One of the advantages of resonant modulators relative to competing technologies is that they occupy a relatively small volume, and as a consequence are conservative as to wafer real estate and as to power demands. One of the challenges in the area of resonant modulators is to maintain the advantage of small volume, while accommodating such features as heaters for thermal tuning, and such signal isolation as is necessary in order to accommodate differentially driven modulation signals.

Thermally tuneable optical modulator adapted for differential signaling


A gating structure (13) for molding connects with a mold cavity (300). The gating structure includes a first gate (100), a second gate (200), an ejector sleeve (400) and an ejector pin (500). The second gate connects with the first gate at an angle. The ejector pin extends through the ejector sleeve. One part of the ejector pin fixes in the ejector sleeve, the other par of the ejector pin is received in the second gate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gating structure for molds and, particularly, to a gating structure for controlling injection mold of plastic parts.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Some products made of a polymer or other plastic are typically created by injection molding. During a typical injection molding process, a molten material is injected into a mold cavity via a runner. The molten material filled in the cavity is cooled and is set or solidified to form the molded product. However, if the molten material is directly injected into the mold cavity, the molten material will be effected by a resistance from the mold cavity such that defects such as flow marks will appear in the final product. It is necessary to adopt different gating designs for different molded product structures so as to eliminate defects. The gating structure is generally a structure that connects the runner and the mold cavity. After injection molding, scraps or swarf are formed at the gating structure. These scraps are usually referred to as 'gate'. In conventional technology, gates of many different types such as edge gate, tab gate, fan gate, submarine gate, and pin gate are used. Different gates are suitable in different places and using an improper gating structure will cause high injection pressure, long cycle time and non-uniform shrinkage.
One kind of typical gating structure for molding is represented in FIG. 4. The gating structure for molding includes a submarine gate 10 and a cylindrical gate 20. One end of the cylindrical gate 20 connects with a mold cavity 30, the other end of the cylindrical gate 20 connects with an ejector pin 40. In order to avoid forming defects through non-uniform shrinkage, the diameter of the cylindrical gate 20 is the same as a width of the mold cavity 30. Accordingly, the diameter of the cylindrical gate 20 is limited. Furthermore, the molten material flow is slowed so that the finished result is effected. Especially for thin molded products, the effect will be more obvious.
Therefore, an improved gating structure is desired in order to overcome the above-described problems.


In a data processing system for processing data having an index tree structure, a buffer rate is set in advance. When a record is to be inserted or deleted, this buffer rate is used so that a data process to be performed can be selected from a simple insert process, an overflow process, node split process, a simple delete process, an underflow process, and a node concatenation process. With this operation, the data of the index tree structure can be efficiently processed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for processing data having an index tree structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In insertion and deletion of a record of data having an index tree structure, it is always necessary to increase a storage rate of records and decrease the number of orders of an index without rearranging the index. For this purpose, in inserting a record, a simple insert process, an overflow process, and a node split process have been performed. In deleting a record, a simple delete process, an underflow process, and a node concatenation process have been performed.
Data having an index tree structure and examples of the above processes will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.
As shown in FIG. 1, an index tree is constituted by a group of nodes which are hierarchically arranged in a file storage unit (not shown). Each node includes a plurality of records and pointers, as shown in FIG. 2.
In a conventional data process, if an upper limit pointer count is set to be M, a lower limit pointer count m can be obtained by the following equation: EQU m=<M/2>
where < > represents that a decimal fraction is rounded up. In this case, a pointer count x of a predetermined node needs to be set to satisfy m.ltoreq.x .ltoreq.M.
In a simple insert process (see FIG. 3), if (a pointer count of a target node after insertion) .ltoreq.M, a pointer is inserted in the target node.
In an overflow process (see FIG. 4), if (a pointer count of a target node after insertion) >M, and (a pointer count of an adjacent node) <M, a predetermined number of records are moved from the target node to the adjacent node.
In a node split process (see FIG. 5), if (a pointer count of a target node after insertion) >M, and (a pointer count of an adjacent node) =M, a new node is set, and the records of the target node and the adjacent node are split into the three nodes.
In a simple delete process (see FIG. 6), if (a pointer count of a target node after deletion) .gtoreq.m, a pointer is deleted from the target node.
In an underflow process (see FIG. 7), if (a pointer count of a target node after deletion) <m, and (a pointer count of an adjacent node) >m, a predetermined number of records are moved from the adjacent node to the target node.
In a node concatenation process (see FIG. 8), if (a pointer count of a target node after deletion) <m, and (a pointer count of an adjacent node) =m, the target node and the adjacent node are concatenated into one node.
If an index tree is subjected to journal process, in order to decrease the journal amount and increase the efficiency of journal acquisition process, a change in index tree structure and the frequency of record movements between nodes due to a data process must be minimized. However, even if a difference in the number of records movement between a target node and its adjacent node is small, the above-described processes are performed.
For example, in a record insert process (M=50), if the pointer count of a target mode is 50 and that of an adjacent node is 49, an overflow process is performed. As a result, the pointer count of each of the target node and the adjacent node becomes 50. When another record is to be inserted in this target node, a node split process is performed. In this case, if a node split process is executed for the first record insert process, a change in index tree structure becomes smaller, and hence the journal amount is decreased.
Furthermore, in the conventional data process, if only a node split process is executed without performing an overflow, underflow, or node concatenation process, the journal amount can be reduced. However, one node may include only one pointer, and hence the storage rate of records is decreased.
As described above, in processing of records stored in a file storage unit, a demand has arisen for a data processing system which can reduce the journal amount by increasing the storage rate of records and decreasing the frequency of record movements between nodes.

Method for updating an index tree structure of data based on node sizes


Systems and methods for generating call reports which may allow access to the child call for each selected attendee via the group call, and enable users to capture data and make edits to detailing and sampling information unique to each attendee directly in the child call. Access to controls within the attendees section may enable mass entry of supported activities for a subset of attendees.

The subject technology relates generally to customer relationship management ("CRM"), and more particularly to generating a call report in a customer relationship management system.
In the pharmaceutical sales industry, sales representatives are required to use call reports to record meetings and other interactions with doctors, including face-to-face meetings and discussions via phone or the Internet, and the call reports need to include the doctors' professional information, the medical products discussed, the materials shown to the doctors, the samples left, etc. Non-compliant call reports may expose company employers (e.g., a pharmaceutical company) to regulatory penalties or other legal liabilities. Thus, it is desirable to enable sales representatives to prepare call reports efficiently and their company employers to use data in the call reports effectively, especially when a sales representative talks to many doctors at one organization.

System and method for generating a call report


The invention relates to a multistage brush seal of a steam turbine that comprises several brushes which in turn comprise several bristles. A plurality of brushes are arranged next to each other and are configured different from each other with regard to the length of the bristles, or to the bristle thicknesses, or to the bristle rigidities, or to the lay angle of the bristles, or to the height of a first guard ring in front of or behind the brush seal in the flow direction, which delimits this brush seal, or to a gap between the bristles and an opposing surface.

Brush seals also find frequent use in addition to labyrinth seals for sealing against the escape of fluids through gaps between rotors and stationary components. Brush seals in this case are particularly tolerant to a falling short of the radial clearance between the rotating component and the stationary component. The bristles of the brushes flexibly yield in the case of a falling short of the radial clearance and of a rubbing of the seal on the rotating shaft, and flexible yielding of the bristles and non-destructive wear on the bristles occur if the contact between the stationary bristles and the rotating component lasts for a longer time. In addition, a brush is well suited to absorb a pressure difference and in this way to efficiently reduce the leakiness of the seal. For overcoming larger pressure differences, brush seals, as well as labyrinth seals, are formed in a multistaged configuration so that a plurality of brushes, by arranging free spaces between the brushes, absorb a certain pressure difference until relieving to the ambient pressure. The flow direction, in the sense of the invention, in this case is the direction of the pressure decay from a high pressure level to a low pressure level, consequently the only possibility of a fluid movement in the region of the brush seal.
A brush seal arrangement is already known from European printed patent specification EP 1 271 021 B1. Such conventional arrangements have the serious disadvantage that as a result of pressure differences across the individual brushes which are simply difficult to predict, an exceptionally conservative layout has to follow and therefore for example more stages or brushes than necessary have to be provided in order to satisfy the theoretical requirements.

Method of sealing a gap using multistage brush seal


In a computer network where each mobile host is assigned a subnetwork-independent logical identifier (L-ID), the mobile host acquires a subnetwork-dependent geographical identifier (G-ID) from an agent-existing subnetwork and sends the G-ID to the home subnetwork of the mobile host for location registration if a beacon received therefrom is a first one or different from a previous one or acquires a G-ID from an agentless subnetwork and sends the G-ID to the home subnetwork if no beacons are received. At intervals, a multicast packet is sent from the mobile host, containing the acquired G-ID to the agentless subnetwork. A similar multicast packet is received from a second mobile host and the G-ID contained therein is stored in a database corresponding to the L-ID of the second mobile host. When establishing a session, a data packet is sent from the mobile host to the network along with a G-ID corresponding to a L-ID of the data packet stored in the database. No G-ID is appended if the L-ID of the data packet has no corresponding identifier in the database. At the home subnetwork, a data packet destined to a mobile host of a subnetwork is encapsulated with the G-ID of the mobile host and routed to the subnetwork.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile computer networks, and more specifically to a mobile computer network which is composed of a plurality of subnetworks of different functionality for mobile hosts.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer network for mobile computing is described in a paper "A New Mobile-IP Scheme-Architecture and Evolution Scenario", Kazuhiro Okanoue et al., the Institute of Information Processing, the Fiftleth National Meeting, IU-7, 1995. This mobile computer network is composed of a plurality of subnetworks. To allow mobile hosts to perform session in any of the sub networks with fixed hosts, two addresses arc assigned to each mobile host. These arc a subnetwork-independent logical identifier and a subnetwork-dependent geographical identifier, whereas fixed hosts arc assigned only one address, i.e., logical identifier. Because of the difference in address assignment, a functionality known as "agent" is required for each subnetwork to establish sessions between mobile hosts and fixed hosts. The subnetwork which is identified by the logical address (identifier) of a mobile host is the home subnetwork of the mobile host and the agent of this subnetwork is known as a "home agent", and the agent of a subnetwork to which the mobile host is temporarily attached is known as a "current agent". The agent of a subnetwork provides multicasting of beacon packets for collecting location data from mobile hosts attached to it and provides database management of logical and geographical identifiers collected from the mobile hosts. The database is used to encapsulate a data packet with a geographical identifier if the destination is a mobile host.
However, all subnetworks are not necessarily provided with an agent facility. If a mobile host is moved to an agentless subnetwork, no session cannot be established with any of fixed hosts.

System for location multicasting and database management for mobile sessions in any computer subnetworks without using a home router of a home subnetwork


A system and method in a connectivity user interface of a mobile device that enables a user to inspect and select a connection from among available network connections and methods of connecting. If the user alternatively wants a connection to be automatically selected by the device, the connectivity user interface allows the user to verify the connection that will be made when required. An easily accessible connectivity dialog displays configured connections, and connection data. Before a connection is established, the connection data may describe a type of connection, such as the telephone number for a dial-up connection. After a connection is established, the connection data may describe the connection's status, such as the amount of time the connection has been in use. A link in the connectivity user interface enables the user to efficiently configure or reconfigure a connection.

Small, mobile computing devices such as personal desktop assistants, contemporary mobile telephones, hand-held and pocket-sized computers, tablet personal computers and the like, are becoming important and popular user tools. In general, they have become small enough to be extremely convenient, while consuming less battery power, and at the same time have become capable of running more powerful applications.
Recent developments have resulted in such devices being able to connect to networks, including the Internet. For example, typical mobile computing devices such as pocket-sized personal computers can now place telephone calls, as well as connect to networks over technologies such as Wireless Ethernet (also known as 802.11b or Wi-Fi), and Bluetooth™ wireless technology. Likewise, mobile telephones such as those running Microsoft® Smartphone software allow users to make conventional mobile telephone calls and also access the Internet, as well as send and receive e-mails and files, store contacts, maintain appointments and do many other things contemporary computers can now do.
With sophisticated devices like pocket-sized personal computers, there may be more than one way to connect to a remote device. For example, with mobile devices, a user can dial up a network, or can use GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). GPRS is emerging as a technology via which networks can offer high-capacity, 'always-on' Internet-based content and packet-based data services. Cost is a factor to many users, and roaming impacts the cost of GPRS and CSD (Circuit Switched Data) calls. In sum, for various reasons, such as cost, speed, and so on, many users want to select from among these multiple types of connections.
However, with mobile devices configured for multiple types of connections, users do not know which connection will be used. In other words, a connection is selected for the user, without the user's input. Thus, when the user configures the device to connect, there currently is no way for the user to know which connection the device will choose to connect, e.g., when called upon by an application that needs a network connection. At present, the user only finds out in the event the device fails to establish a connection.
Improvements in convenience that increase the usability of mobile devices are needed, however heretofore there has been no convenient solution to determine and/or select the current network connection on contemporary mobile devices. Further, since these types of devices are inherently mobile, the user may frequently change area codes, and thus have to review and possibly change the current dialup settings. At present, the user has to be fairly knowledgeable to navigate to a connection manager user interface to review the current settings and/or change them, which requires that the user enter through a Start menu, control panel user interface. In sum, the present mechanisms for connecting mobile devices to networks are generally inconvenient, confusing, difficult and/or not very intuitive to many users.

Connectivity notification displaying path to connection


The present invention generally relates to methods for increasing the lifetime of MEMS devices by reducing the landing velocity on switching by introducing gas into the cavity surrounding the switching element of the MEMS device. The gas is introduced using ion implantation into a cavity close to the cavity housing the switching element and connected to that cavity by a channel through which the gas can flow from one cavity to the other. The implantation energy is chosen to implant many of the atoms close to the inside roof and floor of the cavity so that on annealing those atoms diffuse into the cavity. The gas provides gas damping which reduces the kinetic energy of the switching MEMS device which then should have a longer lifetime.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to introducing a gas into a micro cavity to enhance the lifetime of a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital variable capacitor (DVC) utilizing MEMS technology operates by having a switching element of the MEMS device move between a state of high capacitance and a state of low capacitance. In a state of high capacitance, the switching element is in a position adjacent an RF electrode. In a state of low capacitance, the switching element is in a position adjacent to another electrode spaced from the RF electrode, or more specifically, away from an insulating layer that is disposed on the RF electrode. The switching element may also be moved to ground whereby the switching element is adjacent neither the RF electrode nor the other electrode.
During the lifetime of the MEMS device, the switching element cycles between the various states (i.e., high capacitance, low capacitance and ground). For a cycle, the switching element moves from the ground state to either the high or low capacitance state. After the cycle is completed, and before the next cycle, the switching element returns to the ground state. Then, a new cycle begins whereby the switching element moves to either a high or low capacitance state, or remains in the ground state. This corresponds to a physics movement of a plate which either touches the insulating layer overlying the RF electrode or touches the roof of the cavity in which it is housed.
There are only a finite number of times that the switching element can move before the MEMS device fails. With each movement of the switching element, the MEMS device accumulates a finite amount of damage which, given enough total cycles, results in failure. The magnitude of the finite damage to the MEMS device or the roof of the cavity or the insulating layer overlying the RF electrode is proportional to the impact speed of the fast moving switching element as the switching element is brought into contact therewith. In the above example the contact can cause material to be ejected from the exposed surfaces which then enter between the plates of the capacitor, reducing the closest distance that the ground MEMS plate can make to the insulating layer over the RF electrode. Thus, the maximum possible capacitance is reduced.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for increasing the lifetime of MEMS devices in DVCs by reducing the impact velocity of the switching element in a MEMS device as the switching element makes contact with various surfaces within the device cavity.

Implantation of gaseous chemicals into cavities formed in intermediate dielectrics layers for subsequent thermal diffusion release


Flexible diversity antennas having gain and bandwidth capabilities suitable for use within small communications devices such as radiotelephones are provided. A core of flexible material has an electrical conductor embedded therewithin in a meandering pattern and is surrounded by a first layer of flexible dielectric material. At one end of the antenna, the first layer of dielectric material is surrounded by flexible conductive material. The flexible conductive material is surrounded by a second layer of flexible dielectric material. The portion of the antenna surrounded by conductive material serves as a tuning element, and the portion of the antenna not surrounded by conductive material serves as a radiating element. A flexible signal feed is integral with the antenna and extends outwardly from the flexible core.

Antennas for personal communication devices, such as radiotelephones, may not function adequately when in close proximity to a user during operation, or when a user is moving during operation of a device. Close proximity to objects or movement of a user during operation of a radiotelephone may result in degraded signal quality or fluctuations in signal strength, known as multipath fading. Diversity antennas have been designed to work in conjunction with a radiotelephone's primary antenna to improve signal reception.
Many of the popular hand-held radiotelephones are undergoing miniaturization. Indeed, many of the contemporary models are only 11-12 centimeters in length. Unfortunately, as radiotelephones decrease in size, the amount of internal space therewithin may be reduced correspondingly. A reduced amount of internal space may make it difficult for existing types of diversity antennas to achieve the bandwidth and gain requirements necessary for radiotelephone operation because their size may be correspondingly reduced.
One type of diversity antenna is referred to as a Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA). A PIFA derives its name from its resemblance to the letter "F" and typically includes various layers of rigid materials formed together to provide a radiating element having a conductive path therein. The various layers and components of a PIFA are typically mounted directly on a molded plastic or sheet metal support structure. Because of their rigidity, PIFAs are somewhat difficult to bend and form into a final shape for placement within the small confines of radiotelephones. In addition, PIFAs may be susceptible to damage when devices within which they are installed are subjected to impact forces. Impact forces may cause the various layers of a PIFA to crack, which may hinder operation or even cause failure.
Various stamping, bending and etching steps may be required to manufacture a PIFA because of their generally non-planar configuration. Consequently, manufacturing and assembly is typically performed in a batch-type process which may be somewhat expensive. In addition, PIFAs typically utilize a shielded signal feed, such as a coaxial cable, to connect the PIFA with the RF circuitry within a radiotelephone. During assembly of a radiotelephone, the shielded signal feed between the RF circuitry and the PIFA typically involves manual installation, which may increase the cost of radiotelephone manufacturing.


Backend data is received from a computer program product such as a hard disk or other long term data storage. The backend data is structured using nodes that are associated with a unique identifier such as a GUID. The nodes are addressable using the unique identifier, and backend data items are associated with corresponding addressable nodes such that the backend nodes can be quickly accessed. Front-end data can be received from a computer program product such as a hard disk or other long term data storage. The front-end data is structured using nodes that are associated with a unique identifier such as a GUID. The nodes are addressable using the unique identifier, and front-end data items are associated with corresponding addressable nodes such that the front-end nodes can be quickly accessed.

Computer systems typically comprise short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory typically uses dynamic RAM, which typically provides quick access to data stored within the RAM. Long-term memory, such as that provided by a hard disk, provides relatively slow access to stored data, but normally retains the data even after power has been turned off. Accordingly, computers use data stored in short-term memory to manipulate and process the data, and use long-term memory to store the data when the data is not being processed.
Users (including various computer processes) typically save the data to disk when finished working with the program and data. Also, users load the stored data from the disk to short-term memory so that the data can be viewed and/or manipulated. However, as the amount of data becomes more voluminous and complex, these operations can require considerable amounts of time to save and to load.


A character programming method (10) whereby a synchronization character (17) can be determined in a determine encoding scheme operation (12) and a determine synchronization character operation (14). The synchronization character (17) can then be programmed into a synch character logic (26) of an integrated circuit (20) or a core (20) thereof. The synch character logic (26) can be programmed through a plurality of program pins (30) on the periphery of the integrated circuit (20) or by more sophisticated means such as by sending the programming from a sending integrated circuit (40) to a receiving integrated circuit (42) through a communications line (44).

It is frequently necessary or desirable to insert a synchronization character in a data stream. For example, a FibreChannel specification requires the use of such a synchronization character. When a data stream containing a required synchronization character is detected by a FibreChannel compatible device, the device locks onto the data stream and is synchronized therewith.
In order to deserialize a bitstream made up of, for example, a plurality of parallel data streams, it is necessary to initially synchronize the deserializer device with the input stream, so that the deserializer can determine which portion of the serial bitstream corresponds to the first parallel input, which portion to the second input, and the like. Different data formats utilize different synchronization characters, and there are several considerations relevant to the determination of the size and configuration of a synchronization character. Among these considerations are that the synchronization character should be unlike any character that is likely to occur in the regular data stream, and also that DC balance is maintained by keeping a generally equally quantity of ones and zeros, since an excess of either will cause an instantaneous blockage due to inherent capacitance in the transmission means and will, therefore, restrict the speed of transmission at least on copper (as opposed to fiber optic) transmission lines. An excellent discussion of synchronization characters and the relevant considerations is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,916 issued to Miracle et al.
It would be desirable to make data communications devices such that they could communicate with many different types of such devices using a great variety of data formats and data transmission protocols. However, no prior art method has effectively provided for the synchronization of high speed asynchronous serial data in the many various data formats and transmission protocols currently in use and which might be developed in the future.


A method for actuating a needle bar in a needling machine includes the actuation of a first oscillating drive at a first frequency, the first oscillating drive having a main conrod connected directly or indirectly to the needle bar, and simultaneously the actuation of a second oscillating drive at a second frequency, the second oscillating drive having a secondary conrod connected directly or indirectly to the needle bar, the movements of the needle bar produced by the first and second oscillating drives being superimposed on each other and the second frequency being higher than the first frequency.

The process of needling in a needling machine brings about the consolidation of a fiber fleece web being transported continuously through the needling machine. When the needle bar executes only a movement directed perpendicularly to the direction in which the fiber fleece web is moving, the forward movement of the continuously transported fiber fleece web is slowed by the needles during the phase of the needling cycle in which the needles are engaged in the fiber fleece web. This results in an undesirable distortion of the fiber fleece and to the cyclical occurrence of an elastic bending of the needles.
As a remedy for these disadvantageous effects, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,453 a second drive is assigned to the needle bar, which makes the needle bar oscillate parallel to the fiber fleece web (horizontal movement) cyclically and in synchrony with the stitching movement perpendicular to the fiber fleece (vertical movement). This horizontal movement proceeds in and opposite to the transport direction of the fiber fleece web through the needling machine. The timing of the horizontal movement is superimposed on the vertical stitching movement of the needle bar in such a way that, during the phase of each movement cycle in which the needles are engaged in the fiber fleece, the movement of the needle bar in the horizontal direction follows the forward movement of the fiber fleece through the needling machine, whereas, in the state in which the needles are disengaged from the fleece, the needle bar returns in the horizontal direction back to the starting position. When viewed from the side, transversely to the transport direction of the fiber fleece web, therefore, the needle bar executes a gyrating movement, which is more-or-less circular or elliptical depending on the ratio between the horizontal stroke and the vertical stroke.
As a further improvement to this solution, a mechanical attachment is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,269, by means of which the horizontal movement of the needle bar is easily adjustable in small increments, preferably in a continuously variable fashion.
Common to all of the approaches described above is that the vertical movement and the horizontal movement of the needle bar are synchronized with each other. In other words, the needle bar moves up and down in the vertical direction precisely during the period in which the needle bar is moving back and forth in the horizontal direction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for actuating a needle bar in a needling machine by means of which the fiber fleece can be transported through the needling machine at a higher speed and/or by means of which a larger number of stitches can be produced in the fiber fleece.

Method for actuating a needle bar in a needling machine