Disclosed herein is a pattern forming process comprising the steps of coating a substrate with a photosensitive resin composition comprising a polyamic compound having, at each terminal thereof, an actinic ray-sensitive functional group which has substituent groups each having a photopolymerizable carbon-carbon double bond, a photosensitive auxiliary having a photopolymerizable functional group, a photopolymerization initiator, and a solvent to form a film; subjecting the film to pattering exposure; and then developing the thus-exposed film with an alkaline developer or alkaline aqueous solution.

In a fabrication process of a semiconductor device, a photoresist is separated and removed from a substrate after its role has been filled in a step of etching or the like. However, such a photoresist film remains unremoved as a permanent film if it is used as a surface-protecting film or a layer insulation film. Therefore, it is required to have electrically and mechanically high characteristics or properties. Further, such a film also must resist a high temperature applied in the fabrication process of the semiconductor device.
In recent years, a film formed of a photosensitive polyimide resin has been used in such an application. The polyimide resin is excellent in electrical and mechanical characteristics, and heat resistance and is used as a surface-protecting film or layer insulation film for a semiconductor device, or the like. In order to selectively provide a film of a polyimide resin on minute parts of the semiconductor device, it is convenient to use a photosensitive polyimide resin.
As a process for selectively providing the polyimide resin film on the minute parts, there has heretofore been known a process in which a polyimide resin is coated on the whole surface of a semiconductor device to form a film, a pattern is formed on the film by means of a photoresist, and the polyimide resin film is etched with hydrazine or the like. However, this process is complicated in process and requires to use an etchant high in toxicity.
On the other hand, various proposals as to photosensitive polyimide resins the solubility of which varies upon exposure to light have been made in recent years. Typical examples of such a photosensitive polyimide resin include compounds with a photopolymerizable acryloyl group introduced into a polyamic acid (hereinafter may called polyamide acid) which is a precursor of a polyimide resin (Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 30207/1980 and 41422/1980, etc.). A precursor of polyimide, in which an acryloyl group has been introduced in the form of a salt, has also be proposed (Japanese Patent Publication No. 52822/1984).
In the photosensitive polyimide resin making use of such a polyimide precursor, a film of the photosensitive polyimide resin is formed on a semiconductor device, a pattern is formed by irradiation of light, and the polyimide resin is cyclized by a heat treatment, thereby completing polyimidation. At this time, the moiety of the photosensitive group is eliminated and volatilized, thereby reducing the final thickness of the film formed.
The use of the photosensitive polyimide resin permits marked shortening of a pattern-forming process. However, the conventional photosensitive polyimide resins have involved drawbacks such as the synthesizing route is complicated, the photosensitive group is not fully eliminated by polyimidation, or they are insufficient in storage stability and sensitivity to light.
There have recently been proposed photosensitive resin compositions comprising an actinic ray-sensitive functional group (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 70661/1992 and 77741/1992). These photosensitive resin compositions have been prepared by a special process in which a polyamic acid having carbon-carbon double bonds at its terminals is reacted in a solvent composed of an amide compound having a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond, and are characterized in that the polyamic acid itself is photosensitive and the solvent itself is 100% photosensitive. However, the polyamic compounds disclosed in these publications are easy to eliminate their modified terminal groups and poor in stability. This polyamic compound is generally obtained by modifying a part of the acid anhydride with the actinic ray-sensitive functional group to form an ester and then adding a diamine to form a polymer. However, this process can form only a polyamic acid wide in scattering of molecular weight and hence encounters difficulties in synthesizing only a polyamic acid high in molecular weight. In the photosensitive resin compositions described in these publications, the solvent also functions as a photosensitive auxiliary. Therefore, such a composition has involved a problem that when the composition is applied to a substrate and subjected to a heat treatment to form a film, a residual stress of the film against the substrate increases to a great extent.
On the other hand, the photosensitive polyimide resin compositions have involved a problem that they are difficult to develop with an alkaline developer or alkaline aqueous solution. For example, the negative type photosensitive polyimide resins disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 30207/1980 and 41422/1980, etc., and those obtained by introducing a photopolymerizable group through an ionic bond into a precursor of polyimide disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52822/1984 and the like all use organic solvents as their developers. Therefore, such photosensitive polyimide resins have involved such problems that developer cost is high, explosion-proof apparatus are required, and human health may be endangered.
As alkali-developed or alkaline aqueous solution-developed photosensitive resins, there have hitherto been reported, for example, those obtained by introducing a protective group capable of leaving into a carboxyl group or a phenolic hydroxyl group under acid or alkaline conditions J. Macromol. Sci. Chem., A24, 10, 1407 (1987), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 259351/1989 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 363361/1992!. However, these resins require to introduce a substituent group great in steric hindrance through a covalent bond into a main-chain carboxyl group or side-chain hydroxyl group. Therefore, they involve such problems that their synthetic processes become complicated, they require a high curing temperature, and film properties of films formed therefrom are deteriorated.
It has been proposed to incorporate a dihydropyridine derivative, which is a photo-induced base generator, and accelerate the imidation-facilitating effect of a base formed by exposure by a PEB (post-exposure baking) treatment, thereby developing a difference in solubility caused by the imidation with an alkaline developer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 5995/1993 and 281717/1993). However, these processes involves such problems that the PEB treatment must be used, and the film formed has a low sensitivity to exposure, and so an exposure value must be made greater.
It has also been proposed to use an alkaline developer or alkaline aqueous solution as a developer for photosensitive resin compositions added with a photopolymerizable monomer as a crosslinking auxiliary (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 183439/1988 and 100424/1993). In these processes, special crosslinking monomers such as those having an isocyanate structure or a urethane structure are added as the photopolymerizable monomers. Since the base polymers have no photopolymerizable group in their structures, there is a problem that sensitivity and resolution are insufficient.


In some examples, a storage medium stores a plurality of information elements that relate to corresponding virtual trusted platform module (TPM) interfaces, where each respective information element of the plurality of information elements corresponds to a respective virtual machine (VM). A controller provides virtual TPMs for respective security operations. A processor resource executes the VMs to use the information elements to access the corresponding virtual TPM interfaces to invoke the security operations of the virtual TPMs, where a first VM is to access a first virtual TPM interface of the virtual TPM interfaces to request that a security operation of a respective virtual TPM be performed.

A computer system includes various electronic components, such as a processor, a memory, a persistent storage, a network interface controller, and so forth. Machine-readable instructions, including software programs and/or firmware programs, can be executed on the processor. A user, a program, or an electronic component can perform a security operation using a trusted platform module (TPM) in the computer system.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


The invention is directed to a hydraulic braking pressure control system which includes wheel brake cylinders, a pressure generator for supplying a hydraulic braking pressure to the wheel cylinders through two hydraulic pressure circuits, and a pressure control device disposed in the two circuits, between the pressure generator and the wheel cylinders, for controlling the hydraulic pressure in each of the wheel cylinders. The system further includes wheel speed sensors for detecting wheel speeds of the road wheels, respectively, and a braking force controller which controls the braking force by actuating the pressure control device in accordance with control modes provided in response to output signals of the wheel speed sensors. A circuit malfunction detection unit is provided for detecting malfunction caused in either one of the two hydraulic circuits on the basis of output signals of the wheel speed sensors, and a control mode changeover unit is provided for changing over a control mode to another control mode, when the circuit malfunction detection unit detects the malfunction. For example, a wheel speed comparison unit compares the wheel speed in one of the two circuits with the wheel speed in the other circuit, and the circuit malfunction detection unit detects the malfunction on the basis of the compared result of the wheel speed comparison unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic pressure control system for an automotive vehicle, and more particularly to the system having a dual circuit brake system.
2. Description of the Related Arts
As a hydraulic braking pressure control system for an automotive vehicle, the one with an anti-skid control function for decreasing, increasing or holding a braking pressure to each wheel cylinder to obtain a maximum coefficient of friction, has come into wide use. For example, Japanese Utility model publication No.6-35842 discloses such a hydraulic braking pressure control system having (a) a hydraulic pressure supply apparatus, (b) an electromagnetic hydraulic pressure control apparatus which controls a hydraulic pressure of a hydraulic pressure source to produce a second output hydraulic pressure, and supply the second output hydraulic pressure to a second wheel brake cylinder through a second hydraulic passage, (c) a transmission changeover apparatus which is provided in the second hydraulic passage, to connect a pressure chamber which produces a first output hydraulic pressure of a hydraulic pressure supply apparatus even in the case where leakage of fluid is caused in a portion for holding a pressure from the electromagnetic hydraulic pressure control apparatus, and which transmits the second output hydraulic pressure to the second wheel brake cylinder of the electromagnetic hydraulic pressure control apparatus, but transmits the first output hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic pressure supply apparatus when the magnetic hydraulic pressure control apparatus broke down, and (d) shutting means provided in the transmission changeover apparatus for shutting off the flow of fluid from the transmission changeover apparatus to at least either one of the electromagnetic hydraulic pressure control apparatus and the second wheel brake cylinder, in the case where the fluid is caused to be leaked from the hydraulic pressure supply apparatus due to a trouble of either one of them.
In the system as disclosed in the above Japanese Utility model publication No.6-35842, a hydraulic braking pressure condition is detected by a hydraulic pressure sensor (98, 100 in FIG. 1 of the publication), so that malfunction of hydraulic circuit is determined on the basis of the detected result. However, these hydraulic pressure sensors are high in price, so that it has been desired to constitute an apparatus which never requires any hydraulic pressure sensors including sensors provided for hydraulic pressure control.

Hydrulic braking pressure control system for an automotive vehicle


Provided is a log analysis system including: an identifying unit that identifies transactions from logs output from a device; a grouping unit that categorizes the transactions having both the same log related to start and the same log related to end into the same group; a learning unit that creates a learning model that defines the number of occurrences on a log type basis in the transactions of the same group; and an inspection unit that inspects a transaction of an inspection target based on the learning model.

In recent years, electronic devices such as a Point Of Sales (POS) terminal have been introduced in retail shops such as a convenience store, a supermarket, or the like to increase work efficiency of store operation, such as accounting work, ordering work, inventory management work, or the like. However, suspension of an electronic device immediately causes suspension of store operation. Thus, when a failure occurs in an electronic device, it is necessary to detect the failure early and restore the electronic device.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for performing machine learning on logs output from a normal state electronic device and detecting a failure based on the content of learning. In this method, what sequence the logs at learning appear in is learned in advance. A failure is then detected by determining whether or not the occurrence sequence of logs at inspection matches the occurrence sequence of logs at learning.

Log analysis system, log analysis method, log analysis program, and storage medium


A method of fabricating an array substrate includes: forming a line or an electrode on a substrate on which a pixel region is defined, forming a protection layer on the line or the electrode, the protection layer formed of silicon nitride (SiNX), forming photoresist patterns on the protection layer, and loading the substrate having the photoresist pattern into a chamber of a dry etching apparatus, and performing a first dry etching process on the protection layer exposed between the photoresist patterns using a first gas mixture containing nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) gas to form a contact hole exposing the line or the electrode.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method of fabricating an array substrate including performing a dry etching process using nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) gas.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years, with the advent of an information-oriented society, the field of display devices configured to process and display a large amount of information has rapidly been developed. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have lately been developed as flat panel displays (FPDs) having excellent performance, such as a small thickness, light weight, and low power consumption, and has superseded conventional cathode-ray tubes (CRTs).
Among LCDs, an active matrix (AM)-type LCD including an array substrate having a TFT serving as a switching element capable of controlling on/off voltages of each of pixels may have excellent resolution and capability of embodying moving images.
In addition, since an OLED is an emissive display having high luminance and low operating voltage characteristics, the OLED has a high contrast ratio and may be made ultrathin. Also, the OLED may be easily capable of embodying moving images due to a response time of several microseconds (μs), have an unlimited viewing angle, be stable at a low temperature, and operate at a low direct-current (DC) voltage of about 5 to 15V, thereby facilitating manufacture and design of driver circuits. For the above-described reasons, the OLED has lately attracted much attention as an FPD.
LCDs and OLEDs equally require array substrates including thin-film transistors (TFTs) serving as switching elements to turn respective pixel regions on and off.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional array substrate 11 of an LCD or an OLED, which illustrates a TFT formed in one pixel region.
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of gate lines (not shown) and a plurality of data lines 33 may be formed on an array substrate 11, and a plurality of pixel regions P are defined by intersection of the gate lines and the data lines 33. A gate electrode 15 may be formed in a switch region TrA of each of the plurality of pixel regions P. Also, a gate insulating layer 18 may be formed on the entire surface of the resultant structure to cover the gate electrode 15, and a semiconductor layer 28 including an active layer 22 formed of pure amorphous silicon (a-Si), and an ohmic contact layer 26 formed of doped a-Si may be sequentially formed on the gate insulating layer 18. A source electrode 36 and a drain electrode 38 may be formed on the ohmic contact layer 26 to correspond to the gate electrode 15, and spaced apart from each other. In this case, the gate electrode 15, the gate insulating layer 18, the semiconductor layer 28, and the source and drain electrodes 36 and 38, which may be sequentially stacked on the switching region TrA, may constitute a TFT Tr.
Furthermore, a protection layer 42 including a drain contact hole 45 exposing the drain electrode 38 may be formed on the entire surface of the resultant structure to cover the source and drain electrodes 36 and 38 and the exposed active layer 22. A pixel electrode 50 may be separately formed in each of pixel regions P on the protection layer 42 and in contact with the drain electrode 38 through the drain contact hole 45.
Fabrication of the array substrate 11 having the above-described construction may involve a mask process.
The mask process may include a plurality of unit processes, such as processes of coating photoresist on a material layer required for a patterning process, exposing the photoresist using an exposure mask, developing the exposed photoresist, etching the material layer, and stripping the photoresist.
For example, the mask process may be performed to pattern the protection layer 42 formed of an inorganic insulating material, and form the drain contact hole 45 for exposing the drain electrode 38 of the TFT Tr.
In general, the protection layer 42 may be formed of an inorganic insulating material, such as silicon nitride (SiNX). The patterning of the protection layer 42 formed of silicon nitride may include performing a dry etching process within a vacuum chamber using a reactive gas. A gas mixture containing sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas may be used as the reactive gas for the dry etching process.
However, to prevent global warming, attempts at inhibiting use of gases (hereinafter, referred to as "greenhouse gases") contributing toward global warming or proposing the amounts of greenhouse gases used have been made.
Specifically, as examples of measures for inhibiting global warming, a greenhouse gas emission trading system will come into effect in 2015, and a greenhouse gas target management system will come into effect in 2012.
However, sulfur hexafluoride gas, which is used as a reactive gas for dry etching silicon nitride (SiNx), has a global warming potential (GWP) of 23,900, and is classified as a greenhouse gas having the highest GWP of greenhouse gases. Here, GWP is a relative measure of global warming caused by greenhouse gases when the GWP of carbon dioxide is standardized to 1.
Accordingly, the use of sulfur hexafluoride is suppressed. When sulfur hexafluoride gas is continuously used and exceeds a decided amount, greenhouse development rights (GDR) corresponding to the excessed amount should be additionally purchased, or the excessed sulfur hexafluoride gas should be reprocessed and modified into a non-greenhouse gas or a gas having a low GWP, and emitted.
To modify sulfur hexafluoride gas into a non-greenhouse gas or a gas having a low GWP, a greenhouse gas reprocessing system, such as a thermal decomposition system, should be additionally prepared, and additional costs may be incurred to operate the system. Therefore, fabrication costs of final products may increase to degrade price competitiveness.
Accordingly, it is necessary to replace sulfur hexafluoride gas with another reactive gas, or reduce the amount of sulfur hexafluoride gas used during a dry etching process for patterning the protection layer 42 formed of silicon nitride.

Method of fabricating array substrate using dry etching process of silicon nitride


A scanning probe microscope and method for operating the same to correct for errors introduced by a repetitive scanning motion are disclosed. The microscope includes an actuator that moves the probe tip relative to the sample in three directions. The actuator executes a repetitive motion, characterized by a repetitive motion frequency, in one of the directions, and changes a distance between the sample and the probe tip in a second one of the directions. A probe position signal generator generates a probe position signal indicative of a position of the probe tip relative to the cantilever arm. A probe signal correction generator generates a corrected probe position signal by correcting the probe position signal for errors introduced by the repetitive motion. A controller maintains the probe tip in a fixed relationship with respect to the sample in the second one of the dimensions based on the corrected probe position signal.

Scanning probe microscopes are a class of imaging techniques in which a tip that interacts locally with a sample is scanned over the surface of the sample to generate a three-dimensional image representing the properties of the surface. For example, in atomic force microscopy, the surface interaction force between the probe tip and the sample are measured at each point on the sample. The tip has a very small end and is mounted on the end of a cantilevered arm. As the tip is moved over the surface of the sample, the arm deflects in response to the changes in topology of the surface. Images are typically acquired in one of two modes. In the contact or constant force mode, the tip is brought into contact with the sample and the tip moves up and down as the tip is moved over the surface. The deflection of the arm is a direct measure of force and topographical variations. A feedback controller measures the deflection and adjusts the height of the probe tip so as to maintain constant force between the cantilevered probe and the surface, i.e., the arm at a fixed deflection. The height of the probe tip as a function of position can then be used to create an "image" of the surface of the sample.
In the AC, or non-contact mode, the tip and arm are oscillated at a frequency near the resonant frequency of the arm. The height of the tip can be controlled such that the tip avoids contact with the sample surface, sampling short-range tip/sample forces. Alterations in the oscillation frequency from short range forces between the tip and the sample result in changes in the oscillations of the tip. Alternatively, the tip can be allowed to make light intermittent contact with the sample only at the bottom of the oscillation cycle. Contact between the probe tip and the sample results in an alteration of the amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the oscillation. The controller adjusts the height of the probe over the sample such that the oscillation amplitude, phase and/or frequency is kept at a predetermined constant value. Since the tip is not in constant contact with the sample, the sheer forces applied to the sample are significantly less than in the mode in which the tip is in constant contact. For soft samples, this mode reduces the damage that the tip can inflict on the sample and also provides a more accurate image of the surface in its non-disturbed configuration.
In all of these modes, the image is constructed one point at a time and limited by the rate at which the tip can be moved relative to the sample, as well as the time required for the servo loop to reposition the tip vertically to maintain the distance between the surface and the tip. Hence, the time to acquire an entire image can be several minutes or longer, since the image acquisition process depends on mechanically moving the sample being scanned relative to the measurement probe. In one class of system, the probe is moved over the sample in a raster scanning pattern that zig-zags back and forth over the sample until the entire sample area has been measured. The acquisition time depends on the resolution desired in the image; at high resolutions, the total scanning time can be very long. Such long acquisition times are tolerable for stationary samples that do not change over the long sample acquisition time. However, the use of scanning probe microscopy on dynamic systems, as in the case of measuring transient events in biological samples is inhibited by excessive sampling time, since the phenomena of interest often occur in times that are small compared to the image acquisition time.
Hence, scanning schemes that reduce the total scanning time have been sought. For example, more complex servo control algorithms are utilized to minimize the response time for tracking changes in topography at each measurement point on the sample. In a raster scan mode, the tip is moved rapidly in one direction and more slowly in the other direction. To simplify the following discussion, it will be assumed that the fast direction is the x-direction and that the slow direction is the y-direction. The repetitive motion generates signals at the x scan frequency and harmonics thereof in the detection signal. These harmonics can interfere with the tip height servo mechanism, and hence, lead to errors in the height measurements or a requirement that the scan speed be significantly reduced to reduce these errors. It is understood that there is repetitive motion along the slower y-direction and that this can also result in repetitive errors in the detected signal that can be addressed using this invention.

Harmonic correcting controller for a scanning probe microscope


A concrete slab lifter is disclosed, wherein the concrete slab lifter comprises a central support, a bottom plate attached to the bottom of the central support, a pair of wheels attached near the bottom of the central support, a jaw pivotally attached to the central support, and a handle attached to the top of the central support. The jaw is configured to slide along the central support and comprises a first member attached to the central support and configured to lock in a position flush against the central support, a second member attached perpendicularly to the first member, and a tooth comprising a sharpened plate attached perpendicularly to the second member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods of removing concrete.
2. Related Art
Concrete floors are generally between four and twelve inches thick. When removing concrete flooring, there are two alternative approaches. The first is to saw trenches into the concrete so that the concrete is cut into rectangular slabs between eighteen and forty-eight inches long in a grid-like pattern. Each piece, which can weigh up to five hundred pounds, must be pried off the ground, lifted by hand, and then placed on a dolly to be removed from the site. This requires the laborer to get his fingers under one end of the slab, lift that end up off of the ground, and roll the slab onto the dolly. Two laborers are generally required to roll the slab onto the dolly.
The second approach is to break the concrete floor into many small pieces and then remove the pieces from the site. This requires the laborer to make many trips with the pieces. It also produces small chunks and dust which are difficult to remove, making it difficult to leave the workplace clean after the concrete floor has been removed.


Improved keyboard accelerators are provided for executing functionalities of a software application utilizing text-based and non text-based buttons or controls. Upon selection of a prescribed keyboard accelerator initiation key, for example, the “Alt” key, a keyboard accelerator key tip in the form of a small window is displayed over the functionality buttons or controls displayed in a deployed user interface. Each key tip is labeled with one or more text characters for informing a user as to a secondary keyboard selection that must be made to execute the associated functionality.

With the advent of the computer age, computer and software users have grown accustomed to user-friendly software applications that help them write, calculate, organize, prepare presentations, send and receive electronic mail, make music, and the like. For example, modern electronic word processing applications allow users to prepare a variety of useful documents. Modern spreadsheet applications allow users to enter, manipulate, and organize data. Modern electronic slide presentation applications allow users to create a variety of slide presentations containing text, pictures, data or other useful objects. Modern database applications allow users to store, organize and exchange large amounts of data.
Most of such applications provide a user interface through which a number of individual buttons or controls may be selected for providing desired functionalities in documents and/or data. For example, buttons or controls may be selected for saving data, formatting data, organizing data, copying data, and the like. Prior applications often provide keyboard accelerators for allowing a user to quickly select and execute a given functionality without navigating to an associated button or control in a menu of controls. Such keyboard accelerators also allow efficient access to functionality when an associated computer is not equipped with selection devices, such as mouse or electronic pen devices. In most prior applications, keyboard accelerators include a keyboard key selection associated with a text character in a text-based name of the selected control. For example, a common keyboard accelerator for executing a "File" command includes selecting the keyboard "Alt" or "Ctrl" keys followed by selecting an "F" key. If a secondary function contained in an associated "File" menu is desired, for example, a "Save" function, then a secondary keystroke, for example, the "S" key may be selected for executing the secondary function. Users are typically informed of the availability of such keyboard accelerators by the display of an underline marking under a character of a text-based control. For example, the character "F" may be underlined in a text-based control for a "File" function, and the character "S" may be underlined in a text-based control for a "Save" function for informing users as to the keyboard accelerator keystrokes required for selecting the associated controls.
A problem occurs, however, when new or different user interfaces are developed and utilized for software applications that do not utilize text-based names for many selectable functionality controls. Some user interfaces provide selectable controls as graphical symbols or icons or as a mixture of graphical icons and some text-based controls. The prior approach of informing users of the presence of a keyboard accelerator by underlining a text character in text-based controls is ineffective for such new or different user interfaces containing one or more graphical icon-based controls.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.


There is a coding. The coding may include preparing video compression data based on source pictures utilizing a processor. The preparing may include processing a generated transform unit, including generating a significance map having a significance map array with y-x locations corresponding to the transform array. The generating may include scanning, utilizing a zigzag scanning pattern, a plurality of significance map elements in the significance map array. The generating may also include determining, utilizing the zigzag scanning pattern, a context model for coding a significance map element of the plurality of significance map elements based on a value associated with at least one coded neighbor significance map element of the significance map element in the significance map array. There is also a decoding including processing video compression data which is generated in the coding.

Video compression utilizes block processing for many operations. In block processing, a block of neighboring pixels is grouped into a coding unit and compression operations treat this group of pixels as one unit to take advantage of correlations among neighboring pixels within the coding unit. Block-based processing often includes prediction coding and transform coding. Transform coding with quantization is a type of data compression which is commonly "lossy" as the quantization of a transform block taken from a source picture often discards data associated with the transform block in the source picture, thereby lowering its bandwidth requirement but often also resulting in lower quality reproduction of the original transform block from the source picture.
MPEG-4 AVC, also known as H.264, is an established video compression standard utilizing transform coding in block processing. In H.264, a picture is divided into macroblocks (MBs) of 16×16 pixels. Each MB is often further divided into smaller blocks. Blocks equal in size to or smaller than a MB are predicted using intra-/inter-picture prediction, and a spatial transform along with quantization is applied to the prediction residuals. The quantized transform coefficients of the residuals are commonly encoded using entropy coding methods (i.e., variable length coding or arithmetic coding). Context Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) was introduced in H.264 to provide a substantially lossless compression efficiency by combining an adaptive binary arithmetic coding technique with a set of context models. Context model selection plays a role in CABAC in providing a degree of adaptation and redundancy reduction. H.264 specifies two kinds of scan patterns over 2D blocks. A zigzag scan is utilized for pictures coded with progressive video compression techniques and an alternative scan is for pictures coded with interlaced video compression techniques.
H.264 uses 2D block-based transform of block sizes 2×2, 4×4 and 8×8. A block-based transform converts a block of pixels in spatial domain into a block of coefficients in transform domain. Quantization then maps transform coefficients into a finite set. After quantization, many high frequency coefficients become zero. For a block having at least one non-zero coefficient after 2D transform and quantization operation, a significance map is developed, which specifies the position(s) of the non-zero quantized coefficient(s) within the 2D transform domain. Specifically, given a quantized 2D transformed block, if the value of a quantized coefficient at a position (y, x) is non zero, it is considered as significant and a "1" is assigned for the position (y, x) in the associated significance map. Otherwise, a "0" is assigned to the position (y, x) in the significance map. In
H.264, CABAC is used for coding and decoding each element of the significance map.
HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), an international video coding standard being developed to succeed H.264, extends transform block sizes to 16×16 and 32'32 pixels to benefit high definition (HD) video coding. In the models under consideration for HEVC, a set of transform coefficient coding and decoding tools can be enabled for entropy coding and decoding. Among these tools is an adaptive scan scheme, which is applied for significance map coding and decoding. This scheme adaptively switches between two scan patterns for coding and decoding a significance map if the significance map array size is larger than 8×8.
The adaptive scan scheme directs the scan order for coding and decoding a significance map by switching between two predefined scan patterns per diagonal line, either from bottom-left to top-right or from top-right to bottom-left diagonally. The switching occurs at the end of each diagonal sub-scan, and is controlled by two counters. The first counter, c1, tracks the number of coded significant transform coefficients located in the bottom-left half of a transform block. The second counter, c2, tracks the number of coded significant transform coefficients which are located in the top-right half of a transform block. The implementation of the models considered for HEVC with using two scan patterns and two counters introduces substantial computational complexity and additional memory requirements. These complexities include tracking the count of coded significant transform coefficients located in the bottom-left half or in the top-right half of a transform, performing branch operations and making scan selections for coefficients in significance map coding and decoding. On the other hand, the adaptive scan scheme achieves only a negligible performance gain. Or, it provides no substantial gain in reducing bandwidth requirements for compression data associated with transform processing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Coding and decoding utilizing adaptive context model selection with zigzag scan


A direct backlight module has a light guide plate, a plurality of lamp tubes, a reflecting plate and a frame. The light guide plate has a upper surface and a lower surface, and at least one surface of the light guide plate is coated with an ink layer. The lamp tubes are located below the light guide plate. The reflection plate is located below the lamp tubes. The frame covers the reflecting plate, lamp tubes and light guide plate. The ink layer contains a plurality of diffusing granules for diffusing lights to produce uniform lights.

With rapid advance of manufacturing technologies in thin film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD), and the advantages of slim and light, power saving and low radiation, LCDs have been widely used in various types of electronic products such as personal digital assistant (PDA), notebook computers, digital cameras, video cameras, mobile phones, and the like. In addition, the industry has invested heavily in research and development and uses mass production facilities. As a result, quality of LCD continuously improves and the price drops relentlessly, application scope of LCD is expanded drastically. However LCD cannot generate light by itself. It requires a backlight module to accomplish a display function.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional edge type backlight module 10. The module 10 includes a light guide plate 11, a reflecting plate 12, a lamp tube 13, a plurality of optical films 14 and a frame 15. The light guide plate 11 is made from a transparent acrylic plate which has a lower surface forming circular, hexagonal or square granular patterns by a screen printing or injection method to serve as diffusion dots 16 for scattering light. The reflecting plate 12 is located below the light guide plate 11 to reflect light emitted from the lamp tube 13 into the light guide plate 11 and to increase the utilization efficiency of the backlight module 10. The lamp tube 13 is located on one lateral side of the light guide plate 11 and is usually a cold cathode tube for projecting light into the light guide plate 11 from one end thereof. The optical films 14 are located above the light guide plate 11 and include a diffuser plate, prism sheet and polarizing sheet and the like. The frame 15 is for holding the reflecting plate 12, lamp tube 13, and light guide plate 11 and protects the backlight module 11 and the elements contained therein.
In the edge type backlight module depicted above, light emitted from the lamp tube enters the light guide plate from one end thereof and reaches the other end thereof to generate uniform lights. However, the size of the light guide plate increases with the dimension of LCD becomes larger. Light of the edge type backlight module cannot fully transmit from one end of the light guide plate to the other end due to a long path. As a result, bright variations occur from the end close to the lamp tube to the other end away from the lamp tube. Therefore, the LCD cannot generate uniform brightness.
Refer to FIG. 2 for a direct type backlight module 20. The module 20 includes a diffuser plate 21, a plurality of lamp tubes 22, a reflecting plate 23, a frame 24 and a plurality of optical films 25. The diffuser plate 21 is a white transparent acrylic plate. The diffuser plate 21 has a lower surface, a upper surface, and a plurality of diffusion dots located therein (not shown in the drawing) for diffusing lights. The lamp tubes 22 are located below the diffuser plate 21. The reflecting plate 23 is located under the lamp tubes 22. A portion of light emitted from the lamp tubes 22 directly enters the diffuser plate 21, while the rest portion of the light is reflected by the reflecting plate 23 and then enters the diffuser plate 21. The frame 24 covers the diffuser plate 21, lamp tubes 22 and reflecting plate 23 so as to protect the elements located in the backlight module 20. The optical films 25 are the same as the conventional ones depicted before, thus the details are omitted.
In the aforesaid direct backlight module 20, several lamp tubes 22 are uniformly located below the diffuser plate 21, the diffuser plate 21 may transmit uniform lights theoretically. However, due to the thickness of the diffuser plate 21, usually 2 to 4 mm, the light path is very short for lights passing through the diffuser plate 21, and lights are very difficult to be evenly diffused. As a result, some areas of the diffuser plate 21 transmit stronger scattering light beams while some other areas do not. This causes uneven brightness of the backlight module 20 as shown in FIG. 3, and a significant variation of brightness occurs on the LCD screen as shown in FIG. 4. It serious affects visual satisfactions of consumers. To remedy this problem, another conventional technique was developed. Several diffuser sheets are used to diffuse lights and obtain a more uniform light output for the backlight module. However, the improvement is limited, and each diffuser sheet has a high shielding ratio that result in a great impact to the brightness of the backlight module.
Therefore to overcome the disadvantages occurred to the conventional direct backlight modules and to develop improvement to achieve more uniform lighting to enhance the visual appealing of LCD is a goal hotly pursed in the industry at present.


Electrochromic optical device and method to produce the same. The device includes first substrate (1) on the one side of the substrate a first transparent conductor (2) on the conductor a first electrochromic layer (3), a second substrate (4), on the one side of the second substrate a second transparent conductor (5), on the second transparent conductor, a second electrochromic layer (6), the two substrates are laminated to each other by means of a solid state polymer with their sides carrying the respective transparent conductor and electrochromic layer facing each other. The polymer work as an ion conductor and is based on methylacrylate and poly(propyleneglycol) doped with a metal salt.

The invention relates to an electrochromic optical device and a method to manufacture the same. The invention may be used in optical devices such as windows, mirrors and high-contrast non-emissive display elements.
Electrochromism is known in oxides based on W, V, Ni, Mo, Ir, etc, and in numerous organic substances. Change in optical properties is caused by the injection or extraction of mobile ions. A material colouring, i.e. lowering its transparency, under injection or extraction is referred to, respectively, as cathodic or anodic material. Absorptance modulation as well as reflectance modulation are possible.
A practical coating in a device, for example having the form of a window, could comprise an electrochromic thin film integrated in an all-solid-state multilayer configuration.
It is known that one can form an optical device of this kind with two outer transparent conductors, required for applying the electric field, an electrochromic layer, an ion conductor in the following also mentioned as electrolyte, and an ion storage. This configuration is backed by a transparent substrate such as a glass pane; alternatively the configuration can be interposed between two transparent substrates. Coloration and bleaching are accomplished when ions are moved from the ion storage, via the ion conductor into the electrochromic layer or when the process is run in reverse. The ion storage can have the form of another electrochromic layer, preferably anodic if the base electrochromic layer is cathodic, or vice versa. By use of a purely ionic conductor, one can obtain an open circuit memory, i.e. the electric field has to be applied only when the optical properties are to be altered.
From French Patent No. 2 568 574 is known a solid state polymeric conductor usable in optical devices of the type described. As the polymer is suggested poly(ethylene glycol). It is also known that poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) also known as poly(propylene oxide) . . . diol, doped with metal salts (e.g. lithium, sodium or potassium) are relatively good ionic conductors. It is also known that poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and its diol poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are even better ion conductors at temperatures greater than 60.degree. C. Ratios of ether oxygen to metal in the range 9:1 to 25:1 produce the best conductivities in these series-some conductivities (for doped PPG) reaching as high as 5.times.10.sup.-5 S cm.sup.-1 at 25.degree. C.
These prior known electrolytes are hygroscopic. In addition, doped PPG is fairly fluid in the range of good ionic conductivity, and doped PEO is crystalline below about 60.degree. C. In a commercial product not only properties relating to the basic functions have to be considered, but also demands relating to the production and handling have to be fulfilled. A hygroscopic electrolyte will in practical use give a product with limited applicability or at least the necessity to build the device as a hermetically sealed casset. If, on the other hand, the electrolyte has a low solidity, i.e. it is fluid or gelatinous, or has a low adherence to pertinent surfaces it can not be integrated in the device as a carrying part of the same.

Electrochromic device and a method to manufacture the same


Feed for fish containing standard fish feed, 3-60 g urea/kg feed and 5-20 g trimethylamine oxide/kg feed. Such feed is useful to provide sea farmed fish having salt-water tolerance, reduced tendency for skin ulcers and improved effect of pigments in the feed.

The present invention relates to a feed for farmed fish. The invention further comprises a method to provide fish of high quality and use of additional components to prepare said feed.
The main purpose of the invention is to contribute to low cost production of high quality salmonides like rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon.
For the aquaculture industry it has long been an economic problem that farmed fish like salmon and trout do not naturally achieve the same strongly red colour as the wild species. Such farmed fishes are palely red, unless large amount of synthetic red pigments are supplemented to the feed, and therefore not as attractive as the wild fish to the customers.
In a world wide investigation, it is shown that next to product freshness the colour of the flesh is the most important quality criteria for the Atlantic salmon and thus fundamental for market acceptance and price (Koteng, 1992; Markedsunders.o slashed.kelse Norsk Laks. FNL. Bergen. Norway). Hence, to obtain an image and high market value of salmonides with regard to characteristic red or pink flesh pigmentation, pigments like astaxanthin are added to the feeds to make the fish more red.
The deposition rate of astaxanthin in the muscle of salmonides depends on several factors. These include the dietary source of astaxanthin, the concentration of astaxanthin, dietary fat content, and physiological factors such as fish size, growth rate, maturation, and genetic factors (Torrissen et al., 1995; <<Astaxanthin deposition in the flesh of Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar L., in relation to dietary astaxanthin concentration and feeding period>>, in Aquaculture nutrition, 77-84).
The supplement of pigments in the diets of salmonides represents a considerable part of the feed cost. In Norway for example, the astaxanthin supplement in Atlantic salmon diets represents about 20% of the feed costs, or close to 10% of the total production costs. This is mainly due to the low retention of dietary astaxanthin. Thus, increasing the dietary level of astaxanthin from 60 to 100 mg/kg gives an insignificant increase in muscle concentration of only 3% (Torrissen et al., 1995), and several studies have shown that increasing the dietary concentration of astaxanthin above 40 mg/kg gives a significantly reduced relative astaxanthin retention (%). Hence, to improve quality and to reduce production costs, it would be of great importance to develop a feed which improve the retention of dietary astaxanthin.
Another problem in fish farming is development of ulcers on the fish skin, especially for big salmon in the winter when the temperature is low, and for 0.sup.+ -smolt the first winter at sea. Ulcers increase mortality and reduce the price since slaughtered fish with ulcers are down classified from superior to production quality.
M. Staumes et al. (Aquaculture, vol. 90, 1990; <<Distanced, water-filled stomach in sea farmed rainbow trout)>>., pp. 333-343) have reported that a large amount of rainbow trout which are cultured in salt water develop a considerably enlarged abdomen. This is connected to a great enlarged stomach containing water and fat. There is today no treatments for fish suffering from this disease. In addition to the above mentioned problems, the rainbow trout, and in some cases also the salmon, have problems with the fat digestibility. The condition characterised as <<fat belching>> is put in association with the occurrence of water-filled stomach (O. Einen, Hovedoppgave ved NLH, 1989: <<Eit studium av vassbuk hos regnbogeaure>>).
The main object of the present invention is therefore to provide a fish feed which improves the quality of the fish with regard to colour, ulcers and fat digestibility.
The inventors wanted to examine the effect of urea and/or trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) in the feed with regard to promotion of growth and saltwater tolerance of the fish. Commercial fish feed supplemented with trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) is known from for example our own Norwegian patent no. 920083 where TMAO is added to the feed to achieve an optimum level of bio-available dietary iron, and French patent no. 2561871 where TMAO was supplemented to make the feed more appetising to the fish. From U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,018 using isobutylidene diurea as an additional component in the feed for pisciculture for the purpose of promoting growth is known. Furthermore, the utilization of dietary urea in rainbow trout has been studied by Kaushik. et al. in 1983 (<<Utilization of dietary urea in rainbow trout>>, Ann. Nutr. Metab., 27: 94-106).

Feed for farmed fish and method to provide fish of high quality by use of additional components in standard feed


An R.F. power amplifier circuit comprising a power control loop is described. The power control loop includes an R.F. power amplifier having a power control input and a power supply input as well as at least one feedback path coupled between the power control input and the power supply input of the power amplifier. The feedback path includes at least one variable loop element that has a control terminal configured to reduce variations of control loop parameters.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of radio frequency (R.F.) output power control and more particularly to an R.F. power amplifier circuit comprising a power control loop including an R.F. power amplifier. The invention further relates to a method of controlling the output power of the R.F. power amplifier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern R.F. applications like wireless communications devices require an efficient R.F. output power control for example to ensure a high transmission quality and to keep output signal fluctuations within limits that are defined in various standards.
Typically, R.F. output power control involves a power control loop including the R.F. power amplifier, a detector device for detecting the output power of the R.F. power amplifier and an error amplifier. Such an R.F. power control loop is known for example from U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,996.
The power amplifier known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,996 has a control input, a signal input, an R.F. power output and a detector output. The detector signal at the detector output is provided by a detector device in the form of a detector diode coupled between the R.F. power output and the detector output of the power amplifier. The detector output is coupled to a negative input of the error amplifier and an output of the error amplifier is connected to the control input of the power amplifier. Thus the power amplifier, the detector and the error amplifier form a power control loop with negative feedback. The error amplifier also has a positive input to which a reference signal is applied.
The R.F. output power control described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,996 is based on the measurement of the R.F. output power. However, in principle R.F. output power control could also be based on a measurement of the R.F. power amplifier current, i.e. on the power or current consumption of the R.F. power amplifier.
R.F. output power control based on a measurement of the R.F. power amplifier current is described in Ashok Bindra, "Smart biasing keeps R.F. power amplifier on track", electronic design, 21 Jan. 2002, pp. 38, 40. In this article a monolithic controller that regulates and controls the output power of an R.F. power amplifier is described.
The controller is part of a closed loop solution that permits calibration of the R.F. power amplifier's gate biasing voltage in real-time modes. A schematic block diagram of an R.F. power amplifier circuit comprising the known controller is depicted in FIG. 1a. As becomes apparent from FIG. 1a, the R.F. power amplifier circuit 10 comprises a power control loop 12 and a signal supply branch 14. The power control loop 12 comprises an R.F. power amplifier 22, a current sensing element in the form of a resistor 24, a detector in the form of a comparator 16 and a filter 18.
The resistor 24 is used to sense the drain current of the R.F. power amplifier 22. The drain current is converted into a voltage that is fed together with an external voltage reference from the signal supply branch 14 to the comparator 16.
The output signal of the comparator 16 is filtered by the filter 18 and the filtered signal is used to control the R.F. power amplifier's 22 gate biasing voltage.
To cope with temperature drift and aging that affect efficiency and linearization of the R.F. power amplifier 22, a control input 14′ is provided outside the power control loop 12 between the signal supply branch 14 and the comparator 16. By means of a control signal applied to the control input 14′ the output power POUT of the power amplifier 22 can be controlled.
Departing from an R.F. output power control scheme taking into account the R.F. power amplifier current, there is a need for a R.F. power amplifier circuit which allows a robust implementation of a power control scheme. There is also a need for a method of controlling the R.F. power amplifier of such an R.F. power amplifier circuit.


A method for fabricating a back-illuminated semiconductor imaging device on a thin semiconductor-on-insulator substrate, and resulting imaging device. Resulting device has a monotonically varying doping profile which provides a desired electric field and eliminates a dead band proximate to the backside surface.

Thinned, back illuminated, semiconductor imaging devices are advantageous over front-illuminated imagers for high fill factor and better overall efficiency of charge carrier generation and collection. A desire for such devices is that the charge carriers generated by light or other emanation incident on the backside should be driven to the front side quickly to avoid any horizontal drift, which may smear the image. It is also desirable to minimize the recombination of the generated carriers before they reach the front side, since such recombination reduces overall efficiency and sensitivity of the device.
These desires may be achieved by providing a thin semiconductor layer and a high electric field within this layer. The field should extend to the back surface, so that the generated carriers, such as electrons or holes, can be driven quickly to the front side. This requires additional treatment at the backside of the device, which adds to complexity of the fabrication process. One current technique includes chemical thinning of semiconductor wafers and deposition of a "flash gate" at the backside after thinning. This requires critical thickness control of the backside flash gate. Another technique involves growth of a thin dopant layer on a wafer back using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Still another known method used to provide a desired electric field is to create a gradient of doping inside the thinned semiconductor layer by backside implant of the layer followed by appropriate heat treatment for annealing and activation.
These methods can not be easily included in conventional semiconductor foundry processing, and require more expensive custom processing. They are therefore often not cost-effective and not suitable for commercial manufacturing.
Back-illuminated imaging devices may be designed to operate at wavelengths ranging from less than 100 nanometers (deep ultraviolet) to more than 3000 nanometers (far infrared). An important factor that affects the sensitivity of back illuminated imagers is the absorption depth of radiation in the semiconductor bulk. In general, the radiation will be absorbed within a region close to the back surface of the device. For maximum device efficiency, all charge carriers generated in this region must reach optical detection components situated on the opposing front side of the device. A general method that is employed to increase the sensitivity of a thinned back-illuminated imager is to implant p-type or n-type dopant at the backside and, with later heat treatments, create a dopant concentration profile which decreases in the direction toward the front side of the thin substrate. In the case of p-type doping, such doping concentration gradient gives rise to an electric field tending to drive light-generated electrons toward the front side. In the case of n-type doping, such doping concentration gradient gives rise to an electric field tending to drive light-generated holes toward the front side.
For silicon imaging devices designed to operate in the deep ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range, the problem of getting the majority of generated carriers from the backside to the front side may be especially challenging, since the radiation is absorbed, and the carriers generated, within about 20 nanometers (nm) of the back surface. Careful tailoring of the electric field within a thin semiconductor layer may be particularly desirable for back-illuminated imaging devices in this wavelength range. This may be accomplished by introducing dopants to generate a desired internal electric field, as described above. When introducing the dopant by implantation, however, the doping concentration profile may have a maximum within about 20 nm from the back surface. The doping concentration will then be lower than the maximum in the first 20 nm or so from the back surface and this will cause the semiconductor electron energy bands to be lower near the surface, causing a "dead band". Stated another way, the electric field in the region within the first 20 nm or so of the back surface will tend to drive light-generated electrons toward the back surface, and trap them in that vicinity. Since, in silicon, most of the UV radiation is absorbed within the same approximately 20 nm region near the back surface, most of the generated electrons may be trapped in this dead band, resulting in poor sensitivity.

Back-illuminated imaging device and method of fabricating same


The present invention comprises a method and system for implementing prioritized communications in a computer system. The present invention is implemented on a computer system having a microprocessor and a plurality of peripheral devices coupled to the computer system. The system of the present invention determines a first priority level and determines a second priority level. The system of the present invention receives a bandwidth allocation request from a software process to transfer data at the first priority level between two or more peripheral devices. The system subsequently allocates a first priority data transfer bandwidth between the devices in response to the request and performs a first data transfer between the devices using the first priority data transfer bandwidth. In addition, the system of the present invention performs a second data transfer between other devices using a second priority data transfer bandwidth. The second data transfer occurs at a second priority level. Thus, the system of the present invention ensures the first data transfer at the first priority level is not disturbed by the second data transfer. In this manner, the system of the present invention guarantees the first priority data transfer bandwidth for the software process.

In the past, computers were primarily applied to processing rather mundane, repetitive numerical and/or textual tasks involving number-crunching, spread sheeting, and word processing. These simple tasks merely entailed entering data from a keyboard, processing the data according to some computer program, and then displaying the resulting text or numbers on a computer monitor and perhaps later storing these results in a magnetic disk drive. However, today's computer systems are much more advanced, versatile, and sophisticated. Especially since the advent of digital media applications and the Internet, computers are now commonly called upon to accept and process data from a wide variety of different formats ranging from audio to video and even realistic computer-generated three-dimensional graphic images. A partial list of applications involving these digital media applications include the generation of special effects for movies, computer animation, real-time simulations, video teleconferencing, Internet-related applications, computer games, telecommuting, virtual reality, high-speed databases, real-time interactive simulations, medical diagnostic imaging, and the like.
The proliferation of digital media applications is due to the fact that information can be more readily conveyed and comprehended with pictures and sounds rather than with text or numbers. Video, audio, and three-dimensional graphics render a computer system more user friendly, dynamic, and realistic. However, the added degree of complexity for the design of new generations of computer systems necessary for processing these digital media applications is tremendous. The ability of handling digitized audio, video, and graphics requires that vast amounts of data be processed at extremely fast speeds. An incredible amount of data must be processed every second in order to produce smooth, fluid, and realistic full-motion displays on a computer screen. Additional speed and processing power is needed in order to provide the computer system with high-fidelity stereo sound and real-time, and interactive capabilities. Otherwise, if the computer system is too slow to handle the requisite amount of data, its rendered images would tend to be small, grainy and otherwise blurry. Furthermore, movement in these images would likely be jerky and disjointed because its update rate is too slow. Sometimes, entire video frames might be dropped. Hence, speed is of the essence in designing modern, state-of-the-art computer systems.
One of the major bottlenecks in designing fast, high-performance computer systems is the method in which the various hardware devices comprising the computer system communicate with each other. This method is dictated by the "bus" architecture of the computer system. A "bus" is comprised of a set of wires that is used to electrically interconnect the various semiconductor chips and hardware devices of the computer system. The bus acts as a shared conduit over which electronic signals are conducted, enabling the various components to communicate with each other.
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art bus architecture 100. Virtually all of today's computer systems use this same type of busing scheme. Computer system 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101 coupled to a host bridge/memory controller 102, which in turn coupled to a random access memory system (hereafter memory) 103 and a bus 104. Various devices 105-108 are coupled to computer system 100 via bus 104.
Bus 104 is used to electronically interconnect the CPU 101 with the memory 103 via bridge/memory controller 102. CPU 101 also accesses the various other devices 105-108 via bus 104. Bus 104 is comprised of a set of physical wires which are used to convey digital data, address information for specifying the destination of the data, control signals, and timing/clock signals. For instance, CPU 101 may generate a request to retrieve certain data stored on hard disk 105. This read request is communicated via bridge/memory controller 102 and via bus 104 to hard disk 105. Upon receipt of this read request, hard disk 105 accesses and reads the desired data from its internal media and subsequently sends the data back over bus 104 to the CPU 101. Once the CPU is finished processing the data, it can be sent via bus 104 for output by a device coupled to bus 104 (e.g., graphics output device 106 or network adapter device 107).
One constraint with this prior art bus architecture is the fact that it is a "shared" arrangement. All of the components 105-108 share the same bus 104. They each rely on bus 104 to meet their individual communication needs. However, bus 104 can transfer only a finite amount of data to any one of devices 105-108 in any given time period (e.g., typically measured as millions of bytes per second, or MB/sec). The total amount of data which can be transferred in a given time period is often referred to as the data transfer "bandwidth" or simply bandwidth. The total amount of data which can be transferred over bus 104 in a given time period is referred to as the bandwidth of bus 104, and for a typical computer system is often between 100 to 300 MBytes/sec.
Computer system 100 uses a relatively simple arbitration scheme to allocate bus bandwidth. Hence, if bus 101 is currently busy transmitting signals between two of the devices (e.g., device 105 and device 106), then all the other devices (e.g., memory 102, device 104, and CPU 103) must wait their turn until that transaction is complete and bus 104 again becomes available. If a conflict arises, an arbitration circuit, usually residing in bridge/memory controller 102, resolves which of the devices 105-108 gets priority of access to bus 104. Because of this, it becomes very difficult to predict and account for how the bandwidth is allocated among devices using the bus. There is not an efficient means for controlling bus bandwidth allocation among competing devices. In computer system 100, as in other typical computer systems, it is difficult to efficiently coordinate among competing devices for use of the computer system's bus.
In addition to coordinating for use of the computer system's bus, another constraint results from the fact that individual hardware devices have internal schemes for coordinating among competing data requests. For example, hard disk 105 may be accessing frames of video data for output to graphics device 106 for display. Subsequently, hard disk 105 receives a request to store data output from CD-ROM 108 and a request for data from network adapter device 107. Since, data retrieval and output by hard disk 105 cannot occur instantaneously, the competing requests are placed into an internal queue. The competing data requests are subsequently serviced by hard disk 105 serially. Thus, when graphics device 106 requests the next frames of data, the request must wait in the internal queue with the other requests. Because of this, a video stream played by graphics device 106 could drop several frames, or even fail entirely. Even though access to the video data may be a much higher priority to the user than the data request from CD-ROM 108 or network adapter 107, the higher priority request must wait in the internal queue with all other lower priority requests.
These constraints make it difficult for current computer systems (e.g., computer systems in accordance with computer system 100) to run the latest, most real-time critical, software applications. As such, applications written for these systems are structured to function around the bandwidth and priority limitations of the computer system 100. The nature of data the applications transfer via the system bus is accordingly dictated by the total bandwidth and bandwidth allocation constraints of the system bus. As a result, there are very few full motion 3D simulation applications written for desktop systems. In the 3D applications that do exist, the realism and richness of the 3D applications are greatly simplified in order to reliably and responsively run without slowing the computer system to a crawl. Tomorrow's applications will be rich 3D simulations. They will include extensive video manipulation by the computer system's processor. Multiple video streams, digital synthesis, digital audio are a few of the many applications envisioned. Given their constraints, typical computer systems (e.g., computer system 100) are rapidly becoming insufficient in light of the demands imposed by tomorrow's new applications.
Thus, what is required is a method and system which greatly increases communication efficiency among applications of differing priority. What is required is a method and system which accommodates the critical real-time data requirements of digital video, digital audio, 3D graphics, real-time compression and decompression applications, and the like. What is further desired is a method of servicing the bandwidth requirements of the above high priority applications without shutting out requests from lower priority applications. The desired solution should provide communications efficiency benefits in computer systems not having solution specific hardware support. The method and system of the present invention provides a novel solution to the above requirements.

System for communications where first priority data transfer is not disturbed by second priority data transfer and where allocated bandwidth is removed when process terminates abnormally


The present invention relates to a composition for optical materials, comprising (a) a compound having in one molecule at least one structure represented by the following Formula 1:

Plastic materials are recently widely used in manufacturing optical materials, particularly, spectacle lenses because of their light weight, toughness and easiness of dyeing. Optical materials, particularly, spectacle lenses are required to have, in addition to a low specific gravity, a high refractive index and a large Abbe's number for optical properties, and a high heat resistance and a high impact resistance for physical properties. A large refractive index makes it possible to reduce the thickness of lens. A high Abbe's number reduces the chromatic aberration of lens. A high heat resistance and a high impact strength facilitate the fabrication process and are important in view of safety in use.
The inventors found a novel sulfur compound capable of providing a thin optical material having a low chromatic aberration, and filed applications for patent (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 9-71580, 9-110979 and 9-255781, and Japanese Patent Application No.2000-20627). The inventors further found a resin composition capable of enhancing the impact resistance, and filed applications for patent (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-292950 and 11-318960). However, the refractive index decreased with increasing impact resistance, because the component for improving the impact resistance, in turn, reduces the refractive index. Therefore, the novel sulfur compound, found by the inventors, capable of providing a thin optical material having a low chromatic aberration fails to exert its effect sufficiently in the resin composition having an improved impact resistance.

Abstract: wherein R1 is a single bond or a C1-10 hydrocarbon group, each of R2, R3 and R4 is a C1-10 hydrocarbon group or hydrogen, Y is O, 5, Se or Te, m is 1 to 5, and n is 0 to 5; (b) a compound having in one molecule at least one isocyanate group and/or at least one isothiocyanate group; (c) a compound having in one molecule at least one mercapto group; and (d) an inorganic compound having sulfur atom and/or selenium atom, and also relates to an optical material produced by polymerization curing the composition, a production method thereof, and an optical lens comprising the optical material. The present invention provides a high refractive, high Abbe's number optical material having an improved impact resistance.


An adjustably cushioned sock wherein a plurality of flexible bladders are provided internally of the sock to receive and retain variable amounts of air therein; pumps to variably supply air to the internal flexible bladders; and a release value to permit such air contained within the flexible internal bladders to be variably exhausted therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to socks and more particularly pertains to socks which may be adjustably cushioned to maximize wearer comfort.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of cushioned socks is known in the prior art. More specifically, means heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of cushioning socks are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. More specifically, the prior art has utilized multiple layers of padding to cushion, generally, the soles of such socks as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,635 wherein terry loops are provided to form a "cushion foot" or U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,515 wherein a padded bottom portion of latex is secured to the bottom of a sock. U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,981 likewise utilizes terry loops to cushion the instep portion of a sock. All of these approaches provide cushioning where and as the sock manufacturer decides is important but leave the wearer unable to adjust such cushioning to fit his particular needs.
In this respect, the sock according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides means for adjustably controlling the cushioning of the sock to the wearer's specification.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved socks which can be more comfortably cushioned. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


A method for detecting microscopic differences in the thickness of a photoresist film coated on a wafer through naked eyes, which is capable of accurately controlling the critical dimension of the photoresist film patterns even in devices of 256 M DRAM or more and allows the yield to be analyzed with accuracy, comprising the steps of: subjecting the photoresist film to thermal treatment at a low temperature, to make some low molecular weight compounds or solvent molecules to remain within the photoresist film; forming a special material layer over the photoresist film within a certain thickness; and executing high-temperature thermal treatment, to gush up the remaining low-molecular weight compounds or solvent molecules from the photoresist film through relative thin parts of the special material layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a method for detecting microscopic differences in the thickness of a photoresist film coated on a wafer. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method for detecting the microscopic differences visibly such that the topology of the photoresist film can be improved easily.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the design rule is smaller or the relative size of a wafer is smaller, which is attributed to the high integration of devices, it is more difficult to maintain uniformly the critical dimension (hereinafter referred to as "CD") of the patterns which are formed on many dies all over the wafer by lithography. In addition, microscopic differences in the thickness of the photoresist film coated on the wafer causes a difference in standing wave effect in spite of the same exposure energy, resulting in an alteration of the CD of each of the dies formed over the wafer. The amount of standing wave effect (S) is represented as Equation I: EQU S=C(R.sub.1 .times.R.sub.2).sup.1/2 e.sup.-.alpha.D I!
wherein C stands for constant;
R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 each are the intensity of a light scattered from the boundary between the bottom of a photoresist film and the upper surface of the wafer;
a is a light transmittivity parameter associated with the components of the photoresist film; and
D is the thickness of the photoresist film.
Because the amount of standing wave effect (S) has a proportional relation as represented in Equation I, the change of S value arises dependently on the R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 values with the same period with the thickness in the photoresist film.
With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a curve of CD with respect to thickness of a photoresist film coated on a wafer. As shown in this curve, CD values are periodically changed. The change of CD value is dependent on the values of R.sub.1 and R.sub.2. In the figure, reference character "t" is a coating thickness difference of photoresist film which corresponds to a period of the standing wave effect. The coating thickness difference of photoresist film is proportional to .lambda./4n wherein .lambda. is a wavelength and n is a refractive index. Thus, the coating thickness difference of photoresist film (t) is microscopically change din a highly integrated device which has been exposed to a light source with a short wavelength, thereby changing the CD value. For 256 M DRAM (mega dynamic random access memory) an excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm is used for a photoresist film with a refractive index ranging from 1.6 to 1.7.
Generally speaking, spin-coat processes show their own characteristic differences in the coating thickness of photoresist film. The differences according to the spin-coat processes are unable to be measured by naked eyes. This is possible with a special measuring apparatus. However, there arise problems when measuring the coating state by means of such apparatus. Because measurements at many locations of the coating, which may be necessary for the accurate examination into the coating state of photoresist film, cannot be carried out or recognition of the outline of the coating shape is not possible, it is difficult to appropriately control the rotational speed, the amount of rinse for the photoresist film, the acceleration and the annealing step prior to the exposure when carrying out the coating process, resulting in obstructing the high integration of devices.

Method for detecting microscopic differences in thickness of photoresist film coated on wafer

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A communications scheme is provided whereby each of a plurality of I/O devices is connected to a system controller via three lines: a bidirectional data bus, a clock bus, and a bidirectional enable/interrupt line. The enable/interrupt lines serve the dual-purpose of carrying interrupt signals from an I/O device to the system controller and carrying enable signals from the system controller to the I/O device. To avoid conflict on an enable/interrupt line, an I/O device may send an interrupt only while the clock signal is at a first level. When the clock signal is at a second level, the I/O device is required to monitor its enable/interrupt line for an enable signal from the system controller.

In a system for transferring data between digital electronic devices, one of the devices is typically responsible for controlling data transfers and is designated the system controller, or master, while other devices in the system operate in conjunction with the master and are termed slaves. For expository convenience, the present invention is illustrated with reference to slaves that are I/O devices, although it will be recognized other types of slave devices may of course be used.
In most prior art systems, the system controller and the I/O devices are interconnected with a number of common buses. These buses typically include an address bus, an enable bus, a data bus, a clock bus, a read bus, a write bus, and one or more interrupt lines. Data transfer is controlled by the system controller through signals sent on these buses.
For example, when data is written from the system controller to an I/O device, the system controller is required to provide the address of the I/O device to the address bus, an enable signal to the enable bus, and a write signal to the write bus before sending data on the data bus in synchronization with a clock signal on the clock bus. The signal on the address bus serves to identify the I/O device to which the data is to be transferred. The address bus often comprises plural wires.
When reading information from an I/O device, the system controller again places the address of the device on the address bus while applying an enable signal to the enable bus and a read signal to the read bus. The system controller then reads information placed on the data bus by the addressed I/O device in synchronization with a clock signal on the clock bus.
Data transfer may also be initiated by an I/O device. When a data transfer is initiated by an I/O device, the I/O device applies an interrupt request signal to an interrupt line and the system controller services the request by determining which device generated the interrupt request and completing the requested read or write operation as described above.
One significant disadvantage of the prior art described above is the large number of wires required to connect an I/O device to the system. The I/O circuitry of an I/O device is typically realized as an integrated circuit. Each wire connected to an integrated circuit requires a separate pin and a pad on the chip. Each pad consumes a very large area of the chip compared to the area required for other discrete logic elements. Thus, each additional pad severely limits the amount of logic elements that may be placed on the chip, and consequently limits the complexity and functionality of the circuit. Also, the size of the circuit package is determined by the number of pins: the greater the number of pins, the larger the chip package. It is therefore advantageous to minimize the number of wires required to connect the I/O device to the system.
A further disadvantage results from the requirement of identifying the subject I/O device through a coded address sent on an address bus. The number of address code combinations is limited by the number of addressing pins that have been provided on the I/O circuit of the I/O device. The number of different address codes available, and hence the number of allowable I/O devices in the system, is two to the nth power, where n is the number of dedicated address pins. Many systems are therefore limited in the number of I/O devices allowed in the system by the number of address pins provided in the I/O devices.
In accordance with the present invention, a communications/control scheme is provided wherein each I/O device is connected to the system controller via three lines. One of the lines is a bidirectional enable/interrupt line connecting the I/O device to the system controller. The enable/interrupt line conveys both an enable signal to the I/O device and an interrupt request to the system controller. The remaining two wires are bussed lines that connect to all I/O devices and the system controller. One of the lines is a data bus for conveying data between the I/O devices and the system controller. The other is a clock bus for conveying a synchronizing signal for synchronizing serial data transmission. By this arrangement, a sparse control/communications network is provided that can accommodate an arbitrarily large number of I/O devices without a commensurate increase in the number of lines provided to each I/O device.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Three line communications method and apparatus


This invention relates to photosensitive organometallic compounds which are used in the production of metal deposits. In particular, this invention relates to photosensitive organometallic compounds such as bis-(perfluoropropyl)-1,5-cyclooctadiene platinum (II) (i.e. (C3F7)2PtC8H12) which on exposure to UV radiation and then a reduction process forms a platinum metal deposit such as a substantially continuous thin ‘sheet-like’ film or a substantially narrow line which is capable of electrical conduction.

Thin metal lines are required in integrated circuitry in, for example, opto-electronics, semiconductor technologies and electronic surgical implants.
For nanoscale circuits, conventional methods using metallic inks or mask and etch processes do not as yet possess the requirements which can ensure the deposition of accurate straight lines of high resolution, and the formation of perfect right angles rather than arcs during integrated circuit manufacture. Furthermore, if high resolution is not obtained high density interconnects cannot be manufactured.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate and/or mitigate against this.


A vehicle side portion structure includes an inner member and an outer member that is disposed outward of the inner member in a vehicle width direction, the inner member and the outer member being bonded to each other through spot welding. An upper corner portion of the inner member is provided with a welded portion provided with a welding point on which the spot welding is performed, and a bead portion is provided in the vicinity of the welded portion of the inner member such that the bead portion surrounds the welded portion.

As a vehicle side portion structure in the related art, for example, a technique described in International Unexamined Patent Application No. 2008/155871 is known. In the case of the vehicle side portion structure described in International Unexamined Patent Application No. 2008/155871, a lower end portion of a center pillar inner is spot welded to a side sill stiffener, an upper end portion of the center pillar inner is spot welded to a roof side rail, a lower end portion of a center pillar stiffener lower is spot welded to the side sill stiffener, and an upper end portion of the center pillar stiffener lower is spot welded to a lower end portion of a center pillar stiffener upper.


The invention relates to a helicopter including a structural framework, at least one main rotor for lift and propulsion integral with said structural framework and a drive train for driving said main rotor including a power transmission gearbox and at least one main engine, wherein it further includes a plurality of extra booster power units fixed to said structural framework and configured so as to be able to supply extra lift of the helicopter in case of failure of the helicopter's drive train.

A helicopter conventionally comprises a main rotor for lift and propulsion forming a rotating wing, driven by a drive train comprising a main transmission gearbox and at least one main engine, such as a turbo-engine. The purpose of the main transmission gearbox of the helicopter is notably to transmit the lift forces of the rotor to the whole structure of the helicopter. A helicopter also comprises an anti-torque means, which is often formed by a second rotor, the tail rotor, coupled to the drive train.
There are single-engine helicopters, i.e. helicopters whose drive train only comprises a single engine. There are also multi-engine helicopters, in particular twin-engine or triple-engine helicopters, i.e. helicopters whose drive train comprises several engines.
Regardless of the type of helicopter in question (single-engine or multi-engine), failure of an engine of the drive train reduces the power supplied by the drive train to the main rotor for lift and propulsion of the helicopter, which may have disastrous consequences for the helicopter and its passengers.
For example, in the case of a single-engine helicopter, a loss of power of the main engine requires the pilot to undertake a tricky manoeuvre of autorotation for an emergency landing. The statistics show that in certain conditions this manoeuvre may lead to a "hard" landing, causing serious damage to the helicopter.
It has therefore been proposed, notably by the applicant, to install a means on the helicopter capable of supplying additional power very quickly, to ensure a safe manoeuvre of autorotation of a single-engine helicopter by preventing a drop in rotor speed in any of the phases of this manoeuvre.
In the case of a multi-engine helicopter, various solutions have also been proposed, notably by the applicant, for supplying a surplus of power allowing sufficient power to be maintained at the level of the helicopter rotor. For example, one of the solutions proposed consists of injecting fluid in the working turbines to increase their power temporarily and thus overcome the loss or failure of an engine. Another solution consists of mechanical assistance for the working turbines by supplying mechanical power to the gas generator of this working turbine. Another solution consists of supplying a surplus of power directly to the helicopter rotor or to the main transmission gearbox of the drive train.
All the solutions proposed, for single-engine or multi-engine applications, aim to supply a surplus of power to the helicopter's drive train for finally supplying a surplus of power at the level of the main rotor, which makes it possible to limit the drop in rotor speed, and thus maintain sufficient lift to keep the helicopter flying or at least reduce the speed at which the helicopter descends.
One of the drawbacks shared by these various solutions is that a failure in the kinematic chain of the main rotor (main transmission gearbox, rotor, pitch control, tail rotor, etc.) for lift cannot be compensated by supplying power. Therefore none of the proposed solutions makes it possible to overcome a failure in the kinematic chain of the main rotor.
Furthermore, in the case of a multi-engine helicopter, it is necessary to oversize the turbo-engines so as to be able to keep the helicopter flying in case of failure of one of the engines. These oversized turbo-engines are detrimental in terms of weight and fuel consumption.
Moreover, it has been proposed, in document U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,457 A, to equip the helicopter with propulsion units incorporated in the fuselage in order to limit the speed of descent. However, with regard to the solution of equipping the helicopter with additional devices so as to be able to supply a surplus of propulsive power if needed, this requires a more complex architecture of the helicopter and of the drive train, making the helicopter even heavier, which is also detrimental in terms of weight and fuel consumption.
The applicant has therefore sought a novel solution that overcomes the drawbacks of the known solutions.

Helicopter equipped with a device for emergency lift assistance


An insulation structure for high temperature conditions and a manufacturing method thereof. In the insulation structure, a substrate has a conductive pattern formed on at least one surface thereof for electrical connection of a device. A metal oxide layer pattern is formed on a predetermined portion of the conductive pattern by anodization, the metal oxide layer pattern made of one selected from a group consisting of Al, Ti and Mg.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulation structure for high temperature conditions and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to an insulation structure in which a metal oxide in place of a conventional epoxy resin is employed as an insulation layer through anodization, thereby suitable for subsequent high temperature conditions, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various substrates or packages for current use are bonded to another substrate or package by employing solder paste, conductive paste or thermal eutectic method. Here, an electrical insulating layer (solder resist or insulation film) is formed on a conductive material to prevent the paste or conductive material from being electrically connected to other conductive parts.
Conventionally, in order to electrically insulate the substrate or package, a solder resist is formed through a liquid epoxy resin or film which responds to light. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional process of forming such a solder resist. As shown in FIG. 1, conventionally, a resin 5 for forming a solder resist is applied on both surfaces of a substrate 1 each having a predetermined pattern 3. Then, the resin 5 is exposed, developed and cured to form a desired solder resist pattern.
But the solder resist as an insulating material is thermally weak. Thus, in high temperature conditions necessary for manufacturing the package these days, the solder resist suffers delamination due to thermal transformation, thereby undermining reliability of the substrate. Also, a general epoxy material exhibits high heat resistance, thus inadequate for dissipating heat from a device.

Insulation structure for high temperature conditions and manufacturing method thereof