The present invention provides a patterning unit of a warp knitting machine having a holding member with a stator of a linear pulse motor disposed thereon and a plurality of moving elements provided at arbitrary intervals on the holding member with parts of the moving elements being constructed as guide points. A control method increases reliability and accuracy of positioning the moving elements and eliminates erroneous operation such as step-out by providing a position sensor and by exciting movement of the moving elements on a step by step basis based upon positions of the moving elements sensed by the position sensor. The control method includes providing the moving elements each with a linear motor coil assembly for functioning in conjunction with the stator to move the moving elements along the holding member.

The present invention relates to a patterning unit of a warp knitting machine and more particularly to a patterning unit which controls the position of a guide point provided on a holding member individually by means of a linear pulse motor and to control methods thereof.
Hitherto, patterning of a warp knitting machine has been carried out by lapping patterning reeds in which guide points are mounted in a direction of a row of needles of the patterning reed based on means for lapping the patterning reeds such as a chain drum and an electronic patterning unit. However, because only the same quantity of lapping can be obtained for all the guide points mounted on one patterning reed, the superiority of patterning effect caused by a number of patterning reeds is proportional to the number of patterning reeds.
In view of the prior art problem described above, the present applicant proposed a new patterning unit previously in Japanese Patent Application No. 06-200750 (PCT/JP95/00032). This patterning unit is arranged such that guide points are provided individually as part of moving elements in a fixed guide path which corresponds to the patterning reed so as to be movable individually within the guide path.
However, even though the above-mentioned patterning unit patterns through the control of the movement of the moving elements on which the guide points are provided by utilizing linear pulse motors, it has left room for improvement in the following points:
(1) When a number of holding members increases, it is necessary to deal with it by thinning the linear pulse motor further;
(2) It is necessary to solve the problem of short life of a bearing caused by a large attraction force generated between a stator and a moving element of the linear pulse motor;
(3) It is necessary to take measures for preventing erroneous operation due to step-out power failure and external noise in the positioning control;
(4) With the increase of numbers of the holding members and of moving elements, it is necessary to improve a wiring method for wiring connection cables to the moving elements to realize a range in which the moving elements can be moved freely. This is a problem in mounting to the warp knitting machine;
(5) With the increase of numbers of the holding members and moving elements, it is necessary to simplify the assembly and adjustment of the unit. This is a problem in mounting to the warp knitting machine;
(6) It is necessary to correct a pitch error which might be caused by the difference in working precision of pitches of poles of a stator assembled to the holding member, in working precision of pitches of knitting needles and in expansion coefficient of the holding members due to environmental temperature changes;
(7) In operation, because a plurality of layers of patterning reeds, i.e. the holding members, are disposed, it is necessary to simplify the replacement of the guide point and its alignment with a knitting needle of each moving element which is located behind another; and
(8) With the increase of the number of moving elements to be mounted, a control method is required which allows each moving element to be positioned at high-speed in synchronism with the rapid rotation of the warp knitting machine while maintaining the free movable range of each moving element and which can realize the above-mentioned points (3) through (7) at low cost.

Patterning unit of warp knitting machine and control method thereof


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that predicts a manufacturing yield of a chip. During operation, the system first receives a chip layout. Next, the system identifies hotspots within the chip layout, wherein a hotspot is a location within the chip layout wherein a yield-indicative variable value falls in a low manufacturable range. The system then obtains yield scores for the hotspots, wherein a yield score indicates a failure probability for a corresponding hotspot. Next, the system predicts the manufacturing yield for the chip based on the hotspots and the yield scores for the hotspots.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for predicting manufacturing yield for integrated circuit chips. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for predicting manufacturing yield for integrated circuit chips based on hotspots and hotspot-related information collected within the integrated circuit chips.
2. Related Art
Dramatic improvements in semiconductor integration circuit (IC) technology presently make it possible to integrate hundreds of millions of transistors onto a single semiconductor IC chip. These improvements in integration densities have largely been achieved through corresponding improvements in semiconductor manufacturing technologies, which have recently achieved ultra-deep-submicron feature sizes.
On the flip side, the constant drive towards ever-decreasing feature sizes has led to a significant increase in manufacturing costs. One of the main causes of the increasing manufacturing costs is a significant decrease in manufacturing yield. Therefore, it is extremely desirable to be able to predict manufacturing yield at the design stage. A methodology that performs yield prediction and evaluation at the design stage is referred to as "design for manufacturability" (DFM).
Note that DFM can be used to improve design-related manufacturing yield for IC chips. More specifically, DFM facilitates identifying problematic regions in a chip layout from manufacturing yield perspective. This enables corrections and improvements to be made during the design stage to improve the ultimate manufacturing yield. Furthermore, the yield prediction and evaluation can facilitate formulating an objective function associated with the yield, wherein the objective function can be used for yield-aware layout optimization.
The IC manufacturing process can be viewed as a function. The inputs of this function typically include process parameters and chip layout patterns, and the outputs of this function are the physical variable values. By definition, a chip yield associated with a specific process-related physical variable is the probability that the variable values fall inside the manufacturing specifications (i.e., an upper bound and a lower bound) at all locations within the chip. For example, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process-induced yield can be defined as the probability of a topography thickness being inside the specifications. We refer to these process-related physical variables as "yield-indicative variables" because their values can be used to extract the manufacturing yield. Also note that the yield associated with the process parameters and the chip layout patterns is a "systematic yield," which is distinct from a "random yield," such as random-partial-related yield.
IC manufacturing processes typically involve complex physical and chemical interactions. Because it is impossible to control these complex physical and chemical interactions perfectly, yield-indicative variable values tend to fluctuate around corresponding nominal values, leading to systematic yield loss. Complementary to the yield definition, yield loss associated with a yield-indicative variable is defined as the probability that the yield-indicative variable values fall outside the manufacturing specifications/bounds. Note that CMP-induced yield losses and lithography printability induced yield losses have become two of the significant systematic yield loss sources that result from the continuing reductions in IC feature sizes.
One existing approach for yield/loss prediction is the cumulative distribution function (CDF) approach. The CDF approach relies on having precise knowledge of both the distributions of a given yield-indicative variable at all chip locations and spatial correlations between these distributions. If such knowledge is available, a joint CDF can then be derived for this yield-indicative variable. Next, the total chip yield can be computed based on the derived joint CDF function. However, the feasibility of the CDF approach for predicting yield depends on the availability of the yield-indicative variable distributions.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to perform yield prediction using the CDF approach because of the difficulties in obtaining the yield-indicative variable distributions. These difficulties arise for a number of reasons. (1) Precise process parameter distributions are extremely difficult to obtain due to both technical difficulties and proprietary information issues. (2) Process parameters affect the values and distributions of the yield-indicative variables through a highly nonlinear process. Hence, even if the precise distributions of the process parameters can be obtained, they are substantially different from the distributions of the yield-indicative variables. For example, if the process parameter has a Gaussian distribution, the yield-indicative variables will typically have a non-Gaussian distribution. (3) The chip layout patterns also affect the values and distributions of the yield-indicative variables. Therefore, even if the process parameters are the same across an entire chip, the responses of the yield-indicative variable values at different chip locations can be different because of the different layout patterns. Consequently, the distributions of the yield-indicative variables at different chip locations can be different.
Because raw measurement data of the yield-indicative variables are extremely difficult to obtain from the fabrication plant (FAB) due to both technical difficulties and proprietary information issues, people tend to make assumptions and approximations about this data in order to use the CDF approach. Unfortunately, the errors introduced by these assumptions are typically quite unstable and unpredictable.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for predicting IC manufacturing yield without the above-described problems.

Predicting IC manufacturing yield based on hotspots


A valve assembly for a fuel injector that includes a sleeve member having an interior chamber, a piston member supported for movement within the interior chamber of the sleeve member and separating an upstream pressure side of the valve assembly from a downstream pressure side of the valve assembly, and a dynamic sealing device mounted to one of the sleeve member and the piston member for sealingly isolating the upstream pressure side of the valve assembly from the downstream pressure side of the valve assembly. The dynamic sealing assembly includes a PTFE seal member having a generally C-shaped cross-section defining an internal cavity having an opening about the outer periphery thereof the seal member, and a helical spring disposed within the internal cavity of the seal member for providing a constant sealing force to the seal member. The dynamic sealing device is positioned in the valve assembly so that the opening of the internal cavity of the seal member faces away from the upstream pressure side of the valve assembly and towards the downstream pressure side of the valve assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to dynamic valve seals, and more particularly, to a dynamic seal arrangement in valve assemblies employed in the fuel injectors of gas turbine engines.
2. Description of Related Art
Check valves and schedule valves are commonly used in the fuel injectors of gas turbine engines to control fuel flow. These valves are designed to prevent the fuel system from draining on engine shutdown. They also eliminate fuel leaking into combustor on shutdown, provide consistent system pressures during operation, and contain fuel expansion, driven by elevated fuel temperatures during soak back, after engine shutdown.
Drip tight seals are required in many check valves and schedule valves (also referred to as metering valves) used in fuel injectors. Typically, drip tight seals have been made from elastomers. For example, FKM (fluoroelastomer, i.e. Viton) or FFKM (perfluoroelastomer, i.e. Kalrez) have been used when engine operating conditions reach temperatures above 350° F. Elastomers are commonly used as o-rings or as molded seals attached to metallic components.
The elastomer used for a valve seal is typically the material which limits the allowable operating temperature of the valve. High temperatures degrade the elastomer (faster aging with higher temperature). Degraded elastomers tend to stick to metal and take on a permanent set. Cold temperature shrink the elastomer and prevent it from forming a tight seal.
In most prior art check valves and schedule valve, the sealing surfaces move away from the seal as the valve opens. The elastomer seal is typically trapped in or molded to one of the valve components to prevent it from moving out of position. When the valve closes, the seal surface moves back to the elastomer and the leak proof seal is re-formed.
Spring energized PTFE seals are also used in fuel injectors. In such instances, they are typically positioned to allow system pressure to expand the inside of the seal. Moreover, the internal pressure on the PTFE would open the seal as the valve opens and possibly deform/extrude the PTFE seal. The normal position of the seal may work for relatively low pressure valves, but an extrusion failure mode may always be possible. Given these factors, using a spring energized PTFE seal in its normal orientation, as a dynamic valve seal would be problematic.
The solution to this problem, as provided by the subject invention, is to use the spring energized PTFE seal in a backwards orientation, facing the internal cavity of the seal towards the downstream pressure side of the valve assembly. This prevents the internal pressure from deforming the PTFE. By replacing a typical elastomeric o-ring seal with a spring energize PTFE seal, the temperature capability of the valve assembly can be greatly increased. Moreover, the likelihood of a thermal permanent set on a PTFE seal when compared to an elastomeric seal is reduced significantly due to the hardness of the seal material.


A system and method of providing an intelligent automatic roaming analysis (ARA) that enables a roaming mobile subscriber to use abbreviated dialing regardless of the location of the subscriber in a radio telecommunications network. The radio telecommunications network includes a home network which comprises a Home Location Register (HLR) and a Service Control Point (SCP). The visited exchanges of the network are categorized by a type indicator if located outside the home service area. Subscription data and operator service data are provided as a database in the SCP, wherein applicable telephone codes are available for the home network and the visited exchanges. Based on the type of the visited exchange, an abbreviated number is rebuilt into an appropriate called party number (B-number) by utilizing one or more services provided in the SCP.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method of automatic roaming analysis (ARA) for dialing abbreviated numbers in a wireless intelligent network (WIN), wherein a mobile subscriber can enter abbreviated numbers for originating calls regardless of the subscriber""s location in the network.
2. Description of Related Art
For today""s users of radio telecommunications services (also commonly known as mobile subscribers), short digit dialing (SDD) or speed dialing is a distinct advantage over conventional dialing where all digits comprising the complete telephone number of a called party need to be entered. Almost all available mobile phones have an abbreviated dialing memory in order to facilitate the dialing of frequently used numbers.
The conventional method to use abbreviated dialing, where the number stored in the memory is read from the memory as such, is typically useful only in a portion of a radio telecommunications network such as, for example, a home network portion associated with the mobile subscriber. Clearly, such a limitation would severely reduce the usefulness of the SDD feature to a roaming mobile subscriber.
Unfortunately, commonly available current solutions that attempt to address this limitation in the conventional abbreviated dialing are not adequate or satisfactory because they are merely extensions of the memory-based scheme. For example, assume that a telephone number in Country X, say, 90 123456 is entered into the abbreviated dialing memory of a mobile phone. Obviously, it is returned in the same form, when it is read out from the memory for effectuating abbreviated dialing. If the subscriber is traveling in Country Y and from there wants to place a call to the same telephone number in Country X, the subscriber cannot use the same abbreviated dialing facility, because the subscriber now has to enter the number including applicable international access codes. Thus, in this example, the subscriber has to dial the number 099 358 0 123456. Accordingly, for the same telephone number in Country X (local number), the subscriber would have to program a different number for calls originated from each country or region located within the coverage area of the network. It can be readily appreciated that this scheme requires a large memory for the storage of numerous variations of a single local number. Further, the mobile subscriber has to remember the abbreviated memory locations for all the variations of the same number, so that only the right memory location is read out, depending on the country or region in which the subscriber is located while placing the call.
Moreover, the problems associated with the conventional abbreviated dialing methods are exacerbated in radio telecommunications networks that cover larger number of countries, thereby greatly reducing the usefulness of the feature to international travelers.
Accordingly, based upon the foregoing discussion, it should be readily appreciated that in order to overcome the deficiencies and shortcomings of the existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a method and system for providing an intelligent automatic roaming analysis that enables a roaming mobile subscriber to use abbreviated dialing regardless of the location in a radio telecommunications network. The present invention provides such a method and system.
In one aspect, the present invention is related to a method of supporting a short digit dialing (SDD) service for a roaming mobile subscriber in a radio telecommunications system of the type which includes a plurality of visited exchanges. Each visited exchange is provided with an identity indicator (MSCID). For a visited exchange outside the home area (called visited service area), it is also provided with a type designation. A home network is included which comprises at least a visited exchange, a Home Location Register (HLR), and a Service Control Point (SCP), either coupled or not to the HLR. The SCP""s database includes a subscriber data set and an operator service data set, and a service execution portion relating to the short digit dialing service. The method comprises populating the subscriber data set with at least an International Access Code (IAC), a National Access Code (NAC), a Country Code (CCD) and an Area Code (ACD) for the home network, in addition to the MSCIDs of the exchanges therein. The method also involves populating the operator service data set at least with a visited exchange""s type that serves a visited service area, and an IAC, an NAC, a CCD and an ACD, and an MSCID for the visited exchange of the visited service area. When a mobile subscriber dials an abbreviated number from a visited exchange, a determination is made in the SCP whether the mobile subscriber is located in a visited exchange. If so, the type designation of the visited service area exchange is determined. A call treatment instruction may be received in the SCP either from the HLR or from the visited exchange. The call treatment instruction preferably includes at least the MSCID of the exchange. The SCP performs a translation process on the abbreviated number to generate a translated number (TN). Then the SCP determines if the mobile subscriber is roaming. Based on the type designation of the visited exchange, a called party number (B-number) is selectively rebuilt using the TN in the SCP. The originated call is selectively terminated using the B-number.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a radio telecommunications network system covering a geographic area comprised of a plurality of service areas, each of which is served by a mobile switching center (MSC) having an identification indicator (MSCID). The system includes an SCP for supporting a customer service data set associated with a mobile subscriber, an operator service data set for global definition of the visited MSCs, and roaming detecting means for detecting whether the mobile subscriber is visiting the visited service area. The customer service data set includes a first plurality of telephone number code portions associated with an MSC serving a home service area of the mobile subscriber. The operator service data set includes a second plurality of telephone code portions associated visited MSC serving a visited service area and a type portion for designating a type parameter for the visited MSC. In the network system, there are means available to the mobile subscriber for entering a short digit dial number associated with a called party""s telephone number. Also included in the network system is an HLR that may be operably coupled to the SCP. The HLR provides a call treatment instruction in response to a service query from the visited MSC. The SCP executes a service portion in response to the call treatment instruction transited through the HLR or directly from an exchange when the mobile subscriber is located in the visited service area and enters the short digit dial number for the called party. The service portion returns an indication with respect to the called party which typically includes a complete B-number for the called party. The subscriber""s call is then terminated using the B-number in a conventional manner.
In a yet further aspect, the present invention is directed to a radio telecommunications network system that enables a mobile subscriber roaming in visited exchange to originate a call by entering an abbreviated number. The network system is comprised of a home service area, with one or more exchanges, that is served by an SCP and possibly an HLR. Also included in the network system is a visited service area having one or more exchanges. All exchanges have an identity indicator, while those in the visited service area have a type parameter in addition. The network system supports an SDD scheme for the mobile subscriber whereby the subscriber can originate calls from the visited exchanges in the home service area or the visited service area using an abbreviated number. The network system includes first data set means for maintaining the mobile subscriber""s subscription information data and a first plurality of digit portions. The digit portions are selectively prepended for a call originated by the mobile subscriber from the home service area by entering an abbreviated number for a called party. Also included is second data set means for maintaining a list of the identity indicators, type parameters and a second plurality of digit portions for the visited exchanges in the visited service area. There are detecting means in the SCP for detecting if the mobile subscriber is located in a visited exchange of the visited service area. Responsive to the detecting means, when a call is placed by the mobile subscriber by entering an abbreviated number in the visited exchange of the visited service area, there are Automatic Roaming Analysis (ARA) means in the SCP for converting the abbreviated number, wherein the conversion is based on the visited exchange""s type and results into a called party""s number. There are also means for transmitting the called party""s number to the visited exchange so that the call is routed to the called party.

System and method of automatic roaming analysis (ARA) for dialing abbreviated numbers in a wireless intelligent network


A golf club head includes a head body that has a recess part at a front portion thereof, a face plate that is in a plate shape and arranged in the recess of the head body, a front surface of the face plate being for hitting a ball, and an elastic body that is made of an elastically deformable material and intervenes between the head body and the face plate, the elastic body being fixed to the head body and the face plate so that the face plate is slidable in the recess with respect to the head body. A hardness of the material of the elastic body is ranged between Shore A Hardness 10 and Shore D Hardness 80 (inclusive), and a front side elastic body arrangement surface of the head body to which the elastic body is fixed is not parallel to the front surface of the face plate.

An iron type golf club head, as well known, includes a face part, which has a plate-shape face surface, and a hosel part, which is connected to the heel side of the face part. A shaft insertion hole is provided at the hosel part. A shaft is inserted into the shaft insertion hole and fixed with adhesive agent.
Patent Doc. 1 discloses a golf club head in which a hitting surface plate is glued to the hitting surface spot of the head body with a shock absorbing layer.
Patent Doc. 2 discloses a head in which a middle layer made of buffer material intervening at the face surface side of the head body.
As for wood type golf club heads for drivers or fairway woods, heads made of metal in a hollow shape are well known. In general, a wood type golf club head in a hollow shape includes a face part for hitting a ball, a crown part comprising the upper surface part, a sole part comprising a sole part of the golf club head, a side part comprising surrounding parts at the toe side, at the back side and at the heel side of the golf club head, a hosel part. As for the metal comprising the hollow shape golf club head, aluminum alloy, stainless or titanium alloy are used. In case of a driver, titanium alloy recently has been widely used.
Patent Doc. 3 describes a golf club head having an elastic body layer arranged at the face part of the head body and a fiber reinforced resin layer covering the surface of the elastic body.


An apparatus and method are described for etching Ni-containing films using gas phase plasma etching. Etching of Ti—Ni alloys is carried out by exposure to plasma comprising hydrogen halide (HX) and carbonyl etching gases. The Ti in the Ti—Ni alloy is etched via an ion-assisted reaction with HX and the Ni is etched by reacting with CO. The method is particularly well suited for anisotropic etching of Ti—Ni metal gates for CMOS applications. Etching of Ni—Fe layers is carried out by exposure to plasma comprising a carbonyl etching gas.

In the semiconductor industry, the minimum feature sizes of microelectronic devices are approaching the deep sub-micron regime to meet the demand for faster, lower power microprocessors and digital circuits. Process development and integration issues are key challenges for new gate stack materials and silicide processing, where the imminent replacement of SiO2 with higher permittivity dielectric materials necessitates the use of alternative gate electrode materials to replace doped poly-silicon.
The introduction of metal gate electrodes to replace the traditional poly-silicon gates brings about several advantages. These advantages include elimination of the poly-silicon gate depletion effect, reduction in sheet resistance, better reliability and potentially better thermal stability on advanced high-permittivity gate dielectrics. One of the material selection criteria for the metal gate electrode is that the workfunction be adjustable. Control over the gate workfunction is achieved by using a dual metal gate, since a metal alloy containing variable amounts of the metal constituents can yield an adjustable intermediate gate work function. From a processing point of view, the metal gate should be easily deposited by conventional techniques, such as CVD or sputtering, and be selectively etched by commonly used plasma etching processes. However, there are a number of processing difficulties in the dual metal gate approach. Etching characteristics of the different metal components are likely to be different, which can lead to etch rates that vary greatly from one metal to another, resulting in poor edge profiles and the need for complex manufacturing processes. Capacitively coupled plasma sources are widely used for dry etching processes to remove a layer of material from a wafer surface. At these small dimensions, etch uniformity and selectivity over the wafer surface has become increasingly more important, particularly when a layer is being etched according to a pattern. When manufacturing circuits with advanced feature sizes, anisotropic etching methods are needed that allow excellent control over the etching process. This is achieved using ion-assisted etching processes that comprise a strong physical component in addition to a chemical component. The chemical component conventionally involves a mixture of process gases that react with the substrate and form a reaction layer on the substrate. The physical component involves subsequent direct line-of-sight impaction of gas phase ions on the surface that results in physical desorption of the reaction products from the surface and material removal. The reaction (passivation) layer on the sidewalls of high-aspect-ratio structures receives low levels of ion bombardment, resulting in slow etching of the sidewalls, which leads to anisotropic etching profiles.
Potential Ni-containing materials for use as metal gates include Ti—Ni dual metal alloys. Ti—Ni alloys are known to be thermally stable, which allows them to be used at the high temperatures that are necessary for source/drain implant activation. Etching of Ti- and Ni-containing materials has been carried out using halogen-based chemistry, but halogen plasma etching of Ni is difficult, in part since Ni-halide etching products (e.g., NiBr2, NiCl2 or Nil2) have very low vapor pressures and high process temperatures (>200° C.) are needed for ion-assisted etching of the Ni-halide reaction products. The high temperature requirement along with potential redeposition of the Ni-halide etching products on to the chamber hardware imposes serious restrictions on the reliability and productivity of the etching chamber hardware. Removal of Ni-halide etching products is possible at low temperatures through physical sputtering, but this method is undesirable for semiconductor processing and integration into gate-conductor etching.
These problems illustrate that successful integration of Ni-containing metal gates into conventional CMOS technology requires ion-assisted plasma etching methods that allow anisotropic etching of the metal gates at low temperatures. In addition, it is important that these etching methods result in etching products that do not redeposit on the walls of the processing chamber.
Other Ni-containing materials that require low temperature etching methods include Ni—Fe layers which are important in magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) devices.

Plasma etching of Ni-containing materials


A vehicle front structure includes: a pair of right and left front side members extending in the vehicle front-rear direction; load receiving members each projecting from a corresponding one of the front side members outward in the vehicle-width direction, having an outer side surface in the vehicle-width direction, which is tilted inward in the vehicle-width direction from the vehicle front side toward the vehicle rear side; and protruding members each disposed forward of a corresponding one of the load receiving members in the vehicle front-rear direction, each protruding forward in the vehicle front-rear direction, and each having a front end portion and a rear end portion, the rear end portion being fixed at a position at which at least a part of the protruding member overlaps with the corresponding load receiving member in a front view of the vehicle, and the front end portion being a free end.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle front structure.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a known technique for absorbing a collision load in the event of a front end collision of a vehicle. According to the technique, a pair of right and left front side members extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is disposed in the front part of the vehicle, and crash boxes are disposed at the front ends of the front side members. In the event of a front end collision, the front side members and the crash boxes are compressed or deformed in the vehicle front-rear direction, thereby absorbing a collision load.
In some cases, however, a colliding object collides with only a portion of the front part of the vehicle in the vehicle-width direction instead of colliding with the entirety of the front part of the vehicle (i.e., a frontal offset collision occurs). Especially in the event of a collision with a small amount of overlap between a colliding object and the vehicle in the vehicle-width direction (i.e., a small overlap collision), a collision load is input mainly into a portion of the front part located on the outside of the front side member in the vehicle-width direction, in the vehicle front structure configured as described above. Thus, the collision load is not sufficiently absorbed in the front part of the vehicle.
In view of this, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-212757 (JP 2013-212757 A) describes a vehicle front structure provided with members that protrude from front side members outward in the vehicle-width direction to receive collision loads input from ahead of a vehicle. Thus, even when a small overlap collision occurs, it is possible to absorb a collision load input from ahead of the vehicle, by transmitting the collision load to the front side members or by deforming the front side members. Note that, not only JP 2013-212757 A but also Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-132122 (JP 2010-132122 A) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-137373 (JP 2006-137373 A) describe a vehicle front structure provided with members disposed on the outer sides of front side members in the vehicle-width direction to receive collision loads.
According in particular to JP 2013-212757 A and JP 2010-132122 A, a collision load applied to the front part of the vehicle in the event of an offset collision is transmitted to the front side members from the members attached to the outer sides of the front side members in the vehicle-width direction to deform the front side members, so that the collision load is absorbed through the deformation of the front side members.


Provided is a system and method for training and validating models in a machine learning pipeline for failure mode analytics. The machine learning pipeline may include an unsupervised training phase, a validation phase and a supervised training and scoring phase. In one example, the method may include receiving an identification of a machine learning model, executing a machine learning pipeline comprising a plurality of services which train the machine learning model via at least one of an unsupervised learning process and a supervised learning process, the machine learning pipeline being controlled by an orchestration module that triggers ordered execution of the services, and storing the trained machine learning model output from the machine learning pipeline in a database associated with the machine learning pipeline.

Physical assets (e.g., machinery and equipment used in industry, manufacture, etc.) must be monitored and maintained to remain working properly. An asset typically has a specific function or task to perform. When an asset fails, the asset may not be able to perform its function with reasonable success or otherwise meet expectations. An asset often has multiple manners in which it can fail. These are referred to as failure modes. For example, when a pump fails to pump a required amount of material this may be referred to as an insufficient flow type of failure mode. As another example, when a pump leaks material this may be referred to as a leakage type of failure mode. When an event (such as a failure) occurs at an asset, a system or an engineer may create a notification of some kind explaining the event. Over time, organizations may store volumes of notification information.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated or adjusted for clarity, illustration, and/or convenience.

Orchestrator for machine learning pipeline


The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit. The method for manufacturing the semiconductor device, among other steps, includes forming a gate structure (130) over a substrate (110), the gate structure (130) having L-shaped sidewall spacers (430) on opposing sidewalls thereof and placing source/drain implants (310 or 510) into the substrate (110) proximate the gate structure (130). The method for manufacturing the semiconductor device further includes removing at least a portion of a horizontal segment of the L-shaped sidewall spacers (430).

As CMOS technology continues to scale further into the sub-micron region, the width of active regions between adjacent gates structures of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors and the width of the active regions between the gate structures and field regions is constantly being reduced. Unfortunately, as the widths reduce, the resistances of these regions rise due to the regions being narrower. The increased resistance is becoming a major limitation of the MOS transistor performance.
In tune with the reduction in the width of active regions between adjacent gates structures of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors and the width of the active regions between the gate structures and field regions, the scaling of CMOS technology also desires that the width of the sidewall structures located along the sidewalls of the gate structures be reduced. The width of the sidewall structures, however, determines how far from the edge of the gate structures the deep source/drain regions are located. Nevertheless, due to the diffusion of dopants, the thermal annealing process designed to activate the dopants in the polysilicon gate and the deep source/drain regions of the MOS transistors typically pushes the edge of the deep source/drain regions towards each other and towards the edge of the transistor gate structure. If the deep source/drain regions get too close to each other, undesirable enhanced leakage may result when the transistor is in its off state. Reducing the width of the sidewall structures is therefore typically limited by the thermal diffusion process that takes place during the annealing that occurs after the formation of the deep source/drain regions.
As CMOS technology continues to scale there is therefore an increasing need for a method to reduce the width of the sidewall spacers without causing the source/drain regions to be positioned in such a location as to negatively affect the MOS transistor.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using a sidewall spacer etchback


This invention relates to a polycarbonate copolymer having a structure formed of a repeating unit represented by the following formula (100):

A polycarbonate resin has been used as a material for molded products in various industrial fields because of its excellent mechanical characteristics, thermal characteristics and electrical characteristics. Recently, the polycarbonate resin has often been used in a field of a functional product requiring optical characteristics of the polycarbonate resin as well as the above characteristics. In accordance with such an expansion in application, the polycarbonate resin has been demanded to have a variety of performance.
The functional product is exemplified by an electrophotographic photoreceptor in which the polycarbonate resins are used as a binder resin for functional materials such as a charge generating material and a charge transporting material.
The electrophotographic photoreceptor has been demanded to have a predetermined sensitivity, electrical characteristics and optical characteristics in accordance with electrophotography process to be applied. A surface of a photosensitive layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is repeatedly subjected to operations such as corona electrification, toner development, transfer onto paper, cleaning and the like. Electrical and mechanical external-forces are applied on the surface of the photosensitive layer every time such operations are performed. Accordingly, the photosensitive layer provided on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is required to have durability against these external forces in order to maintain electrophotography image quality for a long period of time.
Moreover, since the electrophotographic photoreceptor is typically manufactured by dissolving a functional material and a binder resin in an organic solvent and film-casting the obtained solvent on a conductive substrate and the like, the electrophotographic photoreceptor is required to have solubility in the organic solvent and stability of the obtained solvent.
Traditionally, a polycarbonate resin using, for instance, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (bisphenol A) and 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)cyclohexane (bisphenol Z) as an ingredient have been used as a binder resin for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. However, such a polycarbonate resin is insufficient to satisfy durability such as wear resistance. In view of the above, various techniques have been used in response to such demands. A copolymerized polycarbonate has been known as one of effective techniques (see, for instance, Patent Literatures 1 to 3).
A resin disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a polycarbonate copolymer manufactured by copolymerizing a component having a biphenol skeleton that contributes to wear resistance with a component having a bisphenol Z skeleton that contributes to solubility. This polycarbonate copolymer is proved to have a wear resistance superior to that of a bisphenol-Z polycarbonate homopolymer.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an alternating copolymer of bisphenol A and biphenol as a polymer in which a copolymerization ratio of biphenol is increased using a raw material in which the number of monomer units in an oligomer is reduced. The copolymerization ratio of biphenol contained in the alternating copolymer is 50 mol %. Patent Literature 3 discloses a polycarbonate copolymer having 60 mol % of a copolymerization ratio of biphenol in the polycarbonate copolymer.
Patent Literature 4 discloses technique for manufacturing a bischloroformate compound by reacting, for instance, bisphenol A and bisphenol Z with phosgene.

Polycarbonate copolymer, coating fluid using same, electrophotographic photoreceptor, and method for producing polycarbonate copolymer

Abstract: in which a molar copolymer composition represented by Ar1/(Ar1+Ar2) is in a range of 50 mol % to 67 mol %, a reduced viscosity [ηsp/C] is in a range of 0.60 dl/g to 4.0 dl/g, and a ratio of a hydroxyl group in all ends is 20 mol % or less.


A server determines whether network parameters corresponding to a client have been updated, and sends a first check package and a second check package to the client. The client determines whether the server is safe according to the first check package and the second check package, and sends a reconfiguration request to the server upon condition that the server is safe. The server sends the updated network parameters to the client for reconfiguration after receiving the reconfiguration request.

In a computer network, servers manage and distribute network parameters, which are used by clients to execute functions of the network. When the network parameters are updated, the server sends the updated network parameters to the client through the network to allow the client to continue using functions of the network.

Server, client, and method of reconfiguring network parameters


A method for forming connections within a multi-layer electronic circuit board 10 which allows for the selective, efficient, and reliable interconnection between at least one conductive layer and a ground plane or layer.

Multi-layer circuit boards contain and/or include electrical components which selectively and operatively populate opposed first and second surfaces (i.e., top and bottom surfaces) of each board (or other respective interior portions of each of the boards), thereby desirably allowing each of the electrical circuit boards to contain and/or include a relatively large amount of electrical components which efficiently and densely populate the respective boards.
It is desirable to allow for communication by and between and/or interconnection of the component containing surfaces and/or portions of an electrical circuit board, thereby allowing the contained electrical components on each side of the board (or within certain interior portions of the board) to cooperatively and selectively interconnect to form one or more desired electrical circuits. This communication and interconnection may require the use of shared electrical ground planes, the transmittal of electrical power and/or control type signals between each of the component containing surfaces and/or the component containing board portions, and/or the selective and physical connection of various contained components.
One common type of interconnection utilized and/or formed within these types of circuit boards is a connection from a conductive layer or member to a ground layer or ground plane. Conventional methods for connecting a conductive layer or member to a ground plane include "wire bonding" and "end soldering". These conventional methods however cannot be used within multi-layer electronic circuit boards, due to the inherent structure of the boards. Moreover, other prior methods for physically and electrically interconnecting conductive layers or portions and ground layers or portions of multi-layer circuit boards are often relatively complicated, costly and time consuming. These prior methods have also resulted in relatively unreliable or defective connections to be formed, thereby causing certain portions of the formed circuit boards to be unusable or to malfunction.
There is therefore a need for a method for producing a multi-layer electrical circuit board which overcomes some or all of the previously delineated drawbacks of prior circuit boards and which provides for relatively uncomplicated and reliable physical and electrical interconnections between conductive layers and ground layers of the circuit board.

Method for forming multilayer circuit board


A method of lyophilizing an oxazaphosphorin and a preparation produced thereby including dissolving an oxazaphosphorin in water, adding an amino acid to a molar ratio of between 1 to 10 amino acid to 1 oxazaphosphorin to produce a mixture and lyophilizing said mixture to remove said water, is disclosed.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with the preparation of ifosfamide preparations for use in human therapy.
Heretofore, in this field, the preparation and long term storage of labile hygroscopic compounds, such as ifosfamide, has been difficult. Ifosfamide is a chemotherapeutic agent chemically related to the nitrogen mustards and synthetic analogs of cyclophosphamide. Ifosfamide is 3-(2-chloroethyl)-2-[(chloroethyl amino)] tetrahydro-2H-1, 3, 2-oxazaphosphorin 2-oxide, and has a molecular formula of C.sub.7 H.sub.15 Cl.sub.2 N.sub.2 O.sub.2 P and its molecular weight is 261.1 Daltons.
When first synthesized, ifosfamide is a white crystalline powder that is somewhat soluble in water, however, as the composition is stored, it tends to change to a yellowish color. Ifosfamide belongs to a group of chemical compounds denoted oxazaphosphorins, which are presently in use as therapeutic agents for the treatment of tumors. In particular, ifosfamide is presently used in combination with certain other antineoplastic agents, and is a third line chemotherapeutic for the treatment of testicular cancers derived from germ cells. Generally, it is used in conjunction with a hemorrhagic prophylactic agent, such as mesna.
The lack of stability in water, and its hygroscopic nature, have proven practical challenges to the preparation, processing and long term storage of ifosfamide and its derivatives. In particular, problems with the accuracy of the amount dispensed occur when ifosfamide is prepared for storage as a dried powder. For example, dispensing the dried powder leads to inaccuracies in the amount dispensed and the dosage of ifosfamide when reconstituted and used for treatment. Dispensing the powdered form of ifosfamide into vials for storage also increases the likelihood that microbial contaminants may be introduced during the filling process.
Furthermore, even in the powdered form, ifosfamide suffers from sensitivity to light and heat. The lack of stability of crystallized and reconstituted forms of ifosfamide greatly affect the dosage accuracy during use. The instability of ifosfamide and other oxazaphosphorins has led to the need to find methods for long term storage of these compounds.
One approach to the problem was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,335, entitled "Ifosfamide Lyophilizate and Process for Its Preparation," issued to Sauerbier, et al. Briefly, a lyophilizate is produced by freezing and drying an aqueous or aqueous/alcoholic (preferably aqueous/ethanolic) solution of ifosfamide and a hexitol. The process disclosed involved the use of a hexitol such as, for example, mannitol, to produce an ifosfamide lyophilizate.


The formulations of the invention comprise a suspension of a sanitizing composition, bacterial spores, surfactants, a thickening agent, and abrasive particles all contained in aqueous solution. These formulations can be used for cleaning and sanitizing bathroom fixtures, sinks, toilet bowls, and other dirty and contaminated surfaces, and have the advantages of being a good surface cleaning agent and a good sanitizer along with providing the long term effect of beneficial bacteria that control pathogens and degrade wastes both on the surface and in the sewage system associated with the surface being treated.

Surface cleaners containing surfactants, both with and without abrasive, have long been utilized for removing soils, dirt, dried urine, stubborn stains, deposit, and scum from fixtures, sinks, toilet bowls, and other fixtures. These products are particularly useful in cleaning toilets, sinks, and other surfaces that are then rinsed with water and discharged to the sewage collection systems, holding tanks, or septic systems.
In association with surface cleaning, sanitization of surfaces is also desirable. By inactivating or reducing pathogens, chances for disease transmission due to indirect contacts can be eliminated or decreased. Most of the recently available sanitizing or disinfecting products contain chemicals such as hypochlorites, quaternary ammonium compounds, pine oil, etc.
Almost universally, the surface cleaning and sanitizing products are highly alkaline or acidic and use of these products causes potential damage to beneficial microorganisms in the collection lines, septic systems, or holding tanks. In many applications, inhibition of beneficial microbial activity is clearly a disadvantage. Furthermore, most of the available surface cleaning and sanitizing products are corrosive to materials (particularly metals) used to construct restroom fixtures. Some of the major sanitizing agents, such as hypochlorites, form chlorinated hydrocarbons, which are toxic to human beings, detrimental to the environment, and difficult to biodegrade.
It has been recently suggested that nonpathogenic microbes be used to inhibit pathogenic organisms (G. Haas, ASM News, June, 1995). The nonpathogenic microbes would be applied to locations where pathogens are present to inhibit the pathogens. The mechanisms involved are substrate competition, production of antibiotics, etc. When chemicals are used for sanitization, they kill the pathogens only during application or for a short time thereafter. In contrast, microbes, such as the beneficial microbes of this invention, can have effects on preventing the growth of pathogens over the long term. In addition, the beneficial microbes of this invention seed the connecting drain lines and waste collection and treatment systems, and enhance the degradation of organic wastes.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a formulation which has strong surface cleaning and sanitizing properties without being highly alkaline, acidic, corrosive or detrimental to the environment. A further objective of the invention is to provide a formulation that contains a microbial component that: 1) provides long-term protection against the colonization of surfaces and sewage systems by pathogenic organisms, and 2) enhances biodegradation of organic wastes.


A washing machine is provided. The washing machine includes a detergent box, a housing, and a filter. The detergent box is installed on one side of a main machine and connected to a flowing path of an exhaust duct through which air is exhausted. The housing is detachably installed in the detergent box. The filter is installed in the housing to collect lint while the exhaust air passes through the filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine and a lint removing apparatus thereof capable of easily collecting lint generated from the laundry during a washing cycle and easily disposing the collected lint. More particularly, the present invention relates to a washing machine and a lint removing apparatus thereof capable of enhancing clearness of the laundry by allowing lint conveyed in dry air during a dry cycle of the laundry to be collected by a predetermined filter structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general drum washing machine includes a main body having a hexahedral shape, a drum installed in the main body and having a plurality of holes, a tub enclosing the drum and in which washing water is taken, a drive motor for rotating the drum, and a detergent box for receiving detergent, a water pipe connected with the detergent box, for supplying the washing water or the washing water mixed with the detergent of the detergent box, a drain pipe for draining the washing water used in a washing cycle to the outside, and a pump and a drain hose connected with the end of the drain pipe, for forcibly draining the washing water.
The drum washing machine puts the laundry, supplies the washing water into the drum and performs the washing cycle using friction with the washing water produced while the laundry falls in a gravity direction when the drum rotates. Recently, the drum washing machine has an additional function and can perform a spinning and dry cycles for the laundry after the washing cycle besides the washing cycle.
The washing machine that performs the dry cycle has a ventilation duct installed on one side of the tub to allow hot wind to be blown to the laundry in the drum after the spinning cycle for the laundry and allow humidity of the laundry to be evaporated by the hot wind. During the dry cycle, air containing humidity is exhausted to the outside of the washing machine through an exhaust port. In the meantime, since the exhaust port is extended to the outside of the main body so that outside air may communicate with the inside of the tub, it also serves as a respiration hole when an infant or a pet is confined in the tub.
In the washing machine having a dry function, lint (fine fluff generated from the laundry) is produced from the laundry when the dry cycle is performed. The lint is circulated in the drum within the washing machine by hot wind and discharged through the exhaust port to the outside of the washing machine together with the exhausted air. However, since the lint has weight and volume of its own though it is fine, the lint is accumulated in a position adjacent to the exhaust port, particularly in a bellows for connecting the exhaust port with the tub.
When the lint is constantly accumulated, it blocks the exhaust port after all, which hinders the hot wind from circulating during the dry cycle, so that not only dry efficiency is deteriorated but also the dry condensed lint has danger of catching fire due to the hot wind thereof. Also, since the exhaust port cannot properly serve as a respiration hole due to the lint when an infant or a pet is confined in the washing machine, stability of the washing machine is damaged.
Considering the above problems, a filter for filtering the lint has been suggested to prevent the lint from being accumulated in the exhaust port. The filter has a predetermined shape and is inserted into the exhaust port, so that when the lint is condensed more than a predetermined amount, a user may easily replaces the filter.
However, when the filter and the adjacent portion of the filter are not strongly bonded in such a structure, the lint leaks through a gap between them, leaking out together with the hot wind. Further, the leaked hot wind distorts or wrenches each part of the washing machine made of synthetic resin and thus transforms the appearance. Such problems have an influence on each part constituting the washing machine and deteriorate reliability of the product.
Also, since a user should take down the adjacent portion of the exhaust port to remove the lint, it is difficult to clean the filter. Further, if a user does not clean the filter frequently because cleaning the filter is not easy, collected lint becomes an obstacle to the flowing of air. Accordingly, dry efficiency for the laundry is deteriorated and heat is accumulated in the inside of the tub and thus danger of catching fire increases. Also, since the exhaust port cannot properly serve as a respiration hole when the lint is excessively accumulated, the lint becomes an obstacle to the safety of the washing machine.

Washing machine and lint removing apparatus thereof


A reproduction apparatus includes a storage part which stores a plurality of items of contents data; reproduction means for reproducing contents in any one of reproduction modes including a normal reproduction mode that reads the contents data stored in the storage part in a predetermined order for reproduction, and a recommend mode that selects one part of the contents data stored in the storage part as a recommended piece of music for reproduction; and reproduction mode control means for changing the reproduction mode in the reproduction means to the recommend mode when a predetermined recommend mode changing condition is satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reproduction apparatus, a reproduction method and a reproduction program, which are preferably adapted to a music reproduction apparatus that plays music based on music data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a portable music reproduction apparatus is widely available which records music data on a nonvolatile memory, a hard disk drive or other devices (for example, see JP-A-2003-85888).
This type of music reproduction apparatus has reproduction modes of music data, including a normal reproduction mode that reproduces pieces of recorded music in recorded order, and a random music reproduction mode that randomly reproduces music, and some pieces of the apparatus further have a so-called recommend mode that selects and reproduces a piece of music which a user might be prefer as a recommended piece of music among the pieces of music recorded based on user's preferences and the frequency of reproduction.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reproduction apparatus, reproduction method and reproduction program


The present invention discloses a multi-phase clock generator of a network controller for generating a set of multi-phase clocks, and a method thereof. The multi-phase clock generator includes a first gating element and a second gating element. The first gating element operates according to a first control clock and generates a first output clock of the set of multi-phase clocks according to an input clock. The second gating element operates according to a second control clock and generates a second output clock of the set of multi-phase clocks according to the first output clock. The second control clock is an inverted signal of the first control clock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generation of multi-phase clocks, and more particularly, to a multi-phase clock generator utilized in a network controller and method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Multi-phase clock generators are devices utilized to produce multiple clocks having the same frequency but different phases. Typically, the different clock signals produced by multi-phase clock generators can be referred to as a set of multi-phase clocks. The production of multi-phase clocks is an important task when proceeding with the control of slew rate.
Network controllers often produce multi-phase clocks by utilizing multi-phase clock generators. An Ethernet transmitter, for example, operating under 10M mode, requires multi-phase clocks with frequencies of 250 MHz, duty cycles of 50%, and the phase difference between any two adjacent clocks must be one nanosecond. Additionally, under Giga/100M, the Ethernet transmitter requires multi-phase clocks with frequencies of 125 MHz, duty cycles of 25%, and the phase difference between any two adjacent clocks must be one nanosecond.
Usually, network controllers will produce the multi-phase clocks by utilizing phase lock loop or delay lock loop. Unfortunately, both of these methods, to produce the multi-phase clocks, require complex circuit architecture and consume significant power.

Multi-phase clock generator and generating method for network controller


There are disclosed compounds of the formula

This invention relates to cannabinoid receptor ligands and, more particularly, to compounds that bind to cannabinoid (CB2) receptors. Compounds according to the present invention generally exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity and are useful in treating conditions characterized by inflammation and immunomodulatory irregularities. Examples of conditions which may be treated include, but are not limited to, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, allergy, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, glaucoma, osteoporosis, renal ischemia, cerebral stroke, cerebral ischemia, and nephritis. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing said compounds.
Cannabinoid receptors belong to the superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors. They are classified into the predominantly neuronal CB1 receptors and the predominantly peripheral CB2 receptors. While the effects of CB1 receptors are principally associated with the central nervous system, CB2 receptors are believed to have peripheral effects related to bronchial constriction, immunomodulation and inflammation. As such, a selective CB2 receptor binding agent is expected to have therapeutic utility in the control of diseases associated with inflammation, immunomodulation and bronchial constriction such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, renal ischemia, cerebral stroke, cerebral ischemia, nephritis, inflammatory disorders of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory tract disorders such as reversible airway obstruction, chronic asthma and bronchitis (see, e.g., R. G. Pertwee, Curr. Med. Chem. 6(8), (1999), 635).
Various compounds have reportedly been developed which interact with CB2 receptors and/or which have, inter alia, anti-inflammatory activity associated with cannabinoid receptors. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,338,753, 5,462,960, 5,532,237, 5,925,768, 5,948,777, 5,990,170, 6,013,648 and 6,017,919.

Abstract: a prodrug thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or stereoisomer of the compound or of said prodrug; which exhibit anti-inflammatory and immunodulatory activity. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions containing said compounds and methods of using the compounds for the treatment of various diseases and conditions.


A Power Distribution Boxes (PDBs), such as but not limited to the type employed in vehicles and other devices to distribute power from a primary power source to a number of loads. The PDB may include top-down constructions in so far as the main components are laid one on top of the other. Wires used to distribute energy from a primary source to a number of loads may be connected from an underside of the PDB.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Power Distribution Boxes (PDBs), such as but not limited to the type employed in vehicles and other devices to distribute power from a primary power source to a number of loads.
2. Background Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a bottom-up Power Distribution Box (PDB) 10 commonly know in the art. The PDB includes a wedge 12, PDB frame 14, busbar 16, and protector plate 18. The busbar 16 is connected to a primary power source and configured to distribute current to a number of wires connected thereto. During assembly, the busbar 16 is secured to an underside of the frame 14 and then the wires are inserted through an underside of the protector plate 18 for connection to the busbar 16 by way of fuses included on the top side of the wedge 12. This bottom-up configuration is problematic for a number of reasons.
Attaching the busbar 16 to the underside of the frame 14 increases system costs as it requires insertion of an additional piece, the protector plate 18, to separate the wires from the electrically conducting surfaces of the busbar 16. Once the wires are inserted through the openings in the protector plate 18, the protector plate 18 must be slid along all the wires and/or the wires must be disconnected in order to access the busbar 16 or otherwise service the underside of the frame 14. The use of the additional protector plate therefore further complicates service and assembly rework.


Disclosed are a signal receiving apparatus based on FTN and a signal decoding method thereof, and the apparatus includes: an equalizer calculating, when a signal sampled by Fast to Nyquist (FTN) is received on a communication channel, a posterior probability of information bits and calculating a log likelihood ratio by using the calculated posterior probability; a deinterleaver deinterleaving bit data output from the equalizer; a decoder correcting of signal interference of the data bits deinterleaved by the deinterleaver by using the LLR and decoding the corrected signal interference; and an interleaver interleaving data output from the decoder to provide the interleaved data to the equalizer.

A DVB-S2x system acquired by enhancing a DVB-S2 system is discussed in a standard due to securement of a higher transmission capacity than DVB-S2 which is the existing satellite broadcasting system, increment of service availability through an enhanced link margin, actualization of a new service requirement of broadband broadcasting such as an HDTV, and the appearance of a Ka band satellite system.
In the DVB-S2x system, as a method for improving transmission efficiency, a Faster Than Nyquist (FTN) transmission mode is considered. The FTN transmission mode transmits a signal more highly than a Nyquist speed given in a frequency band to improve the transmission efficiency.
However, when the FTN transmission mode is used in a general transmitter and a general receiver, the transmission efficiency increases, but self-noise increases to exert a bad influence on system performance.

Signal receiving apparatus based on faster than nyquist and signal decoding method thereof

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A motion estimation method uses a search start point and a plurality of search paths extending from the start point. The method finds an image point along the plurality of search paths that has a minimum comparison value with a reference image block. This image point with a minimum comparison value becomes the new search start point, with a plurality of new search paths extending from the new start point. The method then finds the image point along the plurality of new search paths that has a minimum comparison value with the reference image block. The cycle repeats until points on the search paths have comparison values higher than the start point.

1. Field of the Invention
The current invention relates to video compression and in particular to a motion estimation search method for a video coding.
2. Background Information
A video is a sequence of still images, called frames, representing a scene in motion. Often the only difference between successive frames in a video results from an object in the frame moving or the camera moving. Most of the image information in a frame is the same in the previous frame, but is moved to a different location within the frame. This characteristic can be used to compresses the amount of data needed to represent a video clip. Full image information is only stored for certain reference frames within the video clip. The reference frames are divided into a plurality of non-overlapping image blocks. The only information stored for non-reference frames are motion vectors which described the movement of image blocks relative to a reference frame. Say, for example, every fourth frame in a video clip is a reference frame then the amount of image information stored for the video clip could theoretically be reduced by 75%. This technique is widely adopted by video compression standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.261, H.263 and H.264/AVC.
Motion estimation is used to find the motion vectors that describe movement of image blocks in frames. In motion estimation a video frame is divided into non-overlapping block of equal size and the best-matched block from reference frames to that block in the current frame within a predefined search window is determined. A search method is used to move through the search window evaluating possible candidate blocks within the search window. Evaluation of best-match is normally performed by minimizing a block distortion measure (BDM) between the blocks, using well know techniques such as Mean Squared Error (MSE), Sum of Squared Errors (SSE), Mean Absolute Difference (MAD) or the Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD). SAD, for example, takes the absolute value of the difference between corresponding pixels in each block and sums the differences to create a simple metric of block similarity. SAD takes account of every pixel in the blocks and because of its simplicity it is extremely fast to calculate.
The most straightforward search method is referred to as the full search (FS), which exhaustively evaluates all possible candidate blocks within the search window. It has been estimated that the computation of FS could consume up to 70% of the total computation of the video encoding process. To overcome this problem a number of fixed search patterns have been proposed to speed up motion estimation. Examples of well-known search patterns include the one-at-a-time search (OTS), the three-step search (3SS) [2], the new three-step search (N3SS) [3], the four-step search (4SS) [4], the block-based gradient descent search (BBGDS) [5], the diamond search (DS) [6], and the hexagon-based search (HEXBS) [7], the cross-diamond search (CDS) [8] and the cross-diamond-hexagon search (CDHS) [9]. The 3SS, N3SS, 4SS and BBGDS all employ square search point patterns of different sizes to search for the best-matched block. The DS, HEXBS, CDS and CDHS employ one or more search point patterns from cross-shaped, diamond-shaped and hexagon-shaped to fit the center-biased characteristic of the motion vector distribution for achieving fewer search points and better prediction accuracy as compared with search methods using square-shaped pattern. These search methods could, however, be easily trapped by local minima as they primarily rely on the unimodal error surface assumption, which means matching error monotonically decreased towards global minimum. In most real-world sequences, local minimum points could spread over the search window especially for the sequences with complex motion contents. Thus, the performance of these fixed search patterns depends very much on the motion content of a video sequence. The BBGDS is suitable for slow motion blocks estimation while the 3SS is relatively more suitable for the estimation of fast motion blocks. The 4SS, DS, and HEXB could achieve better prediction accuracy for moderate motion blocks. The advanced methods of CDS, and CDHS could provide good prediction accuracy from slow to moderate motion blocks. Unfortuately, the real video sequences usually consist of wide-range motion contents and these fixed search patterns cannot provide satisfactory motion estimation results in these sequences. Search pattern switching has been proposed to solve this problem by adaptively using different search patterns among the 3SS, 4SS, DS and BBGDS for achieving higher prediction accuracy. However, the performance of these methods largely depends on the accuracy of the motion content estimators and some of these estimators are also quite complex in practical implementation.
Besides the initial search point pattern, it is also found that the initial minimum search point is very important. A hybrid unsymmetrical-cross multi-hexagon-grid search (UMHexagonS) [13] that takes advantage of many search patterns has been proposed in H.264/AVC [14] and adopted in the JM reference software [15]. In UMHexagonS, an unsymmetrical-cross search and an uneven multi-hexagon-grid are first performed over a wide range of search windows to determine a very good initial minimum point for leading a search path in the following steps using the extended hexagon-based search. UMHexagonS greatly outperforms FS in computation with up to 90% computational reduction while still maintaining good rate-distortion performance. However, the uneven multi-hexagon-grid search step is very computation extensive compared to other search steps in the UMHexagonS. A multi-path search (MPS) method [16] has also been proposed with use of more than one path to avoid using a wrong search path misled by the initial minimum search point. Basically, MPS is a multi-path BBGDS with multiple descending gradient paths. For each of the candidate paths, the compact square-shaped pattern of BBGDS is used. Although MPS could provide robust motion estimation accuracy its computational requirement is quite significantly increased especially for sequences with complex motions.
By way of background a brief explanation of OTS, BBGD and MPD will now be given.
One-at-a-Time Search (OTS)
The strategy of OTS is to keep searching along a particular search direction until the minimum point along that direction is found. If, for example, the current minimum BDM point is at the position (0, 1) and the upper-direction OTS is performed, then the point immediately above it, i.e. point (0, 2), will be searched. If point (0, 2) has lower distortion than point (0, 1), point (0, 2) will be set as the current minimum point. Point (0, 3), which is above point (0, 2), will then be searched. The search continues until the minimum point is closeted between two higher values, or until the search window boundary is reached. As OTS search follows the descending gradient path in a particular direction, it can be considered as a 1-D gradient descent search in that direction. This is an efficient searching strategy because it does not waste effort in probing into unknown terrain of the error surface. Moreover, it is also easily implemented in hardware and data access is very efficient because a search point is either horizontally or vertically adjacent to the previous search point.
The first OTS based block motion estimation method was proposed in 1985 by Srinivasan et al. [1] and employs the OTS strategy in the horizontal and then vertical direction. An example of OTS search path is shown in FIG. 1. The search window center and its two horizontally adjacent points, i.e. points at (0, 0), (−1, 0), and (1, 0), are evaluated first. If point (−1, 0), i.e. the left adjacent point of the search window center, has the lowest BDM, OTS is performed along the left direction from the search window center. If point (1, 0), i.e. the right adjacent point of the search window center, has the lowest BDM, OTS is performed along the right direction. OTS stops when the minimum BDM point is closeted between two points with higher BDM. This point is regarded as the lowest distortion point in the horizontal direction of the search window center, which is noted as (s, 0). The OTS in vertical direction is then performed using pint (s, 0) as the center. The BDM of points (s, 1) and (s, −1) are calculated. If point (s, 1) has lower distortion, OTS is performed in the upper direction from (s, 1). If point (s, −1) has lower distortion, OTS is performed along the lower direction. When the minimum BDM point is closeted between two points with higher distortions, the motion vector (MV) pointing to that point is returned. OTS method performs 1-D gradient descent search on the error surface twice. Although it uses fewer search points compared with other fast block motion estimation methods, its prediction quality is low. This is because 1-D gradient descent search is insufficient to provide a correct estimation of the global minimum position.
Block-Based Gradient Descent Search (BBGDS)
BBGDS [5] was proposed by Liu et al in 1996. It is a 2-D gradient descent search. An example of BBGDS search path is shown in FIG. 2. The BDM of the search window center point and its eight adjacent points are determined. If a lower distortion point is found among the eight points, that point will be the next search center. The BDM of any new adjacent points around the new center are determined and the center moves to the point with the lowest distortion. The procedure is repeated until a center point is enclosed by eight adjacent points all with higher BDMs. The motion vector pointing to this final center point is returned. The eight adjacent points which BBGDS searches correspond to the eight directions, i.e. the upper, lower, left, right, upper-left, upper-right, lower-left, and lower-right directions of the search center. They cover all the possible directions from the search center. In other words, BBGDS performs a small-scale 2-D gradient descent search and then one-at-a-time moves towards the global minimum following a descending gradient path. BBGDS has a much better prediction quality in terms of PSNR than OTS method. Although BBGDS performs better than OTS, it is also easily trapped in a local minimum near the initial search window center, because it selects only one among the eight search points adjacent to the currently lowest distortion point as the next search center of the next 2-D gradient descent search. When there is more than one descending gradient path, BBGDS will select only one path and may therefore be distracted to a local minimum instead of finding the global minimum.
Multi-Path Search (MPS)
The MPS method was proposed by Goel et al in 2006 [16]. Basically, MPS is a BBGDS that searched multiple descending gradient paths. For each of the candidate paths, the compact square-shaped search point pattern of BBGDS is used. The method converges when there is no new descending gradient path found. The MPS method is illustrated in FIG. 3 and comprises the following steps.
Step 1—Calculate the BDM of the search window center and set its distortion value as MIN.
Step 2—Calculate the BDM of the eight adjacent points of the search window center. Mark the search points with distortion value lower than MIN as ANCHOR point. If no ANCHOR point is found, go to Step 5 with zero motion vector (ZMV); otherwise go to Step 3.
Step 3—Set MIN to the lowest distortion value amongst the ANCHOR points and go to Step 4.
Step 4—Around each of the ANCHOR points, calculate BDMs for 3 or 5 neighboring points depend on the position of the ANCHOR point. Any search point with distortion lower than MIN is marked as ANCHOR point. If no new ANCHOR point is found, go to Step 5; otherwise go back to Step 3.
Step 5—The search is completed. Return with the final motion vector.
The problem with MPS is that it is not efficient because it uses many points to search all candidate descending gradient paths.


A wireless communication system has a protocol enabling synchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) communication on a time division duplex (TDD) frequency, and provides for a smart antenna system as an integral component of the system. The protocol has downlink time slots (DTS) which provide for synchronization and paging of all remote terminals from a base station on a omnidirectional code channel and while providing for traffic signals on directional traffic channels. The protocol has uplink time slots (DTS) which enable rapid link requests by remote terminals, as well as enabling improved spacial estimation, synchronization and power control of remote terminals by the base station.

CDMA wireless communication systems allow multiple remote terminals to use multiple code channels modulated upon a common carrier frequency to communicate with a base station. CDMA systems have several advantages over alternative wireless approaches such as time division multiple access (TDMA) or frequency division multiple access (FDMA). CDMA system channel capacity can be higher and there is an improvement in multipath fading. However, systems which use frequency division duplex (FDD) to provide for 2 way wireless communication suffer from differing multipath environments on uplink and downlink communication frequencies. Smart antenna systems can improve communication between a base station and a remote terminal by providing additional robustness to CDMA "coding gain". The additional robustness is provided by directing each downlink signal toward corresponding remote terminal thereby reducing interfering signals received at one remote terminal intended for another remote terminal. The different multipath environments of the uplink and downlink deter optimization of a smart antenna based communication system. Thus, what is needed is a smart antenna CDMA communication system which provides for a common frequency for both uplink and downlink communications. Also what is needed is a communication system which enables improved spacial estimations of a remote terminal in order to improve the directional characteristics of a smart antenna.
Synchronous CDMA systems provide improved coding gain over asynchronous CDMA systems. However, synchronization signals can use significant bandwidth or require complex processing in the base station or remote terminal, thereby increasing the cost of the communication system. Thus, what is needed is a communication system which provides synchronous CDMA communication on both the uplink and downlink communication channels without adding significant cost or bandwidth to the communication system.
In a typical communication system, base station signals may be received by numerous remote terminals, while only a few remote terminals are communicating information with the base station. However, when a call is initiated, it is desirable that the link between the remote terminal and the base station be established as quickly as possible. Therefore what is needed is a CDMA communication system which provides for rapid establishment of a communication link between a remote terminal and a base station. Two remote terminals attempting to simultaneously establish a link may cause collision interference at the base station, therefore what is needed is a communication system which efficiently addresses recovery from such collisions. Furthermore, during the establishment of the communication link, large course adjustment in synchronization and power levels of the remote terminal should be provided. However, once the link is established smaller fine adjustments of synchronization and power control if used, would reduce overhead. However, the large course adjustment signals use more channel capacity than needed once a link is established and consequently waste channel capacity. Thus, what is needed is a communication system which reduces the channel capacity used to synchronize a remote terminal once a link is established.

Synchronous wireless access protocol method and apparatus


A watch worn by a user for interfacing with or integrated with a mobile communication device. The mobile communication device provides wireless communications with other communications devices. The watch also includes an electronics module integrated into the watch. The electronics module includes an interface for interfacing with the mobile communication device integrated into the watch. The user interfaces with the electronic module to perform operations upon the mobile communication device. In addition, the watch includes a mechanism for directing sound to the user's ear for private calling. The watch may also come with one or more pivotable bezel or a keyboard on a strap of the watch to increase the size of the user input.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to communication systems. Specifically, and not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a mobile communications watch utilizing projected directional sound.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of mobile phones in our society has become pervasive with their capabilities continuously increasing. With increased capability, the size of the devices is becoming relatively bigger while the fragility of these devices is also increasing. With these increased capabilities, the mobile phones are becoming more like a handheld computer, resulting in awkward use of the device as a phone. Although these devices are used mostly for making and receiving phone calls, they are designed to be more like display devices or handheld computers.
While the analog wrist watch was invented in the late 19th century and has been in use, for more than one hundred years, it has not seen much change in terms of technology and integration with the digital world. While there are several digital watches with many features, they are either too complicated to attempt to merge the cell phone into a watch or not enough feature rich functions on these watches. Furthermore, there is no elegant luxury wrist watch that merges the old charm elegance of hand movement with new digital age features such as mobile phone connectivity and digital display.
U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/539,565 and 13/353,528 both provide unique companion devices built into a wrist watch providing an interface to a mobile phone or other mobile phone device. It would be advantageous to incorporate these companion devices in an improved, elegant and advanced way to provide a mobile phone interface in the watch.
Furthermore, there is a need for a stand-alone wrist watch providing mobile communications through the wrist watch to the user while providing private calling. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus.
Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism allowing the projection of directed sound to the user in both the embodiments of the wrist watch. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus.
Furthermore, there is a need to have an increase in user input work space to enable the user to operate the wrist watch. It is the object of the present invention to provide such a watch.

Mobile communication watch utilizing projected directional sound


A checkout station for a retail store is configurable between an employee-assisted mode and a self-service mode. In the employee-assisted mode, the checkout station is positioned on a checkout lane and a merchant operates the checkout station to checkout a customer from the store. In the self-service mode, the checkout station is positioned on the opposite side of the checkout lane and the customer performs the checkout functions with little or no help from the merchant. A motor in the checkout station is controlled to move the entire checkout station laterally across the checkout lane in response to receiving reconfiguration commands from the merchant. The reconfiguration commands may also control the checkout station to raise or lower its vertical height.

A Point-of-Service (POS) is often referred to as a location where operations in support of retail transactions are conducted. A POS may be the point where a customer makes a payment to a merchant in exchange for goods or services. Further, the merchant may, at the POS, calculate an amount owed by the customer and provide options for the customer to make payment. A payment may be made by, for example, cash, a credit card, a debit card, or check. The merchant may also issue a receipt to the customer for the transaction. Customers may also return purchased goods to the POS.
To facilitate such retail transactions, a merchant may deploy one or more checkout stations having POS terminals and a scanner. In most cases, a checkout station is configured to operate in an "employee-assisted" mode in which the merchant (or an employee of the merchant) scans each item for a customer, accepts payment for the scanned items from the customer, and places the purchased items in a bag for the customer. Such employee-assisted checkout stations enable the merchant to personally interact with the customer. In some cases, however, checkout stations are configured to operate in a "self-checkout" mode. In this mode, the customer has little or no interaction with the merchant, and performs the scanning, payment, and bagging functions typically performed by the merchant.

Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation


Provided is a spectacle lens including a lens substrate, a multilayer film located on an object-side surface of the lens substrate, and a multilayer film located on an eyeball-side surface of the lens substrate, wherein a blue light absorption rate is 10.0% or higher, the lens substrate includes a blue-light-absorbing compound, and an average reflectance in a wavelength range of 400 nm to 500 nm measured on each of the object-side surface and the eyeball-side surface of the spectacle lens is in a range of 10.0% to 20.0%, and a luminous reflectance measured on each of the object-side surface and the eyeball-side surface of the spectacle lens is less than 2.0%.

In recent years, cathode ray tube monitor screens of digital devices have been replaced by liquid crystals, and recently LED liquid crystals have become widespread. However, liquid crystal monitors, especially LED liquid crystal monitors, strongly emit short-wavelength light called blue light. Therefore, in order to effectively reduce eyestrain and eye pain caused when using a digital device for a long time, measures should be taken to reduce the burden on the eyes caused by blue light. Generally, light in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 500 nm or light in the vicinity of this wavelength range is called blue light.
Regarding the above points, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-8052 suggests an optical article having a multilayer film having a property of reflecting light with a wavelength of 400 nm to 450 nm on the convex surface and concave surface of a plastic substrate.


A peroxide-containing cleaning composition with enhanced peroxide stability includes a peroxide-containing bleaching agent, at least one surfactant, an alkali metal salt in amounts sufficient to maintain an alkaline pH, a silane quaternary ammonium compound present in an amount sufficient to enhance the stability of the peroxide-containing bleaching agent, and an aqueous diluent. A method of stabilizing a peroxide-containing cleaning composition is also disclosed.

Peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide have a bleaching effect on organic substances and are therefore used in, for example, detergents, cleaning compositions, disinfectants, deodorizers and hair coloring products. Peroxide-based solutions are well-known for their oxidative and antimicrobial properties, and have been used in washing and cleaning processes. Generally, to clean a substrate such as clothing, the substrate is subjected to hydrogen peroxide or a substance capable of generating perhydroxyl ions (HOO−), such as inorganic or organic peroxides. Upon contact with the surface of the soiled substrate, the peroxide effectively removes common stains such as coffee or wine, while disinfecting the cleaned surface.
To be effective, peroxide-containing solutions must contain a sufficient amount of peroxide to both clean and disinfect. Accordingly, it is desirable to add ingredients and employ conditions which maximize the activity of peroxides. However, peroxide compounds are very labile. The amount of peroxide in cleaning compositions typically decreases as a function of time under normal storage conditions. Ingredients and conditions which favor maximizing the activity of peroxides, likewise, reduce the stability of peroxides under storage conditions. This creates a problem with efficacy.
Accordingly, it would be useful to formulate a peroxide-containing cleaning composition exhibiting enhanced peroxides while improving the stability of the peroxides under storage conditions. There is a need for a peroxide-containing cleaning composition exhibiting both enhanced activity and improved peroxide stability.

Peroxide-containing cleaning composition with enhanced peroxide stability


A printed circuit board according to one aspect of the present invention includes an insulating layer having a through-hole, a conductive layer laminated on an inner circumferential surface of the through-hole, and metal plating layers laminated on a surface of the conductive layer facing opposite the insulating layer and laminated on both surfaces of the insulating layer, wherein an average thickness of the insulating layer is greater than or equal to 5 μm and less than or equal to 50 μm, wherein an average thickness of the metal plating layers is greater than or equal to 3 μm and less than or equal to 50 μm, wherein a hole diameter of the through-hole gradually increases from a first end of the through-hole at one surface of the insulating layer to a second end of the through-hole at another surface of the insulating layer, wherein the hole diameter of the through-hole at the first end is greater than or equal to 1.5 times, and less than or equal to 2.5 times, the average thickness of the metal plating layers, and wherein the hole diameter of the through-hole at the second end is greater than or equal to 1.1 times, and less than or equal to 2 times, the hole diameter of the through-hole at the first end thereof.

In recent years, as the interconnects of printed circuit boards have become finer and finer, there has been a demand for reduction in the thickness of printed circuit boards and reduction in the size of through-hole vias in printed circuit boards.
Well-known examples of methods for forming through-hole vias in a printed circuit board include a method of applying electrolytic plating to a substrate having through-holes. The substrate disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a narrowest portion formed on the inner circumferential surface of a through-hole. When electrolytic plating is applied to this substrate, plating blocks the through-hole from the narrowest portion of the through-hole toward the entrance, thereby preventing the generation of voids in the through-hole.

SUMITOMO ELECTRIC PRINTED CIRCUITS, INC.


A multiple cosmetic holder and applicator includes a plurality of cosmetic cartridges that receive standard cosmetics therein. The cartridges include an upper magnet disposed within the opening, and a lower annular groove on the cylindrical body. A main body holds the plurality of cosmetic cartridges and includes a base with depressions which include a lower magnet therein and which receive the cosmetic cartridges, locking mechanisms which interface with the annular groove of the cartridges to lock the cartridges within the depressions, and an outer case movable relative to the main body which has a pressable button that unlocks the locking mechanism from the cartridge. A removable cap covers the main body, the cartridges, and the standard cosmetics. A selector tube extends through an aperture in the cap to remove the cartridge when the button is pressed and the locking mechanism is unlocked.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to cosmetic holders and applicators. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to cosmetic holders with a plurality of cosmetics and applicators utilizing at least one of the plurality of cosmetics.
2. Related Art
Cosmetics and cosmetic applicators come in a variety of colors and packaging. Users often prefer to have access to a number of different cosmetics in order to have a desired color or cosmetic for a particular occasion. Many users of cosmetics thus accumulate a number of different cosmetics in a number of different colors.
When many different colors of cosmetics are accumulated, it may become difficult for a user to store all of the acquired cosmetics. Furthermore, it may be difficult to find a desired color amidst the many cosmetics. As each cosmetic generally comes with an applicator, the amount of storage required for the cosmetics may increase.