A method to program data to and erase data from a split gate flash EEPROM to improve programming and erasing speed, and to improve endurance is disclosed. The programming the split gate flash EEPROM cell is accomplished by simultaneously applying a first positive voltage to the control gate, applying a first moderately negative voltage to the semiconductor substrate, applying a slight potential to the drain region to supply a constant programming current, and applying a second positive voltage to the drain region. The first positive voltage, the first moderately negative voltage, the slight positive potential and the second positive voltage are applied for a sufficient time to cause electrons to be trapped on the floating gate. The erasing of the split gate flash EEPROM cell is accomplished by simultaneously applying a large positive voltage to the control gate, applying the first moderately negative voltage to the semiconductor substrate, applying a second moderately negative voltage to the source region, and applying the ground reference potential or floating the drain region. The large positive voltage, the first moderately negative voltage, and the second moderately negative voltage is applied for a sufficient time period to institute Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from the floating gate to the control gate to eliminate any electrons from the floating gate.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates generally to a class of non-volatile memory devices referred to as split gate flash electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). More particularly, this invention relates to methods and devices to program digital data to and erase digital data from a split gate flash EEPROM cell.
2. Description of Related Art
The structure and application of the flash EEPROM is well known in the art. The flash EEPROM provides the density advantages of an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) that employs ultra-violet light to eliminate the programming with the speed of a standard EEPROM. FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a split gate flash EEPROM cell as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,108 (Jenq). The flash EEPROM cell 100 is formed within a p-type substrate 5. A n.sup.+ drain region 10 and a n.sup.+ source region 15 is formed within the p-type substrate 5.
A relatively thin gate dielectric 55 is deposited on the surface of the p-type substrate 5. The thin gate dielectric 55 will also be referred to as a tunneling oxide. A polycrystalline silicon floating gate 30 is formed on the surface of the gate dielectric 55 above the channel region 60 between the drain region 10 and source region 15. An interpoly dielectric layer 25 is placed on the floating gate 30 to separate the floating gate 30 from a second layer of polycrystalline silicon that forms a control gate 20. The floating gate 30 is placed such that it overlaps the portion of the source 15 and the channel region 60. Further, the control gate is situated to overlap the drain region 10, the channel region 60, and the floating gate 30.
The structure as shown in Jenq describes the n+ source region 15 defined as the drain region, and the n+ drain region 10 as the source region. However, the current definition in the industry is as described above. The explanation of the erase, program, and read operation according to Jenq has been modified to reflect the current definition of the industry.
The p-type substrate 5 is connected to a substrate voltage generator V.sub.sub 45. In most applications of an EEPROM, the substrate voltage generator V.sub.sub 45 is set to the ground reference potential (0V).
The source region 15 is connected to a source voltage generator V.sub.s 50. The control gate 20 is connected to the control gate voltage generator V.sub.cg 35. And the drain region 10 is connected to the drain voltage generator V.sub.d 40.
The theory of operation for erasing a split gate flash EEPROM as disclosed in Jenq (Col. 5, line 5-Col. 6, line 11) begins with the source region 15 and the drain region 10 supplied with an equal potential of the ground reference potential. The control gate voltage generator V.sub.cg 35 and thus the control gate 20 is raised to a predetermined potential V.sub.e (>11V) above the ground reference potential supplied to the source region 15 and the drain region 10. The strong coupling from the floating gate 30 to the p-type substrate 5 and drain region 10 will cause a high voltage drop between the floating gate 30 and the control gate 20. This voltage drop, in turn, causes electrons to tunnel from the floating gate 30 to the control gate 20 by the mechanism of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. This tunneling occurs due to the locally-enhanced field on the surface of the floating gate 30. The local enhancement of the electric field can be due to the unsmoothed grain size of the floating gate 30, or asperity on the floating gate 30, which is typically made of polysilicon. It can also be due to a purposely created sharp edge on the floating gate 30 through properly designed process.
Once the positive charges are gradually built up on the floating gate 30; i.e. electrons are tunneled away from the floating gate 30 onto the control gate 20, the voltage potential drop between the floating gate 30 and the control gate 20 will continue to decrease until the potential drop can no longer sustain a significant amount of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.
As further described in Jenq (Col. 6, line 46-Col. 7, line 62) after the cell 100 is erased and the floating gate 30 is positively charged, the programming of the split gate flash EEPROM begins with the drain voltage generator V.sub.d 40 and thus the drain region 10 and the control gate voltage generator V.sub.cg 35 and thus the control gate 20 being brought to the ground reference potential (0V). The voltage potential supplied by the source voltage generator V.sub.s 50 to the drain 10 of the selected memory cell 100 is raised to a predetermined potential Vp (>10V) above ground reference potential. The induced surface charge underneath the floating gate 30 will propagate the source potential along the induced channel under the floating gate 30 to the region where the floating gate 30 meets the side wall 26. The floating gate 30 is nearly at a potential proportional to the charge present on the floating gate 30, the capacitance of the floating gate 30, and a programming voltage V.sub.p.
If the control gate voltage generator 35 is raised to a moderately positive voltage of approximately the power supply voltage source V.sub.cc (approximately 5.0V), the channel region 60 directly beneath the control gate 20 is on, the sub-threshold electron current will begin to flow from drain region 10 towards source region 15. The current will flow through the channel. When the electron reaches the region where the first portion 28 or the control gate 20 meets the side wall 26 of the interpoly dielectric layer 25, the electrons see a steep potential drop, approximately equal to the drain voltage, across the surface region defined by the gap between the control gate 20 and the floating gate 30. The electrons will be accelerated and become heated. Some of them are injected through the relatively thin gate oxide 55 and into the floating gate 30, because of the attractive electrostatic force from the floating gate 30. This process continues until the positive charges on the floating gate 30 are neutralized by the injected electrons and the voltage potential on the floating gate 30 will continue to drop until it can no longer sustain an induced surface channel immediately beneath the floating gate 30.
The charge carriers under the floating gate 30 are now depleted by the drain voltage and a deep depletion region is formed under the floating gate 30.
As long as the surface potential under the floating gate 30 can sustain a high enough voltage drop across the surface region defined by the gap between the floating gate 30 and the control gate 20 to induce hot electrons, the electron injection will continue and negative charges will gradually build up on the floating gate 30. The potential on the floating gate 30 will decrease until it reaches a lower value V,' such that the electron injection current becomes negligible. This then completes a programming cycle.
Because of the high electric field induced across the surface region defined by the gap between the floating gate 30 and the control gate 20, the efficiency of hot electron generation is very high. Furthermore, because there is attractive vertical field from the floating gate, the injection efficiency of hot electron onto the floating gate is also very high. Consequently, the programming current can be maintained at a very low level. This is much smaller than the drain current used in the programming of a conventional EPROM cell, which requires both the drain and the control gate at high voltage and operates the MOS transistor in the current saturation mode. Thus, it is possible to supply the high voltage for a memory array with an on-chip charge pump.
The read operation as described in Jenq (Col. 7 line 65-Col. 8, line 24) of the split gate EEPROM cell is accomplished by conventional scheme. The drain voltage generator V.sub.d 40 is maintained at a ground reference potential. The source voltage generator V.sub.s 50 is maintained at a read voltage, which is typically +2 volts and is much smaller than the programming potential.
In one case, if the floating gate 30 is positively charged, then the channel region 60 directly beneath the floating gate 30 is normally turned on. When the control gate 20 is raised to a read potential of approximately +5.0V, which is smaller than the potential during erase, to turn on the channel region 60 under the first portion 28 of the control gate 20, electrical current will flow from the source 15 to the drain 10. In this manner, the memory cell 100 is sensed at an erased state or `1.` state.
On the other hand, if the floating gate 30 is negatively charged, the region of the channel 60 directly beneath the floating gate 30 is either weakly turned on or is entirely shut off. Thus, even when the control gate 20 and the source region 15 are raised to a read potential, turning on the region of the channel 60 directly underneath the first portion 28 of the control gate 20, the region of the channel 60 underneath the floating gate 30 is not on and thus, the current through the channel 60 is either very small compared to the erased "1" State or is no current at all. In this condition, the cell 100 is sensed to be a programmed state of "0".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,494 (Tang et al.) describes a method to erase a stacked gate flash EEPROM. A moderately high positive voltage (approximately 3V) is generated by the source voltage generator V.sub.s. Concurrently, the gate control voltage generator V.sub.cg is set to a relatively large negative voltage (approximately -10V). The substrate voltage generator V.sub.s are set to the ground reference potential. The drain voltage generator V.sub.d is usually disconnected to allow the drain region to float. Under these conditions there is a large electric field developed across the tunneling oxide in the source region. This field causes the electrons trapped in the floating gate to flow to portion of the floating gate that overlaps the source region. The electrons are then extracted to the source region by the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.
Further Tang et al. shows a method for tightening the threshold voltage V.sub.T distribution of an array of flash EEPROM cells. The moderately high positive voltage (5V) that is applied to the source regions of the array of flash EEPROM cells and the relatively large negative voltage that is applied to the control gate insure a tighter distribution of the thresholds of the array of cells. The value of a load resistor between the low positive voltage and the source region is simultaneously reduced to a predetermined value so as to compensate for the increased erase time caused by the lowering of the magnitude of the negative constant voltage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,423 (Tang et al.) describes a method of erasure of a stacked gate flash EEPROM. A moderately large positive voltage pulse is generated by a source voltage generator V.sub.s. Simultaneously, a negative ramp voltage is developed by a gate control voltage generator V.sub.cg. A drain voltage generator V.sub.d will be disconnected from the drain to allow the drain to float and the substrate voltage generator will be set to the ground reference potential as above described. This method will achieve an averaging of the tunneling field during the entire erase cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,866 (Akaogi) describes a non volatile semiconductor memory device having a floating gate. The memory device is constructed with two wells diffused into the semiconductor substrate. The source and drain are then diffused into the second well with a floating gate and control gate disposed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate much as described in FIG. 1. The erasure process involves applying a positive voltage to each of the two wells.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,602 (Radjy et al.) describes a method of erasing a stacked gate flash EEPROM cell by controlling the electric field across the tunneling oxide. The drain is connected through a variable resistor to a programming voltage source and a variable voltage source is connected to the source. The variable voltage source is adjusted between 0 and 5V, while the programming voltage source is set between 5V and 20V. The tunneling current is optimized by adjustment of the variable resistor and the variable voltage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,528 (Kaya et al.) describes a method to program a stacked gate flash EEPROM array will provide a narrow distribution of threshold voltage. The method eliminates the drain-column line loading effect and overcomes word line stress approach because high voltages are eliminated from the wordlines. The gate compaction is accomplished by reverse biasing the source and the substrate. This limits the channel currents in individual cells. If a cell loses its charge, it will be restored by this method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,608 (Oyama) describes a method of erasing a stacked gate flash EEPROM cell by applying a relatively large negative pulse to the control gate followed by a relatively large positive pulse to the control gate. The relatively large negative pulse will erase the stacked gate flash EEPROM cell, while the relatively large positive pulse will equalize the threshold voltages of an array of stacked gate flash EEPROM cells.

Program and erase method for a split gate flash EEPROM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


In a railroad switch for use with intersecting railroad rails and having two switch points interconnected by a switch machine between two switch point assemblies and connected thereto by an operating rod at each end of the switch machine, a system for a greaseless switch point assembly having a mounting clip and a pivot pin for connecting each operating rod to its associated switch point, the greaseless switch point assembly having a bushing proximate a part of the pivot pin that fits within an opening in the mounting clip, and an insertion device extending into the opening proximate the bushing.

A railroad switch point consists of tapered rail sections that are capable of being selectively displaced between two different lateral positions at a rail switch and then locked in the selected position in order to facilitate the desired routing of a train passing through the switch. The two switch points are typically displaced by rods extending from an assembly that is referred to herein as a "switch machine". Inside the switch machine the rods are usually connected to a motive mechanism which provides reciprocating rectilinear motion controlled by a power unit which is usually placed to one side of the rails.
Such a device is described in Italian Patent No. IT1246656. The device described in that patent operates switch points which are independent, or disconnected, from each other, and it is not applicable to the problem of operating switch points of the interconnected type, i.e. of switch points connected to each other by transverse bars. Switch machines of the interconnected type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,806,809, 6,149,106, and 6,691,958.
The switch machine combines the switch point movement and switch point locking functions into a single mechanism. This reduces mechanical complexity. The switch machine is also enclosed in a weather-proof housing. Also incorporated within the housing are sensors and other electrical control components. The housing and operating assembly are located beneath the switch points and the associated rails.
In such switch machines binding may occur, as described below, when the operating rod does not move along its intended longitudinal line of action. Instead it is subjected to lateral forces tending to cause it to bind at its attachment to the switch point and where the operating rod passes through the switch machine housing. A bearing and a seal are usually provided at the entry point into the housing to align the operating rod and to seal out water and other contaminants. The outer end of each operating rod connects to an associated switch point, and as the operating rod is moved in to and out of the switch machine housing, this substantially longitudinal movement of the operating rod is used to apply force to move the associated switch point laterally. The lateral movement of the switch point requires some change in the angle between the operating rod and the switch point because the switch point is actually pivoting about a pivot point at the other end of the switch point rail section. This change in angle can apply a lateral reactive force on the outer end of the operating rod. This, in turn, causes the inner end of the operating rod to apply substantial lateral force to the bearing and seal mechanism through which the operating rod enters the switch machine housing.
In addition, a more paramount problem that results is due to the thermal expansion of the tongue, or the part that is moved to set the track of the switch. The thermal expansion causes axial motion of the tongue wherein thermal expansion may be more than an inch depending on the temperature and length of the tongue. This lateral reactive force can cause premature failure of the seal and binding of the operating rod relative to the housing, which can cause the switch machine to lock up.
The switch assembly in the prior art requires grease at certain locations to insure smooth operation of the moving parts. Towards this end, regularly scheduled maintenance of the switch assembly must be accomplished to insure that all parts have sufficient grease.


The disclosure provides detection apparatus having one or more nanopores, methods for making apparatus having one or more nanopore and methods for using apparatus having one or more nanopores. Uses include, but are not limited to detection and sequencing of nucleic acids.

Protein nanopore devices have been explored for many sensor applications, especially in the field of DNA/RNA sequencing. Discrimination of nucleotide bases has been demonstrated by reading the ionic current signal when the DNA molecule is passing through the nanopore. Following from these initial observations, protein based nanopore devices have been postulated to have great potential to push forward nucleic acid sequencing technology in terms of lower price, fast turn around and longer read length.
A more mature technology, sequencing-by synthesis (SBS), has made rapid progress in the last five years, doubling throughput about every six months, far outpacing Moore's law for the semiconductor industry. This rapid progress has been enabled by primarily three key improvements to SBS protocols: (1) cycle sequencing chemistry improvements; (2) increases in density of nucleic acid colonies on surfaces; and (3) improvement in imaging/scanning technology. These three technological improvements have increased throughput of commercial systems from about 1 Gb per run in January 2007 to over 1 Tb per run in June 2012. However, these technological advances have not been found to be directly portable to nanopore technologies.
In spite of this rapid progress in SBS improvement, 30× genome prices are still over $1000/genome with turn-around times in excess of a week. Moreover, de novo assembly and haplotyping of human genomes obtained via SBS is challenged by short reads. Strand sequencing via nanopores, can potentially read up to 50,000 bases within a few minutes. This single molecule platform to date appears to achieve speed but at the cost of greatly decreased parallelization.
Parallelization of biological nanopores is notoriously difficult. The fragility of the platform itself, especially the semi-fluidic nature of the lipid bilayer, demands specialized handling often by highly trained technicians, making nanopore systems less practical for wide spread commercialization. The current technique for assembly of protein nanopore devices is mostly manual, laborious and time consuming. After painting a lipid bilayer over a substrate having an array of micrometer sized apertures, the operator contacts the coated array with a solution having a carefully titrated quantity of the protein. The amount of nanopore is selected according to Poisson statistics to maximize the number of apertures that acquire a nanopore while minimizing the number of apertures that are loaded with greater than one nanopore. After a specific incubation period has lapsed, the nanopore-containing solution is washed away. Poisson loading requires the time period to be carefully selected to achieve the highest possible number of apertures having one and only one nanopore. The results are highly dependent upon the skill of the operator and not easily adaptable to large scale device manufacturing.
Thus, a major challenge for nanopore technology is to increase the robustness of the platform and simultaneously improve parallelization, for example, in sequencing applications. The present disclosure addresses this need and provides other advantages as well.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A boat hull includes a stern section known as a transom which comprises an outer transom wall, an inner transom wall spaced apart from the outer transom wall, and a core of syntactic foam comprising a plurality of microspheres encapsulated in a resin inserted between the outer transom wall and the inner transom wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a transom for boats, and more specifically concerns a transom for pleasure or work boats having outboard motors or inboard/outboard motors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many pleasure and work boats today are constructed of synthetic resin plastic material reinforced by fibers. The most common fiber used is glass fibers, such as Fiberglass, and the most common synthetic resin plastic used is a polyester resin.
The fibers may also be Kevlar man-made fibers or carbon fibers, but, because of the cost and complexity in applying these materials, they are used in only a small percentage of fiber-reinforced plastic boats. Kevlar is a registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.
The synthetic resin plastic material may also be an epoxy resin, a vinyl ester resin, a urethane/polyester resin, or any other suitable synthetic resin plastic material.
Aluminum is second in popularity to fiber-reinforced synthetic resin plastic as a construction material for the hulls of pleasure boats.
The majority of such boats are powered by outboard motors or inboard/outboard motors. Some also are sailboats, deriving their main propulsion force from the wind, with the outboard motor or inboard/outboard motor providing intermittent propulsion as needed.
Such boats are provided with a transom, which is an upright, transverse portion of the hull that fits across the stern of the boat. The power source of the boats is an outboard motor which is mounted outboard of the transom on an extension bracket or hung directly from the transom, or an inboard/outboard motor which is mounted inboard of the transom with its drive shaft extending through a hole in the transom to a drive unit containing the propeller which drive unit is mounted outboard of the transom. The power source of an inboard/outboard is mounted directly on the transom, but may also be supported by brackets which extend from the hull reinforcing stringers. The power source exerts a considerable force on the transom when the boat is being started, and also when the boat is underway. The transom must be constructed very sturdily to resist the propulsion force of the motor.
Conventionally, the transom comprises a plywood sheet, one-half to one-and-one-half inches thick, sandwiched between outer and inner layers of the basic hull material of fiber-reinforced synthetic resin plastic.
Also conventionally, the hull of a pleasure boat may be constructed of fiber-reinforced synthetic resin plastic in the following way. An outer hull liner is constructed by providing a female mold for the hull outer liner, and coating the mold with a wax or some other release agent. Then a polyester resin containing a coloring agent ("gel coat") is sprayed onto the mold to form a smooth outer layer of approximately 0.020 to 0.030 inches which is then allowed to cure. A layer of polyester resin and glass fibers is placed onto the gel coat layer and allowed to cure. Successive layers of glass fiber reinforced polyester resin are applied to the mold and allowed to cure to build up the thickness of the hull outer liner to a desired thickness. Then a smooth inner layer of polyester resin may be added to conceal the glass fibers from view. The hull is then separated from the mold. Other synthetic resins may be substituted for the polyester resin in this method of making a boat hull.
Again conventionally, the transom is formed by gluing together two sheets of plywood using, for example, a resin, to form a laminated sheet of plywood, and then gluing the laminated plywood sheet to the inside surface of the stern wall of the outer liner of the hull. The laminated plywood sheet is clamped onto the inside surface of the outer liner until the resin sets. The inner plywood surface which is exposed to view from the bow of the boat is then coated manually with layers of polyester resin-saturated glass fibers. Again, other synthetic resins may be used in place of the polyester resin.
The inner surface of the laminated plywood sheet which is exposed to view from the bow may also be covered by a preformed hull inner liner that is mated to the hull outer liner. The hull inner liner is made in a manner similar to the hull outer liner, with successive layers of polyester resin and glass fibers being applied to a mold, except that a male mold is used instead of a female mold.
The conventional inboard/outboard transom includes an opening cut into the transom to accommodate the mounting of the drive unit to the motor, the drive unit being a separate entity from the motor.
In an outboard motor boat, the outboard motor is mounted on the transom so that it hangs outside the boat and no opening in the transom is needed.
With an inboard/outboard motor, the motor is mounted inside the transom and is connected to the drive unit through the cut-out portion of the transom.
One of the major problems of outboard motor boats and inboard/outboard motor boats is that the plywood in the conventional transom tends to rot because the water penetrates into the plywood sheets.
In outboard motor boats, water leaks into the plywood of the transom through poorly sealed joints, or through failed seals for various fittings in the transom such as ski tow rings, hull drain plugs, etc.
In inboard/outboard motor boats, the plywood in the transom rots when water penetrates into the plywood around the opening for the motor to drive unit connection, or through failed seals for various fittings in the transom such as ski tow rings, hull drain plugs, etc.
The rotting of the plywood in the transom is a major problem not only for boat owners, but also for boat manufacturers who must spend large sums to repair or replace damaged transoms on warranty claims resulting from such water damage.
Another major problem of boat manufacturers is the time delay in the production of boats caused by the length of time it takes to make a conventional boat transom. It takes time to allow the adhesives to cure that bind the laminated plywood sheets to the hull. Also, putting the plywood in place by hand, and clamping it to hold it there by hand, involves a substantial amount of time and labor.


In a motor driving apparatus, a control unit detects a rotation frequency of a motor to be driven and generates a control voltage Vcnt in a manner such that the rotation frequency thereof is brought close to a desired rotation frequency. A clamping circuit sets an upper limit Vcu and a lower limit Vcl of the control voltage Vcnt. A drive unit drives the motor based on the control voltage Vcnt generated by the control unit. A start circuit fixes the control voltage Vcnt to a predetermined initial voltage Vinit at the start of driving the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor driving apparatus and it particularly relates to a technique for controlling the rotation frequency of a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a motor driving apparatus that rotates a DC motor or spindle motor at a desired rotation frequency thereof, the rotation frequency of a motor is monitored and a driving signal is generated based on a deviation thereof from a desired target value.
There are cases where a speed discriminator as described in Patent Document 1, for example, is used in the motor driving apparatus that controls the motor in this manner.
The speed discriminator compares the current rotation frequency of the motor with the rotation frequency that serves as the desired target value, and outputs an acceleration pulse or a deceleration pulse according to the deviation. This acceleration pulse and the deceleration pulse are converted to the DC voltage, so that a control voltage for driving the motor is produced.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei06-30589.
As described above, the speed discriminator generates the acceleration and deceleration pulses based on the deviation of the current rotation frequency of the motor from the target value of the rotation frequency thereof, so that a feedback path is formed in the motor driving apparatus. A low-pass filter for smoothing the control voltage obtained by converting the acceleration and deceleration pulses is provided in this feedback path.
In such a motor driving apparatus, when the rotation of the motor is started from a motor stoppage state, an acceleration pulse is generated from the speed discriminator and thus the control voltage for driving the motor rises up rapidly. Nevertheless, since high-frequency components are removed by the low-pass filter, a starting time required until the rotation frequency of the motor reaches a desired target value will become longer due to the effect of a time constant of the low-pass filter. Also, since the bandwidth of a feedback path is narrowed by the low-pass filter, an overshoot that exceeds considerably the desired target value may occur and a ringing may occur.


IP security is provided in a virtual private network using network address translation (NAT) by performing one or a combination of the three types of VPN NAT, including VPN NAT type a outbound source IP NAT, VPN NAT type c inbound source IP NAT, and VPN NAT type d inbound destination IP NAT. This involves dynamically generating NAT rules and associating them with the manual or dynamically generated (IKE) Security Associations, before beginning IP security that uses the Security Associations. Then, as IP Sec is performed on outbound and inbound datagrams, the NAT function is also performed.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to security over virtual private network (VPN) connections. More particularly, it relates to VPN NAT, or concurrent use of network address translation (NAT) and IP Security (IPSec) protocols.
2. Background Art
Network Address Translation (NAT), widely deployed in Internet and in companies connecting to the Internet, causes problems for IP Security. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,898 B1, cited above, at Col. 7, line 20 to Col. 8, line 46; S. Kent and R. Atkinson, Network Working Group, Request for Comments (RFC) 2401, Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol, Nov. 1998 and K. Egevang and P. Francis, Network working Group, Request for Comments (RFC) 1631, The IP Network Address Translator (NAT), May 1994.) In fact, NAT breaks IP Security (IP Sec) . That is, NAT "is the feature which finally breaks the semantic overload of the IP address as both a locator and the end-point identifier". As a result, two hosts cannot establish an IP Sec connection if there is a NAT system in between. There are two reasons why.
First, the IP traffic that flows between the two hosts (for the IP Sec connection) will have Authentication Header (AH) or Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) applied (See RFC 2401, cited above) . With respect to ESP in tunnel mode, the IP address that needs to be translated is inside the ESP tunnel and is encrypted. It is, therefore, unavailable to NAT. With respect to AH in transport or tunnel mode, the IP address that needs to be translated is visible in NAT, but the AH authentication includes it. Therefore, changing the IP address will break the authentication at the remote end of the IP Sec connection. With respect to ESP in transport mode, even if ESP is used with authentication, the IP address is available to NAT. But, if the IP address is changed, the IP Sec connection breaks due to the breaking of authentication at the remote end of the IP Sec connection.
Second, even if the IP traffic for the IP Sec connection could be translated, it would fail because the IP Sec connection is based on Security Associations which contain the two host IP addresses. An SA is an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) which defines the IPSec domain of interpretation of an IKE framework unidirectional security protocol specific set of parameters that defines the services and mechanism necessary to protect traffic between two nodes (see RFC 2401 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,562 B1 at Col. 2, lines 3-8, cited above) . These two host IP addresses are fundamental to the Security Association architecture, in that the inbound IP Sec, on the host where decrypting (or authentication) is to occur, must be uniquely determined by the triple: {destination IP addr, SPI, IP Sec protocol}.
For example, given hosts A & W, assume NAT is applied to an IP datagram (a generic term for bytes that go on the wire) with ESP in transport mode that is going from A to W. Hence the IP source address is changed. Upon arrival at W, the packet will probably be decrypted successfully since that doesn't depend on IP source address (which was in plaintext—not tunneled). If strictly implemented however, the inbound SPD checking which should follow decrypting will fail, due to the changed IP source address (because it was not the address used to negotiate the security association). So, even the transport mode ESP case fails.
Simply making NAT and IP Sec mutually exclusive is not the solution sought by the art. NAT is being deployed widely because it solves many problems, such as: masks global address changes, lowers address utilization, lowers ISP support burden, allows load sharing as virtual hosts. Yet, NAT is viewed as the greatest single threat to security integration being deployed in the Internet today. This "NAT problem", as it is invariably termed, is architecturally fundamental. Yet, legacy applications and services (for example, those developed for IP version 4) will continue to a long co-existence as applications and services develop for IP version 6. Consequently, there is a great need in the art for providing NAT and IP Sec coexistence, at least in selected situations, and to do so without introducing serious configuration problems.
A VPN connection between two address domains can have the effect of directly connecting the two domains, which most likely will not been planned to be connected. Hence increased use of VPNs is likely to increase address conflicts. It is also understood that VPNs redefine network visibility and increase the likelihood of address collision when traversing NATs. Address management in the hidden space behind NATs will become a significant burden. There is, therefore, a need in the art to ameliorate that burden.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for concurrently implementing both Network Address Translation (NAT) and IP Security (IP Sec).
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for solving the increased likelihood of IP address conflicts inherent in the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for enabling utilization of VPNs without requiring re-addressing a domain (an expensive alternative).
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for VPN NAT which is accomplished entirely in the IP Sec gateway without require changes in domain hosts.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for VPN NAT which requires no, or only minor changes to routing, in each connected domain.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for VPN NAT which is simple to configure.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a solution to the address collision problems caused by VPNs.

System and method for network address translation integration with IP Security

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a device for a motor vehicle for protecting vehicle occupants when there is an impact of energy directed laterally at a motor vehicle door due to a collision, having a connecting structure which has at least two parts with a first part permanently connected with the motor vehicle door and a second part permanently connected with an energy-absorbing region of the motor vehicle body located in the vehicle interior. Both parts via at least one common joint region can be operationally connected with each other to conducting-away of at least part of the energy input laterally acting on the motor vehicle door in the region of the motor vehicle body. The energy impact acting on the motor vehicle door is conducted away from the pivot bearing by a force acting linearly and horizontally via the first and the second part to the first end of the second part permanently connected with the motor vehicle body.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for a motor vehicle for protecting vehicle occupants when there is an impact of energy directed laterally at a motor vehicle door due to a collision, having a connecting structure which has at least two parts, a first part and a second part, of which the first part is connected in a fixed manner with the motor vehicle door and the second part is connected in a fixed manner with an energy absorbing region of the motor vehicle body located in the vehicle interior and both parts, via at least one common joint region for conducting away at least part of the energy input laterally acting on the motor vehicle door which can be brought into operational connection with each other in the region of the motor vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The protection of occupants in motor vehicles is considered one of the main tasks in the design and new development of motor vehicles. A separate development objective serves for the configuration of distinct buckling zones in the front and rear regions which are capable of protecting the passenger cell largely securely in the event of front and rear-end collisions. In the case of lateral collisions however, the protection of occupants poses greater problems because of the small deformation paths that are available and the low absorption capacity of the lateral structure of a motor vehicle.
Known solutions for easing the danger to the occupants existing in the case of lateral collisions of motor vehicles provide for stiffening of the motor vehicle door. Profiles integrated in the motor vehicle door, which in vehicle transverse direction possess great stiffness and/or high energy absorption capacity, are known for example. DE 196 33 637 A1 discloses a vehicle door with lateral impact protection in the door frame for which arch-shaped holding bars are provided which in the event of a collision are twisted in such a manner and under a tensile load are deformed in the manner of an arresting net.
Stiffening of the lateral doors of this type by providing corresponding side members however is not always adequate to secure the occupants in serious collision cases since when the lateral door is subjected to an external force, the lateral door can be pushed through the door cutout of the vehicle body so that the survival space of the occupants is drastically confined and the chances of survival are similarly reduced.
In addition, the prior art has a series of measures which are suitable for transmitting forces acting on the lateral door to the vehicle body. For example through suitably large overlap between door and door cutout or through bolts protruding from the edge of the door, which in the event of a collision, engage in reinforced recesses of the door cutout of the motor vehicle body. DE AS 22 15674 for example shows a reinforcement device provided for a motor vehicle door which has a beam arched to the outside whose end sections upon deformation of the beam brought about by an external impact in a stretched shape enter into suitably stable recesses within the door frame. The beam preferentially has a profiled steel plate which typically is brought into the appropriate shape through forming.
To avoid an increase of the dead weight of the motor vehicle due to the above measures, a reinforcement device provided for a motor vehicle door is described in DE 41 25 299 C2 which, for the sake of weight reduction, has a reinforcement arch-shaped beam device which is manufactured of fiber-reinforced composite material. In this case, too, the reinforcement device is entirely located within the door which, in the event of a collision, because of the concomitant deformation of the reinforcement beam, emerges from the door with the end regions on both sides, which in turn engage in operational interaction with stable support flanks in the doorframe of the motor vehicle body.
A passenger cell is shown in DE 198 39 519 A1 which functions as a protection device for the vehicle occupants in the event of a lateral collision which provides a cross member construction in the event of a collision for establishing a rigid transverse connection between the vehicle door and the center console so that the sitting region is protected against vehicle door regions entering the passenger cell. The cross member construction merely is activated in the event of a collision by pyrotechnical or pneumatic actuators which extend the jointed cross member construction design while forming a stable cross connection which is otherwise integrated in the seat, door and center console covering.

Device for a motor vehicle for protecting vehicle occupants when there is an impact of energy directed at a motor vehicle door due to a collision

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


A semiconductor device having a display unit, which is small in size, suppresses the defect caused by the mounting of IC chips and the like on the substrate, and operates at a high speed. A semiconductor display unit and other circuit blocks are integrally formed on the substrate having an insulating surface by using a process for fabricating TFTs that realize a high degree of mobility. Concretely, there is employed a process for crystallizing a semiconductor active layer by using a continuously oscillating laser. Further, the process for crystallization relying upon the continuously oscillating laser is selectively effected for only those circuit blocks that must be operated at high speeds, thereby to realize a high production efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a display portion. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device in which thin film transistors are formed over a substrate having an insulation film surface thereon.
2. Related Art of the Invention
Semiconductor devices and, particularly, electronic devices having a semiconductor display unit have been vigorously developed in recent years, and their applications can be represented by such portable devices as game devices, notebook PCs, cellular phones as well as such diversities as liquid crystal TVs, liquid crystal displays, EL displays and so on. As compared to the traditional CRTs, the semiconductor display units can be realized in reduced weights, reduced thickness and consuming electric power in small amounts.
As the conventional semiconductor display units, there have been known a semiconductor display unit of the passive matrix type having a pixel region on which striped electrodes are formed in a manner to intersect each other on the upper and lower sides with the liquid crystal layer or light-emitting layer sandwiched therebetween, and a semiconductor display unit of the active matrix type having a pixel region on which thin-film transistors (TFTs) are arranged like a matrix.
In recent years, technology has advanced for forming TFTs over a substrate, and efforts have been made to apply the semiconductor display unit of the active matrix type. In particular, the TFTs using a polysilicon film exhibit an electric field effect mobility (often called simply as mobility) which is higher than that of the conventional TFTs using an amorphous silicon film, and are making it possible to control the pixels by a drive circuit formed over the same substrate as that of the pixels though the pixels have heretofore been controlled by a drive circuit outside the substrate.
Next, the constitution of an electronic device having a conventional semiconductor display unit will be described. FIG. 21 is a block diagram schematically illustrating portions related to the display of an image. In FIG. 21, a semiconductor device 301 receives or forms image data, processes the image data, converts the format, and displays the image. Examples of the semiconductor device 301 include game devices, video cameras, car navigation systems, personal computers and so on.
On the semiconductor device 301, a semiconductor display unit 302 is constituted by a pixel region 319, a scanning line drive circuit 318 and a signal line drive circuit 317, and is formed as a unitary structure on a substrate having an insulating surface. Other circuit blocks are formed on different silicon substrates and are mounted in the form of IC chips. Some of the circuit blocks may often be formed over the same silicon substrate.
The semiconductor device 301 is constituted by an input terminal 311, a first control circuit 312, a second control circuit 313, a CPU 314, a first memory 315, a second memory 316, and the semiconductor display unit 302. The input terminal 311 receives data that serve as the basis of image data depending upon the kind of the electronic devices. For example, the input data are those through an antenna in the case of a broadcast receiver, and the input data are those from a CCD in the case of a video camera. The input data may be those from a DV tape or a memory card. The data input through the input terminal 311 are converted into image signals through the first control circuit 312. The first control circuit 312 processes the image signals, such as decoding the image data that are compressed and encoded according to the MPEG standard and the tape format, and interpolating and resizing the image. The image signals output from the first control circuit 312 and the image signals formed or processed by the CPU 314, are fed to the second control circuit 313, and are converted into a format (e.g., scanning format, etc.) that is adapted to the semiconductor display unit 302. The second control circuit 313 produces image signals and control signals of which the formals have been converted.
The CPU 314 efficiently controls the signal processing in the first control circuit 312, second control circuit 313 and other interface circuits. The CPU 314 further forms and processes the image data. The first memory 315 is used as a memory region for storing image data from the first control circuit 312 and for storing image data from the second control circuit 313, as a work memory region for executing the control operation by using a CPU, and as a work memory region at the time of forming the image data by the CPU. As the first memory 315, there can be used a DRAM or an SRAM. The second memory 316 stores the color data and character data, and is necessary when the image data are to be formed or processed by the CPU 314. The second memory 316 is constituted by a mask ROM or an EPROM.
The semiconductor display unit 302 is constituted by the signal line drive circuit 317, scanning line drive circuit 318 and pixel region 319. The signal line drive circuit 317 receives image signals and control signals from the second control circuit 313 (clock signals, start pulse signals and the like), and the scanning line drive circuit 318 receives control signals (clock signals, start pulse signals and the like) from the second control circuit 313. The pixel region 319 displays the image.
The electronic device having the semiconductor display unit can assume a variety of constitutions in addition to the constitution shown in FIG. 21. The simplest constitution may comprise the semiconductor display unit, input/output terminals and a simple control circuit as exemplified by a liquid crystal display or an EL display. When the CPU bears a too large load in the architecture shown in FIG. 21, an image processor may be newly provided to reduce the burden of the CPU.
In the conventional electronic device having the semiconductor display unit described above, the circuit blocks other than the drive circuit are mounted being formed over a substrate separate from the substrate over which the pixels are formed.
Accompanying the widespread use of portable electronic devices, it is becoming an important assignment to realize the electronic devices in small sizes. The thus constituted semiconductor devices, however, require many IC chips that are mounted over the substrates separate from the substrate over which the pixels are formed, and involve difficulty if they are to be realized in small sizes. In particular, even if the circuit blocks are realized in small sizes in the IC chip, a large margin required for the mounting makes it difficult to fabricate the entire device in a small size. If it is attempted to decrease the margin for the mounting to realize the device in a small size, then, a high degree of mounting technology is needed arousing a problem from the standpoint of cost and reliability in the mounting portion. There further remains the problem of wiring capacity. That is, when the IC chips are mounted, the wiring must bear a large load making it difficult to conduct the operation at high speeds.
As a method of solving these problems, it has been expected to form the circuit blocks integrally with the semiconductor display unit.
When the circuit blocks are formed over the substrate having an insulating surface, however, a problem often arouses concerning the operation speed. This is because, the TFTs formed over the substrate such as a glass surface having an insulating surface exhibit properties such as mobility and threshold values which are inferior to those of the transistors formed over a single crystalline silicon substrate.
When the conventional semiconductor devices are operated at a given frequency, therefore, a desired operation is realized when the circuit blocks are mounted in the form of IC chips but the desired operation is not realized when the circuit blocks are formed over the substrate having the insulating surface.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


When processing cellulosic biomass, it may be desirable for a digestion unit to operate without being fully depressurized for process efficiency purposes. A biomass conversion system can comprise a first digestion unit and a second digestion unit that are operatively connected to one another; a valve separating the first digestion unit from the second digestion unit; a fluid circulation loop establishing fluid communication between an outlet of the first digestion unit and an inlet of the second digestion unit; and a bypass line establishing fluid communication between an outlet of the second digestion unit and the fluid circulation loop.

Significant attention has been placed on developing alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. One fossil fuel alternative having significant potential is biomass, particularly cellulosic biomass such as, for example, plant biomass. As used herein, the term "biomass" will refer to a living or recently living biological material. Complex organic molecules within biomass can be extracted and broken down into simpler organic molecules, which can subsequently be processed through known chemical transformations into industrial chemicals or fuel blends (i.e., a biofuel). In spite of biomass's potential in this regard, particularly plant biomass, an energy- and cost-efficient process that enables the conversion of biomass into such materials has yet to be realized.
Cellulosic biomass is the world's most abundant source of carbohydrates due to the lignocellulosic materials located within the cell walls of higher plants. Plant cell walls are divided into two sections: primary cell walls and secondary cell walls. The primary cell wall provides structural support for expanding cells and contains three major polysaccharides (cellulose, pectin, and hemicellulose) and one group of glycoproteins. The secondary cell wall, which is produced after the cell has finished growing, also contains polysaccharides and is strengthened through polymeric lignin covalently crosslinked to hemicellulose. Hemicellulose and pectin are typically found in abundance, but cellulose is the predominant polysaccharide and the most abundant source of carbohydrates. Collectively, these materials will be referred to herein as "cellulosic biomass."
Plants can store carbohydrates in forms such as, for example, sugars, starches, celluloses, lignocelluloses, and/or hemicelluloses. Any of these materials can represent a feedstock for conversion into industrial chemicals or fuel blends. Carbohydrates can include monosaccharides and/or polysaccharides. As used herein, the term "monosaccharide" refers to hydroxy aldehydes or hydroxy ketones that cannot be further hydrolyzed to simpler carbohydrates. Examples of monosaccharides can include, for example, dextrose, glucose, fructose, and galactose. As used herein, the term "polysaccharide" refers to saccharides comprising two or more monosaccharides linked together by a glycosidic bond. Examples of polysaccharides can include, for example, sucrose, maltose, cellobiose, and lactose. Carbohydrates are produced during photosynthesis, a process in which carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds as a way to store energy. This energy can be released when the carbohydrates are oxidized to generate carbon dioxide and water.
Despite their promise, the development and implementation of bio-based fuel technology has been slow. A number of reasons exist for this slow development. Ideally, a biofuel would be compatible with existing engine technology and have capability of being distributed through existing transportation infrastructure. Current industrial processes for biofuel formation are limited to fermentation of sugars and starches to ethanol, which competes with these materials as a food source. In addition, ethanol has a low energy density when used as a fuel. Although some compounds that have potential to serve as fuels can be produced from biomass resources (e.g., ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and gaseous fuels, such as hydrogen and methane), these fuels generally require new distribution infrastructure and/or engine technologies to accommodate their physical characteristics. As noted above, there has yet to be developed an industrially scalable process that can convert biomass into fuel blends in a cost- and energy-efficient manner that are similar to fossil fuels.

Systems having digestion units with capability for loading cellulosic biomass under high pressure and associated methods for cellulosic biomass processing


A cassette for tonometric calibration especially useful for systems that measure one or more blood parameters includes a cassette having an elongated fluid chamber. In one embodiment of the invention, the fluid chamber includes an expansion region that reduces the likelihood of bubble coalescence of the calibration gas. In another embodiment, inner wall sections of the chamber are provided with a hydrophilic surface. Optionally, a fitting is non-releasably coupled to a casing of the cassette and is movable between a first position for closing a calibration gas outlet port and a second position for venting the calibration gas outlet port. In another embodiment, the cassette includes an elongated sparging tube that extends in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to a calibration cuvette or cassette useful for calibrating sensors of a blood parameter measurement system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various characteristics or parameters of blood are often monitored in real time during certain surgical procedures. For example, during open heart surgery the surgeon and other members of the surgical team often monitor the pH of the patient's blood as well as the concentration of certain blood gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen. In many instances, the parameters of the patient's blood are monitored not only as the surgery is progressing, but also in the time period before and after the surgical procedure.
Measurement of blood parameters is often accomplished using an extracorporeal blood circuit having lengths of flexible tubing with passageways that are in fluid communication with the vascular system of the patient. In many extracorporeal blood circuits, one or more sensors that are useful for determining blood parameters are placed adjacent the passageway and are connected to a processing unit. The processing unit is typically connected to a display device such as a monitor so that the surgical team can review the parameters of interest when desired. Optionally, the processing unit is connected to a recording device such as a printer to provide a log of the parameters over a period of time.
Optical sensors are often used for sensing blood parameters in real time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,879 to Lubbers et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,746 to Bentsen et al. describe fluorescent sensors that respond to light in accordance to the partial pressure of oxygen, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide and the pH of blood. Sensors that function on the principles of light absorbance are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,932 to Fostick.
Extracorporeal blood circuits having sensors for determining blood parameters may be arranged in various manners, and the manner selected for use in a particular instance often depends upon the preferences of the surgical team. In some cases, the sensors are mounted in a housing located along a length of relatively small-diameter tubing that is connected at only one end to the patient's blood supply, and a device such as a syringe is used to draw a sample of blood past the sensors. Examples of such circuits are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,606 to Gehrich et al.
Another type of extracorporeal blood circuit has sensors located along tubing that is part of an arterial or a venous passageway connected to an oxygenator. The sensors in this type of circuit are often connected to an element known as a flow-through cell that has fitting on opposite sides for coupling to the circuit tubing. Flow-through cells are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,820 to Cooper.
For best results, the optical sensors of blood parameter measurement systems should be calibrated before placed in use. One calibration technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,820 and involves attaching the carrier for the sensors to a calibration housing containing a quantity of calibration liquid. Calibration gas is then bubbled through the calibration liquid to calibrate the analyzer. A similar technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,013 to Maxwell.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A head-mount type display device adapted to allow a user to visually recognize a virtual image in a state of being worn on the head of the user includes an image display section having an image light generation section adapted to generate an image light representing an image, a light blocking section adapted to transmit external light at a predetermined transmittance, and a virtual image forming section adapted to transmit the external light transmitted through the light blocking section and to form the virtual image in an eye of the user with the image light, and configured to allow the user to visually recognize the virtual image and an external image, an imaging section for taking an image of the sight in a visual field direction of the user, and a control section adapted to perform control of changing the transmittance of the light blocking section.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a head-mount type display device for making the user visually recognize a virtual image in a state of being worn on the head of the user.
2. Related Art
In the past, there has been known a head-mount type display device for making the user visually recognize a virtual image in a state of being mounted on the head of the user. In such a head-mount type display device, there has been proposed a see-through head-mount type display device for superimposing the virtual image and the external image on each other (see, e.g., JP-A-2006-3879).
In the see-through head mounted display of the related art, there is a problem that the external image can always be seen behind the virtual image, and therefore the external image acts as an obstacle and it becomes difficult to visually recognize the virtual image in the case of operating an object in the virtual image or gazing at a character and a graphics in the virtual image.


A portable computer having a heat-emitting device and includes a CPU board; a CPU mounted on the CPU board; a first heat emitting member directly mounted on a top surface of the CPU for emitting heat generated from the CPU; a second heat emitting member having a large surface area for dissipating the heat emitted from the first heat emitting member by heat conduction; a top board having a first plurality of perforated apertures, positioned on the second heat emitting member for passing the heat dissipated from the second heat emitting member to the outside of the portable computer; a key frame having a second, complementary to the first, plurality of perforated apertures, positioned on the top board for passing the heat passed through the top board to the outside of the portable computer; and a keypad supported by the key frame and having a third, complementary to the first and second, plurality of perforated apertures for passing the heat passed through the key frame to the outside of the portable computer. As a result, the heat generated from the CPU which is used to circulate in the interior of the portable computer is now efficiently emitted to the outside of the portable computer through air ventilation holes of a keyboard or a heat emitting plate connected thereto.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a computer system having a heat emitting device, more particularly, to a portable computer having a heat emitting device incorporated therein for emitting heat generated by a central processing unit (CPU) to outside of the portable computer through air ventilation holes formed on a keyboard.
2. Related Art
Generally, when a computer system is in use and its central processing unit (CPU) is in operation, heat will be released which results in a relatively high temperature rise (e.g., 95.degree. C. to 130.degree. C.). Such a high temperature rise typically disables operation of the computer system. Therefore, it is necessary to install cooling devices for quickly removing heat generated during the operation of the computer CPU. For conventional desktop computers, an add-in card type cooling fan is generally installed to effectively transfer heat from the computer CPU to the outside of the computer enclosure. For most portable computers such as laptops and notebooks, where there is a very limited interior space to accommodate such a fan and there is limited power supply from battery sets to support operation of such a fan, however, a heat dissipating device in a form of heat sink, namely a block or plate made of high heat conductivity material is generally installed in the computer enclosure to dissipate the heat generated from the computer CPU.
Conventional heat dissipating devices for portable computers which come in many different designs, are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,746 for Heat Sink Assembly For A Central Processing Unit Of A Computer issued to Wang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,675 for Computer CPU Heat Dissipating And Protecting Device issued to Hsieh et al., U. S. Pat. No. 5,557,500 for Heat Dissipating Arrangement In A Portable Computer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,875 for Cooling Device For CPU issued to Lin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,508 for Focused CPU Air Cooling System Including High Efficiency Heat Exchanger issued to Porter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,540 for Heat Dissipating Device For Personal Computers issued to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,609 for Microprocessor Cooling In A Portable Computer issued to Kikinis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,375 for CPU Heat Sink Mounting Structure issued to Chiou, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,352 for CPU Heat Dissipating Device issued to Lin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,510 for Electronic Equipment And Computer With Heat Pipe issued to Ouchi, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,362 for Packaging Structure Of Small Size Computer issued to Hatada. Generally, the heat dissipating device has a heat emitting plate mounted on the computer CPU in order to transfer the heat generated by the CPU to the outside of the computer enclosure by means of heat conduction.
Recent improvements in the compactness and computer speed of portable computers have, however, rendered many of the conventional heat dissipating designs ineffective because most heat emitting plates cannot fully protect the computer CPU from a greater amount of heat generated by the high performance and high-speed CPU. As a result, many portable computers today may still suffer the occasional disruption from the heat generated from the computer CPU that has not been sufficiently dissipated in the interior environment of the computer enclosure. Further, it has also been my observation that many conventional heat dissipating designs do not effectively transfer the heat generated from the computer CPU to the outside of the computer enclosure. That is, in many conventional heat dissipating designs, the heat dissipated by the heat emitting plate still remains within the computer enclosure and cannot be transferred to the outside of the computer enclosure. Accordingly, further improvements in the heat emitting devices for portable computers can still be contemplated.

Portable computer having a heat-emitting device mountable on a CPU for emitting heat generated from the CPU via air ventilation holes formed on a keyboard


The invention discloses a programmable annular LED illumination-based high efficiency quantitative phase microscopy imaging method, the proposed method comprising the following steps: the derivation of system optical transfer function in a partially coherent illumination imaging system; the derivation of phase transfer function with the weak object approximation under the illumination of tilted axially symmetric coherent point illumination source; the extension of illumination from an axially symmetric coherence point source to a discrete annular point source, and the optical transfer function can be treated as an incoherent superposition of each pair of tilted axially symmetric coherent point sources. The acquisition of raw intensity dataset; the implementation of deconvolution for quantitative phase reconstruction. The invention derives the system phase transfer function under the tilted axially symmetric point light source in the case of partially coherent illumination, and promotes the optical phase transfer function of the discrete annular point light source. The programmability characteristic of LED array enables the annular illumination aperture to be flexibly adjustable, being applicable to different microscopic objects with different numerical apertures, and improving the compatibility and flexibility of the system.

Phase retrieval is an important technology for optical measurement and imaging, and plays an important role in biomedical and industrial inspections. The most classical quantitative phase measurement method is interferometry (Cuche E, Bevilacqua F, Depeursinge C. Digital holography for quantitative phase-contrast imaging [J]. Optics letters, 1999, 24(5): 291-293.), and this kind of technique usually use a laser light source for beam splitting to generate two beams of light. In the interferometry setup, object beam passing through a sample and interfering with reference beam to generate interference fringes, and the phase delay of the object can be obtained through demodulation algorithm. However, interferometry is particularly disadvantageous: (1) interferometry generally requires a highly coherent light source (such as a laser), which requires a more complex interference device; (2) the introduction of additional reference optical paths leads to demanding requirements for the measurement environment; (3) the speckle coherent noise introduced by the highly coherent light source limits the spatial resolution and measurement accuracy of an imaging system.
Different from the traditional quantitative phase imaging based on interferometry, phase retrieval can realize quantitative phase acquisition without optical interference. By measuring the amplitude/intensity of an optical wave field, using the intensity distribution on different axial planes to calculate the phase distribution of an object and using the transport of intensity equation to solve phase is a typical direct phase retrieval method (Teague M R. Deterministic Phase retrieval: A Green's function solution[J]. JOSA, 1983, 73 (11): 1434-1441.). The transport of intensity equation is a second order elliptical partial differential equation, which illustrates the quantitative relationship between the intensity change along an optical axis and the phase of wave field plane which is perpendicular to the optical axis. A series of intensity images along the axial direction are captured, and then the central differential equation is used to obtain the intensity axial differential and the intensity distribution at the focusing position. Finally, the phase information can be directly obtained by numerically solving the transport of intensity equation. Compared with interferometry and iterative phase recovery method, the main advantages of the method of the transport of intensity equation are: (1) non-interference, directly resolving phase information by measuring surface intensity, without introducing additional reference light; (2) non-iterative, obtaining a phase by directly resolving differential equation; (3) being well applied to white light illumination, such as Kohler illumination in traditional bright field microscopy; (4) direct acquisition of the absolute distribution of phase positions without phase unwrapping and no presence of 2π phase wrapping problem in general interferometry; (5) no need of complex optical system, no harsh requirements for experimental environment and being insensitive to vibration.
In Kohler illumination system, with the increasing of illumination numerical aperture, the optical imaging system changes from coherent illumination to partially coherent illumination, as shown in FIG. 1(a)-(c). The final imaging resolution will increase as well, but the phase contrast of captured intensity images will be poor and difficult to be observed, so the general illumination numerical aperture is set to 70% to 80% of the numerical aperture of an objective lens to obtain the optimal phase contrast effect, and this instruction can be found in most microscope manuals. The reason for this conclusion is that when the coherence parameter of an microscopic imaging system (which is defined as the ratio of the numerical aperture of illumination to the numerical aperture of an objective lens, σ=NAill/NAobj; when σ≠0 an imaging system is a coherent illumination system and when σ≤1, the imaging system is partially coherent illumination system) increases, the response value of the system transfer function is continuously attenuated, resulting in weakened image contrast. The cutoff frequency of transfer function is continuously extended to 2× objective lens resolution, but the phase contrast of image intensity gradually becomes weak with the increasing image resolution. There is a trade-off between imaging resolution and the phase contrast of intensity image. In the case of coherent illumination, the phase contrast of the intensity image is the strongest, but the imaging resolution at this time is determined only by the numerical aperture of the objective lens. When coherence parameter σ=1, imaging resolution can be extended to twice the numerical aperture resolution of the objective lens, but the phase contrast in the intensity image is too weak to capture. Although partially coherent illumination has been introduced into quantitative phase imaging based on the transport-of-intensity equation (Gureyev T E, Roberts A, Nugent K A. Partially coherent fields, the transport-of-intensity equation, and phase uniqueness [J]. JOSA A, 1995, 12(9): 1942-1946. [2] Paganin D, Nugent K A. Noninterferometric phase imaging with partially coherent light [J]. Physical review letters, 1998, 80(12): 2586.), a compromise between imaging resolution and detectable image contrast cannot be avoided. As a new type of illumination controlling mode in recent years, the illumination based on LED array makes the means and methods of microscopic imaging more flexible and convenient. (Zheng G, Horstmeyer R, Yang C. Wide-field, high-resolution Fourier ptychographic microscopy [J]. Nature photonics, 2013, 7(9): 739-745. [2] Zuo C, Sun J, Zhang J, et al. Lensless phase microscopy and diffraction tomography with multi-angle and multi-wavelength illuminations using a LED matrix [J]. Optics express, 2015, 23(11): 14314-14328.). Thus, how to break through the traditional circular Kohler illumination mode and achieve twice the objective lens resolution in quantitative phase imaging with robust phase contract in the captured intensity images becomes a technical problem in quantitative phase imaging technology.

Programmable annular led illumination-based high efficiency quantitative phase microscopy imaging method

NANJING UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


A method of applying a heat-rejection coating directly on a substrate of a metallic component is disclosed. The steps include supplying a metallic component, such as of a gas turbine engine, before applying a reflective-coating mixture onto the component, wherein the reflective-coating mixture comprises a metallic pigment and a reflective-coating-mixture carrier, and wherein the step of applying is accomplished by a method selected from the group consisting of air-assisted spraying, airless spraying, brushing, and decal transfer. The component having the reflective-coating mixture thereon is fired to form a reflective coating on the component.

A continuing trend is to increase the operating temperature of the gas turbine engine, as higher temperatures lead to greater thermodynamic efficiency. The ability of the engine to operate at ever-higher temperatures is limited by the materials used in the engine. A variety of techniques are used to achieve increased operating temperatures of the metals used, specifically, superalloys and titanium. Improved materials with inherently higher operating temperatures are developed. New processing techniques, such as directional solidification and improved heat treatments are utilized. Bleed-air cooling by air directed from the compressor to the hot sections of the engine is widely used.
Coatings are also important contributors to the increased temperature capability of modern gas turbine engines. Environmental coatings inhibit corrosive damage to the coated articles, allowing them to operate in environments, such as the high-temperature corrosive combustion gas, for which they would otherwise be unsuited. Ceramic thermal barrier coatings serve as insulation layers and are usually overlying environmental coatings that serve as bond coats, such as MCrAIYs.
Another type of coating is a layer of an optically reflective material that reflects a portion of the incident radiative heat loading away from the coated article. This type of heat-reflective and heat-rejection coating may be made of a metal or a ceramic adhered to the surface of the protected article. The drawbacks of these coatings are that they are relatively expensive to apply and may adversely affect the properties of the underlying substrate article upon which they are deposited. Additionally, it is difficult to apply the coatings to large articles due to processing equipment requirements and limitations.
There is a need for an approach to applying heat-reflective coatings that may be readily and inexpensively utilized both for newly made and repaired/refurbished articles, and which does not adversely affect the underlying substrate articles upon which the coatings are applied. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.

Sprayable noble metal coating for high temperature use directly on aircraft engine alloys


A magnetoscop inspection system includes a magnetoscop, a computed tomography unit, and a corrosion model unit. The magnetoscop measures a permeability at a plurality of inspection points of a turbine component. The computed tomography unit generates a measured profile of a hollowed portion of the turbine component based at least in part on the permeability at the measured inspection points. The corrosion model unit stores in memory at least one reference computed tomography profile of a known turbine component. The magnetoscop inspection system determines a structural integrity of the turbine component based on a comparison between the measured profile and the reference profile corresponding to the turbine component currently under inspection.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are related generally to an apparatus and method for inspecting a component of a gas turbine engine, and more specifically, to techniques for inspecting turbine airfoils included in a gas turbine engine.
Gas turbine engines employed on an aircraft vehicle include a variety of internal components or airfoil components such as, for example, turbine blades and turbine vanes. The turbine blades and vanes can include internal cooling passages, which are frequently exposed to hot temperature environments that can contain rich oxygen levels and moisture. Continuous exposure to these environmental conditions can lead to corrosion of the internal walls of the cooling passages. This internal passage corrosion decreases the thickness of non-corroded wall portions and reduces the overall integrity of blades and/or vanes.

Multi-zone automatic magnetoscop inspection system


Described is a clothing hanger capable of collapsing into an enclosed unit that is easily stored and is convenient for travel. The hanger comprises a hook and a pair of arms rotatable about the hook and adapted to support the shoulders of a garment. The hanger further comprises a first and second pants bar element that are hingeably connected to one another and which are in hinged connection with the hanger arms. The hanger can be collapsed into an enclosed unit by folding the pants bar elements towards one another and into the hollow undersides of the hanger arms. The hook of the hanger is able to rotate so as to be enclosed by the hanger arms. The hanger further includes an elastic cord that can be removably connected to the arms of the hanger and that is adapted to secure garments in place over the pants bar elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clothes and article hangers. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a collapsible clothes hanger that is capable of enclosing its elements within its arms and that allows a user to transport the hanger in a collapsed state between uses.
Tending to clothes that must be placed on a hanger to avoid wrinkling while on the go and while traveling can be a bothersome task. This task becomes particularly bothersome when traveling for an extended period, and where no hanger articles are readily available for supporting clothes while not being worn. Articles of clothing such as jackets, suits, and dress shirts generally require a hanger to properly store the articles in a suspended position, whereby their material does not become creased, bunched, or wrinkled. However, the ability for one to travel with a full-size hanger is limited and rather undesirable, as the hanger consumes space in a travel bag or gym bag and its transport is not efficient.
Several common situations require the use of a clothes hanger while away from home, whereby clothing articles require support between uses. One common situation is when traveling for business, where an individual will generally wear business attire for a portion of the trip and change into casual wear when not actively attending to a business function. While most hotel rooms offer business travelers a means to hang clothing, some provide inadequate hanger types that do not properly support for suits, shirts, and jackets, leaving hanger marks on the clothing. Yet another common situation requiring a hanger article is when visiting the gymnasium after work or before a workday. Many individuals who enjoy exercising during the day are required to wear business attire to their workplace. In order to ensure that the business attire is properly stored when removed at the gym or prior to being donned at the gym in the mornings, a hanger article is essential. Additionally, individuals commonly hang business attire on a hanger in the individual's car while driving to or from work. Again, however, traveling with a full size hanger, or multiple hangers as the case may be, is a bothersome and inefficient prospect.
The present invention describes a new and novel travel hanger device that efficiently collapses into an enclosed unit, whereby the collapsed device can be placed into a travel bag and consume minimal volume therein. The device comprises a first and second hingedly attached arm having an open underside area and an upper surface for supporting the shoulders of an article of clothing. A pair of folding pants bar elements extends from within the interior of the open arms, such that when deployed, the device forms a triangular hanger shape with an upper hook that is also collapsible into the interior of the hanger arms. In this way, the concave or hollow arms close together over the elements of the hanger when collapsed to provide a device that can easily be stowed within luggage when traveling. The hanger of the present invention further comprises an elastic cord that can be removably secured to the arms of the hanger such that the elastic cord is disposed over the pants bar elements. In this way, a user may secure pants or other garments to the pants bar elements by means of the elastic cord.
The ability to travel with a collapsed and enclosed hanger article allows clothing items to be suspended as required between uses, while also consuming as little volume as possible while stowed within the user's luggage. The shape of the collapsed device provides a device with a small cross section and that encloses the elements of the hanger to prevent the hooks or grooves of the hanger from catching or pulling on other items. This improves on most common collapsible hangers in that the article is enclosed within an interior volume, and further improves on the method of carrying a full-size hanger device while traveling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to collapsible hangers for storage and transport purposes. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications, and generally relate to hangers that include hinges for folding or collapsing into a condensed shape. No devices disclose a structure that both supports larger garments while hanging and one that encloses the collapsed elements of the hanger when stowed, as provided by the present invention. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,795 to Wallick discloses a collapsible hanger device for suspending clothing items therefrom, wherein the device comprises a first, second, and third hanger arm pivotally attached to one another to form a triangular hanger structure that is collapsible into a condensed form. The horizontal hanger arm has two segments that allow it to fold in half, while the other members attach to the ends of the horizontal hanger arm to fold the assembly into an aligned state. The Wallick device is a standard collapsible hanger device that allows its members to fold over one another and align into a single lined formation. The present invention adds to the art of collapsible hangers in that it incorporates a first and second hanger arm forming a widened shoulder support for clothing articles and also forming an enclosure for the elements of the hanger to collapse into when the first and second hanger arm are collapsed and joined together. Further, the present invention is distinguished over Wallick in its disclosure of an elastic cord that can be removably secured to the arms of the hanger and that enables a user to secure garments over the pants bar element of the hanger.
The ability to collapse the hanger structure into an enclosed unit provides several benefits for the user. Among these is the ability to easily stow the compact unit within a luggage article, whereby the device will not snag other items in the luggage and the overall unit will consume very little space therein. Further still, the condensed unit provides a structure that is easy to handle and to carry from one location to another. Finally, the internal components are protected from view such that the device appears as an enclosed structure with a unique and attractive design.
It is submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing collapsible hanger devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.


A method for communicating using position information includes communicating on a first communication network at a first location using one or more first communication parameters of the first communication network and, upon moving from the first location to a second location, receiving position information identifying the second location. The method includes adjusting the one or more first communication parameters to one or more second communication parameters based on the second location and communicating on a second communication network at the second location using the one or more second communication parameters.

Many security and safety personnel, such as police, fire fighters and ambulance drivers use radio systems for communication. Radio frequencies are allocated based on the agency to which the safety and security team belongs and on their geographical location. For example, the Palo Alto police department may use one set of radio frequencies while the San Jose police department may utilize a different set of frequencies. This method allows each team to use their radio to broadcast communications to their own team without overwhelming a neighboring team with information which may not be relevant for their operations. In addition, this method enables the reuse of the limited frequency bands for communication by other teams.
Statewide agencies like the California Highway Patrol (CHP) or nationwide agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may need to communicate with local safety and security agencies as part of their normal operations. For example, if the CHP needs to chase a car on highway a certain highway, they may need to coordinate the event with the local agencies along the chase path. Some systems rely on a centrally located dispatch to coordinate communication with local agencies. Some systems rely on a handbook of frequencies for different agencies at a variety of locations. In addition, some safety and security personnel utilize frequency scanners to locate the set of frequencies utilized in specific geographical locations. Many communications over such frequencies are increasingly becoming encrypted.

Method and system for communicating using position information


A Rotating Pressure Control Head (RPCH) with a rapid engagement mechanism is disclosed. The RPCH comprises an upper body and a lower body. The rapid engagement mechanism allows the upper body to be quickly disengaged from the lower body and replaced with a new upper body. The upper body comprises a sealing element and an inner housing that rotates with respect to an outer housing. The sealing element contains a plurality of internal cavities. The plurality of cavities control the constriction of the sealing element around the drill pipe.

The present invention is directed generally at controlling well head blow outs, and specifically to a rotating pressure control head having a rapid engagement mechanism and a replaceable and predictably deformable sealing element.
When the hydrostatic weight of the column of mud in a well bore is less than the formation pressure, the potential for a blowout exists. A blowout occurs when the formation expels hydrocarbons into the well bore. The expulsion of hydrocarbons into the well bore dramatically increases the pressure within a section of the well bore. The increase in pressure sends a pressure wave up the well bore to the surface. The pressure wave can damage the equipment that maintains the pressure within the well bore. In addition to the pressure wave, the hydrocarbons travel up the well bore because the hydrocarbons are less dense than the mud. If the hydrocarbons reach the surface and exit the well bore through the damaged surface equipment, there is a high probability that the hydrocarbons will be ignited by the drilling or production equipment operating at the surface. The ignition of the hydrocarbons produces an explosion and/or fire that is dangerous for the drilling operators. In order to minimize the risk of blowouts, drilling rigs are required to employ a plurality of different blowout preventers (BOPs), such as a rotating BOP, an annular BOP, a pipe ram, and a blind ram. Persons of ordinary skill in the art are aware of other types of BOPs. The various BOPs are positioned on top of one another, along with any other necessary surface connections such as nitrogen injection. The stack of BOPs and surface connections is called the BOP stack. A typical BOP stack is illustrated in FIG. 1.
One of the devices in the BOP stack is a rotating BOP. The rotating BOP is located at the top of the BOP stack and is part of the pressure boundary between the well bore pressure and atmospheric pressure. The rotating BOP creates the pressure boundary by employing a ring-shaped rubber or urethane sealing element that squeezes against the drill pipe, tubing, casing, or other cylindrical members (hereinafter, drill pipe). The sealing element allows the drill pipe to be inserted into and removed from the well bore while maintaining the pressure differential between the well bore pressure and atmospheric pressure. The sealing element may be shaped such that the sealing element uses the well bore pressure to squeeze the drill pipe or other cylindrical member. However, most rotating BOPs utilize some type of mechanism, typically hydraulic fluid, to apply additional pressure to the outside of the sealing element. The additional pressure on the sealing element allows the rotating BOP to be used for higher well bore pressures.
Prior art rotating BOPs have several drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that the rotation of the drill pipe wears out the sealing element. The passage of pipe joints, down hole tools, and drill bits through the rotating BOP causes the sealing element to expand and contract repeatedly, which also causes the sealing element to become worn. When the sealing element becomes sufficiently worn, it must be replaced. Replacement of the sealing element can only occur when the drilling operations are stopped. Repeated stoppages in the drilling operations lower productivity because the well takes longer to drill. Increased longevity of the sealing element would result in fewer replacements and, thus, less down time and increased productivity. Therefore, a need exists for a rotating BOP with a sealing element having increased longevity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,152 (the '152 patent) to Hosie, entitled "Rotating BOP and Method" discloses the use of bearings to allow the sealing element to rotate with the drill pipe. The bearings are subject to wear due to rotation. Thus, a need exists in the art for a rotating BOP design in which the lifetime of the bearings for the rotating sealing element is increased.
Some prior art rotating BOP's use a large number of ball bearings to reduce wear. But a rotating BOP using ball bearings requires that the rotating BOP be removed from the drilling site in order to replace the ball bearings. Thus, the prior art replacement method is time consuming and results in additional down time at the drilling site. If the rotating BOP could be "swapped out" with another unit, the reduction in downtime would mean greater productivity. Therefore, a need exists for a rotating BOP that is interchangeable and that may be engaged and disengaged rapidly.
An additional problem encountered with prior art rotating BOPs, including the '152 patent rotating BOP, is that the vertical height of the sealing element is increased to allow the sealing element to withstand higher pressures. API standards require an annular BOP to be used in the BOP stack below the rotating BOP. In extreme cases, the BOP stack can reach thirty feet in height. Drilling engineers are constantly seeking ways to decrease the height of the BOP stack. Decreasing the height of the sealing element for a given pressure rating would decrease the height of the rotating BOP, and thus decrease the height of the BOP stack. Consequently, a need exists for a sealing element that is shorter than prior art sealing elements while maintaining the same pressure differential as the prior art sealing elements.