An n-channel type field effect transistor and a p-channel type field effect transistor are fabricated on a p-type well and an n-type well, respectively, and the arsenic-doped gate electrode of the n-channel type field effect transistor is thinner than the boron-doped gate electrode of the p-channel type field effect transistor so that the arsenic and the boron are appropriately diffused in the gate electrodes during a rapid annealing.

This invention relates to a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device having an n-channel type field effect transistor and a p-channel type field effect transistor different in thickness of the gate electrodes and a process of fabrication thereof.
The integration density of the semiconductor device has been increased, and miniaturization of circuit components allows the manufacturer to increase the integration density. One of the most important circuit components is a field effect transistor, and shallow source and drain regions and a thin gate insulating layer are indispensable for the miniature field effect transistor.
Field effect transistors are broken down into two categories. The first category is featured by a surface channel structure, and the second category is featured by a buried-channel structure. When an enhancement type field effect transistor creates a conductive channel identical in conductivity type with the gate electrode, the enhancement type field effect transistor is categorized into the first category. If a surface channel type field effect transistor has an n-type gate electrode, the surface channel type field effect transistor inverts the channel region to the n-type. On the other hand, if a surface channel type field effect transistor has a p-type gate electrode, the channel region is inverted to the p-type so as to flow drain current therethrough. The surface channel structure is suitable for the miniaturization of the field effect transistor.
The buried channel structure is disadvantageous to the miniaturization. Presently, it is impossible to employ the buried channel structure in a semiconductor device designed on the basis of quarter-micron design rules. A p-channel buried channel structure type field effect transistor has a boron-doped buried layer under an n-type doped polysilicon, and the boron-doped buried layer should be as shallow as possible against the punch-through phenomenon. However, the boron is rapidly diffused, and the boron-doped buried channel tends to be deep. Thus, the buried channel structure is disadvantageous to the miniature field effect transistor with a short channel.
The fabrication process is different between the surface channel type field effect transistor and the buried channel type field effect transistor. For example, dopant impurity is usually ion introduced into the gate electrode of the surface channel type field effect transistor during the ion-implantation into surface regions on both sides of the channel region, and, accordingly, the gate electrode and the source/drain regions are doped with the same dopant impurity. On the other hand, a dopant impurity is diffused from a phospho-glass into the gate electrode of the buried channel type field effect transistor. If a p-channel type field effect transistor and an n-channel type field effect transistor are fabricated on a semiconductor substrate, the dopant impurity is concurrently driven into both gate electrodes.
FIGS. 1A to 1E illustrates a typical example of the process of fabricating a surface channel type complementary transistor. An n-channel type field effect transistor 1 and a p-channel type field effect transistor 2 form in combination the surface channel type complementary transistor.
The prior art process starts with preparation of a silicon substrate 3. A thick field oxide 4a is selectively grown on the major surface of the silicon substrate 3 by using the LOCOS (local oxidation of silicon) technology, and separates the major surface into a plurality of active areas. FIGS. 1A to 1E show two active areas, and the two active areas are assigned to the n-channel type field effect transistor 1 and the p-channel type field effect transistor 2, respectively.
The right active area is covered with a photo-resist ion-implantation mask (not shown), and boron is ion implanted into the left active area for forming a p-type well 3a. The ion-implantation is repeated under different conditions. The boron is firstly accelerated under 300 KeV at dose of 1xc3x971013 cmxe2x88x922, thereafter, under 150 KeV at dose of 3xc3x971012 cmxe2x88x922 and under 40 keV at dose of 7xc3x971012 cmxe2x88x922.
The photo-resist ion-implantation mask is stripped off, and, thereafter, the left active area is covered with another photo-resist ion-implantation mask (not shown). Phosphorous or arsenic is repeatedly ion implanted into the right active area. If the phosphorous is used, the first ion-implantation is carried out under the acceleration energy of 700 KeV at dose of 1.33xc3x971013 cmxe2x88x922, thereafter, the acceleration energy and the dose are changed to 300 KeV and 4xc3x971012 cmxe2x88x922, and, finally, the ion-implantation is carried out under the acceleration energy of 60 KeV at dose of 5xc3x971012 cmxe2x88x922. The photo-resist ion-implantation mask is stripped off, and the ion-implanted phosphorous forms an n-type well 3b as shown in FIG. 1A.
Subsequently, the silicon substrate 3 is placed in high-temperature dry oxidation ambience. The surface of the p-type well 3a and the surface of the n-type well 3b are thermally oxidized at 850 degrees in centigrade, and the p-type well 3a and the n-type well 3b are covered with thin gate oxide layers 1a and 2a of 6 nanometers thick, respectively.
Subsequently, polysilicon is deposited to 150 to 200 nanometers thick over the entire surface of the semiconductor structure by using a chemical vapor deposition, and the thin gate oxide layers 1a/2a are covered with a polysilicon layer. In this instance, silane or disilane is introduced into a reaction chamber where the silicon substrate 3 is placed, and is decomposed at 650 degrees in centigrade. The silicon layer is intentionally undoped.
Photo-resist solution is spread over the undoped polysilicon layer, and is baked so as to form a photo-resist layer. A pattern image for gate electrodes is optically transferred from a photo-mask (not shown) to the photo-resist layer by using ultra-violet light or excimer laser light, and a latent image is formed in the photo-resist layer. The photo-resist layer is patterned into a photo-resist etching mask 5a through a development of the latent image.
The undoped polysilicon is patterned into gate electrodes 1b/2b by using a dry etching technique. The gaseous etchant has a large selectivity between the undoped polysilicon and the silicon oxide, and the thin gate oxide layers 1a/1b are not damaged. The resultant structure after the dry etching is shown in FIG. 1B. The photo-resist etching mask 5a is stripped off.
Subsequently, silicon oxide is deposited to 100 to 150 nanometers thick over the entire surface of the resultant structure by using a chemical vapor deposition. Silane and oxygen are introduced into a reaction chamber where the silicon substrate 3 is placed, and the silicon oxide is produced at 800 degrees in centigrade. The silicon oxide layer topographically extends over the thin gate oxide layers 1a/2a and the undoped polysilicon gate electrodes 1b/2b.
The silicon oxide layer is anisotropically etched by using a plasma etching system, and side wall spacers 1c/2c are left on both sides of the gate electrodes 1b/2b as shown in FIG. 1C.
Subsequently, silicon oxide is deposited to 5 to 10 nanometers thick over the entire surface of the resultant structure shown in FIG. 1D, and a thin silicon oxide layer 4b topographically extends. The p-type well 3a is covered with a photo-resist ion-implantation mask (not shown), and arsenic is ion implanted into the n-type well 3a at dose of 5xc3x971015 cmxe2x88x922 under the acceleration energy of 50 KeV. The arsenic is introduced into the p-type well 3a and the gate electrode 1b, and forms n-type source/drain regions 1d/1e.
The ion-implantation mask is stripped off, and the n-type well 3b is covered with another photo-resist ion-implantation mask (not shown). Boron fluoride (BF2) is ion implanted into the n-type well 3b at dose of 3xc3x971015 cmxe2x88x922 under the acceleration energy of 30 KeV. The boron fluoride is introduced into the n-type well 3b and the gate electrode 2b, and forms p-type source/drain regions 2d/2e. The photo-resist ion-implantation mask is stripped off, and the ion-implanted arsenic and the ion-implanted boron fluoride are activated in nitrogen ambience at 1000 degrees in centigrade for 10 seconds by using a lamp annealing system. The ion-implanted dopant impurities are diffused during the lamp annealing, and the n-type source/drain regions 1d/1e and the p-type source/drain regions 2d/2e penetrate into the p-type well 3a and the n-type well 3b under the side wall spacers 1c and 2c as shown in FIG. 1D.
Subsequently, boron/phosphorous-doped insulating material is deposited over the entire surface of the resultant structure shown in FIG. 1D by using a chemical vapor deposition, and forms an inter-level insulating layer 4c. A photo-resist layer is patterned into a photo-resist etching mask (not shown) on the inter-level insulating layer 4c, and the photo-resist etching mask exposes parts of the inter-level insulating layer to etchant. The parts of the inter-level insulating layer 4c are removed, and contact holes 4d are formed in the inter-level insulating layer 4c. The n-type source/drain regions 1d/1e and the p-type source/drain regions 2d/2e are exposed to the contact holes. The photo-resist etching mask is stripped off after the formation of the contact holes 4d.
Aluminum alloy is deposited over the inter-level insulating layer by using a sputtering. The aluminum alloy fills the contact holes 4d, and swells into an aluminum alloy layer extending on the inter-level insulating layer 4c. The aluminum alloy in the contact holes 4d is held in contact with the n-type source/drain regions 1d/1e and the p-type source/drain regions 2d/2e.
A photo-resist layer is patterned into a photo-resist etching mask (not shown) on the aluminum alloy layer, and the aluminum alloy layer is selectively etched away so as to form the aluminum alloy layer into upper-level metal wirings 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d as shown in FIG. 1E.
The n-channel type field effect transistor 1 and the p-channel type field effect transistor 2 are appropriately connected through the upper-level metal wirings, and form in combination the complementary transistor. The n-channel type field effect transistor 1 and the p-channel type field effect transistor 2 respectively have the gate electrode 1b doped with the n-type dopant impurity and the gate electrode 2b doped with the p-type dopant impurity, and the gate electrode 1b of the n-type polysilicon and the gate electrode 2b of the p-type polysilicon create an n-type channel region between the n-type source and drain regions 1d and 1e and a p-type channel region between the p-type source and drain regions 2d and 2e, respectively. Thus, the n-channel type field effect transistor 1 and the p-channel type field effect transistor 2 serve as the surface channel type field effect transistors.
However, the prior art complementary transistor encounters a problem in that the manufacturer can not appropriately control the ion-implantations into the gate electrodes 1b/2b and the source and drain regions 1d/1e and 2d/2e. The difficulty of ion-implantations is detailed hereinbelow. As described hereinbefore, the surface channel type field effect transistor requires the gate electrode and the source and drain regions concurrently doped with a dopant impurity. However, the two kinds of dopant impurity are usually different in diffusion coefficient, and the ion-implanted dopant impurities are simultaneously activated during the rapid annealing. In the above described prior art, the arsenic is ion implanted into the gate electrode 1b and the p-type well 3a, because the arsenic is small in diffusion coefficient. Moreover, the acceleration energy is low enough to form the shallow p-n junctions in the p-type well 3a, and the dose is selected in such a manner as not to be affected by a parasitic resistance. In this way, the ion-implantation conditions are determined in consideration of the shallow source and drain regions. However, the arsenic is diffused in the polysilicon at low speed. Therefore, the arsenic doped into the polysilicon gate electrode 1b hardly reaches the boundary between the thin gate oxide layer 1a and the gate electrode 1b, and the lower portion of the gate electrode 1b tends to be short in the dopant concentration. The shortage of dopant concentration is causative of a depletion layer extending in the gate electrode 1b at the turn-on, and, accordingly, increases the effective thickness of the gate oxide layer 1a. The increased thickness of the gate oxide layer 1a deteriorates the short-channel characteristics, and decreases the amount of channel current.
If the manufacturer makes the gate electrode 1b thinner, the arsenic can reach the boundary between the gate oxide layer 1a and the gate electrode 1b, and the n-channel type field effect transistor 1 may be free from the deterioration due to the shortage of the arsenic. However, the gate electrodes 1b and 2b are concurrently patterned from the undoped polysilicon layer. When the manufacturer decreases the thickness of the gate electrode 1b, the other gate electrode 2b is also made thinner. The thin gate electrode 2b encounters another problem in that the boron penetrates from the gate electrode 2b through the gate oxide layer 2a into the channel region during the rapid annealing, because the boron is larger in diffusion coefficient than the arsenic. The boron introduced into the channel region changes the threshold of the p-channel type field effect transistor, and deteriorates the reliability.
Thus, there is a trade-off between the depth of the source/drain regions and the transistor characteristics, and the manufacturer hardly optimizes the process parameters. When the field effect transistors 1/2 are further miniaturized, the optimization becomes more difficult.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device two kinds of field effect transistor of which have shallow source and drain regions without sacrifice of the transistor characteristics.
It is also an important object of the present invention to provide a process of fabricating a semiconductor device process parameters of which are easily optimized by a manufacturer.
To accomplish the object, the present invention proposes to make the thicknesses of gate electrodes of two kinds of field effect transistors different.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device fabricated on a single semiconductor substrate having a first surface portion of a first conductivity type and a second surface portion of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, comprising: a first field effect transistor including first source and drain regions formed in the first surface portion and spaced from each other by a first channel region, the first source and drain regions being doped with a first dopant impurity for imparting the second conductivity type thereto, a first gate insulating layer formed on the first channel region, and a first gate electrode on the first gate insulating layer doped with the first dopant impurity and having a first thickness; and a second field effect transistor including second source and drain regions formed in the second surface portion and spaced from each other by a second channel region, the second source and drain regions being doped with a second dopant impurity having a diffusion coefficient smaller than that of the first dopant impurity for imparting the first conductivity type thereto, a second gate insulating layer formed on the second channel region, and a second gate electrode on the second gate insulating layer doped with the second dopant impurity and having a second thickness smaller than the first thickness.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising the steps of: a) preparing a semiconductor substrate having a first surface portion of a first conductivity type and a second surface portion of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type; b) covering the first surface portion and the second surface portion with a first gate insulating layer and a second gate insulating layer; c) forming a polysilicon layer on the first and second gate insulating layers; d) forming a first gate electrode on the first gate insulating layer and a second gate electrode on the second gate insulating layer from the polysilicon layer, the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode respectively having a first thickness and a second thickness different to each other; e) introducing a first dopant impurity into the a first gate electro de and the first surface portion for imparting the second conductivity type to first source and drain regions; and f) introducing a second dopant impurity into the second gate electrode and the second surface portion for imparting the first conductivity type second source and drain regions, the second dopant impurity being different in diffusion coefficient from the first dopant impurity.

Semiconductor device having field effect transistors different in thickness of gate electrodes and process of fabrication thereof


A system and method for ensuring safe delivery of items to an event, such as a conference or trade show. The system uses a controlled-access website or app and a program with a database operated by a security coordinator. All prospective attendees are vetted, and after being verified as bona fide attendees who qualify as a reliable exhibitor/shipper, are given access to the database for the purpose of obtaining (by download) a particularized set of coded labels to be applied to a particular item to be shipped. The coded labels are then printed, applied to the items to be shipped and sent to a staging location for screening. At the staging location, the security coordinator scans all coded labels of shipped items when they arrive, and the program compares the scanned data with the data in the database to see if the shipped items are associated with a reliable exhibitor/shipper. If there is a match, the shipped items can then be forwarded to the event, and if the shipped item does not bear a coded label that is associated with a reliable exhibitor/shipper, the item is moved to a remote location for further investigation.

Trade shows and conferences are important gatherings which draw tens of thousands of business people from about the world to promote and transact business. Such gatherings are significant targets for terrorist activity. A terrorist attack at a trade show could have devastating effects, not only with regard to personal injuries and deaths of those operating and attending the show, but on the business climate and the economy, in general. Thus, it is goal of this invention to prevent terrorist attacks at trade shows, conferences and similar gatherings. Large trade shows are particularly susceptible to terrorist attacks through the shipment of nefarious material, because there are large numbers of items sent to such shows, which increases the chance that a shipment might pass unnoticed.
In the context of a trade show, practice of the invention described herein starts with a security coordinator obtaining from the show organizer a list of contact information for exhibitors who plan to attend the trade show. Preferably, the list will have been carefully vetted to ensure that the list includes only bona fide exhibitors, and that the contact information is reliable and pertains to persons who are authorized by a vetted exhibitor to be responsible for shipping material to the trade show, i.e., a trusted exhibitor contact person. Once the list has been obtained, the security coordinator creates a database of trusted exhibitor contact persons, and those persons are contacted by the security coordinator, given the address or download information for the website or app. The security coordinator also informs each trusted exhibitor contact person that they must obtain customized coded shipping labels for all items to be delivered to the trade show, and that no shipments will be allowed into the trade show without a customized coded shipping label issued by the security coordinator. When the trusted exhibitor contact person logs into the website or app set up by the security coordinator, the security coordinator authenticates the name of the trusted exhibitor contact person attempting to log into the secure shipping system by comparing the login details associated with the login attempt with the contact information initially provided to the security coordinator by the show organizer to ensure that only trusted exhibitor contact persons have access to the website or app of the security coordinator. The security coordinator may have several events being controlled at once, so the user must also identify the trade show or event to which the trusted exhibitor contact person is seeking to ship material. Once the user has been authenticated and the event selected, the coded labels are able to be downloaded exclusively from the secure website and/or an app controlled by the security coordinator. The website or app instructs the trusted exhibitor contact person to download and print a set of coded labels for each item, such as a box, wrapped pallet or other unitary container, and that there should be a coded label on each exposed side of the container.
The trusted exhibitor contact person then downloads and prints as many sets of coded labels as are needed and affixes the coded labels, one per exposed side, to the package, pallet or other container. The shipped item is sent to a secure location, i.e., an event warehouse that is under the control of the security coordinator. Upon arrival at the event warehouse, the security coordinator scans each of the coded labels on each shipped item, and verifies that the shipped item is from a trusted exhibitor contact person. If the coded label is valid, i.e., one issued by the security coordinator to the trusted exhibitor contact person associated with the shipped item, then the particular coded label used for the particular shipped item is annulled to prevent any further use of that coded label. If the coded label does not match with any authorized coded label, or if the shipped item contains no coded label at all, the shipped item is deemed suspect and subjected to a security protocol. The security protocol will entail moving the suspect item to a secure area, which may be a bomb-proof location remote from the event and away from populated areas, so that further investigation of the suspect shipped item can be carried out without danger to persons or property.

System and method for screening deliveries to trade shows


The preset invention provides a liquid injector in which, when an injection time period and an injection rate are entered as an injection condition, a condition image having a horizontal width corresponding to the injection time period and including the injection rate as text data is displayed in a condition screen with its vertical axis representing the injection rate and its horizontal axis representing the injection time period at a vertical position in association with the injection rate and a horizontal position in association with the injection time period. The operator easily understands instinctively the injection condition from the horizontal width and the position of the condition image, and since the condition image includes the injection rate as text data, the operator can check quickly the numerical values. Thus, the liquid injector can be provided which allows simple entry and review of the injection condition.

Presently available imaging diagnostic apparatus for capturing fluoroscopic images of patients include CT scanners, MRI apparatus, PET apparatus, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, CT angiography apparatus, MR angiography apparatus, and ultrasonograph. When such an imaging diagnostic apparatus is used to capture a fluoroscopic image of a patient, it is occasionally practiced to inject a liquid such as a contrast media or a physiological saline into the patient. A liquid injector for automatically injecting a liquid into a patient has been commercially available.
Such a liquid injector has a drive motor and a slider mechanism and the like, and employs a liquid syringe that is removably mounted. The liquid syringe comprises a cylinder member and a piston member slidably inserted in the cylinder member. The cylinder member is filled with a liquid such as a contrast media or a physiological saline to be injected into the patient.
The liquid syringe is connected to the patient by an extension tube and set on an injection performing means. The injection performing means individually holds the piston member and the cylinder member and moves them relatively to each other for injecting a liquid, typically a contrast media, from the liquid syringe into the patient.
The operator determines the rate at which the contrast media is to be injected and the total quantity of the contrast media to be injected, in view of various conditions, and then enters numerical data representing the rate and total quantity into the liquid injector. Based on the entered numerical data, the liquid injector injects the contrast media into the patient at the rate and in the quantity represented by the entered numerical data. The injected contrast media changes the image contrast of the patient, allowing the imaging diagnostic apparatus to capture a good fluoroscopic image of the patient.
Some liquid injectors are capable of injecting a physiological saline as well as a contrast media into the patient. For operating such a liquid injector, the operator enters, if desired, an instruction to inject the physiological saline following the completion of the injection of the contrast media, together with data representing the rate at which the physiological saline is to be injected and the total quantity of the physiological saline to be injected, into the liquid injector.
Based on the entered data, the liquid injector first injects the contrast media and then automatically injects the physiological saline after the contrast media has been injected. The subsequently injected physiological saline pushes the previously injected contrast media, reducing the consumption of the contrast media, and also reduces artifacts in the captured image.
Liquid injectors of the type described above have been devised and applied for patent by the applicant of the present application (see, for example, patent documents 1, 2 below).
The above liquid injector is capable of injecting a contrast media into the patient in order to change the image contrast of the patient to a state which allows the imaging diagnostic apparatus to capture a good fluoroscopic image of the patient.
When a contrast media for CT was actually injected into a patient by the liquid injector and a time-dependent change in the CT value, which represents the image contrast, was measured, it was found that even if the contrast media was injected at a constant rate, the CT value was not constant, but rose nonlinearly and then fell, and remained at an optimum level for a very short period of time.
Therefore, the conventional liquid injector which injects a contrast media at a constant rate that is represented by entered numerical data fails to provide optimum-imaging conditions in an imaging diagnostic apparatus combined therewith. For solving the above problem, it is necessary to change, with time, the rate at which the contrast media is injected. For example, it is known in the art to divide one cycle of liquid injection into a plurality of phases and set numerical values of a liquid injection rate and a liquid injection time for each of the phases.
However, in the liquid injector described above, when the operator enters numerical data representing injection condition such as the injection rate with a numeric keypad, the entered numerical data is only displayed as text data, and thus it is difficult for the operator to understand intuitively the injection condition from that displayed data. Therefore, the operation is complicated and is not easy for an unskilled operator, and entry of inappropriate numerical values cannot be prevented.
To solve the abovementioned problem, the present applicant has devised a liquid injector in which an operator enters injection conditions including a relationship between an injection time period and an injection rate to a touch panel and the entered injection condition is displayed on the touch panel to control the operation of liquid injection in real time in accordance with the injection condition, and has applied it as Japanese patent application No. 2002-099928 and Japanese patent application No. 2003-098057.
However, such detailed entries and control may not be required in the actual medical environment, and simpler input actions and displays may be desired. In addition, the operator can easily understand instinctively the injection condition as described above, but the numerical values of the injection condition is difficult to review quickly.

Liquid injector displaying input injection condition as image


A multiple extrusion head (1) for blow molding extrusion machines has a plurality of first extrusion heads (2) fixedly arranged side by side in a first row forming a first plane (3). A plurality of second extrusion heads (4) are fixedly arranged side by side in a second row forming a second plane (5) that extends parallel to the first plane (3). Per row, distributing devices (6, 6a, 6b) are provided with first distributing channels (7, 10) that are arranged in the first plane (3) and the second plane (5), respectively. The distributing devices (6a, 6b) are separated in the region of the first plane (3) and second plane (5), A third distributing device (15) is provided with third distributing channels (18) that are arranged in a third plane (16) extending at a right angle relative to the first plane (3) and to the second plane (5).

DE-OS 21 14 465 describes a device that uniformly distributes plasticized plastics from an extruder to a plurality of blow or injection heads. The device includes a distributor block where parallel channels are arranged in one plane. A first channel is connected to two channels that extend parallel to the first channel. The two channels each feed two further parallel channels each of which have two exits. The first channel is centrally fed. In the case of the example mentioned, it is possible to supply eight blow or injection heads arranged side by side in one plane. The difficulty in this embodiment is that it is complicated to clean the distributing device during system stoppage time. It is also complicated to produce the block because the channels are manufactured in the form of bores that have to be closed by plugs. The embodiment only takes into account blow or injection heads positioned in one plane.


Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein synchronous replication of data is initiated from a first site to a second site. At least one part of the data is sent asynchronously from the second site to a third site, wherein the asynchronously sent at least one part of the data is stored at the second site while the at least one part of data is in flight from the second site to the third site. The at least one part of the data stored at the second site is deleted, in response to the at least one part of the data being securely stored at the third site.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for storage management in the cascaded replication of data.
2. Background
Information technology systems, including storage systems, may need protection from site disasters or outages, and features for data migration, data backup, and data duplication. Implementations for disaster or outage recovery, data migration, data backup, and data duplication may include replication of data in storage systems. Such mirroring or replication of data may involve interactions among hosts, storage systems and connecting networking components of the information technology system.
Synchronous replication is an operation that allows the shadowing of application system data from a first site to a second site. In synchronous replication, the updates performed by a host application to the volumes at the first site are synchronously shadowed onto the remote volumes at the second site. In synchronous replication, write updates are ensured on both copies (the copy at the first and second sites) before the write is considered to be completed for the host application. Furthermore, in synchronous replication the host application does not get the "write complete" condition until the update is synchronously done in both the first and the second site. Therefore, from the perspective of the host application the data at the volumes at the second site is equivalent to the data at the volumes at the first site.
Synchronous replication increases the response time as compared to an asynchronous replication, and this is inherent to the synchronous operation. The overhead comes from the additional steps that are executed before the write operation is signaled as completed to the host application. Also synchronous replication between the first site and the second site may be comprised of signals that travel through the links that connect the two sites, and the overhead on the response time of the host application write operations will increase proportionally with the distance between the two sites. Therefore, the distance affects a host application's write response time. In certain implementations, there may be a maximum supported distance for synchronous replication operations referred to as the synchronous communication distance.
In an asynchronous replication, updates of the volumes of a first site onto the volumes of a second site are performed in an asynchronous manner, while the host application is running. In asynchronous replication, the host application receives a write complete response before the update is copied from the volumes of the first site to the volumes of the second site. In this way, a host application's write operations are free of the typical synchronous overheads. Therefore, asynchronous replication is suitable for remote copy solutions at very long distances with minimal impact on host applications. There is no overhead penalty upon the host application's write such as in synchronous replication. However, asynchronous copy operations may not continuously maintain an equivalent copy of the data of the first site at the second site.
Many customers are interested in a 3-site replication solution in which the first and second sites, referred to as local and intermediate sites respectively, are within "metro distances" of each other, where in certain situations "metro distances" are distances that are less than 300 km. In other situations, "metro distances" could be less than a value that is different from 300 km., e.g., "metro distances" could be defined as distances that are less than 250 km. The third site, also referred to as a remote site, is at a "continental distance" from the intermediate site, where "continental distances" are distances that are 300 km. or more in certain situations. In other situations, "continental distances" could be more than or equal to a value that is different from 300 km., e.g., "continental distances" could be defined as distances that are 250 km. or more. However in all situations, continental distances are greater than metro distances. Synchronous replication is used between two storage devices at the local and intermediate sites, where the local and intermediate sites may be designated as site-A and site-B respectively. Asynchronous replication is used between the storage devices in the intermediate and remote sites, where the intermediate and remote sites are designated as site-B and site-C respectively. In such a 3-site replication solution, if any one site is not operational, there is no data loss, and a user can choose to recover data and/or operations at either of the two remaining sites. In such solutions, a volume at site-A may be referred to as an A-volume, a volume at site-B may be referred to as a B-volume, and a volume at sited C may be referred to as a C-volume.

Storage management in cascaded replication of data

International Business Machines Corporation


A beverage maker includes a body and a cover movably attached to the body. The body includes therein (among other components), a tank, a pump, a controller, a switch electrically coupled with the pump, and a pressure release valve in fluid communication with at least the pump and tank for releasing the pressure therein. The cover mechanically actuates the switch into an “on” position, to maintain the pump in an inoperable condition, and mechanically actuate or release the pressure release valve into one of an open or closed position, upon movement of the cover to the closed position thereof The cover releases the switch for return into the “off” position, placing the pump in an operational condition, and mechanically actuating or releasing the pressure release valve into the other of the open or closed positions, upon movement of the cover from the closed position toward the open position.

The present disclosure is generally directed to a beverage maker, and more particularly, to a pump operated beverage maker.
Typical hot beverage makers are generally steam operated or pump operated. One advantage of pump operated beverage makers is that the internal pressure of the system can be better regulated by the beverage maker's control system. Conventional air pump operated beverage makers, however, may continue dispensing a heated beverage if a user opens the beverage maker's lid/cover while the air pump is running, which may lead to injury, e.g., burn injury, from heated liquid being sprayed onto the user.
Some manufacturers have attempted to address this potentially hazardous situation by employing a solenoid that electronically opens and closes a pressure release valve in the beverage maker. The solenoid is programmed to open the pressure release valve whenever the lid of the beverage maker is opened, to quickly release the pressure within the system, thereby preventing further dispensing of the heated beverage or a spray of hot liquid. One drawback of such a setup, however, is that if the electronics of the beverage maker are compromised, or malfunction, in any manner, the solenoid may not properly operate to electronically open the pressure release valve. Accordingly, the beverage maker may not stop dispensing the heated beverage as intended and spray of hot liquid may occur. Another drawback of such a setup is that a solenoid is a relatively expensive component, the cost of which is ultimately imparted onto the consumer.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to employ a more cost effective, mechanical solution for releasing the pressure within the system, unrelated to the beverage maker's electronic circuitry, for preventing further dispensing of a heated beverage or accidental spray of the hot liquid if the lid of the beverage maker is opened during operation of the air pump.


Materials, and methods that use such materials, that are useful for forming chip stacks, chip and wafer bonding and wafer thinning are disclosed. Such methods and materials provide strong bonds while also being readily removed with little or no residues.

Historically, in semiconductor manufacture, single semiconductor die (or chips) were mounted within a sealed package and such package was then mounted to, for example, a circuit board. In such a manner various functionality or increased capacity could be provided for high level device such as a computer, a cell phone or the like. Which such packages, for example a dual inline package (DIP) or a single inline package (SIP), served to provide protection for the enclosed die from physical damage, contaminants in the surrounding environment and for providing electrical connection of the die to other electrical circuitry, such packages could also be bulky and require that the size of the circuit board or module be large enough to accommodate a plurality of such packages.
To reduce the size required by such singly packaged chips, recent trends have included the development of alternated packaging such a ball grid arrays, flip chips and the like. However, further reductions in size and the ability to provide increased and/or more complex functionality require alternate approaches to die packaging and mounting. One such alternate approach is to eliminate such singular packaging, where possible, and to mount die in multiples, for example as vertically oriented stacks of die. Such mounting in multiples, or stacking, while capable of providing a much reduced footprint compared the use of single packaged die, introduces a need to provide a method, and materials that can be employed by that method, for attaching each die in such a stack, to the adjacent die while also providing access to means for providing electrical contact to each die's circuitry. In addition, such materials used by such methods should also provide a stress buffer function, where they are used to attach such a chip or chip stack to a substrate having a different coefficient of linear expansion, and thus avoid damage to one or more of the chips or the substrate due to fluctuations in the environment.
Such chip stack mounting can also create a need to provide die that are thinned with respect to the original thickness of the wafer from which such die are provided. This thinning process can advantageously be used to keep the chip stack height to a minimum value, and also make it possible to provide through-chip vias that can provide for moving electrical contact from one surface of the die to the other surface. Therefore there is also a need to provide a method, and materials that can be employed by that method, that can be used to bond a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, to another substrate that is used in a wafer thinning process. Such material should provide a strong bond and protection for the bonded surface, while also providing for a readily implemented method of release of the wafer, and removal of such bonding material therefrom, after the thinning operation is complete.
It should be noted that while chip stacking is referred to as a recent trend, see published US Patent Application 2005/0078436, published Jan. 6, 2005 and entitled "Method For Stacking Chips Within A Multichip Module Package," the use of adhesive materials for attaching semiconductor die (chips) to substrates, die to lead frames or for chip stacking has been a subject of investigation for more than just a few years. For example, at column 3, lines 18-20 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,679 issued Feb. 15, 1994 and entitled "Method For Attaching A Semiconductor Die To A Leadframe Using A Patterned Adhesive Layer." However, despite this long know need, materials and methods that use such materials have not been widely adopted and therefore alternate materials and methods for both chip stacking and wafer thinning are needed.

Methods and materials useful for chip stacking, chip and wafer bonding


A living-wall fixing tool for use with endoscopes, including first and second fixing members, first and second cord like members, an elastic stopper, and a slackening means. The first fixing member is to be inserted into a second organ through a hole formed through first and second organs. The second fixing member is to be detained in the first organ. The stopper is slidably mounted on the first cord-like member. The slackening means slackens the first cord-like member. When the slackening means is operated, the second cord-like member is pulled, whereby the first fixing member is pulled into the first organ through the hole.

Hitherto, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage (PTBD) that may damage the human body surface has been generally performed to cure obstructive jaundice, i.e., the blockade of the bile duct, which develops due to a pathological change. In recent years, endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage (ERBD) or endoscopic naso biliary drainage (ENBD) has come to be performed, thanks to the progress in the endoscope technology. In ERBD, a endoscope channel is inserted into the bile duct through the patient's mouth, and a stent tube is inserted into the bile duct through the channel and is left in the bile duct. The stent tube thus left opens the bile duct, enabling the bile to flow through the bile duct.
As time passes while the stent tube remains left in the bile duct, the components of the bile adhere to the inner surface of the tube. If the stent tube is clogged, the stent tube must be pulled out, and a new stent tube must be inserted into the bile duct, by using a endoscope.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-46514 discloses a method of treating jaundice, in which anastomosis is performed by using no stent tubes, in order to connect the choledochus to the duodenum. In this treatment of jaundice, a fixing tool is used in combination with endoscopes, clamping and holding the walls of these two organs, and the distal end of the endoscope is located at the position where the choledochus lies most close to the duodenum. Subsequently, a resection instrument, such as a cautery knife, is guided to the position through the endoscope channel. By using the knife, perforation is performed on both the duodenum and the choledochus. To form a natural stoma between the duodenum and the choledochus, these organs must be kept held together for a prescribed time. Once a natural stoma is formed, the fixing tool is no longer necessary. The holding instrument, which is foreign matter, should then be removed from the patient.

Living body wall fixing tool used in endoscope


A method for integrating an electronic component or the like into a substrate includes following process steps: formation of a dielectric insulating layer on the front side of a substrate; complete back-etching of an area of the substrate from the back of the substrate to form a cavity; formation of a photoresistive layer with a homogeneous thickness over the back of the substrate; placement of an electronic component on the photoresistive layer formed in the cavity for adhesion of the electronic component to the photoresistive layer; removal of the formed photoresistive layer except for the area on which the electronic component adheres to the photoresistive layer in the cavity; and formation of a fixing layer over the back of the substrate to fix the electronic component in the cavity of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for integrating an electronic component or the like into a substrate.
2. Description of the Background Art
The modeling of components integrated on a semiconductor substrate is becoming ever more important as operating frequencies increase, since reflections at discontinuities, overlapping, and power dissipation increase in this case. Consequently, in general it is essential to account for these effects in modeling, especially in the high-frequency range. The parasitic influence of substrate conductivity and additional capacitances cannot be ignored, particularly in the case of a low-resistance substrate such as a silicon substrate.
Although it is, in principle, applicable to any desired electronic components, the present invention and the problem on which it is based are by preference described in detail below with reference to a chip to be integrated into the substrate.
The integration of electronic components into a semiconductor substrate and the individual encapsulations have a significant effect on the performance, costs, reliability, and lifetime of the component. In general, unwired subsystems include various components, such as high-frequency transceivers, digital processors, MEMS, or the like. Microwave transceivers, for example, are comprised of both integrated circuits and passive components with filters and power devices, which are not integrated on the semiconductor substrate. These components are based on a variety of materials and technologies.
In the past, considerable improvements have been achieved in the manufacturing and characterization of electronic components, and a number of new components have been developed. The development of compound semiconductors, such as, e.g., gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, and the like, and the development of ternary semiconductors, made it possible to develop microwave and millimeter-wave components with excellent noise and performance characteristics. Microprocessing in the radio frequency range and MEMS have proven to be technologies capable of having a significant impact on existing architectures in the radio frequency range, for example in sensors such as radar sensors in particular, and also in the field of communications, by reducing weight, cost, size, and power dissipation. The technologies required to this end are now available.
Many high-power components have been produced in the past which are intended to be integrated in a semiconductor substrate and can be encapsulated with no loss in power. In this regard, a complete component can include multiple individual components, which are encapsulated one inside the next; an encapsulated system of this nature is called an SOP (System On a Package) system. A primary task in SOP systems is the integration of individual components or chips into a carrier substrate, in essence as a first level of encapsulation.
The conventional art encompasses several methods for integrating individual chips of different materials onto or into a substrate. The most common methods are known as bonding and flip-chip technologies.
Bonding is understood to mean the assembly of, for example, chips on a chip carrier, wherein an individual chip is glued onto a chip carrier by an epoxy adhesive, for example, in a chip bonder. Aluminum or gold wires are generally used for electrically connecting the contact areas of the chip (bond pads) to the associated contact traces of the substrate.
In wedge bonding, the bond wire is held horizontally above the bond area and is pinched off with a wedge-shaped tool, while the excess wire is pulled away.
In ball point bonding, a ball is formed at the end of the bond wire, for example with the aid of a hydrogen flame or an electric spark. The wires used have an approximate diameter of 10 to 25 μm. These very thin wires have a high inductance at higher frequencies. Moreover, changes in their wire lengths and their curved shapes cause disadvantageously varying performance as a function of the particular module.
In addition, flip-chip technology is known in the conventional art. In flip-chip technology, such as is shown in FIG. 2, a chip 8 is placed on a substrate 1 in a downward direction. Solder bumps 14 and adhesive joints, for example filled with conductive powder, serve as connecting means here, ensuring a good electrical connection. The thermal path runs directly through the substrate 1.
However, in this prior art approach it has proven disadvantageous that this thermal path is generally inadequate for reliable operation, for example, in the case of high power gallium arsenide MMICs, so that additional heat removal means must be provided. Another disadvantage of this approach is that the coefficients of thermal expansion of the individual materials used are different, which reduces the lifetime of the component.
Furthermore, efforts have been made to develop new methods for reliably integrating chips based on various materials onto or into a silicon substrate. Illustrated in FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic component 8 integrated in a substrate 1. The substrate 1 is etched from a front side and the chip 8 is attached in the etched cavity by a thermally conductive adhesive.
In addition, an organic dielectric layer 16 is spin-coated onto the front side of the substrate 1 in order to make the surface of the entire wafer flat and smooth. As can also be seen in FIG. 3, suitable metallizations 18 for electrically contacting the chip 8 are provided on the organic dielectric layer 16.
However, it has proven to be a disadvantage in this conventional approach that precise control of the depth of the vertically etched cavity in the substrate 1 is difficult to achieve. Most standard semiconductor manufacturing processes require a maximum difference in height between the chip surface and the wafer surface of 2 μm. Despite the use of the spin-coated organic dielectric layer 16, it is possible to produce an electrical connection to the chip 8, but a planar structure is more desirable. Another disadvantage is that different chips with different overall heights require different cavity depths, so complex and costly etching methods must be used.
Moreover, the high thermal resistance of the structure shown in FIG. 3 presents a disadvantage. Although a thermally conductive adhesive or epoxy is normally used in these methods, these materials have a significantly lower thermal conductivity than silicon or metals such as gold or copper. When an air gap 17 occurs between the chip 8 and the substrate 1, as is shown in FIG. 3, the thermal resistance of the overall structure can even take on a still higher value.
Since thermally conductive adhesives and epoxies have high coefficients of thermal expansion, the structure shown in FIG. 3 has a large thermo-mechanical stress, which significantly and disadvantageously reduces the lifetime of the component as a whole.
Another conventional technology is known as "enhanced quasi-monolithic integration technology (QMIT)," which can be considered an organically deposited multi-chip module (MCM-D). This technology uses a common connection embodied as a thin film for the first level of encapsulation or packaging. Since this technology is still in its infancy, many efforts are currently underway to further improve this technology.

Method for integrating an electronic component or similar into a substrate


A magnetoresistive effect element is produced by forming a first magnetic layer, a spacer layer including an insulating layer and a conductive layer which penetrates through the insulating layer and passes a current, on the first magnetic layer, and a second magnetic layer all of which or part of which is treated with ion, plasma or heat, on the formed spacer layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetoresistive effect element which detects magnetism by passing a sense current in a direction perpendicular to a surface of a magnetoresistive effect film, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The performance of magnetic devices, especially magnetic heads is dramatically enhanced by using a giant magneto-resistive effect (Giant Magneto-Resistive Effect: GMR). Application of a spin-valve film (Spin-Valve: SV film) to a magnetic head, a MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) and the like has brought about great technological advance to the magnetic device field.
"Spin-valve film" is a stacked film having a structure in which a nonmagnetic spacer layer is sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers, and is also called a spin-dependent scattering unit. Magnetization of one of the two ferromagnetic layers (called "a pinned layer", "fixed magnetization layer" and the like) is fixed with an antiferromagnetic layer or the like, and magnetization of the other layer (called "a free layer", "free magnetization layer" and the like) is rotatable in accordance with an external magnetic field. In the spin-valve film, a relative angle of the magnetization directions of the pinned layer and the free layer changes, and thereby, giant magneto-resistive change is obtained.
Magnetoresistive effect elements using spin-valve films include a CIP (Current In Plane)-GMR element, a CPP (Current Perpendicular to Plane)-GMR element, and a TMR (Tunneling Magneto Resistance) element. In the CIP-GMR element, a sense current is passed parallel with the surface of the spin-valve film, and in the CPP-GMR and TMR elements, a sense current is passed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the planes of the spin-valve film. The method of passing a sense current perpendicularly to the film plane attracts more attention as the technique adaptable to a high recording density head of the future.
Here, in a metal CPP-GMR element with a spin-valve film formed of a metal layer, the resistance change amount by magnetization is small, and it is difficult to detect a weak magnetic field (for example, the magnetic field in the magnetic disk of high recording density).
As a spacer layer, a CPP element using an oxide layer [NOL (nano-oxide layer)] including a current path in the thickness direction is proposed (see JP-A 2002-208744 (KOKAI)). In this element, both the element resistance and MR ratio can be increased by the current-confined-path [CCP (Current-confined-path)] effect. Hereinafter, the element will be called a CCP-CPP element.
Presently, magnetic storage devices such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) are used for personal computers, portable music players and the like. However, if the use purpose of the magnetic storage device is further increased and high density storage advances in the future, demand for reliability becomes more stringent. For example, it becomes necessary to enhance reliability under the condition at a higher temperature and under the operating environment at a higher speed. For this purpose, it is desirable to enhance reliability of the magnetic heads more than before.
A CCP-CPP element is especially low in resistance as compared with the conventional TMR element, and therefore, it is applicable to a high-end magnetic storage device for use in a server/enterprise requiring a higher transfer rate. For such a high-end use, high areal density and high reliability are required to be satisfied at the same time. For these use purposes, it is desirable to enhance reliability at a higher temperature. Namely, it becomes necessary to use a CCP-CPP element under a severer environment (high-temperature environment or the like), under more strict use conditions (read of information in a magnetic disk rotating at a high speed, and the like).
The present invention has an object to provide a magnetoresistive effect element which is applicable to a magnetic storage device of high density storage, and is enhanced in reliability, and a manufacturing method thereof.

Magnetoresistive effect element and manufacturing method thereof


An orthopaedic implant is provided for the treatment of avascular necrosis of the bone. The orthopaedic implant includes a hollow support structure and a synthetic vascular graft. The support structure defines a passageway and includes a proximal opening and a distal opening. The synthetic vascular graft is received, at least in part, within the passageway such that a proximal end portion of the synthetic vascular graft is received through the proximal opening of the support structure and a distal end portion of the synthetic vascular graft is received through the distal opening of the support structure.

Avascular necrosis (AVN), which is also known as osteonecrosis (ON), ischemic bone necrosis, or aseptic necrosis, is a debilitating disease resulting from the temporary or permanent loss of circulation to the bones resulting in localized bone death. The loss of proper blood flow can result from trauma or compromising conditions such as, for example, prolonged steroid use, alcohol use, gout diabetes, pancreatitis, venous occlusion, decompression disease, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and Gaucher's disease.
AVN of the femoral head is a debilitating condition with oftentimes fast progression. Severe pain and limitation of movement can ensue in as short as two years with a 70–80% chance of complete collapse of the bone and surrounding articulating surface after three years if left untreated. For most patients, treatment becomes an ongoing process which inevitably results in arthroplasty. Various treatments for AVN which focus on salvaging the head of the femur or other bone or joint include core decompression, osteomy, bone grafting, and vascularized fibular grafting.
The latter is a surgical procedure in which an autologous fibular graft implant is used to support the head of the femur. The necrotic tissue is first removed and packed with autologous cancellous bone leaving room for the insertion of an autologous fibular graft with its vascular pedicle, the peroneal vessels, attached. To provide abundant blood flow to the head of femur, an anastomosis is performed between the lateral circumflex vessels and the fibula vascular pedicle. Although the procedure is oftentimes successful in stabilizing the femoral head and providing blood flow to the head, it carries the risk for donor sight morbidity, including, but not limited to, temporary loss of sensory function with the potential for compromised motor function in the distal part of the leg where the fibular graft was taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,890 discusses another method and device for treating AVN of the femoral head. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,890 augments the femoral head with bone cement. An open ended and fenestrated tube is inserted through a hole into the femoral neck and uncured bone cement is injected and cured at high pressure.

Orthopaedic implant for vascularization of the femoral head


An easily attached and detached patient gown (10) that consists of a back piece (12) and an identical front piece (44). Each of the pieces (12, 44) has attached to its left and right upper sections (16, 18) a left arm section (26) and a right arm section (34). The gown (10) is designed to be placed on a patient by first placing the back piece (12) on a flat surface such as a bed. The patient is then placed upon the back piece (12) and the front piece (44) is placed over the patient and attached to the lower piece (12) by means of complimentary snaps (80). The gown (10) can also be designed to include an implement support pocket (90) that is attached to the inner surface (49) of the front piece (44). Into the pocket (90) is inserted a medical drainage pouch (100). A utility pocket (110) can also be attached to the outer surface (47) of the front piece (44). Into the pocket (110) can be placed various items belonging to the patient. Finally, a front and back leg/feet section (128) can be attached to the lower edges (24, 56) on the back and front pieces (12, 44).

There are many different types of apparel for many different functions or situations. A businessman would not wear clothes designed for an athlete due to the fact that each of these types of clothes are specifically designed for a specific purpose. One of the most necessary of the specialized designs of clothes is that of the hospital or patient gown. This type of gown is specifically designed to be worn by patients in a hospital, either during an examination and while resting and recuperating. Also, it can be worn by ambulatory persons who reside at a private residence or a nursing-type home.
The most common style of these gown has a solid front panel with a single rear opening that extends from the neck to the hem and includes rear ties. These gowns must be put on in reverse and usually require that a patient have assistance in tying the rear ties, which are used to keep the gown closed. Unfortunately, the rear opening often becomes un-tied and opens up, thus causing an embarrassment to the person wearing the gown. One reason this occurs is because the inner flap is not supported in its overlapped position, but is allowed to fall towards the center, thereby reducing or eliminating the overlap.
The solid front section of most hospital-type gowns frequency restricts medical access to the front of the patient, particularly to the chest region. Despite many variations in hospital-type gown design, these and other problems have not been successfully overcome. It is therefore readily apparent that some type of hospital gown design, which provides adequate privacy and ease of access to the patients, is necessary.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 4,612,673 Underhill 23 September 1986 3,855,635 24 December 1974 D356,204 Derrickson 14 March 1995 ______________________________________
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,673 Underhill patent discloses a patient gown having a single body portion, which is enclosed by removably secured fasteners at either the anterior or posterior portion. A V-neck is provided in both the front and the rear, and a pair of shoulder elements are secured to the upper portion of the body, each of which is removably securable at the top so that the entire shoulder can be opened.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,635 Ramirez patent discloses an improved disposable two-piece hospital gown, which is produced from sheets of cloth or paper material. A blouse section is formed of a single sheet of material, initially of rectangular shape that is cut and folded, with adhesive or VELCRO.RTM. bands serving to fasten the sides together. The material cut out of the neck section remains attached to the front and serves as a bib. A pants section is formed of two separate sheets of rectangular material that are identically cut and notched, so as to fasten together in the crotch.
The D356,204 Derrickson patent discloses an ornamental design for a hospital gown for a bedridden patient.
The background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention is related reference may be made to the remaining cited patents.
______________________________________ PATENT NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 5,444,872 Johnson 29 August 1995 5,367,710 29 November 1994 5,361,414 8 November 1994 5,173,965 29 December 1992 4,951,418 28 August 1990 4,718,124 12 January 1988 4,686,715 18 August 1987 4,653,120 31 March 1987 4,433,026 21 February 1984 D305,575 23 January 1990 ______________________________________

Two-piece easily attached and detached patient gown


The present invention provides a round chip scale package comprising: a light emitting diode for providing blue light from a side surface and an upper surface thereof; and a three-dimensional fluorescent layer arranged to encompass the side surface and the upper surface of the light emitting diode, thereby converting the blue light emitted from the side surface and the upper surface of the light emitting diode into white light, wherein the three-dimensional fluorescent layer comprises a phosphor and silicon, and an edge region of the three-dimensional fluorescent layer is formed into a round shape.

Recently, a light emitting diode formed by adding aluminium (Al) or indium (In) to GaN has attracted attention due to a long lifespan, lower power consumption, excellent brightness, eco-friendly features that do not adversely affect the human body, and so on compared with a conventional incandescent lamp and, in particular, a light emitting diode chip that employs a chip scale package to provide white light has attracted much attention.
A light emitting diode applied to the aforementioned chip scale package emits blue light from side and upper surfaces thereof and, to convert the emitted blue light into white light, a phosphor layer needs to be disposed on the side and upper surfaces of the light emitting diode.
A conventional chip scale package is configured in such a way that a plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged at a constant interval and a mixed liquid of phosphor and silicon are wholly coated and then hardened on the resultant structure. The solidified phosphor and silicon are planarized using a lapping procedure to adjust the thickness of the phosphor layer and chips are separated from each other using a sawing procedure.
To perform conventional manufacturing procedures of a chip scale package, the phosphor layer is inevitably exposed to a temperature environment of −20° C. to 140° C. Due to this temperature difference, silicon of the phosphor layer cracks due to fatigue and the crack is mainly caused at an edge region of the phosphor layer.
The background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0070193.

Round chip scale package and manufacturing method therefor


Methods and apparatus for reducing energy consumed by drones during flight are disclosed. A drone includes a housing, a motor, receiver circuitry carried by the housing, and a route manager. The receiver circuitry is to receive airborne drone-generated wind data from an airborne drone located in an area within which a segment of a flight of the drone is to occur. The airborne drone-generated wind data is to be determined by an inertial measurement unit of the airborne drone. The route manager is to generate a route for the flight of the drone based on wind data, the wind data including the airborne drone-generated wind data. The route is to be followed by the drone during the flight. The route manager is to select at least one portion of the route to cause the drone to be at least partially propelled by wind to reduce energy consumed by the drone during the flight.

A drone typically includes a power source (e.g., a battery) that stores energy to provide power to operate the drone. The stored energy of the power source is consumed during flight operations of the drone. The amount of energy consumed by a drone during a flight originating at a designated launch location and ending at a designated destination location may be impacted by weather conditions (e.g., airflows, wind, etc.) in one or more area(s) through which the drone passes during the flight. For example, the drone may encounter headwinds and/or downdrafts that require the drone to consume additional energy in the course of reaching the destination location. The energy consumed by the drone during a flight may be reduced when the drone is able to avoid adverse weather conditions (e.g., headwinds and/or downdrafts) and/or when the drone is able to encounter and/or engage advantageous weather conditions (e.g., tailwinds and/or updrafts).
Certain examples are shown in the above-identified figures and described in detail below. In describing these examples, identical reference numbers are used to identify the same or similar elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic for clarity and/or conciseness.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A device for attaching pontoon forms of watercraft to rigid keels. The invention utilizes an elongate member attached to the keel. The elongate member includes an arcuate form having a surface that substantially conforms a portion of the surface of the pontoon. The elongate member also includes a channel which receives a lip extending radially from the pontoon. The interference between the channel and the lip prevent the pontoon from being radially removed from the elongate member. The surface of the arcuate form may include ridges.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for attaching pontoon forms of watercraft to rigid keel forms. Various devices and/or methods of attaching pontoons such as inflatable pontoons of inflatable rubber watercraft, to the rigid keel/planing surface (herein after referred to as keel) of the watercraft are known. Such include the use of adhesive to adhere a flap extending along the pontoons to the rigid keel.
2. Summary of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for attaching pontoon forms of watercraft to rigid keel forms, which will at least provide the public with an alternative connection method.
Accordingly in a first aspect, the present invention comprises in an extruded, fabricated and/or roll formed elongate member to be interposed between a rigid keel form of a watercraft and a pontoon thereof, said member defining in cross-section,
an arcuate form to substantially conform to at least part of the cross-sectional profile of an inflated or inflatable pontoon with which it is to nestle in use, PA1 a channel defining member with a profile adapted to slidably receive an extension e.g. a lip or lips (e.g. of a beaded flexible flange or the equivalent) extending along said pontoon and presented substantially radially from said pontoon yet hold against removal in a at least a direction radially to said pontoon, PA1 wherein said elongate member PA1 a keel forming a rigid or a substantially rigid keel form for an inflatable craft and PA1 an extruded, fabricated or roll formed member as previously defined, said member being attached by appropriate mechanisms to said substantially rigid keel form so as to present outwardly of the sides periphery thereof said arcuate form. PA1 a pair of pontoon-like structures that (irrespective of the number of air-tight compartments contained therein) converge to a bow form, PA1 a substantially rigid keel form, PA1 optionally, a structure defining a transom and PA1 presented from said substantially rigid keel form in cross-section, an arcuate profile that substantially conforms at least in part with the cross-sectional profile of each inflated pontoon form when the pair of pontoon-like structures are inflated and nestles therewith on either side, PA1 wherein there is provided on said arcuate profile in cross section, to nestle against said pontoon-like structures, PA1 profiling that creates an interruption of any capillary or the like water displacing effect into said watercraft between said profiling and said pontoon(s). Preferably said arcuate profile is that of an extruded, fabricated and/or roll formed member of the present invention. PA1 mating said pontoon with an extruded, fabricated or roll formed elongate member attached by welding, adhesion or other interconnecting methods to said substantially rigid keel form, and PA1 slidably engaging member outstanding from each pontoon in a channel formed by the section of said member to retain each pontoon when inflated at least substantially against an arcuate form of the section of said member, PA1 and wherein
a) includes on that surface to nestle against said pontoon (when inflated), profiling which in use creates an interruption of any capillary or the like water displacing effect into said watercraft between said member and the pontoon and, PA2 b) presents a region for attachment by welding, adhesion or other interconnecting methods with said rigid keel form. PA2 said member on said arcuate form which generally conforms to the shape of part of the periphery of its proximate pontoon in use having longitudinal or other profiling features (e.g. grooves and/or ridges, striations, waves, etc.) to reduce water progression upwardly between each pontoon and said member into the boat.
Preferably said elongate member is an extrusion and said region for attachment consists of an extension of the extrusion.
Preferably said channel defining member is positioned other than at an extremity of said arcuate form.
Preferably said arcuate form is longer on the side of the channel defining member inside said watercraft.
Preferably said channel, in cross sectional profile, extends substantially radially outwardly from said arcuate form.
Preferably said profiling consists of a plurality of ridges and/or grooves extending longitudinally along said extrusion.
Preferably said channel defining member has a slot of substantially circular cross-section to receive a corresponding area of circular cross-section in said lip, said slot located at the distal end of said channel away from said arcuate form.
In a further aspect the present invention consists in combination,
Preferably said combination includes the pontoons and, optionally, also a transom.
And in still a further aspect the present invention consists in a watercraft comprising
Preferably a channel extends along the arcuate profile in a position other than at an extremity of the arcuate profile, said channel also extending substantially radially outwardly from said arcuate profile, and adapted to slidably receive an extension, e.g. a lip or lips (e.g. of a beaded flexible flange or the equivalent) extending along said pontoon and present a substantially radially from said pontoon to hold against removal in at least a direction radially to said pontoon.
Preferably said profiling consists of a plurality of ridges extending longitudinally along the extruded fabricated and/or roll formed member.
Preferably said arcuate profile is extruded.
Preferably said channel defining member has a slot of substantially circular cross-section to receive a corresponding area of circular cross-section in said lip, said slot located at the distal end of said channel defining member away from said arcuate form.
Preferably said arcuate profile extends from transom to bow on each side of said keel to interconnect said keel to said pontoons.
In still a further aspect, the present invention consists in a method of attaching a pontoon of a watercraft to a substantially rigid keel form comprising,

Device for attaching pontoon forms of watercraft to rigid keel forms


A method of data processing between a hub computer and a plurality of spoke computers is disclosed. The hub computer is arranged to communicate with each of the spoke computers. Furthermore, each spoke computer is remote from the hub computer and remote from each other. The method comprises: (a) receiving at the hub computer from a user a request for the spoke computer to run a data processing operation on accounting data of an organization hosting the spoke computer, the accounting data locally accessible by the spoke computer; (b) the hub computer communicating the request to the spoke computer; (c) in response to receiving the request, the spoke computer running the data processing operation on the accounting data; and (d) the spoke computer returning results of the data processing operation to the hub computer.

Many different data processing systems already exist, such as Microsoft SQL Server, SAS, SPSS, and ACL. These typically allow the analysis of data that is held on a server performing the analysis or held on another server within the same data center or legal entity and to which the server performing the analysis has access. To process data held at a plurality of locations remote from each other and remote from the server performing the analysis, it is necessary first to pull the data into a common location.
There are, however, significant technical problems with processing data held and originating in different data centers, or from different legal entities. For example, should it be necessary to take a copy of the data from one data center, and move it to another data center for processing, numerous security risks are introduced. These include the possible loss of portable media drives or CDs. The movement of data can also be made problematic by the existence of agreements with trade unions, privacy concerns, reputational concerns or legal restrictions (such as the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC or The Swiss Federal Data Protection Act and the Swiss Federal Data Protection Ordinance). These may prevent a copy of the data from being legally taken outside the originating data center.
One example of an industry where these data processing problems are particularly evident is the financial auditing industry in which the relevant regulatory framework reinforces these problems.
By way of background, large organizations such as certain companies or partnerships, are subjected to external financial audit or other similar third-party regulatory inspections on a periodic basis. At its simplest, the purpose of an external financial audit is to validate that the prepared financial accounts of a particular organization (often referred to as the "target" of the auditing) meet the relevant accounting standards, and to provide reasonable assurance, but not absolute assurance, that the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, and give a true and fair view in accordance with the prevailing financial reporting framework. Auditing firms typically audit accounts of their clients every 12 months, and may have many hundreds or thousands of clients, that is "targets", which they audit.
When performing the external financial audit of a large company, the financial auditor may be required to sample a subset of a larger set of transactions in order to gain assurance that certain risks have not crystallized in the period under review. For example, when testing fixed assets, it is allowable for the target of the audit to include the purchase of a new building as an addition, however it is generally not allowable to include the repainting of walls within an existing building.
Identifying the two different types of transaction is relatively simple where transaction volumes are small and each item can be reviewed by a human. Where volumes increase, selecting a sample of transactions (typically up to 75) from a population of thousands of transactions appears to provide reasonable coverage of the population and thus a good probability of identifying material error. However, large companies may have millions of fixed asset movements which are required to be reviewed in each audit period. Only reviewing a small sample becomes less valuable in reducing audit risk, and also in identifying value-add findings to Audit targets.
In order to overcome this problem, data analysis can be used to perform tasks which help an auditor to determine which transactions should be subjected to a human review, and discount those which are not high risk, by analyzing an entire population of transactions regardless of the volume of data.
A number of technical problems are typically encountered when performing this type of work. These include:                Large volumes of data must be obtained for analysis by the auditor, in a cost effective way.        Data is generally only obtained during one key audit phase, limiting the times when the results of the analysis are available to the auditor.        Clients are generally opposed to the export of large volumes of data from their data centers due to significant security concerns around data loss.
Significant time and cost is incurred by the auditing firm in performing the same types of data analysis tasks, for multiple audit targets on the same types of data. For example, Fixed Asset data generally takes a similar form at all companies, but would typically be performed as an independent data analysis task for each audit target.
It is therefore desirable to provide a data processing system and/or method that at least addresses certain of these problems.

Centrally managed and accessed system and method for performing data processing on multiple independent servers and datasets


Systems, methods, and apparatus for pre-processing of electrical power grid data for event-driven automatic generation control (AGC) are presented herein. An AGC application can determine AGC output data, for output to a unit controller that controls power generator(s) related to an electrical power grid, based on current values of a subset of electrical power grid data associated with the electrical power grid that has changed since a prior determination that the electrical power grid data has changed. A pre-process component can determine the subset of the electrical power grid data that has changed since the prior determination, and send the current values of the subset of the electrical power grid data to an area control error component. An event-driven component can determine information in response to an event trigger generated based on processing the current values of the subset of the electrical power grid data received from the pre-process component.

For some general context, in an electrical power system, AGC is a software application for adjusting the power output of multiple generators at different power plants, in response to changes in load and/or power exchanges within a defined Balancing Authority (BA). One of the primary indicators of imbalance is the Area Control Error (ACE), which conventionally is calculated periodically, typically every 4 seconds. Since the electrical power grid needs to balance generation and load closely moment by moment, frequent adjustments to the output of the generators can be implicated.
For one non-limiting example, where the electrical power grid has tie lines, transmission lines interconnecting adjacent control areas, AGC helps to maintain power exchanges over those tie lines at scheduled levels. Within the computer-based EMS, the AGC application can take into account such matters as the most economical units to adjust, the coordination of thermal, hydroelectric, and other generation types, constraints related to the stability of the system and capacity of tie-lines to other electrical power grids, etc. An AGC application is thus used to maintain frequency and/or deviation(s) of power within predetermined operating standards.
However, regardless of whether the data has changed between ACE calculation intervals, conventional AGC systems periodically, e.g., every 4 seconds, poll electrical power grid data, such as data collected by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system(s), to make ACE and other calculations based on that data, and send corresponding control signal(s) to power source(s), such as generator(s), to control power generation based on the ACE calculations, e.g., to reduce mismatch between current load and power generation where applicable. However, for example, because all of the electrical power grid data points, such as SCADA data points, handled as inputs to the AGC system are collected and/or processed for ACE or other AGC calculation(s) at every cycle of a periodic AGC processing interval, regardless of whether the electrical power grid data points have changed, a significant and wasteful burden is maintained on processing time and resources of the AGC application.
The above-described deficiencies of today's AGC applications and related technologies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional technology, and are not intended to be exhaustive, or representative. Other problems with the state of the art, and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein, may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.

Pre-processing of data for automatic generation control


The present invention relates to a method for generating neuronal and muscular cells from pluripotent stem cells.

Pluripotent stem cells have the potential to differentiate into almost any cell in the body and are able to self-renew. More recently, the availability of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), along with their capacity for unlimited proliferation in culture and their potential to differentiate into any different human cell type has provided a potentially invaluable source of materials to improve our understanding of disease pathogenesis, and also for designing and testing new therapeutics, including cell therapy or production of tissues. Indeed, until very recently human disease-specific pluripotent cells could be made only by genetic modification of existing human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) obtained from the inner mass of an embryo after 5-6 days of differentiation or the generation of new hESCs from embryos carrying monogenic diseases detectable via preimplantation genetic diagnosis. These methods are very restrictive, and only a few diseases have been investigated in this way. Thus, the recent development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has brought new promises in the understanding and modeling of a number of human pathologies.
For some lineage commitment, protocols are established but in some cases, experimental development is still required or need to be optimized in order to reduce the cost of the process and obtain large amount of well-characterized differentiated cells.
For example, their is a need to have methods to induce pluripotent stem cells differentiation into bona fide neuronal cells. Such neurons would represent an invaluable tool for the treatment, or as cell models, of central nervous diseases such as Parkinson disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington's disease, among many others. Methods for inducing neural derivatives from pluripotent stem cells such as iPSCs are known in the art (e.g. from Yan et al., Stem Cells Transl Med. 2013; 2:862-870) but are not satisfactory yet. Therefore, there is still a need for efficient methods for differentiating pluripotent cells into neuronal cells.
Furthermore, this also holds true for the provision of muscular cells and so far modeling of neuromuscular disorder has been hampered by the absence of efficient protocol for the differentiation of hiPSCs or hESCs into mature skeletal muscle cells. Indeed, while many studies have shown that skeletal muscle cells can be derived from mouse ES or iPSCs cells, only a limited number of studies report an efficient derivation of muscle cells from human ES and iPSCs, in particular due to the paucity of paraxial mesoderm differentiation during embryoid body formation (Darabi et al., Cell stem cell. 2012; 10(5):610-9; Tedesco et al., Sci Transl Med. 2012; 4(140):140ra89; Barberi et al., Nature medicine. 2007; 13(5):642-8; Awaya et al., PLoS One. 2012; 7(12):e51638; Darabi et al., Stem Cells. 2011; 29(5):777-90). Nevertheless, such cells might be useful as well for modeling the large spectrum of pathologies of the muscle including muscular dystrophies but also non-genetically inherited disorders such as muscle wasting associated with ageing, cachexia, atrophy or sarcopenia that affect millions of individuals worldwide or testing new therapeutics such as pharmacological treatment or regenerative cell-based therapies, since no satisfying method for generating such cells from pluripotent cells is available.

Method for generating neuronal and muscular cells

ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE CONTRE LES MYOPATHIES


A vehicle image controller, a system including the same, and a method thereof are provided. The vehicle image controller includes a processor configured to determine a head motion of a user or a sight motion of the user and to align a view point displayed on a display of a vehicle corresponding to the head motion or the sight motion and a storage configured to store information regarding the head motion or the sight motion.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Recently, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have been loaded into each of vehicles to enhance the safety of driving. There is a blind-spot viewing monitoring (BVM), a rear view monitoring (RVM), or the like as one of such ADAS. Vehicle imaging devices such as the BVM and the RVM have technologies of recognizing obstacles behind the vehicle and at a side of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling or parking using cameras and providing information about the recognized obstacles to a user to assist the user to park and drive the vehicle.

Vehicle image controller, system including the same, and method thereof


A system for handling call transfer contains a talker computer for providing a batch notification that enables a central data server to identify a batch of one or more customer records for calling, a central data server for receiving the batch notification that enables the central data server to identify the batch of one or more customer record, and a dialing agent computer for providing a connected notification that a customer that has been called has been connected, referred to herein as a connected customer, via a call, wherein a customer record of the connected customer is associated with the batch, wherein the central data server provides an identify notification and the talker computer receives the identify notification that enables the talker computer to distinguish the connected customer record, wherein the connected customer record is associated with the batch.

Systems and methods presently exist for transferring a customer call taking place between a dialing agent and a customer, to taking place between a talker and a customer, without the customer knowing that a dialing agent was involved in establishing the call between the talker and customer, and without the customer knowing that navigating systems and people (phone voice menus, operators, wrong phone numbers and the like) were involved prior to getting the live customer on the phone. Many of these prior systems and methods transfer the call between the dialing agent and the customer to between the talker and the customer fast enough, without significant delay. Unfortunately, these prior systems and methods transfer and display customer data at the screen of the talker at the same time as when the call is transferred or a short time after the call is transferred. Specifically, to allow the talker to have a productive call with the customer, it is beneficial for the talker to view data regarding the customer. Since the customer data is displayed at the same time as when the call is transferred or a short time after the call is transferred, the talker is at a disadvantage and not capable of preparing to handle the call effectively ahead of time. The foregoing fact causes the talker to react to a transferred call with a delay since the talker has to review the customer data after the call is transferred. In addition, the foregoing facts reduce effectiveness of the talker in performing the important objectives of: 1) making sure that the customer does not know that there was a dialing agent involved in making the call; and, 2) being prepared to pitch the customer effectively based on past notes regarding a history and facts regarding the customer. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that enables the talker to review information associated with the customer and be prepared prior to when the customer call is transferred.
It is desirable to have a system that enables a talker to review information associated with one or more customers, acknowledge/select certain customers that are ready for calling, and upon such acknowledgement the system starts dialing (or schedules to dial) the selected customer records. The benefit of such system is that since the talker has reviewed the customers just before the system starts dialing (or schedules to dial) the talker already knows which customers may be dialed shortly thereafter or in the near future, and there may not be a need to identify the customers that are being dialed or scheduled to be dialed shortly or in the near future.
Further, it is desirable to have a system with one or more of the following functionalities:
(a) a functionality that enables a user to monitor and collaborate in a call between another user of the system with a customer, (b) a functionality that enables a user of the system to execute multi-touch marketing activities, (c) a functionality that allows effective planning and execution of multi-touch marketing activities, and (d) a functionality that allows a user of the system to schedule a dialing session.

System and method for providing sales and marketing acceleration and effectiveness


The described implementations relate to enhancement images, such as in videoconferencing scenarios. One system includes a poriferous display screen having generally opposing front and back surfaces. This system also includes a camera positioned proximate to the back surface to capture an image through the poriferous display screen.

As globalization continues to spread throughout the world economy, it is increasingly common to find projects where team members are widely distributed across continents. Videoconferencing has long been considered a critical technology to reduce high travel expenses for distributed work-forces. Nevertheless, even with high end teleconferencing solutions face-to-face meeting is usually still a better experience than remote meetings.
One of the factors that is known to be essential for face-to-face communication is eye contact. Eye contact can instill trust and foster an environment of collaboration and partnership. Lack of eye contact, on the other hand, may generate feelings of distrust and discomfort. Unfortunately, eye contact is usually not preserved in typical videoconferencing.