Circuitry is provided for performing a non-arithmetic operation in relation to at least one number. The circuitry includes a first part for carrying out the non-arithmetic operation in relation to the at least one number, the first part providing a result. A second part is arranged to identify at least one characteristic of the at least one number and to provide an output and correction circuitry for providing, if necessary, a correct result in dependence on the output of the second part, wherein said first and second parts are arranged to operate in parallel.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and circuitry for performing non-arithmetic operations. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to the comparison of floating point numbers.
2. Description of Related Art
Floating point units (FPU) are provided in many processor systems. Floating point units are designed to handle functions relating to floating point numbers. A floating point number is a convenient way of representing real numbers in a form which is particularly efficient for use in computer processor systems. An example is +/−1.2345×2n.
Floating point numbers may be divided into two categories: normalized; and de-normalized. Normalized numbers follow the standard format shown above and always have a leading "1". De-normalized numbers however have a leading "0". De-normalized numbers can be generated, for example, by dividing the smallest normalized number by 2. Some processor units will not accept or produce the de-normalized numbers. In these and other circumstances, it may be desirable to handle them in a separate manner to normalized numbers. One such method is to equate de-normalized numbers to zero. This procedure is known as "flush to zero".
Floating point units can perform both arithmetic and non-arithmetic functions involving floating point numbers. One example of a non-arithmetic function is the comparison of two floating point numbers or operands. The floating point unit tests the two operands to see if one operand is greater than or equal to the other, returning a value indicative of the result. The test results may then be used in other operations by the floating point unit or other processors in the system.
Reference is made to FIG. 1 which shows schematically a known system for comparing two operands in a floating point unit. The operands 100 are input to a detector 110 which is arranged to detect if the operands are de-normalized. If the operands are determined to be de-normalized, part 120 flushes the de-normalized number to zero. The operands are then compared in a comparator 130. Finally, the output of the comparator is input to a result correction part 140 which makes corrections to take into account the signs of the operand.
The problem with the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is that the various steps take place sequentially. In particular, the steps required to handle de-normalized numbers are on the critical path of the floating point unit. This means that the number of clock cycles taken in order to carry out the comparison operation including all of the steps described in relation to FIG. 1 is relatively high.
It is therefore an aim of embodiments of the present invention to address or at least mitigate the problems described previously.

Circuitry and method for performing non-arithmetic operations


An apparatus and method for partial ion implantation, which desirably provide control over the energy of the implanted dopants, generally includes an ion beam generator, and first and second deceleration units. The first deceleration unit decelerates the energy of an ion beam generated by the ion beam generator; and a subsequent, second deceleration unit further decelerates the energy into different energy levels according to regions of a wafer into which the ions are to be implanted.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates generally to an apparatus and method for ion implantation, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for partial ion implantation.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Many unit processes are formed to fabricate a semiconductor memory, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). These unit processes include a stacking process, an etching process, an ion implantation process, a photolithography process, etc., and are generally carried out in wafers. Ion implantation is a process in which dopant ions, such as boron or arsenic, are accelerated by a high electric field, and passed through the surface of a wafer. The electrical characteristics of a material can be changed by an ion implantation process.
Ion implantation into a wafer is usually performed at the same dose throughout the entire domain of the wafer. While this may be preferable in the ion implantation process, it also may adversely affect other unit processes. As a result of certain unit processes, the thicknesses or the etching degrees of stacked films are not uniform throughout the entire domain of the wafer because many parameters of the respective unit processes cannot be precisely controlled. Accordingly, there are unexpected tolerances or tolerances due to the parameters, which are not precisely controlled. For example, in the fabrication of a transistor, a junction region usually is formed having a lightly doped drain (LDD) structure for suppressing a short route effect. For this reason, a spacer film is formed on the side wall of a gate, and deep source/drain regions are formed by ion implantation using the spacer film and the gate as an ion implantation mask. However, during unit processes (a stacking process, a mask process, and an etching process) performed to form the spacer film, the length or thickness of the spacer film cannot be substantially uniform throughout the entire domain of the wafer. Further, ion implantation cannot be uniformly performed throughout the entire domain of the wafer. That is, there is a deviation of dopant doses between the center and the edge of the wafer. Due to this non-uniformity, many parameters including the threshold voltage of the transistor are different in the same wafer. This may cause serious problems in consideration of the present trend of the wafer towards the increase in size.

Apparatus and method for partial ion implantation


An apparatus for dividing a trash can into a plurality of separate compartments for separating and storing recyclable materials. The plurality of separate compartments are formed by placing a plurality of insertable dividers into the trash can. The dividers combine to define an aperture in the center of the trash can opening to a lower volume of the trash can, permitting the disposal of metal cans or some other material into the lower volume.

During recent years, interest in recycling of household waste has steadily increased. This interest has been fueled by increasing problems of solid waste removal and disposal. Communities have looked to recycling to handle their garbage as old landfills become full and new landfills are not built. In addition, recycling saves energy and raw materials, thereby helping to preserve the environment.
The most commonly recycled household materials are glass, aluminum, metals, plastics and paper. Many municipalities either encourage or require the removal of these materials from the waste stream. However it is also necessary to separate these materials according to the type of recyclable material. Glass, paper, plastics, and metals must all normally be separated from one another. This separation step is necessary to allow for efficient processing of the recycled materials, and materials which are not separated are often refused for recycling.
Previously, most parties involved in recycling have used separate containers for sorting and storing each type of recyclable material. For example, one container is typically used for glass, one container is typically used for metals, and one container is typically used for paper. Unfortunately, use of separate containers requires substantial space, and is thus impractical and inconvenient for many people and businesses. The use of multiple containers also requires making multiple trips to set out the recyclables for pickup, unless all of the containers can somehow be carried in one trip. Additionally, it can be expensive to purchase numerous containers.
Efforts have been made to address this problem, but they have been largely ineffective. For example, stackable bins have been introduced as a way to separate recyclables without occupying extensive floor space. However these bins have the shortcoming of limited storage space and require a front or top opening, which often reduces the volume of recyclables each bin can store. Also, the bins are awkward to carry in groups to a recyclable pickup location, such as an alley or at the end of a driveway, because they are stacked and unstable. Other efforts have also been made to create separate containers for recyclable materials, but these efforts also have shortcomings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,713 to Greathouse, et al, involves modifying the top of a garbage can to hold a plurality of garbage bags. However, the Greathouse design is awkward to use because it requires constant replacement of garbage bags. It is also prone to failure since the recyclables can become intermixed if the bags slip from their holders.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved recyclables container into which a plurality of separated recyclable articles may be placed.

Trash can divider for recyclable materials


A tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) device includes a semiconductor substrate having a layer of relatively intermediate bandgap semiconductor material, a layer of relatively low bandgap semiconductor material overlying the layer of relatively intermediate bandgap semiconductor material, and a layer of relatively high bandgap semiconductor material overlying the layer of relatively low bandgap semiconductor material. The TFET device includes a source region, a drain region, and a channel region defined in the semiconductor substrate. The TFET device also has a gate structure overlying at least a portion of the channel region. The source region is highly doped with an impurity dopant having a first conductivity type, and the drain region is highly doped with an impurity dopant having a second conductivity type. The layer of relatively low bandgap semiconductor material promotes tunneling at a first junction between the source region and the channel region, and the layer of relatively high bandgap semiconductor material inhibits tunneling at a second junction between the source region and the channel region.

The prior art includes TFET devices, which can be used as semiconductor switches. Conventional TFET devices take advantage of tunneling current between the source region and the channel region. The tunneling occurs under certain bias voltage conditions; otherwise, the TFET device functions as a reverse-biased diode. In this regard, FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of a conventional N-type TFET device 100. TFET device 100 includes a layer of semiconductor material 102, a source region 104, a drain region 106, and a gate structure 108. Most of semiconductor material 102 is lightly doped with an N-type impurity (N−). Source region 104, which is formed in semiconductor material 102, is highly doped with a P-type impurity (P+). Drain region 106, which is also formed in semiconductor material 102, is highly doped with an N-type impurity (N+). TFET device 100 includes a channel region 110 that is located between source region 104 and drain region 106. As shown in FIG. 1, channel region 110 is generally located below gate structure 108, as is well understood.
When used as a semiconductor switch device, TFET device 100 is biased such that the drain voltage (Vd) is higher than the source voltage (Vs). The gate voltage (Vg) is then controlled to turn the switch on or off. More specifically, if Vg is higher than the threshold voltage (Vt) of TFET device 100, then the switch turns on and source-to-drain current flows. If, however, Vg is less than Vt, then the switch remains off, TFET device 100 functions as a reverse-biased diode, and no current flows. FIG. 1 depicts a state where TFET device 100 is conducting source-to-drain current (Vs=0.0 volts; Vg=1.0 volts; Vd=1.0 volts). Under these bias conditions, electrons accumulate in channel region 110 near the upper surface of semiconductor material 102 and directly under gate structure 108. This accumulation of electrons in turn creates a very well defined and localized P+/N+ junction between source region 104 and channel region 110. This stiff P+/N+ junction represents a tunneling junction 112 for TFET device 100. Electrons and holes can easily pass or tunnel through tunneling junction 112, which results in high source-to-drain current.
A TFET device may also be fabricated as a P-type device. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of a conventional P-type TFET device 200. TFET device 200 (which is very similar to TFET device 100) includes a layer of semiconductor material 202, a source region 204, a drain region 206, and a gate structure 208. In contrast to TFET device 100, however, most of semiconductor material 202 is lightly doped with a P-type impurity (P−), source region 204 is highly doped with an N-type impurity (N+), and drain region 206 is highly doped with a P-type impurity (P+). TFET device 200 includes a channel region 210 that is located between source region 204 and drain region 206.
When used as a semiconductor switch device, TFET device 200 is biased such that Vd is less than Vs. The gate voltage (Vg) is then controlled to turn the switch on or off. More specifically, if Vg is lower than Vt, then the switch turns on and source-to-drain current flows. If, however, Vg is greater than Vt, then the switch remains off. FIG. 2 depicts a state where TFET device 200 is conducting source-to-drain current (Vs=1.0 volts; Vg=0.0 volts; Vd=0.0 volts). Under these bias conditions, holes accumulate in channel region 210 near the upper surface of semiconductor material 202 and directly under gate structure 208. This accumulation of holes in turn creates a very well defined and localized N+/P+ junction between source region 204 and channel region 210. This stiff N+/P+ junction represents a tunneling junction 212 for TFET device 200. Electrons and holes can easily pass or tunnel through tunneling junction 212, which results in high source-to-drain current.

Tunneling field effect transistor switch device


A device (100) for assisting in optical characterisation of a sample fluid. The device can comprise a substrate (102) with at least one measurement reservoir (104) adapted for filling with the fluid (106) in a filling direction. The device (100) thereby is adapted for receiving an illumination beam (108) for illuminating the fluid (106) in the at least one measurement reservoir (104). The at least one measurement reservoir is adapted for varying the rate of change of an optical path length of the illumination beam in the fluid. The measurement reservoir properties are adapted for providing information of an optical path length of the illumination beam in the fluid at a plurality of moments during the filling with the fluid. Furthermore a corresponding optical characterisation device is described. The invention also relates to a corresponding method.

Optical characterisation techniques are frequently used for characterising materials, such as e.g. in material characterisation, medical applications, molecular diagnostics, chemical characterisation, etc. The latter typically may be used for characterising molecules, cells or small particles in small liquid samples, based on the measurement of light absorption and/or fluorescence in the sample. Besides the physical characteristics of the sample, the obtained optical signal typically also depends on the optical path length of the illumination beam in the liquid sample. The latter information typically is required for performing accurate measurements of e.g. the concentration of a particle in a liquid sample. In a large number of today's applications, the amount of fluid material typically available for performing characterisation is limited.
One approach for optically characterising small amounts of fluids is described in International patent application WO 01/14855. A liquid sample is held between two moveable parts comprising optical fibres by surface tension and optical characteristics can be measured by illuminating the sample fluid and collecting a luminescence response thereof. The technique typically requires direct contact between the sample and the read-out unit, implying that the measurement may be disturbed by contaminations originating from previous measurements. Furthermore, due to the lack of a suitable containing structure around the sample fluid, the free air-liquid surface is large and therefore evaporation of the liquid sample can occur on a short time scale.
It is known that small reservoirs, e.g. with a diameter in the order of 1 millimetre or smaller can be used to contain small liquid samples. However, filling of small reservoirs with liquids and control thereof is difficult due to the need for pressure to introduce the fluid in the small reservoir.

Optical characterisation methods and systems


A device having multiple configurations, wherein each configuration allows operation of the device according to features that may be different than other configurations. Each of the configurations is controlled by a separate SIM card. The device is configured to select an operating configuration, and associated SIM card, in response to detecting an orientation of the device. As the orientation of the device changes, the device selects an operating configuration in accord with user intent.

Mobile communications devices, such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and the like, have become an important part of modern life. Furthermore, cellular telephone usage has proliferated rapidly over the past decade. By some estimates, cellular telephone usage in the United States alone has grown from 34 million users in 1995 to over 200 million in 2005.
Mobile communications devices are becoming more powerful, with features keeping pace with technology development in communications equipment generally. For example, many of today's mobile communications devices contain more than one of the following features: phone service, internet browsing, email service, text messaging, a digital camera, audio recording, video recording, music storage and playback, gaming, interactive gaming, general computing functions, videoconferencing, webcasting, instant messaging, applications created for mobile devices, etc.
The rapid proliferation of cellular telephone usage may cause problems arising from the multiplicity of cellular telephones. For example, households may have multiple cellular telephones (e.g., a cellular telephone for one spouse and another cellular telephone for the other spouse). Furthermore, individuals may have more than one cellular telephone (e.g., a cellular telephone for work and a cellular telephone for personal usage).
Having multiple cellular telephones per household or per person may represent inefficient allocation of time or monetary resources. For example, an individual with multiple cellular telephones may have to pay for each phone. In addition, owning or using more than one cellular telephone may make it difficult to keep track of each phone and increase the risk of misplacing or losing a cellular telephone. If a user could get the same service from one mobile communications device, the user may be able to allocate the user's resources more efficiently.
Cellular telephone users may want the functionality of multiple devices, but cannot afford multiple devices. For example, a user may want one telephone for one use and another telephone for another use. However, the user may only be able to afford one device. In another example, a husband and wife may both want their own phone number, but may not be able to afford two devices.
Thus, there exists a need to provide the functionality of multiple devices in one mobile communications device. Although the present disclosure describes with particular reference and application to mobile communications devices, and in particular to cellular telephones, the claimed embodiments are not intended to be limited to mobile communications devices. The claimed embodiments are equally applicable to any device capable of performing as herein disclosed.


A system for obtaining information from a plurality of computer users (7 to 12), comprising a processing apparatus (2) including an input mechanism (3 and 4) via which a survey author may input data, and a survey authoring mechanism (FIG. 2) enabling construction of a survey questionnaire document including at least one question formulated from data input by the survey author, transmission mechanism (6) for transmitting the survey questionnaire document to a plurality of respondent users (7 to 12); and a processing apparatus (2) including a collating mechanism arranged to receive transmissions from the transmission mechanism, to identify response documents which include responses to the at least one question from the plurality of respondent users and to load a database in accordance with the responses.

In recent years, developments in communication systems and computer technology have enabled communication between computers over vast distances utilising communications networks. Employing electronic mail, it is possible for a user of a personal computer (or any other type of computer) with access to a modem or other network communications interface, to communicate with any number of users of remote computers e.g., via the internet. Distance is no barrier. Further, in small or large companies electronic mail networks are often used to connect user terminals to enable communication in-house between users.
The possibility of communication with any number of users having access to electronic mail opens up vast information gathering potential.
To obtain and process such large amounts of information, however, presents a number of problems. Using electronic mail for a user of a computer may ask a question or questions of a relatively large number of remote users, by addressing mail including a question or questions to those users.
The task of processing responses to the question or questions becomes extremely difficult. Where a large number of users provide responses, the task can be almost impossible. This difficultly will be aggravated where a large number of questions are asked. The amount of information to process can be staggering and the user who asked the questions may be faced with the onerous task of sorting through a large amount of mail, item by item, to extract and collate the information he requires. Where a large amount of information is required from a large number of people, it is impractical for one person to deal with.
Consider the example of opinion polls, whether for marketing, political or other purposes. Presently, large numbers of field operators are required to gather numerous responses from members of the public. Once those responses have been gathered, hundreds and even thousands of man-hours are required to process the responses to extract the required information and present it in a form which allows for analysis. Thousands of questionaries may need processing, each with many Questions and responses. It should also be noted that the time taken to gather and process the responses can mean that the information finally revealed from the opinion poll has lost it's relevance or at least become less relevant. Consider a political opinion poll, where peoples opinions may be varying from day to day, significantly enough to affect the election result. An opinion poll which takes two or three days to process will be out of date and irrelevant by the time the results are available for publication.
There are really two major problems with presently available "surveying". Firstly, there is the problem of how does a person ask the questions of all the people he wishes to ask the questions of, without expending many man hours or employing a number of people as field operators? This problem is somewhat alleviated by the existence of systems such as electronic mail, which enable a person to select a number of people to send a single document to. There is the problem here, however, that no convenient means exists of asking a series of complex, linked questions. For example, a persons answer to a particular question may determine whether or not a subsequent question is relevant to that person. If the person is asked whether they are taking leave from employment that year to go on holiday, and answer no, there is no point in asking them where they are going on holiday. Electronic mail communication systems do not deal with that problem.
Even though electronic mail may be used to somewhat alleviate the problem of getting a question to a number of people, such systems do nothing to alleviate the problems associated with processing the answers. There is no alternative but for the person asking the question to sort through return mail item by item to, first of all, identify which mail is in response to his questions, and, then, to collate and process the responses to enable a meaningful analysis.
These problems are not limited to large surveys, such as political opinion polls. Even quite small surveys can present problems of time management. For example, imagine if a director of a company with fifty or so employees wishes to plan staff leave for the year. He has to ask all his employees when they would like to take leave. He may also wish to know where they want to go. He can do this by sending out a memo and awaiting the results, or perhaps even sending out a memo on intra office computer mail and awaiting the results. He still has to process all the results. Processing results, analysing them and planning the leave even of only fifty people can be quite time consuming, particularly for a person with many other responsibilities who does not really have the time to spend on such a task. Further, the managing director may wish to ask many different types of questions of his staff on a on-going day-to-day basis. His only option for processing the responses is to do it himself, item by item, or, if he has not got time (as is usually the case) to employ somebody to do it.

System and method for obtaining and collating survey information from a plurality of computer users


A refrigerator includes a body, a compartment within the body, a container within the compartment, a door movable along a first direction with respect to the body and rotatable along a second direction, and a lifting mechanism supporting and elevating the container when the door rotates along the second direction. The lifting mechanism includes a hinge connecting the door with a frame connected with the rail assembly and allowing the door to rotate in the second direction, and at least one lifting bars coupled to the door and supporting and elevating the container when the door rotates about the hinge in the second direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door assembly for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a mechanism for elevating a container of a refrigerator when a door is open.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventional refrigerators are usually classified into three types, i.e., a top mount freezer type, a side by side type, and a bottom mount freezer type. In the top mount freezer type refrigerator, a freezing compartment is provided at an upper portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment is provided at a lower portion of the refrigerator. In the side by side type refrigerator, a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment are respectively arranged on a left portion and a right portion of a refrigerator. In the bottom mount freezer type refrigerator, a freezing compartment is provided at a lower portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment is provided at an upper portion of the refrigerator.
Each compartment of the refrigerator is generally opened and closed by a door coupled to a body of the refrigerator. The door and the body of the refrigerator are usually coupled by a hinge so that the door can rotate with respect to the body in order to open and close the compartment of the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, it is very uncomfortable for the user to use the freezing compartment mounted at the lower portion of the refrigerator when the door is simply open by rotating about the hinge because the user has to kneel and bend his/her body and stretch his/her hands into an inside of the freezing compartment mounted at the lower portion of the refrigerator.

Door assembly and refrigerator using the same


The present invention concerns a non-fatty palatability enhancer for use in cat food comprising an amino reactant having a ratio AAS/AAT of sulfur-containing free amino acids (AAS) to total free amino acids (AAT) from 1 to 12.8% by weight, and a carbonyl composition comprising more than 20% up to 100% by weight of monosaccharides and/or disaccharides and/or oligosaccharides.

Pets are well taken care of by their owners which provide them a proper selection of foods. Those foods include not only pets' usual nutritionally-balanced diet, but also supplements, treats, and toys. Pets, like humans, are attracted to and eat more regularly and easily foods which they find palatable. Therefore, palatability enhancers (PEs) are extremely important for animal consumption. Animal foods such as pet foods typically contain flavour compositions to increase the palatability thereof, and to make them appealing to pets. A large number of PEs have been described so far.
However, food palatability differs not only from one type of food to another, but also from one animal species to another. For example, a palatability enhancer effective in dry pet foods is usually not effective when used in semi-dry or wet pet foods. Moreover, a palatability enhancer effective with dogs is often not effective with cats. Indeed, cats are particularly known as being finicky because of their high susceptibility to food palatability.
There is therefore a continuing need for new PEs, which provide a robust flavour and which are easily and effectively usable for cats, in types of foods as different as dry, semi-dry and wet foods.
The present invention here provides new PEs that have been selected for their ability to enhance palatability of cat food.

Palatability enhancers comprising amino reactants and carbonyl compounds for use in cat food


A method of communicating data between databases having different formats includes providing a first computer (4), a second computer (14), and a server (22) in a distributed computer network (2) where the server (22) is configured to send, receive, and process data packets including records having different formats to and from the first computer (4) an the second computer (14). The server (22) converts a first record in a first format (26a) into the first record in the second format (26b) and converts a second record in the second format (26b) into the first format (26a). The second computer is configured to receive data packets having the first record in the second format (26b), and to send data packets having the second record in the second format (26b).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of communicating and converting data of different formats between databases having different designs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, a medical service provider has database software installed on a general purpose computer for maintaining for each patient serviced by the medical service provider one or more electronic records. Each of these records includes data regarding a patient, such as notes regarding the patient's condition, services rendered on a particular date by the medical service provider for the patient, fees associated with one or more of the rendered services, and the like. This data is often maintained for each patient of the medical service provider as an electronic patient record in the database which has been designed specifically by or for the medical service provider.
Insurers also have database software installed on a computer for creating and maintaining for each insured patient one or more electronic patient records that include some or all of the same information as the electronic patient record maintained by the patient's medical service provider. Unfortunately, however, electronic patient records of a medical service provider often have a different design than the electronic patient records of a particular patient's insurer. To this end, it is common practice for many medical service providers to treat numerous patient, each of whom may be insured by a different insurer having databases of different design.
In order to account for the differences in design of the database of a medical service provider and the design of the database of an insurer for a patient, an insurer often provides the medical service provider with data entry software which enables the medical service provider to electronically enter data regarding a patient into an interface screen and thereafter forward this entered data to the insurer for processing. More specifically, this data entry software is configured to receive the data into predetermined fields, including one or more patient identification fields, of a record for the particular patient. Once data is entered into these predetermined fields, the software program formats the entered data into a form that the database software of the patient's insurer is expecting and electronically transfers the formatted data to the database software of the patient's insurer for processing.
A problem with such data entry software is that the medical service provider, in addition to entering data regarding a patient into their own database, needs to enter some or all of the same patient data into the data fields of the data entry software so that this data can be processed by the particular patient's insurer. As can be seen, when a medical service provider is sending data regarding patients to a plurality of different insurers, a plurality of different data entry software must be maintained by the medical service provider and utilized to effect entry and transfer of patent data to each insurer.
A problem with this arrangement is the need for the medical service provider to acquire the appropriate data entry software for the insurer of a particular patient and the need for the medical service provider to redundantly enter data into the medical service provider's database and the data entry software. Another problem is that a medical service provider may be required to become familiar with more than one data entry software. Furthermore, from the standpoint of each insurer, there are logistical problems maintaining the integrity of the release and version of data entry software utilized by numerous medical service providers.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome the above problems and others by providing a method of communicating data across a distributed computer network between computer systems having different record formats. Is an object of the present invention to provide a method where IP addresses of a transmitter and a receiver accompany a data packet to its ultimate destination while the data packet is routed through one or more designated intermediate receivers. Still other objects will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description It is a second object of the present invention

Method of communicating data between computers having different record formats


Multi-type air conditioner is disclosed for effective removal of foreign matters in refrigerant pipelines, including an outdoor unit having a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a flow path control valve for controlling a flow path of the refrigerant from the compressor, and an outdoor unit piping system, a plurality of indoor units each having an indoor unit expansion device, an indoor heat exchanger, an indoor piping system, a distributor for receiving refrigerant from the outdoor unit, distributing the refrigerant to the indoor units proper to respective operation modes, and returning to the outdoor unit again, connection pipelines connected between the outdoor unit and the distributor, and foreign matter cutting off means mounted on each of the connection pipelines for prevention of the foreign matters from entering into the compressor of the outdoor unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-type air conditioners, and more particularly, to a multi-type air conditioner having a device for effective removal of foreign matters present in a refrigerant pipeline.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, the air conditioner is an appliance for cooling or heating spaces, such as living spaces, restaurants, and offices. At present, for effective cooling or heating of a space partitioned into many rooms, it is a trend that there has been ceaseless development of multi-type air conditioner. The multi-type air conditioner is in general provided with one outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units each connected to the outdoor unit and installed in a room, for cooling or heating the room while operating in one of cooling or heating mode.
However, since the multi-type air conditioner is operative only in one mode of cooling or heating uniformly even if some of the many rooms within the partitioned space require heating, and rest of the rooms require cooling, the multi-type air conditioner has a limit in that the requirement can not be met, properly.
For an example, even in one building, there are rooms having a temperature difference depending on locations of the rooms or time of the day, such that while a north side room of the building requires heating, a south side room of the building requires cooling due to the sun light, which can not be dealt with a related art multi-type air conditioner that is operative in a single mode.
Moreover, even though a building equipped with a computer room requires cooling not only in summer, but also in winter for solving the problem of heat load of the computer related equipment, the related art multi-type air conditioner can not deal with such a requirement, properly.
In conclusion, the requirement demands development of multi-type air conditioner of concurrent cooling/heating type, for making air conditioning of rooms individually, i.e., the indoor unit installed in a room requiring heating is operable in a heating mode, and, at the same time, the indoor unit installed in a room requiring cooling is operable in a cooling mode.
In the meantime, the indoor units, the outdoor unit, and distributors in the air conditioner are in general connected with refrigerant pipeline of a metal. The units in the air conditioner and the refrigerant pipeline, and the refrigerant pipelines are connected by welding. However, there is slag in the refrigerant pipeline formed in the welding and left even after the welding is finished. Foreign matters left thus in the refrigerant pipeline after the welding is finished flows together with the refrigerant, resulting to damage components in the refrigerating system, or reduce a refrigerant flow passage. The reduced flow passage impedes a smooth refrigerant flow, and results in poor cooling or heating of the air conditioner.


An electrical power storage device provides power to crank an internal combustion engine. Thereafter available power from the electric power storage device to crank the engine again is continually updated. Remedial measures are invoked if the available power is less than a predetermined power threshold.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Modern vehicles are highly dependent on proper operation of an electric power generation and storage system. The number of electrical devices has been rapidly increasing in the last two decades, and this trend will accelerate. The vehicle electric power system is required to supply sufficient power not only to safety related systems such as rear window defogger, anti-lock braking and stability enhancement system, but also to comfort, convenience and entertainment features such as air conditioning, seat heating, audio and video systems. The advent of new technologies such as X-by-wire is putting additional demand on the battery. Consistent power flow from an electric power storage device, such as a battery, is critical for maintaining proper vehicle operations. Battery problems lead to customer dissatisfaction and service issues. Therefore, there is a need to monitor and control the ability of the battery to deliver power throughout various vehicle operation modes and throughout battery life.
An essential function of automotive batteries is to deliver high power in short periods, for instance, during engine cranking. Modern vehicle control systems utilize an electric power management system to balance power demanded and supplied during vehicle operation and to provide engine starting power. Battery state is an essential element of any electric power management system. Due to the electrochemical nature of battery devices, numerous factors affect the battery state, thus making determination of battery status complicated. The battery state is represented by state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH). The SOC represents the stored power/energy available, and the SOH is an indication of power capability and battery capacity. To achieve accurate power management, both battery SOC and SOH should be taken into account.
One known approach to vehicle electric power management for load shed and idle boost is based only on an index of battery state of charge. Other power management systems and methods have attempted to predict battery cranking capability based on battery cranking current or voltage. These systems require a high current sensor to measure battery current during cranking (e.g., 800-1000 Amps). Furthermore, there is no method identified to determine a threshold of cranking current or voltage for power management that takes into account both battery SOC and SOH. At least one method used for power management on a hybrid vehicle is based on battery model parameters that are identified during normal vehicle operation. However, real-time battery model parameter identification during normal operation requires the battery voltage and current signals to satisfy the condition of persistency of excitation, which is usually not applicable to conventional vehicles. Furthermore, the computational cost of such a method is high because it requires data acquisition and signal processing at a high sampling rate.
Therefore, there is a need for a cost-effective monitoring and control system for an electric power storage device to achieve accurate and reliable power management, taking into account both battery state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH), to address the aforementioned concerns.

Method and apparatus for managing power flow of an electric power storage device


An array of devices connected to each other, in a grid or other fashion, which are able to adjust their position and/or orientation relative to one another, in order to alter the overall structure that the devices form. Also, a controller that can determine this structure from data provided by the devices, and tell each device what relative position and orientation it should be in so that the overall structure changes to some other desired shape.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tools.
2. Related Art
The number and variety of tools that have been made and used is beyond count and many tools are best suited for a particular purpose or job. A hammer is better suited to pounding nails than a screwdriver, and turning screws is difficult with a hammer""s claw.
Unfortunately, many modern tasks can not be accomplished with just one tool. Assembling simple pre-fabricated fixtures often requires both a hammer and a screwdriver. Building furniture from lumber may require a hammer, a saw, a measuring tape, and some way to record and mark appropriate lengths.
Some tasks require instruments that are unique to the task. These tools can be expensive and hard to find. Many tasks require tools that are similar to others, but sufficiently different that attempting to use the same tool for both tasks is impracticablexe2x80x94for example, turning a flat head screw with a phillips head screwdriver.
Often, the only solution is to purchase a tool for each required purpose. Some tools may be unique, so that the user must have one specially made. There have been many attempts to solve these problems. A first known solution is to create drills with modular heads, and rapid prototyping for tools no one has yet built.
While this does assist in solving the problems associated with the plethora of available tools, all have required at least one physical token for each tool required.
A second known solution is the attempt to make single tools that are physically adjustable to each task for example, wrenches with gears that can be turned by hand to adjust their size, or multiple tools combined into a single unit like a Swiss army knife.
While these types of tools can provide more than one configuration they suffer from severe drawbacks. First, these tools have a preset number of forms, all of which must be designed before the tool is built and purchased. Second, these tools require the user to manipulate the tool until it is in the desired shape.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a technique for dynamically configuring tools that are not subject to the limitations of the known art.
The invention provides an array of panel components able to move themselves relative to each other, along with a computer controller to coordinate this movement. The array can assume practically any form allowing it to function as many different tools. Once a tool is created in the array, its form may be stored and recalled for later use, thus entire lists of selectable tools may be created.
Each panel component is connected to other panel components by connectors attached to ball joints at each panel component. Each panel component is associated with a processor that receives positioning data from sensors located at each ball joint. Positioning data are sent to and from the controller such that motors may control the position of each ball joint and the relative position of each panel component.
A xe2x80x9climp modexe2x80x9d is provided so an operator may manually adjust the panel components to a desired form and then record the configuration for later use. A user interface is also provided at the controller to allow the user to select predefined array configurations.
With the help of computer aided design, professional tool makers may prototype new tools without the expense of creating molds or carving a sample out of blocks of wood, metal, or plastic. New tools may be tested simply by configuring an array into whatever shape is desired and storing that shape in the array""s controller. Anyone with an array but without the appropriate structure on hand may obtain the data necessary to program the array from another party.


A register control device has a head which scans registration marks printed on a web, the scanning head having a row of discrete photosensitive elements arranged crosswise to the traveling direction of the web and in a plane situated above and parallel to the web. The scanning head has in the same plane a linear video bar situated parallel to the row of photosensitive elements. The device includes a microprocessor which selects the photosensitive element to be used according to the temporary sideways displacement of the web and controls the scanning operations of the linear video bar. The scanning head may also include a second row of discrete photosensitive elements arranged parallel between the first row of discrete photosensitive elements and the linear video bar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a registration control device for use in a rotary printing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Registration control devices used in a rotary printing machine usually employ a head for scanning the registration marks, usually printed in the margin, in order to detect any possible misregistration of the prints in each color. The device then generates correction commands which alter either the track of the paper web or the position of the corresponding plate cylinder.
Known devices of this type, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,322, have a scanning head which includes one or several photodiodes for scanning a registration mark which enters an illuminated area and travels under the head. In order to compensate unpredictable sideways misregistration inherent to the high running speed of the paper web, the registration marks have in this context the shape of crossed lines with a width considerably broader than the scanning diameter of the photoelectric cell. For instance, with a cell that has a scanning diameter of 6 mm, the width of the mark will perhaps be of 10 mm in order to leave a margin of 2 mm on either side.
In another such device, described in European Application 0 123 305, the registration marks are triangular and tiny, i.e., about 3 mm large by 6 mm long, in order to save room for the prints. The triangular configuration of these registration marks allows the simultaneous determination of the lengthwise (machine-direction) and sideways (cross-machine direction) misregistration of the corresponding print by means of an analysis based on the emission and intensity of the impulse received. However, despite the reduced scanning surface of the head, i.e., of one millimeter or so, it appears necessary to motorize the sideways positioning of the head in order to be able to compensate for a temporary displacement of the web. This motorization of the positioning of the head results in a heavier structure which has repercussions on the realization cost.
As will be understood, the continuous aim for gaining space on the paper, which aim is achieved by reducing the size of the registration marks to approximately 1 mm in width or less, will create a problem in the sideways misregistration of webs, if such misregistration has an amplitude bigger than the one of the registration marks. Motorized correction becomes practically impossible with such small-sized registration marks, which tend to leave the scanning field of the photoelectric cell too easily, even before the determination of their dimensions. Moreover, it is impossible to give such a little mark a particular shape, i.e., that of a triangle, which would allow a simultaneous detection of lengthwise and sideways misregistration.
PCT applications WO 86/05141 and WO 89/01867 suggest solutions employing video cameras taking a global image of a group of marks in order to determine the misregistration of the various colors by means of a numerical analysis based on this image. Although working satisfactorily with prints running at low speed, these devices reach their limit at higher speed, especially when applied to heliographic printing for which the web paper running speed might amount to 20 m/s. At that speed, the image processing should be effectuated at least ten times quicker than is currently done.

Registration control device for use in a rotary printing machine


According to the embodiment, the air conditioning system for a server changes air conditioning control target values within a certain range when outside air and return air both have higher specific enthalpy than the target state and hence the mixed air of the outside air and the return air cannot be adjusted to air in the target state.

Generally, there is a large amount of heat generated in a data center since many servers are placed in the data center. Normal operation of the servers requires that air conditioning be properly controlled to keep environmental conditions for a server room in a predetermined range.
Technology for cooling air in a room in which many computers are installed as in the data center has been known from JP, P2005-172309A. JP, P2005-172309A discloses an air conditioning system configured such that air sucked in from a space in the lower portion of the room is blown out from a space in the upper portion of the room and thereby the air is sucked into upper portions of server racks.
This technology enables efficient air conditioning control by reducing temperature gradients throughout the entire area in the room and also reducing variations in supply air temperature.
The data center in which load on an object to be air conditioned is information equipment has different features from those of typical buildings. For example, the features are that:                most of the load is sensible heat load;        the set temperature and humidity fall within a certain range; and        ventilation for preventing an increase in CO2 concentration is unnecessary since the load does not generate CO2.
However, the conventional data center wastes energy because of not performing air conditioning control adapted for these features.
An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning system and an air conditioning control method for a server room, capable of performing air conditioning control having a great energy-saving effect with efficiency and reliability.

Air conditioning system and air conditioning control method for server room


One aspect of the present invention is a puncture healing polymer blend comprising a self-healing first polymer material having sufficient melt elasticity to snap back and close a hole formed by a projectile passing through the material at a velocity sufficient to produce a local melt state in the first polymer material. The puncture healing polymer blend further includes a non-self-healing second material that is blended with the first polymer material. The blend of self-healing first polymer material and second material is capable of self-healing, and may have improved material properties relative to known self-healing polymers.

Self-healing materials have the ability to mitigate incipient damage, and have a built-in capability to substantially recover structural load bearing capacity after damage. Different "self-healing mechanisms" have been identified in materials as a collection of irreversible thermodynamic paths whereby the path sequences ultimately lead to crack closure or resealing. One mechanism comprises crack repair in polymers using thermal and solvent processes, where the healing process is triggered with heating or with a solvent. Another approach involves autonomic healing concepts, wherein healing is accomplished by dispersing a microencapsulated healing agent and a catalytic chemical trigger within an epoxy resin to repair or bond crack faces and mitigate further crack propagation. A related approach, the microvascular concept, utilizes brittle hollow glass fibers (in contrast to microcapsules) filled with an epoxy hardener and uncured resins in alternating layers, with fluorescent dye. An approaching crack ruptures the hollow glass fibers, releasing healing agent into the crack plane through capillary action. Yet another approach utilizes a polymer that can reversibly re-establish its broken bonds at the molecular level, by either thermal activation (i.e., based on Diels-Alder re-bonding), or ultraviolet light. Yet another approach utilizes structurally dynamic polymers, which are materials that produce macroscopic responses from a change in the materials' molecular architecture without heat or pressure. Yet another approach involves integrating self-healing resins into fiber reinforced composites to provide self-healing fiber reinforced composites. Various chemistries have been utilized in connection with the aforementioned approaches.
However, known self-healing approaches may suffer from various disadvantages such as slow rates of healing. Also, the use of foreign inserts into a polymer matrix may have detrimental effects on the composite fiber performance. Furthermore, in some cases the materials have to be held in direct contact, or under load, and/or fused together with high temperature for relatively long periods of time. Still further, known methods may not fully address damage incurred by ballistic or hyper velocity impacts, and also may not provide sufficient load bearing strength capabilities.

Puncture healing engineered polymer blends

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF NASA


A data logging device including a data request and receiving module receiving an input, a switch circuit receiving said input, a resistive load interconnected to said switch circuit, a data request switch providing a signal to said data request and receiving module, a charge storage device interconnected with said resistive load, a transmitter interconnected with said data request and receiving module.

The present invention relates a monitoring system with lower power usage.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical building environment includes many different pieces of equipment with that consume energy, such as motors, lighting, refrigeration, heating, air conditioning, and other industrial manufacturing devices. Each of these devices consumes energy which results in an overall cost to purchase the energy for these devices from a power source, such as a utility. Each of these devices also has an operational lifetime that can be extended by remaining within the designed operational parameters. With the ever increasing complexity of equipment and cost of such energy, there is significant pressure for an organization to monitor the energy usage and performance of the equipment so that equipment life may be extended and further cost effective energy reductions may be identified.
Demand side management programs have been deployed for large industrial environments resulting in replacing high energy consumption lighting devices with low energy consumption lighting devices, and replacing standard drive motors with variable frequency drive motors. While such replacement of energy consuming devices is one aspect of an energy conservation program, it does not provide an effective on-going monitoring of the energy consumption or the equipment's operational parameters.
Referring to FIG. 2, another monitoring system may involve installing a plurality of sensing devices, such as a power meter, each proximate a corresponding piece of equipment. Each of the power meters may include a set of sensors that sense the current and/or voltage provided to the respective power devices. Each of the power meters may include a set of registers that stores information regarding the current, voltage, phase, and/or power usage over time. A set of network cabling is provided from each of the power meters to a centralized power metering device or otherwise using a local wireless connection, such as IEEE 802.11 WiFi, to create a local network. The centralized power metering device may query each the power metering devices, as desired. In response to the query, the power meters provide responsive information to the centralized power metering device. In many cases, the centralized power metering device provides responsive information, to a centralized monitoring system, such as a management console using the Internet. Unfortunately, such a power monitoring system is expensive to install into existing infrastructures.
Similarly, operating devices with built-in sensors and diagnostic or control interfaces may be monitored by systems connected over a local network. They may also be monitored via telecommunications lines and modems that operators can dial in to in order to control the device directly, or modify or view the operational data of the device. These methods typically require human operator involvement to interact with and manipulate the device settings and view the registers. This is a time-intensive and expensive process, both when considering the cost of installing the monitoring infrastructure, and the personnel costs of operating such a fleet of devices when they extend into the thousands and tens of thousands.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An electrohydrodynamic (EHD) receptor that incorporates microchannels and reservoir(s) for selectively dispensing fluid from the reservoir(s) to a specific location, e.g., onto the surface of the receptor.

The ability to reduce the size of an object is typically an important advance in different fields of technology, where such reduction increases efficiency, reduces cost and promotes portability, as evident by the success of traditional semiconductor techniques. In response, different industries have incorporated and modified various semiconductor techniques to reduce the size and cost of different products, e.g., various fluid delivery systems.
One example is the field of microfluidic devices and methods as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,069 (Partitioned Microelectronic And Fluidic Device Array For Clinical Diagnostics And Chemical Synthesis) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,351 (Method And System For Inhibiting Cross-Contamination In Fluids Of Combinatorial Chemistry Device), which are incorporated herein by reference. These devices provide arrays having micron sized reservoirs and channels for delivery of a very small amount of fluids to a specific location, e.g., a receptor or reaction cell on the array.
Another example is the field of inkjet printing which applies the traditional semiconductor techniques in the design of inkjet printhead. Nozzles on the printhead can be formed using traditional laser or other etching processes. Typically, the inkjet printhead incorporates heating elements or piezoelectric drivers to heat or to perturbate acoustically ink drops onto a receptor, e.g., a piece of paper.
However, such fluid devices are often components of a much larger system or they must be manipulated or serviced by a larger system to perform their primary function, which is the delivery of fluids to a receptor. For example, the printhead must reside within a printer. This limitation significantly reduces the portability of the device.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a portable receptor that incorporates microchannels and reservoir(s) for selectively dispensing fluid(s) from the reservoir(s) to a specific location, e.g., onto the surface of the receptor.


A high-data density, high-data rate scanning memory device reads and writes data using a plurality of probes. The scanning memory device comprises a memory composed of a matrix of cell arrays each containing a submatrix of memory cells, a plurality of probes having a one-to-one correspondence to each cell array, and a positioning device that operates to simultaneously change the positions of probes relative to the cell arrays. Each of the cell arrays has a cell array status memory for storing information designating whether the cell array is functional or whether the cell array is defective. If the number of defective memory cells detected within each cell array exceeds some predetermined number, the cell array is designated as defective. Defective cell arrays are logically replaced by functional cell arrays. Error correction is applied to the data to reduce reading and writing errors by the scanning memory device and to maintain the integrity of data stored in the memory.

Rotating media memory devices, such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or optical disk drives (ODDs), have high data density and high speed data storage and retrieval. However, rotating media memory devices may be inadequate to meet increased data density needs of the future. For example, while the physical limit of the data density in a HDD is about 100 Gigabits (Gbits)/cm.sup.2, reliable reading and writing of data is presently constrained to data densities of approximately 10 Gbits/cm.sup.2. The physical limit of data density of an ODD is constrained by the wavelength of light used and is presently less than 1 Gbits/cm.sup.2.
Scanning memory devices proposed by Suriwa (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-289580 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,631) and by Saito et al. (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-270297) use the principle underlying a scanning probe microscope to read and write data to achieve data densities and data transfer rates exceeding those of HDDs and ODDs. Unfortunately, as data density and data transfer rates increase, there is a corresponding increase in errors caused by defects in storage media and in errors in data reading and writing.

Scanning memory device and error correction method


An assembly for coupling a disk to a spindle includes an annular spacer ring adapted to engage the disk and an annular clamp. The spacer ring is constructed at least in part of a plastic material. The clamp is constructed of a material having a modulus and stiffness greater than that of the spacer ring.

A typical disk drive storage system includes one or more magnetic disks which are mounted for co-rotation on a hub or spindle. A typical disk drive also includes a transducer supported by a hydrodynamic bearing which flies above each magnetic disk. The transducer and the hydrodynamic bearing are sometimes collectively referred to as a data head or a product head. A drive controller is conventionally used for controlling the disk drive based on commands received from a host system. The drive controller controls the disk drive to retrieve information from the magnetic disks and to store information on the magnetic disks. An electromechanical actuator operates within a negative feedback, closed-loop servo system to move the data head radially or linearly over the disk surface for track seek operations and holds the transducer directly above a desired track or cylinder on the disk surface for track following operations.
Typically the magnetic disks 2 also comprise servo sectors 18 which are recorded at a regular interval and interleaved with the data sectors 12, as shown in FIG. 1. A servo sector, as shown in FIG. 2, typically comprises a preamble 20 and sync mark 22 for synchronizing to the servo sector; a servo data field 24 comprising coarse position information, such as a Gray coded track address, used to determine the radial location of the head with respect to the plurality of tracks; and a plurality of servo bursts 26 recorded at precise intervals and offsets from the track centerlines which provide fine head position information. When writing or reading data, a servo controller performs a "seek" operation to position the head over a desired track; as the head traverses radially over the recording surface, the Gray coded track addresses in the servo data field 24 provide coarse position information for the head with respect to the current and target track. When the head reaches the target track, the servo controller performs a tracking operation wherein the servo bursts 26 provide fine position information used to maintain the head over the centerline of the track as the digital data is being written to or read from the recording surface.
To ensure that the head remains properly aligned with the data tracks, the disks must be securely attached to the spindle. Current practice is to separate the disks in the stack with spacer rings, and position a spacer ring on top of the disk/spacer stack. Then a top ring, called a clamp, with several apertures is placed over the top spacer ring. The disks are bolted to the spindle via bolts extending through the apertures in the top clamp. Great pressure must be exerted by the bolts on the top clamp in order to prevent slippage of the disks in the event that the drive is bumped or uneven thermal expansion that breaks the frictional coupling, because once the disks slip, the drive loses its servo and the data is lost.
Disks are typically formed from aluminum or glass. Aluminum is more easily deformed, so any external stress can cause deformations to the disk. Glass, too, will deform under uneven stress patterns.
A major drawback of the current practice is that when the bolts are tightened, the top clamp and spacer become deformed due to the uneven pressures exerted by the individual bolts. The deformation translates out to the disk, creating an uneven "wavy" disk surface, which is most prominent at the inner diameter of the disk. Any unevenness (waviness) on the disk surface compounds the tendency to lose the servo, especially near the inner diameter zone closest to the spacer ring.
Further, it has been found that stresses induced on the top disk in the stack transfer down and propagate into some or all of the remaining disks in the stack. Thus, it would be desirable to reduce uneven stresses at the top disk so that the remaining disks remain flat.
Another issue encountered in the prior art is the high cost of assembling the drives. Each spacer must be placed in the drive and then the top clamp added and bolted down. This process is time consuming. To reduce assembly costs, it would be desirable to couple the top clamp and top spacer ring together so that they can be placed in the drive at the same time. This would save a processing step in that only one piece (top clamp-spacer composite) need be handled instead of two parts (top clamp and spacer ring individually).
The cost savings obtainable by using a composite structure would be increased in new high capacity drives which require only a few disks as opposed to several. For example, in a drive with five disks, five parts must be handled: the top clamp-spacer composite and four more spacer rings. In a drive with only two disks, only two parts are handled: the top clamp-spacer composite and one spacer.
Additional cost savings would be realized during manufacture of the top clamp and top spacer ring themselves, as it would no longer be necessary to machine two surfaces in such a way to match flatness.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A frequency-locked clock generator includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a frequency-to-current converter, a reference current source and a gain stage. The VCO generates an output signal. The frequency-to-current converter generates a converter current proportional to a frequency of the output signal. The reference current source generates a reference current. The gain stage generates a control signal based on a difference between the converter current and the reference current. The control signal is applied to the VCO to adjust the frequency of the output signal. Feedback forces the VCO to generate an output clock signal such that the corresponding current it produces (i.e., the converter current) is equal to the reference current. When in lock, the frequency of the output signal is determined by a time constant (or equivalent time constant) of the frequency-locked clock generator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to clock generators. More specifically, the present invention provides a frequency-locked clock generator having improved jitter and updating performance for large divider ratios.
2. Related Art
Often, a phase-locked loop (PLL) is used to generate an output clock signal from a given input signal having a reference frequency. The frequency of the output signal compared to the frequency of the input signal is considered the divider ratio of the PLL. The reference input signal is generally a relatively low frequency signal generated by an expensive crystal oscillator.
The loop bandwidth of the PLL is limited by the frequency of the input reference signal. Consequently, the updating performance of the PLL is impaired when a low frequency reference signal is used to generate a high frequency clock signal. Specifically, for large divider ratios, the limited loop bandwidth may prevent adequate updating of the output clock signal. In turn, the jitter performance of the PLL suffers. Overall, the PLL is an expensive design that provides poor performance in terms of slow response/updating time and jitter control when used to generate a high frequency output clock signal from a low frequency input signal.


In order to provide a sample hold circuit used in LCD driver circuit or dividing an analog signal to parallel source driving signals in desired order with fewer numbers of elements and lower current consumption, a sample hold circuit of the invention comprises two emitter coupling logic circuit (2 and 3), each having the same number of transistors (Q2-1 to Q2-n and Q3-1 to Q3-n) with their bases controlled with outputs of a shift register (6). By connecting collectors of transistors (Q2-1 to Q2-n and Q3-1 to Q3-n) of each emitter coupling logic circuit (2 or 3) to current mirrors (4-1 to 4-n) in inverse order with each other, sample hold units (5-1 to 5-n) output sample hold signals supplied with outputs of the current mirrors (4-1 to 4-n) forward scanning or backward scanning according to the emitter coupling logic circuit (1 or 2) activated.

The present invention relates to a sample hold circuit for a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) driver, and particularly to that to be applied in a driver circuit of a high precision LCD wherein a video picture displayed from an analog signal supplied thereto can be optionally inverted horizontally or vertically.
In a high precision LCD, high frequency input signals, that is, serial analog RGB signals for example, are generally converted into several parallel signals of low frequencies in order to be processed under frequency limit of the LCD panel.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the high precision LCD, of which an example is reported in "Full-color Liquid-Crystal Display Products" by Nakajima et al, pp. 12 to 16, NEC Technical Journal Vol. 46, No. 10/1993.
The LCD of FIG. 5 comprises;
an analog interface LSI (hereafter abbreviated as AIF) 22 supplied with an analog signal 23 for outputting four source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4, the analog signal 23 representing one of three (RGB) analog signals to be supplied to the LCD, and others omitted in FIG. 5 PA1 a first and a second source drivers 29 and 30 for activating source lines 37-1-i, 37-2-i, 37-3-i and 37-4-i of an LCD panel 36 with the source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4, i being an integer from 1 to j, PA1 a gate driver 35 for activating gate lines of the LCD panel 36, and PA1 a controller 28 for controlling the AIF 22, the first and the second source drivers 29 and 30 and the gate driver 35. PA1 a first emitter coupling logic circuit having a first and a second transistor, coupled emitters of said emitter coupling logic circuit grounded through biasing means and each base of said first and said second transistor supplied with each of complimentary scanning signals; PA1 a second emitter coupling logic circuit having n transistors, coupled emitters of said second emitter coupling logic circuit connected to a collector of said first transistor, n being a positive integer; PA1 a third emitter coupling logic circuit having n transistors, coupled emitters of said third emitter coupling logic circuit connected to a collector of said second transistor; PA1 a shift register 6 for generating n timing pulses by shifting a start pulse synchronized with a dot clock, each i-th of said n timing pulses delayed by i clock cycle(s) from said start pulse and delivered to bases of i-th transistors of said second and said third emitter coupling logic circuits, i being a positive integer until n; PA1 a sample hold section 5 for dividing an analog signal into parallel signals having n sample hold units, each of said n sample hold units outputting a parallel signal held therein by sampling said analog signal when a sampling signal is delivered thereto; and PA1 a current amplifying section 4 having n current amplifying means supplied with a power supply, each i-th of said n current amplifying means delivering said sampling signal to corresponding i-th of said n sample hold units when current flows through an input line thereof connected to a collector of corresponding i-th of said n transistors of said second emitter coupling logic circuit 2 together with a collector of corresponding (n-i+1)-th of said n transistors of said third emitter coupling logic circuit 3.
The serial to parallel conversion above mentioned is performed in the AIF 22 consisting of a preprocessor 24, a shift register 25, a sample hold circuit 26 and an output circuit 27.
The analog signal 23 is preprocessed in the preprocessor 24 with processes such as clamping or so called .gamma. correction. The analog signal 23 is shifted by the clamping so that its black level corresponds to black level of signals to be sampled, and difference of electro-optical characteristic between the LCD and the CRT is compensated by the .gamma. correction here.
The analog signal 23 after preprocessed in the preprocessor 24 is sampled in turn by the sample hold circuit 26 and divided into four parallel signals in order to reduce signal frequency to that able to be displayed on the LCD panel 36 controlled by the first and the second source drivers 29 and 30. In the example of FIG. 5, the analog signal 23 of high frequency is divided into four parallel signals as follows.
The controller 28 generates a dot clock 11 of a high frequency (107.5 MHz, for example) synchronized with a horizontal synchronous signal extracted from the analog signal 23 and a start pulse 12 of 1/4 frequency of the dot clock 11 for regulating start timing of the dot clock 11. The shift register 25 supplies four sampling signals to the sample hold circuit 26 by shifting the start pulse 12 synchronized with the dot clock 11. With the four sampling signals, each having frequency of 26.9 MHz=107.5/4 MHz in the case and shifted with each other by one cycle of the dot clock 11, the analog signal 23 is sampled in turn and held to be output through the output circuit 27 as each of the four source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4.
In the output circuit 27, each of the four outputs of the sample hold circuit 26 is transfered into an alternation signal, alternating its polarity by every horizontal sweep for prolonging life time of liquid crystal in the LCD panel 36, and buffered to sufficiently low impedance for driving the LCD panel 36.
On the LCD panel 36, plural (j=320, for example) sets of four source lines 37-1-i, 37-2-i, 37-3-i and 37-4-i are ranged horizontally corresponding to horizontal pixels (1280=320.times.4 in the case). The source lines 37-1-i to 37-4-i of each i-th of the j sets are activated in order with the four source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4 respectively, controlled by the first or the second source driver 29, 30 according to a source driver control signal 38 supplied from the controller 28 synchronized with the horizontal synchronous signal. (In FIG. 5, connections among the four source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4 and the source lines 37-1-i to 37-4-i are expressed simplified in the first and the second source driver 29 and 30.)
The gate driver 35 activates gate lines (not expressed in FIG. 5) in order according to a gate driver control signal 39 generated by the controller 28 synchronized with vertical synchronous signal of the analog signal 23.
Thus, a video picture is displayed on the LCD panel 36 according to the analog signal 23 by switching each set of source lines 37-1-i to 37-4-i with the first and the second source drivers 29 and 30 at 1/4 frequency of the dot clock 11.
Heretofore, an example is described, wherein the analog signal 23 is divided into four parallel signals, namely the four source driving signals 31-1 to 31-4. However, the number of the parallel signals is not limited to four, it may be eight or other number considering number of horizontal pixels and frequency limit of the LCD panel.
When the analog signal 23 is to be divided into n (n being an integer not less than 2) parallel signals, it is sampled according to n sampling signals delivered from the shift register 25, and sampled signals at every (nm+k)-th clock pulse (k being a positive integer until n and m being an increasing integer) of the dot clock 11 are held to be output as k-th source signal 31-k for activating k-th left source line 37-k-i of each i-th of j sets each having n source lines 37-1-i to 37-n-i.
In this way, a high precision LCD can be provided regardless of frequency limit of the LCD panel 36 in the example of FIG. 5.
Now, consider a case where a video picture is desired to be inverted horizontally, and also vertically in some case, for example, in order to present the video picture to a person facing to the operator by turnning the LCD panel around its horizontal axis, or for displaying a mirror picture of the operator taken with a CCD camera situated at the LCD panel.
For the purpose, the source driver(s) is sufficient to be controlled inversely, that is to activate source lines from right to left for obtaining a mirror picture, in an LCD wherein input analog signal is directly supplied without divided into parallel signals. However, in a high precision LCD as above described, in a set of source lines 37-1-i to 37-n-i, the analog signal 23 is displayed from left to right in the order, even when the first and the second source drivers 29 and 30 are controlled to activate the source lines inversely from right to left, because each k-th source line 37-k-i is still supplied with each (nm+k)-th sample of the analog signal 23.
Therefore, also the sampling signals from the shift register 25 should be controlled inversely for obtaining mirror picture, for example, so that every (nm-k+1)-th sample is held to be output for k-th source signal 31-k.
For the purpose, a bidirectional shift register is applied in a prior art.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a bi-directional shift register composed of four D-type flip-flops 44a to 44d for controlling a sample hold circuit 26 having four sample hold elements 47a to 47d of the prior art.
In FIG. 6, all of five switching elements 45 and 45a to 45d are controlled either of A side or B side according to logic of scanning direction signal 46. When the five switching elements 45 and 45a to 45d are controlled to A side, the start pulse 12 is supplied to the most left D-type flip-flop 44a of the shift register 25 and shifted rightwards to the D-type flip-flops 44b to 44d in the order clocked by the dot clock 11. So, the analog signal 23 is sampled first by the most left sample hold element 47a, which is followed rightwards by the sample hold elements 47b to 47d in succession. When the five switching elements 45 and 45a to 45d are controlled to B side, the start pulse 12 is first delivered to the most right D-type flip-flop 44d to be shifted leftwards, and the analog signal 23 is sampled from right to left by the sample hold elements 47d to 47a in the order.
Thus, with the bi-directional shift register 25 of FIG. 6, the analog signal 23 can be divided into four parallel signals 31-1 to 31-4 in the order or 31-4 to 31-1 in the reverse order according to logic of the scanning direction signal 46, in the prior art.
If the switching elements can be formed on the LSI chip in a MOS process, each switching element does not cost but a transfer gate composed of two transistors. However, in LCD driver circuits, principal elements should be designed with bipolar transistors, because the LCD panel needs a high driving voltage, and a high-speed operation is demanded in the AIF 22.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example applied in the switching elements 45a to 45d of the prior art of FIG. 6.
In the example, there are provided NPN transistors Q49 and Q50 composing an emitter coupling logic circuit. When base of the NPN transistor Q49 becomes at logic HIGH by complementary scanning direction signals 48 and 49 supplied to bases of the emitter coupling logic circuit, the NPN transistor Q49 becomes ON and the NPN transistor Q50 becomes OFF, which activate a second emitter coupling logic circuit consisting of NPN transistors Q51 and Q53, and inactivate a third emitter coupling logic circuit of NPN transistors Q52 and Q54.
The second emitter coupling logic circuit activated supplied with a constant current J5, the NPN transistor Q51 becomes ON when A side input signal 51 is higher than a reference voltage 53, making emitter potential of the NPN transistor Q53 higher than the reference voltage 53. So, the NPN transistor Q53 becoming OFF, its collector potential is shifted to a power supply voltage 54, controlling emitter potential of an NPN transistor Q55 supplied with another constant current J6 to the power supply voltage minus its base-emitter voltage Vbe to be output as an output signal 55.
When the A side input signal 51 is at logic LOW being lower than the reference voltage 53, the NPN transistor Q53 becomes OFF and the collector potential of the NPN transistor Q53 is shifted to low by potential difference generated by the constant current J5 flowing through a resistor R1 from the power supply 54, which makes potential of the output signal 55 to its potential level minus base-emitter voltage Vbe of the NPN transistor Q55, that is, to logic LOW.
On the other hand, B side input signal 52 connected to the third emitter coupling logic circuit of the NPN transistors Q52 and Q54 gives no effect to the output signal 55.
On the contrary, when the third emitter coupling logic circuit of the NPN transistor Q52 and Q54 is activated and the first emitter coupling logic circuit is inactivated by inverting the complementary scanning signal 48 and 49, logic of the B side input terminal 52 is reflected to the output signal 55 in the same way.
Thus, a switching element is composed with bipolar transistors in the prior art.
However, as above described, the switching element of the bipolar transistor needs a lot of transistors. So, the bi-directional shift register manufactured in a bipolar process costs wide chip space and large current dissipation in proportion to number of D-type flip-flops therein.
This is a problem.


The present invention is a space launch system and method to propel a payload bearing craft into earth orbit. The invention has two, or preferably, three stages. The upper stage has rocket engines capable of carrying a payload to orbit and provides the capability of releasably attaching to the lower, or preferably, middle stage. Similar to the lower stage, the middle stage is a reusable booster stage that employs all air breathing engines, is recoverable, and can be turned-around in a short time between missions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to propelling a payload into low-earth orbit, more particularly to providing a booster first stage for a payload bearing rocket second stage going to low-earth orbit, and most particularly to providing a reusable, all air-breathing booster first stage for a payload bearing rocket second stage going to low-earth orbit.
2. Description of The Related Art
Most reusable space launch systems to date have employed two approaches: 1) Single stage to orbit (DCX or National Aero-Space Plane), or 2) Recoverable upper stage (Space Shuttle). Problems with the first approach include the requirement for extremely high fuel mass fractions (>90% of gross liftoff weight "GLOW"), plus the need to put all of the vehicle structural mass into orbit with a very small payload mass fraction (typically <1% of GLOW). Problems associated with the second approach include expending or requiring refurbishment of a larger structural mass (external tanks expended and solid rocket boosters refurbished in the case of the shuttle). A heat resistant surface is required for the upper stage and there is still a need to place into orbit more than four times the actual payload mass. The recovered upper stage portion of the launch system must be designed for re-entry speeds up to Mach 25 and extreme heating. Also, as evidenced by the space shuttle, the high-speed re-entry tends to require extensive inspection and maintenance during turn-around for subsequent launches.
A third approach has also been suggested that employs a staged rocket system launched from a winged platform (e.g., Pegasus XL, launched from an L-1011 aircraft). While achieving reasonable payload mass fractions (relative to the expendable rocket launcher portion), because of physical sizing constraints, this concept currently is limited to about 1000 lbs of payload to orbit, and a fairly high specific launch cost ($/lbm).
In a further effort to overcome some of these deficiencies, another approach is a reusable booster stage using a combination of a rocket propelled main stage and a pair of turbojet engines mounted on the main stage (U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,580). However, this concept still results in numerous deficiencies including requirement for a plurality of different propellants, low useable life for the main rocket stage, requirement for reaction control devices for the main stage, and increased turn-around time for reuse due to the rocket engine main stage.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a reusable launch system that has a relatively low launch cost, decreased turn-around time between launches, and improved efficiency and safety characteristics over current reusable launch systems.

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


An antenna array comprises a surface comprising a replicated pattern of conductive tracks, the tracks defining a plurality of ports. A plurality of antennae are located at ports distributed about the surface. A plurality of radiative transceivers are electrically connected to a respective antenna. A plurality of reference transceivers are electrically connected to a non-radiative impedance located at a respective port so that each reference transceiver is surrounded by a group of antennae and electrically coupled to the group of antennae by the tracks. At least one antenna from at least one group of antennae belongs to one other group of antennae. Calibration circuitry includes a controller associated with each reference transceiver, each controller being arranged to transmit a calibration signal through an associated reference transceiver and to receive and store a received calibration signal from a selected transceiver for the group of antennae coupled to the reference transceiver. Each controller is further arranged to receive and store a calibration signal from the selected transceiver for the group of antennae coupled to the reference transceiver. The calibration circuitry further includes for each other transceiver for the group of antenna, circuitry for adjusting the phase and amplitude of signals transmitted and received by the radiative transceivers relative to the stored calibration signals for the selected radiative transceiver.

An antenna array comprises a plurality of elements, here, each including an antenna and an associated transceiver. The antennae are arranged in a manner and the transceivers driven such that radiation emanating from the array may be steered electrically. This is known as beamforming.
The difficulty in employing antenna arrays is that, in order avoid beamforming errors, the individual antennae each require stimulation at a correct radio frequency (RF) amplitude and phase. This requires an electrical path between transceivers and antenna elements to be equivalent.
Antenna array calibration is the process by which operation of the antenna elements at the correct amplitude and phase is established. For convenience, we categorise antenna array calibration schemes as either radiative (where the calibration is effected by an RF signal radiated in free space) or wired systems.
Typically, wired calibration schemes use internally generated calibration signals which are routed to an internal transceiver. FIG. 1 illustrates the basic principles of a wired calibration scheme. A transmitter calibration system 10 assumes operation at a single known and accurate frequency and comprises a first transceiver 12, a second transceiver 14 and a reference transceiver 16. Output power from the first transceiver 12 is coupled to the reference transceiver 16, which performs and records an amplitude and phase measurement. Output power from the second transceiver 14 is coupled to the reference transceiver 16, which performs an amplitude and phase measurement. A feedback path 18 is provided between an input of the second transceiver 14 and the reference transceiver 16 by which the amplitude and phase of the second transceiver 14 is modified until the measurement is equal to the recorded measurement of the first transceiver 12.
Thus, accurate amplitude and phase control may be attained provided that a calibration path, Cal Err 1, between the first transceiver 12 and the reference transceiver 16 and a calibration path, Cal Err 2 between the second transceiver 14 and the reference transceiver 16 are equal, i.e. Cal Err 1−Cal Err 2=0.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,339 discloses a similar scheme to that of FIG. 1. A common reference transceiver is employed to measure amplitude and phase of distributed antenna element transceivers of an antenna array, and to apply correction factors in order to calibrate transmission of the antenna array.
The drawback associated with wired calibration schemes is that they are impractical for use with large antenna arrays because of the need to connect all of the elements of the array back to a reference transceiver. Thus for large arrays, manual or radiative calibration techniques are often implemented.
Radiative calibration schemes involve the emission of RF energy into free space to ensure accurate element amplitude and phasing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,023 discloses a radiative calibration scheme whereby mutual coupling between array elements is employed to derive an error signal. This involves an interleaved lattice of transceivers, which once phased form an operational antenna.
While practical in simplex systems, for example, radar systems, such a scheme has the disadvantage of requiring complex transceiver hardware in a full duplex communication system.
It is an object of the present invention to mitigate the disadvantages associated with the prior art.


A two-dimensional carrier is generated in the vicinity of an interface that is a hetero interface between a semiconductor layer and a semiconductor layer. Two concave portions are formed so as to extend from a primary surface as far as the interface. An electrode that is made of metal and provides a Schottky junction with the semiconductor layers is formed on a bottom surface and a side surface of the concave portion. An electrode that is made from metal and provides a low resistance contact with the semiconductor layers and is also in low resistance contact therewith is formed on the bottom surface and side surface of the concave portion. As a result, a semiconductor device is provided in which contact resistance between the electrodes and the semiconductor layers is reduced and high frequency characteristics are improved.

Group III nitride semiconductors, a typical example of which is GaN, have a dielectric breakdown field strength that is approximately 10 times greater than that of conventional Si, and their saturation drift velocity is approximately 3 times greater than that of conventional Si which is excellent from the viewpoint of mobility. Because of this, group III nitride semiconductors have attracted attention as a semiconductor material for high frequency—high output devices. FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional structure of a conventional semiconductor device 2 that uses a nitride semiconductor. A buffer layer 22 that is formed from a nitride semiconductor material is formed on a substrate 21. A semiconductor layer 23 that is formed from a nitride semiconductor material such as GaN is formed on the buffer layer 22.
A semiconductor layer 24 that is formed from a nitride semiconductor material such as AlXGa1-XN (0<X≦1) is formed on the semiconductor layer 23. Electrodes 25 and 26 are formed on a primary surface 200 of the semiconductor layer 24. A polarization charge is generated by the spontaneous polarization of the nitride semiconductor on an interface 201 at a boundary between the semiconductor layer 23 and the semiconductor layer 24. Furthermore, piezoelectric polarization (also known as piezoelectric field polarization) is generated in the vicinity of the interface 201 by distortion that is generated by the difference between the lattice constant of the nitride semiconductor of the semiconductor layer 23 and the lattice constant of the nitride semiconductor of the semiconductor layer 24. As a result, a two-dimensional carrier (also known as a two-dimensional electron gas layer or a two-dimensional hole gas layer) 202 is generated based on these polarization charges in the vicinity of the interface between the semiconductor layer 23 and the semiconductor layer 24.
This distortion is caused by mechanical tensile stress that is generated in the semiconductor layer 24 as a result of the difference between the size of the lattice of the semiconductor layer 23 and the size of the lattice of the semiconductor layer 24, and this distortion contributes to the piezoelectric polarization. Because the semiconductor layer 23 and the semiconductor layer 24 have considerable band gap energy, a high density two-dimensional carrier is generated in the vicinity of the interface 201. Note that a semiconductor having a similar structure to that described above is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-100778.
However, in a conventional semiconductor device that uses a nitride semiconductor material, the internal resistance inside the semiconductor between the electrodes that are provided on the semiconductor layers and the two-dimensional carrier is comparatively large and the problem has existed that it has not been possible to sufficiently lower the forward voltage. Moreover, parasitic capacitance is generated between the electrodes and the two-dimensional carrier and the problem has also existed that this has also affected the high frequency characteristics of the semiconductor device.

III-V nitride semiconductor device comprising a concave shottky contact and an ohmic contact