A viewfinder optical system directs a luminous flux emanating from an image plane to a pupil. The viewfinder optical system has an eyepiece optical system. The eyepiece optical system enlarges an image in order to be viewed by the pupil. The eyepiece optical system has a first lens unit, a second lens unit and a third lens unit. The first lens unit has at least one surface having a positive optical power. The second lens unit has at least one surface having a negative optical power. The third lens unit has a reflecting surface having a positive Optical power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical system constituting a viewfinder of a camera and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various technologies as shown below have been disclosed to improve the performance of an optical system for displaying images. For example, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-292371, the entire optical system is formed in one block with a concave back-surface-reflecting mirror comprising an eyepiece optical system and a relay optical system which are integral with each other, thereby reducing the mirror optical system in size and lowering the disposition precision required of the reflecting mirror.
Moreover, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H7-234376, in order to correct the diopter of a picture display apparatus, at least one of the following optical elements is made movable: the display screen of the picture display apparatus; the optical surface of a relay optical system; the optical surface of a decentering correcting optical system; and the optical surface of an eyepiece optical system. Particularly, the reflecting surface of the eyepiece optical system is moved.
Moreover, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H9-222564, as an erecting optical system being compact compared with conventional erecting optical systems, an optical system has, between a principal ray parallelized lens and an eyepiece, two parabolic mirrors substantially sharing the focal point and the axis and being arranged so that the concave surfaces thereof face each other, and an image plane control lens having curvature of field in the vicinity of the focal point thereof.
However, the optical system as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-292371 is difficult to manufacture because there are a plurality of reflecting surfaces in one block. The optical system as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H7-234376 is difficult to adjust because a reflecting surface which is generally high in error sensitivity is moved. The optical system as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H9-222564 is difficult to structure because the reflecting surface is limited to the parabolic surface.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a viewfinder optical system capable of effectively correcting aberrations and capable of performing diopter adjustment with little variation in magnification and little variation in aberration with a compact mechanism.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a viewfinder optical system in which an unnecessary luminous flux is limited to improve performance.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a compact, low-cost and high-performance viewfinder optical system.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a compact and low-cost viewfinder optical system capable of effectively correcting aberrations.


A support assembly for a portable device includes a base (10), a support body (20) and a holder (30) for holding the portable device. The support body extends from the base. A protrusion (25) is formed on the support body. The holder defines a cutout (37) and a groove (375). The cutout receives the support body. The protrusion of the support body slides into the groove of the holder to detachably mount the holder to the support body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support assembly, and more particularly to a support assembly for holding and supporting a portable device therein.
2. General Background
As the intercommunion in people becomes more and more frequently, more portable devices have being needed for people to conveniently take. In modern time, these portable devices include mobile telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), and so on. Users may use the portable devices at their desks or other workstations now and then.
In order to facilitate convenient and effective use of the portable device on the desk, some cradle devices for holding the portable devices have being developed. A cradle device for a portable radio terminal has being disclosed. The cradle device includes a holder part for holding a portable radio terminal and a fixed part for releasably supporting the holder part. The fixed part has a ball joint accommodated thereon, the ball joint having a curved surface and an engaging surface, and a locking hook spaced from the ball joint and extending from the fixed part. The holder part has an aperture and a stopper extending into the aperture and a slot formed in the holder part and spaced from the aperture. The holder part assumes a locked position when the ball joint is accommodated in the aperture, the engaging surface engages the stopper and the hook extends into and engages the slot. However, the holder part is not easily disassembled form the fixed part for changing different holders to hold different portable radio terminals.
What is needed, therefore, is a support assembly which is easy to be changed to suit for holding different portable devices.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Shenzheng) Co., Ltd.


A method and system for increasing the capacity and spectral efficiency of optical transmission includes pre-filtering optical pulses utilizing a bandwidth substantially proportional to the bit rate of the transmission system prior to propagating the optical pulses along a transmission fiber and post-filtering the propagated optical pulses utilizing a bandwidth substantially proportional to the bit rate of the transmission system.

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) optical transmission systems have been widely deployed in optical networks to increase network speed and capacity. A conventional DWDM optical transmission system comprises a plurality of optical transmitters configured to transmit respective channels of information at different wavelengths, an optical multiplexer configured to combine the respective channels into a multi-wavelength optical signal for transmission on a single transmission fiber, a plurality of serially connected optical amplifiers configured as repeaters to amplify the multi-wavelength optical signal at intervals along a transmission path, an optical de-multiplexer configured to separate the multi-wavelength optical signal into its component channels, and a plurality of optical receivers configured to receive and detect the information carried by the respective channels.
Various approaches have been proposed and investigated for increasing the capacity of optical transmission systems. One approach for increasing the capacity of optical transmission systems includes transmitting optical channels along a transmission system with orthogonal polarizations. A shortcoming associated with this approach is that, because of the many sources of polarization distortions associated with transmitting an optical signal along a transmission system, such as polarization mode dispersion (PMD), receiving and detecting the information carried by the respective channels after transmission becomes extremely difficult. As such, more complex (expensive) receiving techniques need to be implemented in such systems.
Another approach for increasing the capacity of optical transmission systems includes increasing the bit rates per channel of an optical transmission system. With this approach, faster electronics are required to produce and detect the optical pulses, which in turn increases the cost of the transmission system. Furthermore, increasing the bit rates per channel can lead to higher bit error rates, and eventually, to a bit rate beyond the capability of currently available electronics.

Method and system for increasing the capacity and spectral efficiency of optical transmission


A plant support for vegetables, flowers, and fruit, including a plurality of vertical rods, laterally spaced and linked together by a plurality of horizontal rings constructed of a multiplicity of horizontal rods to define a plant enclosure having numerous rectangular openings for supporting plant branches. Each of the horizontal rods define, on their opposing ends, a cylindrical portion for rotatably engaging respective adjacent vertical rods to permit the manipulation of the plant support to a variety of shapes in encircling a plant, when in the upright position and to define a protective cage for bedding plants when in the horizontal position. The cylindrical portions are preferably helical in shape and interwound with helical portions of adjacent horizontal rods for superior strength and frictional support for holding the plant support in a selected mode. In that each horizontal rod fully rotates in its engagement with a vertical rod, the plant support readily collapses to a width approximating one-half the circumference.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to plant support apparatus, and, in particular, to plant supports which are collapsible and which may be manipulated to provide plant enclosures and bedding protectors of selected shape for a covering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The desirability of having a plant support to aid a plant in maintaining its stalk or trunk integrity and to support branches, and particularly fruit bearing branches, has long been recognized.
Besides providing support to the plant to prevent bending or destruction by strong winds or the weight of the plant itself, it is important to keep fruit from contacting the ground. It is also important that the support be collapsible for storage. Inventions including such structure are typified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,073,091, issued to Vogel; 4,005,548, issued to Nahon; 4,211,033 issued to Ringer and 3,113,400, issued to Edmond.
Existing plant supports fail to provide a plant support with a sufficient number of sides such as to remain close to the plant and yet remain collapsible. Five, and preferably more side portions, have been found necessary to encircle a plant so that the side portions adequately support branches of varying length. It is also highly preferred that each vertical rod be rotatably connected to horizontal rods so as to pivot substantially 360.degree. so that the plant support may assume a variety of shapes, as viewed in horizontal cross-section, as it encircles the plant. This is true because of the irregular shape of most plants.
It is also important that all horizontal rods be frictionally held in vertical orientation and parallel spaced from other horizontal rods of adjacent horizontal rings, while being fully rotatable.


A method of generating one of podocyte progenitor cells and neural stem/progenitor cells comprising the steps of collecting a urine specimen from a patient; centrifuging the urine specimen; and removing the one of podocyte progenitor cells and neural stem/progenitor cells.

The kidney performs essential physiological roles ranging from metabolic waste excretion to homeostatic functions such as osmoregulation. Kidney diseases are currently a global public health problem, with an incidence that has reached epidemic proportions and continues to climb in the U.S. and worldwide. The increase in kidney diseases correlates with the rise in the aged population and the increasing prevalence of conditions that cause renal complications, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Kidney diseases also result from congenital defects and from acquired conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) or chronic kidney disease (CKD). AKI involves a rapid loss of kidney function from sudden renal cell damage, which can be triggered by ischemia, toxins, or sepsis. CKD is typified by the progressive loss of kidney function over time due to fibrosis and the erosion of healthy tissue. Kidney disease leads to organ failure, known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Some current therapies for ESRD are renal replacement with dialysis or transplantation. These clinical managements for renal failure have a high mortality rate, necessitate intensive, long-term care, and place a considerable burden on patients and their families, and a tremendous socioeconomic strain on healthcare systems.
Glomerular diseases account for 90% of end stage renal disease at a cost of $20 billion per year in the U.S. According to the United States Renal Data System, there are approximately 26 million adults in the U.S. who have CKD, and there are 100,000 new patients who start on dialysis each year. $39 billion in direct U.S. costs each year are attributable to patients with end stage renal disease, which is associated with an approximate 20% mortality rate per year and an average life expectancy of a patient initiating dialysis of approximately four years.
Stem cell therapy, while offering exciting avenues for treatment of kidney disease, is problematic in the collection of stem cells. Bone marrow cells are a common source of stem cells, but accessing such cells is a very invasive procedure with significant risks.

Method for harvesting stem and progenitor cells and method of treatment of kidney disease and neurological disease

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY


An insulating liner for an article of clothing includes a first layer, a second layer attached to the first layer, and an insulating layer sealed between the first and second layers, wherein the insulating layer is composed of an aerogel material. The first and second layers can be a PVC foam hermetically sealed about the aerogel material by welding. In a preferred embodiment, the insulating liner is a shoe liner that includes a polyester wearing material adhered to the top layer of PVC foam. A method of forming the insulating liner is also provided.

Incorporation of insulating liners with the use of an article of clothing is known. As used herein, "clothing", "garment", or "article of clothing" includes not only under and outer wear (shirts, blouses, pants, shorts, skirts, underwear, etc.), but also such things as footwear, gloves, blankets, sleeping bags, and other articles used to provide protection or comfort against the elements. Such insulating liners when used in combination with the overlaying article of clothing shields the user against uncomfortably cold or hot temperatures and high levels of moisture. Various insulating materials for insulating liners that have been used in the textile industry include felt, fleece, flannel, wool, various forms of latex foam, or the like. Although flexible and readily adaptable for textile applications, such materials are often provided in relatively thick slabs that can be bulky, thereby requiring the user, for example, to use a larger sized garment in order to fit the insulating insert or liner. Also, such materials often do not exhibit effective insulative properties in extremely high or extremely low temperature-related environments.
Silica aerogels have been known to exhibit excellent thermal insulation performance and have been readily adapted for use in high temperature thermal insulation and cryogenic thermal insulation applications including, for example, advanced space suit designs by NASA. Aerogels, as that term is used herein, include polymers with pores with less than 50 nanometers in porous diameter. In a process known as sol-gel polymerization, monomers are suspended in solution and react with one another to form a sol, or collection, of colloidal clusters. The larger molecules then become bonded and cross-linked, forming a nearly solid and transparent sol-gel. An aerogel of this type can be produced by carefully drying the sol-gel so that the fragile network does not collapse.
Thermal insulation blankets using aerogels have been developed, and aerogel materials are now commercially available in which the aerogel is impregnated or otherwise incorporated into a carbon-based media. One difficulty with using silica aerogels is that the aerogel tends to be dusty, even when supported by a carrier material. If the aerogel material is not properly contained and sealed within the liner assembly, the dust particles may escape the liner and into the atmosphere thereby diminishing the effective insulative life of the insulating liner.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an insulating lining for an article of clothing that effectively insulates against hot and cold temperature conditions as well as against moisture, while reducing or even eliminating the loss of the aerogel dust.

Insulating liner for an article of clothing


Provided is a tape cartridge allowing rimless printing to be reliably performed on respective label portions. A tape cartridge installed in a tape printing apparatus includes: a label tape 101 having a plurality of label portions 105 provided along a tape length direction and a plurality of detection convex portions 109 provided along the tape length direction corresponding to the plurality of label portions 105; a cartridge case in which the label tape 101 is accommodated; and a platen roller 103 accommodated in the cartridge case and paying out the label tape 101 by rotation outside the cartridge case, wherein, in the tape length direction, detection tip-ends 109a serving as downstream-side ends of the detection convex portions 109 are positioned downstream of label tip-ends 105a serving as downstream-side ends of the label portions 105 in a paying-out direction of the label portion 105 at printing.

Conventionally, there has been known a cartridge including: a tag tape having a plurality of wireless tag circuit elements provided along a tape length direction and a plurality of black marks provided along the tape length direction corresponding to the plurality of wireless tag circuit elements; a cover film affixed to the tag tape after being printed; and a cartridge case in which the tag tape and the cover film are accommodated so as to be capable of being paid out, the cartridge being installed in a tag label creation apparatus that starts printing on the cover film with a print head based on the detection of the passage of the respective black marks by a mark sensor while feeding the tag tape and the cover film (see Patent Document 1).
In addition, the present applicant has proposed a sheet cartridge including: a label sheet having a plurality of label portions provided along a sheet length direction and a plurality of convex-piece tip-ends provided along the sheet length direction corresponding to the plurality of label portions; and a cartridge case in which the label sheet is accommodated so as to be capable of being paid out, the sheet cartridge being installed in a label creation apparatus that starts printing, while feeding the label sheet, on the label portions corresponding to the detected convex-piece tip-ends with a print head based on the detection of the passage of the respective convex-piece tip-ends by a light sensor (see Patent Document 2). Patent Document 2 exemplifies a configuration in which the positions of the respective convex-piece tip-ends align with the positions of label tip-ends serving as the ends of the corresponding label portions on the paying-out tip-end side of the sheet in the sheet length direction and positions detected by the light sensor align with positions printed by the print head in the sheet feeding direction.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2011-178147
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2012-171079
In the above prior-art documents, consideration has not been given to rimless printing on the label portions, i.e., printing in which margins are not provided on the peripheries of the label portions. Accordingly, there is a likelihood that the rimless printing cannot be reliably performed on the respective label portions.
The present invention has an object of providing a tape cartridge allowing rimless printing to be performed on respective label portions and a tape printing apparatus.

Tape cartridge and tape printing apparatus


An annular magnetic encoder is provided in which a plurality of S magnetic poles and N magnetic poles are alternately arranged in an arrangement pattern. The arrangement pattern comprises: a plurality of index parts provided in a circumferential direction at fixed intervals; a plurality of standard pitch parts provided between the index parts; and a plurality of specific pitch parts provided in all of the standard pitch parts or in the standard pitch parts other than one standard pitch part, where the specific pitch parts are arranged in different positions within each of the standard pitch parts.

A magnetic encoder is used, for example, for detecting a crank angle of an automobile. FIG. 13 shows an example of a conventional magnetic encoder. The magnetic encoder comprises a signal output part 101 used as a position standard. The signal output part 101 is arranged so that the width in a circumferential direction of a magnetic pole would be twice as long as that of a magnetic pole on another part in the circumferential direction. The width of all of magnetic poles in an area other than the signal output part 101 in the circumferential direction is arranged to be fixed (to be a half of the width in the circumferential direction of a magnetic pole in the signal output part 101). A rotational angle based on the signal output part 101 (0°) is detected in the area.
Further, there is also a technique disclosed in JP-A-7-74020. In the technique, the signal output part used as a position standard projects in a convex shape, while a predetermined arrangement pattern of magnetic poles is continued in the other parts. A rotational angle based on the signal output part is detected in the arrangement pattern part of magnetic poles.
In such a magnetic encoder, in order to detect a signal output part used as a position standard, the signal output part should pass through a part for detection by means of a sensor. Accordingly, the magnetic encoder is sometimes rotated at the maximum angle of nearly 360° for the purpose of detecting the signal output part.
Recently, an idling stop has been encouraged from an environmental point of view. Fuel is jetted to all cylinders, however, simultaneously with restarting an engine. The fuel jet to all cylinders is not preferable from an environmental point of view. In order to solve the problem, it is required to position a cylinder on the basis of a crank angle, a cam angle, or the like just after starting an engine to jet fuel only to a cylinder necessary to be fueled.
In the conventional case, however, a magnetic encoder should be rotated at the maximum angle of about 360° for the purpose of detecting the signal output part. Accordingly, a rotational angle cannot be specified with little rotation in a short time.
JP-A-9-49453 and JP-A-11-229948 disclose techniques in which the rotational angle can be specified in a short time. In the case of these techniques, however, structures are complicated and the number of components is large, and therefore, further improvement is desired.
An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a magnetic encoder capable of specifying a rotational angle with little rotation.

Annular magnetic encoder having pole arrangement that specifies rotational angle


There are provided a radically polymerizable composition that has a low viscosity suitable for use in coating and that forms a cured product having a high refractive index, a cured product formed by curing the composition, and plastic lens formed by curing the composition. The radically polymerizable composition includes, as essential components, phenylbenzyl acrylate (A); and bis[(meth)acryloylmethyl]biphenyl (B) or biphenyl compound (C) having a molecular structure in which biphenyl structures are bonded to each other through a methylene.

Recently, resin materials have been widely used in optical parts such as an optical over-coating agent, a hard coating agent, an antireflection film, an eyeglass lens, an optical fiber, an optical waveguide, and a hologram because resin materials have good workability and high productivity. Resin materials having a high refractive index have been anticipated due to the trend of reducing the sizes and thicknesses of optical parts or from the viewpoint of controlling antireflection property. In particular, there have recently been growing demands for reduction in size and increases in resistivity and brightness in liquid crystal display elements used as a display of a liquid crystal television, a notebook computer, a portable gaming device, a cellular mobile phone, or the like. To meet these demands, it is essential to increase the refractive index of prism sheets.
Manufacture of formed materials such as a prism sheet requires optical materials having a high refractive index and a low viscosity. However, existing resin materials have a problem in that an increase in refractive index results in an increase in viscosity and leads to crystallization.
There has recently been proposed, as an optical material having a high refractive index, a compound having a fluorene skeleton to provide a material having a high refractive index. Known examples of such a compound include a difunctional compound in which an acryloyl group is bonded to a fluorene skeleton through an alkyleneoxy group (see PTLs 1 to 3); and a compound produced by reacting a diglycidyl ether having a fluorene skeleton with acrylic acid or methacrylic acid (see PTL 4). These compounds have received attention since they have high heat resistance and a high refractive index. However, these fluorene derivatives have the following problem. These fluorene derivatives are generally solids or liquids having a high viscosity of several tens of Pa·s or more at ordinary temperature. Therefore, when these fluorene derivatives are used for formed materials such as a prism sheet, dilution with a large amount of reactive diluent or the like is required to achieve an adequate viscosity. This reduces the refractive index of the resulting cured product.
Examples of currently used reactive diluents include phenylthioethyl acrylate (PTEA), o-phenylphenoxyethyl acrylate (OPPEA), and naphthylthioethyl acrylate (NTEA). PTEA, despite having a high refractive index and a low viscosity, is not preferable because of its poor lightfastness and strong odor due to sulfur contained therein, which results in poor workability. NTEA is unsatisfactory in terms of lightfastness since it has a naphthalene ring. Thus, currently, OPPEA is often selected.
A combination of a difunctional (meth)acrylate compound having a fluorene skeleton and OPPEA has been proposed as a composition for use in optical materials (see PTL 5). However, OPPEA, despite being a reactive diluent having a relatively high refractive index of 1.576, fails to reduce the viscosity of the difunctional (meth)acrylate compound having a fluorene skeleton sufficiently when used alone. Therefore, an example described in PTL 5 employs a reactive diluent as a third component. Thus, a reactive diluent that has a high refractive index and that allows the resulting composition to have a sufficiently low viscosity for formed material use has been anticipated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Radically polymerizable composition, cured product thereof, and plastic lens


A disk drive is disclosed including a disk having a plurality of tracks, wherein each track comprises a plurality of data sectors. A microprocessor executes a write command associated with a disk command data structure by inserting the disk command data structure into a dirty queue, and then executing the write command using the disk command data structure by writing data blocks to a plurality of target data sectors. The disk command data structure is then inserted into a write verify queue, and the disk command data structure is used to perform a write verify operation. The disk command data structure is inserted into an available queue if the target data sectors pass the write verify operation, and the disk command data structure is inserted back into the dirty queue if at least one of the target data sectors fails the write verify operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk drive employing a disk command data structure for tracking a write verify status of a write command.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been suggested to perform a write verify operation in a disk drive in order to verify the recoverability of recently written data before the write data is purged from the cache buffer. If a write-verify fails, the write command is typically re-executed and re-verified. If the write verify fails a number of times, the marginal data sector is typically relocated.
The cache buffer typically comprises a valid queue for caching read data read from the disk, a dirty queue for buffering write data to be written to the disk, and an available queue for buffering the write data after it has been written to the disk. The write data in the available queue is typically de-allocated for use by new commands prior to de-allocating read data from the valid queue or flushing write data from the dirty queue. However if a write verify policy is implemented, it is necessary to verify a write command before purging the write data from the cache buffer.
There is, therefore, a need to track the status of write data in a disk drive so that it is not purged from the cache buffer until passing a write verify operation.

Disk drive employing a disk command data structure for tracking a write verify status of a write command


One embodiment relates to a ferroelectric memory device. The ferroelectric memory device includes a memory array comprising one or more ferroelectric memory cells that are arranged in a number of plateline groups. The memory device also includes a plateline driver configured to boost a plateline voltage above a supply voltage within the plateline driver, and provide the boosted plateline voltage along platelines associated with the plateline driver. Other methods and systems are also disclosed.

Semiconductor memory devices store data and/or program code in personal computer systems, embedded processor-based systems, video image processing circuits, communications devices, and the like. A ferroelectric memory device is one type of semiconductor memory device.
Ferroelectric memory devices provide non-volatile data storage by employing ferroelectric capacitors that are constructed using ferroelectric dielectric material that may be polarized in one direction or another in order to store a binary value. The ferroelectric effect allows for the retention of a stable polarization in the absence of an applied electric field due to the alignment of internal dipoles within perovskite crystals in the ferroelectric material. This alignment may be selectively achieved by application of an electric field in a first direction that exceeds a coercive field of the material. Conversely, reversal of the applied field reverses the internal dipoles, wherein the response of the polarization of a ferroelectric capacitor to the applied voltage may be plotted as a hysteresis curve.
Given the technological complexity of ferroelectric memory devices, these products require significant capital expenditures to be developed and successfully delivered to the marketplace. Thus, developers rely on strong intellectual property rights in this arena to allow them to rationalize and protect the huge capital expenses involved.

Plateline driver for a ferroelectric memory


A fuel cell includes a separator having a circular disk. On one surface of the circular disk, a fuel gas channel is provided for supplying a fuel gas to an anode, and on the other surface of the circular disk, an oxygen-containing gas channel is provided for supplying air to a cathode. The fuel gas channel has an end point at an outer circumferential end of the anode. A fuel gas discharge channel is connected to an end point of the fuel gas channel, such that the consumed fuel gas is emitted to an oxygen-containing gas supply unit, from a position spaced outwardly from the outer circumference of an electrolyte electrode assembly.

Typically, a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) having a seal free (sealless) structure employs an electrolyte made up of an ion-conductive solid oxide such as stabilized zirconia. The electrolyte is interposed between an anode and a cathode to form an electrolyte electrode assembly. The electrolyte electrode assembly is interposed between separators (bipolar plates). In use, a predetermined number of electrolyte electrode assemblies and separators are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack.
The operating temperature of the fuel cell is high, about 800° C. Therefore, when the reacted fuel gas containing unconsumed reactant gases therein (hereinafter also referred to as the off gas) is discharged to an area around the fuel cell stack, and is mixed with an oxygen-containing gas to induce combustion, the temperature of the fuel cell stack becomes high locally. Under these circumstances, durability of the fuel cell is lowered, and operation of the fuel cell stack cannot be performed stably. Further, since the temperature of the exhaust gas after combustion becomes higher than the operating temperature, the temperature difference between the oxygen-containing gas supplied to the fuel cell stack prior to the power generation reaction and the exhaust gas becomes excessively large. Therefore, a significant non-uniform temperature distribution occurs within the fuel cell stack, and power generation performance is degraded undesirably.
In this regard, a solid oxide fuel cell, as disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2005-85520, is known. As shown in FIG. 23, the fuel cell is formed by stacking a power generation cell 1, a fuel electrode current collector 2, an air electrode current collector 3, and separators 4a, 4b. The power generation cell 1 includes a fuel electrode layer 1b, an air electrode layer 1c, and a solid electrolyte layer 1a interposed between the fuel electrode layer 1b and the air electrode layer 1c. The fuel electrode current collector 2 is provided outside the fuel electrode layer 1b, and the air electrode current collector 3 is provided outside the air electrode layer 1c.
The separator 4a includes a fuel gas channel 5 for supplying a fuel gas substantially from a center portion of the surface of the separator 4a, which faces the fuel electrode collector 2. The separator 4b has an oxygen-containing gas channel 6 for supplying an oxygen-containing gas from the separator 4b, which faces the air electrode current collector 3.
Although not shown, a ring shaped metal cover covers the outer circumferential portion of a circular porous metal body, wherein a large number of gas discharge holes 7 are provided over the entire side portion of the cover.
In this structure, gas is discharged from the outer circumferential portion of the fuel electrode current collector 2 only through the gas discharge holes 7. Thus, the fuel gas diffuses into the porous metal body and is not emitted from the entire outer circumferential portion of the fuel electrode current collector 2. According to the disclosure, an amount of the fuel gas, which is not used during power generation, and which is discharged from the outer circumferential portion is suppressed, and thus it is possible to prevent back diffusion of air toward the fuel electrode.
However, in the above conventional technique, the separator 4a is stacked on the fuel electrode collector 2, whereby the exhaust gas discharged from the gas discharge holes 7 is combusted near the separator 4a, and thus the temperature of the exhaust gas becomes significantly high. Hence, the temperature difference between the region near the inlet where the oxygen-containing gas is supplied and the region near the outlet where the exhaust gas is discharged becomes large. Therefore, a significant non-uniform temperature distribution occurs in the separator 4a, and power generation performance is degraded undesirably.


Acoustically coupled resonators include a first and a second acoustic resonator. Both the first and second acoustic resonators include a first electrode, a layer of piezoelectric material, and a second electrode. The first electrode is adjacent a first surface of the layer of piezoelectric material. The second electrode is adjacent a second surface of the layer of piezoelectric material. At least the second electrode has an edge that is tapered.

The need to reduce the cost and size of electronic equipment has created a need for smaller signal filtering elements. Thin-Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBARs) and Stacked Thin-Film Bulk Wave Acoustic Resonators (SBARs) represent one class of filter elements with potential for meeting these needs. These filters can collectively be referred to as FBARs. An FBAR is constructed from acoustic resonators using bulk longitudinal acoustic waves in thin-film piezoelectric (PZ) material. Typically, an FBAR includes a layer of PZ material sandwiched between two metal electrodes. The combination PZ material and electrodes are suspended in air by supporting the combination around its perimeter or placing the combination over an acoustical mirror.
When an electrical field is created between the two electrodes, the PZ material converts some of the electrical energy into mechanical energy in the form of acoustic waves. The acoustic waves propagate in the same direction as the electric field and reflect off the electrode-air or electrode-acoustical mirror interface at some frequency, including at a resonance frequency. At the resonance frequency, the device can be used as an electronic resonator. Multiple FBARs can be combined such that each are elements in RF filters.
There is a need to synthesize FBAR filters in certain circuit applications. Currently, it is typical for electrical coupling to be used in synthesizing FBAR filters. Electrical coupling of FBAR filters greatly limits the ability to achieve various filter types and performances in wireless communication applications such as broadband attenuation, impedance transformation, and single-in-differential-out conversion. Although some surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters have been synthesized using acoustic coupling, such acoustic coupling has not been effective in synthesizing FBAR filters.
For these and other reasons, a need exists for the present invention.

Acoustically coupled thin-film resonators having an electrode with a tapered edge

Avago Technologies Wireless IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A non-volatile memory (NVM) system receives host requests that each specify a memory operation to be performed by the NVM system, the specified memory operations including read operations and write operations, and performs a set of operations for each memory operation specified by a received host request. The set of operations performed for each such memory operation include: initiating performance the memory operation; determining a throttle interval for the memory operation in accordance with at least a first factor, corresponding to available space in a write cache of the non-volatile memory system, and a second factor, corresponding to a metric corresponding to prevalence of write operations in the memory operations specified by the received host requests; and returning to the host system a response associated with the memory operation at a time no earlier than a start time associated with the memory operation plus the determined throttle interval.

Semiconductor memory devices, including flash memory, typically utilize memory cells to store data as an electrical value, such as an electrical charge or voltage. A flash memory cell, for example, includes a single transistor with a floating gate that is used to store a charge representative of a data value. Flash memory is a non-volatile data storage device that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. More generally, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, as well as other types of non-volatile memory implemented using any of a variety of technologies) retains stored information even when not powered, as opposed to volatile memory, which requires power to maintain the stored information.
Garbage collection operations are performed for reclaiming space for host writes and for ensuring data read reliability. As non-volatile memory size in enterprise systems continues to grow, and such system are used by an increasing number and variety of hosts having different memory usage patterns, garbage collection to ensure data integrity, as well as for data reclamation, consumes more resources of the memory devices and potentially has a greater impact on the availability of non-volatile memory to the hosts and the quality of service provided to the hosts. Furthermore, as host workloads vary, the resulting storage operations in a solid state drive used by the host will vary, causing the host to observe varying, bursty throughput and inconsistent quality of service (QoS) from the solid state drive. Therefore, it would be desirable for a solid state drive or non-volatile memory system to provide a host system with consistent quality of service, despite varying workloads on the host system.

Method and system for input-output throttling to improve quality of service in a solid state drive


A system and method are provided for linearizing the tone scale of individual colors in a multi-color printing system, by deriving a prescribed tone scale of individual colors in a single or multi-color printing system. Full linear ink gradations are printed on multiple substrates, and a linearization table is generated with multiple points for each of the multiple substrates and/or ink gradations. A polynomial curve is fitted to the points of each linearization table to generate polynomial curves. At least one point in the polynomial curves is selected, that shows high variation from one curve to a next curve, and coefficients of a group of polynomial curves are plotted as functions of the value of the at least one point. The range of prediction can be as narrow or as broad as an application requires. Finally, a prescribed tone scale table is derived from the polynomial curves and the at least one point. A measured set of values can be compared against a predefined database, and the most applicable transformation is then selected. The data can be corrected to any suitable curve shape.

Various techniques are known for digital printers to provide continuous tone (monochrome or color) printing. In certain printing systems, the application of a linear gradation of ink to a substrate does not result in the appearance of a linear gradation in tone. Dither patterns are used to create tone gradations for a digital printing system that always prints uniformly equal size droplets. Images must be data corrected such that, when printed on a given printing configuration and substrate, they will appear to have a linear tone scale. In the past, it has been necessary to print and measure samples of various droplets per unit area on the paper in order to determine the appropriate transformation to apply to image data. This large number of measurements required the use of a spectrophotometer attached to a automatic traversing system.
Tone nonlinearity is a strong function of the ink and substrate selection. Additionally, various printing system configurations and substrates will require different maximum ink limits. Problems such as a loss of edge definition due to ink bleed, and difficulties in drying the substrate are factors that determine the upper ink limit. As conditions on the printing system and substrate types may change regularly, it is often necessary to determine new linearizing transformations on a regular basis.
It would be desirable to be able to determine an appropriate transformation of images to be printed on a given system in order to optimize image quality.


A high output power radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) includes an up-conversion module, a plurality of power amplifier input stages, and a plurality of integrated circuit pads. The up-conversion module is coupled to convert a low intermediate frequency (IF) signal into a radio frequency (RF) signal. The plurality of power amplifier input stages is coupled to receive the RF signal and to produce separate RF pre-amp signals. Each of the plurality of integrated circuit pads is coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of power amplifier input stages and to provide the separate RF pre-amp signals external to the RFIC.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems and more particularly to radio transmitters used within such systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna and amplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As an example, an integrated circuit transmitter implemented utilizing 0.18μ CMOS technology, the maximum output power of a power amplifier is approximately 7 dBm (dBm=10 log(power in miliwatts). While this limited output power range is acceptable for some applications, it is not acceptable for many of the newer radio applications (such as IEEE 802.11a, b, Bluetooth, et cetera) that require as much as 20 dBm of output power from the transmitter.
One solution to provide a greater output power is to use higher performance integrated circuit process such as gallium arsenide or silicon germanium. While these processes improve the output power, they are significantly more expensive and thus limit their applicability to produce in high-end communication equipment. Another solution, which is more popular, is to use an off-chip power amplifier. This solution provides greater power, but requires additional integrated circuits and/or discrete components to implement the power amplifier.
Therefore, a need exists for a CMOS based on-chip power amplifier solution that provides a linear output response and that provides output power greater than 7 dBm.

High output power radio frequency integrated circuit


An apparatus and method for monitoring diabetes through breath acetone detection and quantitation employs a microplasma source in combination with a spectrometer. The microplasma source provides sufficient energy to produce excited acetone fragments from the breath gas that emit light. The emitted light is sent to the spectrometer, which generates an emission spectrum that is used to detect and quantify acetone in the breath gas.

Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism in the way the body uses digested food for growth and energy. From a medical point of view, diabetes is regarded as a disease in which an absolute or relative inadequacy of insulin effect gives rise to a complex disturbance of metabolism that is dominated by an increase of glucose levels and/or intensive lipolysis. Because glucose is not a readily available energy source in the case of insulin deficiency, ketones are produced as an alternative energy source. Ketones, also known in the art as "ketone bodies," are chemicals that the body makes when there is not enough insulin in the blood. Ketones (acetone, for example) build up in the blood and the body can remove them in the urine. The gas phase acetone in the bloodstream equilibrates with alveolar air (exhaled air) through the alveoli, and the concentration of acetone in breath can reflect metabolic products of diabetes in some way. The body can rid itself of acetone through the lungs, which gives the breath a fruity odor. If a large amount of acetone forms and passes through the body into the blood, urine, and breath, it usually means that the cells either do not have enough insulin, or cannot use the insulin in the proper way. Ketone bodies are produced by the liver and used peripherally as an energy source when glucose is not readily available.
Ketones are always present in the blood and their levels increase with diabetes, which is the most common pathological cause of elevated blood ketones. Ketones include the molecules acetoacetate (AcAc), 3-β-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), and acetone. In diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), high levels of ketones are produced in response to low insulin levels. As shown in FIG. 1, AcAc accumulates during fatty acid metabolism under low carbohydrate conditions. 3HB is formed from the reduction of AcAc in the mitochondria. These two predominant ketones are energy rich compounds that transfer energy from the liver to other tissues. Acetone is generated by spontaneous decarboxylation of AcAc and is responsible for the sweet odor on the breath of individuals with ketoacidosis.
Diabetes is a large and growing problem throughout the world. The World Health Organization reported that the global diabetic number was 171 million for the year 2000 and assessed the number for the year 2030 would be 336 million. In the United States, 18.2 million people are estimated to have diabetes problems. Persons with diabetes are at increased risk for debilitating complications such as renal failure, blindness, nerve damage, and vascular disease. The number of diabetes cases in the United States is increasing at about 5 percent each year, and ranked as the sixth leading cause of death and disability, at a cost of 132 billion dollars per year. Demand for monitoring and diabetes diagnostic products is projected to advance over 8 percent annually to 4.4 billion dollars in 2008.
Currently available methods for primary screening and diagnostic tests of diabetes are generally inconvenient and unpleasant. Fast Plasma Glucose (FPG), and the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), for example, require venous draws and are fasting-based tests, so they can only be practically administered during morning appointments. For OGTT, the measurement is performed about 2 hours after the patient ingests a 75-gram oral glucose load. Numerous studies have evaluated the performance of these methods in diverse populations. Specificity (correctly identifying absence of disease) of FPG test exceeds 96 percent, but the sensitivity (correctly identifying disease) is only on the order of about 50 percent. Thus, approximately half of those with diabetes may be misclassified by a single FPG test. The sensitivity and specificity for OGTT are 73 percent and 80 percent, respectively, but the test suffers from relatively poor reproducibility (coefficient and variation of about 17 percent). Moreover, glucose self-monitoring is typically done by pricking a finger and extracting a drop of blood with a test strip composed of chemicals sensitive to glucose. In order to strictly control glucose and effectively mitigate the complications, 4-7 tests per day are recommended for diabetes patients. Due to the physical suffering and daily cost, this type of diabetic testing can be carried out usually at a rate of twice a day. Because of all of these restrictions, scientists have been trying to find effective noninvasive ways for diabetes monitoring through measuring blood glucose. For this purpose, a huge sum of funds and manpower have been invested to develop various noninvasive technologies including, for example, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, near infrared spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, light scattering, and polarization changes. So far, none of these technologies achieves a satisfactory level for practical applications.
The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath for the purpose of medical diagnosis has a long history. Ancient Greek physicians knew that the aroma of human breath could provide clues to medical diagnosis. The astute physician was alert for the sweet fruity odor of acetone in a patient's breath with uncontrolled diabetes, the musty fishy reek of advanced liver disease, the urine-like smell that accompanies failing kidneys, and the putrid stench of a lung abscess.
Modern breath analysis began in the 1970's when Pauling and others identified more than 200 components in human breath using gas chromatography. Since then, issues concerning the physiological meaning of the breath substances and correlations of breath markers with patients' clinical conditions have become more and more important. Since the 1990's, researchers have been trying to understand the relationship between various breath substances and the body's physical condition. Among the chemicals identified in breath gas, it has been shown that acetone is correlated with blood glucose as an alternative biomarker for diabetes. In healthy individuals, breath acetone is at the level of a few hundred ppbv, whereas diabetics have a broader range of breath acetone concentration of hundreds or even thousands of ppm, depending mainly on physical properties of individuals and the level of blood glucose of patients. The composition of VOCs in breath varies widely from person to person, and includes at least hundreds of compounds. The concentration of acetone in breath can be as low as a few hundred ppbv, making accurate analysis of breath acetone a significant challenge.
A current test for breath acetone is carried out using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with a detection method such as mass spectroscopy (MS) or flame ionization. These methods require bulky equipment and skilled operators, and are time consuming with regard to sample collection, transportation, storage, and separation, and therefore are not suitable for outside laboratory applications such as daily monitoring and prescreening diagnosis of diabetes. In addition, the trace amounts of acetone that are present in the breath may easily be lost during these complex procedures because acetone is a volatile and chemically active material. Some other methods, such as light addressable potentiometric sensors and electronic nose, are less selective for particular components, and therefore, potential interference of the breath matrix gas on acetone detection is unavoidable.
Recently, cavity ringdown spectroscopy was used for detecting acetone at ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelength ranges. Although a detection limit of 1.5 ppmv for acetone vapor was reported, the moisture in breath gas may impact sensitivity because the reflectivity of the cavity mirrors is prone to the humidity in breath, and it is difficult to completely filter out the large amount of water vapor in breath without influencing the trace amount of acetone because acetone is miscible with water in almost any ratio. The added cost of the laser used in this system may be an extra issue for the desirable features in breath analysis.
A reported method for determining acetone in breath is based on the reaction of acetone with alkaline salicylaldehyde to form a colored product that absorbs in the blue region and can be monitored with gallium nitride-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) with an emission centered at 465 nm. The method achieved a detection limit as low as 14 ppbv for acetone. However, memory effects of the reaction system and trace loose acetone are potential problems for the technique in real breath sample analysis.

Apparatus and method for monitoring breath acetone and diabetic diagnostics


A digital logic test method for systematically testing a pipeline-structured integrated circuit chip is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: providing an integrated circuit chip capable of executing a plurality of instructions during a period of time, each of the instructions being executed according to a plurality of sequentially ordered operation segments, sorting the instructions, and designing a plurality of test patterns to test the integrated circuit according to the sorting result and STAGE test segments corresponding to the STAGE operation segments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital logic test method, and more particularly, to a digital logic test method to systematically approach functional coverage completely and related apparatus and system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
About one and a half decades ago the state of the art in DRAMs was 64 k bytes, a typical personal computer (PC) was implemented with about 60 to 100 dual in-line package (DIPs), and the VAX11/780 was a favorite platform for electronic design automation (EDA) developers. Now, CPU performance and DRAM capacity have increased by more than three orders of magnitude. More complex ICs perform computation, control, and communications in myriad applications. With contemporary EDA tools, one logic designer can create complex digital designs that formerly required a team of a half dozen logic designers or more.
Though comprising fewer integrated circuits, a modern PC can still perform a variety of astonishing functions. Without any doubts, a modern integrated circuit has an inner circuit far more complicated than that of the DIP chip.
The explosive advancement of electronics technologies is not without problems. For example, digital logic test and verification present major hurdles to continued progress. In a typical digital logic test method, stimuli (called test patterns or test vectors) generated by simulators, which can be compiled or interrupted by hardware design language (HDL), are applied to the pins of a device under-test (DUT), and the response is evaluated. If we know what the expected response is from the correctly operating device, we can compare it to the response of the DUT to determine if the DUT is responding correctly. The increase in size and complexity of circuits on a chip, often with little or no increase in the number of I/O pins accordingly, creates a testing bottleneck. Much more logic functions must be controlled and observed with the same number of I/O pins, making it more difficult to test the chip. According to such a scenario, testing a chip of this size performed by logic testers approaches the amount of effort required to design it. Moreover, for some very complicated and hard to test an integrated circuit, such as a sequential circuit, the logic testers have to ask the logic designers to simplify the integrated circuit. Accordingly, a design-for-test EDA device, which has the capabilities to design and to test, comes to the market. In the process to design an integrated circuit, the logic designers have to take the testability of the integrated circuit into account seriously.
Defects may appear in a single integrated circuit sporadically or in a series of integrated circuits systematically. That the defects sporadically appears in a single integrated circuit will not bring any impact on the creditability of the company who design the integrated circuit, as long as the integrated circuit exceeds an acceptable quality level (AQL) set by the company. However, a company who designs the integrated circuit having the systematical defects may live a tough life. Therefore, new test strategies are emerging in response to test problems arising from these increasingly complex devices, and greater emphasis is placed on finding defects as early as possible in the manufacturing as well as the design cycle.
In recent years, a variety of digital logic test methods to test integrated circuits have come to the market, for example, a logic and fault simulation algorithm, an automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) designed to test combinational circuits, an iterative test generator (ITG) technique designed to test sequential circuits, and a GALloping PATern (GALPAT) technique designed to test memory, and so on. According to the variations of the test patterns these digital logic test methods apply to the DUT, a function coverage technique and a code coverage technique are two of the most popular digital logic test methods used by the logic testers.
The advantage of the code coverage technique is that it can scope a test range easily, and be applied to a register transfer level (RTL). As soon as a bug appears, the code coverage technique corrects the RTL immediately, and keeps on executing corresponding test processes. The code coverage technique can be used to measure a block coverage, an expression coverage, a path coverage, and a branch coverage, which is exclusive for a state machine.
In statistics, since the logic testers do not have the capability to design all of the test patterns a code coverage has to cover, the effectiveness of the code coverage technique is from 80 percents when testing larger modules to 90 percents when testing smaller modules. The code coverage technique with such a high effectiveness can promise nothing but a higher credibility of the integrated circuit under test at most, and whether the integrated circuit is flawless is still uncertain. Moreover, the code coverage technique lacks the capability to look for errors hidden between sub-modules.
In general, the code coverage technique is applied to a preliminary test for an integrated circuit chip, so as to find any gross deficiencies of the integrated circuit chip as early as possible. The code coverage technique analyzes a completeness of test patterns generated by a random simulator to test an integrated circuit chip. The logic designers and logic testers design a test pattern according to the characteristics of the integrated circuit chip, and read any results from the random simulator. As the number of electronic components, such as transistors and registers, is becoming larger and larger, the random simulator has to generate more complicated test patterns to test the integrated circuit chip accordingly, and in consequence, the code coverage technique analyzes the random simulator generates incomplete test patterns.
In addition to provide a test information abundant enough to cover any variations of all the variables of an integrate circuit chip precisely, a good logic test method has to acquire the test information without any difficulties. That is to say, in addition to the logic designers, who are familiar with the integrated circuit chip, anyone can design a test pattern exclusively for the integrated circuit chip easily with such a good logic test method, and acquire the test information corresponding to the integrated circuit chip after the logic test method is executed. In regard to the code coverage technique for an example, the logic designers, who have in person participated in the design of the integrated circuit chip, surely have the capability to design a test pattern to cover all the functionalities of the integrated circuit chip as completely as possible. However, imposing such a difficult task on the logic testers, who do not quite understand the integrated circuit chip, is not reasonable.

Digital logic test method to systematically approach functional coverage completely and related apparatus and system


Reliability qualification vehicles are described with internally generated clock and control signals which may be selected in place of externally generated signals for exercising the vehicle. If implemented in gate-arrays, the vehicle may be contained in different sized packages to test the effects of different size packaging on the vehicle. Substantially all the gates of the vehicle are testable. The vehicle may be operated synchronously and its design enables quick feedback and analysis of faulty portions of a cell library or place and route scheme.

This application relates in general to devices for testing the reliability of integrated circuits and in particular to a reliability qualification vehicle in the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) industry to qualify a given technology, process and/or design system and packaging.
In the ASIC industry, while some ASIC manufacturers have manufactured integrated circuit chips designed for particular purposes of customers, the preferred approach by many ASIC manufacturers is to provide design tools which enable customers to design their own integrated circuit chips. Such an approach takes advantage of the intimate knowledge customers have of their requirement so that the chips designed would fit the customer's requirements more closely.
The design tools provided by VLSI Technology, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., for example, include cell libraries and place and route systems. The cell library would include building blocks such as flip-flops, registers, logic gates, multiplexers and counters. At least two place and route systems are offered for placing the cells in a semiconductor medium such as silicon and for interconnecting the portions of the cells according to customer design to form the desired integrated circuit chip. In one place and route system known as the standard-cell approach, the design of each cell in the library is optimized to reduce the areas of semiconductor medium required and to increase the speed and power performance. For this reason different cells in the library would usually differ in their diffusion, oxide and polysilicon layers. In the second approach known as gate-arrays, all the cells in the library will have the same oxide, diffusion, polysilicon and other layers, where the layers are substantially planar sheets uniformly distributed in the semiconductor medium. The cells in the library of the gate-array approach differ only in the way different portions of the layers are connected, usually through metal interconnects.
The gate-array approach is used usually when area economy in silicon, as well as power and heat dissipation considerations are not paramount, such as when testing the internal consistency and feasibility of a particular crude design. At a preliminary stage of design, the primary concern is frequently merely the feasibility of the design. After the design proves to be practical, the design can be further improved in accordance with power and economy in area considerations. The gate-array approach is therefore frequently used in the preliminary design stage. After feasibility is proven, the standard-cell approach may be adopted for an improved design.
In both approaches, the design tools provided by ASIC manufacturers permit a customer to enter a schematic into a computer by entering the icons for the cells in a particular library. In both the standard-cell and the gate-array approaches, the computer would then fetch the particular layout of the cells so entered. After the customer or user enters the interconnections between the cells, a predetermined place and route system is then employed to connect the appropriate portions of the layers in the cells to be connected to provide a complete layout of all the different layers in the semiconductor medium and layout of the metal interconnections between the layers to yield a complete chip layout that accurately reflects customer design.
After an integrated circuit chip has been fabricated, it is necessary to test the reliability of the chip to assure that it is durable and would not fail during usage. To this date, no device has been expressly designed for qualifying the reliability of ASIC chips. Therefore, in order to test the reliability of a particular ASIC chip, the fabricated chip is tested in order to compile failure rate statistics. However, it is inherent in the nature of the ASIC design process that each chip designed using ASIC tools would differ from any other ASIC chip designed using the same ASIC tools. Hence every design would have to be qualified in manufacturing which is impractical since this would entail thousands of separate qualifications. It is therefore desirable to provide a device expressly dedicated for testing and analysis, and for the compilation of failure rate statistics that will qualify substantially all devices manufactured using a particular ASIC design system, process, technology and packaging.

Reliability qualification vehicle for application specific integrated circuits


Two capacitors and at least one inductor are used to create an alternating magnetic field for use in electric motors. Charge leaving one capacitor passes through the inductor, creating a magnetic field, and is captured by the second capacitor. Energy is added to the second capacitor which is then discharged through the inductor to the first capacitor, creating a magnetic field of opposite polarity as that created by the first discharge.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related in general to the field of electric motors. In particular, the invention consists of a highly inductive electric motor driven by capacitor discharge.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,548, Edwin V. Gray discloses a pulsed capacitor-discharge electric engine. Gray introduces the concept of charging capacitors and using the stored energy from the capacitors to drive an electric motor to develop considerable torque through the magnetic repulsion action of rotor and stator cores wound with coils. Capacitors are discharged synchronously through these cores utilizing a control mechanism to position discharge elements. Discharge overshoot or back e.m.f. from the collapsing magnetic field in the coils is used to charge external batteries for conservation of power.
Gray's rotary electric machine is believed to operate on the principle of conservation of energy. Once rotation occurs, electric current is needed only at the instant of a capacitor discharge in order to advance the rotor.
An important aspect of Gray's invention is that two banks of capacitors are utilized; one to energize the stator coil and one to energize the rotor coil. Additionally, all the electric charge discharged from the banks of capacitors must be collected and either dispersed as waste energy through resistors or collected and sent to the batteries. This requires that a large amount of current pass through the discharge circuit. During the process of collecting this discharge energy, a large amount of the energy is lost. Additionally, the banks of capacitors must be fully recharged before the next discharge cycle. One additional aspect of Gray's invention is that a special motor must be designed and built to take advantage of his concept. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a circuit, similar to that disclosed by Gray, with the capacity to reuse a significant portion of the charge without requiring that it be sent back to the battery. Additionally, it would be advantageous to have a capacitor motor-driver circuit that energizes only the stator coil, rather than both the stator and the rotor. It would also be advantageous to have a capacitor-discharge motor circuit that works with electric motor designs that are common in the industry.
J. Snell has previously disclosed a variation of the Gray capacitive discharge, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Four motor coils are represented by the inductive circuit elements T1, T2, T3, and T4. Four capacitors, C1–C4 (respectively) are utilized to drive the four motor coils. Four switches and numerous diodes are utilized to establish the timing necessary to ensure the motor continues to rotate.
Initially, a charge is placed on C1. Switches are aligned to allow C1 to discharge through T1 and place a portion of its original charge on C3. A counter electromotive force is passed to C2. Additional switches are closed, allowing C3 to discharge through T3. This secondary discharge, while smaller than the original discharge through T1, provides some additional torque. In this manner, the residual energy captured by C3 is used to provide power to the motor. However, no provision is made to bring the charge of capacitor C3 to the level initially obtained by C1. Therefore, the amount of torque which may be supplied to the motor is significantly less during the secondary discharge than that available during the primary discharge. As with the Gray motor, Snell's invention requires that a special motor be designed and built to take advantage of his circuit, i.e., a motor having at least four coils that are electrically separate from each other. It would be advantageous to design a motor driver circuit that can take advantage of electric motors common in the industry. Additionally, it would be desirable to have a capacitor discharge motor driver circuit that provides a consistent level of torque during each discharge cycle.

Series resonant capacitive discharge motor


The present invention discloses a method of motor vehicle sheet blanking and a system of the same, wherein the blanking method comprises: firstly, nesting for motor vehicle sheet material, and cutting it into group sheets with a shape and size confirmed by the multi length of the sheet; next, designing a backing die depending on scraps to be cut from the group sheet, and hollowing in areas corresponding to blanking openings in the backing die, in which the dimensions of the blanking openings are greater than that of the actual scraps to be cut; then, placing a group sheet onto the backing die; laser cutting the group sheet based on the shape of motor vehicle sheet, the cut scraps dropping through the blanking openings in the backing die onto a scrap conveyor belt underneath; stacking the cut sheets. The present invention can effectively process scraps cut from sheets and improve the blanking efficiency.

The traditional way of motor vehicle sheet blanking is die blanking, the equipments for which include a transfer unit, a press unit and a stack unit. Usually, sheets of a simple shape (such as rectangular, trapezoid and arc) can be cut out by a swing shear, while sheets with complicated profiles should be made by die blanking. A die blanking line is required to be provided with different blanking dies corresponding to the sizes and shapes of specific motor vehicle sheets such that various sheets can be produced by changing the dies.
The blanking line for motor vehicle sheet is of high production efficiency, at 4-6 million pieces per year. Calculating by 3800 hours per year, the production is 25 pieces per minute.
With the rapid development of high power laser technology, many academic institutions and manufacturers begin the research of blanking for motor vehicle sheets based on fiber laser. Both of Automatic Feed Company in USA and Air Liquide in France have, in the publication information, published the motor vehicle sheet blanking technology based on laser cutting. The solution of the former company puts forward two blanking modes on basis of laser technology: one is strip continuous-feed blanking, and the other is step blanking.
1. Strip Continuous-Feed Blanking
Nesting the sheets, and according to the number n of the provided laser cutting heads, dividing the cutting line of each sheet into n segments on average; when the sheet enters a first cutting region, cutting along a first part of line segment or curve such as one semi-circle; when the sheet enters a second cutting region, cutting along a second part of the line segment or curve such as the other semi-circle, with circle scraps falling onto a scrap belt underneath; when the sheet enters a third cutting region, cutting along a third part of the line segment or curve, with edge scraps falling onto the scrap belt underneath; when the sheet enters a fourth cutting region, cutting along a fourth part of the line segment or curve, with edge scraps falling onto the scrap belt underneath; after the sheet passes through the pinch rollers, the fifth cutting head cuts transversely the last connecting parts between sheets; the sheets come into a stacking region and get stacked.
2. Step Blanking
Nesting the sheets; cutting the strip into group sheets, and transferring them into a cutting position; a group sheet enters the cutting region and stops; adjusting longitudinally the two groups of conveyor rollers before and after the cutting position until the shape of scrap is cut out; when finishing the cutting of the first area of the sheet, scraps fall into a scrap conveyor belt; the sheet moves into a second cutting area and stops; adjusting the two groups of transfer rollers before and after the cutting position longitudinally until the shape of scrap is cut out; when finishing the cutting of the second area of the sheets, scraps fall into the scrap conveyor belt; the sheet moves into a third cutting area and stops; adjusting the two groups of transfer rollers before and after the cutting position longitudinally until the shape of scrap is cut out; when finishing the cutting of the third area of the sheets, scraps fall into the scrap conveyor belt; after the sheet is cut, it is transferred into a stacking region through a conveying device. The subsequent sheets are cut in the same way.
Additionally, Air Liquide proposes a scrap blanking solution with transverse backing and adjustment for sheets.
Automatic Feed Company together with Air Liquide proposes a technical solution of step-type laser blanking, which generally adopts the layout of Air Liquide and the scrap processing by longitudinal adjustment of Automatic Feed Company. In this solution, 3 robots with a seventh shaft are utilized to transfer group sheets and finished sheets, and to stack sheets. 5 laser cutting units are provided, two of which is used for making group sheets, and another three for cutting single sheets in different areas. Besides, there are further two stations as buffering stations for discharging scraps.
In the traditional swing shear blanking, the front end of a sheet is free of clamping or fixing, and the back end thereof is transferred by pinch rollers in a stepping way. The base of the sheet is supported by wheels, and during blanking, a return lock device is used.
As for the strip conveyance with continuous blanking proposed by Automatic Feed Company, there are provided with pinch rollers at both front and back ends in the cutting region, and sheets are fed continuously at a preset speed. Under the sheets there is provided with a scrap conveyor device, onto which the cut scraps fall. The last cut is performed after the pinch rollers at the back end.
The technical problems of the conveying way above cover the following aspects.
1. Shape cutting is based on speed control strategy
Conventionally, the displacement control strategy is used for cutting operation with high requirements on dimension and form errors, so as to guarantee the geometric accuracy of the shape. However, in the continuous blanking of Automatic Feed Company, the speed control strategy is utilized, which is on the basis that the speed of the pinched sheets is precise and the Cartesian coordinate robots are cutting according to the predetermined traces and speeds. The speed deviation of the pinch rollers and the sheets may bring about errors of cut shapes, which in turn, results in that the kerfs cannot to be engaged together, and the scraps cannot drop. As a lot of cutting machines are working at the same time, even if using a speed measuring device (for example, a laser velocimeter), it is still difficult to ensure the kerfs made from the different cutting machines to be engaged well.
2. Three equipments have the same linear speed. The solution of Automatic Feed Company requires that the speeds of the pinch rollers and the two circular pin-type conveyor belt which support sheets before and after the pinch rollers, should be the same, otherwise the pin-type support parts on the belt may scrape the sheets.
3. The pins on the pin-type conveyor belts are prone to being cut, and little scraps cut from sheets may get stuck in the conveyor belt.
4. The sheet shape in the cutting region cannot be guaranteed.
When continuously conveyed and cut, the sheets are present in the cutting regions. In this solution, there are three cutting regions and in addition, a cutting-off region after the pinch rollers, in each of which a different area of the sheet is cut. The sheets assume a state of being pinched and tensioned, but there is great difference among transverse tensions at different segments in a sheet, resulting in that the sheet shape in the cutting region cannot be guaranteed, thereby affecting the cutting quality. When cutting, the distance between the cutting head and the sheet surface is 0.5 mm˜1 mm.
5. It is difficult for the sheets to pass through the back pinch rollers.
When a sheet is passing through the back pinch rollers during continuous feeding and cutting, it is not only prone to straining the pinch rollers, but also causing sheets stuck or even broken.
6. Off-center sheets affect shape cutting.
Due to that the sheets are transferred through pinch rollers and the distance between two sheets is above 10 m, the off-center phenomenon may lead to making batches of waste product in cutting operation. Thus, in the solution there must be a centering device.
7. High requirement on the engagement of the kerfs
For the reason that the sheets are cut by a plurality of cutting machines in different regions, it is necessary for the latter cutting to engage with the former kerfs, so as to ensure scraps to drop. As the kerfs engagement is performed when the sheets are moving, there are high requirements on the movement of the pinch rollers, the stepping progress of the robots and the shape of the sheet, thereby it costs a lot on the technology and equipments.
8. Cutting along the trace of a sheet is performed in relative movement.
While the cutting devices are Cartesian coordinate robots with 3 degrees of freedom, owing to that sheets move in a single direction, it is hard to cut along the trace of the sheet or it needs a large quantity of empty stroke to guarantee.
9. The malfunction of a single cutting machine may cause the whole production line to halt.
As one sheet is cut by different cutting machines on different areas thereof, the malfunction of one of the cutting machines may affect the operation of the whole production line. When one cutting machine breaks down, if it is needed to finish the work of the production line, a complicated cutting control strategy and a hardware technology have to be utilized for cutting in the abnormal situation.
The laser step blanking solution proposed by Automatic Feed Company and Air Liquide together is better on operability than the continuous blanking solution proposed by Automatic Feed Company, while the difficulty thereof is the scrap blanking and the yield during unit time of the whole production line.

Motor vehicle panel blanking method and system


Dark-bit masking technologies for physically unclonable function (PUF) components are described. A computing system includes a processor core and a secure key manager component coupled to the processor core. The secure key manager includes the PUF component, and a dark-bit masking circuit coupled to the PUF component. The dark-bit masking circuit is to measure a PUF value of the PUF component multiple times during a dark-bit window to detect whether the PUF value of the PUF component is a dark bit. The dark bit indicates that the PUF value of the PUF component is unstable during the dark-bit window. The dark-bit masking circuit is to output the PUF value as an output PUF bit of the PUF component when the PUF value is not the dark bit and set the output PUF bit to be a specified value when the PUF value of the PUF component is the dark bit.

During manufacture, keys can be provisioned to and stored in an integrated circuit or processor. The keys may be stored in fuses of the integrated circuits or processors and may be unique per type of integrated circuit or processor. The keys may be fed into and consumed by various security engines or co-processors. Keys may be stored in non-volatile memory having a special type of security fuses. Security fuses may have a number of security countermeasures in place that make them less susceptible than regular fuses to physical attacks. However, these security countermeasures make the security fuses more costly, in terms of die area, than regular fuses such as general-purpose high-density fuses.

Using dark bits to reduce physical unclonable function (PUF) error rate without storing dark bits location


An e-book (112) has navigation controls (124) for accessing the sections (110) of a first path (130) of sections of the e-book. In response to receipt (101) of a path-change command (134), the active path (129) is changed to a second path (132). Concomitantly, the navigation controls are changed so that they provide for navigation along the second path instead of along the first path.

Electronic books (e-books) are increasingly popular for several reasons including low production, and lower manufacturing (and potentially retail) costs, as well as the light weight, and low bulk associated with some e-readers (which may have capacity for thousands of books apiece). In addition, the computer or computer-based device on which e-books are read can be used to support rich media types (e.g., video and interactivity).

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP