A bipolar transistor 120 comprises a substrate 1, a intrinsic base region 11 and an extrinsic base region 12. The intrinsic base region 11 comprises a silicon buffer layer 109 comprised of silicon which is formed on the substrate 1, and a composition-ratio graded base layer 111 which is formed on the silicon buffer layer and comprises silicon and at least germanium and where a composition ratio of the germanium to the silicon varies in a thickness direction of the composition-ratio graded base layer 111. The extrinsic base region 12 comprises an extrinsic base formation layer 113 comprised of silicon which is formed on the substrate and adjacent to the silicon buffer layer. And the thickness of the extrinsic base formation layer 113 is not less than 40 nm.

In the field of bipolar transistors, energetically developed are heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in which materials different in bandwidth are introduced to base layers using epitaxial growth to increase device speed. HBT with base layers using family-IV semiconductor materials such as SiGe (silicon-germanium) material and SiGeC (silicon-germanium carbon) material is highly expected as a high-speed device because the device can be formed on a Si substrate and integration with CMOS circuits and large substrate are advantageous in terms of high performance and low cost.
A typical configuration example of a conventional HBT using SiGe for heterojunction (hereinafter referred as to SiGe HBT) is explained with reference to FIG. 23. While the HBT using SiGe material for base layers is exemplified here, a HBT using SiGeC material for the base layers is to have the same configuration.
The SiGe HBT is generally classified into a double-polysilicon structure and a single-polysilicon structure. FIG. 23(a) is a typical schematic sectional view of the SiGe HBT of the double-polysilicon structure and FIG. 23(b) is that of the SiGe HBT of the single-polysilicon structure.
First, the SiGe HBT of double-polysilicon is explained with reference to FIG. 23(a).
A polysilicon layer 103 corresponding to an extrinsic base region is formed in advance on a Si substrate provided with an isolation area 101 and a collector region 102. And the polysilicon layer 103 is subject to a patterning treatment by etching. An epitaxial SiGe layer 104 corresponding to an intrinsic base region selectively and epitaxially grows on an HBT formation region removed the polysilicon layer 103.
In this configuration, the polysilicon layer 103 and the epitaxial SiGe layer 104 can not be formed simultaneously or continuously. Therefore, it is difficult to avoid native oxide film formed on an interface 105 between the epitaxial SiGe layer 104 and the polysilicon layer 103. Also, there is a possibility of generating void inside the interface 105. Thereby, the SiGeHBT of the double-polysilicon structure increases contact resistance between the polysilicon layer 103 and the epitaxial SiGe layer 104 and it causes a problem that uneven contact resistance exists among products. And it has further problems that manufacturing process is complicated and process window is small during selective growth. From these viewpoints, the SiGeHBT of the double-polysilicon structure is not suitable for mass production.
Next, the SiGeHBT of the single-polysilicon structure is explained with reference to FIG. 23(b).
Using a non-selective growth method, an epitaxial SiGe layer 106 corresponding to the intrinsic base region epitaxially grows on the Si substrate directly above the collector region 102. Simultaneously, a polySiGe layer 107 corresponding to an extrinsic base region epitaxially grows on an isolation region 101. And then a silicide layer 108 is formed on a surface of the polySiGe layer 107.
Because this structure enables the PolySiGe layer 107 and the epitaxial SiGe 106 to form simultaneously, neither native oxide film nor void is formed on the interface between epitaxial SiGe layer 107 and polySiGe layer 106. Therefore, increase of contact resistance between both layers is fundamentally solved. And the manufacturing process of the SiGe HBT of the single polysilicon structure is simpler than that of the double-polysilicon structure. Further the process window of the non-selective growth is larger than that of selective growth.
Thus, the SiGeHBT of the single-polysilicon structure is suitable for mass production.
International Publication WO01/88994 is a public-known material to disclose SiGeHBT technology.

Heterojunction biploar transistor and method for manufacturing same


An optical microscope system includes: a removable optical element; a capture unit for obtaining an image; a detection unit for detecting first location information indicating the location of a predetermined point in the image captured through the optical element and second location information indicating the location of a point corresponding to the predetermined point in the image captured without the optical element; a calculation unit for calculating the relative amount of displacement between the first location information and the second location information detected by the detection unit; and a movement control unit for moving the capture unit based on the amount of the displacement calculated by the calculation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope system which has an optical element switch unit and capability of capturing an observation image.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical element switch unit provided for a microscope has a mechanical engagement system between the movable portion and the fixed portion of the unit so that the optical element can be set in accordance with the optical axis. In the engagement system, each time the central axis on the location of the optical element provided for the unit reaches the position of the observation optical axis of the optical device of the microscope, the turret movable portion and the fixed portion are mechanically engaged, thereby holding the positioning.
However, there can be a displacement of an optical axis generated from the mechanical positioning of an optical element switch unit relative to a microscopic vision image. In addition, although the mechanical positioning of the optical element switch unit is correct, there can be a displacement of an optical axis by the expansion and the contraction under the conditions of the environment such as the humidity, the temperature, etc.
Furthermore, in the optical elements, it is hard to correctly form a parallel plane with a parallel planar optical element. With an object lens, it is hard to set the central point of the lenses forming the object lens. Therefore, there can be a displacement of an optical axis depending on the processing precision.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-313850, the amount of displacement of a microscopic vision image by the switch of an object lens and an optical element of the microscope is stored in advance, and the stage of a sample is moved by the amount of displacement, thereby removing the displacement of the microscopic vision image. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-75172, a capture unit captures a microscopic vision image for each of a plurality of different object lenses, and the amount of displacement of a captured image of each object lens is measured and stored using the value of a pixel pitch. Then, using the value of pixel pitch stored when observation is made, the stage of the microscope is traveled and the displacement of a microscopic vision image is removed.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-313850 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 6-75172, the problem of the displacement of a microscopic vision image by the switch of an optical element is solved by the movement of the stage by the amount of displacement.
However, when an object to be observed in a liquid is observed, the liquid waves when the stage on which the object to be observed is placed moves. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the object to be observed can move, and the observation is difficult. When the amount of displacement is very small, there is a possibility that the amount of displacement is not correct.

Optical microscope system and optical axis correcting method


Methods and apparatus for fusing multiple databases into a single database are disclosed. A disclosed method determines a ranking of a plurality of matching variables associated with first and second datasets and generates a hierarchical matching grid including a plurality of levels based on the ranking of the plurality of matching variables. The example method identifies first and second sets of match candidates from the first and second datasets based on successive levels of the hierarchical matching grid and fuses records in the first and second sets of match candidates based on probabilities associated with the records.

Successful planning, development, deployment and marketing of products and services depend heavily on having access to relevant, high quality market research data. Companies have long recognized that improving the manners in which marketing data is collected, processed and analyzed often results in more effective delivery of the right products and services to consumers and increased revenues. Recently, companies have sought to more effectively target marketing efforts toward specific groups or individuals having certain combinations of demographic characteristics and psychographic profiles. Such highly targeted marketing efforts may provide a company a significant competitive advantage, particularly for highly competitive markets in which increased revenues are obtained primarily as a result of increased market share.
To develop more effective marketing data, market researchers often use special-purpose population or market research panels or surveys, each of which may be assembled to include panelists or respondents having a particular combination of demographic characteristics and psychographic profiles. Typically, before any report can be produced, panel members or respondents are assigned a statistical weight in order to compensate for bias that may be introduced by the panel or respondent selection process and to ensure that the resulting panel or respondent group is representative of the population under study. Such special-purpose population or respondent panels and surveys may provide highly relevant marketing data or information in connection with a particular type or group of products and services. These special-purpose population or respondent panels or surveys are typically used to study particular subjects or narrowly focused consumption behaviors such as, for example, media consumption activities, consumption of particular types of grocery store items, voting intentions, etc. For example, a media research company may utilize population or respondent panels and surveys to measure and analyze the media consumption behaviors (e.g., television audience viewing behaviors) of particular groups within a population. The media research company may then use the collected media consumption behavior data to improve media planning activities, media-based promotional or advertising activities, etc.
Regardless of the end use of the type of data gathered via research panels and surveys, such panels and surveys are expensive to assemble. In addition, such research panels and surveys are expensive to maintain and typically result in data that is highly sensitive to fluctuations in panelist or respondent cooperation. As a result, broadening a market research panel or survey to cover multiple types of consumption activities, behaviors, preferences, etc. is often impractical or infeasible.
Market researchers have long dealt with the practical tradeoff between the desire to develop database information that enables companies to develop and deploy highly targeted marketing plans and the desire to develop database information that is more versatile in its application or utility. For example, a database developed from a respondent panel or survey that has been narrowly tailored to provide information related to the television viewing behaviors of a particular regional population having a particular demographic profile may be of little, if any, use when attempting to determine the fast food consumption habits of another population having that same demographic profile.
In response to the practical difficulties (e.g., the cost) associated with assembling market research panels or surveys covering multiple types of consumption activities, behaviors, preferences, etc., market researchers have employed database fusion techniques to efficiently merge or fuse database information from multiple research panels or surveys (typically two at a time) into a single database representing a single virtual population group or respondent-level panel. It is well known that the fusion of two datasets or databases into one dataset or database may enable the development of a database that reveals correlations between the consumption activities, preferences, etc. associated with two datasets or databases in a manner that the individual datasets could not. In other words, existing market research databases can be combined or fused in different ways to generate new datasets or databases that reveal respondent behaviors and/or relationships not previously revealed by the independent databases, without having to physically develop and pay for an expensive multi-purpose respondent panel or survey.
Although known dataset or database fusion techniques and/or systems may enable the fusing of two datasets containing significantly different types of respondent consumption behavior or preferences (e.g., television viewing behavior and soft drink preferences), these existing techniques or systems suffer from several deficiencies. In particular, known database fusion systems or techniques use distance functions to match respondent records in different datasets and to combine the behavioral data of the matched records. However, defining a distance function is a highly subjective process because distance functions often require the use of matching variable (e.g., demographic category) weighting factors or coefficients that inherently incorporate a subjective or arbitrary judgment of the relative importance of the matching variables by the person responsible for the assemblage of the fused database. In addition to being inherently subjective or arbitrary, the nature of the distance function and its coefficients may also be adjusted from time to time in order to fit the data on hand. As a result, the trendability from one data fusion (of the same two types of datasets or databases) to a subsequent data fusion is jeopardized.
Still further, existing database fusion systems and techniques typically match records between databases based on the order in which data records are stored in the databases. However, the order in which data records are stored in the databases to be fused is often completely arbitrary with respect to the degree to which the records in the databases match each other. Thus, the subjective and arbitrary nature of datasets or databases generated using known fusion techniques or systems decreases significantly the usefulness and value of these virtual datasets or databases.

Methods and apparatus for fusing databases


A solution for automated food selection includes: an order processing component operable to receive an order identifying an item; a selection component comprising: a first hyperspectral sensor operable to sense a reflection from the item and produce a sensor output based at least on the reflection; and a picking mechanism; a control component operable to: based at least on identification of the item, select a hyperspectral profile from a set of hyperspectral profiles; compare the sensor output with the selected hyperspectral profile; and based at least on the comparison, determine whether to select the item for fulfillment of the order, wherein the picking mechanism is operable to divert the item to a selection output based at least on a determination to select the item for fulfillment of the order; and a transport component operable to transport the item to an order storage zone.

Selecting perishable food items, such as produce, for customer order fulfillment typically requires human labor. This is because, even if the perishable food items had passed inspection upon arrival at the order-fulfilling facility (such as a retail facility that delivers or provides curbside pick-up), the condition of the perishable food items may change between arrival and ultimate delivery to a customer. Although the perishable food items may have been fresh or even in a pre-ripe state, multiple factors, including time and environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), may impact the rate of spoilage while stored in inventory locations or a staging location for customer pick-up. Humans that are trained to properly ascertain the state of perishable food items are thus used to pick specific ones of the perishable food items for order fulfillment. Any limitations on the human workforce, such as training, illness, and other scheduling issues may then negatively impact order fulfillment capacity.

Automated food selection using hyperspectral sensing


An air cargo power drive unit has a motor, at least one driver roller element coupled to said motor, a light source, a light detector, and a processor having memory associated therewith, said memory storing instructions. The device is configured to emit light from the light source, receive reflected light from the light detector when an air cargo is overhead, and convert the detected light into a time series of a digital samples representing a time-varying intensity of the received light. The processor then performs calculations on the digital samples to determine whether the unit load device is moving. This determination may be based, for instance, on spikes among the digital samples, and/or on first, second, or even higher-order, statistics of the detected samples.

A large variety of motorized systems for moving cargo are known. Motor driven rollers are typically employed in these systems. Cargo and passenger airplanes in particular often employ a series of motor driven power drive units ("PDU"s) to quickly and efficiently propel cargo containers and pallets, otherwise known as unit load devices ("ULD"s), within the aircraft cargo compartment. This configuration can allow for the transportation of cargo from the external loader to the interior of the airplane by one or more operators controlling the PDUs.
Cargo within an airplane cargo deck is typically supported by a system of freely rotating floor-mounted conveyance rollers. Sets or banks of PDUs can be simultaneously elevated from beneath the cargo deck to a level just above the conveyance rollers. Each PDU may be a separate electromechanical actuator which includes one or more rubber coated wheels or drive rollers. The drive rollers of the elevated PDUs contact and move cargo above the conveyance rollers in the commanded direction upon energization. The movement of cargo depends on the coefficient of friction between the PDU drive rollers and the bottom surface of the ULD, as well as the lifting force generated by the PDU lift mechanism. When the PDUs are deenergized, roller rotation ceases and the ULD stops moving.
Several sets of PDUs can be arranged along a common path of conveyance, and each set can be operated separately, thereby allowing for the transfer of multiple pieces of cargo. An operator supervising the transportation of cargo into the cargo deck area can guide cargo by means of a joystick and an on/off switch or similar controls.
PDUs can be damaged when they continue to operate beneath immobilized cargo, a condition known as scrubbing. Scrubbing occurs when cargo is too heavy or has come upon an obstruction such as a wall guide within the cargo compartment. Scrubbing can quickly wear away the rubber coating on the rollers (or the roller itself) necessitating their replacement and can result in damage to the PDU motor.
Cargo container stall sensors integrated within a PDU are used to sense a stalled container and to remove power to the PDU motor after a predetermined delay to avoid PDU damage. Some PDU control systems have a manual de-select switch for removing power to the PDUs when a stall condition is determined. Unfortunately, this de-select switch is often not used properly by operators, who are focused on loading cargo rather than protecting PDUs. Thus, damage to PDUs when scrubbing conditions occur is a common problem.
Known stall sensors include mechanisms for monitoring the temperature of the PDU motor, which is subject to measurement error, or require additional electromechanical mechanisms on the PDU, which are susceptible to wear and other maintenance issues.
Further, in the aircraft cargo area, it is important to keep track of the location of the ULDs. The most common method of keeping track of these ULDs, while they are in the cargo area, is by detecting them as they pass over a ULD sensor which is located on the floor of the cargo compartment. One known sensing method is the use of infrared (IR) light to determine the presence of the ULD. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,384 discloses a PDU having an IR sensor to detect the presence of cargo directly above a corresponding PDU. U.S. Pat. No. 7,014,038 also discloses employing an IR or other sensor data to detect cargo. Such systems typically employ a digital sensor which only allows two states (i.e., "ULD present" or "ULD not present"). While prior art PDUs are configured to use IR information to detect an ULD, they are not configured to detect whether the ULD is moving.

Air cargo power drive unit for detecting motion of an overlying cargo container


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a substrate, a central structure, a second gate insulating film, a floating gate, and a control gate. The substrate has a trench. The central structure is formed so as to be embedded in the trench and protruded from the substrate. The second gate insulating film is formed on the substrate so as to be contact with the central structure. The floating gate is formed on the second gate insulating film. The control gate is formed so as to cover the floating gate through a insulating film;. The central structure includes an assistant gate and a first gate insulating film which is formed such that the assistance gate is surrounded with the first gate insulating film. The floating gate is formed in a side wall shape on the side surface of the central structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application JP, 2004-23093A discloses a trench type flash memory. This flash memory includes: a substrate having a trench; a gate structure; a source region placed in the substrate around the bottom of the trench; and a drain region placed in the substrate around the top of the trench. A tunnel oxide layer, a floating gate, a gate dielectric layer and a control gate are placed in the gate structure, in the order starting from the outer side to the inner side in the trench. Also, the control gate is surrounded and coated by the tunnel oxide layer, the floating gate and the gate dielectric layer.
Also, a split gate type flash memory is known. According to this split gate type flash memory, not only a control gate but also an assistant gate (selection gate) needs to be turned on, in order to turn on a transistor. Thus, even if charges are excessively removed from the floating gate, an excessive removal problem in which a channel region is always conductive is prevented. Also, with a source side injection (SSI), the injection efficiency of hot electrons is improved as compared with a case of a stack gate type flash memory.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application JP, 2002-373948A discloses a trench split gate type flash memory. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of this conventional trench split gate type flash memory cell. This flash memory cell includes a P-type substrate 100, a deep N-well layer 102 and a P-well layer 104. The region doped at a high concentration inside the deep N-well layer forms a source region 106. An assistant gate region 108 on the source region 106 includes a polysilicon layer (assistant gate) 110 and an oxide layer 112. A gate 114 is located on the P-well layer 104 on one side of the assistant gate region 108. The gate 114 has a first polysilicon layer 116, a second polysilicon layer 118 and an insulating layer 120. A drain layer 107 is embedded in the P-well layer 104 on one side of the gate 114. Metal silicon compound layers 122 are formed on the surfaces of the drain region 107 and the polysilicon layer 110.
According to the technique disclosed in JP, 2002-373948A, the floating gate (first polysilicon layer 116) is formed by using a mask pattern. Thus, the size of the floating gate is the minimum manufacturing dimension (feature size) F or more. In this case, the minimum value of the size in a channel direction of a memory cell is "2×F", and the minimum value of the area of the memory cell is "(2×F)2=4×F2" in principle.
Recently, the capacity of a flash memory has been increased more and more. Thus, the further reduction in a memory cell size, the further improvement of an integration degree and the further drop in a bit cost are desired.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device including an assistant gate formed in a trench


The present invention relates to an optoelectronic device (100) for determining relative movements or relative positions of two objects, comprising a first object (10) fixed relative to a frame (1) of the device; a second object (20) mounted in spaced relation to the first object (10) and adapted for movement relative thereto; and at least one measuring cell for determining movement or displacement of the second object (20) relative to the first object (10). In one aspect, the invention provides a stop arrangement (40) for limiting the movement or displacement of the second object relative (20) to the first object (10), wherein the stop arrangement (40) comprises a mounting part (44) to be fixed relative to the frame (1) of the optoelectronic device (100), and at least one generally elongate stop member (41) arranged laterally of and substantially rigidly connected with the mounting part (44).

For the computer user, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to control and implement two-dimensional and three-dimensional movements or displacements in the computer environment. This is typically achieved using a computer peripheral device. The two- or three-dimensional displacements are detected by the peripheral device and described as a translation (X, Y, Z) and/or a rotation (A, B, C) in space. Furthermore, such displacements may be used to determine a corresponding applied force and/or moment.
Recently developed computer peripheral devices of the above-described type, particularly for the office sector and the entertainment electronics sector, utilize optoelectronic devices to detect and describe displacements in two- or three-dimensional space. Here they function as an input device with which manipulations in up to six degrees-of-freedom can be input, in contrast to a joystick, a mouse or a trackball, which in general only allow input in two degrees-of-freedom. The simple, convenient input of six components, as allowed by a force and/or moment sensor comprising an optoelectronic device, is particularly desirable to control 3D design software and sophisticated computer games.
To this end, the optoelectronic device will typically include one or more measuring cell comprising a position-sensitive detector illuminated by a light-emitting element, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), for measuring displacements in multiple (i.e. up to six) degrees-of-freedom. Examples of such devices are known from United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/102422 A1 and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/103217 A1.
Thus, starting from the above prior art, the present invention is based on the object of creating a more compact, more efficient and more easily assembled device design compared with known arrangements. That is, the design of the device is preferably more flexible and should require a smaller area. Also, the design of the device should be more economical to produce and should provide even more reliable operation. This design may then be implemented in the creation of an input device for use in the office or entertainment sectors or a force/moment sensor which allows uncomplicated input in up to six degrees-of-freedom.

Optoelectronic device for determining relative movements or relative positions of two objects


Memories having internal processors and methods of data communication within such memories are provided. One such memory may include a fetch unit configured to substantially control performing commands on a memory array based on the availability of banks to be accessed. The fetch unit may receive instructions including commands indicating whether data is to be read from or written to a bank, and the address of the data to be read from or written to the bank. The fetch unit may perform the commands based on the availability of the bank. In one embodiment, control logic communicates with the fetch unit when an activated bank is available. In another implementation, the fetch unit may wait for a bank to become available based on timers set to when a previous command in the activated bank has been performed.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to memory systems, and more particularly, to memory systems having internal processors.
2. Description of Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
Electronic systems typically include one or more processors, which may retrieve and execute instructions, and store the results of the executed instruction, such as to store the results to a suitable location. A processor may generally use arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuitry to execute instructions, such as arithmetic and logic operations, on data, such as one or more operands. For example, the ALU circuitry may add, subtract, multiply, or divide one operand from another, or may subject one or more operands to logic operations, such as AND, OR, XOR, and NOT logic functions. A processor may execute instructions having different degrees of complexity, and different instructions may involve inputting the operand(s) through the ALU circuitry in one or multiple clock cycles.
A number of components in the electronic system may be involved in directing a set of instructions to the ALU for execution. In some devices, the instructions may be generated by a controller, or some other suitable processor in the electronic system. Data (e.g., the operands on which the instructions will be executed, as well as the instructions) may be stored in a memory component (e.g., a memory array) that is accessible by the ALU. The instructions and data may be retrieved from the memory and sequenced and/or buffered before the ALU begins to execute instructions on the data. Furthermore, as different types of operations may be executed in one or multiple clock cycles through the ALU, intermediate results of the instructions and/or data may also be sequenced and/or buffered.
Typically, a processor (e.g., the ALU circuitry) may be external to the memory array, and data must be accessed via a bus between the processor and the memory array to execute a set of instructions. As processing speed may be limited by the bandwidth of the bus, processing performance may be improved in a processor-in-memory (PIM) device, where the processor is implemented internal to a memory (e.g., directly on the memory), conserving time and power in processing. Furthermore, the memory may also be configured to execute instructions with little or no external assistance, further saving on processing power.

Memory having internal processors and methods of controlling memory access


In order to implement fine control of iterations in an example turbo decoder, a selector and decoding calculator is adapted to be able to decode an input data sequence based on previous likelihood information input to a soft-decision decoder in the first half and new likelihood information obtained from the soft-decision decoder having implemented a decoding process using the likelihood information.

Conventionally, the turbo coding has drawn attention after its first introduction in 1993 because of its high coding gain, and its application to channel coding for next generation mobile communications systems and the like has been investigated.
The outline of the turbo codes is detailed, for example, in the literature (Claude Berrow 'Near Optimum error correcting coding And Decoding: Turbo codes', IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol.44 No.10, Oct. 1996, pp. 1262–1271) and the literature (Motohiko Isaka/Hideki Imai 'Fingerpost to Shannon limit: "parallel concatenated (Turbo) coding", "Turbo (iterative) decoding" and its surroundings′, Technical Report IT98-51 December 1998 of The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers.
The features of the Turbo code are briefly listed below:    (i) A plurality of identical constituent encoders are concatenated in parallel or in series.    (ii) An interleaver is used to uncorrelate inputs of data sequences to individual encoders. An interleaver having a high randomizing performance is preferred.    (iii) At the decoder end, based on the soft-decision input data, soft-decision decoded data and its soft-decision likelihood data as to likelihood information are output.    (iv) At the decoder end, soft-decision likelihood data is used as renewal likelihood information to implement iterative decoding.
Soft-decision data implies a value, which is not binary data consisting of 1 and 0 but is represented by a particular number of bits. Soft-decision input data implies received soft-decision data. Soft-decision likelihood data implies the likelihood of data to be decoded in terms of soft-decision data. Soft-decision decoded data implies decoded data calculated based on the soft-decision input data and the soft-decision likelihood data.
The principle of turbo coding will be described briefly. Here, a typical configuration in which encoders are concatenated in parallel is assumed with a code rate of ⅓ and a constraint length K=3. FIG. 10 shows a configuration of the turbo encoder.
This turbo encoder is schematically configured of a recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) encoder 400, a recursive systematic convolutional encoder 410 and an interleaver 420.
RSC encoders 400 and 410 are encoders having an identical configuration for implementing recursive systematic convolution.
Interleaver 420 is a permuter which rearranges an input data sequence X to generate a data sequence X′ consisting of the same elements but in a different order.
The operation of RSC encoders 400 and 410 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, this encoder can be configured of two shift registers, i.e., registers 430 and two modulo adders 440.
The internal states (b1, b2) in this encoder are represented as the values in the shift registers, there being four internal states, namely internal state (00), internal state (01), internal state (10) and internal state (11). When an input is given, every state has two possible internal states to transfer.
FIG. 12 shows state transitions in RSC encoders 400 and 410.
For the internal state (00), if the input is 0, the internal state transfers to the internal state (00) and the code output is 0; and if the input is 1, the internal state transfers to the internal state (10) and the output code is 1.
For the internal state (01), if the input is 0, the internal state transfers to the internal state (10) and the code output is 0; and if the input is 1, the internal state transfers to the internal state (00) and the output code is 1.
For the internal state (10), if the input is 0, the internal state transfers to the internal state (11) and the code output is 1; and if the input is 1, the internal state transfers to the internal state (01) and the output code is 0.
For the internal state (11), if the input is 0, the internal state transfers to the internal state (01) and the code output is 1; and if the input is 1, the internal state transfers to the internal state (11) and the output code is 0.
The data sequence obtained by subjecting input data sequence X to convolutional coding through RSC encoder 400 is referred to as data sequence Y1. The data sequence obtained by subjecting input data sequence X′, which has been obtained by interleaving input data sequence X through interleaver 420, to convolutional coding through RSC encoder 410 is referred to as data sequence Y2.
In other words, the first code sequence Y1 and the second code sequence Y2 are generated from input data sequence X. The RSC encoders output X, Y1 and Y2 in parallel.
When assuming that input data sequence X is (0,1,1,0,0,0,1) and the data sequence X′ after interleaving by interleaver 420 is (0,0,1,0,1,0,1), the convolutional codes result in Y1 (0,1,0,0,1,1,1) and Y2 (0,0,1,1,0,1,1). The evolutions of the internal state transitions in RSC encoders are shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the internal state transitions for Y1 and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the internal state transitions for Y2. In FIGS. 13 and 14, the thick lines denote the evolutions of state transitions.
Next, the basic constructional example of a turbo decoder is shown in FIG. 15. Each of blocks 600, 610, 620, 630, denoted with Iteration 1 to Iteration n, constitutes one decoding unit. Here, "Iterations" shown as being connected from one to another, implies repeated operations of the processes.
FIG. 16 shows a decoding unit block, or a block diagram of the components for each Iteration process. This decoding unit block is comprised of soft-decision decoders 10 and 11, interleavers 20 and 21, a recovery interleaver 22 and decoding calculator 33. The likelihood information E to be input to the first block 600 has an initial value (0,0,0,0, . . . 0,0: value 0).
Soft-decision decoders 10 and 11 are decoders which output a soft-decision output based on a soft-decision input.
Interleavers 20 and 21 are permuters for implementing the same operation as the interleaver 420 used on the RSC encoder side.
Recovering interleaver 22 is a permuter for recovery of the original data sequence from the data sequence which was permuted by interleavers 20 and 21.
Decoding operation part 33 is a means for generating data after error correction.
The signals input to the block are received signal sequences (X, Y1, Y2) and likelihood information E of the signals. Of these, signals (X, Y1, E) constitute one set, and are supplied to soft-decision decoder 10, where the first error correction to the soft-decision soft output is implemented. This process executes the error correction process corresponding to the encoding in RSC encoder 400 so as to generate renewed likelihood information E1 as to each signal.
Next, the second soft-decision soft output error correction is implemented based on signals (X, Y2, E1), involving the renewed likelihood information E1. In this case, since permutation of data was performed by interleaver 420 before convolutional coding in RSC encoder 410 (see FIG. 10), the data of likelihood information E1 is permuted by interleaver 20 and data of signal X is permuted by interleaver 21, respectively, so as to produce new data sequences (X′, E1′). These new data sequences (X′, E1′) are supplied to soft-decision decoder 11, where the error correction process corresponding to the encoding in RSC 410 is implemented so that renewed likelihood information E2 as to each signal is generated. Here, since the data sequences (X′, E1′) necessary for the error correction process corresponding to the encoding in RSC 410 for the next iterative process have been rearranged by interleaver 20 and interleaver 21, likelihood information E2 is processed through recovering interleaver 22 so that the data is rearranged and output as likelihood information E2′. The likelihood information E2′ is used as the likelihood information when iterative operations are repeated.
At decoding calculator 33, decoded result X″ at this point can be obtained.
Various possible techniques for decoding turbo codes can be considered but there are two dominant methods, namely, SOVA (Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm) which is characterized by outputting data as soft output based on the application of the Viterbi algorithm, and Log-MAP (Maximum A Posteriori Probability) which is an improvement in computational efficiency of the maximum likelihood decision method. Here, one computational example based on the Log-MAP process will be described.
To begin with, the following notations are used in the description:
m: internal state
m′: internal state (before transition)
St: internal state at time t
Xt: output information at time t
X: estimated output
Yt: received data information at time t    (a): pt(m|m′): the probability of transition to internal state m from internal state m′:pt(m|m′)=Pr(St=m|St−1=m′)    (b): qt(X|m, m′): the probability that the output in the case of transition from internal state m′ to m is X:qt(X|m, m′)=Pr(Xt=X|St=m ; St−1=m′)    (c): R(Yt, X): the probability that the transmitted data is X and the received data is Yt.    (d): γt(m, m′): the probability of transition from internal state m′ to m when the received data is Yt:
            γ      t                  (              m        ,                  m          ′                    )        =            ∑      X                                                                          P          t                                  (                      m            |                          m              ′                                )                    ·                        q          t                                  (                                    X              |              m                        ,                          m              ′                                )                    ·              R                          (                                    Y              t                        ,            X                    )                    for all possible X.    (e): σt(m): the probability of the internal state at time t is m :
            α      t                  (      m      )        =            max              m        ′                        {                                    α                          t              -              1                                                      (                          m              ′                        )                          +                              γ            t                                          (                          m              ,                              m                ′                                      )                              }      for all possible m′.    (f): βt(m): the probability of the internal state at time t is m :
            β      t                  (      m      )        =            max              m        ′                        {                                    β                          t              +              1                                                      (                          m              ′                        )                          +                              γ                          t              +              1                                                      (                          m              ,                              m                ′                                      )                              }      for all possible m′.    (g): σt(m, m′): the probability of internal state m′ at time t transferring to m :σt(m,m′)=αt−1(m′)+γt(m′,m)+βt(m)
Next, computational procedures will be described.
The above precomputable values, (a): pt(m|m′) and (b): qt(X|m, m′), should be determined or optimized in advance. Specifically, (a): Pt(m|m′) for the turbo encoder shown in FIG. 10 are given as the table 1 below.
TABLE 1For t = 1,pt(0|0) = 0.5,pt(1|0) = 0,pt(2|0) = 0.5,pt(3|0) = 0,pt(0|1) = 0,pt(1|1) = 0,pt(2|1) = 0,pt(3|1) = 0,pt(0|2) = 0,pt(1|2) = 0,pt(2|2) = 0,pt(3|2) = 0,pt(0|3) = 0,pt(1|3) = 0,pt(2|3) = 0,pt(3|3)= 0,For t = 2,pt(0|0) = 0.5,pt(1|0) = 0,pt(2|0) = 0.5,pt(3|0) = 0,pt(0|1) = 0,pt(1|1) = 0,pt(2|1) = 0,pt(3|1) = 0,pt(0|2) = 0,pt(1|2) = 0.5,pt(2|2) = 0,pt(3|2) = 0.5,pt(0|3) = 0,pt(1|3) = 0,pt(2|3) = 0,pt(3|3) = 0,For t > 2,pt(0|0) = 0.5,pt(1|0) = 0,pt(2|0) = 0.5pt(3|0) = 0,pt(0|1) = 0.5,pt(1|1) = 0,pt(2|1) = 0.5pt(3|1) = 0,pt(0|2) = 0,pt(1|2) = 0.5,pt(2|2) = 0,pt(3|2) = 0.5,pt(0|3) = 0,pt(1|3) = 0.5,pt(2|3) = 0,pt(3|3) = 0.5,(b): qt(X | m, m′)
TABLE 2qt(0|0,0) = 1,qt(1|2,0) = 1,qt(1|0,1) = 1,qt(0|2,1) = 1,qt(1|1,2) = 1,qt(0|3,2) = 1,qt(0|1,3) = 1,qt(1|3,3) = 1,qt(X | m, m′) = 0, for other than the above.
Here, X is considered only on the transmitted data information.
Next, for each piece of the received data, (c): R(Yt, X) is determined, and calculations of (d): γt(m, m′) and (e): αt(m) are repeated for all the pieces of the received data. As to (c), for example, Gaussian distribution having a standard deviation σ may be assumed. The probability density function P(X) in this case is represented as the following equation and its graph is shown in FIG. 17. Here, m=−1 or +1.
      P              (      X      )        =            1                        2                                                              π                                                                          σ            2                                          ⅇ              -                                            (                              x                -                m                            )                        2                                2                                      σ              2
The first sequence 500 in FIG. 17 represents data p(Yt|Xt=−1) when the input data is 1(−1) and the second sequence 510 represents data p(Yt|Xt=+1) when the input data is 0(+1). The horizontal axis represents Yt values and vertical axis represents p(Yt|Xt=−1) and p(Yt|Xt=+1) values. The R(Yt, X) can be given by the following equation, taking these into consideration.
      R              (                        Y          t                ,        X            )        =            log                    [                              p                                      (                                                                    Y                    t                                    |                                      X                    t                                                  =                                  +                  1                                            )                                            p                                      (                                                                    Y                    t                                    |                                      X                    t                                                  =                                  -                  1                                            )                                      ]              =                  log                          [                                                    1                                                      2                                                                                π                                                                                σ                      2                                                                                ⅇ                                  -                                                                                (                                                                              Y                            t                                                    -                          1                                                )                                            2                                                              2                                                                    σ                        2                                                                                1                                                      2                                                                                π                                                                                σ                      2                                                                                ⅇ                                  -                                                                                (                                                                              Y                            t                                                    +                          1                                                )                                            2                                                              2                                                                    σ                        2                                                                                ]                    =                                                  -                              1                2                                                                                (                                                                            Y                      t                                        -                    1                                    σ                                )                            2                                +                                    1              2                                                                  (                                                                            Y                      t                                        +                    1                                    σ                                )                            2                                      =                              2                          σ              2                                                      Y            t
=2Yt, when assuming σ=1.
For operation of (e): σt(m), the initial values are σ0(0)=0, σ0(1)=−∞, σ0(2)=−∞ and σ0(3)=−∞.
Next, (f): βt(m) is determined based on the above σt thus determined, and then (g): σt(m, m′) is calculated. Based on (g), the input data is guessed to compute a MAP estimate candidate. This process is repeated for all pieces of data.
The initial values for operation of (f) are βn(0)=0, βn(1)=−∞, βn(2)=−∞ and βn(3)=−∞.
For estimation of a MAP candidate, the following expression is calculated and used as the likelihood information for the decoder.
      log              [                                    ∑                                          X                t                            =                              +                1                                                                                σ              t                                                  (                              m                ,                                  m                  ′                                            )                                                            ∑                                          X                t                            =                              -                1                                                                                σ              t                                                  (                              m                ,                                  m                  ′                                            )                                          ]        =                    max                              X            t                    =                      +            1                                            {                              σ            t                                          (                          m              ,                              m                ′                                      )                          }              -                  max                              X            t                    =                      -            1                                            {                              σ            t                                          (                          m              ,                              m                ′                                      )                          }            where Σ should be taken for all conceivable m and m′.
This can be derived using the following approximations in Log-MAP:
      ·          log      (                        ∑          i                                                                                exp                                (                          a              i                        )                              )        ≅            a      M                                    (                        a          M                :                  the                                                              maximum                                                              value                                                              among                                                                          a            i                              )      ·log(eP1·eP2)=P1+P2·log(eP1/eP2)=P1−P2
In order to obtain error corrected final result, based on the likelihood information E1 from the anterior stage soft-decision decoder 10 and the likelihood information E2′ result is generated.
The following formula (1) is used for calculation for the decoded result:-Lc·X+E1+E2′; Lc≅4Ec/No=2/σ2   (1)
The transmitted data can be guessed by checking the sign of the calculated result of the above formula (1). When the sign of the calculation is (+), it can be guessed as (+1) and when the sign is (−), it can be estimated as (−1).
FIG. 18 shows the error correction characteristics of this turbo coding.
In FIG. 18, BER (Bit Error Rate) characteristics are shown: no-coding 700 designates the case of no-coding; IT=1: 710 the case where one iteration is performed; IT=2: 720 the case where iterations are repeated twice; IT=3: 730 the case where iterations are repeated three times; IT=4: 740 the case where iterations are repeated four times; and IT=5: 750 the case where iterations are repeated five times.
Here, Viterbi: 760 shows the BER characteristics when 5 bit soft-decision Viterbi decoding (with a constraint length of 9, Rate=⅓) is implemented.
As seen in the BER characteristics in FIG. 18, according to the turbo coding, the more the number of iterations is increased, the more the error correction performance improves.
However, in the turbo coding, it is possible to improve error correction characteristics by performing iterations of decoding while the amount of processing increases, so that there is a limit to the number of iterations of decoding.
In one word, error correction performance is limited by the limitation of the amount of processing.
With the prior art error correction characteristics shown in FIG. 18, if a bit error rate of 10−6 needs to be achieved, Eb/No should be 3.0 for two times of iterations. For three times of iterations, Eb/No becomes 2.2 or lower. That is, the number of iterations is selected depending on the necessary error correction performance.
Accordingly, if iterations cannot be repeated three times from the viewpoint of the amount of processing, the number of iterations have to be set at 2, hence Eb/No becomes 3.0, resulting in relative degradation of error correcting performance.
The present invention has been devised in order to solve the above problem; it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a turbo decoder which can implement fine control of iterations.

Turbo decoder and turbo decoding method and storage medium where the method is stored


Biasing of language model customization due to repetitious data is substantially reduced by introducing novelty screening to data harvesting process. Novelty detection based filtering is added to ensure that an adaptation system gives more weight to representative adaptation data that is not repetitious. The value of the adaptation data is preserved and the process prevented from being polluted when the same data is seen multiple times, such as the original posting in an email thread, various versions of the same document, and the like. The screening technique may be built on top of existing data harvesting mechanisms as already seen data is used to determine the novelty of a particular portion of the data. A window into the new data, fixed or variable size, is compared against the already collected data to determine the likelihood that the data is novel.

Many technologies benefit from adaptation to a user's particular linguistic style. For example, spell checkers, spam filters, acoustic and language models for speech recognizers, and the like, utilize adaptation techniques to optimize their efficiency and accuracy. Harvesting pre-existing documents and files provides one potential source of data that can be used to learn about the user's linguistic style.
However, typical adaptation techniques perform well only when the used data is representative of the user's linguistic style. The available documents and files may frequently contain repeated content such as multiple versions of the same document or mail threads with many replies to the same initial email. Often, it may be difficult to keep track of which documents or data have already been processed by the adaptation system in order to determine the relevance of a new file or document. For example, when the data includes a long mail thread, the multiple replies may repeat the original posting many times. Adapting directly from such data may unduly bias the personalized model to repeated data rather than to a more representative spectrum of data.
In many ways, documents that have multiple versions are more likely not to be the product of a particular user but instead the product of a group of people and therefore not as representative of the user's linguistic style as a document that only occurs once. This leaves an adaptation system vulnerable to two errors. The system may learn patterns of language from other users with as much weight as the targeted user, and it may learn biased frequencies as it sees the same data "too many" times.
An example of linguistic style adaptation is speech recognition systems. Many current speech recognition systems use language models which are statistical in nature. Such language models are typically generated using known techniques based on a large amount of textual training data which is presented to a language model generator. An N-gram language model may use, for instance, known statistical techniques such as Katz's technique, or the binomial posterior distribution back-off technique. In using these techniques, the language models estimate the probability that a word w(n) will follow a sequence of words w1, w2, . . . w(n−1). These probability values collectively form the N-gram language model. There are many known methods which can be used to estimate these probability values from a large text corpus presented to the language model generator. When such large text corpora are used, unintentional biasing due to repeated data may skew the adapted language model.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.

Lightweight windowing method for screening harvested data for novelty


A fuel supply system for a turbomachine, comprising a fuel circuit comprising pressurizer at the output of the circuit, a pump arranged to send into the circuit a fuel flow rate which is an increasing function of the rotational speed of a shaft of the pump, and a control circuit arranged to control the device to comply with a flow rate setpoint at the output of the fuel circuit. The system further comprises a feedforward corrector circuit configured to calculate an increment of the flow rate setpoint as a function of the engine speed of the turbomachine and of a variation in the engine speed of the turbomachine, and to add this increment to the flow rate setpoint. A method of regulating the pump is also described.

The prior art comprises in particular patent applications US-A1-2010/064657, FR-A1-2 934 321 and EP-A1 2 599 982.
Turbomachines installed on an aircraft are equipped with a fuel supply circuit, delivering fuel to the combustion chamber, which must be regulated as required according to flight conditions. Referring to FIG. 1, the fuel circuit generally comprises a positive-displacement type high-pressure main pump 1 that delivers fuel to a hydromechanical unit 2 before injection into the combustion chamber 3. The assembly is arranged to provide a fuel flow rate at the outlet toward the combustion chamber adapted to the need. A control housing 4 generally controls the hydromechanical unit 2 so that it adapts the flow rate sent by the pump 1 to the needs of the combustion chamber 3.
In general, the pump 1 is driven by an output shaft of the accessory gear box 5 of the turbomachine, itself driven by a shaft of the primary body of the turbomachine, not shown in FIG. 1. A drive device 6 is generally installed between the shaft of the accessory gear box 5 and the pump 1 to adapt the rotational speeds between these two pieces of equipment. This device determines a ratio K between the speed of the pump 1 and the rotational speed ω of the engine shaft of the turbomachine. This device usually also drives a means 7 for supplying the circuit from the fuel tanks 8.
The linear characteristic Cyl of the pump 1 between the fuel flow rate and its drive speed depends in particular on its displacement. The pump 1 must be dimensioned in such a way that this displacement enables the required flow rates to be delivered at all operating speeds of the turbomachine, thus the speed of the output shaft of the accessory gear box 5, at both low and high speeds.
As can be seen in FIG. 2, representing the variations in flow rate F as a function of the rotational speed ωAGB (AGB—Accessory Gear Box) of the engine shaft of the turbomachine, the fuel requirement F1 varies in a non-linear manner as a function of the engine speed of the turbomachine. The rotational speed ωAGB of the engine shaft of the turbomachine varies between a minimum value ωAGBmin, for ignition of the turbomachine, and a maximum value ωAGBmax for take-off. The engine speed corresponding to a cruising flight lies between these two extremes.
Depending on the application, the crucial point is located either at low speed ignition or at take-off, at high speed. In FIG. 2, this crucial point is located at the ignition, the pump displacement must be chosen so that its linear characteristic is equal to the value Cyl1, to ensure sufficient flow rate during all flight conditions. This value Cyl1 may be significantly higher than the minimum value Cylmin required under certain flight conditions, or even the value Cyl2 required during take-off.
According to this sizing, the flow rate provided by the pump therefore follows the line L1 on the flow rate/rotational speed diagram in FIG. 2. During a large phase of drive speed, especially in cruising flight, the pump therefore delivers a flow rate greater than the fuel flow rate requirement, thus an excess fuel F2.
The hydromechanical unit 2 must therefore return to the pump, via a recirculation loop 9, the excess fuel F2 over the requirement.
This fuel flow rate control problem is further accentuated when the fuel circuit is used, as shown in FIG. 1, to supply the variable-geometry (VG) actuators 100 operating moving elements 10 (such as variable pitch vanes) of the turbomachine. The actuation of the moving elements 10 creates variations in the fuel requirement in the circuit which must be taken into account in the sizing of the pump 1, the operation of the hydromechanical unit 2 and the characteristics of the recirculation loop 9.
This architecture of the fuel supply system has several drawbacks. The excess flow rate injected by the pump 1 induces an excess of power draw on the accessory gear box 5 compared to the need, which is detrimental to the efficiency of the turbomachine. The excess mechanical power is converted into thermal power which is dissipated in the recirculation loop 9 and must be discharged. This has a negative influence on the size and mass of the fuel circuit, especially for heat exchangers, not shown, placed to remove heat from this circuit.
It is therefore important to adapt the flow rate of the pump 1 to the various operating points of the turbomachine in order to increase the power taken from the accessory gear box 5, which is not possible with the drive device 6 of the prior art.
In addition, a hydromechanical unit 2 according to the prior art, which is not shown in detail in the figure, is usually composed of:
a metering devise controlled by a servo valve whose position is controlled by a position sensor;
a control valve, sending the excess flow rate delivered by the pump into recirculation loop 9, and regulating the pressure difference at the terminals of the metering device;
a stop valve, piloted by a servo valve allowing the fuel system to be pressurized and the injection to be cut off.
For the hydromechanical unit 2 to operate correctly, recirculation is necessary to ensure a pressure difference at the terminals of the metering device, whether the variable geometries 100 are activated or not.
Thus, the sizing of the pump 1 is normally carried out by considering an excess flow rate equal to the sum of the leaks of the system, the minimum flow rate necessary to regulate the pressure difference at the terminals of the metering device and the flow rate related to the movements of the moving elements 10.
Assuming that the problem of adapting the rotational speed of the pump according to the operating points of the turbomachine has been solved, a conventional fuel circuit requires this latter excess flow rate. It therefore does not allow the maximum gain in power to be achieved by adapting the speed of the pump 1 to the strict requirements.
An initial solution has been proposed to enable the speed of the pump to be adapted to provide a flow rate adapted to the need, by taking a fuel flow rate measurement and adapting the rotational speed of the shaft of the pump according to this measurement. This flow rate control loop is governed by the FADEC (Full Automatic Digital Engine Control) computer with a bandwidth of around 10 to 20 Hz. This solution therefore has a long reaction time and is therefore not very responsive to the flow rate calls of the variable geometries controlled by the FADEC. If this solution is adapted to a fuel circuit without variable geometries (in the case of electric VGs for example), the impact of VG flow rate calls on the injected flow rate will depend on the level of flow rate called and the reaction time of this control loop.
Another solution has been to further add a fast local loop based on the measurement of the pressure at the output of the positive-displacement pump. In fact, during these calls for flow rate due to
Variable Geometries, a pressure drop will be observed at the output of the positive-displacement pump.
However, this solution has disadvantages:
the compensation of the pressure drop during the calls for flow rates linked to the control of the variable geometries depends on the dynamics of this local pressure loop,
if the electrical power installed to accelerate the low inertia of the motors is insufficient, the speed of the pump cannot be increased again and the pump flow rate cannot be readjusted,
the conversion of a flow rate setpoint into a pressure setpoint requires the exact knowledge of the compressibility volumes of the hydraulic circuit,
a pressure sensor is to be installed at the output of the pump.
The aim of the invention is to propose a solution that makes it possible to take advantage more optimally of a power gain authorised by adapting the speed of the pump to the fuel requirement of the turbomachine for its different operating points, and allowing to compensate in advance for the flow rate calls of the variable geometries.

Feedforward control of a fuel supply circuit of a turbomachine


Disclosed is a system and method for ultrasonic measurement of the average diameter and surface profile of a tube. A calibration block is used to calibrate the average tube diameter, and a correction is applied to account for any temperature difference of the couplant between calibration and test measurements. By using a linear probe, or a single probe with a finely pitched helicoidal scan, errors in diameter measurement due to presence of surface pits may be compensated.

The ideal cross-section of a pipe or tube is perfectly circular, providing maximum strength and ease of joining adjacent tubing sections. Methods of measuring deviation of tubes from roundness are known in the art.
Known roundness measurement methods are often performed using a displacement transducer mounted between two location members which contact the surface of the tube and locate the transducer. As the tube under test is rotated with respect to the transducer and the location members, the transducer measures a displacement which is a weighted combination of the departures from roundness of the transducer and the contact points of the two location members. The advantage of this geometrical arrangement is that the measurement can be done with just one transducer, precision rotary bearings are not required, the axis of the tube does not have to be accurately aligned to the axis of rotation, and access to only one side of the rotating tube is required.
Moore (J. Phys. E: Sci. Instrum. 22 (1989) 339-343 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,908) has presented design considerations and algorithms for such a geometrical arrangement. However, Moore is silent on the use of ultrasound transducers, which have the advantage that they are able to simultaneously measure the wall thickness and the deviation from roundness of the tube under test. Furthermore, Moore's algorithms are applied to a two-dimensional circular object with no consideration of any profile variations in the third dimension, which is the axial length of the tube.
Glasscock (U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,416) teaches use of an ultrasonic probe for measuring wall thickness and ovality. However, Glasscock' s method is capable of measuring only the maximum and minimum deviation from the average diameter of the tube, thereby calculating the ovality. FIG. 1A illustrates an ovality measurement of a tube 4′ having a nominally circular outer surface 2′. According to the method of Glasscock, a maximum diameter Dmax and a minimum diameter Dmin of tube 4′ may be measured along two perpendicular axes, and tube 4′ is assumed to have an oval shape as illustrated in FIG. 1A.
FIG. 1B illustrates a roundness measurement of a tube 4 whose diameter has non-oval deviations from an average circle 2, wherein average circle 2 is a circle having the average diameter of tube 4. Tube 4 is a better general representation than tube 4′ of observed roundness deviations in tubes. Note, however, that the deviations from roundness of tube 4 have been exaggerated for clarity of presentation. Tube 4 may be characterized by the maximum diameter Dmax and the minimum diameter Dmin, but measurement of deviations δ from average circle 2 for all positions around the circumference of tube 4 would provide a much better characterization. Measurements of such other, non-oval, deviations from roundness are not possible with the method of Glasscock.
In general, users wish to determine variations along the axial length of the average diameter of the tube, not merely the roundness profile which is a measure of deviations from a nominal tube diameter. A problem of ultrasonic roundness methods in existing practice is that the measurement of the average tube diameter has low precision, and there is no method to calibrate for higher accuracy. Moreover, ultrasonic measurement of tube diameter has been found to be dependent on the temperature of the couplant fluid (usually water), and there is no existing method to achieve adequate temperature compensation.
A general problem of ultrasonic roundness methods in existing practice is that when a pit in the tube surface is encountered, the two location members, being much larger than the pit, will not be influenced, whereas the ultrasonic beam will probe the bottom of the pit. This leads to an overestimate of the average diameter and an inaccurate roundness measurement.
There therefore exists a need for an ultrasonic method capable of measuring deviations from tube roundness as a function of axial position, while at the same time providing an accurate measurement of the axial dependence of tube average diameter, the average diameter measurement being calibrated, independent of temperature variations, and unaffected by the presence of pits in the tube surface.
A method and system for accurate measurement of roundness and calibrated average diameter has been disclosed in a related co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/033,949 filed on the same day as the current disclosure. However, the co-pending disclosure does not teach compensation of temperature variations of the couplant, nor does it teach compensation for the presence of pits in the tube surface.

Ultrasonic measurement of surface profile and average diameter of a tube


A deer scent spreading apparatus includes an inner container positioned in an outer container. A peripheral wall of the inner container is spaced from a peripheral wall of the outer container. A cover is removably attached to the outer container and covers an opening defined by an upper edge of the outer container. A fluid is positioned between the outer and inner containers. A liquid scent configured to attract deer is positioned within the inner container. The fluid is heated to heat the liquid scent. A wicking member is attached to a bottom side of the cover and is positioned to be extended into the inner container. A tether is attached to the cover and extends upwardly away from a top side of the cover. The wicking member is at least partially removed from the inner container to disperse by evaporation the liquid scent absorbed therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to deer scent spreading devices and more particularly pertains to a new deer scent spreading device for dispersing scent for attracting game, and in particular for attracting deer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of deer scent spreading devices is known in the prior art. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that heats the scent being used to attract game to insure more evaporation and thereby more dispersal of the scent. This is particularly effective for deer hunting which is often done in cold weather which decreases the effectiveness of the scent.

Deer scent spreading apparatus and method


A motor structure resistant to liquid intrusion features two modules, the first having an electronically commutated external-rotor motor (20), which motor comprises an internal stator (22) that is arranged on a bearing tube (30) and is separated by a first air gap (24) from an external rotor (26; 92), which latter comprises a rotor cup (40) that is open at one end and is joined at its other end to a shaft (46) that is journalled in the bearing tube (30), further having a permanent-magnet arrangement (76), arranged at the open end of the rotor cup (40), for magnetic interaction with a second permanent-magnet rotor (92), forming part of the second module. The first module is separated from that second rotor (92) by a second air gap and forms therewith a magnetic coupling (94), so that a rotation of the permanent-magnet arrangement (76) brings about a rotation of that second rotor (92). A hermetic separation of the two modules is accomplished using a non-ferromagnetic separating element (82) arranged in the second air gap. The second module can safely be used to handle liquid, e.g. as a pump.

Thanks to their simple design, great reliability, and long service life, motors of this kind are used nowadays for a wide variety of drive functions.
Typical applications are as drives for so-called equipment fans that are used to remove heat from computer housings, also as drives for small fans for direct cooling of microprocessors, drives for vacuum cleaners, etc.
When an external-rotor motor of this kind is used for combined drive functions, the problem exists that although a compact design is desirable, on the other hand the motor must not be negatively affected by a part that is to be driven. For example, if this motor is driving a liquid pump or a compressor, no medium from the pump or compressor can be permitted into the motor, since that medium might otherwise damage the electronic systems of the motor or cause corrosion or the like in it.

Arrangement with an electronically commutated external rotor motor


The present invention relates to a control system for a vehicle (100), the system comprising: control means operable to monitor an accelerator control signal of the vehicle and to control a powertrain of the vehicle to apply an amount of torque to one or more wheels (111, 112,114, 115) of the vehicle (100) corresponding to the accelerator control signal, the powertrain comprising prime mover means (121, 123); and means for determining whether the measured rate of acceleration of the vehicle and the accelerator control signal have an expected correspondence, wherein if the measured rate of acceleration and the accelerator control signal do not have the expected correspondence, the control means is operable to command a change in the amount of torque applied to the one or more wheels by the powertrain.

It is known to provide a controller for a motor vehicle arranged to check that an amount of torque developed by an engine of the vehicle corresponds to the amount of torque demanded by a driver of the vehicle. In the event that a discrepancy is identified the controller may be arranged to reduce the amount of torque developed by the engine.
In known vehicles, the amount of torque developed by the engine is typically measured by reference to engine speed and a flow rate into the engine of either air (in the case of petrol engines) or fuel (in the case of diesel engines). The values of engine speed and flow rate are then processed by a controller to determine the amount of torque being developed. This methodology for measuring torque has been found to be cheaper and more reliable than introducing a direct means for measuring torque such as a strain gauge on a crankshaft of the engine.
With the advent of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) having a plurality of prime movers including an engine and an electric machine, it has become necessary to measure the torque produced by each of the prime movers in order to determine whether the amount of torque developed by the vehicle corresponds to that demanded by the driver.

Control system, vehicle and method of controlling a vehicle


A slicing machine for foods includes a circular knife with a peripheral cutting edge mounted rotatingly in a substantially vertical position on a machine housing. The knife defines a substantially vertical cutting plane. A knife protection ring is secured to the machine housing and surrounds a substantial portion of the cutting edge. A carriage for receiving a product to be cut is mounted on the housing on one side of the cutting plane for reciprocating movement in a direction parallel to the cutting plane. A scraper is arranged on an opposite side of the cutting plane to cover part of a face of the circular knife. The scraper is mounted pivotably about a pivot axis defined by a pivot bearing so as to be pivotable from an operating position to a cleaning position. The pivot axis is arranged above the center of the circular knife essentially horizontal and parallel to the cutting plane.

The invention relates to a slicing machine for foods with a machine housing, a circular knife mounted rotatingly therein, a knife protection ring secured to the machine housing, a carriage for receiving a product to be cut displaceable back and forth along the circular knife and a scraper means arranged on the opposite side of the circular knife and pivotable away from the circular knife.
The purpose of a scraper means on a slicing machine for cold meats is, on the one hand, to remove food remains adhering to the knife and, on the other hand, to deflect the cut slices of food in a favorable angle with respect to the circular knife and the machine housing as well as set them down by means of the force of gravity directly afterwards or after further transport over additional conveying elements.
Since this scraper means comes into contact with the food (e.g. cold meats) to be cut and, in addition, cut remains are deposited in the gap between circular knife and scraper means, it is necessary to clean this area more frequently in order to meet requirements of hygiene. This is, however, only possible when the scraper means is separated from the knife such that it is easily accessible from all sides.
DE-PS 604 898 discloses a scraper means for a slicing machine which is mounted on a vertical carrier pin and can be adjusted in its position horizontally and vertically. For cleaning, the scraper means must be removed completely from the slicing machine after loosening of a setscrew.
The published German patent application Sch 15 441 III 66 b discloses a scraper means consisting of transparent material which is pivotally mounted by means of a hinge secured vertically on the machine housing. The scraper means is pivoted away from the knife for cleaning and held in the scraping position by a resilient clamping device.
The known solutions have the disadvantage that the cleaning, which must be undertaken very frequently on slicing machines for reasons of hygiene, can be carried out only with difficulty or inadequately. The reason for this is that the attachment or locking means and the pivot bearing of the scraper means have recesses, corners, grooves and gaps which are hard to reach, and the scraper means is not easily accessible on all sides for cleaning even in its position pivoted away from the knife. Moreover, it is disadvantageous that all the parts are located in the main area of soiling, i.e. in the zone of the slicing machine touching the food. In this respect, the removal or pivoting away of the scraper means from the knife for the purpose of cleaning is also time-consuming or complicated.
The object of the invention is to mount the scraper means on a generic slicing machine such that, for the cleaning of the slicing machine, it can easily be moved away from the circular knife with a manual movement into the cleaning position, in which it is accessible from all sides and at the same time remains connected to the machine.


The method of the present invention includes patterning a gate structure. Then, a polyoxide layer is formed on side walls of the gate structure. Then, silicon nitride side wall spacers is formed on the side walls of the gate structure. Then, source/drain structure of the device is fabricated. Next, the side wall spacers is removed to expose a portion of the source and drain. Then, an undoped amorphous silicon layer is formed on the surface of the gate structure, the oxide layer and the exposed source and drain. A dry oxidation process is used to convert the amorphous silicon layer into textured tunnel oxide at the interface of the substrate and the oxide. A polysilicon layer is than formed, followed by chemical mechanical polishing the layer. A conductive layer is formed on the polysilicon layers. Subsequently, a silicon nitride layer deposited by jet vapor deposition (JVD) is formed on the conductive layer. A high k dielectric layer is next formed on the JVD nitride. A conductive layer to serve as control gate is subsequently formed on the high k dielectric layer. A patterning technique is used to pattern the layers.

Flash memory is one of the segments of nonvolatile memory devices. The device includes a floating gate to store charges and an element for electrically placing charge on and removing the charges from the floating gate. One of the applications of flash memory is BIOS for computer. Typically, the high-density nonvolatile memories can be applied as the mass storage of portable handy terminals, solid state camera and PC cards. That is because that the nonvolatile memories exhibit many advantages, such as a fast access time, low power dissipation, and robustness. The formation of nonvolatile memories toward the trends of low supply power and fast access, because these requirements are necessary for the application of the mobile computing system. One important key parameters of high performance memory is capacitive-coupling ratio. Various nonvolatile memories have been disclosed in the prior art. For example, Mitchellx has proposed EPROMs with self-aligned planar array cell. In this technique, buried diffusion self-aligned to the floating gate avalanche injection MOS transistor are used for the bit lines. Cross point array technology has been disclosed. The self-aligned source and drain will allow this device to be optimized even further for programming speed. See A. T. Mitchellx, "A New Self-Aligned Planar Cell for Ultra High Density EPROMs", IEDM, Tech. pp. 548-553, 1987.
An article proposed by Kevin et al. relates to the formation of the stacked floating gate devices using TiN as a control gate. This is discussed in 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers. This structure includes the use of TiN cladding by inserting a high quality oxide between the poly-gate and the TiN cladding. Youichi et al. proposed a structure with Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 /SiO.sub.2 gate insulator with TiN gate technology. This devices can break through the limitation of a thin SiO.sub.2 gate insulator with a poly-Si electrode. The Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 /SiO.sub.2 structure can provide a stable interface, thus the reliability of the device is improved. In the research, the device will exhibit high drive current and good sub-threshold slope. The Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 /SiO.sub.2 gate insulator with an equivalent oxide thickness of less than 5 nm. Therefore, it is a proper structure to replace the oxide as the gate insulator for smaller devices. This structure is proposed in 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers.
Metal oxide of high dielectric has been researched to take over the silicon dioxide as the gate dielectric. Recently, prior art proposed a TiO.sub.2 film as a gate dielectric to replace the oxide. JVD nitride layer, which refers to the nitride formed by jet vapor deposition, is used as an under layer of TiO.sub.2 for MIS (metal-insulator-silicon) structure. Typically, the interfacial layer is a serious issue of the metal oxide dielectric layer formed on the silicon material. The effective dielectric constant of the MIS capacitor is degraded due to the interfacial layer. The main reason for forming the interfacial layer is in the initial step of deposition. A research in IEDM, proposed by B. Hc et al., p. 1038 (1998), entitled "A 1.1 nm Oxide Equivalent Gate Insulator Formed Using on TiO.sub.2 Nitride Silicon". B. He et al., has approached that there exist an inter diffusion problem between the silicon and high k dielectric layer. During the annealing, inter-diffusion of Si, Ti and O occurred. The interfacial layer consists of Ti.sub.x Si.sub.y O.sub.z. Thus, a barrier layer is needed in the metal/high k/Si (MIS) structure to overcome the inter diffusion problem. The JVD nitride is an effect barrier layer to suppress the inter diffusion problem. Please refer to a further article "Effect of Barrier Layer on the Electrical and Reliability Characteristic of High-k Gate Dielectric films", IEEE, 1998, Yongjoo et al., p. 797. The use of JVD as an oxidation barrier can obtain thin equivalent oxide thickness (ETO). As known in the art, the interfacial layer increases ETO and the inter-diffusion causes the trap generation. In the paper of Yongjoo, it mentioned that ETO of TiO.sub.2 /JVD nitride/Si structure is thinner than the TiO.sub.2 /Si structure. Thus, the JVD nitride is an effect barrier layer to suppress the formation of interfacial layer.
Furthermore, the nitride made by the JVD exhibits excellent electrical properties. The JVD nitride has lower leakage current than the one of oxide and it has high resistant to boron penetration. Please refer to an article entitled "Ultra-thin Silicon Nitride Gate Dielectric for Deep-Sub-Micron CMOS Device", Mukesh Khare et al., 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers.

Method of forming high density flash memories with MIM structure

No. 6, Creation Rd. 2, Science-Based Industrial Park


An animation frame including a front frame body, a back plate installed therein with a grating plate and frame brackets, a moveable plane plate stuck with pictures, a battery, an IC circuit board and coils etc. The grating plate is placed on the pictures on the plane plate and fixed on a main body of the back plate; the plane plate has two notches respectively on its upper and lower edges, a vertical plane perpendicular to the plane plate has thereon a magnet between the two coils of the main body. The main body has thereon a movable device connecting with a movable screw and being fixed or adjusted to slide left or right to adjust the angular position of the plane plate. The main body has therein two movable screws connectable with the main body to adjust the plane plate in up and down moving. The magnet is provided at suitable distances from its two lateral sides each with a coil controlled by an IC circuit to generate an S or N polarity, according to the principle of “like charges repel while unlike charges attract”, the pictures can move to and fro between two fixed positions, so that effects that the two pictures are changed within a short duration when they are alternately changed with each other and the two pictures are entirely presented in long durations can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an improved animation frame, and especially to an improved animation frame having effects that two pictures alternately change and the two pictures can be entirely presented for long durations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is clearly seen from the name "animation frame" that the frame is similar to a conventional frame for pictures except that it is mounted therein with some electric elements to increase some specific effects, thereby its basic structure also has three parts including a front frame body, a back plate and frame brackets. The front frame body and the frame brackets of the present invention use a technique of conventional frames, and the present invention only has an improvement in the internal devices in its back plate.
Conventional animation frames made by various manufacturers available presently are different but are only based on a principle, namely, its grating plate is separated from its pictures, the grating plate is fixed and the motor moves a plane plate stuck thereon with the pictures; thereby viewers can see a nonstop changing of the pictures at an unmoved position. In this structure, the motor rotates with a fixed speed to render an eccentrically rotating round member with an axle as a rotating center to drive the pictures to get an effect of alternately changing. The conventional structure has a defect: the durations for entirely presenting the pictures before they get into the processes of alternately changing are short; thus the important effect for customers to clearly see the contents of the advertisements is unable to get.
Referring to FIG. 7 that shows angular adjustment of a conventional structure, in which a hollow turning cylinder 401 is mounted thereon with a protruding cylindrical post 402 to drive a plane plate stuck with pictures to change its angular position; the hollow turning cylinder 401 is slipped over a protruding cylindrical rotating axle 403 on a main body of a back plate, the largest adjusting distance of the plane plate stuck with pictures equals to the diameter of the hollow turning cylinder 401. The distance for adjusting in such a structure is short, thus the angle changeable of the plane plate stuck with pictures is small, and a defect that the pictures are unaligned with the grating plate is subjected to being occurred.