An apparatus for changing a connection between two serial components on the same circuit board. The apparatus comprises at least one column, and each column includes first, second, third and fourth pads. The first pad communicates with a first breakout connector disposed on the circuit board. The second pad communicates with a second breakout connector disposed on the circuit board. The third pad communicates with one of the serial components. The fourth pad communicates with the other of the serial components and with the third pad during normal operation.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) is a serial point-to-point topology commonly used in server and storage environments. A problem in both environments is the testing of high-speed protocol links without degrading the signal. In many serial point-to-point topologies, breaking out the link to a protocol analyzer is not a challenging feat. For example, a protocol analyzer can be easily connected to a host controller or a hard drive.
In the SAS topology, point-to-point links running between chips on the same board are common. Moreover, even the smallest stub on the line can have dramatic effects on the signal quality and overall robustness of the platform. A more complex solution must be found for breaking out links that normally would not route to an off board connector.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

Apparatus and method for high-speed SAS link protocol testing


A clip having parallel edge frames with pockets at each end and connected by transverse beams is used to removeably secure a heat sink to an orthogonal device package by inserting the corners of the device package in the pockets to secure the heat sink between the transverse beams and the surface of the device package.

Many semiconductor devices generate heat which must be dissipated to avoid damage to the device and/or impairment of its operating characteristics. In some devices, the heat generated is sufficiently dissipated by the enclosure, header or leads. Sometimes the device package is mounted on heat sinks including bodies of thermally conductive materials such as, for example, copper and aluminum which dissipate the heat generated by the semiconductor device into the surrounding environment. Such heat sinks may have extruded, machined or formed sheet metal bodies with dissipating fins and the like for conducting heat from the electronic device and dissipating heat into the surrounding environment.
Advances in microelectronics technology tend to develop device chips which occupy less physical space while performing more functions. Conventionally, the chips are packaged in housings which protect the chip from its environment and provide means for input/output communication between the chip and external circuitry. Miniaturization thus results in generation of more heat in less space with less physical structure for removing the heat from the electronic device package. Furthermore, as device packages decrease in size and are adapted for surface mounting on a circuit board or the like, attachment of heat sinks to the device package is further complicated not only by miniaturization of the package itself, but the requirement that heat sinks be secured to the package without causing damage to or electrical shorting between terminal leads extending from the package. Of course, as the size of the package decreases, the number and fragility of terminal leads increases. The size and shape of the heat sink used in connection with any specific electronic device package will vary, of course, with the configuration of the device package, the thermal dissipation requirements and the environment into which the thermal energy must be dissipated.


Attribute association discovery techniques that support relational-based data mining are disclosed. In one aspect of the invention, a technique for mining attribute associations in a relational data set comprises the following steps/operations. Multiple items are obtained from the relational data set. Then, attribute associations are discovered using: (i) multi-attribute mining templates formed from at least a portion of the multiple items; and (ii) one or more mining preferences specified by a user. The invention provides a novel architecture for the mining search space so as to exploit the inter-relationships among patterns of different templates. The framework is relational-sensitive and supports interactive and online mining.

The problem of mining (discovering) frequent itemsets in a set of transactions, wherein each transaction is a set of items, was first introduced in R. Agrawal et al., "Mining Association Rules Between Sets of Items in Large Databases, VLDB, pp. 207–216, 1993, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Agrawal et al. also led the pioneering work of mining sequential patterns, see R. Agrawal et al., "Mining Sequential Patterns, ICDE, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. As is known, each item in a pattern is represented by a set of literals (e.g., a literal may be "beer" or "diaper," as in a "market basket" scenario), and patterns on level k (patterns with a total number of k literals) are generated by joining patterns on level k−1.
Unfortunately, user preferences can not be incorporated into the Agrawal et al. mining process. The methodology mines (unnecessarily) all frequent itemsets before the answers to mining targets of a user can be filtered out during the final step. Consideration of user preferences apparently slows down this mining process when the dataset is large and high-dimensional, and it also creates difficulty in understanding the mining results since patterns are all mixed together.
Further, Srikant et al. (see R. Srikant et al., "Mining Generalized Association Rules," VLDB, pp. 407–419, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) and Han et al. (see J. Han et al., "Discovery of Multiple-level Association Rules from Large Databases," VLDB, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) consider multi-level association rules based on item taxonomy and hierarchy. These approaches are further extended to handle more general constraints, see R. Ng et al., "Exploratory Mining and Pruning Optimizations of Constrained Associations Rules, SIGMOD, pp. 13–24, 1998, and R. Srikant et al., "Mining Association Rules with Item Constraints, SIGKDD, pp. 67–93, 1997, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Unfortunately, with a pre-specified hierarchy or taxonomy, the mining space is severely restricted. The ability to discover patterns depends totally on whether these patterns happen to fit into the given taxonomy or hierarchy.
Still further, Shen et al. developed meta-queries for Bayesian data clusters using templates expressed as second-order predicates, see W. Shen et al., "Meta-queries for Data Mining," pp. 375–398, AAAI/MIT press, 1996, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Fu et al. (see Y. Fu et al., "Meta-rule-guided Mining of Association Rules in Relational Databases," Proceedings 1st Int'l Workshop on Integration of KDOOD, pp. 39–46, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) and Kamber et al. (see M. Kamber et al., "Meta-rule-guided Mining of Multi-dimensional Association Rules Using Data Cubes, SIGKDD, pp. 207–210, 1997, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) extend meta-queries to relational databases and multi-dimensional data cubes, respectively. Since meta-rules are viewed as rule templates expressed as a conjunction of predicates instantiated on a single record, they do not consider multi-attribute patterns formed from multiple records.
More recently, there has been work on different kinds of multi-attribute mining circumstances (see G. Grahne et al., "On Dual Mining: From Patterns to Circumstances, and Back," ICDE, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) and dynamic groupings (see C.-S. Perng et al., "A Framework for Exploring Mining Spaces with Multiple Attributes," ICDM, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein), where arbitrary sets of attributes are used to group items into transactions.
However, a need exists for attribute association discovery techniques that support relational-based data mining that overcome the above and other deficiencies.

Methods and apparatus for mining attribute associations

International Business Machines Corporation


A small photodetector type microphone (10) exhibiting excellent directivity without requiring any mirror surface. A diaphragm (27) vibrates in response to a sound pressure. An optical waveguide (28) is formed along the diameter of the diaphragm (27) and integral vibration of the optical waveguide (28) and the diaphragm (27) causes a variation in the quantity of light leaking from the optical waveguide (28) to the outside thus causing a variation in the quantity of light being transmitted across the optical waveguide (28). The optical waveguide (28) has one end side for introducing light into a light emitting elements (20) and the other end side for delivering light to a light receiving element (24). The light receiving element (24) outputs an electric signal related to the quantity of incident light.

A general microphone converts a displacement of the diaphragm vibrating in response to a sound pressure into an electric signal by using a coil or capacitor. A microphone has been proposed which is of the type that vibration of the diaphragm is converted into an electric signal by utilizing light. A known microphone of such a light use type will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. In a light detection type microphone 70 shown in FIG. 15, a diaphragm 72 mounted on the front side of a case 71 has a mirror surface on the inner side and vibrates back and forward in response to a propagating sound wave. The case 71 having a mirror surface of the inner wall has the diaphragm 72 mounted on the front opening end and receiving a sound pressure and a partition plate 75 for leaving a gap 76 between the top of the partition plate 75 and the diaphragm 72 and partitioning the inside of the case 71 excepting the gap 76 into two rooms. A light emitting element 73 and a light receiving element 74 are disposed in the partitioned rooms opposite relative to the partition plate 75. Light emitted from the light emitting element 73 is reflected at the inner mirror surface of the diaphragm 72, passes through a gap 76 and enters the light receiving element 74. A condenser lens 78 is disposed on an optical path between the light emitting element 73 and diaphragm 72 and converges light at a predetermined position of the diaphragm 72. A condenser lens 79 is disposed on an optical path between the diaphragm 72 and light receiving element 74 and converges light reflected by the diaphragm 72 at the light receiving element 74. The size of the gap 76 changes with a vibration displacement of the diaphragm 72 so that a light reception quantity of the light receiving element 74 is a function of a vibration displacement quantity of the diaphragm 72. An electric signal related to a sound pressure can thus be generated from a light reception quantity of the light receiving element 74.
FIGS. 16 and 17 are a schematic diagram and a detailed diagram showing a light detection type microphone 83 utilizing light according to another conventional technique. A monitor photodiode 85 detects a quantity of laser light irradiated from a semiconductor laser 84. A laser APC 86 controls an output of the semiconductor laser 84 in accordance with an output of the monitor photodiode 85, to thus maintain constant a radiation quantity of the semiconductor laser 84 during operation. A diaphragm 89 disposed in front of the semiconductor laser 84 has a mirror surface on the inner side and vibrates in response to a sound pressure. A laser beam from the semiconductor laser 84 passes through an objective lens 90 and becomes incident upon the diaphragm 89. The reflected light passes through the objective lens 90 and becomes incident upon a diaphragm displacement detector diode 91 which detects a light quantity. Referring to FIG. 17, each element shown in FIG. 16 excepting the diaphragm 89 is housed in a case 93. The peripheral of the diaphragm 89 is supported by the front wall of the case 93. The case 93 has a plurality of communication holes 94 for making the inner surface side of the diaphragm 89 communicate with an external. The semiconductor laser 84 and diaphragm displacement detector diode 91 are mounted on a mount substrate 96. A laser beam from the semiconductor laser 84 is irradiated to the inner mirror surface of the diaphragm 89 via a reflected light flux splitting element 97, the objective lens 90 and an achromatic transparent lid 98. The reflected light becomes incident upon the diaphragm displacement detector diode 91 via the achromatic transparent lid 98, objective lens 90 and reflected light flux splitting element 97. The achromatic transparent lid 98 prevents a sound pressure from propagating via an opening over which the lid is mounted. A focussing actuator 99 controls the position of the objective lens 90 along the axial direction by utilizing known focus servo control to be used by a compact disc (CD) player or the like. More specifically, the position of the objective lens 90 along the axial direction is controlled in accordance with the frequency components, for example, lower than 20 Hz (low frequency components lower than audible frequency) of a focus error signal detected with the diaphragm displacement detector diode 91. Regardless of vibration of the diaphragm 89, the focus of the laser beam can be positioned on the diaphragm 89. A sound pressure in the audible frequency range can be detected by deriving the focus error signal at 20 Hz or higher from the diaphragm displacement detector diode 91.
The light detection type microphone 70 shown in FIG. 15 is associated with the following problems. It is difficult to adjust the gap 76 in a sound pressure light reception region where a linear relation between a sound pressure and a light reception quantity can be obtained. A light reception quantity of the light receiving element 74 is likely to vary because of a variation in a divergence angle of light emission of the light emitting element 73 and a variation in a direction of the light emitting element 73. The light detection type microphone 83 shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 is associated with the following problems. Although a variation in the characteristics of each element and a variation in the mount position of each element can be suppressed, the layout of components becomes long along the axial direction and a compact layout is difficult. In order to improve the directivity of the microphone, it is necessary to react a sound pressure from a sound source also with the inner surface of the diaphragm 89. However, if the diaphragm 89 is positioned near at the objective lens 90 in order to make compact the light detection type microphone 83, the objective lens 90 hinders the propagation of a sound pressure to the inner surface of the diaphragm 89, resulting in a degraded directivity. It is necessary for the light detection type microphone 83 to apply a spot of a laser beam to the diaphragm 89 and detect the reflected light. It is therefore necessary to maintain always clean the inner mirror surface of the diaphragm 89. However, the inner mirror surface of the diaphragm 89 is likely to be blurred because of chemical reaction of chemical gas contained in the atmospheric air at a small quantity and because of attachment of dust.


The preparation method for the compound, composition and application thereof in preparing an angiotensin II receptor antagonist or application in preparing medicine for preventing and/or treating hypertension, chronic heart failure and diabetic nephropathy. After entering a human body, when releasing azilsartan, the compound releases hydroxyligustrazine or NO at the same time, thus generating a synergistic effect with azilsartan. The compound therefore has stronger and longer blood pressure lowering effect, more obvious and longer lasting heart rate lowering effect and high safety, and achieves ideal protective effect for heart and kidney functions.

Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease and a major risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality in congestive heart failure, stroke, coronary heart disease, renal failure, and aortic aneurysms. Antihypertensive drugs play a key role in the treatment and prevention of hypertension. With the deepening of the understanding of the pathogenesis of hypertension, many antihypertensive drugs with better curative effects, such as diuretics, β-blockers, calcium channel antagonists, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI, prils), angiotensin II AT1 receptor antagonists (ABR, sartans), have been continuously discovered and successfully applied in clinical practice. After years of clinical practice, it has been confirmed that the AT1 receptor antagonists (sartans) have many advantages, especially in preventing stroke, delaying renal insufficiency of diabetes and non-diabetic nephropathy, improving left ventricular hypertrophy, and protecting the target organs due to their ability to stably lower blood pressure, to have good curative effect, long duration of action, and good patient tolerance. It does not affect the degradation of bradykinin and the synthesis of prostaglandin, so it does not cause dry cough and angioedema. Therefore, it has become the mainstream of the global antihypertensive drug market. However, the anti-hypertensive drugs of sartans have a blood pressure lowering efficiency of only about 50-60% and have a certain degree of adverse reactions. Therefore, the development of a small-dose long-acting antihypertensive drug with stronger antihypertensive effect, less adverse reactions and better protection of target organs has become a hot research direction.
The Chinese Patent Application Publication No. CN103709154A discloses for the first time a compound of the following formula II:

The above compound, as a sartan drug coupled with ligustrazine (tetramethylpyrazine) or a NO donor, is a prodrug of the angiotensin II receptor antagonist azilsartan (TAK-536). The compound could release hydroxyligustrazine or NO in vivo, thereby effectively and synergistically acting with azilsartan to enhance antihypertensive effect, produce a certain heart rate lowering effect, reduce adverse reactions, and lead an ideal protective effect on the heart and kidney of patients.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Potassium salt of benzimidazole compound and preparation method therefor, composition and application thereof

WUHAN LL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


A spatial filter adapted to increase the angular spread of non-conjugated energy in a beam and suppress this energy to improve the efficiency of a phase conjugate system. In the illustrative embodiment, the filter includes first and second lenses and an aberrator to increase the angular spread. In the specific embodiment, an opaque plate, with a pinhole aperture therethrough, is sandwiched between the lenses to suppress the non-conjugated energy. The aberrator may be implemented with an amplifier or other suitable mechanism. Likewise, the aperture may be replaced with a highly angle-selective thick Bragg grating or other suitable arrangement. A phase conjugate master oscillator/power amplifier laser architecture is also disclosed. In an illustrative embodiment, the novel architecture includes a master oscillator adapted to output a laser beam; a power amplifier beam line in optical alignment with the beam; a mechanism for creating a beam having phase conjugate energy and non-conjugated energy; and at least one inventive spatial filter in alignment with the amplifier. The inventive filter is adapted to increase the angular spread of non-conjugated energy in a beam and suppress this energy to improve the efficiency of the system. In a specific implementation, the beamline includes plural amplifiers, each with one of the novel spatial filters disposed therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lasers. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for improving the performance of high power lasers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spatial filtering has been used in low-power systems to improve the beam quality of a laser beam. This approach simply discards the portion of the beam that lies outside the desired far field central lobe, thereby reducing the efficiency of the laser. Unfortunately, this approach is impractical for high power lasers due to the excess power required and heating of the blocking aperture.
Other approaches have involved an adjustment of various design parameters to improve fidelity. The design parameters for phase conjugate lasers have included a number of incoming beam parameters such as beam divergence, beam diameter, polarization state, pulse shape and format, wavelength, aberration shape or order, coherence and so on. Other design parameters that might be adjusted include parameters of the conjugator such as the length of the nonlinear medium; geometries of the beam interactions inside the nonlinear medium such as focus, beam intersection, length of the beam overlap region, angle between beams, choice of nonlinear medium and etc.
Unfortunately, this approach forces undesirable compromises in design. Further, this approach has been heretofore unsuccessful in the attainment of the fidelity required for current and future applications.
Hence, there is a need in the art for a system or method for improving phase conjugation fidelity in high power phase conjugate lasers and other electro-magnetic systems.

Phase conjugate laser and method with improved fidelity


A semiconductor device according to the present invention includes a base plate, an insulating layer provided on an upper surface of the base plate, a metal pattern provided on an upper surface of the insulating layer, a semiconductor element bonded to the metal pattern, and an insulating substrate disposed to be in contact with an upper surface of the semiconductor element. An end of the insulating substrate is located outside the semiconductor element in plan view. The end of the insulating substrate and the metal pattern are directly or indirectly bonded. The semiconductor element includes an electrode on the upper surface. A portion of the insulating substrate, in which the electrode on the upper surface of the semiconductor element overlaps in plan view, is provided with a through-hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a structure which dissipates heat from one side.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent times, a power electronics for the purpose of saving energy is expected to develop greatly. A power module serving as a semiconductor device packaging a power semiconductor element is adopted as the central part of a power electronics device to greatly contribute to the development.
A power module, which is basically formed of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) including a silicon for a base material and a diode, is mainly used in recent days. A power semiconductor element is improved with the times. However, for further development of a power electronics, it is required to be able to control a larger amount of current with reliability. The best method to satisfy the requirement is to change the base material of a power semiconductor element from silicon to silicon carbide (SiC). SiC is desired to be applied to a power module because the material itself has a high insulation breakdown voltage, SiC is able to operate in a high temperature of 300° C. without a thermal runaway, and SiC has approximately one-tenth power loss of silicon during operation comparing in the same current density.
A general power module on a back side exposes a base plate formed of a highly heat conductive material such as copper. The base plate is mechanically joined to a heat dissipation fin by a fastening member such as a screw. The heat dissipation fin is made of aluminum, copper, and the like. In addition, a heat dissipation grease is applied between the base plate and the heat dissipation fin to decrease thermal contact resistance.
When the power module is operated, heat is generated as a loss (product of current and voltage) of the power semiconductor element. This heat is dissipated to the outside by the heat dissipation fin through the base plate. In this manner, in the structure which dissipates heat from the back side of the power module, it is important to efficiently conduct the heat generated in the power semiconductor element to the base plate.
The power module basically has an insulating structure, thereby usually having an insulating layer (insulating substrate and insulating sheet) on an upper part of the base plate. In general, an insulating layer has a great thermal resistance, thereby deteriorating heat dissipation in this portion. To solve this problem, heat conductivity of the insulating layer itself has been increased, the thickness thereof has been reduced, and the like.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-174180, a heat dissipation plate is provided on both of the lower side and the upper side of the semiconductor element to efficiently dissipate heat.
However, increasing heat conductivity of an insulating substrate itself makes the material itself quite expensive, resulting in a cost increase. Moreover, reducing the thickness of the insulating substrate decreases an allowable strength of the insulating substrate, resulting in a fracture in the insulating substrate and a shortage of the insulation breakdown voltage.


A sample chamber and a column are connected to each other and comprise a magnetic substance. An exhaust section controls a pressure in the sample chamber and the column. A stage controller controls a stage, above which a sample is placed, in the sample chamber. An electron beam source power supply supplies power to an electron beam source, which emits an electron beam to the sample. A power supply supplies voltage to electron optic system, which controls the electron beam. The sample chamber, exhaust section, stage controller, electron beam source power supply and power supply are grounded by a first, second, third, fourth and fifth grounding point, respectively. The electron beam source and the electron optic system are electrically insulated from the sample chamber, column, exhaust section and stage. One of the first, second and third grounding point is different from the fourth or fifth grounding point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic beam apparatus and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the electron beam apparatus, and more specifically, to the configuration of a vacuum container and column for an electronic beam apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus using an electron beam can achieve a higher resolution than an apparatus using light, owing to the small wavelength of an electron beam. Thus, the electron beam is used for a transmission electron microscope, a scanning electron microscope, an electron beam drawing apparatus, and the like. The electron beam is composed of charged particles and is thus controlled by electromagnetic fields. However, a grounding environment may disturb the electromagnetic fields to affect the electron beam. This may make it difficult to control the electron beam. That is, the precision of control of the electron beam may be degraded. To avoid this, a vacuum chamber and a column are made of a magnetic substance having a lower magnetic resistance than the atmosphere, for example, iron; the vacuum chamber stores a sample and the column stores an objective and a condensing lens (Japanese Patent No. 2,993,504). This configuration attracts the magnetic disturbance into the chamber and column. Then, magnetic flux from a magnetic disturbance pass through the chamber and column and are thus prevented from affecting the electron beam.
Magnetic Problem
As described above, the chamber and column are made of the magnetic substance. Thus, when the magnetic disturbance reaches the chamber, a magnetic flux resulting from the magnetic disturbance flows through the magnetic substance constituting the chamber and then toward the column. The column is electromagnetically joined to the objective and condensing lens. Thus, the magnetic flux from the column passes through magnetic poles of the objective and condensing lens. The magnetic flux then seeps from gaps in the lenses. The magnetic flux may degrade the control of the electron beam EB.
Electric Noise Problem
The chamber connects to a pump for vacuum pumping, an measuring instrument for the degree of vacuum, a stage controller, pipe and solenoid valve which sets the pressure in the chamber equal to atmospheric pressure. Further, a solenoid valve for valve control is attached to vacuum pipe. These electric apparatuses make electric noise. The electric noise may vary the reference potentials of power supplies that control the chamber, column, and beam. This degrades the ability to control the electron beam.

Electron beam apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductor device


A revolving tongue for application to footwear provided a central pivot point that rotatably connects to a crossbar of the footwear, the crossbar extending between the lateral openings of the shoe, at upper edges of the shoe quarter portions. The tongue may be rotated, to disclose variations in coloration material and design for the shoes, as applied. A pivot pin or other connector secures the tongue, approximately centrally, to the crossbar, a guide may be provided at the lower or lateral edges of the circular tongue, secured within the shoe, to act as a guide to retain the tongue for its circular motion. In addition, openings may be provided within the upper quarter portions of the shoe, so the tongue coloration can show therethrough, and change, as the tongue is being pivoted for a different setting, and in addition, can also provide for aeration of the foot, at such location.

This invention relates generally to a turnable gusset or tongue for a shoe or other related footwear, wherein the tongue may contain a variety of coloration or designs, and upon its pivot, may expose the changeable coloration for viewing, and completely change the style and coloration of the shoe being worn.
Various types of prior art designs for different styles of footwear have long been available in the art, and primarily are useful for adding to the decorativeness and style for the structure of the footwear. For example, in the shoe of Lewis, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,070, therein is shown a high-heel type of shoe, as can be noted, with the vamp stitched to the upper surface of the sole. The vamp is designed to have different colored surfaces, to add to the variation in the decorativeness and coloration for the shown heeled shoe.
The patent to Lockard, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,346, shows another type of interchangeable sole and upper for shoes. The sole is provided with tracks thereon, that are arranged along a curve along the upper peripheral edge of the sole, and then a shoe upper or vamp can be slid therein to provide for different types of styles of vamps for the shown shoe.
The publication No. US2002/0124433 A1, to Pan, of Taiwan, defines a sports sandal incorporating various straps, with placing tapes that can be attached or detached to the straps, apparently for varying the coloration or design of the sandal, as noted.
Various other concepts for changing the appearance and the aesthetics of footwear can be seen in the variety of patents that provide for a removal and reversal or changing of its tongue or gusset, as known in the prior art. For example, in the published application US2002/0029494 A1, a shoe tongue held by Velcro, buttons, or even a zipper, can provide for removal of tongue, and its interchanging with another shoe tongue, to provide for variations, apparently, in the tongue design.
The prior patent to Tonkel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,321, shows a reversible tongue that is held by Velcro, at its bottom edge, to the upper approximate edge of the vamp, so that the tongue can be removed, and reversed, as desired.
The patent to Merry, U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,797 B1, shows footwear with a detachable spat. This spat can be held in place by means of adhesives, snaps, Velcro, or any combination thereof, as noted in this patent.
The patent to Bordin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,466 B1, shows a removable tongue for a shoe and attachment device therefore. A flexible band, like a belt, is used for holding the tongue of this footwear in place.
The patent to Lasher, U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,947, shows a decorative shoe tongue simulating and lace securing device, where the tongue is apparently held by Velcro fastened to the lacing for the shown shoe.
The patent to Sileo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,979, shows transparent footwear with interchangeable tongue and insole and kit therefore.
The patent to Adamik, U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,060, shows the construction of a tongue for a shoe or the like article.
These are examples of prior art constructions, for footwear or shoes, wherein the gusset or tongue, or related components, may be modified, have different coloration, and when removed and reversed, can provide for variations in the shoe design, the ventilation and breathable characteristics of the footwear, and coloration, as desired.
The current invention seeks to provide further modifications to the structure of footwear, in order to add to the variations on usage and appearance for shoes, generally enhancing its styling, and to increase the attractiveness of the footwear, by providing means for inherently changing the positioning of the shoe tongue, to change its design and coloration, as desired.

Footwear with pivotal and/or rotatable tongue


Systems and methods are disclosed to assist in making decisions. The systems and methods consider situations where the user is determining which of several alternatives is the best choice. The criteria to evaluate the decisions are input into a grid, and the user rates the different alternatives against the different criteria. Given several alternative choices or options, it provides the probability each alternative is the right selection. In one embodiment, the system implements a Bayesian approach. The systems and methods may estimate the chance some important consideration was missed thereby reducing the chance of being surprised or blindsided. The system and method may also examine the inputs to a decision analysis in order to detect entries that might reflect bias, assumptions or unusual reasoning, thereby increasing the chance of obtaining the correct answer. The systems and methods may also identify the factors that were predictive. The systems and methods do not accept information as valid and correct; rather, they allow cross-checking and verification, and further employ sub-systems and sub-methods to reduce mistakes. Systems and methods so disclosed may be employed in financial analyses, intelligence analysis, etc.

As has been well-researched in various behavioral sciences and is repeatedly observed in real life, the human mind is rarely completely rational. Instead, it succumbs to hidden assumptions and has numerous biases and preconceptions that cloud and color thinking and decision making.
These deficiencies can cause dangerous problems. For example, in the area of intelligence analysis, repeatedly, over time, surprise attacks have occurred. Congressional investigations have blamed a cause of the 9/11 attacks, as well as other calamities, on bias and faulty assumptions. There is a need to reduce the potential for dangerous events such as these.
In another field, evaluating financial value and predicting financial numbers is fraught with risks. Capital budgeting, acquisitions, and sourcing decisions might end up in error by large sums of money. Experts in the field are well aware of these difficulties and there is a need to remedy these difficulties.
A variety of decision support tools have been developed to help users make better decisions in risky and uncertain situations, including: optimization programs, statistical analyses, simulations, and an array of data mining and artificial analysis techniques. These previous efforts suffer from a lack of ease of use, lack of consideration of important factors, and various other drawbacks.


A thermally conducting reflecting envelope for use in laser cavities, and laser apparatus employing such envelopes. A transparent heat conducting member, such as sapphire, surrounds a laser medium and has a transmissive coating thereon that transmits pump light provided by a pump light source onto the laser medium. The coating reflects the diode pump light and transmits laser light to suppress ASE that causes clamping of the laser output at a relatively low level. An absorbing elastic material is disposed on the dielectric coating and is adapted to absorb the laser light. Heat sinks are disposed in contact with the absorbing elastic material, and conducts heat away from the laser medium. A light entrance window or area is antireflection coated to transmit the pump light onto the laser medium. A liquid cooled version further includes a liquid cooling channel disposed between the laser medium and the thermally conducting member. Two slab lasers are also disclosed employing the present thermally conducting reflecting envelope. The present invention provides more efficient cooling and a more effective ASE suppression than conventional Samarium glass filters in solid state lasers pumped by flashlamps or laser diodes. The present invention provides for efficient heat conduction and removal from a laser medium, efficient transmission and absorption of laser light to suppress ASE, and efficient transmission of pump light to the laser medium.

The present invention relates generally to lasers, and more particularly, to a laser reflecting cavity that provides for the suppression of amplified stimulated emission (ASE) and improved heat removal.
The prior art related to the present invention is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,155 which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and which discloses an integrating laser diode pumped cavity. The suppression of amplified stimulated emission (ASE) is especially important for Nd:YAG based laser designator systems to optimize energy output in a compact size. Although the laser disclosed in the above-cited patent works well, one disadvantage of the approach taken in this patent is seen in the use of Samarium glass to suppresses ASE and to increase energy storage in the laser. Samarium glass has a very low thermal conductivity and has limited absorption at 1.06 .mu.m light wavelength, thus limiting laser performance. The use of Samarium glass reduces the contact area between a sapphire envelope and a metal heat sink, thus reducing heat transfer and limiting the pulse repetition rate of the laser. With a less efficient heat removal scheme, the temperature of the laser rod is significantly increased which reduces overall laser efficiency.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for a laser reflecting cavity that provides for the suppression of amplified stimulated emission (ASE) and improved heat removal.

Laser reflecting cavity with ASE suppression and heat removal


Provided herein are improved methods of laser scribing photovoltaic structures to form monolithically integrated photovoltaic modules. The methods involve forming P1, P2 or P3 scribes by an ablative scribing mechanism having low melting, and in certain embodiments, substantially no melting. In certain embodiments, the methods involve generating an ablation shockwave at an interface of the film to be removed and the underlying layer. The film is then removed by mechanical shock. According to various embodiments, the ablation shockwave is generated by using a laser beam having a wavelength providing an optical penetration depth on the order of the film thickness and a minimum threshold intensity. In one embodiment, material including an absorber layer is scribed using an infrared laser source and a picosecond pulse width.

Photovoltaic cells are widely used for generation of electricity, with multiple photovoltaic cells interconnected in module assemblies. Such modules may in turn be arranged in arrays and integrated into building structures or otherwise assembled to for large scale conversion of solar energy into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
Certain photovoltaic cell fabrication processes involve monolithic integration of the cells of a module. For thin film solar modules, this involves depositing thin film materials on a substrate to form a light absorbing layer sandwiched between electrical contact layers. The front or top contact is a transparent and conductive layer for current collection and light enhancement, the light absorbing layer is a semiconductor material, and the back contact is a conductive layer to provide electrical current. In one example of a fabrication process, a metallic back electrical contact layer is deposited on a substrate. A p-type semiconductor layer is then deposited on the back contact electrical contact layer and an n-type semiconductor layer is deposited on the p-type semiconductor layer to complete a p-n junction. Any suitable semiconductor materials, such as CIGS, CIS, CdTe, CdS, ZnS, ZnO, amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, etc. may be used for these layers. A top transparent electrode layer is then deposited on the p-n junction. This layer may be a conductive oxide or other conductive film and is used for current collection. The thin film materials are appropriately scribed with a laser beam to form multiple interconnected cells on the substrate.

Ablative scribing of solar cell structures


High reliability electrical connections between a helical strand and flat electrodes, such as strip electrodes found in implantable neurostimulator systems, are described. The connection consists of a crimp joint in which an inside diameter mandrel is used to provided the coil with sufficient radial rigidity to ensure structural integrity of the crimp. The mandrel is made of a relatively soft biocompatible material that deforms rather than damages the fine wires of the helical strand during crimping. The crimp is accomplished by radial deformation of an annular or semi-annular crimping member that receives the helical strand/mandrel assembly.

This invention relates to high reliability electrical attachments between coiled leads and flat electrodes, such as strip electrodes found in implantable neurostimulator systems. The requirements for the attachment are biocompatibility, isolation from body fluids, and long-term mechanical/electrical continuity under cyclic stress.
A typical strip electrode consists of a thin, flat electrical contact of biocompatible, conductive material. A typical lead consists of a tightly wound coil of one or more helical strands of fine, fatigue resistant wire or filar elements. After attachment of the helical strand to the electrical contact, the entire assembly is potted or embedded in a flat sheet of elastomer so that only the face of the contact is exposed to body fluids.
Implantable leads are made of wires typically about 0.002 to 0.004 inches in diameter. These wires are formed into coils or helical strands about 0.015-inches in diameter. Leads are coiled so they can withstand constant flexing and bending forces as a result of body movement. Because of the very fine wire diameters, however, the resulting helical strands are difficult to attach to electrical contacts by laser welding. Crimping is the preferred attachment method. In that respect, the present invention is directed to ensuring that the crimped connection between a helical strand and an electrical contact maintains the same degree of reliability as is built into the coiled lead itself.

Connection for a coiled lead to an electrical contact for an implantable medical device


Disclosed embodiments provide a lighting controller and illumination system. A controller may include a phase-cut dimmer, a lighting receiver module, and at least two banks of lights. In embodiments, the lights may be LED (light emitting diode) lights, and the lighting receiver module is an LED driver. A first bank of lights illuminates at a first CCT and a second bank of lights illuminates at a second CCT. The controller communicates encoded information on a carrier signal that is received by the lighting receiver module. The lighting receiver module decodes the received encoded information and adjusts the intensity of the first and second bank of lights to create a combined CCT. The combined CCT may be realized by a combination of light from the first bank of lights and light from the second bank of lights. The combined CCT may be representative of a specified CCT.

Color temperature defines the color appearance of a white LED. CCT is defined in degrees Kelvin; a warm light is around 2700K, moving to neutral white at around 4000K, and to cool white, at 5000K or more. Since it is a single number, CCT is simpler to communicate than chromaticity or SPD, leading the lighting industry to accept CCT as a shorthand means of reporting the color appearance of "white" light emitted from electric light sources.
Phase-cut dimmers are the most common dimming control and are often referred to as TRIAC dimmers. A phase-cut light dimmer is used to adjust power that is supplied to a lamp in order to adjust the brightness (amount of light) emitted by the lamp. Phase-cut dimmers modify an alternating current (AC) signal that is input to a lighting device by "cutting" or removing some portion of the sinusoidal waveform phase, which reduces the root-mean-square (RMS) voltage of the waveform. An incandescent lamp's illumination is based on thermal radiation. Therefore, both output brightness and correlated color temperature (CCT) of an incandescent lamp's emitted light is a positive function of the lamp's input power, in that both brightness and CCT increase with increasing input power and decreases with decreasing power.
Lighting plays an important role in the design and usability of interior spaces. Different situations may call for different lighting conditions. For example. the ideal lighting for use while preparing a meal in the kitchen may be different from the ideal lighting for watching a movie after dinner. It is therefore desirable to have improvements in lighting control.


A method of indexing content for network searching comprises identifying media content signals stored at sites distributed over a distributed computer network; extracting content identifiers from the content signals; using the content identifiers to obtain metadata used to classify the media content signals; and creating a searchable index of the media content signals based on the metadata, wherein users access the searchable index on the distributed computer network to submit a search query for the searchable index to retrieve links to the media content signals.

As digital content continues to proliferate, management of digital assets becomes an increasingly difficult challenge. Enhancements in computer networking and database technology allow companies to manage large collections of images and other media and make the content available to third parties. While network communication provides a powerful tool to enable the manager of the database to share content with others, it makes it more difficult to control and track how the content is being used.
For example, some companies maintain extensive databases of images and other media content used to promote their products. Customers or service providers such as advertising and marketing firms can access this content remotely via extranet, web site, or other file transfer transactions. Though computer networking telecommunication technology facilitates access, it makes it difficult to ensure that the customers and services providers are getting the latest content, and that they are getting accurate and helpful information relating to the content.
In these applications, there is a need to enable digital asset management to reliably link media content with additional data about the content. One way to associate content with information about the content is to place the information in a file header or footer. This approach, however, is less effective because the information often does not survive file format changes, conversion to the analog domain, etc. Another way to associate multimedia content with other data is to hide identifying information in the content through data hiding or steganography. Steganography refers to a process of hiding information into a signal. One example of steganography is digital watermarking. Digital watermarking is a process for modifying media content to embed a machine-readable code into the data content. The data may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be detected through an automated detection process. Most commonly, digital watermarking is applied to media such as images, audio signals, and video signals. However, it may also be applied to other types of data, including documents (e.g., through line, word or character shifting), software, multi-dimensional graphics models, and surface textures of objects.
Digital watermarking systems have two primary components: an embedding component that embeds the watermark in the media content, and a reading component that detects and reads the embedded watermark. The embedding component embeds a watermark by altering data samples of the media content in the spatial, temporal or some other transform domain (e.g., Fourier, Discrete Cosine, Wavelet Transform domains). The reading component analyzes target content to detect whether a watermark is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information (e.g., a message), the reader extracts this information from the detected watermark.
The present assignee's work in steganography, data hiding and watermarking is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,260; in copending application Ser. No. 09/503,881 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914) and Ser. No. 09/452,023 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,082); and in published specifications WO 9953428 and WO0007356 (corresponding to U.S. Ser. No. 09/074,034 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,377) and Ser. No. 09/127,502(now U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,104)). A great many other approaches are familiar to those skilled in the art. The artisan is presumed to be familiar with the full range of literature about steganography, data hiding and watermarking. The subject matter of the present application is related to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,862,260, 6,122,403 and in co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 09/503,881 filed Feb. 14, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914), 60/198,857 filed Apr. 21, 2000, Ser. No. 09/571,422 filed May 15, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,571), Ser. No. 09/620,019 filed Jul. 20, 2000, and Ser. No. 09/636,102 filed Aug. 10, 2000; which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The disclosure describes methods and systems for managing digital content using watermarks to link the content to related metadata. In one method, a watermark reader device reads a watermark embedded into media content. The watermark conveys watermark information, such as a content identifier and creator identifier. The reader forwards the watermark information to a router. The router then uses the watermark information to find a metadata database identifier. It then sends a request for metadata along with the watermark information to the metadata database identified by the metadata database identifier. The metadata database uses the watermark information to find related metadata for the media content and sends the related metadata to the reader device.
One aspect of the invention is a method for processing media content on a distributed network. The method comprises: identifying media content signals stored at sites distributed over the distributed computer network; extracting content identifiers from the content signals; using the content identifiers to obtain metadata used to classify the media content signals; and creating a searchable index of the media content signals based on the metadata, wherein users access the searchable index on the distributed computer network to submit a search query for the searchable index to retrieve links to the media content signals.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for searching for audio or images on a distributed computer network comprising: from a location in the distributed computer network, receiving a query for content signals related to a first content signal, the first content signal being part of the query; receiving a content identifier extracted from audio or image data of the first content signal; using the content identifier to obtain metadata used to classify the first content signal; searching a searchable index of media content signals based on the metadata, which forms search criteria for the first content signal; and returning a set of search results including references to content signals stored in the distributed computer network that correspond to the search criteria.
Further features will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Content indexing and searching using content identifiers and associated metadata


A semiconductor device having an overlapping memory cell (10), which includes a split wordline configuration and intersects at least a portion of the driver gate electrodes with each wordline. In one embodiment, a semiconductor substrate (11) has first and second active regions (13, 15) therein. A driver transistor (20) is formed in the semiconductor substrate (11), wherein the gate electrode (19) of the driver transistor (20) has a first portion overlying the second active region (15), a second portion extending beyond the first active region, and a third portion contacting the first active region (13). A wordline overlies (42) the second active region (15), wherein a first portion of the wordline forms the gate electrode of an access transistor (34) and a second portion of the wordline intersects the second portion of the driver transistor gate electrode (19) forming an overlap region (31).

As semiconductor devices become smaller, it becomes necessary to arrange individual components within a device such that minimal separation distances are achieved. The need to design compact component arrangements occurs most significantly in memory devices. Because of the large number of components needed to fabricate a typical dynamic-random-access-memory device (DRAM) or static-random-access-memory device (SRAM), the components must be arranged compactly if the overall device dimensions are not to become excessively large. This problem is especially critical in SRAM devices where a typical individual memory cell contains as many as six separate components.
One technique to reduce SRAM memory cell dimensions is to split the wordline over the cell. The wordline controls read and write functions to the cell by turning the access transistors on and off. By splitting the word line into two separate lines, a more symmetrical cell layout is possible. However, even with a split wordline memory cell design, a need remains to further reduce the overall cell dimensions. Although split wordline designs reduce the area of the cell, fundamental manufacturing limitations remain. Active surface regions of the cell must be made available for the interconnection of leads providing supply and ground voltages to the cell. In addition, active surface area must be available for the formation of transistors providing read and write functions for the cell. Simple downsizing of components can only be pursued to the limit of the line-width definition capability of the manufacturing process. Once the line-width definition limits are reached, new design methodology must be employed if further reduction in memory cell area is to be achieved.

Semiconductor device having an overlapping memory cell


A method of storing data in a database organizes the data in electronic objects and enriches the objects with ‘cognitive elements’. These elements allow a search of objects in the database which is similar to the human thinking process. One or more cognitive elements may be selected, leading to a list of objects with a relevance score based on the number of cognitive elements found for each object in the list. Computer programs allow to create such a database, to retrieve information from it, and to view information contained in it.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method for storing information in a database, as well as to methods for retrieving and viewing this data. The invention is equally related to computer programs for performing these methods.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In most computer storage systems, documents are stored in a tree-like structure, comprising folders, sub-folders, and documents stored in each folder. The search for specific information in such a structure is acknowledged as being very ineffective and time-consuming. Most document management applications provide so-called full-text search capabilities. What these applications do is to compile a list of all the words of all the documents in the system. When looking for information, e.g. by a search or browse operation, specific key words have to be entered by the user, and a program will search the storage system for these words. The result will be a list of all the documents in which these words were found.
The problem however with this kind of search is that it is not really refined. The result may be a very large list of documents, all containing one or more of the given key words. Furthermore, the level or relevance of each document is not indicated, so that the search amongst the documents of the resulting list becomes difficult.
Also, this type of search is limited to text files, and cannot be used for other types of information, such as graphics, pictures or video. These latter data can only be searched by looking for the right file extensions for example and by going through the tree structure, in the hope that they have been stored in an appropriately named folder or subfolder or under an appropriate filename, which may or may not allow the user to find the desired information.

Method of storing, retrieving and viewing data


A composite material includes a double cemented carbide and a coarse grain dopant, wherein the coarse grain is added in an amount sufficient to improve wear resistance of virgin double cemented carbide. The double cemented carbide may selected from the group of carbides consisting of W, Ti, Mo, Nb, V, Hf, Ta, and Cr carbides. The coarse grain dopant may also be at least one carbide selected from the group consisting of W, Ti, Mo, Nb, V, Hf, Ta, and Cr carbides. The coarse grain carbide may be between about 5% to about 90% by weight of the total carbide in the composite. Preferably, the coarse grain carbide is about 10% to about 50% by weight of the total carbide in the composite.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions having improved wear resistance characteristics.
2. Background Art
In drilling oil and gas wells or mineral mines, earth-boring drill bits are commonly used. Typically, an earth-boring drill bit is mounted on the lower end of a drill string and is rotated by rotating the drill string at the surface. With weight applied to the drill string, the rotating drill bit engages an earthen formation and proceeds to form a borehole along a predetermined path toward a target zone.
A rock bit, typically used in drilling oil and gas wells, generally includes one or more rotatable cones (also referred as to "roller cones") that perform their cutting function through the rolling and sliding movement of the cones acting against the formation. The cones roll and slide upon the bottom of the borehole as the bit is rotated, thereby engaging and disintegrating the formation material in its path. A borehole is formed as the gouging and scraping or crushing and chipping action of the rolling cones removes chips of formation material that are then carried upward and out of the borehole by circulation of a liquid drilling fluid or air through the borehole. Petroleum bits typically use a liquid drilling fluid which is pumped downwardly through the drill pipe and out of the bit. As the drilling fluid flows up out of the borehole, the chips and cuttings are carried along in a slurry. Mining bits typically do not employ a liquid drilling fluid; rather, air is used to remove chips and cuttings.
The earth-disintegrating action of the roller cone cutters is enhanced by a plurality of cutter elements. Cutter elements are generally inserts formed of a very hard material and are press-fit into undersized apertures or sockets in the cone surface. Due to their toughness and high wear resistance, inserts formed of tungsten carbide dispersed in a cobalt binder have been used successfully in rock-drilling and earth-cutting applications.
Breakage or wear of the tungsten carbide inserts limits the lifetime of a drill bit. The tungsten carbide inserts of a rock bit are subjected to high wear loads from contact with a borehole wall, as well as high stresses due to bending and impacting loads from contact with the borehole bottom. Also, the high wear load can cause thermal fatigue in the tungsten carbide inserts which can initiate surface cracks on the inserts. These cracks are further propagated by a mechanical fatigue mechanism caused by the cyclical bending stresses and/or impact loads applied to the inserts. This may result in chipping, breakage, and/or failure of inserts.
Inserts that cut the corner of a borehole bottom are subject to the greatest amount of thermal fatigue. Thermal fatigue is caused by heat generation on the insert from a heavy frictional loading produced as the insert engages the borehole wall and slides into the bottom-most crushing position. When the insert retracts from the borehole wall and the bottom of the borehole, it is quickly cooled by the circulating drilling fluid. This repetitive heating and cooling cycle can initiate cracking on the outer surface of the insert. These cracks are then propagated through the body of the insert when the crest of the insert contacts the borehole bottom, as high stresses are developed. The time required to progress from heat checking to chipping, and eventually, to breaking inserts depends upon formation type, rotation speed, and applied weight.
Thermal fatigue is more severe in mining bits because more weight is applied to the bit and the formation usually is harder, although the drilling speed is lower and air is used to remove cuttings and chips. In the case of petroleum bits, thermal fatigue also is of serious concern because the drilling speed is faster and liquid drilling fluids typically are used.
Cemented tungsten carbide (also known as sintered tungsten carbide) refers to a material formed by mixing particles of tungsten carbide, typically monotungsten carbide, and particles of cobalt or other iron group metal, and sintering the mixture. In a typical process for making cemented tungsten carbide, small tungsten carbide particles, e.g., 1–15 microns, and cobalt particles are vigorously mixed with a small amount of organic wax which serves as a temporary binder. An organic solvent may be used to promote uniform mixing. The mixture may be prepared for sintering by either of two techniques: it may be pressed into solid bodies, often referred to as green compacts; alternatively, it may be formed into granules or pellets, such as by pressing through a screen or tumbling, and then screened to obtain more or less uniform pellet sizes.
Such green compacts or pellets are then heated in a vacuum furnace to first evaporate the wax and then to a temperature near the melting point of cobalt (or the like) to cause the tungsten carbide particles to be bonded together by the metallic phase. After sintering, the compacts are crushed and screened for the desired particle size. Similarly, the sintered pellets, which tend to bond together during sintering, are crushed to break them apart. These are also screened to obtain a desired particle size. The crushed cemented carbide is generally more angular than the pellets, which tend to be rounded.
Another type of tungsten carbide is macro-crystalline carbide. This material is essentially stoichiometric WC. Most of the macro-crystalline tungsten carbide is in the form of single crystals, but some bicrystals of WC may also form in larger particles. Single crystal monotungsten carbide is commercially available from Kennametal, Inc., Fallon, Nev.
Carburized carbide is yet another type of tungsten carbide. Carburized tungsten carbide is a product of the solid-state diffusion of carbon into tungsten metal at high temperatures in a protective atmosphere. Sometimes it is referred to as fully carburized tungsten carbide. Such carburized tungsten carbide grains usually are multi-crystalline, i.e., they are composed of WC agglomerates. The agglomerates form grains that are larger than the individual WC crystals. These large grains make it possible for a metal infiltrant or a infiltration binder to infiltrate a powder of such large grains. On the other hand, fine grain powders, e.g., grains less than 5 μm, do not infiltrate satisfactorily. Typical carburized tungsten carbide contains a minimum of 99.8% by weight of WC, with a total carbon content in the range of about 6.08% to about 6.18% by weight.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,392, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses another type of carbide, which are known as double cemented carbides. Double cemented carbide composites disclosed in that patent comprise a plurality of first regions and a second ductile phase that separate the first regions from each other. Each first region comprises a composite of grains and a first ductile phase bonding the grains. The grains are selected from the group of carbides consisting of W, Ti, Mo, Nb, V, Hf, Ta, and Cr carbides. The first ductile phase is selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Fe, alloys thereof, and alloys with materials selected from the group consisting of C, B, Cr, Si and Mn.
A preferred first region comprises tungsten carbide grains that are cemented with a cobalt first ductile phase. The second ductile phase is selected from the group consisting of Co, Ni, Fe, W, Mo, Ti, Ta, V, Nb, alloys thereof, and alloys with materials selected from the group consisting of C, B, Cr, and Mn. A preferred second ductile phase is cobalt. Additionally, additives such as those selected from the group consisting of carbides, nitrides, and borides can be added to the second ductile phase to provide improved properties of wear resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,382 discloses preparing double cemented carbides by combining hard phase particles (e.g., WC—Co), formed from the grains and first ductile phase, with the second ductile phase material under conditions of pressure and heat. The composite comprises in the range of from about 40 to 95 percent by volume first phase (the hard phase particles), and less than about 60 percent by volume second ductile phase based on the total volume of the composite, and more preferably the composite comprises in the range of from about 60 to 80 percent by volume first phase and in the range of from about 20 to 40 percent by volume second ductile phase based on the total volume of the composite. Composite embodiments comprising an additive in the second ductile phase comprise less than about 40 percent by volume of the additive based on the total volume of the second ductile phase.
Double cemented carbide composites have improved properties of fracture toughness when compared to conventional cemented tungsten carbide materials, without sacrificing wear resistance, i.e., having equal or better wear resistance than that of conventional cemented tungsten carbide materials, making the material well suited for such applications as roller cone bits, percussion or hammer bits, drag bits, and other applications such as mining and construction tools where properties of improved fracture toughness is desired.
However, in certain applications, double cemented carbides have been found to lack sufficient wear resistance. What is needed, therefore, are methods and compositions that increase the wear resistance, while maintaining fracture toughness.

Compositions having enhanced wear resistance


Method and system are provided for handling an underperforming drive in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) operating a distributed sparing mechanism. The method includes marking an underperforming drive in the array as resting and allocating distributed spare space of the array for data of operations to the resting drive. A data structure is designated to track operations diverted to the distributed spare space from the resting drive. If the resting drive is recovered, the method rebuilds data to the recovered drive from the distributed spare space by reference to the data structure.

Computer disk drives occasionally experience glitches of slow performance. When data is striped across multiple drives such as in a RAID array, one slow drive eventually slows down input/output (IO) to all the drives in the array. Current underperforming drive handling, referred to as component-in-doubt, uses a RAID technique where a drive is temporarily omitted from a RAID array's I/O to enable it to be tested and/or rested, after which it is either brought back into full use in the array or "failed" and ejected from the RAID array to be replaced by a spare drive.
Component-in-doubt acts as a form of artificial, temporary, drive failure, in which I/O to the drive is omitted and reconstructed using parity for reads and for writes has its omission recorded in metadata in a data structure so any later reads of that data can be ensured to be reconstructed later on from parity and without reading from the omitted device. When the drive is deemed "recovered" then its data can be rebuilt from parity from other strips in the stride and from the metadata of the data structure and written to the original addresses. Use of this component-in-doubt technique reduces the level of redundancy in order to maintain latency by avoiding the delay of the writes to the slow drive.

Underperforming drive handling in redundant arrays


A method for operating a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first operating state in accordance with a first message traffic generated by a non-session based application executing in the UE, setting a state machine in the UE to the first operating state, and transmitting a first message in accordance with the state machine.

As User Equipments (UE) become more advanced, they are becoming more connected to Evolved NodeBs (eNB)s with different applications running in the foreground (referred to as a foreground application) and the background (referred to as a background application). UEs may also be commonly referred to as terminals, subscribers, users, mobile stations, mobiles, and the like. eNBs may also be commonly referred to as NodeBs, base stations, controllers, communications controllers, access points, and the like.
Foreground applications (and associated message traffic—"foreground traffic") include video streaming, web browsing, file transfer, games, and the like. Background applications (and associated message traffic—"background traffic") include keep alive messages generated by a mobile operating system or instant messaging, reports generated by sensors and/or smart meters, and the like. Providing always connectivity (maintaining an existing connection to enable low latency communications rather than permitting an existing connection to end and re-establishing another connection when needed) while conserving energy (to maximize battery life, for example) is a big challenge.

System and method for always on connections in wireless communications system


A method for operating a scanning microscope system. The optimal number of required through-focus scans, that is required to predict the position of a focal plane of the objective with respect to the object to produce the image with minimized blur, is not pre-determined but rather defined iteratively in real-time, contemporaneously with conducting the sample scanning operation itself.

Given that an object imaged with the use of a scanning microscope tool is rarely uniform in thickness, determining the best-focus imaging condition across a large area of the object remains problematic and typically is based on data collected as a result of multiple through-focus scans of the object. The determination of the optimal number of such through-focus scans is a matter of chance in absence of precise information about the thickness distribution of the object across the area being imaged. As a result, both the overall process of imaging remains not optimized and the quality of the procured image of the object suffers, as at least some of the portions of the image are blurred due to less than optimal positioning of the objective with respect to an element of the object being imaged. Accordingly, there remains a need in method and system facilitating an automatic determination of a minimum number of through-focus scans that may be required to predict an optimal position of the focal plane of the objective with respect to the object such that imaging of the entire object produces an image with minimum blur.

Prediction of a focal plane with progressive through-focus scans


A substrate has a top side and a bottom side. A solar cell is secured to the top side of the substrate and has an anode and a cathode. A heat transfer element is secured to the bottom side of the substrate. An anode pad is formed on the top side of the substrate and is coupled to the anode of the solar cell; similarly, a cathode pad is formed on the top side of the substrate and is coupled to the cathode of the solar cell. The substrate coefficient of thermal expansion and the solar cell coefficient of thermal expansion match within plus or minus ten parts per million per degree C.

Solar concentrators operate by focusing light to a spot on a photovoltaic cell. The concentrated spot of light enables a small semiconductor to operate at higher power density levels than in flat panels without concentration. A consequence of the use of concentration is that the photovoltaic cell produces electric power at high current and with a significant heat load.
The solar concentrator package typically includes three main components, namely optical assembly, photovoltaic assembly and cooling assembly. The optical assembly concentrates sunlight and conveys it to the active portion of the photovoltaic assembly (solar cell). The photovoltaic cell converts a portion of the incident light to electricity.
The photovoltaic assembly electrically connects the photovoltaic cell to other circuitry and ultimately to the point of use. The photovoltaic assembly also supports the cell and couples it to the cooling assembly. The cooling assembly conveys heat from the cell to the environment. The solar cell package in general includes the solar cell and solar cell receiver (or package) assembly.
The solar cell may comprise a single junction semiconductor or a multifunction semiconductor.

Structure and design of concentrator solar cell assembly receiver substrate

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A signal line drive circuit and a scanning line drive circuit are capable of being driven bidirectionally. A display apparatus includes a plurality of signal paths each of which transmit a signal outputted from a final-stage circuit thereof when the signal line circuit and/or the scanning line circuit is driven in a forward or reverse direction, and output paths formed by connecting the plurality of signal paths. There are provided a buffer unit and a switching element in each of the plurality of signal paths, and there is provided a buffer unit in each output path. Each of the switching elements in the plurality of signal paths is turned on according to a drive direction in the signal line drive circuit and/or the scanning line drive circuit, and then a target signal is selected and outputted to the output paths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal transmission circuits and display apparatus, and it particularly relates to a signal transmission circuit and display apparatus used when inspection signals are outputted therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the liquid crystal display (LCD) have been widely used as display apparatus for various electric machinery and apparatus, but the display considered promising as a next-generation flat display panel is the organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The display using the active matrix system as a display method for such displays is called the active matrix display. In the active matrix display, a multiplicity of pixels are vertically and horizontally disposed in a matrix, and a switching element is provided for each pixel. The group of pixels in the matrix is sequentially selected by the signal line drive circuit that drives the signal lines transmitting the luminance data and by the scanning line drive circuit that drives the scanning lines, so as to write the data thereto. For example, shift registers are used in these signal line drive circuit and scanning line drive circuit.
As the active matrix displays like this come to be widely used, there is a growing demand for the capability to switch the direction of data writing to the pixels thereof. For example, the way these displays are incorporated and implemented into the end products, which are mostly electrical equipment, varies with the type of the electrical equipment, and it is necessary to switch the direction of data writing according to how the display is to be incorporated.
Moreover, in various cameras with a built-in display, switching of data writing direction is required, for example, between normal display for the shots of normal objects and mirror-image display for the shots of the user himself/herself. In this case, there is also required the drive circuits that can switch the direction of data writing.
It is to meet these requirements that signal line drive circuits and scanning line drive circuits, which employ shift registers capable of transferring data in both directions, have been developed. Such circuits are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-74060.
The patent specifications, such as Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-131708, discloses a technique for checking signals outputted from the final stage of a shift register of a signal line drive circuit or a scanning line drive circuit in order to inspect for the operation state of the signal line drive circuits or the scanning line drive circuits of the matrix type display as mentioned above. In this way, it is possible to detect deterioration of transistors by checking the signals outputted from the final stage of a shift register.
Such inspection, however, has disadvantages in that the longer the distance between the final stage of a shift register and the connector pin, which is the inspection signal output terminal, the greater the distortion of the outputted signals will be due to the effect of wiring load. This disadvantage causes a problem where the inspection cannot be performed with desired accuracy. Especially with a signal line drive circuit or a scanning line drive circuit capable of switching the direction of data writing, signals from both the first stage and the final stage of the shift register need to be taken out as inspection signals. Normally, signal line drive circuits and scanning line drive circuits are disposed in the periphery of a display area, so that the first stages and the final stages of the shift registers are each positioned at a distance determined by the width and height of the display area. Accordingly, if the outputs from both the first stages and the final stages of shift registers of the signal line drive circuits and the scanning line drive circuits are to be taken out and received with accuracy, circuit design capable of properly correcting the distortion of the output signals needs to be carried out in light of the layout of these shift resistors and the output terminals thereof.

Signal transmission circuit and display apparatus


Measurement of the delamination resistance of polymer coated optical fiber can provide valuable information for quality control and/or coating development, and a method of making polymer coated optical fiber that includes determination of the delamination resistance is disclosed. Also disclosed is apparatus that facilitates determination of the delamination resistance.

Optical fibers typically are polymer coated to protect them against damage. During fiber manufacture and subsequent handling, it is necessary to maintain the interfacial bond between the (typically silica) fiber and the coating that contactingly surrounds the fiber. This coating is frequently referred to as the "primary" coating. A further coating that surrounds the primary coating is frequently referred to as the "secondary" coating.
The interfacial bond between the fiber and the primary coating desirably is strong to prevent bond failure during fiber manufacture and subsequent handling. Such failure can result in the formation of a "delaminated" area which can adversely affect the optical performance of the fiber. A delaminated area is characterized by an air gap at or near the interface of the fiber and the primary coating. The air gap typically alters the mechanical properties at the point of delamination, and may cause fiber transmission losses. Even if the optical performance is substantially not affected, the presence of delamination can result in negative customer perception and is therefore unacceptable. Thus, the fiber/primary coating bond desirably should be robust.
On the other hand, during fiber installation and many other operations it is necessary to easily and cleanly remove the coating from a portion of the fiber. For this reason it is necessary that the fiber/primary coating bond strength be not too great.
From the above discussion it is apparent that the strength of the fiber/primary coating bond is an important characteristic of an optical fiber. This strength can be expressed in terms of a delamination resistance. It will also be apparent that it would be highly desirable to have available a simple, reliable method of determining the delamination resistance. Such a method could be used during fiber manufacture as a quality control method, but could also be used during development of a new coating. This application discloses such a method, and apparatus that facilitates practice of the method.

Method of making a coated optical fiber comprising measuring the delamination resistance of the coating


A processing system may obtain a loan graph including a travel cost for network technicians between adjacent work centers of a telecommunication network, each network technician assigned to a work center, and obtain work quantities for each work center for a day, at least a first work center having excess work for network technicians assigned to the first work center. The processing system may select, in accordance with an objective function, moves by a first subset of network technicians comprising moves to adjacent work centers from the work centers to which the first subset is assigned, select in accordance with the objective function, moves by a second subset of network technicians comprising moves to adjacent work centers from work centers to which the second subset is assigned, and generate a work plan for the day for the network technicians in accordance with the moves.

Due to inconsistent demands, on any given day a telecommunication network may have different work demands for network technicians in one region as compared to another region. Thus, in some instances, one or more technicians may be loaned from a first region to a second region to better match the different work demands. For instance, a regional office may have an option to loan or borrow network technicians to/from nearby regional offices. In one example, by union contract, a network technician may be required to report to a default location (e.g., the network technician's assigned regional office) first and then travel to whichever region the technician is needed.

Telecommunication network technician scheduling via multi-agent randomized greedy search


The present invention relates to the determination of damage to portions of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to determining whether each part of a vehicle should be classified as damaged or undamaged and optionally the severity of the damage to each part of the damaged vehicle including preserving the quality of the input images of the damage to the vehicle.

Typically, and as shown in FIG. 1, when a vehicle is involved in an accident (or is damaged) 105, the vehicle or its driver will be insured, and the driver will contact the relevant insurance company 110 to make a claim following a typical claim procedure 100.
The insurance company's estimation team 135 will then need to assess the damage to the vehicle and approve any claim, and the driver or insurer will then arrange for the vehicle to be repaired 145. Alternatively, the insurance company may make a cash settlement 150 in place of arranging or paying for repairs or may make a decision that the vehicle is a total loss 140 and compensate the insured party accordingly or arrange for a replacement vehicle to be procured.
As shown in FIG. 1, the claim procedure 100 following an accident 105 requires the driver or insured party to call their insurer 110, and personnel at the insurer will follow a script 115 to receive and process the claim.
As part of the script 115, the insurer will obtain from the driver or insured party some information about the accident 105. Typically, the insurer will be provided with information about the insured person 120 (which may also include details of the vehicle and its condition etc that are provided during the call, or which are stored in the insurer's database and retrieved following receipt of the details of the insured person); details of the crash or accident 125, for example the circumstances and extent of the damage; and photos of the damage 130.
The photos of the damage 130 are typically taken by the driver or the insured party and can be of varying quality and comprehensiveness. Typically, photos are taken using phones equipped with cameras. Various problems can arise from this approach, including that too few photos are taken and provided to the insurer. Also, the photos taken may not be sufficiently well composed or may be of low quality due to the quality of the camera used to take the photos or the skill of the user.
The photos of the damage 130 can be provided to the insurer either via e-mail, facsimile or post, for example. This means there is typically a delay in the receipt of the photos 130 by the insurer, thus delaying the processing of the claim by the insurer and slowing down the decision-making process as to whether the damage is a total loss 140, or whether a cash settlement 150 can be offered, or whether to arrange or allow the driver or insured part to arrange for repairs to the vehicle 145.
As part of the claim procedure, and more specifically the claim review procedure which is carried out by the insurer to verify the costs of the proposed repair work by manually assessing data provided by the client and any proposed repairer, the insurer may request further information or claim data to be provided from the driver or insured party regarding the accident. This may include details of the vehicle and its condition prior to any damage etc. These are typically provided during a telephone call or are obtained having been stored in the insurer's database, but sometimes requires the insurer to contact the insured party in a follow up telephone call, letter or e-mail requesting the further details. Further, the insurer will require sufficient details of the accident to be provided, along with sufficient photographs of the damage for example, so this must be obtained during the first and any subsequent contact with the insured party. The process of obtaining sufficient information can be slow, especially if further requests for information are made in separate subsequent contacts with the insured party, and thus can significantly delay the processing of an insurance claim. Further, the proposed repairer may be required to send details of the proposed repairs, including for example the labour tasks as well as any parts or materials costs, to the insurer for approval prior to commencing work. The insurer can then assess whether the claim is covered by the relevant policy under which the claim is made and determine whether the estimated costs of repair can be verified and/or approved as may be appropriate.
Various tools and processes have been developed to assist vehicle repair businesses and vehicle insurers respectively to prepare and approve repair proposals for damaged vehicles, for example as a result of the vehicle being involved in an accident.
Vehicle repair businesses need to be able to itemise both the labour required and the specific parts required in order to repair the vehicle, and then submit this for approval to an insurer where the repair is covered by an insurance policy. Due to the large number of different possible makes and models that might require repair, and the optional extras that might have been fitted to the vehicle to be repaired, vehicle repair businesses typically have to use a commercial database to identify the correct make, model, year of manufacture and options fitted in order to correctly identify the parts that would need to be ordered if any need replacement.
Insurers typically require vehicle repair businesses to submit evidence of the damage to each vehicle and a detailed repair proposal that itemises the parts to be ordered and the respective costs of each part along with detailed itemisation of the labour tasks and time that will be required to carry out any repairs or replacement of parts. Preparing such detailed repair proposals manually typically takes vehicle repair businesses a significant amount of time.
In different jurisdictions, different approaches are taken by both vehicle repair businesses (in respect of how repairs are carried out, what labour is deemed to be required, and preferences as to whether to repair or replace parts, for example) and insurers (in respect of what policies are applied when approving or rejecting proposed repairs, for example), depending on a variety of factors such as commercial pressures, regulation, consumer preference and typical insurance coverage. Thus, detailed repair proposals will differ between jurisdictions and what insurers are prepared to approve in a detailed repair proposal will also differ between jurisdictions.
Insurers, however, typically perform manual reviews on proposed repairs that are submitted for approval by vehicle repair businesses. As a result, the manual review process either requires a large workforce to perform the task of reviewing each submitted repair proposal or becomes a bottleneck in the repair approval process. For vehicle repair businesses, manual review can result in several disadvantages including delay in being able to begin repair work; further delays if the repair proposal is rejected by the insurer; and having to store customer vehicles for longer periods than necessary resulting in both higher storage space requirements and a higher probability of dissatisfied customers.
Across all jurisdictions, a variety of the above-described problems can result from manual preparation of proposed vehicle repairs and manual review of the proposed vehicle repairs by insurers.
Improvements to the claim procedure would enable repairs to be completed sooner and for insurers to reach decisions faster and more efficiently.

Detailed damage determination with image cropping

Abstract: Aspects and/or embodiments seek to provide a computer-implemented method for determining damage states of each part of a damaged vehicle, indicating whether each part of the vehicle is damaged or undamaged and optionally the severity of the damage to each part of the damaged vehicle, using images of the damage to the vehicle and trained models to assess the damage indicated in the images of the damaged vehicle, including preserving the quality and/or resolution of the images of the damaged vehicle.