An information-processing device that executes a specific process more frequently than other processes among a variety of processes is provided. The information-processing device includes a first processor capable of executing an instruction set corresponding to the variety of processes, and a second processor capable of executing a portion of or the entire instruction set, the second processor being capable of executing a part of the instruction set corresponding to the specific process more efficiently than the first processor, wherein the second processor executes the specific process whereas the first processor executes the other processes. Accordingly, the information-processing device can execute a variety of instructions efficiently.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information-processing device, and more particularly relates to an information-processing device that executes both general-purpose processing and transaction processing of data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current high-performance general-purpose processors are usually designed to rapidly execute instructions suitable for a wide variety of applications such as commercial applications, scientific applications and multimedia processing. For instance, a current high-performance general-purpose processor includes a floating-point unit so as to rapidly execute scientific applications that require execution of a large amount of floating-point arithmetic operations. In general, high-performance general-purpose processors are designed to execute a single program consisting of a series of instructions. In order to execute the series of instructions rapidly, each high-performance general-purpose processor includes a function to predict a branch outcome for executing a branch instruction before a branch direction is known, a reservation station for efficient out-of-order execution of instructions, and a reorder buffer for keeping track of results from the instructions executed out of order.
However, recently, a demand for computers has been increasing especially in areas of systems that execute transaction processing and web server processing. Operations executed in the transaction processing and the web server processing are mainly logical operations and integer operations so that a frequency of executing the floating-point arithmetic operations is low in the transaction processing and the web server processing. In addition, in the transaction processing and the web server processing, a performance to concurrently execute a large number of small-sized processes takes priority over a performance to execute a single large-sized program rapidly.
As described above, the current high-performance general-purpose processors are designed to achieve high performance over a wide computing area, and thus include a large amount of hardware inefficiently utilized for executing the transaction processing and the web server processing. Additionally, a large amount of hardware required for rapid execution of a single large-sized sequential program is overkill for concurrent execution of large quantities of simple processes as required in the transaction processing and the web server processing without carrying overhead hardware for functions rarely required. Therefore, there has been a demand for an information-processing device that can rapidly execute the transaction processing and the web server processing.
A description will now be given of a conventional high-performance general-purpose processor with reference to FIG. 1. A high-performance general-purpose processor 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an instruction cache and instruction control unit 2, a branch-prediction unit 3, a program counter 4, a checkpoint unit 5, a fixed-point register file 6, a floating-point register file 7, a fixed-point reorder buffer 8, a floating-point reorder buffer 9, a fixed-point reservation station 10, a floating-point reservation station 11, a load/store reservation station 12, a fixed-point unit 13, a floating-point unit 14, a load/store unit 15 and a data cache 16.
The instruction cache and instruction control unit 2 stores instructions, as well as fetches and distributes instructions to be executed. Each unit in the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 is controlled by a result of decoding fetched instructions. The branch-prediction unit 3 detects a conditional branch instruction from decoded instructions, and predicts a direction of each branch before a branching condition is known. The program counter 4 points to an address of an instruction being executed in order. The checkpoint unit 5 stores a processor status including register values and the like when a branch instruction is executed based on a branch prediction. If the branch prediction has been proved wrong, the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 can recover the processor status including the register values before branching by reading information stored in the checkpoint unit 5, thereby recovering from a branch prediction error.
The fixed-point register file 6 stores operands for fixed-point operations, and supplies the operands necessary to execute the operation to the fixed-point reservation station 10. Additionally, the fixed-point register file 6 stores operands for load/store instructions, and supplies the operands necessary to execute the instruction to the load/store reservation station 12. The fixed-point reorder buffer 8 stores results of calculations executed by the fixed-point unit 13 and results of load instructions executed by the load/store unit 15. Additionally, the fixed-point reorder buffer 8 has capability of rectifying an order of generated results as if they were generated in order, and supplies correct operands to corresponding reservation stations.
The floating-point register file 7 stores operands for floating-point operations, and supplies the operands necessary to execute the operation to the floating-point reservation station 11. Additionally, the floating-point register file 7 stores operands for load/store instructions, and supplies the operands necessary to execute the instruction to the load/store reservation station 12. The floating-point reorder buffer 9 stores results of calculations executed by the floating-point unit 14 and results of a load instruction executed by the load/store unit 15. Additionally, the floating-point reorder buffer 9 has capability of rectifying an order of generated results as if they were generated in order, and supplies correct operands to corresponding reservation stations.
The fixed-point reservation station 10 stores fixed-point instructions used for executing fixed-point operations. The fixed-point reservation station 10 waits for operands necessary to execute fixed-point instructions to be supplied from the fixed-point register file 6, from the fixed-point reorder buffer 8, or directly from the fixed-point unit 13 or the load/store unit 15. The fixed-point instructions stored in the fixed-point reservation station 10 become executable after receiving all the operands necessary to execute the instructions. In such a case, the fixed-point reservation station 10 selects executable instructions, and supplies the executable instructions to the fixed-point unit 13. The maximum number of fixed-point instructions the fixed-point reservation station 10 can supply simultaneously to the fixed-point unit 13 is equal to the number of fixed-point operation modules provided in the fixed-point unit 13. It should be noted that the fixed-point unit 13 includes a plurality of the fixed-point operation modules, each fixed-point operation module executing the instructions supplied from the fixed-point reservation station 10.
The floating-point reservation station 11 stores floating-point instructions used for executing floating-point operations. The floating-point reservation station 11 waits for operands necessary to execute floating-point instructions to be supplied from the floating-point register file 7, from the floating-point reorder buffer 9, or directly from the floating-point unit 14 or the load/store unit 15. The floating-point instructions stored in the floating-point reservation station 11 become executable after receiving all the operands necessary to execute the instructions. In such case, the floating-point reservation station 11 selects executable instructions, and supplies the executable instructions to the floating-point unit 14. The maximum number of floating-point instructions the floating-point reservation station 11 can supply simultaneously to the floating-point unit 14 is equal to the number of floating-point operation modules provided in the floating-point unit 14. It should be noted that the floating-point unit 14 includes a plurality of the floating-point operation modules, each floating-point operation module executing the instructions supplied from the floating-point reservation station 11.
The load/store reservation station 12 stores load/store instructions. The load/store reservation station 12 waits for operands necessary to execute load/store instructions to be supplied from the fixed-point register file 6, the floating-point register file 7, the fixed-point reorder buffer 8, or the floating-point reorder buffer 9. The load/store instructions become executable after receiving all the operands necessary to execute the instructions. In such case, the load/store reservation station 12 selects executable instructions, and supplies the executable instructions to the load/store unit 15. The maximum number of load/store instructions the load/store reservation station 12 can supply to the load/store unit 15 is equal to the number of load/store operation modules provided in the load/store unit 15. It should be noted that the load/store unit 15 includes a plurality of the load/store operation modules, each load/store operation module executing the instructions supplied from the load/store reservation station 12.
The fixed-point unit 13 executes the fixed-point instructions supplied from the fixed-point reservation station 10, and sends results of executed fixed-point operations to the fixed-point reorder buffer 8, the fixed-point reservation station 10 and the load/store reservation station 12. Similarly, the floating-point unit 14 executes the floating-point instructions supplied from the floating-point reservation station 11, and sends results of executed floating-point operations to the floating-point reorder buffer 9, the floating-point reservation station 11 and the load/store reservation station 12. Additionally, the load/store unit 15 executes the load/store instructions supplied from the load/store reservation station 12, and sends results of executed load/store operations to the fixed-point reorder buffer 8 and the fixed-point reservation station 10, or to the floating-point reorder buffer 9 and the floating-point reservation station 11. The load/store unit 15 writes data in the data cache 16 when executing a storing instruction. The load/store unit 15 reads data from the data cache 16 when executing a load instruction.
The high-performance general-purpose processor 1 can execute both fixed-point arithmetic/logical operations and floating-point arithmetic operations by including the fixed-point unit 13 and the floating-point unit 14. Additionally, the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 includes the branch-prediction unit 3, the fixed-point reorder buffer 8, the floating-point reorder buffer 9, the fixed-point reservation station 10, the floating-point reservation station 11 and the load/store reservation station 12 so that the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 can predict a branch direction for executing a branch instruction before a branch direction is known, and can produce results as if instructions are executed in order when real execution takes advantage of out-of-order execution.
As described above, the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 is designed to rapidly execute various instructions over the wide computing area, and to execute sequential programs rapidly by using branch prediction and out-of-order execution. The high-performance general-purpose processor 1 also has multiple operation modules in the fixed-point unit 13, in the floating-point unit 14, and in the load/store unit 15. With those operation modules, the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 can execute six to eight instructions simultaneously.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a multi-thread transaction processing system. A multi-thread transaction processing system 17 using a multi-thread method includes transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n, a memory 19, an input/output interface 20 and a system bus 21.
Each of the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n includes a plurality of program counters for multi-thread processing, thereby executing transaction processes efficiently. The memory 19 is connected through the system bus 21 to the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n, and is universally used among the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n. The input/output interface 20 provides an interface connecting the system bus 21 and peripheral devices located outside the multi-thread transaction processing system 17.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a transaction processor. The transaction processor 18-1 shown in FIG. 3 includes an instruction cache and instruction control unit 22, program counters 23, register files 24, a fixed-point unit 25, a load/store unit 26 and a data cache 27. It should be noted that the instruction cache and instruction control unit 22, the program counters 23, the register files 24, the fixed-point unit 25, the load/store unit 26 and the data cache 27 correspond respectively to the instruction cache and instruction control unit 2, the program counter 4, the fixed-point register file 6, the fixed-point unit 13, the load/store unit 15 and the data cache 16 shown in FIG. 1. In addition, each of the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n has a structure shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, a floating-point unit is not implemented since cost of hardware is too high compared to performance gain in transaction processing, which does not require floating-point calculations often. Furthermore, the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n are designed mainly to simultaneously execute a large number of programs, for instance, the number of processors multiplied by the number of program counters in each processor, rather than to execute a single program rapidly, and thus do not include functions to predict branch directions, reorder buffers and reservation stations. Instead, each of the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n includes a plurality of program counters 23 and the register files 24 for multi-threading. Taking ATM transaction processing as an example, A single process using a single program counter in a transaction processor can handle a withdrawal for a user A, at the same time, a withdrawal for a user B by using another program counter. Consequently, each of the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n can execute a plurality of ATM transaction processes simultaneously.
Recently, processor speed has been increasing substantially, whereas memory speed has not increased as the processor speed. Such a condition makes a long memory access time and a resulting processor stall major performance impediments. In a case that a waiting period to access a memory happens to the transaction processor 18-1 while executing a series of instructions for a first process, the transaction processor 18-1 can execute another series of instructions for a second process by using another program counter shown in FIG. 3, thereby improving overall efficiency of utilizing hardware resources. As described above, the transaction processor 18-1 shown in FIG. 3 can execute transaction processes efficiently.
The multi-thread transaction processing system 17 shown in FIG. 2 can execute a large number of processes simultaneously, and can execute transaction processes efficiently by including the transaction processors 18-1 through 18-n. In addition, a size of each transaction processor shown in FIG. 3 is smaller than the high-performance general-purpose processor so that multiple transaction processors can be fabricated on a single chip.
The high-performance general-purpose processor 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes many functions that are not cost-effective to execute simple transaction processes and web server processes as the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 is designed to execute a wide variety of applications efficiently. Additionally, the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 is less efficient for execution of large quantities of simple processes necessary in the transaction processes and the web server processes, since the high-performance general-purpose processor 1 is designed to execute a single program at a time. Even if an attempt to provide a plurality of high-performance general-purpose processors 1 in a system is made, the number of concurrently executed processes is less since the number of the high-performance general-purpose processors 1 that can be fabricated on a single chip is less because of its large circuit size.
On the other hand, in a case that a system includes only the multi-thread transaction processing system 17 shown in FIG. 2, the system can improve efficiency to execute transaction processes and/or web server processes, but cannot rapidly execute complicated processes such as a scientific arithmetic operation that needs floating-point arithmetic operations or a large process blocking execution of other small processes. Further, the system including only the multi-thread transaction processing system 17 does not have various functions to execute a single program rapidly. Accordingly, in a case that the system is asked to execute a single large-sized process or a complicated process, efficiency to execute such a process by the system decreases remarkably.

Information-processing device with transaction processor for executing subset of instruction set where if transaction processor cannot efficiently execute the instruction it is sent to general-purpose processor via interrupt


The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, a gate insulating film formed in contact with an upper side of the semiconductor substrate, and a gate electrode formed on the upper side of the gate insulating film and made of metal nitride or metal nitride silicide. A buffer layer for preventing diffusion of nitrogen and silicon is interposed between the gate insulating film and the gate electrode. Preferably, the buffer layer has a thickness of 5 nm or less. In the case where gate electrode contains Ti elements, and the gate insulating film contains Hf elements, the buffer layer preferably contains a titanium film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and particularly to a semiconductor device which is required to operate with a low voltage as well as a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Background Art
Transistors selectively attains on and off states, and a current that flows between a source and a drain in the on state, i.e., when a voltage is placed on the gate electrode will now be referred to as an "on current". The magnitude of the on current is proportional to a quantity Q of electric charges induced in a channel region formed at a semiconductor substrate. This charge quantity Q is expressed as follows in connection with an effective film thickness EOT of a gate insulating film.Q∝Cinv×(Vg−Vt)where Vg represents a voltage between the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate, Vt represents a threshold voltage and Cinv is proportional to (1/(EOT+ΔT). ΔT is a capacitance occurring between the gate electrode and the semiconductor substrate except for the gate insulating film. Therefore, the above relationship can also be expressed as follows:Q∝(Vg−Vt)/(EOT+ΔT)
It can be understood that the on current can be increased by increasing charge quantity Q, which can be increased by reducing (EOT+ΔT). According to the current technology, the EOT is already equal to 2.0 nm or less, and it is expected that an EOT of a High-K gate insulating film of which practical use is being studied will be practically reduced to about 1.0 nm. However, further reduction of the thickness is difficult. Meanwhile, it has been requested to put the metal gate electrode to practical use as a method of reducing ΔT. The "metal gate electrode" is a gate electrode made of metal or metallic compound having electrical conductivity. The metal gate electrode may be simply referred to as a "metal gate". The metal gate electrode does not cause depletion in contrast to the gate electrode made of polycrystalline silicon, and therefore allows reduction of ΔT to 0.4 nm which is an ultimate value achieved by quantization effect.
For example, "Process Integration, Devices, and Structures", page 12, table 47b in "2003 Edition of ITRS" (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors) (http://public.itrs.net/Files/2003ITRS/Home2003.htm) has described a forecast of specifications that will be requested in logic elements from 2010 to 2018. For 45 nm node and later in this table, it is required to put the metal gate electrode to the practical use.
A large obstacle to the practical use of the metal gate electrode is that control of the threshold voltage is difficult. For example, a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) structure is a combination of n- and p-type transistors, and an n-type MISFET (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) requires a gate electrode of a small work function. Also, a p-type MISFET requires a gate electrode of a large work function. In the conventional gate electrodes made of polycrystalline silicon, the work functions of the gate electrodes can be easily adjusted corresponding to the n- and p-type MISFETs by using the ion implantation method, respectively. The polycrystalline silicon heavily doped with, e.g., phosphorus as n-type impurities exhibits the work function of about 4.0 eV. The polycrystalline silicon heavily doped with, e.g., boron as p-type impurities exhibits the work function of about 5.2 eV. By using the n-type polycrystalline silicon and p-type polycrystalline silicon for the n- and p-type MISFETs as described above, respectively, the work functions similar to that of the substrate channel can be easily achieved. In this manner, both the n- and p-types of MISFETs can be configured to have small threshold voltages so that the CMOS structure that can operate with a low voltage can be achieved.
In contrast to the above, the work function of the metal gate electrode takes a value unique to an electrode material, and cannot be adjusted easily in contrast to the polycrystalline silicon. Therefore, it is necessary to provide materials suitable for the electrodes of the n- and p-type MISFETs at respective regions. Thus, two kinds of materials must be arranged at different plane regions on the same chip, respectively. This complicates the process of forming them. The above structure requires, e.g., such steps that a layer of a first material is formed on a gate insulating film, and then a layer of a second material is formed after removing a first metal material from a partial region in the first material layer. This manufacturing method suffers from a problem that deterioration of the gate insulating film cannot be avoided.
For overcoming the above problem, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-203276 has proposed a method in which titanium nitride (TiN) is used in a gate electrode, and a work function is changed by changing a concentration or content of nitrogen in the titanium nitride. This method allows employment of the ion implantation method which is similar to that used in the conventional manufacturing method predicted on the gate electrode of polycrystalline silicon, and therefore the implantation dose of nitride in each of regions of the n- and p-type MISFETs can be changed to form the gate electrode having two kinds of work functions in each region.
Meanwhile, the fact that heat treatment causes large changes in work function of the titanium nitride is disclosed by M. S. Joo et al., "Behavior of Effective Work Function in Metal/High-K Gate Stack under High Temperature Process", Extended Abstracts of the 2004 International Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials, p. 202.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing a gate stack


The present invention provides seam-welded, air hardenable steel tubes, methods of manufacturing seam-welded air hardenable steel tubes, tube mills for practicing such methods and applications for using seam-welded, air hardenable steel tubing of the present invention.

The present application is related to seam-welded, air hardenable steel structures, tubing and pipe, structures created therefrom and methods for manufacturing seam-welded, air hardenable steel constructions.
A seam-welded, air hardenable steel tube substantially free of cracks in the weld zone has not been proposed in the prior art. "Air hardenable steel" is herein defined as steel that reaches a level of hardness sufficient to cause cracking when processed in a prior art roller-forming tube mill. Other steels which are sometimes called "air hardenable" do not reach a comparable level of hardness and therefore do not crack when processed in a prior art roller-forming tube mill; these steels are categorized herein as "partially or non-air hardenable" steels.
An example of a non-air hardenable steel currently used to manufacture seam-welded tubing is 4130 steel (UNS G10220). This steel does not crack when formed in a prior art roller-forming tube mill; however, it must be liquid-quenched after heat-treating to attain a high strength and unfortunately this liquid quenching tends to induce high levels of distortion. As a result, liquid quenched materials like 4130 have limitations when used for applications requiring frame-type structures that must be straight and free from distortion. An example of such an application is a bicycle frame. Theoretically, the highest strength-to-weight ratio would be attained if the parts could be welded together and then heated and liquid quenched as a whole, resulting in a frame with uniformly high-strength throughout all areas. However, liquid quenching an entire frame at one time would distort it beyond acceptable limits. Instead, when made from this material, bicycle frames must be constructed of individual tubes that are hardened prior to assembly and then welded or brazed together. Because welding or brazing causes localized weak areas, thicker tube walls must be used to compensate for the loss of strength and this ultimately reduces the strength-to-weight ratio of the frame. In some applications such as high performance bicycle frames, the tube wall is thickened only in those areas that will be weakened by welding or brazing to minimize the reduction of strength-to-weight ratio. Although saving weight, such measures require expensive extra processing steps such as drawing the tube. In summary, although liquid quenched steels like 4130 fill the immediate need, a great improvement in overall utility, usefulness and economy would be realized if a low-cost tubing capable of producing a structure of a higher strength-to-weight ratio were available.
One example of a partially air hardenable steel used for tube making is 410S (UNS S41008), made available by Allegheny Ludlum of Pittsburgh, Pa. 410S is a low carbon modification of 410 (UNS S41000). The low carbon level (0.08% maximum) of 410S prevents austenite formation upon heating, thereby preventing martensite formation upon cooling. This means that the metal doesn't crack in a prior art roller-forming tube mill, but also that it doesn't harden to a high strength condition. Tubing comprised of 410S lacks the strength needed for high performance load bearing applications.
Another example of partially air hardenable steel tubing is True Temper OX Gold and Platinum series tubing, produced by True Temper Sports, Inc. This is a non-stainless tubing intended for use in expensive bicycle frames that is first roller-formed and seam-welded, and then drawn. Although this steel achieves a high strength without cracking in a prior art roller-forming tube mill, it only does so due to the precise addition of expensive alloying components to prevent the heat-affected-zone (HAZ) from fully hardening on the tube mill. As explained in the company's website at the address http://www.henryjames.com/oxplat.html, these alloy steels are specially formulated to mitigate the difficulties inherent in the welding of air hardenable steel. Modifying the material to prevent cracking results in an expensive, specialty tubing with limited usefulness; for most structural applications, its cost cannot be justified. Rather than resort to the use of expensive alloys, it would be beneficial to create a process that could utilize common, inexpensive, air hardenable steel to produce tubing substantially free of cracks. Such a process would be even more beneficial if the work material could have the corrosion resistant properties of stainless steel.
Through discussion with seam-welded tube and pipe manufacturers in the industry, it is apparent that experimentation with seam-welding tubing of air hardenable steel was abandoned due to the heretofore-insurmountable problem of HAZ cracking. In standard tube production practice on a prior art roller-forming mill, the metal in the weld zone is heated and subsequently cools at a natural rate, which is sufficiently rapid to induce hardening of the material. The axial tensile stresses induced by weld zone shrinkage together with the compressive hoop and tangential stresses induced by the sizing and straightening rollers are therefore acting on material that is in a hard and somewhat brittle state. If the material being formed becomes hard and brittle enough, the weld zone will crack and a sound tube cannot be produced. The prior art provides no indication that efforts in solving this problem were fruitful, if, in fact, any such efforts were made. Perhaps because the applicability of such tubing to a vast range of structural purposes was not envisioned, efforts to solve the problem were either never undertaken or were abandoned, and it became an accepted fact in the industry that only non- or partially air hardenable steels can be successfully roller-formed and seam-welded.
Historically, air hardenable steel has been mainly used in applications that do not require welding. Air hardening steels were first commercially developed for use in cutlery for their high hardness. Common air hardenable steels include martensitic stainless steels. As defined herein, and as understood by those skilled in the art, martensitic stainless steels are essentially alloys of chromium and carbon that possess a body-centered-cubic (bcc) or body-centered-tetragonal (bct) crystal (martensitic) structure in the hardened condition. They are ferromagnetic and hardenable by heat treatment, and they are generally mildly corrosion resistant. As reflected in FIG. 1, martensitic stainless steels have also been defined, and are understood by those skilled in the art, as having a nickel equivalent of between about 4 and 12 and having a chromium equivalent of between about 8 and 15.5, where nickel equivalent is equal to (% Ni+30×% C)+(0.5×% Mn) and chromium equivalent is equal to (% Cr+% Mo+(1.5×% Si)+(0.5×% Nb). Either or both of these definitions are acceptable for practicing the present invention. According to these standard definitions, standard martensitic stainless steels include types 403, 410, 414, 416, 416Se, 420, 420F, 422, 431, and 440A-C.
Air hardenable martensitic stainless steels include a relatively high carbon content compared to other stainless steels (0.15% C maximum in type 410 to 0.75% C maximum in type 440), and between 12 to 18% chromium. This composition results in steel with good corrosion resistance, due to the protective chromium oxide layer that forms on the surface, and the ability to harden via heat treatment to a high strength condition, but one that presents difficulties related to welding. Non-stainless air hardenable steels, which contain very high levels of carbon to allow the formation of a martensitic microstructure upon quenching, and are much more expensive than stainless types, also present difficulties related to welding, and have been primarily used for cutting tools.
Due to air hardenable steel's composition being specially formulated to render it heat treatable by a quench and temper process, it presents some unique problems during welding. The thermal cycle of heating and cooling, which occurs within the confined heat-affected-zone (HAZ) during welding, is equivalent to a quenching cycle. The resulting high carbon martensitic structure produced is extremely brittle in the untempered condition. Cracking of the weld zone can occur for several reasons, including:                Hydrogen induced cold-cracking, due to trapped hydrogen in the distorted BCC martensite crystal structure. Tensile stress applied to the weld increases the risk of cracking.        Thermal induced stresses, due to the heat input during welding, degree of joint restraint, and the volume change upon martensite transformation.
These problems occur when welding martensitic steels regardless of the prior condition, whether annealed, hardened, or hardened-and-tempered. They can occur with all types of welding, including GTAW, GMAW, laser-beam, friction, resistance and electron-beam. In all cases, the high-temperature HAZ will be in the "as-quenched" condition after welding. Any mechanical straining after welding (i.e. continuous tube mill forming/straightening) will cause the martensitic HAZ to crack. Conventional processes such as batch pre-heating and post weld heat treating (PWHT) do not lend themselves to cost-efficient, high-quality, high volume production.
In a minority of applications for air hardenable steel, welding is used to join separate pieces of the material. For these applications, textbooks related to the field teach a "preheating" method to control cracking. Using the preheating method, each entire workpiece is heated prior to welding. The latent heat in the workpiece reduces the cooling rate of the welded seam, and cracking is thus inhibited. However, there is no indication in the prior art that the preheating method was successfully applied to seam-welding roller-formed air hardenable steel into a tube—as can be seen by the fact that such a tube is not available. This may indicate limitations inherent in the method of preheating—for example, the method may only be reliable for relatively short welds at low welding speeds (i.e. manual welding) joining relatively small work pieces, where accumulated stresses due to weld shrinkage are relatively low and significant cooling of the work pieces does not occur before the weld bead is run from one end to the other. Or, it may indicate that others in the industry did not envision applying the method to the production of seam-welded air hardenable steel tubes, perhaps because they did not envision the tremendous utility of this type of tubing.
The use of air hardenable steels for structural applications was introduced in U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,948 and further described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,140. These patents provide brazed structures that take advantage of the fact that air hardenable stainless steel can be simultaneously brazed and hardened in one heat treating operation, including structures containing drawn tubing. Use of a lock seam tubing brazed and hardened in this manner was seen as having advantages in producing load bearing structures at low cost. However, the proposed lock seam increases the weight of the tubing, creates a stress riser and an uneven exterior and/or interior surface, and causes the tube to bow or distort when it is heat-treated.
Drawn air hardenable stainless steel tubing is found in the prior art and is available for purchase; however, it is prohibitively expensive for most structural applications.
Due to the performance liabilities of lock seam air hardenable stainless steel tubing and the expense of drawn air hardenable stainless steel tubing, it was determined that seam-welded air hardenable stainless steel tubing would give the highest overall performance for most structural applications. But, it was found that seam-welded air hardenable steel tubing, of either the preferred stainless type or of the non-stainless type, was not available. No one had solved the technical challenge of producing seam-welded tubing from air hardenable steel strip such that the tubing's HAZ is substantially free of cracks. Accordingly, the prior art did not provide a seam-welded, air hardenable steel tube.
Other than U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,485,948 and 5,871,140 and related international filings, the prior art did not describe the use of air hardenable stainless steel for structural purposes, although this is not surprising due to the difficulties involved in welding this material as described herein above. The most common structural materials in use today include reinforced concrete, mild steel, high strength steels, aluminum alloys, woods, and exotic materials such as carbon composites and titanium. Specific application requirements govern the selection of a structural material and the engineer chooses on the basis of factors such as cost, durability, corrosion-resistance, strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness-to-weight ratio, among other properties. Unfortunately, the choice often requires the engineer, and ultimately the end users of the structure, to sacrifice one or more desirable features, such as low cost, safety, lightness, or durability.
Structural materials are currently available in a broad range of strength-to-weight ratios, or specific strengths, but the costs of these materials generally increase disproportionately to their specific strengths. Carbon composites and titanium, for example, while being perhaps ten times stronger than mild steel for a given weight, are typically more than fifty times more expensive when used to bear a given load. Consequently, such high performance materials are typically used only in on small items, such as bicycles and tennis racquets, or in applications where the high cost is justified, such as in aircraft.
In cost-sensitive applications such as automobiles, conventional engineering materials force a trade-off between cost and fuel efficiency, safety, and performance. Consequently, the typical vehicle tends to have a frame that is both too heavy and too weak. A heavy frame requires a more powerful propulsion system, which leads to higher fuel consumption, higher emissions, and higher maintenance costs. The more powerful propulsion system is itself more expensive to build, uses more material, requires more energy to produce and leads to more emissions related to its manufacture. A lightweight, weak frame compromises the durability of the vehicle and the safety of its occupants.
Lack of a strong and lightweight yet low cost structural material is a main hindrance to the development of economically viable low emissions vehicles; vehicles that can compare in performance, safety, comfort, and price to those powered by the typical internal combustion power system. Without a light, economically competitive structural material to enable alternative power systems for moving vehicles, drastic emissions reduction will be extremely difficult to realize. Current lightweight alternatives to common steel for vehicle bodies are aluminum, plastics, high-strength steels, and exotic materials like magnesium and titanium. None of these materials can offer the required set of performance parameters for the frame elements of a vehicle, at a sufficiently low price. Some of these materials are superior to mild steel in one respect or another, but their cost offsets the advantage. In other respects, their performance is worse than mild steel.
With no lightweight structural material offering a quantum overall advancement in performance and price over mild steel, design of a lighter vehicle is an exercise in balancing trade-offs, offsetting disadvantages as well as possible. For example, vehicle lightness and safety are traditionally inversely related. In a 1997 article that surveys the currently available lightweight alternatives for vehicle bodies, two MIT professors wrote, "a lightweight car cannot rely on its structural components to protect passengers in the event of a crash and so will need to employ additional systems, like air bags, which add some weight." With the current choice of structural materials, it is likely that lightweight vehicle body research and development will be a lengthy and expensive process, with no certainty of reaching the performance and cost targets.
Compromises between objectives, brought about by structural material limitations, can be seen in many other areas and are being found increasingly unacceptable. For example, reinforced concrete bridges are weak and heavy, subject to failure in earthquakes and susceptible to aging. They also must be built on-site and take long amounts of time to build, which means new bridge construction undertaken to alleviate traffic congestion aggravates the problem during the lengthy construction period. Alternative bridge-building materials, such as carbon composites, are much stronger than reinforced concrete, and bridges of these materials can be erected faster than their concrete counterparts, but these materials are prohibitively expensive.
Solving traffic congestion problems is also dependent upon the development of a structural material that will deliver the required performance characteristics at a supportable cost. In many urban areas, the cost of expanding highways and freeways is prohibitive. Expanding vertically, building elevated inter-city high-speed trains and elevated "double-decker" freeways, is often proposed, but subsequent calculations of construction costs for the elevated railway or roadbed prohibit widespread adoption of these space-efficient solutions.
In building construction, the advantages offered by steel framing, of the type described in the prior art, are offset by its increased cost over traditional structural materials such as wood and masonry. A conventional steel-framed building is safer, more durable, and more energy-efficient than a comparably sized wood-framed building; but also more expensive.
Compromises between cost and performance can be seen in many other structural applications, such as aircraft, ships, bicycles, fluid and gas transfer piping, and heat exchangers. If seam-welded air hardenable steel tubing could be created, and specifically if it could be created through an inexpensive process using stainless steel, it could provide structural characteristics equivalent or superior to much more expensive materials.

Seam-welded air hardenable steel constructions


Examples of systems and methods for automatic population of electronic documents are described. In an example, a digital base document having the information to be populated in a data field of the electronic document may be obtained. From the digital base document a data item to provide the information may be extracted. Further, for the digital base document, a similarity score may be computed with respect to each document type defined in predefined mapping data, the predefined mapping data including, for each document type, a weight associated with data items occurring in the document type, the weight being associated based on the importance of the data item to the document. Based on the similarity score, a document type of the digital base document may be identified. Further, based on a position of the data item in the digital base document and the identified document type, the data field may be populated.

Generally, users are required to submit fill out various electronic documents for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include, for example, verifying the identity of users, submitting applications for enrolment, purchasing services, etc. Most of the electronic documents require users' personal information to be filled against various fields in an electronic document.
Such personal information may be similar to information on documents associated with a user, such as proof of identity, proof of immigration and citizenship status, proof of address, proof of income, and proof of birth and/or death. However, despite the availability of personal documents in digital format, the details are often filled in the electronic documents manually, which can be time-consuming, tedious, and error-prone.
Presently, available systems are generally limited to text extraction and often fail to use this information to fill out the electronic forms. The capability of such systems generally ends at only recognizing the text without giving any meaning to the extracted text. Further, the use of certain systems may be limited by the type of documents it can process, for instance, due to lack of storage space, non-availability of templates, etc. Additionally, substantial manual intervention may be required to analyze any new document type.
The present disclosure provides a technical solution to a problem to efficiently and accurately recognize and identify information in a digital personal document, and extract relevant information for auto-filling electronic documents.

Populating data fields in electronic documents


A layered sensor element used in a gas measuring sensor for measuring a physical property of a measuring gas, preferably for determining the temperature of the measuring gas or the concentration of a component of the measuring gas. The sensor element contains a wave-form heater, which is embedded in a porous heater insulation. At least one separating element having a lower porosity than the porous heater insulation is provided between two adjacent sections of the wave-form heater.

German Patent Application No. DE 198 34 276, for example, describes a sensor element. The planar, elongated sensor element contains an electrochemical cell having a first and a second electrode, as well as a solid electrolyte located between the first and the second electrode. Furthermore, the sensor element contains a wave-form heater situated between two insulation layers.
The heater and the layers adjacent to the heater are exposed during operation to high mechanical stresses, which result from temperature fluctuations and the temperature gradients occurring within the layers. To prevent cracks, for example, from occurring in the insulation layers due to these stresses, the insulation layers have a porous design and therefore have adequate elasticity.
The heater is connected by two heater leads to an electric circuit situated outside of the sensor element. The sensor element is heated to a predefined temperature by applying a predefined heating voltage to the heater in a switched mode. The heating voltage is regulated by determining the temperature-dependent internal resistance of the electrochemical cell.
The insulation layers are made of aluminum oxide, for example, and contain contaminants such as sodium due to the manufacturing process. When a heating voltage is applied, the voltage drop in the heater area may cause mobile ions such as sodium ions to wander within the heating insulation and accumulate on one side of the heater, for example. Due to the polarization of the heater insulation, when the heater is operated in a switched mode (sudden switching on and off of the heater voltage), the heater may inject capacitive interference into the electrochemical cell.
Polarization in the area of the heater insulation also occurs during leak current testing, when a high voltage is applied between the heater and one electrode of the electrochemical cell.


With a method for transmitting process-control data before and/or during a printing process for the production of printed products in a printing press, the data are detected at least with the aid of at least one print mark that is effectively connected to a printed product. The data obtained from the print mark are transmitted and/or transferred to at least one processing unit that is arranged downstream of the printing operation. Within the printing process, the data obtained from the print mark are subjected continuously to at least one redundant check in at least one downstream-arranged processing unit, with respect to the data determined during the integral printing process and/or with respect to a further processing location for the printed products which is specified ahead of time.

Specifying data for a point in time before the actual printing process takes place per se precludes the further transmitting of information concerning the success or the quality of the printing process. For example, if a barcode is inserted to communicate the order number to the further processing location, this barcode is inserted into the image either during the imposition or during the raster image process. The barcode is then transferred to the paper during the printing process. In the event that interference occurs during the printing process, for example as a result of a stop command, the barcode can no longer be changed. The further processing equipment will read in the bar code, but it cannot determine whether the printing quality of the respective printed sheet is good.
The following examples are provided for the illustration:
Data is transmitted via a barcode that is affixed to the center of the printed sheet. The printing press is stopped abruptly because of an internal error. One of the two following situations then occurs on a random basis which is based on the point in time for the stop:
The stop is before the barcode or during the reading of the barcode. The further processing equipment cannot read in the barcode. The respective printed sheet cannot be detected and/or allocated and is discharged. The end product is consequently removed even though it is free of defects.
The stop position is after the barcode. The further processing equipment can read in the barcode. The respective printed sheet is detected and/or allocated correctly. The printed sheet ends up as good-quality sheet in the end product with the result that the end product is no longer free of defects.
The printing on of specific marks which are again read in by the further processing equipment is also widely used. The control unit for a cross-cutter, for example, traditionally operates with the aid of cutting marks while a book separation occurs with the aid of separating marks. The simplicity of this solution is advantageous since only positions and, if applicable, also release zones need to be defined. (Concerning the codified print marks, please see the EP2481585 A1.) The extremely restricted function options are a disadvantage (binary information: mark is there or is not there).
Also widely used is the method of printing on barcodes, or point codes, or similar detection characteristics which can be read via suitable sensor devices into the further processing equipment. More or less extensive amounts of data can thus be transmitted further. This method is frequently used for the product identification, for example for the purpose of order data allocation or for personalized products. The advantage is again the relatively easy application. The necessity of affixing additional marks, however, is a disadvantage since the position of a barcode in most cases cannot be used for precise adjustments (e.g. for the cross cutter).
Also known are applications where the printing system transmits information via data communication to the further processing equipment. For example, this is achieved in concrete terms with the aid of a UP31 protocol. This solution has the advantage of a nearly unlimited amount of data which can thus be transmitted further, but also has the disadvantage that it is difficult to allocate the datagrams to a physical paper position. In most case, this takes place via theoretically conveyed paper lengths, but frequently requires additional barcodes or marks.
In summary, we can state that all the aforementioned methods can be used to transmit more or less data from the printing system to the further processing equipment. The data for the most part relate to the product flow (signature number, order characterization) or serve as a trigger for the operational control (cross cutter; deflector systems, selective feeding). All printed-on information is chronologically fixed to the point in time before the printing. The known datagram solutions replace or supplement in the same way the printed-on information.
Information is furthermore accumulated in the printing system which cannot be transmitted via barcodes transmitted in advance, e.g. the marking of the last printed sheet of an order. The imposition of the printed sheet always relates to a copy of the product which is then printed repetitively in an optional number. Thus, the last copy of an order cannot contain a different barcode. This could only be realized with a barcode affixed in real time, within the context of the raster process, which is tied to high expenditure and would result in posing high requirements for the data management of the printing system.

Method for detecting and transmitting process-control data before and/or during a printing operation for the production of printed products in a printing press


A CCD package and a method for assembling a CCD package utilizing a TAB process. The method comprises the steps of preparing a tape for TAB which has outer leads, inner leads and die bonding paddles, bonding a chip on the paddles and then bonding the free ends of the inner leads on the bonding pads of the chip, connecting the inner leads and the outer leads through insulations, adding a light shield layer beneath the chip, and attaching a glass lid to the surface portions of the inner leads positioned just above the chip. Accordingly, packages of light, laminated and simple structure can be obtained, thereby advantageously enabling the compactness of products utilizing CCD elements. Also, the process is also simplified, thereby decreasing the cost of producing CCD elements.

The present invention relates to the structure of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) package and the method for assembling it. Currently, the CCD packages conventionally used are classified into two general types, plastic packages and ceramic packages. Different processes are used to assemble each type of package. To help better understand the current art in the assembly of CCD packages, each process will be described below in detail.
The first process to be described is the assembly of a ceramic package. Ceramic packages are mainly classified into CERDIP (CERAMIC+DIP) type packages and multilayer type packages. Herein, only the process for assembling a multilayer type ceramic package will be described. FIGS. 1a to 1d help describe this process, while FIG. 1e shows the finished ceramic package.
As a first step, several sheets are prepared by using a powder obtained by mixing an Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 compound with certain additives. On these sheets, patterns are formed which are to be used in the respective layers of the package. In the forming of these patterns, metal pads of leads which are to be wire-bonded with the bonding pads of a die are also formed. Together with a lead frame previously prepared, the sheets are stacked in turn and then subjected to sintering, so as to form a package 1 of the desired shape as shown in FIG. 1a. The ceramic package 1 takes its shape through the use of three layers, that is a bottom layer 2, a middle 3 and a top layer 4. Of course, the ceramic package 1 may have more layers.
Next, die bonding is carried out, as shown in FIG. 1b, so as to attach a die (or a chip) 5, which may be a CCD element, on a paddle of the lead frame (not shown) which has been fixed to the ceramic package 1. Then, wires 6 are bonded to the bonding pads (not shown) of the die 5 and each corresponding lead of the lead frame, so as to connect them as shown in FIG. 1c. In order to cover the open portion of the package 1, a glass layer 7 is then formed, as shown in FIG. 1d. The glass layer 7 functions to transmit light to a light receiving region of the CCD element. Thereafter, leads are attached to predetermined positions on both sides of the package 1. FIG. 1e reveals the structure of the finally obtained step-shaped package.
A hollow-type plastic package is assembled in a similar manner. FIGS. 2a through 2f will be used to help illustrate this procedure, while FIG. 2g shows the finished hollow-type plastic package.
Wafer 8 in FIG. 2a is subjected to a dicing process and divided into chips 9, also known as "dies." The dicing process may be accomplished by several means, including a chemical method using acetic acid or fluoroacetic acid, and a scribing method using a diamond cutter.
After the dicing process, die bonding is carried out, so as to attach the die 9 to a paddle 11 of a previously prepared lead frame 10. The lead frame 10, shown in FIG. 2b, also comprises side rails 12, lead fixing means or dambers 14, support bars 15, locking holes 16, and leads 13. Each of the leads 13 includes an inner lead 13a and an outer lead 13b. The lead fixing means or dambers 14 act to maintain a uniform space between adjacent leads 13 and the lead frame 10.
To accomplish the die bonding, an eutectic alloy process may be used. To do so, a gold-antimony alloy is thinly coated on the paddle 11. With the die 9 then seated on the coated gold-antimony alloy layer, the paddle 11 is heated. Through this heating, the gold-antimony alloy is eutectic-welded into the silicon material of the die 9. The heating temperature may be as high as 300.degree. C. to 400.degree. C., depending upon the kind of solder materials used. In order to avoid the oxidation of the die 9 or the paddle 11 under this high temperature, the heating is generally carried out in an atmosphere of inert gas such as nitrogen.
Other die bonding processes may be used, including use of a conductive epoxy based adhesive, a soldering process using a conventional Pb-Sn solder, and a glass soldering process. In the glass process, soldering glass is disposed on a substrate and melted at a temperature of about 500.degree. C. to 600.degree. C. A ceramic die pack is then pressure bonded on the melted soldering glass.
After the die bonding, a wire bonding process is performed, as shown in FIG. 2c. The wire bonding process connects bonding pads 17 of the die 9 with inner leads 13a of the lead frame 10 by means of wires 37. The wires 37 are usually made of aluminum or gold. To accomplish the wire bonding process, one may use a thermal pressure bonding process, an ultrasonic process, a soldering process, a laser process or an electron beam process. The thermal pressure bonding process and the ultrasonic process are preferred in actual practice.
As shown in FIG. 2d, guide blocks 18 are then formed on the die 9 around the both sides of the light receiving region 38 of the die 9. A glass lid 19 is then placed on top of the guide blocks 18, thereby covering the light receiving region 38.
Next, the lead frame 10, to which the die 9 and the wires 37 have been bonded, is positioned in a previously prepared die mold. An epoxy molding compound is then charged into the mold and die molded. This molding encases the die except for the light receiving region 38, which is protected by the guide blocks 18 and the glass lid 19. In this manner, a hollow-type plastic package 20 is formed, as shown in FIG. 2e.
As shown in FIG. 2f, a trimming process is then performed to remove the lead fixing means or dambers 14. Thereafter, a forming process is carried out, so as to form the outer leads 13b into a preferred shape. After the forming process, the outer leads 13b may have a gull-wing shape or a J-bend shape. The completed plastic hollow-type package is shown in FIG. 2g.
The above-mentioned conventional methods of assembling CCD packages, while capable of creating useable packages, have the following disadvantages.
First, the packages manufactured by both of the above conventional methods are relatively heavy and bulky so that when they are used in camcorders and still cameras, they occupy a large volume in the interior of these products, thereby increasing the product's size and weight.
Second, ceramic packages are expensive to manufacture, thereby increasing the cost of the products in which they are used.
Third, in the case of hollow-type plastic packages in which glass lids are laid over the chips, the glass lids have a tendency to shift out of position when the die molding is performed. Consequently, the rate of poor products is increased and productivity is decreased.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages encountered in the prior art and to provide a method for assembling a CCD package by using a tape (a flexible insulated backing with conductive strips for leads and interconnect surfaces for mating with the terminals of the chip) designed for TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) having leads and a paddle for attaching a die. Through this method, packages of a light, laminated and simple structure can be obtained, thereby decreasing manufacturing costs and simplifying the assembly process.


A new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant named ‘KLEVE04334’, characterized by its outwardly spreading to trailing and mounded plant habit; freely branching habit; dense and bushy growth habit; and large red purple-colored flowers with flowers held above and beyond the foliage.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'KLEVE04334'.
The new Verbena is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Camden, New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Verbena cultivars with large and attractive flowers.
The new Verbena originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 2000 of a proprietary Verbena hybrida selection identified as 00.7.2, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Verbena hybrida identified as code number 00.10.4, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar KLEVE04334 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Camden, New South Wales, Australia in 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Camden, New South Wales, Australia since 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A retainer with a block extending downwards from an otherwise generally flat surface is disclosed. The block corresponds to a region of one or more of the cuspids or pre-molars. A side block or other device on the upper retainer also abuts a wing or other abutment device of a lower retainer, causing the lower jaw to be pushed forward relative to the upper jaw and resting position (regular organic closing position) of the upper and lower jaw together. Thus, the upper teeth are pushed forward and a space is created between the teeth behind the (lower) block preventing an apnea during sleep.

There are three forms of sleep apnea: central (CSA), obstructive (OSA), and complex or mixed sleep apnea (i.e., a combination of central and obstructive) constituting 0.4%, 84% and 15% of cases, respectively. In CSA, breathing is interrupted by a lack of respiratory effort; in OSA, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite respiratory effort, and snoring is common. Referring now to OSA, more than 12 million American adults have obstructive sleep apnea. It is a disorder in which breathing is repeatedly, but briefly, interrupted during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat fail to keep the airway open, making it difficult to breathe. It is more common in people who are overweight, but it can affect anyone. For example, some small children may have obstructive sleep apnea due to enlarged tonsil tissue in their throats. For those with OSA, the airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep. This causes shallow breathing, or pauses in breathing, which leads to fragmented sleep and low blood oxygen levels. OSA is commonly accompanied by snoring, as well. This is referred to as Upper Airway Restrictive Syndrome (UARS) and may also derive from medical conditions such as deviated septum, large turbinates, narrow palate, long soft palate etc. This condition is considered to be the same as OSA and is diagnosed and treated similarly. Sleep bruxism is another sleep disorder that occurs concurrently with OSA in a majority of patients. This is forceful side to side, front to back or vertical clenching and unclenching of the mandible. This can occur in all age groups and occurs in the general population at a frequency of between 8% and 26%.
Some patients with obstructive or other types of sleep apnea may benefit from surgery. The type of surgery depends on the cause of the sleep apnea. Examples for common types of surgical procedures for sleep apnea include removing the tonsils and adenoids, if these organs are blocking the airway. This can be especially helpful in the case of children. In advanced, non-responsive cases, the mandible may be broken and lengthened, to move the tongue out of the throat region. Another surgery involves placing a small hole and tube in the windpipe, causing airflow through the tube into the lungs. This is carried out in severe cases of sleep apnea. In still other cases, the uvula (the tissue that hangs down in the middle of the back of the throat), and part of the roof of the mouth at the back of the throat may be removed.
Another common treatment for sleep apnea, which does not require invasive surgery, is called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). In this treatment, the patient wears a special mask over nose and mouth (or inserts into the nose) while sleeping. The mask keeps the wearer's airway open by increasing the air pressure breathed in by the wearer. However, such masks cover a large portion of the face and head, are generally uncomfortable, and may leak or can fall off, thus reducing effectiveness. They do not treat sleep bruxism.
Still further, devices of the prior art have been designed to aid in obstructive sleep apnea problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,117, issued to Thornton et al., discloses a dental device which includes adjustable upper and lower arch trays. The device has an upper arch and lower arch with an adjustable post that extends from the upper arch and contacts the lower arch, so that the user's lower jaw is extended forward with respect to the upper. The post shown in these references is shaped to engage with the lower arch, so that the user's mouth cannot be opened more than a predetermined amount while the post is engaged.
Still another device has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,441 issued to Kidd et al., which discloses a mandible extension dental device including adjustable upper and lower arch trays. Each upper and lower arch tray includes a U-shaped tray body attached to the upper and lower teeth. The device is adjusted to selectively cause extension of the user's lower jaw when the mouth is closed. The upper and lower trays dovetail with a depending hook located in the front of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,802, issued to Keropian et al., discloses an appliance that covers the inside of the upper teeth only with an open palate similar to an upper orthodontic retainer. This device further has a retainer wire to hold the anterior teeth in place, or to move such teeth backwards, and a raised strip that extends from an incisor tip (biting edge) of central incisors to separate the posterior teeth and hold the tongue down.
Another device, the ALF (Advanced Lightwire Functionals) appliance is a cemented expansion appliance for orthodontic treatment. These devices are cemented with bands around the first molars with a wire custom bent to fit the teeth. Activation of the wire expands a plate. Another device is to a type of removable retainer that actively moves the teeth for final positioning. This appliance completely covers the teeth and does not have a definitive bite.
Thus, while there are many different ways of attempting to alleviate problems associated with OSA, there is still room for improvement. There is a need in the field to find devices which are least obtrusive, more comfortable, easy to use, durable, and most effective.

Cuspid and first bi-cuspid bite retainer for sleep apnea


The infrared shielding film has at least one unit formed by stacking a high-refractive-index layer and a low-refractive-index layer, the layers containing a high-refractive-index material and a low-refractive-index material, respectively. The high-refractive-index layer and the low-refractive-index layer each contains at least one polymer. The infrared shielding film has a mixed region containing the high-refractive-index material and the low-refractive-index material between the high-refractive-index layer and the low-refractive-index layer. The mixing ratio of the high-refractive-index material and the low-refractive-index material continuously changes in the mixed region. The infrared shielding film satisfies a following formula (1) in a visible light wavelength region and at light incident angles of 0°, 40° and 80°: 0.01 ≦σ/ΔAv≦0.12 (1), wherein σ represents a variation in reflectivity, and ΔAv represents an amount of variation in average reflectivity.

It has been known that, in a film in which layers having different refractive indices are alternately stacked, the film can be designed so as to reflect the regions from visible light to infrared ray by adjusting the optical film thickness.
Patent Literature 1 discloses that, using an alternately-stacked unit formed of a high-refractive-index layer A (refractive index: nA) and a low-refractive-index layer C (refractive index: nC), an infrared reflective film suppressing reflectivity unevenness in the visible right region can be attained by forming an alternately-stacked unit by alternately stacking a layer B having a different refractive index to satisfy a relationship in refractive indices of nB=√nAnC, together with the above-mentioned high-refractive-index layer A and low-refractive-index layer C, in the order of ABCB, and further presetting the ratio of the optical film thicknesses of the respective layers so as to be A 1/3, B 1/6 and C 1/3.
However, the above-mentioned constitution is designed in light of the performance for vertically-entered light beam, and significant reflectivity unevenness generates for beams with large incident angles. This also shows that the performance significantly decreases in the variation in the layer film thickness, which occurs during the production. Since it is necessary to stack three kinds of materials in sequence, the cost is higher than that of an alternately-stacked film having a two-layer constitution.
As materials having different refractive indices, inorganic materials have been conventionally used. Therefore, in order to form thin layers having different refractive indices, a deposition process in which such inorganic materials are deposited by physical deposition or chemical deposition is used. However, in these deposition processes, the apparatuses are huge and the formation of thin films requires high costs. These processes are not suitable for the formation of thin films having large surface areas. Therefore, an optical film to which a production process such as an application process that can form thin layers with large surface areas at lower costs without using a deposition process, can be applied is required.


Systems, computer instructions stored in non-transitory machine readable mediums, and methods are disclosed herein. A portable system for electrically stimulating meat is provided. The system includes a portable housing configured to house a battery power supply. The system further includes a first end connector configured to attach to a target of tenderization, and a second end connector configured to attach to the target of tenderization. The system additionally includes a circuitry electrically coupling the battery power supply to the first and the second end connectors, the circuitry disposed in the portable housing, wherein the circuitry comprises a microprocessor programmed to derive a first electrical condition and to electrically stimulate the target through the first and the second end connectors only when the first electrical condition is not met.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to systems and methods relating to meat tendering, and more specifically, to portable meat tenderization and flavor improvement.
A variety of systems, including mechanical, chemical systems, and electrical may be used to process an animal carcass to result in tenderized meat. For example, mechanical processing, such as pounding or piercing may be applied to meat to mechanically break down tissue. Chemicals, such as marinating compositions, may also be applied, for example, to break down the collagens in meat. Electrical stimulation of meat may additionally be used. In electrical stimulation, an electric current may be applied to the carcass and used to tenderize the meat. It would be beneficial to provide for improved devices and methods of electrical stimulation for the tenderization of meat.

Portable device and method for improved meat tenderization


An electromagnetic lens comprises two conductive sides between which there is arranged a cavity provided in its lateral portion with electromagnetic input/output coupling transitions to authorize a set of propagation laws between pairs of such inputs/outputs. Moreover, it comprises, substantially centered in the cavity, a substrate comprising a printed conductive patch of predetermined dimensions, so that the two conductive sides and the patch thus create a suspended three-plate strip line structure. The content of the cavity and the respective geometries of the cavity and of the conductive patch are chosen to comply with the propagation laws.

The invention concerns electromagnetic lenses.
There are known electromagnetic lenses which comprise two conductive sides between which there is arranged a cavity provided in its lateral portion with electromagnetic coupling transitions to authorize a set of propagation laws between pairs of such inputs/outputs.
However, the practical manufacture of such lenses poses problems, in particular for obtaining the set of propagation laws.
The present invention provides an advantageous solution for this problem.

Electromagnetic lens of the printed circuit type with a suspended strip line


A probe card includes probes, a build-up interconnection layer having a multilayer interconnection structure therein and carrying the probes on a top surface in electrical connection with the multilayer interconnection structure, and a capacitor provided on the build-up interconnection layer in electrical connection with one of the probes via the multilayer interconnection structure, wherein the multilayer interconnection structure includes an inner via-contact in the vicinity of the probe and the capacitor is embedded in a resin insulation layer constituting the build-up layer.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices and more particularly to a probe card and testing method suitable for use with a high-speed semiconductor device operating with a clock rate of 1 GHz or more. Further, the present invention relates to a capacitor used for a decoupling capacitor of a high-speed semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof.
Conventionally, probe cards have been used for testing electric properties and circuit functions of semiconductor chips formed on a semiconductor wafer. Typically, the testing is conducted in the state the semiconductor chips are still in the form of a wafer, and the probe card is urged against the wafer so that probes provided on the probe card make a contact with corresponding electrode pads on the semiconductor chip. Thereby, the probe card provides interconnection between the semiconductor chip and a testing apparatus to which the probe card is connected, by means of the probes and an interconnection structure provided on the probe card.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 6-140048 discloses such a probe card formed of a ceramic substrate carrying thereon a wiring pattern. In this conventional probe card, contact pads provided on the wiring pattern make a contact with corresponding electrode pads on the semiconductor device, and the interconnection pattern provides electrical connection between the foregoing contact pads. Further, input/output electrode pads are provided on the probe card for in and out of probe signals. Further, the foregoing interconnection pattern forms a thin film resistor or capacitor on the ceramic substrate and achieves impedance control and cutoff of power-line noise.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 7-111280 discloses another probe card that carries a plurality of probes at a rear surface of the probe card. In this construction, the interconnection pattern is provided on the front surface, and various exterior circuit parts such as bypass capacitors or wave-shaping circuits are connected to this interconnection pattern at the front side of the probe card substrate. Such a construction of providing the probes and exotic circuit components at different sides of the probe card substrate makes it possible to dispose the exotic circuit components immediately adjacent to the probes. Thereby, the accuracy of testing is improved.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 10-132855 discloses a probe card in which probes for contacting with a semiconductor device to be tested are provided on a multilayer circuit board at a first side thereof and chip components such as inductors, capacitors, resistors, and the like, that can form an electric circuit together with the semiconductor device, are provided on a second side of the multilayer circuit board. By using such a probe card, it becomes possible to conduct the test of the semiconductor chip in the state close to the case in which the semiconductor chip is actually used, and the accuracy of the test is improved.
Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-304770 discloses a probe card in which a build-up interconnection structure is formed on a support substrate and a plurality of probes are formed on the uppermost layer of the build-up interconnection structure. By using the build-up interconnection structure, it becomes possible to realize intricate and complex wiring, thus allowing a highly dense arrangement of the probes.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2001-102418 provides a probe device in which a detachable contactor, formed of a ceramic substrate carrying probes thereon, is connected to a pin-electronic package via an interposer, and the structure thus formed is mounted on a circuit board. In this reference, the pin-electronic package includes various circuits such as drivers, comparators, and dynamic loaders. Further, the pin-electronic package may include a cooling device in view of severe heating caused by these circuits.
Meanwhile, in the testing process of recent high-speed semiconductor devices, which generally have a very large number of terminals, there is a demand for a probe card that the probes are provided with large density in correspondence to the electrode pads formed on the semiconductor chip with high density and further that a decoupling capacitor is provided immediately adjacent to the probes for effectively suppressing the high-frequency noise.
With regard to the semiconductor device, there has been developed recently a semiconductor package for a ultrahigh speed semiconductor chip operable at the clock rate of 1 GHz or more. In such a semiconductor package, a semiconductor chip and a capacitor are mounted at respective sides of a build-up substrate, wherein a very thin build-up substrate having a thickness of 1 mm or less is generally used for minimizing the inductance between the semiconductor chip and the capacitor.
Further, there is proposed a new process of forming an extremely thin build-up substrate directly on an LSI chip to form a BBUL (bumpless build-up layer) structure (Nikkei Microdevices, December 2001, pp. 178), wherein this BBUL structure provides a decoupling capacitor on the uppermost layer of the build-up substrate formed on the LSI chip in electrical connection with the LSI chip via the build-up substrate.
In such ultrahigh-speed semiconductor devices, meaningful test can be achieved only when the decoupling capacitor is provided immediately adjacent to the semiconductor chip to be tested so that the semiconductor chip to be tested operates just in the same way as it is actually used during the test.
Conventionally, there has been no probe card that can satisfy such a demand.
In the case of the probe card of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-304770, for example, it can certainly test a semiconductor chip having a large number of contact terminals arranged in high density by providing the probes on the probe card substrate with corresponding high density. However, such a construction provides a very narrow gap between the probe card and the semiconductor chip, and there is no choice but to provide the decoupling capacitor at the rear side of the probe card substrate, just as in the case of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 10-132855. On the other hand, the substrate of a probe card for testing high-speed semiconductor chips generally has a thickness of 3–5 mm in view of the need of carrying complex wiring patterns and in view of the need of having a sufficient rigidity, which is required for achieving uniform contact when the probes are urged to a semiconductor chip at the time of testing.
In the construction of the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 10-132855, in particular, the wiring length for the interconnection between the capacitor component provided at the rear side of the multilayer substrate and the electrodes of the semiconductor chip to be tested becomes as large as about 6 mm. Thereby, the inductance associated with the long interconnection causes a problem that the capacitor cannot cut off the high-frequency noise effectively when the semiconductor chip is operated at high speed during the test.
Meanwhile, there is a demand also in recent ultrahigh-speed and ultra low-power semiconductor devices and LSIs, such as microprocessors, to suppress the fluctuation of the supply voltage while it is operated by cutting the switching noise so that a stable device operation is maintained even when there has been caused a sudden change of the load.
In view of such a demand, it has been practiced to provide a decoupling capacitor in the vicinity of a semiconductor chip for absorbing the high-frequency noise such as switching noise.
On the other hand, such a construction generally uses a wiring pattern for connecting the semiconductor device to the decoupling captor, and thus, there arises the problem that the inductance associated with such a wiring pattern causes the problem that the effectiveness of the decoupling capacitor of cutting the high-frequency noise is degraded seriously.
In order to avoid this problem, there has been a proposal to construct the decoupling capacitor in the form of an interposer. Thereby, the capacitor configured in the form of an interposer is disposed right underneath the semiconductor chip, and the wiring length between the capacitor and the semiconductor chip is minimized.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show the construction of a semiconductor device 100 having an interposer-type decoupling capacitor.
Referring to FIG. 1A, the semiconductor device 100 has a construction in which an interposer-type decoupling capacitor 102 is mounted upon a semiconductor chip by way of bumps 103A. Further, the decoupling capacitor 102 thus carrying the semiconductor chip 101 thereon is mounted on a package substrate 104 by way of bumps 103B. Further, the package substrate 104 thus carrying thereon the decoupling capacitor 102 and the semiconductor chip 101 is mounted on a circuit substrate 105 by way of bumps 106.
By using the interposer-type decoupling capacitor 102, the wiring length from the semiconductor chip 101 to the decoupling capacitor 102 becomes minimum, and elimination of high-frequency noise can be achieved effectively.
The construction of FIG. 1A can also be modified as represented in FIG. 1B, wherein FIG. 1B shows a semiconductor device 100A that uses a package substrate 104A in place of the package substrate 104. As can be seen, the package substrate 104A has a depression. In FIG. 1B, those parts corresponding to the parts described previously are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.
By accommodating the interposer-type decoupling capacitor 102 into such a depression, the construction of FIG. 1B can reduce the distance between the semiconductor chip 101 and the circuit substrate 105.
Such an interposer-type decoupling capacitor is generally formed on a substrate having a flat and smooth surface.
FIGS. 2A–2D show a part of the process of forming such a conventional interposer-type decoupling capacitor.
Referring to the drawings, the decoupling capacitor uses a silicon substrate 201 shown in FIG. 2A and forms a lower electrode 202 on the silicon substrate 201 as represented in FIG. 2B.
Next, as represented in FIG. 2C, a dielectric film 203 is formed on the lower electrode and an upper electrode 204 is formed on the dielectric layer 203 in the step of FIG. 2D.
After the step of FIG. 2D, the laminated structure of FIG. 2D is subjected to a process of forming through-holes such that the through-holes penetrate through the silicon substrate from a first side to a second, opposite side, while such a process of forming the through-holes takes substantial time, and the cost of the interposer-type decoupling capacitor is increased as a result. Further, there is a need of providing an interconnection pattern including the process of forming via-holes during the process of forming the interposer-type decoupling capacitor.
As noted above, the problem of using the interposer-type decoupling capacitor such as the one shown in FIG. 1A is that the distance between the bottom surface of the semiconductor chip 101 and the top surface of the package substrate 104, and hence the distance between the bottom surface of the semiconductor chip 101 and the top surface of the circuit substrate 105, is increased as a result of the use of the interposer-type decoupling capacitor 102. While the construction of FIG. 1B reduces this problem to some extent, the use of the interposer-type decoupling capacitor nevertheless raises the problem of increased distance between the semiconductor chip 101 and the circuit substrate 105 and associated problem of increase of inductance.

Probe card and testing method of semiconductor chip, capacitor and manufacturing method thereof


A roof securing system for protecting the roof a structure from being damaged from high winds during a hurricane includes a plurality of panels. Each of the panels is positioned on a roof of a structure to inhibit a roof covering from is removed by the high winds. The panels are selectively coupled together to cover the roof. Each of a plurality of connectors is configured to secure together adjacently positioned ones of the panels. Each of a plurality of traversing straps is positionable adjacent to a juncture of adjacently positioned panels. Each of the traversing straps extends over the roof. Each of a plurality of anchoring pins is coupled to a support surface. Each of a plurality of anchoring straps is coupled to and extends between one of the traversing straps and one of the anchoring pins to secure the traversing straps against the roof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to structural protective systems and more particularly pertains to a new structural protective system for protecting the roof a structure from being damaged from high winds during a hurricane.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of structural protective systems is known in the prior art. The prior art commonly teaches a fabric being positioned over a structure and secured over the structure with a harness of straps to inhibit damage to the structure.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a system that has certain improved features that allows water to pass readily through the system while securing the roof and not catching wind itself. Additionally, the system should include a plurality of panels that are secured together to provide a system that is more easily stored and deployed.


A UV sterilization unit. A plurality of UV lamps are removably mounted to a portable lamp housing. The portable lamp housing is mounted to a wheeled vehicle and may be used to destroy infectious material located beneath or remotely from the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of apparatus for sterilizing fields and more specifically sports fields.
2. Description of the Prior Art
High-performance, artificial athletic fields are increasingly being installed and used in communities. Many of these fields are "infill turf systems" in which blades of synthetic grass are tucked into a backing system that is covered with a deep layer of sand and/or synthetic particles (the infill material). The infill materials are often made of small particles of rubber or plastic, which fills the spaces between the fibers (blades of "grass") to hold the fibers up and to provide a cushion surface.
The infill material and synthetic fibers can provide a host for a variety of substances including mold, bacteria and a variety of germicidal agents. The current procedure is to spray various chemicals on the field to thereby sterilize the field and provide a safe environment. Spraying of chemicals onto artificial fields is quite expensive due not only to the labor involved but also the cost of raw materials.
An alternate approach in decontaminating surfaces is through the use of ultraviolet light. For example, In U.S. Pat. No. 7,459,694, there is disclosed a mobile germicidal system for decontaminating walls and a ceiling of a room. Germicidal lamps are positioned adjacent the wall and/or ceiling to thereby sterilize the surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,552 discloses an ultraviolet air sterilization device for connection to an air handling duct for the purpose of sterilizing the air as it flows through the duct. U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,455 discloses a mobile unit incorporating many of the features of U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,552 and includes a wheeled carriage with a handle to allow the operator to traverse the sterilization device over a floor covering.
In my aforementioned parent U.S. parent applications, I have disclosed a mobile device that is easily movable across a field such as a synthetic soccer or football field while quickly destroying undesirable agents existing on the synthetic field. In many cases, the fields will have goal post, benches, and other objects located on or adjacent the field. The mobile device disclosed in my aforementioned parent U.S. patent applications, are sized such that it is difficult to sanitize the turf immediately adjacent the objects. I have therefore provided and disclosed herein a smaller mobile device that has ultraviolet lights for destroying all undesirable foreign materials on the turn immediately adjacent the objects.
In many cases, it is desirable to sanitize interior spaces of buildings including locker rooms, weight rooms and fitness areas. I have therefore provided a sterilization module carried on but separable from the mobile UV sterilization unit. The sterilization module includes the same germicidal UV technology as the mobile UV sterilization unit and can be powered by an onboard generator or plugged into any electric wall outlet via a power cord. Thus, lockers, benches, etc. within the interior spaced may be sanitized.

Mobile UV sterilization unit with separable sterilization module


This invention relates to an information processing apparatus for managing copyrights under SDMI provisions as well as the copyrights for contents distributed over the Internet. Data Enc(Kc, Content) generated by encrypting a given content using a content key Kc are recorded, along with a header (Header), certificate (Cert), data Enc(KR, Kc) generated by encrypting the content key Kc using a root key KR, and an enabling key block (EKB). The header includes a content ID (CID), a license ID (LID), a URL, and a watermark (WM), supplemented with a header signature Sig(Header). The inventive apparatus is applied to devices that provide contents.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an information processing apparatus for allowing different systems to manage contents using the same format.
2. Background Art
Today, the generalized use of telecommunication networks—typically the Internet—has enabled diverse kinds of audio and video contents to be distributed extensively.
There is concern that the Internet, with its global scale, could be utilized in distributing illegal copies of contents. This could cause serious damage to the copyright holders of the contents involved.
A copyright management system called SDMI (Secura Digital Music Intiative) has been established. The provisions of SDMI envisage proper control of the copyrights for contents such as music data that may be copied by users of audio equipment for their use.
Conventionally, different formats have been required for copyright control in two different cases of data distribution: when users of audio equipment copy contents for their personal use, and when contents are distributed over the Internet.
In order to address these requirements, the manufacturers of personal audio equipment and other content-handling devices have resorted to specialized formats of data exchange for such equipment and devices. The aim is to apply the audio equipment and other content-handling devices to all systems that may be employed for data distribution.
Under these circumstances, it has become difficult to manage the copyrights for contents being distributed particularly over the Internet.

Information processing apparatus for watermarking digital content


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring roughness along a surface (II) of a road or an airport runway in the driving direction. A long bar (I) has a number of ultrasound transducers (1-17) directed down toward the surface (II) of the road. The bar (I) is located e.g. in a carriage trailing behind a vehicle, at a suitable distance (for instance 20 cm) above the road surface (II). During motion, ultrasound pulses are simultaneously emitted form all transducers (1-17) for a subsequent recording of echoes from the road surface (II) with the same transducer, in order to obtain a recording of the distance between the bar and the road surface for each particular transducer. The measurement is repeated when the bar (I) has moved a distance equal to an integral multiple of the distance between two neighboring transducers, in such a manner that a number of the previously measured spots are measured once more, i.e. an overlap technique is used. The measurements are recorded in the vehicle and are data processed at a later time for presentation of e.g. an elevation profile along the completed drive distance measured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring roughness along the surface of a traffic area, e.g. a road or an airport runway.
More specifically, the invention concerns measuring the longitudinal dimension of the road, i.e. along a "wheel track", and not transverse to the road (for instance in order to measure the transverse profile of the wheel track).
2. State of the Prior Art
Previously known techniques for measuring roughness or evenness along a road track mainly comprise mechanical sensing techniques. During recent years optical techniques have also been put into use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,316 discloses a vehicle comprising two attached laser devices longitudinally spaced in relation to each other, which devices emit light beams perpendicularly down towards the road surface. The light spots are read by corresponding detectors (focus detection).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,806 discloses a system in which stationary laser sources generate vertical and horizontal laser planes as a reference for a vehicle, which vehicle is equipped with "laser cameras" or the like, i.e. a transverse row of lasers/detectors or possibly ultrasound transducers directed down towards the road surface. A two-dimensional type mapping along the road track is thereby achieved, but the use of additional lasers for defining e.g. a horizontal plane is expensive and time-consuming.