One or more embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices, and systems for operating non-volatile multilevel memory cells. One method embodiment includes programming a memory cell to one of a number of different threshold voltage (Vt) levels, each level corresponding to a program state. The method includes programming a reference cell to a Vt level at least as great as an uppermost Vt level of the number of different Vt levels, performing a read operation on the reference cell, and determining a number of read reference voltages used to determine a particular program state of the memory cell based on the read operation performed on the reference cell.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory, among others.
Flash memory devices are utilized as non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption.
Uses for flash memory include memory for personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, and cellular telephones. Program code and system data, such as a basic input/output system (BIOS), are typically stored in flash memory devices. This information can be used in personal computer systems, among others.
Two common types of flash memory array architectures are the "NAND" and "NOR" architectures, so called for the logical form in which the basic memory cell configuration of each is arranged. In the NOR array architecture, the floating gate memory cells of the memory array are typically arranged in a matrix.
The gates of each floating gate memory cell of the array matrix are typically coupled by rows to row select lines and their drains are coupled to column sense lines. The NOR architecture floating gate memory array is accessed by a row decoder activating a row of floating gate memory cells by selecting the row select line coupled to their gates. The row of selected memory cells then place their data values on the column sense lines by flowing different currents depending on if a particular cell is in a programmed state or an erased state.
A NAND array architecture arranges its array of floating gate memory cells in a matrix such that the gates of each floating gate memory cell of the array are coupled by rows to row select lines. However, each memory cell is not directly coupled to a column sense line by its drain. Instead, the memory cells of the array are coupled together in series, source to drain, between a source line and a column sense line.
Memory cells in a NAND array architecture can be programmed to a desired state. That is, electric charge can be placed on, or removed from, the floating gate of a memory cell to put the cell into a number of stored states. For example, a single level cell (SLC) can represent two binary states, e.g., 1 or 0. Flash memory cells can also store more than two binary states, e.g., 1111, 0111, 0011, 1011, 1001, 0001, 0101, 1101, 1100, 0100, 0000, 1000, 1010, 0010, 0110, and 1110. Such cells may be referred to as multi state memory cells, multibit cells, or multilevel cells (MLCs). MLCs can allow the manufacture of higher density memories without increasing the number of memory cells since each cell can store more than one digit, e.g., more than one binary bit. MLCs can have more than one programmed state. For instance, a cell capable of storing four bits can have sixteen different program states.
As MLCs undergo programming and erase cycling over time, data retention can become an issue. For instance, the stored charge on the floating gate of a MLC can change over time, which may result in an erroneous read of the memory cell. That is, the determined state of the cell during a read operation performed on the cell may be a state other than the state to which the cell was programmed. In some cases, the time period between when a cell is programmed and when the cell is read can be substantial. For instance, a time period of days, months, or years may pass before a programmed cell is read. In such cases, the stored charge on the floating gate of the cell may decrease, e.g., leak, leading to reduced data retention. The data retention reduction can be more significant for cells which have experienced greater program and erase cycling.


An optical bus production method for producing an optical bus having an improved transmission efficiency while preventing a data transmission failure. More specifically, the optical bus is produced by preparing first sheets that serve as a light transmission layer, a clad layer is formed on both front and rear sides of each of the first sheets and a second sheet is inserted, is prepared separately from the first sheet and serves as a clearance layer between the first sheets having the clad layer. The resulting optical bus includes a plurality of light transmission paths, each consisting of a light transmission layer and clad layers sandwiching the light transmission layer, and clearance layers for specifying the interval between the light transmission paths, each clearance layer being interposed between adjacent light transmission paths.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical bus for transmitting an optical signal, a method of producing the optical bus, and a signal processor for carrying out signal processing including data transmission and reception using the optical bus.
2. Related Art
The development of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) have greatly increased the number of circuit functions of a daughter board used in a data processing system. Since the number of signal connections for each daughter board grows along with an increase in the number of circuit functions, parallel architecture which requires a large number of connectors and connection lines is now employed in a data bus board (mother board) for connecting the daughter boards by a bus structure. The operation speed of a parallel bus is increased by employing the parallel architecture by reducing the width of each connection line and increasing the number of layers for connection lines. However, the processing speed of a system may be limited by the operation speed of the parallel bus due to a signal delay caused by capacity between connection lines or connection line resistance. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by increasing the density of parallel bus connection lines is a great limitation to the improvement of the processing speed of the system.
Use of an intra-system optical connection technology called "optical interconnection" is now under study to solve the above problems and improve the operation speed of a parallel bus. As outlined by Teiji Uchida, the 9th Circuit Packaging Technology Lecture Meeting, 150C011, pp.201 to 202, H. Tomimuro et al., "Packaging Technology for Optical Interconnects", IEEE Tokyo No. 33, pp.81-86, 1994, and Osamu Wada, Electronics Vol. 4, pp.52-55, 1993, there are proposed various optical interconnection technologies according to system configuration.
Out of conventionally proposed optical interconnection technologies, Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei 6-22351 (discloses the application of an optical data transmission system using high-speed and high-sensitivity light emitting/receiving devices in a data bus. This publication proposes a serial optical data bus for loop transmission between circuit boards in which light emitting/receiving devices are arranged on both front and rear sides of each circuit board and the light emitting/receiving devices on adjacent circuit boards incorporated in a system frame are spatially and optically interconnected. In this system, signal light transmitted from a circuit board is converted into an electric signal by an adjacent circuit board and the electric signal is further converted into an optical signal by the circuit board to be transmitted to the next circuit board. Thus, circuit boards are arranged in series, and opto-electric conversion and electro-optic conversion are carried out on each of the circuit boards so that the signal is transmitted to all the circuit boards incorporated in the system frame. Therefore, the signal transmission speed depends on and is limited by the opto-electric conversion speed and electro-optic conversion speed of the light emitting/receiving devices disposed on each of the circuit boards. Since the optical interconnection of light emitting/receiving devices on the circuit boards with a free space between them is used for data transmission between circuit boards, all the circuit boards must be optically interconnected by carrying out optical alignment of the light emitting/receiving devices on both front and rear sides of adjacent circuit boards. Further, since the circuit boards are interconnected with a free space between them, a data transmission failure may occur due to a crosstalk between adjacent optical data transmission lines. A data transmission failure may also occur due to diffusion of signal light caused by an environment of the system frame, such as dust. Since the circuit boards are arranged in series, when any one of the circuit boards is removed, the interconnection is broken. To compensate for this, an extra circuit board is necessary. That is, a circuit board cannot be removed or added freely and the number of circuit boards is fixed.
A data transmission technology between circuit boards using 2-D array devices is disclosed by Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei 6-93051. The technology disclosed herein is to optically interconnect circuit boards through an optical path comprising a plate having two parallel surfaces and arranged to face a light source, a diffraction grating and reflection elements, both arranged on the surface of the plate. In this system, light emitted from one point can be transmitted to only one fixed point and all the circuit boards cannot be interconnected unlike an electric bus. Further, the system requires a complex optical system and it is difficult to align optical elements. Therefore, a data transmission failure may occur due to a crosstalk between adjacent optical data transmission paths caused by displacement of the optical elements. Since information on the interconnection of circuit boards is determined by the diffraction grating and reflection elements arranged on the surface of the plate, a circuit board cannot be removed or added with the result that extendability is low.
Another data transmission technology between circuit boards using 2-D array devices is disclosed by Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 4-134415. This publication discloses a data transmission system comprising a substrate made of a transparent material having a higher refractive index than air, a lens array consisting of a plurality of lenses having a negative curvature and an optical system for causing light emitted from a light source to be incident upon the side surface of the lens array. This publication also discloses a system for forming an area having a low refractive index or a hologram in the substrate in place of the plurality of lenses having a negative curvature. In these systems, light input from the side surface of the substrate is distributed over the top surface of the substrate and output from the plurality of lenses having a negative curvature, the area having a low refractive index or a portion forming the hologram in place of these lenses. Therefore, it is conceivable that the intensity of an emitted signal may vary according to the relationship between the light input position and the light output position of the plurality of lenses, the area having a low refractive index or the portion of the substrate forming the hologram in place of the lenses. The probability of light input from the side surface of the substrate going through a side surface facing the light input surface is considered to be high and the efficiency of light used for signal propagation is low. Further, since optical input elements of the circuit boards must be arranged at the position of the plurality of lenses having a negative curvature, the area having a low refractive index, or the hologram in place of these lenses on the substrate, the freedom of the arrangement of the circuit boards is small and the extendability of the system is low.
It is conceivable to employ an optical bus for diffusing incident light and propagating it as means for solving these problems. However, when the optical bus is formed by laminating together a plurality of light transmission layers for diffusing input light and propagating it so that light is output from an end surface of each light transmission layer as this optical bus and light output from this end surface is received by light receiving elements provided near the end surface, if the thickness of each light transmission layer is small, it is difficult to align the surface of each light transmission layer from which the signal light is output with the light receiving surface of each light receiving element and a data transmission failure occurs. On the other hand, if the thickness of each light transmission layer is made large, the diffusion of signal light output from the light transmission layer is large in the thickness direction of the light transmission layer, thereby reducing the use efficiency of light.

Optical bus and optical bus production method including a plurality of light transmission paths


An organic light emitting display device includes: a substrate; a thin film transistor (TFT) on the substrate and including an active layer, a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode; an organic light emitting device including a pixel electrode that contacts at least one of the source electrode or the drain electrode of the TFT, an interlayer including a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode facing the pixel electrode, the pixel electrode, the interlayer, and the counter electrode being stacked; and a cathode contact part including a first contact layer and a second contact layer, the first contact layer being at a same layer as the active layer and being doped with ion impurities, the second contact layer including a same material as the source electrode and the drain electrode and coupling the first contact layer and the counter electrode to each other.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an organic light emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, organic light emitting display devices that display images by using an organic light emitting device, which includes an organic light emitting layer between a pixel electrode and a counter electrode, have received attention.
For example, in an active organic light emitting display device with a top emission structure, the light emitted from an organic light emitting layer may be emitted toward a transparent counter electrode used as a common electrode. Accordingly, the thickness of the counter electrode may be formed as thin as possible. As its thickness is reduced, the resistance is increased and thus, a voltage drop may occur.
An active organic light emitting display device may also include fine patterns for elements such as thin film transistors (TFTs), capacitors, and various wirings. Such fine patterns may be mainly formed through a photo-lithography process.
In relation to the photo-lithography process, first, a photoresist is uniformly applied on a substrate where a pattern is to be formed, and then, exposure equipment such as a stepper may expose the photoresist. Then, the exposed photoresist is developed (e.g., in the case of a positive photoresist). After the photoresist is developed, a pattern on the substrate is etched by using the remaining photoresist, and after the pattern is formed, any unnecessary photoresist is removed. That is, a series of processes are performed.
During a process for transferring a pattern by using a mask, since a mask with a desired pattern is generally prepared first, as the number of processes using the mask is increased, manufacturing costs for mask preparation may also increase. Moreover, when the above processes (e.g., complex processes) are performed, manufacturing processes may become more complicated and manufacturing time may increase. As a result, manufacturing costs may rise.

Organic light emitting display device and method of manufacturing the same


A toric-drive transmission comprising a drive disk for receiving a power input. A driven disk transmits a power output. A roller device has a roller displaceably mounted between the drive disk and the driven disk. The roller has three rotational degrees of freedom. A first degree of freedom transmits motion from the drive disk to the driven disk to convert the power input to the power output. A second degree of freedom varies a ratio of the power output to the power input as a function of an orientation of the roller along the second degree of freedom. A third degree of freedom initiates a rotation of the roller about the second degree of freedom. A controller system is operatively connected to the roller device for changing the orientation of the roller in the second degree of freedom by actuating a displacement of the roller in the third degree of freedom.

Transmissions are used in motorized vehicles to transmit the engine power to the propelling system of the vehicles (i.e., wheels, propellers, etc.). Various types of transmissions adapt to the different engines and motors in order to propel the vehicle. An internal combustion engine, for instance, does not behave like an electric motor. An electric motor evolves between a full stop to high running speeds at high efficiencies. Therefore, a transmission may couple the electric motor directly to the propelling system. An internal combustion engine, on the other hand, will not run below a minimal revolutions per minute (RPM) and is also limited with respect to the maximal RPM it may attain. Therefore, the transmission used with such engines requires a clutching mechanism in order to allow the internal combustion engine to run while the vehicle is idle. Furthermore, the transmission must allow ratio changes between the engine output and the propelling system input, as high torque is typically required initially to propel the idle vehicle forward, to the detriment of the vehicle speed. Thereafter, lower torque is supplied for higher speed.
There are generally two main types of transmissions for internal combustion engine vehicles in the automotive industry: the discontinuous ratio transmission and the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The difference between the two types of transmission is comparable to the relation, in mathematics, between integers and real numbers. There are five integers comprised between 1 and 5 inclusively, whereas there is an infinity of real numbers between the same interval. The translation from an integer to the next integer implies a jump, a discontinuity. A discontinuous ratio transmission has such jumps. For instance, a five-speed vehicle has five different ratios, the ratio being the rotational speed at the inlet divided by the rotational speed at the outlet of the transmission. On the other hand, CVT's have an infinite ratio of speeds between inlet and outlet of the transmission, extending between a minimal ratio and a maximal ratio.
Discontinuous ratio transmissions are found on most cars, as they are highly efficient (in the vicinity of 95%) and highly reliable as there are no efficiency losses due to slip or overheating, and these transmissions are closed from water and dust damage. On the other hand, the discontinuity between the speed ratios and the necessity for clutching to switch speeds are major inconveniences. There is a loss in engine power, although small, when switching from one ratio to another. These transmissions also are more complex and require synchronization between the ratio changes. Furthermore, in difficult conditions, driver ability comes into account.
One type of CVT, the toric-drive transmission, involves a drive disk and a driven disk adjacent to one another, and shaped so as to form together a torus-shaped cavity. Rollers are positioned in the torus-shaped cavity so as to transmit motion from the drive disk to the driven disk. The input-to-output ratio changes as a function of the orientation of the rollers with respect to the disks, but is continuous. With CVT's, the change of speed and ratios is effected without discontinuity. The CVT's are also very flexible in allowing to optimize the use of the engine to which they are connected. However, CVT's are typically less energy-efficient than discontinuous ratio transmissions. For instance, in some type of toric-drive transmissions, actuation is required to displace rollers between the drive disk and the driven disk to change orientation, and hence vary the input-to-output ratio. More specifically, a translation of the rollers is caused to initiate a change in orientation to change the input-to-output ratio, whereby a non-negligible amount of actuation is used to cause the translation.

Drive roller control for toric-drive transmission


A method of retensioning a tape pack in a two-hub, belt-driven data cartridge, wherein the tape pack includes tape having one or more tracks, includes sensing at least one position of a track of the tape within the data cartridge and then conditionally retensioning the tape pack as a function of the at least one sensed track position. The retensioning may be determined by comparing the sensed position of the track to at least one predetermined limit; the predetermined limit being based on statistical data. A drive apparatus for performing the retensioning method is also described.

Many types of data cartridges exist, such as the two-hub, belt-driven magnetic tape data cartridge as shown in FIG. 1. The typical data cartridge has a housing which encloses a pair of rotatably mounted tape hubs about which tape is wound. In the course of passing the tape from one hub to the other, the tape passes along a predefined tape path in the data cartridge which moves the tape past a cut away portion through which a head of a drive can access the tape. The data cartridge housing also typically encloses various rollers, such as, for example, comer rollers and a drive roller. A drive belt is stretched around the rollers, including the drive roller, and the tape packs on the hubs. The drive roller is contacted by a drive mechanism of a tape drive through an opening formed at the front of the housing. Under control of a processing unit of the tape drive, movement of the drive roller by the drive mechanism causes the drive belt to move and frictional engagement between the drive belt and the tape then causes the tape to move. In addition to moving the tape, the drive belt also provides for tension in the tape. The tape can be moved and read in either direction, i.e., either hub can serve as the supply or as the take-up hub depending on the direction of the movement of the tape.
Tape is wound into the data cartridge resulting in a tape pack with a certain tape and belt tension. These tensions generate forces in the tape pack to alleviate tape pack shift and problems that may result therefrom. However, when a data cartridge is subjected to temperature changes, the forces holding the tape in position in the tape pack change. These forces may go below a certain level at some position of the tape pack causing the pack to shift. In other words, at least a portion of the tape wound within the tape pack loses tape tension and either shifts towards, for example, the cover or the base plate of a data cartridge.
There are numerous environmental circumstances that may lead to such tape pack shift. For example, a mechanical shock to the data cartridge may produce tape pack shift, as well as the above mentioned temperature changes.
Further, short shuffling of the tape, i.e., operation or movement of the tape from one hub toward the other hub repetitively for less than the full length of the tape, may also result in tape pack shift or changes in the forces that hold the tape in place. In other words, when the tape is moved from the beginning of the tape (BOT) towards the end of the tape (EOT) without going all the way to the EOT, a point of turn around occurs somewhere between the BOT and EOT. At the point of turn around, the pack may lose tension causing tape pack shift.
Various degrees of tape pack shift may occur. For example, the amount of shift due to short shuffling over a short period of time may be much less than the shift due to exposure of the cartridge to an extreme temperature change. In some circumstances, if a shifted tape pack is subjected to sudden acceleration or deceleration, tape pack scramble may occur, i.e., the tape may lose its normal wound position or its position on the guide pins causing catastrophic failure of the data cartridge.
Conventionally, tape pack shift is removed by retensioning of the tape, i.e., tape pass from BOT to EOT and back to BOT, each time a data cartridge is inserted into a tape drive (which may hereinafter be referred to as automatic retensioning). For example, if such data cartridges are utilized for operation in a library system, each time the data cartridge is inserted into the tape drive, the tape pack of the data cartridge must be retensioned. This may require a time period of more than four minutes every time the tape is retensioned. Such time delays for a user attempting to access information on the data cartridge is undesirable.
For the above reasons and other reasons that will become apparent from the description below, alternatives to conventional retensioning of tape packs to avoid failures of tape pack shifted data cartridges are needed. For example, any such alternative must overcome the need to retension the tape pack of a data cartridge at every insertion into the tape drive.

Tape pack shift detection and retensioning methods and drive apparatus regarding same


In an optical module in which a transmitter and a receiver that respectively outputs and receives optical signals are stored in a casing, the transmitter and the receiver are connected to a common power line and to a common ground line, and a ferrite bead is arranged on the ground line in the receiver. The ferrite bead absorbs a high-frequency current component out of components in an electric signal passing through the ground line on which the ferrite bead is arranged. An inductance component that evolves on a ground line and a power line of a light receiving element and oscillation of a series resonance circuit that is formed of a capacitance component of the light receiving element are suppressed to reduce crosstalk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical module in which an optical signal transmitter and an optical signal receiver are integrated.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet traffic using the internet protocol (IP), which has spread rapidly in recent years, offers large-capacity transmission services by employing an optical fiber network for a transmission line.
Meantime, an optical transceiver for transmitting and receiving optical signals has been reduced in size as the mounting density of the device has been becoming higher and higher. Such an optical transceiver has a problem of crosstalk in which a signal passing through a transmitter leaks into a receiver adjacent to the transmitter to produce noises, etc. Some techniques have been disclosed as measures against crosstalk, which include a technique of attaching an electric wave absorber to crosstalk electric wave generation spot on a receiver and to a circuit portion showing high sensitivity on a receiver (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-185408), and a technique of providing a transmitter with a low-pass filter (for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. 00/33490).
A ferrite bead is used as an element that is capable of suppressing crosstalk in a frequency band handled by optical communication transceivers currently available. This ferrite bead is provided in such a manner that a ferrite is formed into a small cylindrical shape, etc., and is interposed to a signal path. The ferrite bead works on such an operating principle that the ferrite absorbs a high-frequency noise component out of components contained in a passing signal, and transforms the noise component into heat to eliminate the noise component. Some techniques utilizing this principle have been disclosed. Such techniques include a technique of attaching a ferrite bead to a cable connected to a communication device (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-208818), and a technique of arranging a ferrite bead to a ground line of each device (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209664).
The major cause of crosstalk resulting in a signal leak into an adjacent line has been thought because of a phenomenon that a high-power signal passing through a transmitter propagates through space to interfere with a signal passing through a receiver. FIG. 9 depicts an example of a countermeasure against crosstalk in a conventional optical transceiver. A transceiver 10 has a single printed substrate 11 that carries a transmitter 12 including a light-emitting diode driving circuit (LD driving circuit) driving an LD serving as a light-emitting element, and a receiver 13 including a main amplifier circuit. The transmitter 12 is connected to a light-emitting unit 14 including the LD, and the receiver 13 is connected to a light-receiving unit 15 including a PD. The light-emitting unit 14 and the light-receiving unit 15 are separated across a gap of several millimeters long. The transceiver 10 that is miniaturized in such a manner is protected from crosstalk caused by spatial signal propagation, by covering the receiver 13 with a shield 16. A shield panel or a shield case is used as the shield 16.
Being incorporated in a single unit of the miniaturized transceiver 10, the transmitter 12 and receiver 13 are supplied with power through the same power line, and are grounded through the same ground line. This produces common impedance, because of which the operation of the high-power transmitter 12 exercises an effect on the receiver 13. The effect of the common impedance has also been considered to be one of the causes of crosstalk. Thus, separating the transmitter 12 from the receiver 13 by providing the shield 16 shown in FIG. 9 has been considered to be effective in reducing crosstalk caused by the common impedance.
In these days, however, such common specifications as small form-factor pluggable (SFP), small form factor (SFF), and 10-gigabit small form factor pluggable (XFP) have been established as standardized optical modules for use in optical transceivers operated in the Internet traffic using an optical fiber network. Hence the functions and forms of optical transceivers have been more and more integrated.
As a result, providing an optical module with the shield 16 is difficult when the optical module is under a size restriction. If a shield panel or a shield case is assembled into the shield 16, and if the receiver 13 is housed in the shield 16, the overall size of the optical module cannot be reduced into a compact size.


The disclosure is related to group communications over multimedia broadcast/multicast services (MBMS). An aspect determines whether a number of one or more user devices in an MBMS coverage area participating in a group call is less than a threshold, and delivers a media stream for the group call to a user device of the one or more user devices over a wireless local area network (WLAN) to which the user device is connected based on the number of the one or more user devices in the MBMS coverage area being less than the threshold.

A cellular communication system can support bi-directional communication for multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Cellular systems are different from broadcast systems that can mainly or only support unidirectional transmission from broadcast stations to users. Cellular systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services and may be multiple-access systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, etc.
A cellular system may support broadcast, multicast, and unicast services. A broadcast service is a service that may be received by all users, e.g., news broadcast. A multicast service is a service that may be received by a group of users, e.g., a subscription video service. A unicast service is a service intended for a specific user, e.g., voice call. Group communications can be implemented using either unicast, broadcast, multicast or a combination of each. As the group becomes larger it is generally more efficient to use multicast services. However, for group communication services that require low latency and a short time to establish the group communication, the setup time of conventional multicast channels can be a detriment to system performance

Enabling a wireless communication device to switch from one local network to a separate wide area network for a high priority multicast group communication


A memory cell includes a bottom electrode, a memory element, spacers, a selector and a top electrode. The memory element is located on the bottom electrode and includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a storage layer. The first conductive layer is electrically connected to the bottom electrode. The second conductive layer is located on the first conductive layer, wherein a width of the first conductive layer is smaller than a width of the second conductive layer. The storage layer is located in between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. The spacers are located aside the second conductive layer and the storage layer. The selector is disposed on the spacers and electrically connected to the memory element. The top electrode is disposed on the selector.

Semiconductor devices and integrated circuits (ICs) are typically manufactured on a single semiconductor wafer. The dies of the wafer may be processed and packaged with other semiconductor devices or dies at the wafer level, and various technologies have been developed for the wafer level packaging. Semiconductor processing for fabrications of the semiconductor devices and ICs continues to evolve towards increasing device-density and higher numbers of semiconductor electronic components (e.g., transistors used for logic processing and memories used for storing information) of ever decreasing device dimensions. For example, the memories include non-volatile memory devices, where the non-volatile memory devices are capable of retaining data even after power is cut off. The non-volatile memory devices include resistive random-access memories and/or phase change random access memories.

Semiconductor device, memory cell and method of forming the same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A storage device operation method is applied to the physical server. A storage card is inserted into the physical server. When a virtual machine on the physical server receives a data read/write instruction, the virtual machine generates an I/O request for a physical storage device, and sends the I/O request to a client in the storage card; the client transmits the I/O request to a server, so that the server performs an I/O operation on the physical storage device based on the I/O request. Since the virtual machine directly sends the I/O request to the client in the storage card without using a hypervisor in the physical server, computing resources of the physical server are conserved.

With rapid development of computer technologies, a distributed storage system is increasingly widely applied to large-scale data storage because of its advantages such as reliability, inexpensiveness and easy scalability. The distributed storage system can provide storage resources for a physical server, and the distributed storage system usually may include two software control ends: a client and a server. The client may be configured in the physical server, to provide a storage function for a virtual machine in the physical server, and the server may be configured in the physical server or another physical server, to manage a physical storage device deployed in the distributed storage system. When the physical server uses the distributed storage system, the virtual machine in the physical server usually performs an input/output (I/O) operation on the physical storage device in the distributed storage system, to write or read operating data in the virtual machine into or from the physical storage device.
Currently, the client of the distributed storage system is directly deployed in the physical server. In this case, if the virtual machine in the physical server needs to perform an I/O operation on the physical storage device in the distributed storage system, the I/O operation needs to be implemented based on a hypervisor in the physical server. The hypervisor is an intermediate software layer running between a physical hardware layer and a virtual machine layer, and is responsible for coordinating access to hardware resources and for protection between virtual machines. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a correspondence between a front-end driver in the virtual machine and a back-end driver in a hypervisor is established, and a correspondence between the back-end driver in the hypervisor and a virtual storage device in a client is established. Then, the virtual machine can send an I/O request to the client by using the front-end driver and the back-end driver. When receiving the I/O request, the client can send the I/O request to the server in the distributed storage system, so that the server performs an I/O operation on the physical storage device based on the I/O request.
Because the client of the distributed storage system is directly deployed in the physical server, during a running process, the client and the back-end driver in the hypervisor consume physical computing resources, such as a physical central processing unit (CPU) resource and physical memory, in the physical server. In addition, during a running process, the front-end driver in the virtual machine consumes virtual computing resources, such as a virtual CPU resource and virtual memory, in the physical server. Consequently, a relatively large amount of computing resources is consumed during a process of using the distributed storage system by the physical server.

Storage device operation method and physical server


A communication session is established between users of communication devices. A representation of the users is displayed as part of the communication session. A liaison agent is dynamically added as a party of the communication session. The liaison agent is an application that works on behalf of one or more user during the communication. In response to dynamically adding the liaison agent as a party of the communication system, the displayed representation of the communication session is updated to indicate that the liaison agent has been added to the communication session. The liaison agent can provide a variety of services to a user, such as tracking work product, handling incoming calls, bridging communication sessions, providing web cam services, doing surveys, gathering a roll of a communication session, playing messages, notifying other users of events in the communication session, and/or the like.

Today, the use of interactive collaboration systems is becoming increasingly pervasive. Today's systems make it much easier for users to collaborate. However, the uses of automated attendants that are part of a communication session have been limited. These automated attendants mainly act in the background and are not dynamic or act outside of a communication session. For example, a leader of a conference may record the conference by entering a number such as *7. However, there is no mechanism where these types of attendants can be added dynamically using a graphical user interface. Moreover, these attendants are not able to actively take the place of a user of the communication session. For example, if the user cannot make a conference call, the user may have to try and contact the other participants or send a representative to the conference. What is needed is a way to overcome the limited capabilities of the current automated attendants and provide users with increased flexibility for managing communications.

Graphical environment for adding liaison agents to a communication session


When an electrolytic solution of an electric double layer capacitor is prepared, an association is assumed as a model of a solute dissolved in a solvent. The energy of the association and the energies of the reduced association and oxidized association are calculated and a withstand voltage is estimated based thereon. If the withstand voltage exceeds the target value, only the estimated electrolytic solution is actually prepared. As a result, the development time in the development of electrolytic solution is greatly shortened.

Electric double layer capacitors are required to have a high withstand voltage. The withstand voltage of such capacitors depends on an electrolytic solution. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain an electrolytic solution having a high withstand voltage.
When an electrolytic solution is conventionally selected, electrolytic solutions are prepared by combining a large number of assumed solutes and solvents, and whether the electrolytic solutions have a target withstand voltage is determined by measuring the withstand voltage of the electrolytic solutions.
However, there are infinite numbers of solutes and solvents that can be actually assumed. Therefore, in order to extract the target electrolytic solution therefrom, it is necessary to prepare electrolytic solutions with appropriately selected combinations of solutes and solvents and to repeat again and again a trial and error procedure of measuring the withstand voltage of the electrolytic solutions. Thus, with the above-described procedure, a very long time is required to attain the target electrolytic solution and, therefore, a very long time is required to develop an electric double layer capacitor.

Method for selecting electrolytic solution for electric double layer capacitor

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A solid laser apparatus has either a combination of a lowpass filter (9c) and a highpass filter (9d) or a bandpass filter 9f provided in its output control circuit (8, 9, 10) for increasing the gain and adjusting the phase of a signal in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency.

A solid laser apparatus is known comprising a semiconductor laser for generating a laser beam, a nonlinear optical device for receiving the laser beam from the semiconductor laser and emitting its harmonic light, an optical detecting means used as a monitor for detecting the intensity of the light emitted from the nonlinear optical device, and an output control circuit for driving the semiconductor laser so as to maintain the intensity of the light at a predetermined level (See Citation 1).
Another solid laser apparatus is known having a microchip laser crystal designed for being excited by the laser beam emitted from a semiconductor laser, provided with its crystal end faces coated for use as an optical resonator, and located at the upstream of an nonlinear optical device (See Citation 2).
Citation 1 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (Heisei)7-106682.
Citation 2 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (Heisei)4-503429.
(Problems that the Invention is to Solve)
FIG. 20 illustrates an actual measurement profile of gain transmission characteristic and phase transmission characteristic of the nonlinear optical device and the microchip laser crystal in such a conventional solid laser apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 20, the gain peak of a signal appears about 11 MHz. The frequency at the gain peak is referred to as a relaxation oscillating frequency fk of the solid laser apparatus. Also, the profile of FIG. 20 illustrates the phase of the signal is inverted around the relaxation oscillating frequency fk and retarded by substantially 90 degrees in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency fk.
FIG. 21 illustrates a measurement profile of optical noise waveforms in the solid laser apparatus.
The profile of FIG. 21 illustrates the oscillating frequency of optical noise at substantially 11 MHz which is equal to the relaxation oscillating frequency fk shown in FIG. 20.
The solid laser apparatus having the phase transmission characteristic shown in FIG. 20 allows a range of frequencies lower than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk to be successfully controlled by the negative feedback controlling action of the output control circuit.
However, if a range of frequencies higher than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk contains any external interruption such as a circuitry noise due to the inversion of the phase transmission characteristic in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency fk as shown in FIG. 20, it may cause the control system to start oscillation and disturb the negative feedback controlling action thus failing to effectively attenuate the optical noise. Also, if an external interruption such as the circuitry noise is contained in the range of frequencies lower than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk, it may be treated as an optical noise thus allowing the attenuation of optical noise with much difficulty. Moreover, if the optical noise in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency fk is delayed by substantially 90 degrees in the phase, it may be attenuated only to a limited level by the negative feedback controlling action of the output control circuit.
On the other hand, FIG. 22 illustrates a profile of gain transmission characteristic of the nonlinear optical device and the microchip laser crystal in such a conventional solid laser apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 22, the relaxation oscillating frequency fk of a solid laser apparatus appears about 12 MHz.
FIG. 23 illustrates a profile of phase transmission characteristic of the nonlinear optical device and the microchip laser crystal in the conventional solid laser apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 23, the phase of the signal is inverted in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency fk.
The solid laser apparatus having the phase transmission characteristic shown in FIG. 23 allows any interruption (low frequency noise) in the output at frequencies lower than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk to be successfully controlled by the negative feedback controlling action of the output control circuit. This is because the common operating frequencies of the solid laser apparatus are sufficiently lower than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk.
However, since the phase transmission characteristic is inverted at the relaxation oscillating frequency fk as shown in FIG. 23, the negative feedback action will be turned to a positive feedback action hence failing to suppress an interruption (high frequency noise) in the output at the frequencies higher than the relaxation oscillating frequency fk.
It is hence an object of the present invention to provide a solid laser apparatus which can effectively attenuate optical noises.

Abstract: Also, a solid laser apparatus has the phase shift circuit (9g) provided in its output control circuit (8,9,10) for advancing the phase of a signal in the vicinity of the relaxation oscillating frequency thereof.

Abstract: Moreover, a solid laser apparatus has a pseudo notch filter (9h), which is arranged for the gain to have a local minimum at the relaxation oscillating frequency of the solid laser apparatus, provided in the output control circuit (8,9,10) so that the peak of the gain transmission characteristic of the nonlinear optical device (4) or of a combination of the nonlinear optical device (4) and the microchip laser crystal (3) is offset.


A system for multimodal information services includes a multimodal information service mechanism for providing the multimodal information services. An information user connects to a first network through at least one communication device, the first network connecting to the multimodal information service mechanism, the information user requesting and receiving the multimodal information services from the multimodal information service mechanism through the device. An information source connects to the multimodal information service mechanism via a second network, the information source providing multimodal information to the multimodal information service mechanism to facilitate the multimodal information services.

The Internet has created an entirely new way for people and businesses to interact and share data. However, traditional Internet interaction involves a user at a computer console accessing stored or generated text, image (still and video) and audio data. Typically, data on the Internet are accessed via a so-called Web browser (e.g., AOL's Netscape™ browser). A user connects to the Internet using the browser and provides an address (a URL—uniform resource locator) for the data which the user wishes to access. If the address of the data is valid, the data are provided to the user via the browser. Specifically, images and text represented by the data are displayed by the browser and any sounds represented by the data are reproduced over the user's computer's sound system.
It is desirable, however, to provide a broader range of access mechanisms and approaches to data access on various types of networks. There may be two perspectives in terms of information services. One is the user perspective. For example, it may be desirable for a user to be able to access a typical and general Web site using a telephone (cellular or otherwise) and other devices which have audio capabilities but may have limited or no visual display capabilities. As another example, a user may wish to have requested information delivered simultaneously to both a phone (via voice) and a facsimile machine.
A service provider may also desire a broader range of information delivery mechanisms on various types of networks. For example, an e-business provider may wish to alert its consumers about various upcoming events. Conventionally, such alerts may be sent through a fixed channel (e.g., via electronic mail—e-mail). To be more effective in marketing and sales, the e-business provider may desire to have the capability of automatically reaching its consumers via multiple channels (e.g., via both e-mail and phone).
Some partial and limited solutions do exist for the problem from both the user's perspective and from the information provider's perspective. But there is no coherent solution for both. In addition, each of the current solutions has drawbacks and disadvantages. Present options include the following:    1. Traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. These systems from telephony vendors such as Lucent and Nortel require significant knowledge of telephony. Developers must understand telephony concepts such as inbound and outbound calls, call control capabilities, automatic call distribution (ACD) hardware, public service telephone network (PSTN) protocols, and the intricacies of the private branch exchange (PBX) used at that site. All these technologies are considered part of the "traditional" telecommunication industry and have a steep learning curve. This learning curve is maintained by the profusion of vendor-specific hardware and software that sustains a special vocabulary that is unique to the telecommunications industry. Although IVR solutions provide hooks to mainframe databases and traditional relational databases, the telephony orientation of the development tools makes it very difficult for a typical web developer to create voice solutions. Further, incorporating speech recognition into these solutions provides an additional challenge. Current host-based speech recognition engines require developers to understand many concepts that are unique to speech recognition applications. These include concepts such as grammars, n-best processing, Hidden Markov Chains, end-pointing, and special languages to build and compile grammars to be used in these applications.    2. Embedded special tags to enable parts of a website. There are some companies (such as Vocalis) that provide this capability. Special tags inserted into a web page enable their speech recognition engines to recognize the tagged key words. These solutions require users to change their sites, re-test, and re-deploy them, resulting in significant costs.    3. Verizon offers alert services through wireless phone service to its customers. A customer specifies categories of interest (e.g., stock price) to be alerted about and the conditions under which the alerts are sent. When an alert is sent, it is sent to the customer's wireless phone in the form of text displayed on the screen of the phone. In this case, an alert is sent via a fix channel, i.e., wireless network, in a fixed modality, i.e., text modality.
All existing approaches require significant amounts of special hardware 5 with very special hosting needs.


An apparatus is disclosed for reducing the vexatious complication of personal authentication when using an information technology device or a card. A combination of RFID tags worn by a user is stored when personal authentication is carried out. The RFID tags are detected again In a situation where personal authentication is required. The continuous use of the previous personal authentication is permitted depending on the extent of coincidence between pieces of RFID information thus detected and the combination of stored RFID information, so that further authentication operations can be omitted. In addition, reference is made to a past archive when an RFID list is created. A weighted coefficient is then calculated based on the put-on frequency (put-on archive) in terms of a user's single article or a combination of such articles. The utilization of the weighted coefficient provides personal authentication with a high level of reliability.

Personal authentication is required for identification of persons as a protection against unauthorized access to information technology devices and the unauthorized utilization of card-based services. Conventionally, personal authentication has involved methods using passwords and personal identification numbers and biometric technologies using fingerprints and veins.
In general, personal authentication using related-art methods requires users to be authenticated again when a series of functions is used later after initial authentication because of timeouts due to the end of utilization by the user and the lapse of a predetermined time. This raises a problem in that password-based lock functions, such as those performed by information management, are actually not used when provided because users dislike the vexatious complication of personal authentication.
Some information technology devices have made available a device that functions as a dedicated key and provides a security function, such as preventing access to data on these information technology devices without that key device. In an example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-288328, an explicit key device that allows radio frequency identification is held for personal identification.
Methods using such an explicit key suffer from the possibility of loss and theft of the key itself.


Azomethines can be prepared by the condensation of cycloalkanones and anilines in the presence of acid heterogeneous catalysts, with azeotropic removal of the water of reaction, the condensation being carried out in a continuous reaction in a column-like reactor having an applied temperature profile, and the starting materials being fed in the low-temperature zone and, of the reaction products, the water of reaction to be removed as an azeotrope also being removed in the low-temperature zone and the azomethine formed being removed in the high-temperature zone.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the condensation of optionally substituted cycloalkanones with optionally substituted anilines with the formation of azomethines in a continuous reaction in a column-like reactor having an applied temperature profile.
2. Description of the Related Art
The condensation of cyclohexanone and aniline to give cyclohexylideneaniline using zinc chloride as catalyst has been known for a long time (Ber. 53 (1920), 345-354). The catalyst system HCl--ZnCl.sub.2 has been employed in such condensation reactions for difficult cases (Ber. 46 (1913), 2718).
The condensation of aromatic amines with cyclohexanones is an equilibrium reaction with a slight heat change. It is shifted in favour of the azomethine (Schiff's base) if the water formed in the reaction is removed from the system. In general, this is achieved by means of azeotropic distillation, if appropriate, employing an inert entraining agent, such as benzene, toluene and the like, for this purpose. Recently the use of TiCl.sub.4 (J. Org. Chem. 32 (1967), 3247) or of molar amounts of (butyl).sub.2 SnCl.sub.2 (Synth. Commun. 12 (1982), 495) has been described for fixing the water of reaction. Both compounds fix the water formed in the reaction with the liberation of HCl.
Other developments have been aimed at fixing the water-fixing species to the aniline by means of a covalent bond, for example in the form of N,N-bis-(trimethylsilyl)-aniline (Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr. 1966, 3205), iminophosphoranes (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Eng. 5 (1966), 947) and N-(diphenylaluminium)-aniline (J. Org. Chem. 51 (1986), 1848).
Another method of fixing the water formed in the reaction effectively and thus enabling the reaction to be carried out under mild conditions with a low excess of aniline or ketone, is the use of molecular sieves (J. Org. Chem. 36 (1971), 1570; German Offenlegungsschrift 2,244,238). The disadvantage of this last-mentioned process is the involved and expensive regeneration of the molecular sieve.
Azeotropic removal of water is thus certainly the process of the greatest industrial interest, if it is possible to obtain acceptable reaction times using a small excess of one of the two components, without having to employ major amounts of azeotropic entraining agent.
The condensation of N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine with cyclohexanone without the addition of a catalyst is described in German Auslegeschrift 1,078,119; in this case it is necessary to employ an excess of cyclohexanone of 200 to 300%.
It is shown in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,525,295 that the reaction time in the condensation of aniline with a 400% excess of cyclohexanone in the absence of a catalyst increases greatly as the batch size increases, so that scaling up to an industrial scale is not possible. It has also been shown that strongly acid and weakly acid organic resins have a favourable effect on the reaction time.
In German Offenlegungsschrift 2,901,863 freshly synthesised, anhydrous, non-calcined calcium hydrogenphophate, apatite of the formula Ca.sub.5 (PO.sub.4).sub.3 OH, dried, noncalcined aluminium oxide-hydroxides and proton-exchanged, aluminium silicates of the montmorillonite type which have been washed until neutral are described as effective catalysts for the reaction of aromatic amines with ketones. The examples in this patent application are limited, however, to the condensation of p-phenylenediamine, which is reactive, with methyl isobutyl ketone, a 150% excess of ketone being used.

Process for the preparation of azomethines


A velocity string installation method comprises the steps of: removing an existing safety valve from a production tubing safety valve nipple; running a velocity string into the production tubing to engage the safety valve nipple; and then running a velocity string safety valve into the velocity string and coupling the safety valve with a port at the safety valve nipple.

In the oil and gas industry, wells are drilled to access subsurface hydrocarbon-bearing rock formations. Once the appropriate apparatus is in place in the well and at surface, hydrocarbons may flow from the formation or reservoir to surface. However, over a period of time conditions may change such that the rate of production of hydrocarbons falls or even stops. For example, in gas-producing wells, as the reservoir pressure drops, the velocity of the gas flowing through the production tubing may become insufficient to transport liquids present in the gas to surface. Thus, over time, liquids accumulate in the well and ultimately hinder production.
One established remedial treatment for this situation involves installing a smaller diameter tubing or string inside the existing production tubing, such that the gas travels to surface though the smaller diameter tubing. The reduction in flow area results in an increase in flow velocity sufficient to carry liquids from the wellbore, hence the use of the term "velocity string" to describe the tubing.
Oil and gas wells feature multiple safety systems to prevent uncontrolled release of fluid from the reservoir, including the provision of one or more safety valves in the production tubing which carries the oil or gas to surface. A typical safety valve will be mounted inside the production tubing and will be controllable from surface via one or more hydraulic control lines mounted on the outside of the production tubing. The valve may be a spring-biased flapper valve which, when activated, acts as a check valve and will open to permit flow from surface into the well but will prevent flow from the reservoir to surface.
When a velocity string is installed in a well it is desirable to retain the functionality of the safety valve. Thus one solution is to provide a velocity string dimensioned such that the upper end of the string terminates just below the existing safety valve. The string may be suspended from a packer which is run in and set below the safety valve. If desired, a further velocity string is positioned in an upper section of the well, the lower end of this string terminating just above the safety valve. However, this arrangement has a number of disadvantages, one being the discontinuity in the flow area between the ends of the velocity strings: as the flow leaves the upper end of the lower string the gas velocity will fall, and liquid may drop out of the fluid stream. The presence of the packer also tends to reduce the available flow area.
In some cases it may not be possible to run an appropriate packer through the restriction created by the safety valve. In this situation a velocity string may be provided which passes through the safety valve; however this eliminates the functionality of the safety valve, removing one layer of safety from the well operations.


An exhaust hood (Ec) of the present invention is provided with an inner casing (21), an outer casing (30), and a diffuser (26). The inner casing (21) surrounds a rotor from the outside in a radial direction, and forms a first space (21s) in which a fluid flows in an axial direction (Da) between the rotor and the inner casing (21). The diffuser (26) is provided with a bearing cone (29) that has a diameter that gradually widens moving towards an axial downstream side (Dad) and forms a cylindrical shape extending to the axial downstream side (Dad) to be continuous with the outer circumferential surface of a rotor shaft that forms the first space (21s). An end edge (29a) on the axial downstream side (Dad) of the bearing cone (29) forms an oval shape in which, in a direction orthogonal to an axial line (Ar), a distance (R2an) between the axial line (Ar) and a second cone end part (29ab) of a second side (Dan) is greater than a distance (R2ex) between the axial line (Ar) and a first cone end part (29aa) of a first side (Dex).

There are many cases where rotary machines such as turbines or compressors include a diffuser downstream of the last rotor blade for recovering the pressure of the working fluid. In such a diffuser, the working fluid exhausted along an axis of a rotor shaft is formed to change a direction toward an outside in a radial direction about the rotor shaft, for example, due to the layout. There is a case where such a diffuser has a large exhaust loss due to a change in an exhaust direction.
Patent Literatures 1 and 2 suggest a technology that forms a bearing cone shape of the diffuser into an asymmetric form between an exhaust side and an opposite exhaust side of an outer casing in order to reduce the exhaust loss from the last rotor blade of a steam turbine to a condenser.
Patent Literature 3 suggests a technology in which a flow guide of a diffuser is formed asymmetrically between an exhaust side and an opposite exhaust side of an outer casing.


A method determining a rate of recirculated exhaust gas (EGR rate) at an inlet of a cylinder of an internal combustion engine at a moment t, the exhaust gas being conveyed in a recirculation duct connecting an exhaust line of the engine to an intake line, and the EGR rate being equal to the ratio between flow rate of the recirculated gas and total gas flow rate in the intake line at a location of the intake line in question and at the moment in question. The method: a) determines at which moment t_intro preceding the moment t the gas, having arrived at the inlet of the cylinder at moment t, was fed into the intake line; b) determines the EGR rate at an outlet of the recirculation line to the intake line at the moment t_intro; and c) determines the EGR rate at the inlet to the cylinder at moment t based on the EGR rate at the outlet of the recirculation line to the intake line at moment t_intro, as determined in b).

Some internal combustion engines incorporate a recirculation duct, which takes a portion of the exhaust gas circulating in an exhaust line of the engine, and reinjects it into an intake line of this engine. Exhaust gas recirculated in this way is referred to as EGR gas.
The EGR gas rate, referred to as the EGR rate, present in the gas mixture fed at a moment t into the cylinders of the engine, is a parameter used by an electronic control unit of the engine to regulate the functioning of the latter. The EGR rate at the inlet of the cylinder actually plays an important part in the quality of the combustion of the gas in the cylinders, the fuel consumption of the engine, the limitation of polluting emissions resulting from the combustion of gas, and for engine tuning in general.
The value of the EGR rate used by the electronic control unit is currently a value determined at the moment t at the outlet of the recirculation duct to the intake duct, and not at the inlet of the cylinder themselves.
Different methods are in fact known for determining this EGR rate at the outlet of the recirculation duct to the intake duct, for example by measuring the flow rate of the EGR gas and the flow rate of the fresh air mixed at this location in the intake line or by a calculation based on measured pressure and temperature values either side of a recirculation valve fitted along the path of this recirculation duct using the Barré Saint Venant formula.
However, the value of the EGR rate at the inlet of the cylinder at the moment t can be different from the value of the EGR rate at the outlet of the recirculation duct at the moment t: the value of the EGR rate taken into account by the electronic control unit is therefore not very precise.

Method for determining the rate of recirculated exhaust gas at the inlet of a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, and engine implementing such a method


A memory device authentication method that includes providing a memory device in a host device, and providing both an encryption algorithm, triggering the encryption algorithm during writing of data in the memory device, wherein the encryption algorithm allters the written data and generates a device altered data, then storing the written data in the memory device, running the encryption algorithm in the host device on the data written in the memory device and generating a host altered data, the verifying authenticity of the memory device by comparing the device altered data and the host alerted data. An authentication device and associated system that includes a host device that comprises a unit, a first encryption algorithm that is stored in the host device, and a second encryption algorithm, identical to the first encryption algorithm, that is permanently stored in a memory of the unit.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to the utilization of commonly replaced system parts. The invention relates in particular to preventing unauthorized reproduction of memory devices, such as Customer Replaceable Unit Monitors (CRUM).
2. Description of Related Art
Program execution control technologies are known in the field to which the present invention belongs. The program execution control technologies are technologies to embed a routine for user authentication during the use of an application program, have the routine examine whether the user attempting execution of the application possesses a key for proper authentication, and continue the program only when the existence of the key for authentication is verified, otherwise to halt execution.
By using these technologies, execution of the application program is enabled only for proper users having the authentication key. The technologies are generally commercialized in the software marketing field, two examples being Sentine/SuparPro (trade mark) from Rainbow Technologies, Inc. and HASP (trade mark) from Aladdin Knowledge Systems, Ltd.
In the use of program execution control technologies, a user who executes software possesses an authentication key as user identification information. The authentication key is a key for encryption and is distributed to the user by a party who allows use of software, a software vender, for example. The authentication key is securely sealed in a memory, or the like, of hardware to prevent duplication, and is delivered to the user using physical means such as the postal service. The user mounts personal computer/workstation using a designated method. When the user starts up the application program and when the execution of the program reaches the user authentication routine, the program communicates with the hardware in which the authentication key of the user is embedded. Based on the results of the communication, the program identifies the authentication key, and moves the execution to the following step upon confirmation of existence of the correct authentication key. If the communication fails and the verification of the existence of the authentication key is not established, the program stops automatically, discontinuing the execution of subsequent steps.
Identification of the authentication key by the user authentication routine is executed according to the following protocol, for example the user authentication routine generates and transmits an appropriate number to the hardware in which the key is embedded, the hardware in which the key is embedded encrypts the number using the embedded authentication key and transmits it back to the authentication routine, the authentication routine determines whether or not the number transmitted back is the number expected beforehand, or, in other words, the number obtained by encrypting the number with a correct authentication key. If the number transmitted back coincides with the expected number, the execution of the program continues, otherwise the execution is halted. In this case, communication between the application program and the hardware in which the authentication key is embedded must be different for each execution even if it is between the same location in the same application with the same hardware.
Otherwise, a user who does not possess the correct authentication key may be able to execute the program by recording once the content of communication during the normal execution process, and by responding to the application program according to the recording each time the subsequent program is executed. Such improper execution of the application program by replaying the communication content is called a replay attack.
In order to prevent a replay attack, in general, a random number is generated and used for each communication as the number to be transmitted to the hardware in which the key is embedded.
Many machines have replaceable sub-assemblies. Printing machines, for example, may have a number of replaceable sub-assemblies, such as a fuser print cartridge, a toner cartridge, or an automatic document handler. These subassemblies may be arranged as a unit called a cartridge, and if intended for replacement by the customer or machine owner, may be referred to as a Customer Replaceable Unit or CRU. Examples of CRUs may include a printer cartridge, a toner cartridge, or a transfer assembly unit. It may be desirable for a CRU design to vary over the course of time due to manufacturing changes or to solve post-launch problems with either the machine, the CRU, or an interaction between the CRU and the machine. Further, design optimizations may be recognized subsequent to design launch and machine sale, for example, that a relatively simple code update might realize. However, solving these problems, or providing optimization updates, generally requires a service call.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,088 to Gilliland et al. discloses a monitor/warranty system for electrostatographic reproducing machines in which replaceable cartridges providing a predetermined number of images are used. Each cartridge has an EEPROM programmed with a cartridge identification number that, when matched with a cartridge identification number in the machine, enables machine operation, a cartridge replacement warning count, and a termination count at which the cartridge is disabled from further use. The EEPROM stores updated counts of the remaining number of images left on the cartridge after each print run.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,409 to Beard et al. discloses a fuser module comprising a fuser subsystem installable in a xerographic printing apparatus, which includes an electronically-readable memory permanently associated therewith. The control system of the printing apparatus reads out codes from the electronically-readable memory when installed to obtain parameters for operating the module, such as maximum web use, voltage and temperature requirements, and thermistor calibration parameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,134 to Shin et al. provides a device for authenticating user's access rights to resources, which comprises first memory means for storing challenging data, second memory means for storing unique identifying information of the user, third memory means for storing proof support information which is a result of executing predetermined computations to the unique identifying information of the user and unique security characteristic information of the device, response generation means for generating a response from the challenging data stored in the first memory means, the unique identifying information stored in the second memory means and the proof support information stored in the third memory means, and verification means for verifying, the legitimacy of the response by verifying that the response, the challenging data and the unique security characteristic information of the device satisfy a specific predefined relation.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0005246 to Peinado et al. describes a device for securely recording projected content to a portable memory and for reading the projected content therefrom. The device is adapted to read or write specially-configured portable memories that are incompatible with standard read and write devices. For example, the device may be designed to work with memories having an unusual type or size, or may manipulate the data in a nonstandard way before storing the data in the memory.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,368 to Habib et al. describes a method for protecting against EEPROM directed intrusion into a mobile communication device by an external interfacing master in which an incipient powering operation of the device is detected. The mobile communication device carries an EEPROM and a microprocessor that are interconnected via an electrical interface. The microprocessor detects whether the external interfacing master tries to fraudulently access the EEPROM through the electrical interface. Upon such detection, the microprocessor undertakes a protecting measure for blocking subsequent reading of the EEPROM by the external interfacing master.
All of the references indicated above are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety for their teachings.

Method of authentication of memory device and device therefor


A balancing method, particularly for turbocompressors, performed with a balancing device having a base structure which elastically supports a supporting structure having a flange for supporting a receptacle of a rotating element and a rotating element. The balancing device further includes an actuator—adapted to actuate a lever along a substantially radial direction, the lever being adapted to generate a force for fixing the receptacle to the flange. The method includes the following steps:                accommodating the receptacle and the rotating element in the supporting structure;        translating the lever with the actuation means which operate along a substantially radial direction; and        rotating the lever, by operating the actuator, the lever being adapted to generate a force for fixing the receptacle to the flange.

Balancing devices of the known type provide for dynamic measurement of the imbalance of a rotating element mounted in its own receptacle, complete with bearings, and turned at the service rate. The rotating element can be for example a wheel or a rotor.
The normal balancing method requires measuring the vibrations at one or more rotation rates in a certain measurement range, for example between 20,000 rpm and 200,000 rpm.
Known balancing machines of the "supercritical" or "soft bearing" type provide said measurement of the vibrations by turning the rotating element in what are called supercritical conditions, i.e., so that the resonance frequencies generated by the elastic elements that support the support complete with the rotating element and its receptacle are substantially lower than the vibration measurement range.
In balancing machines of the known type, the rotating element, complete with its receptacle that supports the bearings, is mounted on a support that is connected to the base structure of the machine in a relatively elastic manner, so as to ensure a resonance in all its vibration modes outside the speed of use of the system under the selected measurement conditions. Vibration measurement is performed generally by means of a sensor, for example an accelerometer, which is fixed to the vibrating part of the balancing machine The extent of the measured vibration, with equal actual imbalances of the rotating element, depends on the mass and on the moment of inertia of the vibrating part of the balancing machine
It follows that a drawback of balancing machines of the known type relates to the fact that this mass is often substantial, and this entails the considerable reduction of the measured value of the vibrations.
In particular, in known balancing devices the fixing of the receptacle and of the rotating element to the corresponding supporting structure is a very critical aspect for good vibration measurement. Very rigid fixing is in fact indispensable in order to prevent the rotating element and its receptacle from deforming or detaching from the supporting structure due to the dynamic forces in play, causing unwanted resonances or non-linearities of vibration measurement.
Currently, various techniques and various devices are known for fixing a rotating element and corresponding receptacle to a balancing device and will be described hereinafter together with the related drawbacks.
It is known, for example, to fasten the receptacle of the rotating element to the corresponding supporting structure by means of bolts. However, a drawback of this solution relates to the time required to perform, manually, the fixing operation; the long time required to perform fixing is in fact not compatible with the production times of the facilities in which balancing machines operate.
Solutions for fixing the receptacle of the rotating element are also known which use hydraulic actuators, or actuators of another type, capable of providing well-controlled fixing forces to the supporting structure, and in a direction that is parallel to the rotation axis of the rotating element. However, these actuators have the drawback of being bulky and of having a considerable mass, and since they are mounted on the vibrating part of the balancing machine they entail the considerable and undesirable increase of the oscillating mass. The increase of the oscillating mass is a very undesirable drawback, because it entails the modification of the vibration mode of the vibrating part on which the vibrations caused by the rotating element are measured. In particular, the increase in mass causes a sharp reduction in the measured vibration, reducing therefore the sensitivity of the measurement system. Moreover, the addition of mechanical components on the vibrating part increases the likelihood of adding vibrating modes in the range of useful frequencies of the measurement, introducing new resonances that are harmful for the quality of the measurement.
Radial cylindrical actuators are also known which are opposite to the receptacle of the rotating element and bear simple V-shaped blocks that fasten the supporting structure, for example a supporting ring, to the receptacle of the rotating element. However, this known fixing system has the drawback that it can be used only for some appropriate shapes of the fixing part of the receptacle. Another drawback resides in that this system cannot provide a known and controllable axial fastening force, due to the friction inside the V-shaped block itself, which is pressed only radially.

Balancing device, particularly for turbocompressors, and corresponding method


In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for estimating temperature of fuel in a fuel delivery system of a motor vehicle engine includes the step of calculating a fuel temperature estimate in an engine running state as a function of fuel flow rate, engine coolant temperature and intake air temperature.. In a second embodiment of the present invention, a method for estimating temperature of fuel in a fuel delivery system of a motor vehicle engine includes the step of calculating a fuel temperature estimate in an engine not running state as a function of a fuel temperature estimate when the engine was last in a running state, time the engine has been in the not running state, engine coolant temperature and intake air temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicle fuel systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the control of fuel delivery to a motor vehicle engine, knowledge of the temperature of the fuel being delivered can frequently be advantageous. An "electronic returnless" fuel system is one fuel system in which such knowledge of fuel temperature can be advantageous. In an "electronic returnless" fuel system, the speed of the fuel pump is feedback-controlled such that exactly the required amount of fuel is delivered to the engine. Thus, the conventional return fuel line to the fuel tank can be eliminated. In such an "electronic returnless" fuel system, the ability to control fuel pump speed (and therefore fuel pressure) can be used to advantage to prevent fuel vaporization in the fuel rail of the engine. If such vaporization is impending, the fuel pressure can be increased as a countermeasure. Reducing fuel vaporization can improve engine starting and driveability.
However, to provide such a countermeasure, the temperature of the fuel in the fuel rail should preferably be known. Of course, the prior art recognizes that a fuel temperature sensor can be used to sense fuel temperature. But, with the ever-increasing pressures for motor vehicle cost efficiency, an alternative means for sensing fuel temperature which does not require a dedicated sensor can provide substantial advantages over the prior art.

Fuel delivery control based on estimated fuel temperature


Disclosed is a process for forming, over a semiconductor substrate, a multilayer structure having successively a first layer of silicon-containing material, a relatively thin oxide layer, and a second layer of silicon-containing material. The oxide layer has a substantially uniform thickness in a range from about 1 Angstrom to about 20 Angstroms. The oxide layer consists essentially of silicon dioxide that is formed by exposing the first layer to an aqueous oxidizing bath at a relatively low temperature such that diffusion of dopants in the semiconductor substrate is not induced. The oxide layer prevents dopants from outgassing and diffusing out of the first layer and into the second layer. Also disclosed is a structure formed by the disclosed process.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of forming a silicon-containing structure over a semiconductor substrate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming a multilayer structure having successively a first layer of silicon-containing material, a relatively thin layer of silicon dioxide, and a second layer of silicon-containing material.
2. The Relevant Technology
Integrated circuits are currently manufactured by an elaborate process in which semiconductor devices, insulating films, and patterned conducting films are sequentially constructed in a predetermined arrangement on a semiconductor substrate. In the context of this document, the term "semiconductor substrate" is defined to mean any construction comprising semiconductive material, including but not limited to bulk semiconductive material such as a semiconductive wafer, either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials thereon, and semiconductive material layers, either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials. The term "substrate" refers to any supporting structure including but not limited to the semiconductor substrates described above. The conventional semiconductor devices which are formed on the semiconductor wafer include capacitors, resistors, transistors, diodes, and the like. In advanced manufacturing of integrated circuits, hundreds of thousands of these semiconductor devices are formed on a single semiconductor substrate.
Integrated circuit manufacturing often requires formation of one layer of silicon-containing material over another layer of silicon-containing material. For convenience, an underlying silicon-containing layer will be referred to hereinafter as the first layer and an overlying silicon-containing layer will be referred to as the second layer. Frequently, the properties of a first layer will differ from those of a second layer in one or more important ways. For instance, the two layers may have different concentrations of dopants, thereby giving each layer different electrically conductive properties. The two layers may also have different crystalline structures, such as monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous, cylindrical grain polysilicon, hemispherical grain, and spherical grain.
It is well understood that grain boundaries in highly doped, highly crystalline polysilicon facilitate outgassing and migration of dopants. It is surmised that diffusion of dopants is especially problematic when the dopants move into an adjacent second layer of silicon-containing material, thereby creating nonuniformities in the second layer. For example, a sheet resistance measurement taken at any particular point on the second layer may significantly depart from the average sheet resistance of the second layer. Dopant diffusion into adjacent layers may also cause a structure that contains layers having nonuniform thickness.
It has been found that a silicon dioxide layer formed on the surface of a highly doped, highly crystalline polysilicon layer acts as diffusion barrier against outgassing of dopants. However, a layer of silicon dioxide can have undesirable consequences on a structure in which it is used. Techniques for forming a layer of silicon dioxide typically involve exposing a silicon layer to a thermal oxidation process, thereby heating not only the surface of the polysilicon layer, but also the semiconductor surface on which it lies. This heating sometimes induces diffusion of dopant material from active regions in the semiconductor substrate into adjacent previously undoped regions. Enlargement of active regions can cause inefficiency or failure of semiconductor devices. Moreover, conventional methods of forming silicon dioxide diffusion barriers produce silicon dioxide layers sufficiently thick to impair the conductivity of structures in which they are used.
What is needed is a method of forming an oxide layer upon a layer of doped silicon-containing material that adequately prevents diffusion and outgassing of dopants. A method is needed for forming an oxide layer sufficiently thin so as to not significantly reduce the conductivity of the structure in which it is used. It would also be advantageous to provide a method for forming an oxide layer that does not inherently expose nearby active regions of a semiconductor substrate to high temperatures.


A fuel cell vehicle includes a vehicle body having a floor frame; a fuel cell that generates electricity by the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen; and a subframe on which the fuel cell is mounted, being attached to the lower side of the floor frame and has a pair of side frames that extend in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle body, wherein the bottom end of the fuel cell disposed at a position between the upper end and the lower end of the subframe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell vehicle equipped with an electric motor powered by a fuel cell.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2005-162393, No. 2005-162395, and No. 2005-162396 filed Jun. 2, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell vehicle that provides a subframe on which are mounted the fuel cell and auxiliary components thereof, with the subframe being fastened to vehicle body frame members from below to be disposed under the vehicle floor. (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-182624.)
When mounting a fuel cell and the like on such a subframe to be disposed under the vehicle floor, care must be taken so that obstructions on the road do not interfere with the fuel cell.
Mechanical strength is required to the subframe for supporting the equipment mounted on the subframe while transmitting the weight to the vehicle body frame members. On the other hand, a lightweight subframe with a thin profile is sought to meet demands for reducing the vehicle weight. Simultaneously meeting both requirements has thus proven to be difficult.
Disposing the fuel cell and related components under the vehicle floor has also given rise to the issue of lowering the height of the vehicle floor. That is, since the fuel cell has conventionally been mounted on top of the subframe, mounting of the subframe has required that the height measurement from the bottom edge of the subframe to the vehicle floor be at least equal to the dimensions of the subframe in the height direction and the height dimension of the fuel cell. This has therefore posed a hurdle to lowering the height of the floor.