A high-speed public key cryptosystem is constructed for the encryption and decryption of digital data blocks, the creation and verification of digital signatures, and the creation of verifiable random number sequences. The encryption and decryption techniques employ a public key K constructed as the matrix product of a randomly generated nonsingular matrix M, and a rectangular template matrix T having row identifiers imbedded therein for selecting rows of a matrix M-1 that participate during decryption. Encrypting of a plaintext block, is achieved by converting the block to a nonlinear row selector code used to select rows of K. Columns of the selected rows are then added modulo-2 to produce a block if ciphertext. Deciphering the ciphertext is an iterative process wherein successive row identifiers and plaintext bits are unmasked by selecting rows of matrix M-1 in accordance with the bit states of the ciphertext, and adding columns of the selected rows modulo-2 to produce an intermediate block of data containing 2 plaintext bits and a row identifier used to select a row of key T, which is then added modulo-2 to the intermediate block to reveal the next two bits of plaintext and the next row identifier. A public key consisting of a single, noninvertible, binary matrix and a private key consisting of a pair of binary matrices, one or which is singular and the other nonsingular.

There are many instances in the processing, storage, and transmission of proprietary digital, or binary, data where it is desirable for purposes of security and conservation of bandwidth to translate a series, or block, of binary data into a like ordered block of data wherein discrete bits thereof are changed to an opposite state in accordance with a reversible cryption, or transforming, procedure, encrypting the block of data. Decryption of such a block of data is achieved by application of the inverse process to that of the encryption process, reversing the bits acted upon by the encryption process back to their original state and recovering the original data. In the past, such block, or polygraphic encryption, has required a significant number of discrete operations and has been relatively slow and costly as well as fixed and limited in key size and security. In addition, block cryption schemes have typically been private key systems requiring a secure transmissions channel for distribution of the private keys. Also, these systems are generally incapable of producing digital signatures and source message authentication. Lastly, to achieve non-linear transforms, contemporary private key systems such as the ANSI Data Encryption Standard (DES), because of their complexity, generally require dedicated hardware implementations to achieve the speeds necessary to operate in-line with high speed communications channels.
Of the few public key systems that have emerged, the best known is the RSA system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,829, issued in September 1983, to Rivest et al., which shows a system for encoding data as a number M in a predetermined set, raising that number to a first predetermined power, and computing the remainder when the exponentiated number is divided by the product of two predetermined prime numbers, with the remainder being the ciphertext. To decipher the ciphertext, the ciphertext is raised to a second predetermined power and the remainder computed when the exponentiated ciphertext is divided by the product of the two prime numbers, with the remainder being the original text.
Although widely used, the RSA system is slow and unwieldy, making it unsuitable for general message encryption and decryption and for inexpensive authentication devices, such as "smart card" devices, thereby limiting its use to transmission of private keys and digital signature and authentication purposes. In addition, the security of the RSA system depends on the unproved difficulty of factoring large numbers, which is threatened by ever-improving advances in factoring techniques, such as those noted in the Jun. 29, 1990, issue of Science, Vol. 238, page 1608.
Another public key system, the McEliece system as disclosed in "A Public Key Cryptosystem Based On Algebraic Coding Theory," DSN Progress Report 42-44, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, pp. 114-116, 1978, by McEliece, is workable in theory but overly complex, operates at less than fifty percent bandwidth, and has no digital signature capability. Other public key systems, such as "Knapsack Cryptosystems," disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,582, issued on Aug. 19, 1980, to Hellman et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,323, issued on Aug. 16, 1983, to Henry, have been demonstrated to be insecure, as noted in "Breaking Iterated Knapsacks," by E. F. Brickwell, "Advances In Cryptology," proceedings of "Crypto 84," pp 51-60.
A system which is probably closest to applicants' system is system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,232, entitled "Polygraphic Encryption-Decryption System," to William J. Wilson (one of applicants), issued May 28, 1985. In this system, first digital memory in the encryption device is configured as a binary matrix, which is loaded with an invertible (possessing an algebraic inverse) binary matrix, this matrix forming the first of a pair of private keys. Binary data to be encrypted is "ANDed" with rows of the matrix, selecting certain rows of the matrix in accordance with the bit states of the data, and columns of selected rows are "exclusive-ORed" to produce the ciphertext. To decrypt the ciphertext, a second private key matrix which is an algebraic inverse of the first private key matrix is loaded into a second matrix-configured memory, and the ciphertext is "ANDed" with this second matrix. As with the encryption process, rows which are selected by this "ANDing" process are also "exclusive-ORed," producing the original data. While this system works relatively well, its linear cryptographic transforms are not as secure as the nonlinear transforms of the present invention. In addition, it does not provide for digital signature capabilities.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a single, comprehensive public key cryptosystem of sufficient simplicity, speed, and security to allow the in-line performance in high-speed commercial communications and data channels of the major cryptographic transformations of encryption, decryption, and digital signature generation and for off-line creation of paired public and private keys for implementing such transformations.
Additionally, it is an object of this invention to provide a cryptosystem wherein the nonlinear cryptographic transforms effected by the public key cannot be reversed by linear algebraic transformations.
Still further, it is another object of this invention to provide random number sequences that can be verified, if necessary, in the manner of digital signatures.

Public key encryption and decryption circuitry and method


A method of on-line monitoring and control of monomer conversion in emulsion polymerization includes continuously balancing, as from an initialization time, the heat QIN, introduced into the reactor, the reaction enthalpy QRE introduced via the monomer feed, and the heat which has been removed from the reactor QOUT, and calculating an amount of heat which has not been removed QAD which would lead to an increase in the internal temperature and the internal pressure of the reactor in the event of a spontaneous adiabatic reaction. A check is carried out as to whether the potential adiabatic temperatures and pressures always lie below prescribed upper limits. If the upper limits are exceeded, the monomer feed to the reactor is throttled back or interrupted.

The present invention relates to a method of on-line monitoring and control of monomer conversion in emulsion polymerization in a reactor, in particular in semicontinuous and continuous emulsion polymerization processes on an industrial scale.
Safety aspects play a prominent role in production processes in chemical industry. Chemical production processes are therefore usually monitored continually in order to avoid possible dangerous situations which could lead to explosions or to release of chemicals.
Many chemical reactions, for example emulsion polymerization, proceed exothermically and are therefore associated with the liberation of heat. If, in such a reaction system, less heat is removed than is generated by reaction of the starting materials the resulting temperature rise in the system can lead to a self-accelerating reaction. This is referred to as a xe2x80x9crunawayxe2x80x9d reaction. In a closed reactor system, a temperature rise is also associated with an increase in the internal pressure in the reactor.
A reactor for exothermic chemical reactions therefore has, in addition to cooling devices for efficient removal of heat, specific safety devices for release of pressure, for example safety valves or special xe2x80x9ccatch tankxe2x80x9d systems which make it possible for the contents of the reactor to be quickly emptied into a safety tank. As a basic safety requirement, the process should always be carried out in such a way that the safety devices are not actuated even under unfavorable conditions, i.e. in the case of a spontaneous, adiabatic runaway reaction of the mixture present in the reactor. To realize this basic principle, reaction monitoring aided by the process control system is usually provided. The essential task of this reaction monitoring is to ensure the safety of the process and to limit the process risk at every point in time during the reaction in the running process.
Up to now, reaction monitoring has usually been based on fixed apparatus-dependent and formulation-independent limit values for feed amounts and/or rates for the starting materials and on monitoring of temperature differences.
These fixed limit values necessitate very large safety margins; optimization of the process conditions in terms of economics is only possible within narrow limits in the case of such concepts.
However, to optimize the space-time yield while maintaining plant safety, it is necessary to replace these rigid limit values by more flexible limit values based on up-to-date measurements while the reaction is running.
In emulsion polymerization, the starting materials (essentially monomers, emulsifiers, water, initiators and stabilizers) are introduced according to a predetermined addition strategy into the reactor where the emulsified monomer droplets are converted into polymer particles with liberation of heat.
Continuous reaction monitoring of emulsion polymerization therefore consists essentially of two elements:
monitoring of a threatened runaway reaction by actuating an alarm if a particular maximum internal temperature in the reactor is exceeded; and
monitoring/actuation of an alarm in the case of monomer accumulation.
An accumulation of monomers in the reactor is, firstly, associated with the risk of the reaction ceasing. However, an accumulation of monomers at the same time also represents an incalculable safety risk should an adiabatic runaway reaction of the reaction mixture occur. Reliable reaction monitoring therefore requires that the reaction enthalpy present in the reactor as a result of accumulative monomers but not yet liberated be known exactly at every point in time.
Various methods of monitoring monomer accumulation are already known.
In the xe2x80x9cde Haasxe2x80x9d reaction monitoring method, the setting of the regulating valves for steam and cooling water supply to the temperature-control bath of the reactor is monitored. This variant has the advantage that it can be implemented relatively simply. It employs instrumentation which is already present for controlling the reaction. However, for this same reason, the method cannot be used as a safety device of requirement class 5 (DIN 19250 or SIL III as per IEC 61508). In addition, certain effects such as reactor fouling or a deterioration in heat removal if the viscosity of the reaction mixture rises cannot be taken into account. The increase in the internal pressure in the reactor which occurs in the case of a runaway reaction is also not taken into account. Furthermore, this method of reaction monitoring reaches its limitations in the case of reactions which are provided with a relatively complex regulation strategy.
A further known method of monitoring monomer accumulation is to monitor the minimum initially charged amount of inerts (for instance deionized water) and the maximum flow for the monomer feed. However, this monitoring method allows only a relatively restricted flexibility with regard to the formulations and the operating procedure for the reactor. In itself it is not sufficient for monitoring the start of the reaction or a cessation of the reaction and must therefore be combined with organizational measures and, if appropriate, the xe2x80x9cde Haasxe2x80x9d reaction monitoring method. This method also does not explicitly take into account pressures which may possibly occur. This method is unfavorable from an economic point of view since, owing to the rigid limit values for amounts, relatively large safety margins have to be allowed.
A further known method is to monitor the temperature difference between the internal reactor temperature and the reactor bath temperature after reaching a xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d amount. The xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d amount is the maximum amount of monomers which can be permitted to run into the reactor without occurrence of a polymerization reaction while still leading to conditions within the safety margins in the case of a runaway reaction. The xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d amount can be determined on the basis of measured flows with the aid of a model. The calculation is then carried out by means of a simplified heat balance which takes into account only the introduced heat flows. However, this method, too, does not explicitly take into account pressures which possibly occur in the case of a runaway reaction. The monitoring of a rigid limit value for the temperature difference between internal reactor temperature and reactor bath temperature does not take into account the influences of reactor fouling and the viscosity. In addition, this method has only restricted usability in the case of reactors having extended cooling opportunities such as external heat exchangers or reflux condensers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of on-line monitoring and control of monomer conversion in emulsion polymerization, which method makes possible more economical process conditions combined with unaltered, high plant safety and, in particular, is also usable for reactors having extended cooling opportunities and in processes having complex regulation strategies.
We have found that this object is achieved by the method described in claim 1. The method of the invention comprises
a) selecting an initialization time t0=0 and assigning a particular original heat content Q0 to the reactor for this point in time,
b) as from the initialization time, continuously determining the heat QIN, introduced into the reactor, the reaction enthalpy QRE introduced and the heat QOUT removed from the reactor,
c) calculating the heat which has not been removed QAD according to the following balance
QAD(t)=Q0+QIN(t)+QRE(t)xe2x88x92QOUT(t),
d) calculating the maximum internal temperature TAD which occurs in the case of a spontaneous adiabatic reaction from the heat which has not been removed QAD(t) and the instantaneous internal temperature T(t) of the reactor and,
e) if the calculated maximum internal temperature TAD exceeds the instantaneous internal temperature T(t) of the reactor by a particular margin, implementing measures which prevent a further rise in the heat which is not removed QAD.
The invention thus proposes improving the monitoring of monomer accumulation by introducing an expanded heat balance which takes into account the heat which is removed. The heat which has not been removed QAD, which represents the instantaneous hazard potential, can be determined more accurately and certain parameters relevant to reactor safety, e.g. the maximum adiabatic internal temperature TAD of the reactor, can be calculated more precisely. The safety margins to be maintained before actuation of safety valves or catch tank systems can therefore be better exploited. The continuous determination of the instantaneous conversion and the current hazard potential enables feed rates to be adapted and the space-time yield to be optimized. The heat balance proposed according to the present invention can also be carried out in the case of reactors having external heat exchangers or reflux condensers, since these are technically simple to include in the balance. Moreover, rigid limit values for the maximum feed rate or maximum amounts of starting components do not have to be adhered to. Likewise, rigid limit values for temperature differences between the reactor interior and the bath are no longer necessary. The continuous measurement of the actual amount of heat removed also gives information on reactor fouling or viscosity changes.
A variety of measures are conceivable for preventing a rise in the amount of heat which has not been removed. Preference is given to using one or more of the following measures:
throttling back of the monomer feed,
increasing reactor cooling, for example via the reactor bath or via a reflux condenser,
increasing the initiator addition to achieve better conversion of the accumulated monomers.
Since some of these measures can affect the product quality, particular action strategies influenced by prescribed specifications to be adhered to will be selected on a case-by-case basis.
The heat introduced, the reaction enthalpy and the heat removed from the reactor are advantageously determined by means of temperature and mass flow measurements in the inflow lines and outflow lines of the reactor and in the coolant circuits. Reliable and inexpensive measuring systems are commercially available for temperature and mass flow measurements. If the specific heat capacities of the starting materials are known, the heat flows can be calculated easily. Thus, no relatively large capital costs are associated with the method of the present invention. The method can also be easily implemented in existing plants.
Particular preference is given to additionally calculating the maximum internal pressure pAD prevailing in the reactor at the maximum internal temperature TAD. In this preferred variant of the method of the present invention, the maximum internal pressure in the reactor occurring even in the case of an adiabatic runaway reaction of the mixture in the reactor is employed as an additional safety criterion, so that increased plant safety compared to conventional monitoring methods is obtained. It is therefore advantageous to implement measures which prevent a further rise in the heat which has not been removed QAD if either the calculated maximum internal temperature TAD or the calculated maximum internal pressure pAD exceed the corresponding measured instantaneous values by a particular amount. This variant of the present invention is particularly preferred because pAD is more likely to be exceeded than TAD in the case of a reaction malfunction.
Advantageously, further introduction of monomers into the reactor is completely prevented if the calculated maximum internal temperature TAD and/or the calculated maximum internal pressure pAD exceed prescribed, reactor-specific limit values. As limit values for reaction monitoring, it is possible to employ the design temperature of the reactor or the design pressure of the reactor or of a safety valve which may be present, taking into account the error tolerances of the calculation. With the interruption of the monomer feed, no reaction enthalpy is introduced into the reactor either, so that the conditions prevailing in the reactor are always within the prescribed tolerances. Continued cooling of the reactor then effectively removes heat and, after a certain cooling time, the feed can be reopened if appropriate.
As initialization time for the method of the present invention, a point in time at which the reactor is completely empty is preferably selected and this time is assigned to the original heat content Q0=0.
This initialization can be carried out manually by the operators. However, to avoid human error, the initialization is preferably carried out automatically; for example, after opening the drainage valve for a certain minimum time, it can be assumed that the reactor is completely empty so that automatic initialization can be carried out after this period of time. However, the emptying of the reactor can also be registered via a fill level sensor located in the reactor. The initialization criterion of a completely empty reactor can also be registered by measuring the amount of reaction medium which has run out of the reactor and balancing this with the amount previously fed into the reactor.
In addition, the method of heat balancing according to the present invention also makes it possible to monitor the instantaneous conversion of the reaction mixture and to validate the reactants fed in by calculating the reactor pressure and comparing this with the actual pressure in the reactor. For this reason, preference is given to measuring the actual internal pressure in the reactor p(t) to validate the monitoring method and continuously checking adherence to the relationship
p(t)xe2x89xa6pcalc(t)
where pcalc is the pressure calculated from the instantaneous internal temperature of the reactor.
When the reaction monitoring is installed as a safety device, preference is given to carrying out at least partially redundant temperature, pressure and flow measurements and carrying out continuous validation of the input parameters by comparison of the redundant parameters.
The monitoring method of the present invention can be used particularly advantageously in a semicontinuous emulsion polymerization process. In the case of a continuous polymerization process, the heat removed with the outflowing polymer also has to be included in the heat balance.
For reliable reaction monitoring by means of the heat balance proposed according to the present invention, it is particularly important for the reactor to be very well mixed during the reaction and for the monomers to react uniformly. For this reason, the operation of the reactor stirrer is preferably also monitored continuously. Uniform reaction of the monomers can be ensured in emulsion polymerization by the feed stream procedure.

Method for continuously monitoring and controlling the monomer conversion during emulsion polymerization


A method for enhancing a sensitivity of an optical sensor having an optical cavity counter-propagates beams of pump light within the optical cavity to produce scattered light based on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS). The properties of the pump light are selected to generate fast-light conditions for the scattered light, such that the scattered light includes counter-propagating beams of fast light. The method prevents the pump light from resonating within the optical cavity, while allowing the scattered light to resonate within the optical cavity. At least portions of the scattered light are interfered outside of the optical cavity to produce a beat note for a measurement of the optical sensor. The disclosed method is particularly applicable to optical gyroscopes.

Current state-of-the-art navigation systems incorporate optical sensors, such as gyroscopes and optical accelerometers. These optical sensors include no moving parts and can sense rotations and accelerations with high bandwidth and high accuracy. For example, conventional laser gyroscopes utilize the properties of the optical oscillator, e.g., a laser, and the theory of relativity to produce an integrating rate gyroscope.
The laser gyroscope operates on a well-known principle that rotation of an operating ring laser, also referred to as an "optical oscillator", about its axis causes the laser cavity to experience an apparent change in length for each direction. This apparent change in length creates a frequency shift in the laser oscillator in each direction. As between two counter-directionally travelling laser oscillations, portions of each may be superimposed so that the frequency shift is manifested as a beat frequency. This beat frequency is proportional to the rate of angular rotation of the gyroscope and is, therefore, measurable to provide an indication of the rate of angular rotation of the area circumscribed by the ring laser oscillator or ring laser gyroscope.
The laser gyroscopes offer high sensitivity, but there is a fundamental tradeoff between the size of an optical gyroscope and its sensitivity. The physical size of the gyroscopes which possess the requisite sensitivity for inertial navigation is acceptable for uses in commercial airliners or large nautical vessels. However, size, weight and power (SWaP) attributes are far more restricted in space launch vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other applications, so any reduction in size of the components of inertial measurement unit can yield major benefits or enable new applications.
Accordingly, there is a need to increase sensitivity of the optical sensors, such as optical gyroscopes and accelerometers, without increasing their SWaP attributes.

Optical sensors using stimulated brillouin scattering


User input defines transmission filter rules to be met when sending an error report to a support provider. User input also defines collection filter rules to be met when including failure data within an error report. Error reports corresponding to crash failures at clients are filtered with the transmission filter rules to determine which of the error reports to send to the support provider, and each error report to be sent to the support provider is further filtered to remove any failure data that fails to satisfy the collection filter rules. Each error report that satisfies the transmission filter rules, along with the failure data satisfying the collection filter rules, is sent to the support provider for analysis. Standard and or custom failure responses corresponding to the failures at the clients may be retrieved and sent to the clients in accordance with the collection filter rules.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to software failures. More specifically, the present invention relates to controlling software failure data reporting for use in determining the cause of a software failure, and to controlling software failure data responses.
2. Background and Related Art
Prior to being released to consumers, software generally undergoes a significant amount of testing to identify and correct failures. One type of failure is a crash, in which executing software terminates. The executing software may be an application, an application component, the operating system, an operating system component, etc. Crashes can be frustrating to users because generally they have some impact on productivity. In some cases, not only must the operating system or application be restarted, but recently completed work also may need to be repeated because it was lost during the crash.
Another type of failure is a setup failure. Setup failures occur during installation of a program module onto a user's computer. Setup failures may prevent certain aspects of the program module, or even an entire application, from being installed on the user's computer.
Software failures also tend to create a significant amount of work for the product support personnel who are tasked with diagnosing and solving the problem that led to the failure, often with a rather limited amount of information received from a user over the telephone. In the past, although there may have been a significant amount of information on the user's computer that could be useful to product support personnel or software developers in diagnosing the failure, without being physically present at the user's computer, this information has not been extracted and analyzed in as useful a fashion as possible.
Recently, however, techniques for gathering information about a failure at a client computer have been explored. While gathering failure data has been helpful in diagnosing the cause of failures, including crashes, setup failures, etc., certain problems with traditional approaches have not been addressed adequately. For example, current techniques generally do not sufficiently account for privacy considerations. In some cases privacy considerations may involve proprietary information that a business is unwilling to share outside of its organization. Privacy considerations also may involve government regulations for certain financial or medical information, or simply may reflect a desire to safeguard personal information, such as in an effort to prevent identity theft or other fraudulent uses of personal information. Whatever the motivation, there now is a need to control software failure data reporting.
Another problem with traditional approaches relates to software failure data responses. Once the cause of a failure has been diagnosed, a fix or workaround may be sent to the client. The response may take the form of instructions or a software update or a combination of both to correct or avoid the failure. Naturally, different organizations have different levels of sophistication, and typically have different and conflicting policies with respect to software failure data responses.
On the other hand, it may be necessary to request additional information from a client in order to make a diagnosis. In addition to the potential privacy considerations identified above, traditional approaches have not permitted organizations a sufficient amount of control with respect to software failure data responses that request additional information. As a result, some responses simply may not be appropriate for certain organizations.
Traditional approaches also have failed to offer scalable implementations. Among other things, traditional approaches have overloaded individual processes with otherwise independent tasks and have failed to take advantage of database technologies that offer improved performance, creating various processing bottlenecks. Furthermore, without the abilities to customize as discussed above, extra processing must be performed where none is needed, wasting valuable computing resources. Accordingly, for relatively large customers with many clients, limited customization options have caused failure data reporting and failure data responses to impose a fairly significant burden, at least some of which may be unnecessary.

Controlling software failure data reporting and responses


A multi-channel sharing apparatus and a multi-channel sharing method are disclosed. The multi-channel sharing apparatus comprises a companion chip and an application processor. The companion chip comprises a first compression circuit, a second compression circuit and a transmission circuit. The application processor comprises a receiving circuit and a network module. The first compression circuit generates a first bit stream and a second bit stream according to the first channel data. The second compression circuit generates a third bit stream and a fourth bit stream according to the second channel data. The transmission circuit transmits the first, second, third and fourth bit streams. The receiving circuit receives the first, second, third and fourth bit streams. The network module outputs the first network package according to the second bit stream, and outputs the second network package according to the fourth bit stream.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an electronic apparatus, and more particularly to a multi-channel sharing apparatus and a multi-channel sharing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile apparatus has gained great popularity nowadays, the need for the sharing between a local screen and a video call is increasing. Most of PCs and notebook computers are equipped with a webcam, and mobile phones and tablet PCs are already equipped with front and rear dual cameras. Currently, all of PCs, notebook computers, mobile phones and tablet PCs can only be used in sharing uni-channel audio/video data, and cannot be used in sharing multi-channel audio/video data in a real-time manner. If a user wants to share multi-channel audio/video data, the user has to manually select which channel to share. Let the PC and the notebook computer be taken for example. The user can manually select to share a local screen or a frame captured by a webcam to a remote user. Let the mobile phone and the tablet PC be taken for example. The user can manually select to share a frame captured by a front camera or a back camera to a remote user. However, such operation is indeed very inconvenient to the user. For example, when a doctor of a clinic located in a remote and secluded mountain area is conducting a medical video consultation with a doctor of a large teaching hospital in a remote end, the back camera of the clinic computer is focused on the patient's wound, the front camera of the clinic computer is focused on the clinic doctor or the medical history held at the clinic doctor's hand, and real-time data such as heart beat/blood pressure/oxygen concentration can be displayed on the screen of the clinic computer. The high-resolution, real-time tri-channel multi-media data provided by the front camera, the back camera and the screen are very important. The doctor of the teaching hospital at the remote end has to tell the clinic staff which channel to switch to, then the clinic staff will manually and repetitively switch among the three channels. However, such operation is very inconvenient to the doctor of the teaching hospital conducting a medical video consultation.

Multi-channel sharing apparatus and multi-channel sharing method


There is provided a power semiconductor integrated circuit device without lowering a breakdown voltage of a pn junction located below a wiring layer to which a high voltage is applied. The device includes an N.sup.- -type semiconductor substrate which is provided with an N.sup.+ -type region and a P.sup.+ -type region to form, for example, a lateral diode. An insulating film is formed over the substrate surface, on which a wiring layer is provided so as to be connected to the N.sup.+ -type region and to pass over the P.sup.+ -type region. A film resistor connected between the N.sup.+ -type region and the P.sup.+ -type region is formed in the insulating film so as to be crossed by the wiring layer at least once.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power semiconductor integrated circuit device, and more particularly, to a power semiconductor integrated circuit device which is less affected by a voltage applied to a wiring layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lateral semiconductor devices such as FRDs (Fast Recovery Diode), power bipolar transistors, power MOS transistors, and IGBTs, to which a high voltage is applied, have been used in a power semiconductor integrated circuit device including a three-phase full bridge circuit, a rectifying circuit, a switching regulator, a high-side switching circuit, and a low-side switching circuit. In the power semiconductor integrated circuit device, a potential difference between two diffused layers can rise to several hundreds volts or more upon the application of a high voltage.
FIG. 8 shows an example where a voltage is applied across the two diffused layers. An N.sup.+ -type diffused layer 102 and a P.sup.+ -type diffused layer 103 are formed in an N.sup.- -type semiconductor substrate 101 to provide a lateral diode. An insulating film 104 is formed on the substrate surface, and first and second wiring layers 105 and 106 are provided on the diffused layers 102 and 103, respectively. In this case, when a voltage is applied such that the first diffused layer 102 is provided with high voltage with respect to the second diffused layer 103, an electric field of the substrate 101 between the diffused layers 102 and 103 is uniformly distributed, thereby providing equipotential lines 107 (dotted line) having equal intervals. In this case, a breakdown voltage is determined by a point exceeding the critical potential density (avalanche breakdown) of silicon.
However, since a large number of wiring layers are required for the power semiconductor integrated circuit device, a portion of them must pass through semiconductor regions having different potentials. FIG. 9A shows a case where the first wiring layer 105 extending from the first diffused layer 102 passes over the second diffused layer 103 having a potential difference of about several hundreds volts or more. When a reverse bias voltage is applied between the first and second diffused layers 102 and 103, the electric field is concentrated at a portion surrounded by a circle (electric field concentration portion 108) where the second diffused layer 103 is crossed by the first wiring layer 105, as indicated by the equipotential lines 107. As shown in FIG. 9B, the potential of the semiconductor substrate 101 is abruptly changed near the second diffused layer 103, i.e., at a portion where the electric field is concentrated. When the electric field concentration density exceeds a critical point of the breakdown voltage of the semiconductor substrate 101, breakdown occurs due to the concentration of the electric field. Therefore, a desired breakdown voltage cannot be obtained.
Referring to FIG. 10, there will be described a semiconductor device that includes a P.sup.+ -type diffused layer 122 and an N.sup.+ -type diffused layer 123 formed in an N.sup.- -type semiconductor substrate 121, an insulating film 124 formed on the substrate surface, and a wiring layer 125 extending from the first diffused layer 122 and passing over the second diffused layer 123. A voltage is applied to the semiconductor device such that a potential difference between the first and second diffused layers 122 and 123 is several hundreds volts or more and the first diffused layer 122 has a low voltage with respect to the second diffused layer 123. In this case, equipotential lines 107 are concentrated to the N.sup.- -N.sup.+ interface (a portion indicated by a circle 108), thereby causing the breakdown.
At any rate, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 10, when a wiring layer passes over a diffused layer having a different potential, an electric field is concentrated at a portion of the device thereby reducing the breakdown voltage. For this reason, the following techniques have been proposed for increasing the breakdown voltage.
One of the techniques is that thickness of the insulating film 104 under the wiring layer 105 is increased as shown in FIG. 11. The electric field in the insulating film 104 is then easily relieved to reduce the concentration of the electric field in the semiconductor substrate 101. This technique can be applied to the process steps in making the semiconductor device without using new materials. However, the lateral type high breakdown voltage devices are generally used for integrated circuits, and are often provided in the same semiconductor substrate together with signal processing circuits having a low breakdown voltage and a small size. As shown in FIG. 11, if the insulating layer is thick, a contact hole formed in the insulating layer must be tapered. Therefore, a margin for taper processing is required in proportion to the thickness of the insulating layer. Consequently, the increase in thickness of the insulating layer will increase, e.g., the size of the signal processing circuits, thereby reducing the integration density of the overall integrated circuit device.
Another technique will be described below with reference to FIG. 12. A resistor, formed of semi-insulating polysilicon (to be referred to as SIPOS hereinafter) 109, having a high resistance, is formed in the insulating film 104 under the wiring layer 105. Opposite ends of the SIPOS 109 are connected to the first and second diffused layers 102 and 103, respectively, and are maintained at the electric potential thereof. The SIPOS 109 is a resistor having a high resistance, and the electric potential is uniformly distributed by the potential difference between both ends of the SIPOS 109. As indicated by the equipotential lines 107, the electric field is almost uniformly distributed in the semiconductor substrate 101 under the SIPOS 109. Therefore, the breakdown voltage can be increased to be approximately equal to the ideal breakdown voltage of the substrate. However, since the semi-insulating polysilicon is not normally used for the semiconductor device, the number of process steps is increased which therefore will increase the cost.
Still another technique will be described below with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B. As shown in FIG. 13A, floating potential polysilicon layers 110 are fragmentarily arranged in the insulating film 104 under the wiring layer 105. As shown in FIG. 13B, the floating potential polysilicon layers 110 are arranged in parallel in the form of strips under the wiring layer 105. Each of the floating potential polysilicon layers 110 serves as a field plate, and the potential of each of the floating potential polysilicon layers 110 is fixed to a predetermined potential due to the influence of a leakage electric field from the semiconductor substrate 101. Therefore, the electric field is not concentrated and is uniformly distributed under the floating potential polysilicon layers 110, thereby obtaining an electric field distribution indicated by equipotential lines 107 in FIG. 13A.
According to the above technique, the cost is not increased because the integration density is not decreased and new materials are not used. However, the potential of each of the field plates is affected by the arrangement and shape of the field plates, the impurity concentration of the semiconductor substrate, the applied voltage, and the like. For this reason, the field plates must be optimally designed by using a computer in advance. A satisfactory effect therefore cannot be obtained without an optimal design. Even if the field plates are optimally designed at a certain potential, the potential variation makes it very difficult to perform the optimal design under all the conditions. Therefore, difficulties in the design of the field plates exist.
As described above, when a high-voltage wiring layer passes over a diffused layer having a potential difference of several hundreds volts or more, an electric field is concentrated to cause a breakdown. Therefore, a predetermined breakdown voltage cannot be obtained.

Power semiconductor integrated circuit device without concentration of electric field


The present invention relates to a method for purifying an aqueous solution of fermentation alcohol to give anhydrous alcohol, wherein a mash column is controlled such a manner that an alcohol concentration of an alcohol/water mixed vapor distilled from a mash column is less than 50% by weight and a reflux amount of a condensate to a distillation column is controlled such a manner that an alcohol concentration of an alcohol/water mixed vapor that is distilled from the distillation column is 55 to 85% by weight. According to the present method, the purification for obtaining an anhydrous alcohol from an aqueous solution of a fermentation alcohol with the use of a mash column, a pressurized distillation column and a membrane separator can be more conveniently carried out with an extremely high energy efficiency as the whole process.

As a method for purifying fermentation alcohol liquid discharged from a fermenter, a conventional method is separating and concentrating an alcohol-water mixture from the fermentation alcohol liquid (mash) by a mash column; further concentrating the alcohol-water mixture substantially to an azeotropic composition by a concentrating column; and then treating it by an azeotropic distillation column to give high-purity anhydrous alcohol.
Patent Reference No. 1 has disclosed a method of distilling an azeotropic mixture in a distillation column, feeding a vapor of the azeotropic mixture to a membrane separator and separating it through a separation membrane.
Patent Reference No. 2 has proposed a separation apparatus consisting of a distilling means and a membrane separating means equipped with a zeolite membrane which separates a mixed vapor distilled from the top of the distillation means. It has been described therein that an ethanol/water mixture is converted to a vapor having an ethanol concentration of 91.0% by weight by the distilling means, and then, purified by the zeolite membrane to an ethanol concentration of 99.5% by weight.

Method for purifying fermentation alcohol


An air filter assembly for an evaporative emissions control canister used with an internal combustion engine fuel system. The assembly includes: a housing having: an air inlet formed in an upper portion of the housing; and an air outlet; and; a baffle disposed within the housing. The baffle extends vertically downward from the air inlet in the upper portion of the housing towards a bottom portion of the housing. The baffles forming a plurality of vertically extending channels interconnected through a horizontally interconnecting channel formed between a bottom edge of the baffle and the bottom portion of the housing. A first one of the vertically extending channel receives air entering the housing from the air inlet. The air passes downwardly in the first one of the channels, then passing laterally outwards through the horizontally interconnecting channel towards sidewalls of the housing, then passing upwardly through a second one of the vertically extending channels, and then finally exiting the housing through the air outlet. A filter structure is disposed in the second one of the vertically extending channels.

As is known in the art, Conventional fuel vapor recovery systems used in automotive vehicles typically include a carbon canister used to recover excess fuel vapor generated in the fuel tank. Activated carbon in the carbon canister adsorbs the fuel vapor and temporarily retains the vapor until the canister is purged. During vehicle operation, at times determined by programmed vehicle calibration, the fuel vapor adsorbed by the activated carbon is desorbed by introducing outside air, or purge air, to the canister. The fuel vapor thus desorbed is fed to the engine for utilization in combustion.
More particularly, automotive internal combustion engines utilize a carbon canister connected to the fuel tank to collect fuel vapors from the fuel tank as the tank is being refilled, or when the vehicle is parked. The canister connected to the engine also allows the vapor stored within the canister to be pulled to the engine for burning during the "purge" cleansing process. Filtered fresh air is necessary for the purging process so that environmental contaminates do not eventually plug the carbon bed or damage some valves which may lead to the generation of On Board Diagnostic (OBD-II) detection faults. An air filtering apparatus with a built-in Canister Vent Valve (CVV) can become an important design element assuring the supply of this clean air.
Filtering of-purge air introduced to a vapor recovery system to purge the carbon canister is not new. For the mentioned purpose, prior art examples teach the use of one or more assemblies comprising either a filter medium, baffle means, or both. More particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,693 to Murdock et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,687 to Waller, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,786 to Gimby each disclose a remote fuel vapor recovery system filter assembly comprising the combination of baffle and filter element means. Both '693 and '687 include simple baffle means comprising no more than two independent baffle entities. The present disclosure discloses a plurality of mating and nonmating planar baffles, the increased complexity of which is matched by increased functional efficiency. Patent '768 provides a self-cleaning air filter comprising a filter element of various embodiments. In each embodiment, this mentioned element, so that it may be cleaned by the disclosure's filter cleaning member, is apparently a thin, firm, screen-like entity, and the filter includes provisions for function upon "occlusion" of this element. The present disclosure is comprised of a robust and hearty (thick, wide and tall) filter element and a baffle area, and has been proven to be able to last the average lifetime usage of vehicles (approximately 150,000 miles) without any cleaning.
There are two primary and novel factors contributing to the long-lasting functionality of our disclosure. The first is found in the design of the baffle section. The plurality of baffles are designed such that the particles, having wide size and inertial distributions, are dislodged from the air stream as it travels from inlet towards the filter section. This occurs due to decreased baffle spacing between baffles and the corresponding increase in mobility demand placed on the air flow. The second primary and novel quality of our disclosure is found in the implementation of a filter element so that the smallest particles (those that survive the baffle section) are generally lodged in the upper half of the filter element and eventually, due to gravity, vibration, etc., will migrate to the lower portions of the element. This occurrence will ensure the thorough cleaning of the air and the long-lasting function of the air filter assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,393 to DeMinco et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,198 to Korama disclose examples of filtering systems integrally combined within a carbon canister by comprising only baffle means and only filter element means, respectively. U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,347 to Turner et al also discloses a separator device comprising only a baffle section, which is remotely connected to the carbon canister. It is apparent that any structure comprising only baffle means or only filter means will not be as effective and robust as the present disclosure comprising both baffle and particulate filter means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,368 to Satarino et al., describes a filter that both graduated baffle separation means and filter element means are included in a filter assembly. This assures a maximum degree of separation of particles, foreign matter, such as soot and road dust, moisture, and the like from the fresh air therein otherwise present.


An apparatus and method for dissuading predatory animals from attacking. The device and method employ depictions of an eye, especially the eye of a predator of the predatory animals, to initiate a startle response in the predatory animal thereby dissuading an attack. The depiction of one or more eyes may be placed on clothing or equipment carried into the aquatic or land based environment of the predator being dissuaded.

As man continues to explore his environment, he often finds himself in confrontation with large and/or dangerous predatory animals, or animals which see man as nothing more than a possible meal or a territorial threat. Since man is himself basically a land animal, he is normally more than able to defend himself against other predatory land animals. It is only when he is isolated, injured, and/or unarmed does he began to be at any disadvantage such that land based predatory animals present any real and unmanageable danger. However, as man pushes the frontiers of his activities into hostile environments wherein he must have support equipment for survival except for momentary visits, where his size is not particularly intimidating, and where his mobility is relatively limited with respect to other animals in the environment, he often finds himself much more vulnerable and consequently more likely to be the next meal or the target of an attack of a predatory animal which is at home in the hostile environment. The ocean is, of course, a prime example of an environment in which man is at a drastic disadvantage in comparison to the native or aquatic organisms. If a man also finds himself injured, isolated, and unarmed in an unfamiliar or hostile environment such as the ocean, he is meagerly equipped to defend himself against the ocean's natural predators such as sharks, barracudas, etc. Often, Navy personnel, fishermen, other sailors and, most importantly, persons engaged in water sports at a beach often find themselves in unexpected situations. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of repelling predatory animals from a target organism or potential prey, such as man, and it is a specific object of this invention to provide a method of repelling predatory ocean animals like sharks from an individual in an ocean environment.
Over the years, there have been various ways man has dealt with certain types of particular predatory animals. Techniques for repelling sharks have ranged from the pathetic to the simply ineffective. Even today, certain Japanese fishermen rely on long red sashes to protect themselves from sharks, and Ceylonese pearl divers place confidence in shark charmers in the same manner as was recorded by Marco Polo in 1298.
In the past, it was believed or assumed by most scientists that sharks generally have very poor eyesight and hunt or operate substantially by means of their smell or olfactory senses. However, as was discussed in an article entitled "The Visual System of Sharks: Adaptations and Capability" by Mr. Samuel H. Greber contained in the scientific journal American Zoologist, Volume 17, pages 453 through 469 and published in 1977, it appears that far from having poor vision this very successful marine predator apparently has a high degree of visual acuity.
The advent of World War II, however made it very clear that something more than red sashes and shark charmers was necessary if men were to survive in water without the benefit of lifeboats or life rafts. Thus, in 1944 the U.S. Navy came out with a book entitled "Shark Sense" which presumably provided information on how to deal with sharks. At that time and since, a great number of experimental chemical repellants have been tried with little or no success.
Physical techniques for discouraging sharks have also been tried and include fixed barriers, netting, steel enclosures and even armor. Such fixed barriers, of course, have the constant problem of having to be maintained, and, even so, will still eventually succumb to the wear and tear of the sea, and thus are costly. Air bubble curtains have been found to restrain some sharks but are completely ignored by other sharks. Perhaps the most effective beach barrier to date is called "meshing" which originated in Australia in 1937 and was then used in South Africa in 1952. A reference work by Stuart Springer and Terry W. Gilbert entitled "Sharks and Survival" published in 1965 by the D. C. Heath and Company suggests various ground rules to be considered in killing or repelling sharks. In particular, if the device is to be protective and worthwhile, it must be light in weight and easily carried. It must be operable under water and function either all of the time or when activated and in water. It must also be safe for the user to carry under any and all conditions including adverse conditions, and it should be reasonably effective in driving a shark away or in thwarting an attack. There is also another criteria, which although not essential would be highly desirable. This criteria is that the method or device is more useful when the user or target organisms need not be aware of the immediate presence of a shark. That is, the repelling nature of the device is constantly effective and requires little or no further consideration or input on the part of the user.
Attempts to meet some of these criteria have resulted in a number of complicated contraptions including the development of protective "shields." These devices basically comprise a life buoy from which a screen descends into the water to protect a floundering person in the open sea. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,701 issued to A. Fest on Dec. 14, 1965, discloses such a doughnut or toroidial shaped life buoy. When in operation a screen drops from the surface of the water from the life buoy to provide a shield around the seaman. Of course such a device requires time to employ and can only be protective if the shark is not particularly aggressive. Since the shield is not water impervious, it does not abate the spreading of olfactory stimuli and will be effective only if the shark is depending upon its visual sensory organs to find food. In a similar manner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,074 issued to B. S. Bezanis on Nov. 11, 1969 discloses a similar type device to that of Fest. Finally, one type of shark screen which does seem to have been successful was patented by C. S. Johnson on Feb. 5, 1969 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,978. The difference in the Johnson screen and the previously discussed screens is that the Johnson screen is made completely of a water impervious material. Water is added to the inside of the screen while there is no communication of water surrounding the bather to the outside sea water. Thus, not only can the shark not see the individual in the shark screen preserver, but there are no smell, taste or other olfactory cues to reveal the presence of the individual to the shark. Unfortunately, in all of these screens, time is required to employ the device, and the individual's own movement is substantially curtailed such that the necessary activities which might otherwise be used by the individual to keep from drowning and attract help or attention are constrained.
Therefore, it is another object of this invention to provide a passive and inexpensive method of repelling or avoiding predatory animals which has an unlimited life span and which does not inhibit the other activities of the individual using the device.
Beyond physical barriers are disclosures that utilize coloration. As is well known, many animals have evolved certain characteristics which provide them camouflage in their natural surroundings. That is, these animals blend harmoniously with their surroundings such that they are often unnoticed unless they move. This approach is generally utilized to repel creatures, rather to hide them, though U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,251 (Young, Dec. 31, 1996) describes a passive method for protecting flying birds against the danger of colliding into transparent barriers. The method involves camouflaging the transparent barrier to resemble an image of the center portion of the web of an orb web building spider especially including in the image an adornment on the web known as the stabilimentum. The stabilimentum is known to be an advertisement by the spider for the purpose of deterring birds from flying into the web, an event which both animals wish to avoid. When the spider web image is placed on the transparent barrier, flying birds will take evasive action and thus avoid harmful collisions. Since the spider web image is mostly transparent, it does not block out a large portion of the transparent barrier.
In contrast to camouflaged animals, however, other animals have evolved effective defensive mechanisms or distinctly different color strategies which are exactly the opposite to that of camouflage. These animals are said to be "aposematic" and are readily identified by bright characteristic colors and other signals such that they seem to advertise their very presence. A proposal of this type is U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,245 (Burkhead, Jan. 22, 1985) which discusses techniques for repelling predatory animals by the use of aposematic patterns and coloration. The basis of this claim is the observation that many such aposematic animals survive longer than would be the case without possessing such aposematic attributes. This reason is typically that these types of animals have very dangerous or unpleasant attributes in that they are usually poisonous or very distasteful. These animals advertise this by means of characteristic colors and patterns such that a potential predator which is usually much larger avoids attacking them.
Most animals learn by experience to avoid aposematically patterned animals. However, such learning tends to occur when the predatory animal is young and is testing the palatability of a variety of potential prey. As a result, this method works well assuming that the protected individual encounters only previously experienced individual predators. Since this is not always the case in the long term, this is the shortfall of this technique.
In addition to those animals which are truly distasteful, poisonous or otherwise dangerous to the predator, there are often other harmless creatures which over a period of time have evolved color patterns such that they take advantage of the aposematic protection of the dangerous creatures. This is known as mimicry. Among the many examples of this implementation is the completely harmless King snake that has similar coloration patterns to that of the deadly poisonous Coral snake. As noted, some disclosures follow this class of repellant scheme.
Mimicry is not limited to resembling other poisonous species. To avoid predation, some butterflies are marvelously convincing mimics of leaves, even folding their wings together when at rest so the markings on their undersides look like leaf veins. This concept is used considerably in hunting and military camouflage but has not been seen in shark repellant inventions.
This disclosure is based upon another class of animal mimicry which causes the instinctual startle response in the predator. In a preferred embodiment the animal repelled would be a shark.
A classic example of this approach is the observation that many butterflies and moths have evolved paired markings that resemble eyes to initiate the startle response in their predators. These may be paired on hind wings and closely resemble owl's eyes, complete with oval pupils and owlish highlights. Hidden when the moth is at rest, the sudden flash of the eyes startles approaching would-be predators, giving the insect time to escape. These species do not taste bad nor are they poisonous, but rather they rely on a sudden display of their large vertebrate-like eyespots to startle predators. Experiments have shown that some birds and fish have an innate fear of such large eye-like patterns and it is likely that most wild animals, while trying to survive the unending onslaught of a violent and brutal existence, share that fear especially when they learn as youngsters from their mother or siblings to avoid certain animals the look of which is generally imprinted into memory for future warnings.
The concept is to activate this startle or memorized response in the predator to beware. For a foraging shark searching for food, if an eye suddenly appears peering directly at it from a short and unknowable distance, it could mean a killer whaler is close enough to strike, and it would invoke the response to flee.
Natural selection has hard-wired into predators and prey to instantly flee when they see that eye staring back. Thus the viewing animal "startles" and swims, jumps, flys, leaps, and/or falls away from where they are located. If they allow a millisecond to contemplate whether it is giant squid, a sea snake, orca, falcon, monkey, or cat, or caterpillar, they can easily be overcome. Since the wrong decision may only happen once, a repelled predator such as a shark is unlikely to return to investigate the true nature of the threat and risk being eaten.
Visual mechanics are on the side of the prey especially under water. The foraging predator will most commonly first see the prey's false eye(s) through one eye or the other. As a result, it is almost impossible for the predator to determine if an eye is a 10 mm diameter harmless eye at a distance of 30 cm, or a 30 mm diameter dangerous eye at a lethal distance of 90 cm. Further, with one visual field it will be hard to see the 3-D traits that could help distinguish a predator's actual face from an eye spot mimic though our disclosure can utilize them.
The color and pattern antecedents for false eyes lie in the camouflage and warning colors found throughout fish, reptiles, insects, caterpillars and pupae included, and in serendipituously eye-shaped structures such as spiracles. It appears that there is not so much a selection driving a false eye to match some particular real eye, as is often the case with Batesian and Mullerian mimicry (where there is selection to match a specific model). Instead, many kinds of false eyes will suffice if they are sufficiently "eye-like" in general appearance to elicit the startle/flight response that all vertebrates must have if they are to survive for decades in a predator-rich world. Startle mimicry functions not only through learning by the predator in its youth, but also through expression of genetic programming somewhat analogous to the genetic programming that leads a bird to avoid a bright-colored ringed coral snake and its models. Why do eye spots work? A number of theories exist in this area. First, it is thought they may startle predators. Moths often keep them hidden until startled and wings are opened fully. A second theory is that it may confuse predators into thinking anterior is posterior or vice versa, allowing the animal to escape or to have the predator strike away from the head. A further thesis is that it may make the animal look like something bigger and better left alone; for example, a caterpillar that has huge eye spots making it look like a snake resting.
Other research into the effects of eye spots have indicated the following: (1) Eye spots really can startle predators. Birds will be startled by and avoid moths with eyespots. They will eat these same moths much more readily if the eyespots are covered over artificially. (2) Large eye spots work best. Small eye spots can even encourage predators to strike.
When the butterfly opens its wings to an approaching predator, the eyespots suddenly come into view. This may simulate the large and menacing face of an animal dangerous to the would-be predator. Some species of hawk-moths can puff themselves and display their false eyes to appear remarkably like a snake, complete with hissing noise.
False eyespots are not limited to butterflies and moths. Caterpillars with false eyes can tuck in their heads and look convincingly like a menacing face with eyes. The false-eyed frog of South America has two large eyespots on his tail end. When threatened, this frog will bury its head in the sand and stick its large rump in the air displaying a fierce false face to the oncoming danger.
Most predators key visually on eyes of their prey, making an effort to approach the prey from a direction where they won't be seen. There is a distinct advantage to any prey that can fool the predator into approaching from the wrong end—the one with real eyes that will see the predator and trigger a timely escape. Many fish have a conspicuous false eyespot on or near their tail fins. When a predator approaches from the "rear", the prey fish is fully aware of the danger, and it escapes in the exact opposite direction to that expected. Some insects have entire false heads with conspicuous false eyes at their tail ends, which utterly confuses an approaching predator.
With respect to the above description, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components or steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings, nor just to shark repellence. The various apparatus and methods of the invention are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once they review this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other devices, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important, therefore, that the objects and claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further objectives of this invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.

Device and method for dissuading predators through startle response instinct


The present invention intends to provide a manufacturing method of a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device in which method a structure and manufacturing process thereof are simplified to enable to reduce the manufacturing cost. In order to achieve the above object, a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device in the invention has a layer constitution in which a reflective pixel electrode is formed with a second conductive film that constitutes a source electrode, a drain electrode, a source wiring and so on and on an upper layer of the second metal film a transmissive pixel electrode made of a transparent conductive film is formed through the insulating film. A TFT array substrate can be formed through 5 times of photoengraving process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device having, as a pixel electrode of a display device, in one pixel, a light transmissive pixel electrode that transmits light and a light reflective pixel electrode that reflects light, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an existing general liquid crystal display device, there are a transmissive liquid crystal display device in which a light source is disposed on a back surface or a side surface thereof to carry out image display and a reflective liquid crystal display device in which ambient light is reflected by a surface of a reflection plate formed on a substrate to carry out image display. In the transmissive liquid crystal display device, when ambient light is very bright, display light becomes darker in comparison with the ambient light; accordingly, the display cannot be observed. In order to make the display observable, the intensity of the light source has to be increased, resulting in a problem in that the power consumption increases. On the other hand, the reflective liquid crystal display device has a disadvantage in that when the ambient light is very dark, the visibility deteriorates very much. In order to overcome the problems, a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, referred to as a semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device) that has, in one pixel, a light transmissive pixel electrode that transmits light and a light reflective pixel electrode that reflects light is proposed.
In an existing semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device, as a TFT array substrate that has, in one pixel, a light transmissive pixel electrode and a light reflective pixel electrode, a structure that includes a gate wiring that includes a gate electrode formed on a transparent insulating substrate; a source wiring that includes a source electrode intersecting through a first insulating film with the gate wiring; a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as a TFT), as a switching element, which is made of a semiconductor layer formed through the first insulating film on the gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode; an interlayer insulating film made of a second insulating film and an organic resin film that are formed above the TFT, the gate wiring and the source wiring; a transmissive pixel electrode made of a highly transparent conductive film electrically connected with a drain electrode of the TFT through a contact hole formed on the interlayer insulating film; and a reflective pixel electrode made of a highly reflective metal film formed without through the insulating film on the transmissive pixel electrode is disclosed (for example on pages 6-11 and FIG. 1 in JP-A-2003-248232).

Semitransmissive liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof


Users are experiencing an increasing number of alerts and notifications on their mobile devices. When it is inconvenient or not possible to view the network-connected device, an accessory can be used to save time and avoid missing notifications. A system comprising a network-connected device and an accessory are provided to address these problems. The accessory is capable of notifying the user of alerts from the network-connected device, allowing the user to quickly be advised of alerts without needing to first interact with the network-connected device. The system includes a method to selectively filter alerts so as to avoid unnecessarily interrupting the user in cases where the network device is inaccessible. The system is also capable of pushing new interface designs and themes from the network device to the accessory to alter the appearance and configuration of its display.

Recently, users are turning to more sophisticated personal digital assistants (PDAs) rather than more basic network-connected devices such as cell phones. Mobile phones that have the capability to send and receive data via data subscriptions to a network have become more prevalent. The capabilities of these mobile phones, often referred to as "smart phones", have led to them being viewed more as mobile computers rather than simplistic communication devices. Smart phones also often feature short range wireless transmitters and protocols, such as Bluetooth, specifically designed for communicating with other devices or accessories nearby.
Bluetooth watches in the past have been provided which support caller ID and text messages. However, the information it displayed was brief as it was limited to a one-line display.
There exists a method for synchronizing data between a watch and an external digital device as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,977,868 to Brewer et al. This method requires the user to initiate the synchronization by contacting the watch display, which causes the microprocessor in the watch to activate and begin the synchronization process. Consequently, the user is not able to instantly check for new data by looking at the watch. The user must wait for the microprocessor to activate and complete the synchronization process prior to the information being displayed. This also means that the user may not receive new data in a timely manner, since this technology does not notify the user when there are updates available. Furthermore, this solution can require an "alignment device" to aid the wireless communication link between a watch and PDA. In this case, a high level of user interaction is required. Furthermore, the communication is a synchronization, which lengthens the time the wireless communication is active and negatively impacts battery life.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,486 to Biggs teaches a system and method for customized time display. Biggs is concerned with displaying time and other chronological data on a display of a portable timepiece. However, the data is sent to the display as image parameter data rather than raw text. The disadvantage of this is that a more complex hardware design is needed to support the memory required for storing and displaying image data.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,979 to Powell teaches a method of indicating an incoming call through a remotely located receiving device. This avoids situations where a cell phone would audibly ring at the same time as the external device vibrates, as they both indicate the same event of an incoming call. However, this solution only concerns the signalling of incoming telephone calls by an external device. There exists a switch for whether the incoming call is connected or disconnected to the audible signalling system of the transmitter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,997 to Narayanaswami concerns a wearable wristwatch that can connect wirelessly to another source to access information, and it then uses software to display it in a specified orientation. It can vary the size of the displayed objects (such as the hour and minute hands of the clock) depending on the orientation. It uses a touch screen as a method of input. One disadvantage of this is that the watch display changes in size when set in elliptical mode. That is, the minute and hour hands of the watch face shorten and elongate depending on the angle. This could cause readability issues for users because the hands are continually changing sizes. Another disadvantage of the elliptical mode is that screen real estate is wasted in that the watch display is not using the majority of the screen. The ellipse shape necessitates that the watch dial be smaller than the ideal circular or square configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,779 to Gaskill et al. deals with a paging device that can receive messages and can display them while also displaying icons. The icons can change to indicate which type of message has been received by the device, and Gaskill discusses how each message should be numbered and what the device should do in the case that the user is looking at one message while another is received. An icon is displayed if a message number indicates that a message has been missed. A disadvantage with this solution is that all messages are stored on the "pager" device itself, and its storage can fill up if the user does not delete any previously stored messages. Another disadvantage is that this is a paging device, meaning that it links wirelessly to a network by itself. For practical purposes, the user would need to carry a cell phone or smart phone with a separate data and/or voice plan in order to return a call or respond to a message.
It is therefore an object of the following to address at least one of the above-noted disadvantages.

System and method for alerting a user on an external device of notifications or alerts originating from a network-connected device


A medical device includes a cavity communicable with a body to deliver or to receive a fluid, and a radiation source configured to expose a portion of the cavity to radiation.

Repeated access to a subject's vascular system, for example, for intravenous drug delivery, for withdrawal of bodily fluids, or for extracorporeal treatments such as hemodialysis, can be established by a variety of medical devices. In some embodiments, a device includes a port and a catheter. The port includes a cavity defined by a housing and a septum through which a needle can penetrate to deliver fluid to the cavity. The septum can be made of, for example, a self-sealing silicone. The port can be placed extracorporeally or implanted subcutaneously. In embodiments in which the port is placed extracorporeally, the catheter has a proximal end that is in fluid communication with the cavity of the port, a body portion that extends through the subject's skin, and a distal end that is in fluid communication with the vascular system, e.g., implanted in a vein. In embodiments in which the port is implanted subcutaneously, the catheter is also implanted subcutaneously and extends from the port cavity to the vascular system. In both types of ports, fluid delivered through the septum to the port cavity can be delivered to the vascular system via the catheter.
During use, the port and the catheter can be subject to infection. For example, for subcutaneously implanted ports, bacteria can be transferred from the subject's skin to the port cavity and the catheter when the needle penetrates the skin and the septum. The bacteria can infect the port cavity, the catheter, and bodily tissue surrounding the device, exposing the subject to risk. The infection can spread and become systemic, exposing the subject to greater health risk.


A storage server uses a semantic processor to parse and respond to client requests. A direct execution parser in the semantic processor parses an input stream, comprising client storage server requests, according to a defined grammar. A semantic processor execution engine capable of manipulating data (e.g., data movement, mathematical, and logical operations) executes microcode segments in response to requests from the direct execution parser in order to perform the client-requested operations. The resulting operational efficiency allows an entire storage server to be collapsed in some embodiments into a few relatively small integrated circuits that can be placed on a media device's printed circuit board, with the semantic processor itself drawing perhaps a few Watts of power.

Traditionally, a storage server is a networked computer that provides media and file access to other computers and computing devices, referred to herein as "clients." The storage server may be accessible on a Wide-Area Network (WAN), a Local-Area Network (LAN), and/or share a dedicated point-to-point connection with another computing device.
Storage servers can be of several types, including a Network Attached Storage (NAS) server, a Storage Area Network (SAN) server, and an application-style server.
A NAS server comprehends directory structures. Requests to a NAS server generally specify a file path/filename and action such as create, read, write, append, etc. A NAS server converts the requests to one or more disk sector/block disk access transactions, accesses the disk (or other storage media), and performs the requested file-level transaction. Such a server maintains and utilizes a directory structure to locate the file starting locations, and a File Allocation Table to reconstruct segmented files and locate free sectors on a disk or other writeable media.
A SAN server generally receives direct requests for disk sector/block-based transactions, and may have no knowledge of a file system or relationships between data blocks. Although block requests can relate to physical block locations on a media device, more typically a SAN server supports logical blocks—thus allowing the server to make one physical disk drive appear as several logical drives, or several physical disk drives appear as one logical drive, as in a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) scheme.
An application-style server generally provides access to media in a media-specific format. For instance, an application-style server could provide access to streaming audio or video without the explicit knowledge of a filepath/filename by the client (who may not know the filename or have the authority to access a file directly), while reading the streaming media from files and encapsulating it in a streaming packet format.
Architecturally, most storage servers differ little from general-purpose computers (other than in some cases including more and/or faster than usual disk drives and disk bus controllers). FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for a typical storage server 20. A Central Processing Unit (CPU) 22, typically one or more microprocessors, operates the server according to stored program instructions. This type of processor is often called a von Neumann (VN) processor or machine, after its innovator, who proposed its execution style of processing sequential instructions.
CPU 22 connects through a Frontside Bus (FSB) 26 to a Memory Controller/Hub (MCH) 24, which is responsible for interfacing CPU 22 to other system components that store microprocessor program instructions and store, supply, and/or consume data. MCH 24 manages system memory 30 through memory bus 32. MCH 24 also communicates with PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bridge 40 across hub bus 42 to move data between PCI-connected devices and either memory 30 or CPU 22.
Many different types of data source/sink devices can connect to server 20 through PCI bridge 40 and PCI bus 44. For storage server purposes, the two necessary devices are a network interface card (NIC) 50 and a media controller, such as ATA (AT Attachment) controller 60.
NIC 50 allows the server to attach directly to a Local Area Network (LAN) or other network, a Fibre Channel switch fabric, or other point-to-point connection to a client or another device that provides network visibility for the server. NIC 50 thereby provides a communication path for the server to receive data requests from clients and respond to those requests. The actual network physical communication protocol can be varied by inserting a different NIC, e.g., for whatever wired or wireless communication protocol is to be used, and loading a software device driver for that NIC onto CPU 22.
ATA controller 60 provides at least one ATA bus 62 for attaching media devices 64 such as hard disks, optical disks, and/or tape drives. Each ATA bus 62 allows either one or two media devices 64 to attach to storage server 20. Some servers may employ other controllers, such as a SATA (serial ATA) controller or a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) host adapter.
In order to operate as a storage server, CPU 22 must execute a variety of software programs. With NAS, the two common formats are NFS (Networked File System) and CIFS (Common Internet File System); the former protocol is found primarily in UNIX environments, and the latter protocol in Microsoft operating system environments. For an NFS server, the following software processes help implement NFS: a network device driver for NIC 50; TCP/IP drivers; RPC (Remote Procedure Call) and XDR (External Data Representation) drivers to present data from TCP/IP to NFS server software; the NFS server software itself; a local file system; a VFS (Virtual File System) driver to interface the NFS server software with the local file system; data buffering software; and device drivers for the storage controller/host adapter. For each NFS data transaction, CPU 22 must execute a process for each of these software entities, switching context between them as required. To provide adequate performance, storage server 20 operates at relatively high speed and power, requiring forced air cooling and a substantial power supply to operate the microprocessor, chipset, network interface, memory, other peripherals, and cooling fans. The current state of the art, with a 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) full duplex network connection, requires about 300 watts of power, occupies a volume of 800 cubic inches, and costs about $1500 without storage media.
Some vendors have attempted to build custom integrated circuit hardware explicitly for processing NAS requests. Design costs for such circuits generally cannot be recaptured in the fluid world of telecommunication protocols, where a specific complex circuit built to handle a narrow combination of specific protocols and storage interfaces may become rapidly obsolete.

Semantic processor storage server architecture


A method and apparatus for the manufacture of integrated circuits including the placement of a single tube for introduction of dopant gases into a process chamber is disclosed.

Modem integrated circuits often use in-situ doped silicon layers. The silicon layers may be either amorphous silicon or polysilicon. Such doped films are used extensively in Linear CMOS integrated circuits both as high quality resistors, and as the bottom plates for capacitors. In-situ doped polysilicon films are very attractive because, for example, thermal oxides grown on in-situ phosphorus doped polysilicon films are known to exhibit higher breakdown fields, and less leakage than similar oxides grown on ex-situ phosphorus doped polysilicon films (e.g., films doped at temperatures around 900-1000.degree. C. from PBr.sub.3 vapors). Also, it is possible to obtain lower polysilicon film resistivity on in-situ doped films than on ex-situ doped films because of the uniform and intimate mixing dopants with the silicon matrix. Typically, in-situ doped silicon layers are formed by combining silane and a dopant-containing gas, such as PH.sub.3 in a furnace.
FIG. 1 is a diagram useful in understanding some aspects of the current process. In FIG. 1, reaction furnace 11 is illustratively, a reaction furnace made by BTI, Incorporated, Bruce Technologies International Inc., 25 Esquire Rd., North Billerica, Mass. Reference numeral 13 denotes a heating apparatus which heats the interior of furnace 11. Reference numeral 23 denotes six-caged wafer boats, each boat being filled with 26 wafers loaded proximately back to back. A gas mixture is typically admitted to the furnace through opening 19 at the front of the furnace and through tube 15 which extends 44 inches into the center of the furnace and is positioned below the center of the wafer load (between boats 3 and 4) and also through tube 17 which extends approximately 34 inches into furnace 11. Tubes 19, 15, and 17 are each connected to gas cabinet 21 which supplies either nitrogen, silane, or phosphine through a series of valves and mass-flow controllers denoted by reference numeral 24.
Conventional processing sequences follow the teachings of Wonsowicz in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,416 issued Jun. 17, 1984. Wonsowicz teaches that both the PH.sub.3 and silane gases should be turned on at the same time and gradually increased from zero to respective steady state values. After the layer of doped polysilicon has been formed, the system is purged with nitrogen. The nitrogenpurged step eliminates the hazardous gases from the system tubing.
Those concerned with the development of integrated circuit processing have continually sought better methods and apparatus for the formation of in-situ doped silicon films.


A liquid cartridge is provided that supplies liquid to a liquid ejecting apparatus by being mounted in the liquid ejecting apparatus. The liquid cartridge includes a cartridge body having a side face in which an opening is formed; and a flexible film for forming an ink accommodating chamber that is a closed space for accommodating the liquid, with the cartridge body by covering the opening of the cartridge body. The flexible film is caused to deform toward the ink accommodating chamber by atmospheric pressure that acts on the flexible film when the liquid cartridge is got out from a vacuum bag in which the liquid cartridge is packaged, thereby increasing the pressure in the ink accommodating chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid cartridge. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid cartridge for accommodating liquid while maintaining a negative pressure by means of a differential pressure regulating valve and supplying the liquid to a liquid ejection head via a supply portion thereof while keeping a constant negative pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink cartridge for supplying ink while keeping the pressure at an ink supply port to be a negative pressure that does not allow leak of ink by using a pressure difference regulating valve is distributed while being packed in a sealed package under reduced pressure. Therefore, at the initial use of the ink cartridge, the pressure in an ink supply pass from the ink supply port to an ink accommodating chamber is kept lower than atmospheric pressure.
Thus, when new ink is supplied from the cartridge to an ink-jet head, that is an exemplary liquid ejection head, air bubbles that entered the ink-jet head or an ink-supply needle when the cartridge is detached or attached can be dissolved easily by the degassed ink supplied from the cartridge. This provides an advantage that ink ejection characteristics can be maintained whether the air bubbles entered or not.
On the other hand, at a time when the ink supply port of the cartridge is mounted onto the ink-supply needle, the negative pressure in the cartridge acts on the ink-jet head. Therefore, meniscus at a nozzle opening of the ink-jet head may be undesirably drawn toward the cartridge. This may adversely affect the ink-ejection characteristics.
Therefore, the ink cartridge mentioned above adopts a structure in which the ink accommodating chamber is released to ambient air before the ink-supply needle in communication with the liquid ejection head, i.e., the ink-jet head communicates with the ink supply port, as described in EP-A-1199179, for example.
However, this structure has a problem that an arrangement or design for opening an air valve and a position of an air valve are restricted and, thus, the structure of the holder or liquid emission cartridge becomes complicated.


Selecting and formatting warped text is disclosed. Text effects such as an underline effect and/or a strikethrough effect may be transformed along with rectangular text to form a warped text element. In such a situation, the text effects are warped with the characters of the text. Also, warped text may be accurately selected or “hit.” The coordinates of a selection of warped text are inversely transformed to map the selection to the rectangular text. The inverse transform provides an accurate manner to determine the scope and location of the selection. When the scope and location are determined, the graphical representation of the selection may be transformed to provide a user with an accurate representation of a warped selection.

Warping text is one manner for displaying text. Generally, characters are transformed to a warped orientation. Warping text applies to characters of the text. There is no manner for warping text effects, which makes warping undesirable in many situations. Moreover, selecting and or modifying warped text is inefficient and inaccurate. Such inefficiency and inaccuracy occurs because selection of a warped element does not take into account that the element is warped. Therefore, the user may make a selection based on the visual orientation of the warped element; however, the selection may map to a different portion of the element.


A method for purifying sludge suspected of containing heavy, toxic and/or precious metals in order to extract them, the sludge being suspended in an aqueous solution and together forming a mass to be treated. FeCl3 is mixed with the mass, until an acidic pH of the solution is obtained. (CO2H)2 and NH4Cl are then mixed with the mass until metal pro-chelates are formed. Mixed alkali sulfides are then mixed with the mass until a solution with a very basic pH is obtained, to form colloidal complex iron chelates, which trap the metals. The solution is neutralized by adding an acid, until alkaline-ferrous sulfides and hydroxides containing the metals are precipitated. The mass is then centrifuged to form from the mass a liquid phase and a solid phase, the solid phase containing the alkaline-ferrous sulfides.

The present invention relates to a physico-chemical method for eliminating heavy, toxic and/or precious metals contained in urban, industrial sludge and liquid animal manure. It concerns more particularly sludge in which the metals are suspended in an aqueous solution and together form a mass to be treated. Elimination of such sludge raises serious problems, since certain metal oxides can be seriously detrimental to both human and animal health.

Method for eliminating heavy metals contained in sludge