An electronic program guide display device includes a remote control input analyzing part analyzing a key-input from a remote control unit, a time converting part converting the key-input analyzed by the remote control input analyzing part into a time, and a display area calculating part calculating a display area for a two-dimensional program table based on the time converted by the time converting part. The electronic program guide display device also includes a program guide forming part forming a two-dimensional program table in the display area calculated by the display area calculating part, so as to allow a desired program to be browsed by a short-time operation.

In television broadcast, in addition to video information and audio information, additional information representing broadcast contents, broadcast channels, broadcast times, and the like related to programs can be multiplexed and transmitted. In addition to a method of acquiring additional information from a television broadcast, a method which has a function of being connected to the Internet to acquire additional information through the Internet is known. For this reason, some broadcasting receiver for a television broadcast has a function of performing on-screen display generally called an electronic program guide (EPG) by using these pieces of additional information. A user using a broadcasting receiver selects a desired broadcast channel and a desired broadcast time from the electronic program guide displayed on a screen or selects a desired program to make it possible to actually display the selected program on the screen of the broadcasting receiver or to reserve a program.
In a display mode of an electronic program guide, a two-dimensional program table which displays broadcast channels and broadcast times in two orthogonal axes in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction as in a television guide of a newspaper is frequently used. As another display mode, a different-channel program table which displays information of an on-air program in another broadcast channel different from that of a display screen, a list which displays categories of programs and a program searched by a keyword as a list, or the like is known.
In the two-dimensional program table, in terms of visibility or operability, a display range on one screen is generally 3 to 9 channels as a display of broadcast channels, and a display range of broadcast times is generally 3 to 6 hours. Therefore, a user operates keys on a remote control unit (remote controller) to move a display screen up, down, left, or right to display a program desired to be seen. In this manner, the user scrolls the display screen along an axial direction of broadcast channels on the electronic program guide to make it possible to browse information of programs which are currently being broadcasted at all the channels. The user scrolls the display screen along the axial direction of a broadcast time of the electronic program guide to make it possible to display all program information sent from a broadcast transmission side at the channels. When the display screen is scrolled in the axial direction of the broadcast time, for example, programs of the channels until 24:00 (12 midnight) 7 days later can be displayed.
In general, when a user request to display a two-dimensional program table, on an initial screen displayed on a receiver side at the beginning, at a broadcast time, information for several hours from the current time is displayed. At broadcast channels, several channels before and after the channel selected at the present or several channels in the back of the selected channel are frequently displayed in the order of channel numbers. After the initial screen is displayed, the user scrolls broadcast channels or broadcast times to search for a desired program, so that detailed program information related to the program such as the program name, start time, end time, and explanation of the detailed contents of the program are acquired.
In the conventional electronic program guide display device and the electronic program guide display method, when a time of a program desired to be seen by a user is separated from the current time, a scroll operation must be performed frequently or for a long period of time. It is very cumbersome to move the screen to a desired time, and the usability disadvantageously becomes poor.
In some conventional broadcasting receiver, a date or a day of the week is designated, a screen is temporarily moved to the designated date or the designated day of the week. Thereafter, a scroll operation by the hour is performed to cause the screen to reach a desired time. In this manner, some broadcasting receiver has a function of temporarily moving the screen to the designated date or the designated day of the week to shorten a period of time for a scroll operation. However, even though the function is used, although certain trouble may be saved, the above problem in which the receiver is complicated and has poor usability is not essentially solved.
A configuration of the conventional electronic program guide display device will be described below with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. A concrete example of a two-dimensional program table which is formed and displayed by the conventional electronic program guide display device is shown.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the conventional electronic program guide display device. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a concrete example of a two-dimensional program table formed and displayed by the electronic program guide display device.
As shown in FIG. 15, a conventional electronic program guide display device 1500 includes a receiving part 1501, a multiplexing/separating part 1502, a decode part 1503, a program information management part 1504, a remote control input analyzing part 1505, a channel converting part 1506, a display area calculating part 1507, a program guide formation part 1508, and a display part 1509. A remote controller 2200 is connected to the electronic program guide display device 1500 such that a signal can be transmitted to the electronic program guide display device 1500. A command of a user from the remote controller 2200 is input to the electronic program guide display device 1500. In the following description, it is assumed that a broadcast channel is simply called a channel and that a broadcast time is simply called a time.
On the remote controller 2200, in addition to a power supply key, 10 numeric keys (0 to 9) and direction indicating keys which move a designated region in the horizontal and vertical directions are arranged. On the remote controller 2200, blue, red, green, and yellow keys are arranged, so that unique functions in the device can be achieved by key operations, respectively.
The receiving part 1501 in the electronic program guide display device 1500 receives a multiplexed stream of a digital broadcast. The multiplexing/separating part 1502 separates the multiplexed stream input from the receiving part 1501 into not only arbitrary digital video information and digital audio information but also program information including channel information, time information, program content information, and the like as service information. The decode part 1503 decodes the digital video information and the digital audio information input from the multiplexing/separating part 1502. The program information management part 1504 extracts program information from the information separated by the multiplexing/separating part 1502 and accumulates and manages program information in all periods of time at all the channels.
The remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes the type of an input key by a key operation of a user on the remote controller 2200 to determine an output destination on the basis of the analysis result. When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is a numeric key, the channel converting part 1506 receives a signal of the numeric key from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 to convert the input signal representing the numeric key into a signal representing a channel.
When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is a direction designation key representing a moving direction of a designation region, the display area calculating part 1507 receives a signal representing the vertical and horizontal moving directions from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 and calculates a scroll direction of the display area for a two-dimensional program table according to the moving direction. When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is the blue key or the red key, the display area calculating part 1507 which receives a date indication signal from the blue key or the red key calculates a date displayed on the two-dimensional program table.
Furthermore, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display area for the two-dimensional program table on the basis of the signal representing a channel input from the channel converting part 1506.
The program guide forming part 1508 receives a calculation result from the display area calculating part 1507 and necessary information from the program information management part 1504 to form a two-dimensional program table. The display part 1509 displays a video image by the decoded video information and the decoded audio information input from the decode part 1503 or displays the two-dimensional program table input from the program guide forming part 1508.
Next, a detailed description will be given of operations of the components of the electronic program guide display device 1500 performed until switching display of the two-dimensional program table is performed on the display part 1509 after key inputting is performed by a key operation of the remote controller 2200.
When a specific key is depressed (key-input) by the key operation of the remote controller 2200, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes a type of the key-input. More specifically, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes whether any one of the direction designation key which moves a cursor position on the two-dimensional program table up, down, left, or right by the hour or in units of channels one by one, the blue key or the red key which changes dates on the two-dimensional program table, the numeric key which jumps a channel or a date on the two-dimensional program table, and other keys is operated.
The remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a designated direction to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result of the key-input from the remote controller 2200 is the direction designation key representing any direction of the upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions. When the analysis result of the key-input from the remote controller 2200 is the blue key or the red key, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a date previous to the current date to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result is the blue key, and the remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a date next to the current date to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result is the red key.
The channel converting part 1506 converts a number of a numeric key input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 into a corresponding channel and outputs the channel to the display area calculating part 1507 such that the channel is located at a reference position for a display of the two-dimensional program table. For example, when "2" is input by the numeric key, the channel converting part 1506 sets "channel 2" as a channel for the reference position on the two-dimensional program table.
When the signal of the direction designation key is input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display area such that a cursor position of a program list displayed by the current two-dimensional program table is moved in the designated direction of the upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions. When the signal of the blue key or the red key is input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display style such that a date of the program field displayed by the current two-dimensional program table is changed into a date previous to the current date when the blue key is input and the date of the program field is changed into a date next to the current date when the red key is input. When a signal which designates a channel serving as a reference position for the display of the two-dimensional program table is input from the channel converting part 1506, for example, a display area for the two-dimensional program table is calculated such that the designated channel is arranged at a center position of a channel axis of the display for the two-dimensional program table. The display area calculating part 1507 outputs the calculated display area for the two-dimensional program table to the program guide forming part 1508.
The program guide forming part 1508 receives the program information accumulated and managed by the program information management part 1504 to form the two-dimensional program table adjusted to the display area calculated by the display area calculating part 1507. The program guide forming part 1508 outputs a command signal to the display part 1509 such that the two-dimensional program table displayed at the present is switched to a newly formed two-dimensional program table and the switched two-dimensional program table is displayed.
The display part 1509 which receives a command signal of switching display from the program guide forming part 1508 switches the new two-dimensional program table input from the program guide forming part 1508 to the two-dimensional program table displayed at the present and displays the two-dimensional program table.
A concrete display screen of the two-dimensional program table which is formed and displayed by the conventional electronic program guide display device 1500 will be described below with reference to FIG. 16.
FIG. 16 is a diagram concretely showing a display screen of the two-dimensional program table displayed on the display part 1509. In the display screen of the two-dimensional program table shown in FIG. 16, channels are arranged in the horizontal direction, and times are arranged in the vertical direction. The date tab representing a date is arranged in an upper portion of a channel display field. In general, information of an electronic program guide includes information for 8 days including the current date and does not have information subsequent to the 8 days. Therefore, in the conventional electronic program guide display device 1500, the information for the 8 days including the current date is displayed. The date tab which is especially enlarged and displayed indicates program data displayed at the present.
When a user desires to browse program data at a desired time, a time axis is scrolled by the direction designation key representing the upward and downward directions, the time is jumped to a time of the date previous to the current date by the blue key, or the time is jumped to a time of the date next to the current date by the red key.
As another approach performed when the user desires to browse electronic program data at a desired time, in a method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-44554, analog time display is performed to make it possible to move a display area to a target time by only the key representing the leftward and rightward directions, and when the key representing the leftward and rightward directions is continuously depressed, only an analog clock is updated without displaying the program information to shorten a period of moving time.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-12412, a key representing a destination on the next day, a day after a week or the like is displayed on the screen to make it possible to jump the date.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-276378, a scroll bar is displayed on the screen of the electronic program guide, and a channel, a date, or a time is jumped such that a cursor is pointed to the scroll bar.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-44554
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-12412
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-276378

Electronic program guide display device, and electronic program guide display method


A dummy plate for offset printing comprising essentially a mechanically and/or electrochemically roughened, anodically oxidized and hydrophilized aluminium support in the form of a plate, sheet or band and a non light-sensitive, water-soluble layer coated thereon, and characterized in that the layer contains at least one organic polymer with a water-solubility of at least 2 g/L at room temperature and at least one inorganic compound reacting as an acid.

In a printing press several plates are generally tensioned next to each other and one behind the other on an impression cylinder. Dummy plates are offset plates without ink-accepting parts. They are used when the paper web must not be completely printed. A dummy plate is tensioned on the impression cylinder there where no image may be transferred onto the paper. The objective of the dummy plate is to take up the fountain solution applied over the entire cylinder width and to transfer it to the paper web. At the same time the dummy plate may not accept the printing ink in order to avoid a transfer of the latter onto the paper ("toning"). A lot of dummy plates are necessary when separate inks in multicolour offset printing are not used on all of the pages so that the respective inking units may not transfer ink there.
Dummy plates are normally roughened and anodically oxidized aluminium plates. They can optionally have an extra hydrophilizing layer. The disadvantage of these dummy plates is that they are very sensitive to fingerprints and to other external influences. Fingerprints for example lead to ink acceptance and consequently to toning in the printing press. Furthermore it has been established that the hydrophilic characteristics of such dummy plates deteriorate upon ageing as a result of which they accept ink in the printing press and tone. This phenomenon is strongly present when the dummy plates were exposed without any protection to the ambient air for a prolonged period of time, which allowed them to take up e.g. moisture, dust or traces of oil. In order to eliminate the consequences of fingerprints and to restore the hydrophilic characteristics of the aluminium surface to the original value, dummy plates are subjected to the normal development process with subsequent gumming. Through development the printing-plate surface is cleaned and hydrophilized. A subsequent gumming preserves the surface. The tendency towards toning in the printing press is considerably less for dummy plates having received such a treatment.


A baler and methods of operating a baler. The baler includes a housing defining an interior volume, the interior volume including a compression portion and a loading portion. The baler also includes a first closure movably coupled with the housing and operative to enclose the compression portion and a second closure movably coupled with the housing and operative to enclose the loading portion. Further, the baler includes a reciprocating compression assembly including a linear actuator and a platen operably coupled with the linear actuator. The platen is movable between a retracted position and an extended position in response to actuation of the linear actuator. Additionally, the first closure defines at least one recess therein and a lip extending about at least a portion of the at least one recess. The lip is operative to engage with compressible material disposed in the compression portion.

Balers are utilized in various industries to compress various compressible materials, such as cardboard, scrap metal, paper, plastic, and waste. One type of baler, known as a vertical downstroke baler, is illustrated in FIG. 1. In general, baler 10 includes a housing 12. The interior of housing 12 includes a loading chamber 14 and a bale chamber 16. Access to the loading chamber is provided by a movable loading chamber closure 18, and access to the bale chamber 16 is provided via a bale chamber door 20. A lock 22 may be provided on housing 12 and bale chamber door 20 to restrict access to the bale chamber 16 during operation of baler 10. As shown, baler 10 also includes a rectangular ram, or platen, 24 operatively coupled with a hydraulic cylinder 26. In operation, material to be compressed is loaded via loading chamber 14 into housing 12, and hydraulic cylinder 26 is actuated to translate ram 24 downward, thereby compressing the loaded material. After one or more cycles of loading and compression, a bale is formed in bale chamber 16. An operator may tie the bale to maintain it in compacted form after ram 24 is raised, and the operator may then cause the bale to be removed from bale chamber 16, for example via ejection chains or an ejection plate.

Baler with platen bypass prevention features


A method for printing interdigitated images comprising the steps of interdigitating f images by modulating b beams of light (12) with image information. The b beams of light (12) are scanned onto an image-forming medium (50) by a polygon scanner (30) which has p sides. The relationship between the number of images f, the beams of light b, and the number of sides of the polygon p is given by f/pb=n where n is an integer. The image-forming medium is registered with a lenticular medium.

Lenticular overlays are a known means to give images the appearance of depth. A lenticular image is created using a transparent upper layer having narrow, parallel lenticules (semi-cylindrical lenses) on an outer surface, and an image-containing substrate which projects images through the lenticules. The two layers form a lenticular system wherein different portions of an image are selectively visible as a function of the angle from which the system is viewed. If the image is a composite picture made by bringing together into a single composition a number of different parts of a scene photographed from different angles, and the lenticules are vertically oriented, each eye of a viewer will see different elements and the viewer will interpret the net result as depth of field. The viewer may also move his head with respect to the image thereby observing other views with each eye and enhancing the sense of depth.
Another method for showing images is the use of a blocking line screen positioned at a specific distance from the composite picture. This parallax process causes blocking of all images except one specific image. This allows the eyes to view different images as three-dimensional (3-D) images, or to achieve a simulation of motion, by the process of tipping the medium or movement of the head to a different angle with respect to the medium. Both of these processes, a lenticular image or a line blocking screen, can be used to generate a 3-D effect at a proper viewing distance, or simulated motion multiple images, by viewing the composite image from different angles.
When the lenticules or blocking line screen is oriented horizontally, each eye receives the same image. In this case, the multiple images give illusion of motion when the composite image is rotated about a line parallel to a line formed by the viewers eyes.
Whether the lenticules or the line blocking screen is oriented vertical or parallel, each of the viewed images are generated by lines of images which have been interlaced at the frequency of the lenticular or line blocking screen. Interlacing lines of each image is referred to as interdigitation. Interdigitation can be better understood by using an example four images used to form a composite with a material having three lenticules. In this example, line 1 from each of the four images is in registration with the first lenticule; line 2 from each of the four images is in registration with the second lenticule; etc. Each lenticule is associated with a plurality of image lines or an image line set, and the viewer sees only one image line of each set with each eye for each lenticule. It is imperative that the line image sets be registered accurately with respect to the lenticules, so that the proper picture is formed when the assembly is viewed.
Conventional recording of linear images on a lenticular recording material has been accomplished with a stereoscopic image recording apparatus that uses optical exposure. A light source, such as a halogen lamp, is projected through an original image, through a projection lens, and focused on lenticular material. The images are exposed on a receiver attached to the lenticular material as linear images. Japanese (Kokoku) Patent Applications Nos. 5473/1967, 6488/1973, 607/1974, and 33847/1978 disclose recording apparatus in which two original images are projected for printing on a lenticular recording material. Recording composite images in this fashion requires complex lens structures, which are expensive.
In contrast, image recording by scanning exposure requires comparatively simple optics, has great flexibility in adapting to various image processing operations, and to alterations in the dimension of the lenticules. To take advantage of these features, various apparatus and methods have been proposed for recording image by scanning exposure. For example, Japanese (Kokoku) Patent Application No. 3781/1984 teaches a stereoscopic image recording system in which a plurality of original images is taken with a TV camera, processed and stored in frame memories from which the stored image signals are retrieved sequentially as linear images in accordance with the pitch of lenticular lenses used. After the linear images are recorded on a recording material by scanning exposure, the lenticular sheet is bonded to the recording material. Another scanning method uses polygon scanners, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,419, for exposure of photosensitive stereoscopic images directly on lenticular materials.
One of the problems associated with using polygon scanners for printing interdigitized images is the introduction of banding in the image. One cause of banding is due to differences in the reflectance for each facet of the polygon. One method to alleviate this problem is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,997 which relates to using a lookup table to make the necessary corrections. This method, although effective, requires calibration and extra time to make the appropriate lookups of data from a table. Other causes of banding are slight differences in the polygon center-to-facet distance, and the lack of parallelism of each facet of the polygon to the spin axis.

Method and apparatus for printing interdigitated images


Communication traffic congestion management systems and methods are disclosed. Communication traffic is analyzed to determine its type, and a traffic congestion management function to be applied to the received communication traffic is selected based on the determined type and a level of communication traffic congestion. Congestion levels may be determined from congestion feedback signals provided by downstream communication components to which a traffic flow controller outputs communication traffic. A traffic congestion management function may be selected and applied on a packet-by-packet or other block-specific basis, or to an entire stream of communication traffic.

A standard mechanism in Internet Protocol (IP) networks for dealing with congestion is Random Early Discard (RED), sometimes also known as Random Early Detection. When a router sees an impending problem condition, it starts randomly throwing away packets. A Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol client, which would be aware of any packet loss, concludes from observed loss that it is sending packets too quickly, and throttles back its sending rate to thereby alleviate congestion.
In general, the actual packet loss observed by a TCP client is a result of packets being dropped at a receiving device, namely a router in the above example. According to a simple discard mechanism, when the depth of packets in a traffic queue at the receiving device exceeds a discard threshold, packets arriving at that queue are dropped 'off the tail' of the queue until the queue depth recedes below the discard threshold. One problem with this procedure, in the case of TCP connections, is that packets can tend to be dropped from a single TCP connection, resulting in an unfair service impact between customers.
RED can address this problem for TCP connections by using queue depth to determine whether to keep or discard each packet as it arrives at a queue. A packet discard probability, which is dependent on the average depth of the queue over some time period, is compared to a random number. The packet is discarded if its discard probability exceeds the random number. Discard probabilities may be determined using a discard probability function, which might remain at zero until a minimum threshold is reached, increase linearly until a maximum threshold is reached, and remain at 100% for average queue depths greater than the maximum threshold.
In so-called weighted RED, there are multiple discard probability functions, each of which results in a different discard probability for the same average queue depth. The particular discard probability function that is used for a packet depends on the drop precedence of the packet, which is determined by examining the DiffServ Code Point (DSCP) field in the IP header of the packet. Packets that exceed agreements on their connections have their drop precedence and thus their discard probability function changed by an IP policing procedure. As with RED, the determination to keep or discard a packet is made by comparing the discard probability of the packet to a random number. A variation of this procedure uses different probability curves in accordance with a class of service (CoS) of a packet. The CoS of a packet is also determined by examining the DSCP field in the IP header.
One of the limitations of standard or weighted RED is that these techniques are used only on TCP flows. As non-TCP applications such as streaming video, VoIP, and IP video-telephony increase in popularity, the effectiveness of RED decreases because it operates only on the TCP portion of traffic.
This also creates issues with respect to ensuring fairness between users. In a mixed traffic scenario, RED may either discard all packet types, which means that it is degrading the quality of non-TCP traffic types to no useful effect, or it can discard only TCP traffic. In the latter case, it effectively treats all User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and other protocols that do not verify successful delivery as high priority and all TCP applications as low priority. This might not reflect the priorities that a service provider would prefer, since in this case radio-over-the-Internet streaming audio might have a higher priority than business-critical client server applications, for instance.
Intelligent Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) engines are being developed which are capable of looking inside a stream of traffic (beyond the header of each packet) to detect what kind of traffic is flowing in a network. These engines can distinguish between web browsing, email, VoIP, gaming, peer-to-peer, and other application types, for example. However, DPI is not currently used for dealing with traffic congestion.
There remains a need for improved communication traffic congestion management techniques.


A system and method for vehicle energy management are described that take driving context into account to derive suggested vehicle control inputs to reduce energy consumption. Driving context may be based on information including, for example, traffic congestion and/or flow information for a traveled route, road topology information, traffic controls, weather conditions, vehicle characteristics, and other types of driving context information. The driving context may be used to derive suggested control inputs to reduce energy consumption. The suggested control inputs can, for example, be expressed as: a suggested road speed, suggested gear selection, rate of acceleration or rate of deceleration.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of vehicle energy management. In particular, to a system and method for vehicle energy management.
2. Related Art
Many mechanisms have been developed to help optimize energy consumption in vehicles. However, some aspects of vehicle energy consumption continue to be significantly affected by driver related factors such as driving style (e.g heavy acceleration and sudden braking). Drivers sometimes choose less than optimal modes of operation of the vehicle based on a lack of information about the driving context (e.g. up coming traffic congestion and road topology ahead).
Existing systems that give fuel economy indications or driver suggestions are typically based on past and current vehicle state and/or operating conditions. For example, for naturally aspirated internal combustion engines the intake manifold vacuum can be used to infer efficient engine operation and can be displayed on a gauge. Also, instantaneous or average fuel consumption can be computed and displayed. In hybrid and electric vehicles instantaneous energy consumption can be displayed. These solutions are limited in their beneficial impact due to being retrospective in nature—that is, being based on past and current vehicle state and/or operating conditions.


A multi-purpose efficient charge particle detector that by switching bias voltages measures either secondary ions, or secondary electrons (SE) from a sample, or secondary electrons that originate from back scattered electrons (SE3), is described. The basic version of the detector structure and two stripped down versions enable its use for the following detection combinations: The major version is for measuring secondary ions, or secondary electrons from the sample, or secondary electrons due to back-scattered electrons that hit parts other than the sample together or without secondary electrons from the sample. Measuring secondary ions or secondary electrons from the sample (no SE3). Measuring secondary electrons from the sample and/or secondary electrons resulting from back-scattered electrons hitting objects other than the sample (no ions).

Almost all SEMs use an ETD (Everhardt Thornley Detector T. E. Everhart and R. F. M. Thornley "Wideband detector for microampere low-energy electron currents. J. Sci. Instr. 37, 246-248 (1960)) to measure the current of secondary electrons (SE) produced by the scanning of the electron beam on a sample. Relating the number of secondary electrons accumulated in a certain time bin to the location bombarded by the scanning beam at that time bin forms the image of the surface topography and properties that are reflected in variations of SE emission. A typical sketch of an ETD (prior art) is shown in FIG. 1. An electron collecting sparse electrode 1 at voltages +80 to +500 V attracts SE that are emitted from the sample at low energies of mostly few eV rarely reaching above 25 eV. The collected SE that pass the sparse grid are further accelerated to an aluminum coated scintillating plate 2 at +several kV to +15 kV that produce several hundred photons for each impinging accelerated electron. A light guide (LG) 3 attached to the back side of the scintillating plate guides tens % of the photons to a photomultiplier (PMT) 4. With a suitable design, the PMT of the ETD will start the signal multiplication with several photoelectrons (from the photocathode) for each electron accelerated to the scintillator. The collecting sparse grid and its voltage are designed to collect as large a number of SE as possible with minimal distortion of the impinging primary beam. This grid also shields the primary beam region from the electric field produced by the scintillating plate high voltage.
The collecting sparse grid in ETD produces a weak attracting electric field at the sample. It is quite efficient in collecting the low energy SEs provided there is no other attracting potential in the region of the sample and the grid line of sight to the sample is not hindered by physical obstacles. Its collection efficiency can reach from few tens % to 90%. However, the ETD is not a very effective for back scattered electrons (BSE), defined as electrons emitted from the sample at energies between 50 eV and the beam energy. Most of the BSE are emitted with energies from the beam energy to a third of the beam energy. Therefore the ETD collecting grid is inefficient in attracting these electrons and leading them to the scintillator. The BSE thus hit various parts and objects in the vacuum chamber and produced tretiery electrons that are denoted as SE3. Most of the SE3 are not collected by the ETD.
The ETD is also used in FIB and other ion bombarding schemes, to detect the SE induced by ion bombardment. In such a case there are also many low energy secondary positive ions as a result of sputtering and other processes. Detection of these ions gives additional information about the impinged surface. The positive ions can be attracted to the ETD and accelerated to the scintillator by reversing the voltages on the collecting grid and scintillating plate to negative values. The drawback of the ETD when used in this ion mode is very low or no efficiency for detecting secondary ions due to the very low luminosity response of any scintillator to impinging ions relative to same energy electrons, compounded by the ions high or total energy loss in the conducting aluminum layer of the scintillating plate.
A typical method to measure low energy positive ions (originating at energies 0 eV to 50 eV) is to accelerate them to a converter plate at voltage of −3 kV to −5 kV to produce SEs efficiently. One or more SE per impinging ion, for many types of atomic ions, are obtained for ion energies exceeding 3 keV. From the converting plate the few eV ion-induced SEs have to be accelerated to either an electron multiplying arrangement or to a scintillating layer at +5 kV to +15 kV relative to the converter plate. The scintillating layer is the scintillator of the ETD. Thus, response to low energy secondary ion current is obtained upon efficient transfer of the SE from the converter plate to the scintillator or to electron multiplying arrangement. Typical ion to electron converters are various forms of metallic plates with or without plating of SE enhancing materials, which are placed in the passage of the ions to the scintillator or to the electron multiplier.
The concept of a switchable electron and ion detector which can detect ions or electrons by just switching bias voltages on a converting plate or mesh is disclosed in a number of patent applications, i.e., Ishitani Toru, Hirose Hiroshi, and Onishi Takeshi, "Charged Particle Detector" (Japanese Patent Application no 64338358), Ishitani Tornu, Hirose Hiroshi, and Arima Yoshio, "Converging Ion Beam Device and Charged Particle Detector" (Japanese Patent Application 05295229), and R. L Gerlach, M. W. Utlaut, T. Dingle, and M. Uncovsky, "Particle detector Suitable for Detecting Ions and Electrons" (U.S. Patent Application 20040262531).
In the latter publication the converting surfaces are in the form of cylinders around the line connecting the source and the scintillator center. Thus in electron detecting mode, the electrons are not hindered in their motion towards the scintillating plate. In ion detecting mode, the converting plates are at negative potential and attract positive ions. However a large portion of the SE from sections of the cylinders close to the ion entrance region are attracted back towards the sample, and thus the ions detection efficiency is decreased to about 50% as described in U.S. Patent Application 20040262531.
Another way to measure positive ions as disclosed in J. Krasa, M. Pfeifer, M. P. Stockli, U, Lenhert, and D. Fry, "The effect of the first dynode's geometry on the detection efficiency of 119EM electron multiplier used as a highly charged ion detector(Nucl. Instrum. And Meth. B152 (1999) 397-402) is to impinge them at typically 3 keV to 5 keV onto a converter material in the form of Venetian Blind like strips (strips at an angle to the ion motion) to produce SE.
Energetic ions can be used or the strips can be at negative voltage to accelerate slow ions towards them. The SE are attracted from the strips to an electron multiplier behind the strips. It is also shown in cited reference 5 that the efficiency to collect the SE from the strips varies from 70% to 5% depending on where the ion hit the strip.
It is generally desirable to reduce the number of detectors on any electron- or ion beam system. Multiple detectors increase system cost and occupy place in the vacuum system, which may be needed for sample manipulations. A detector capable of detecting secondary electrons, backscattered electrons and secondary ions would therefore free up space and significantly reduce manufacturing cost, provided the detector can distinguish between those particles by means of preferably automatic manipulation of voltages only, rather than mechanical adjustments or other direct operator intervention.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a detector with an improved selectivity and detection efficiency for secondary electrons, low energy positive ions, and tertiary electrons, originating from backscattered electrons, respectively. This object is solved by the detector according to any of the independent claims.
According to a first aspect of the invention the invention provides a particle detector for detecting secondary ions, or secondary electrons or tertiary electrons (SE3), all originating from a focused scanning ion or electron beams, said particle detector comprising:
a sparse collecting electrode; Venetian Blind strips for converting secondary ions to electrons, said Venetian Blind strips comprising a conducting material and being disposed behind the sparse collecting electrode; at least one further electrode adjacent the Venetian Blind strips, wherein said at least one further electrode enhances the detection efficiency of the particle detector; a scintillating disc for producing scintillation photons upon impingement of energetic electrons, said scintillating disc being biasable with respect to said Venetian Blind strips and said at least one further electrode, respectively; and a light-guide for guiding scintillation photons to a photo-multiplier, wherein the particle detector detects any of the type of the incoming particles, and excludes the other types by switching appropriate voltages on the electrodes.
According to a second aspect of the invention the at least one further electrode comprises a fine wire electrode in front of the Venetian Blind strips, between the Venetian Blind strips and said sparse electrode.
Said fine wire electrode preferably comprises wires extending parallel to the front edges of the Venetian Blind strips, wherein said wires may have the same pitch as the Venetian Blind strips.
A negative potential can be applied to the fine wire electrode with respect to the Venetian Blind strips in order to repel electrons originating from the Venetian Blind strips.
According to a third aspect of the invention the one further electrode comprises an extracting electrode arranged behind the Venetian Blind strip, wherein a positive potential can be applied to extracting electrode with respect to the Venetian Blind strips in order to extract electrons originating from the Venetian Blind strips.
The extracting electrode preferably comprises a fine grid or wires.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention the particle detector comprises both, the fine wire electrode and the extracting electrode.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention the particle detector has a longitudinal axis which extends from the sparse collecting electrode to the scintillating disc, and the scintillating disc is spaced apart from the Venetian Blind strips in the direction of the longitudinal axis, the detector further comprising a set of SE3 ring electrodes arranged between behind said extracting electrode.
Hence, the invention further provides a particle detector for detecting secondary ions, or secondary electrons or tertiary electrons (SE3), all originating from a focused scanning ion or electron beams, said particle detector comprising:
a sparse collecting grid electrode;
Venetian Blind strips comprising a conducting material behind the sparse collecting electrode;
a fine wire electrode in front of the Venetian Blind strips, between the Venetian Blind strips and said sparse electrode;
an extracting electrode arranged behind the Venetian Blind strip;
a set of SE3 ring electrodes arranged behind said extracting electrode;
a scintillating disc for producing light upon impingement of energetic electrons; and
a light-guide for guiding the scintillation photons to a photo-multiplier, wherein
the particle detector measures any of the type of the incoming particles, and excludes the other types by switching appropriate voltages on the electrodes.
The sparse collecting electrode may be tilted.
The Venetian Blind strips may be tilted at an angle between about 20 and about 30 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the detector.
The invention further provides a particle detector for detecting incoming secondary ions, or secondary electrons originating from a focused scanning ion or electron beams, said detector comprising
a tilted sparse collecting electrode;
tilted Venetian Blind strips made of conducting material with high secondary emission coefficient for 3 to 5 keV ions and at 20 to 30 degrees to the detector long axis;
a fine wire electrode in front of the Venetian Blind strips;
a scintillating disc that produces light upon impingement of energetic electrons; and
a light-guide to transform the scintillation photons to a photo-multiplier, wherein
by switching voltages on the electrodes said detector detects secondary electrons and excludes positive ions, or detects positive ions and excludes secondary electrons.
The invention still further provides a particle detector for detecting incoming secondary electrons or tertiary electrons (SE3) that are created by back-scattered electrons, all originating from a focused scanning electron beam, said detector comprising:
a tilted sparse collecting electrode,
a fine grid or wires extracting electrode
a scintillating disc that produces light upon impingement of energetic electrons
a set of SE3 ring electrodes between the extracting electrode and the scintillating disc
a light-guide to transform the scintillation photons to a photo-multiplier, wherein
by switching voltages on the electrodes detects either secondary electrons from the sample and excludes tertiary electrons created by back-scattered electrons, or by switching to other voltages detects the tertiary electrons and excludes the secondary electrons.
Two stripped down forms of the invention are described first and then combined to the basic form of the EISE3 detector.                1. The first form is an arrangement shown in FIG. 2 that can measure ions or SE by switching the voltages on the electrodes. The structure has tilted collecting sparse grid electrode 5. For ion collection the collecting sparse grid is set at low negative voltage (−80 to −500 V), fine wire electrodes 6 with a set of Venetian Blind strips 7 at voltage of −3 kV to −4 kV in front of a scintillator 8 which is at positive voltage. The SEs from the Venetian Blind strips are accelerated to the scintillator with voltage of +8 kV to +12 kV relative to the Venetian Blind strips. The fine wire electrodes 6, close to and parallel to the Venetian Blind strips in the direction of the collecting sparse grid and at several hundred Volts negative to the Venetian Blind strips, push the SE that may have been moving towards the collecting grid, towards the scintillator. In this way a high efficiency (>90%) to detect all the converted electrons is obtained. This same structure is transformed to an electron detector by just switching the voltages on the collecting grid, on the fine wire electrodes and on the Venetian Blind strips simultaneously to +100 to +500V. In the case where the positive ions from the sample or the SE from the sample originate from a very small area of less than 1×1 mm, as is the case in FIB and SEM, the Venetian Blind strips angles with respect to the sample and the voltages are designed so that in the electron detecting mode they are almost transparent to the electrons that originate from sample SEs which are accelerated towards the scintillator. Simulation calculations of SE from the sample are shown in FIG. 7. Several initial energies and initial directions are chosen to represent the whole spectrum of SE emission. The few electrons that hit the Venetian Blind strips create additional SEs which too are accelerated to the scintillator. Simulation of positive ion trajectories are shown in FIG. 8. In this figure fine wires at −400 V relative to the Venetian Blind strips repel any electron that otherwise would have been moving towards the less negative collecting grid. In a simulation of ion-induced SE from the strips shown in FIG. 9 all the SE are directed towards the scintillator. The prime novelty, over cited reference 4, is the combination of the tilted collecting grid at 20-30 degrees to the detector axis, the fine wire electrodes in front of the Venetian Blind strips, and the tilt angle of the Venetian Blind strips, that make for high efficiency (>85% ) detection of either ions or electrons.        2. The second version of the detector is shown in FIG. 3. It is an SE and\or SE3 detector. There are no Venetian Blind strips for ion to electron conversion and their associated fine wires electrode. Switching voltages on the collecting and SE3 grids allow to measure one type and exclude the other. In this arrangement a scintillator 16 is placed at some 2 to 8 cm distance back. An extracting grid 12 with 2 to 4 kV voltage, in the position where the scintillator was in the first version, attracts and accelerates the SE emerging from the sample and collected by the sparse grid 11 to scintillator direction. A sparse cylindrical grid in the form of rings 14 surrounds the path to the scintillator. A low positive voltage (+100 V to +500 V) on this sparse ring grid attracts SE3 from large regions of the vacuum chamber walls and other surfaces within the chamber, while a negative potential on this grid excludes these SE3s. At the end of the SE3 grid there is a conical shaped cylindrical electrode 15 at the same voltage as the SE3 grid. It shapes the electrical field to insure that all collected SE3 or SE will hit the scintillator 16. Simulation of the trajectory of SE from the sample and SE3 from other parts of the chamber are shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. It is shown that all SE reach the scintillator with SE3 rejected, or by switching voltages all SE3 reach the scintillator and SE are rejected. According to one aspect of this embodiment switching grid voltages is used to measure either SE from the sample with high efficiency and exclude SE3, or measure SE3 and exclude all direct SE, thereby allowing the generation of BSE images without using a dedicated BSE detector This version of the detector is suitable for any focused scanning e-beam device such as a SEM.        3. The EISE3 detector is a combination of the stripped down version 1 and version 2. Its schematic cross section is shown in FIG. 4. It includes a collecting sparse grid 17, a fine wire electrode 18, Venetian Blind strips 19 at an angle 20 to 30 degrees to the detector axis to allow free electron passage in SE mode, an extracting grid 20 to attract SE toward the scintillator, a cylindrical rings SE3 collecting—repelling grid 22 with a terminating ring electrode 23 having an inclined or conical inner surface at its end, a scintillating plate 24 on a light guide 25 leading to a commercial photo-multiplier (not shown). The arrangement and structure of EISE3 is shown in two isometric views in FIGS. 5 and 6. The corresponding reference numerals of FIGS. 4 through 6 are summarized in the following table:
FeatureFIG. 4FIG. 5FIG. 6sparse grid172631fine wire18not shown32electrodeVenetian blind192733extracting grid 20202834grounded body21not shown39SE3 collecting/222935repelling ringsterminating ring233036electrodescintillator24not shown37light guide25not shown38
According to an aspect of the EISE3 detector one single structure can by just switching voltages on the grids, electrodes, and Venetian Blind strips measure or positive ions, or SE from the sample, or SE3 according to following table:
TABLE 1Typical Voltages in V on EISE3 electrodes for selectedmeasurementsVenetianCollectingBlindSE3sparcestrips -Extractinggrid -grid -Fine wires -relativegrid -relativeScintillatorrelative torelativetorelative totorelative toDetectinggroundto stripsgroundgroundgroundgroundSE+100 to0+100 to+2000 to−50 to+8000 to+500+500+4000−400+12000Ions—−200 to— −3000 to+2000 to—+8000 to−100 to−600−4000+4000−50 to+12000−500−400SE3—0−100 to+2000 to+100 to+8000 to−100 to−500+4000+500+12000−500.

Particle detector for secondary ions and direct and or indirect secondary electrons


An electronic ballast (10) for fluorescent lamps includes a rectifier circuit (100), a boost converter (200), and an inverter (500). The boost converter (200) includes a boost control circuit (400) and a shifting circuit (300). The shifting circuit (300) provides filament preheating by maintaining the boost output voltage at a first level for a predetermined delay period following startup of the boost converter, and then increasing the boost voltage to a second level upon completion of the delay period in order to ignite and operate the lamps. In a preferred embodiment, shifting circuit (300) comprises a shunt circuit (320) and a time delay circuit (360), and inverter (400) is a series resonant half-bridge inverter.

A common type of electronic ballast employs a boost converter in combination with a resonant inverter that supplies high frequency current for efficiently powering one or more fluorescent lamps. Use of a boost converter provides a number of important benefits, including a high degree of power factor correction, low harmonic distortion in the AC line current, and load regulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,195 discloses an electronic ballast that uses the startup delay of the boost converter (i.e., the period of time between application of AC power to the ballast and startup of the boost converter) to provide a period during, which the lamp filaments are preheated prior to ignition of the lamps. An asymptotic plot of the boost converter output voltage for such a ballast is shown in FIG. 1. The ballast disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,195 economically provides filament preheating in a "passive" manner and thus avoids the need for dedicated filament preheating circuitry.
For many such electronic ballasts, and particularly those that are designed for powering more than two lamps, it is highly desirable, if not essential, that operating losses in the inverter be minimized in order to enhance ballast efficiency and to reduce the ballast operating temperature so that long-term reliability of electrical components is ensured. Toward this goal, it is highly advantageous to design the ballast with an elevated boost output voltage. Since, for a given lamp load, a higher boost output voltage results in a proportionately smaller flow of current through many electrical components of the inverter, inverter power losses can be reduced considerably if a higher boost output voltage is used.
Unfortunately, although operating with an elevated boost output voltage helps reduce inverter power losses and enhance ballast energy efficiency, it also tends to interfere with the desirable function of using the boost startup delay period to passively provide a filament preheating period. As a simple rule, when the ratio of the boost operating voltage to the peak value of the AC line voltage exceeds a certain value, it becomes increasingly difficult to passively provide adequate filament preheating without violating other critical design constraints. This problem is particularly acute in ballasts that are designed to operate multiple lamps which are connected in series with each other.
The filament preheating voltage that is provided by a ballast like that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,195 may be computed by the following equation: ##EQU1##
As a quantitative example that illustrates the nature of the problem, consider a ballast for powering four series connected T8 type fluorescent lamps from a 120 volt (rms) AC source. In order to optimize boost converter efficiency and power factor correction, the boost output voltage, V.sub.BOOST,OPERATING, for a ballast that is powered from a 120 volt (rms) AC source is typically set in the range of about 250 to 275 volts. Let us assume here that a boost output voltage of 250 volts is desired. V.sub.BOOST,PREHEAT, which is the output voltage of the boost converter prior to startup, is approximately equal to the peak value of the AC line voltage, which is equal to 120 * 1.414, or 170 volts. Let us assume that it is known that the ballast output voltage, V.sub.OUT,IGNITION, must be about 800 volts (rms) in order to ignite the lamps following proper preheating of the filaments, and that the output voltage after the lamps are ignited and operating, V.sub.OUT,OPERATING, is about 600 volts (rms). Finally, it is specified that V.sub.FIL,OPERATING, which is the filament voltage provided to the lamps under normal operation, should be no greater than 4.0 volts (rms) Substituting these values into the above equation gives: ##EQU2##
The above value for V.sub.FIL,PREHEAT, if applied for approximately 500 milliseconds, is generally considered sufficient for preheating of the filaments prior to igniting the lamps.
Let us now assume that a higher boost operating voltage, say 400 volts, is needed in order to reduce operating losses in the inverter. In this case, if we rely on the boost startup delay period to provide filament preheating, we obtain: ##EQU3## which is insufficient for preheating of the lamp filaments.
From the preceding example, it should be clear that increasing the boost operating voltage past a certain point tends to preclude proper filament preheating in ballasts that use what might be termed the "passive approach". One solution to this problem that is well-known in the prior art is to abandon the passive approach entirely and instead use dedicated filament preheating circuitry. Unfortunately, such dedicated circuitry is quite extensive and may add dramatically to the material cost and physical size of the ballast.
It is thus apparent that a method and circuit for ensuring adequate filament preheating in a ballast with an elevated boost voltage that does not require extensive or costly additional circuitry would constitute a significant improvement over the prior art.

Electronic ballast with two-step boost converter and method


A new and distinct Heuchera cultivar named ‘DKIRA95’ is disclosed, characterized by a large leaf size, purple and greyed-purple foliage, mounded growth habit and full, strong plant structure. The new variety is a Heuchera, normally produced as an outdoor garden or container plant.

The new Heuchera cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Gavriel Danziger, in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Heuchera varieties for ornamental commercial applications. The self pollination resulting in this new variety was made during January of 2009.
The parent is the unpatented, proprietary variety referred to as Heuchera 'HU-7-45', which was self-pollinated to produce seed, resulting in the new variety 'DKIRA95' The new variety was discovered in August of 2009 by the inventor in a group of seedlings resulting from the 2009 self-pollination, in a research greenhouse in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was performed by vegetative cuttings. This was first performed at a research greenhouse in Moshav Mishmar Hashiva, Israel in January of 2010 and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type over many successive generations.


The present invention relates to a system and methodology to facilitated data object persistence. An object schema is utilized to provide metadata for types in addition to what is provided by the type system for an underlying programming language. This metadata is then utilized by the system to translate data to and from user objects during a materialization or persistence process. The object schema provides information external to programming logic and type definitions. Consequently, the object schema can be deployed independent of an application thereby allowing the persistence storage of user objects to change without force the user to recompile and deploy application code.

There are a plethora of different computer programming paradigms available today. Each paradigm has been optimized for use in its own particular problem space. However, the technological differences between models can present obstacles for user who wish to employ a plurality of different models in concert so as to leverage the benefits provided by each. For instance, object oriented programming employs of units of software called "objects" which encapsulate both data and functions. Object Oriented Programming (OOP) objects are software entities comprising data structures and operations on data. Together, these elements enable programmers to generate objects to model virtually any real-world entity in terms of its characteristics, represented by its data elements, and its behavior represented by its data manipulation functions.
The benefit of object technology arises out of three basic principles: encapsulation, polymorphism and inheritance. Objects hide or encapsulate the internal structure of their data and the algorithms by which their functions work. Instead of exposing these implementation details, objects present interfaces that represent their abstractions cleanly with no extraneous information. Polymorphism takes encapsulation one step further—the idea being many shapes, one interface. The third principle is inheritance, which allows developers to reuse pre-existing design and code. This capability allows developers to avoid creating software from scratch. Rather, through inheritance, developers derive subclasses that inherit behaviors, which the developer then customizes to meet particular needs.
The relational database model is a desirable choice of programmers for use in storing, retrieving and analyzing data. In contrast to the object oriented programming model, however, the fundamental units of operation for relational database management systems are tables. One of the significant benefits of relational databases is that they can store an extremely large quantity of data in part because data is not replicated. Furthermore, relational database are highly scalable and flexible. Additionally, relational database systems are advantageous in that they provide an easy way to analyze and retrieve large amounts of stored data. Relational database data can be analyzed utilizing structured query languages (SQL) to query data. Queries can be used to perform record retrieval and updates, perform calculations, append data to tables, or summarize data in one or more tables. Using queries, a user can specify the criteria for a search and then automatically sort and display all records matching the criteria.
Valuable software applications engage in data manipulation and processing. Accordingly, data needs to be stored somewhere to allow the data to survive the termination of the applications and/or computer shut down. This can be accomplished in a myriad of different ways such as storing data to text files, XML files or other data containers. Such storage can easily be accomplished by serializing objects and writing them to files. However, when applications deal with huge amounts of data there is a need to store data in databases such as a relational database to take advantage of the high performance query operations and consistency in data, among other things. Otherwise, an application would have to search through thousands of entries, in a file for instance, before retrieving desired information. Nevertheless, applications are most often written employing an object-oriented model while databases typically utilize the relational model. Hence, a mapping needs to be developed to provide translation from the object oriented model to the relational model and back from the relational model to the object oriented model. Conventionally, it is a developer's job to develop such a single map between the two worlds. Unfortunately, developing such a mapping component is a complex, time consuming, and error prone task.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method to facilitate mapping between disparate domain models such as an object oriented programming model and a relational database model.

System and method of providing and utilizing an object schema to facilitate mapping between disparate domains


A noise spectrum estimator for a touch panel includes an adaptive impulse response generation unit configured to generate impulse response information by performing an adaptive training operation on noise data, the noise data being generated by sampling a plurality of noise signals received from the touch panel, and an estimation unit configured to generate noise frequency spectrum estimation information associated with the noise data by performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the impulse response information.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate generally to noise spectrum estimators, and more particularly to noise spectrum estimators for touch panels, and touch screen devices including the noise spectrum estimators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Touch panels and touch screens are widely used in electronic devices to detect an input action or an event by a user. The user may use, e.g., fingers or stylus pens to touch the surface of the touch screen so that a desired function may be performed in the electronic device adopting the touch screen as an input means.

Noise spectrum estimator and touch screen device including the same


A pivotable bracket is provided such that a constant moment of friction is present at the hinge (4). A first hinge part (5) is provided, which has a cylindrical pin (6) and a contact surface (11). A second hinge part (12) is provided, which has a bearing bush (13), which can be pushed over the pin (6), with two friction surfaces (15, 16) directed at right angles to the central axis (14). The second hinge part (12) is braced against the contact surface (11) by means of a tensioning device (7, 19, 20, 21, 22) arranged on the upper side of the pin (6).

A bracket of the type mentioned is known from DD 276 333 A1. The tubular support structure has a friction hinge, whose hinge half shells are held together by a screw. By means of the screw, the hinge can either be fixed, so that it cannot be adjusted, or the screw is loosened, so that the object connected to the support structure can be brought into a new position. The frictional force to be overcome for the adjustment of the hinge depends on the prestress of the screw and can be changed in coarse increments only. The user requires that an approximately constant moment of friction be transmitted by means of the hinge.


Provided are an encoder and a syndrome computer for cyclic codes which process M codeword symbols per cycle where M is greater than or equal to one, whereby the encoder and syndrome computer optionally further provide the configurability of a different M value for each cycle and/or the configurability of a different cyclic code for each codeword. Further provided is a hybrid device which provides the configurability of two modes of operation, whereby in one mode, the hybrid device functions as the encoder as provided above and, in the other mode, the hybrid device functions as the syndrome computer as provided above, with the majority of the components of the hybrid device being shared between the encoding function and the syndrome computing function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the encoding and decoding of error correction codes in data communications and/or data storage systems, and in particular, to encoding and syndrome computation for cyclic codes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Error correction coding is often used in data communication systems and data storage systems to protect the integrity of the data transmitted over the communication channel or stored in the storage medium against data-corrupting conditions such as channel noise and storage medium defects, etc. Cyclic codes are a class of error correction codes which is often used due to their algebraic properties which lead to very practical implementations of the encoding and decoding algorithms.
FIG. 1 illustrates a generalized error correction coding scheme in a host system (101). In transmission to the channel/medium, the data generated by the data source (102) are encoded by the encoder (104). The encoded data are then sent to the physical interface (106) which manipulates the encoded data into a format suitable for transmission over the channel/medium (107). The physical interface (106) varies tremendously among different systems according to the specific characteristics of the channel/medium. In reading from the channel/medium, the physical interface (106) reads data potentially with errors from the channel/medium (107) and restores the encoded data format. The read encoded data is then sent to the decoder (105) where data in the original format from the data source (102) is recovered and sent to the data destination (103). The present invention focuses on the encoder (104) and decoder (105).
For an (n, k) cyclic code, encoding maps a sequence of k message symbols from the data source into another sequence of n symbols, commonly referred to as a "codeword", where n>k. Encoding methods are generally divided into two categories, namely the systematic and the non-systematic encoding. With systematic encoding, the message appears in the codeword itself, occupying the first k symbols of the codeword. With non-systematic encoding, the message does not necessarily appear in its corresponding codeword. The present invention focuses on systematic encoding.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a widely known prior-art systematic cyclic code encoder is a feedback shift register (FSR) which calculates the parity and appends the parity after the message to form a codeword. The k message symbols are input (205), one symbol per cycle, while the "output-enable" signal (206) equals zero which causes the multiplexer (204) to pass each message symbol into the adder (202) and simultaneously to the output (203) as a codeword symbol. After all message symbols have been input, the n−k parity symbols are obtained and stored in the registers (201). The output-enable signal is then changed to one, which causes the multiplexer to pass the parity symbols to the output (203), one symbol per cycle. As a consequence, the systematically encoded codeword appears at output, one symbol per cycle.
Since the prior-art encoder processes one symbol per cycle, it is required that the clock rate of the FSR be the same as the rate at which symbols are input to the FSR. However, some host systems may have a symbol transfer rate higher than the achievable or desirable clock rate of the FSR. For example, in a system using a flash memory having an 8-bit interface as data storage where the host transfers data to the flash memory at a rate of one byte per 20 nanosecond, i.e. 50 mega bytes per second, or 400 mega bits per second, if the error correction code selected for this flash memory is a binary BCH code where the symbol size is one bit, then the FSR needs to be clocked at 400 MHz to accommodate the flash memory transfer rate. In many semiconductor designs, such a high clock rate is undesirable or unachievable.
Further, the symbol transfer rate of the host system may vary across time or different applications. For example, if the system in the above example can be configured to employ a flash memory having a 16-bit interface, then the data transfer rate is twice that of a flash memory having an 8-bit interface, even if the transfer cycle rate remains constant. If the prior-art encoder is used, then the clock rate of the FSR has to be changed according to the data transfer rate of the system. Since it adds to the system complexity to provide varying clock rates, it is not desirable to use the prior-art encoder in a system with varying data transfer rate.
Further, the error characteristics of the channel/medium may also vary across time or different applications, and thus may require different error correction codes to achieve different levels of data integrity. Since the prior-art encoder is fixed for a particular code, a system using the prior-art encoder is prohibited from employing a channel/medium which requires a different error correcting capability.
In light of the drawbacks of the prior-art encoder described above, it would be advantageous to devise an encoding apparatus which processes M symbols per cycle where M is greater than or equal to one, and/or further provides configurability for different values of M, and/or further provides configurability for different codes. The present invention provides such an encoding apparatus.
On the other hand, with an (n, k) cyclic code, a decoding operation first computes syndromes from the received codeword potentially containing errors. If all syndromes are zero, then the received codeword is a valid codeword and thus the decoding ends. If syndromes are not all zero, then the decoding operation proceeds to perform more steps to determine the locations and values of errors in the codeword. The present invention focuses on the first step of decoding, i.e. syndrome computation. Therefore, the terms decoding/decoder and syndrome computation/syndrome computer are used interchangeably in the present invention.
A widely known prior-art decoder based on the Homer's Algorithm is illustrated in FIG. 3. This decoder computes 2T syndromes by evaluating the received codeword polynomial r(X) at the 2T roots (305) of the generator polynomial of the code, respectively, where T is the maximum number of symbol errors correctable by the cyclic code. The syndromes [S0, . . . , S2T-1] are obtained and stored in the registers (303) after all received codeword symbols have been input via (301), one symbol per cycle. Since this decoder processes one symbol per cycle, it is to be clocked at the symbol transfer rate of the system which may be higher than the achievable or desirable clock rate of the decoder.
As a counterpart of the prior-art encoder, this prior-art decoder shares the same drawbacks of the prior-art encoder. Therefore, it would be advantageous to devise a decoder which processes M symbols per cycle, and/or further provides configurability for different values of M, and/or further provides configurability for different generator polynomials.
Since both the encoder and the decoder contain a significant amount of logic, such as Galois Field multipliers and Galois Field adders, it would be advantageous to merge the encoder and the decoder into a hybrid apparatus with the majority of the logic in the apparatus shared by the two functions.

Methods and apparatus for encoding and decoding cyclic codes by processing multiple symbols per cycle


The invention concerns a wear-resistant coating on rotary metal-cutting tools such as drill bits, countersinks, milling cutters, screw taps, reamers, etc. The coating according to the invention consists essentially of nitrides of Cr, Ti and Al with a unusually high share of Cr atoms, namely 30 to 60% referred to the totality of metal atoms. In multilayer coatings and even more in coatings made of homogeneous mixed phases, this high Cr share results in particularly large tool life distances for the tools hardened with these coatings. These tools exhibit their superiority particularly during dry use without cooling lubricants or with minimal lubrication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the hardening of tools with the aid of hard wear-resistant coatings. The tools considered are metal-removing tools, particularly rotary shaft tools such as drill bits, countersinks, screw taps, reamers, etc. for processing of metals in which metal is removed. The wear-resistant coatings are roughly 1 to 10 μm thick hard material coatings which are preferably deposited on the tool surface using physical vapor deposition (PVD).
2. Description of Related Art
The technical community has been concerned for some time now with finding a wear-resistant coating for the dry machining of metals. In this context, metal removal without any cooling agent or lubricant, but also metal removal with a minimal quantity of lubrication, is designated as dry, stable processing.
In developing the coating and particularly in selecting the coating material, an underlying consideration was that the tool assumes substantially higher temperatures during dry machining and that this undesirable temperature increase can be reduced if the largest possible share of the heat is carried away not via the tool but rather via the chips. It was considered accordingly to combine materials which were known either for a high elevated temperature hardness and/or a high oxidation stability and/or a low thermal conductivity.
The most common wear-resistant coating consists of golden-yellow titanium nitride, TiN. TiN coatings have universal applications. Coatings made of the dark blue-red lustrous titanium aluminum nitride (Ti,Al)N are known for their high elevated temperature hardness. They mostly have a percent ratio of titanium to aluminum atoms of 50:50 or rather (Ti0.5, Al0.5)N, which is occasionally also shifted in the direction 40:60 or rather (Ti0.4, Al0.6)N. In the hardening of tools, they have applications as a single layer coating (see, e.g., Gilles et al., Surface and Coatings Technology 94–95 (1997) 285–290) as well as a multilayer (Ti,Al)N/TiN coating with intermediate layers made of titanium nitride (see, e.g., the so-called FIRE coating by Gühring oHG).
CrN coatings are recommended for processing of nonferrous metals (see, e.g., P. Hones, Surface and Coatings Technology 94–95 (1997) 398–402).
Also known are MeCrAlY alloys (Me=metal) for coating turbine blades. They increase the oxidation stability and the thermal insulation and thus the allowable temperature and the efficiency of airplane engines (see, e.g., W. Brandl et al., Surface and Coatings Technology 94–95 (1997) 21–26).
Recently, a multilayer coating made of (Ti,Al)N and CrN has become known (see, e.g., I. Wadsworth et al., Surface and Coatings Technology 94–95 (1997) 315–321). Its oxidation stability grew as the Cr share was increased, at least up to Cr shares of 30%. In the same laboratory, coatings made of TiAlN with minor additions of Cr and Y were also studied (patent document DE 19818782, application date Apr. 27, 1998).

Wear-resistant coating for metal-removing tools, particularly for rotary metal-cutting tools


This invention is for a composite structure and a garment constructed from the composite structure which can be worn next to the skin or as outerwear as well as a process for making the composite structure and garment. The garment provides microclimate control for the wearer by means of at least one three-dimensional passageway formed by an outer cover material which is secured to a first substrate layer. The passageway contains a filler material which adds support to the walls of the passageways and allows a fluid to flow through the filler material. The passageway provides a thermal insulation by its bulk or by allowing a fluid to be pumped through it. The first substrate layer is breathable to increase the comfort level of the wearer.

In the area of active protective apparel, a need exists for improved, lightweight, multifunctional garments and equipment which can be worn in changing environments for extended periods of time. A single unit or garment is desirable that is adaptable to a variety of challenges, reducing the necessity of carrying additional specialized units and meeting the requirements of low bulk and weight. Such a garment would be useful for emergency responders and military personnel, as well as for persons involved in other outdoor activities.
The provision of a microclimatizing garment capable of insulating against temperature extremes, while also maintaining comfort and health by promoting normal moisture evaporation from the skin, represents an advancement of the art both in terms of performance and simplicity of design. Other similar constructions rely on bulky or technically complex internal materials to provide the insulative or heat exchange function. For example, some garments rely upon an open-celled foam placed adjacent to the wearer's skin to act as both a thermal insulator and to promote static transport of moisture from the skin to a secondary absorbent layer. The breathability of such foam is limited. Further, the absorbent layer traps moisture and thereby lessens the wear-cycle time of the garment due to saturation and potential microbial growth in the absorbent layer.
Other state-of-the-art garments employ an insulative pocket that contains a phase-change, heat transfer material. Optimum functionality of this design relies upon the use of ice, also placed in pockets in the garment. Obviously, this design has limited utility as a field item and would be for short-term, acute use only.
Another design uses a bladder system having channels through which a fluid may be pumped. Within the channels of the bladder system, a solid ribbon of closed cell foam is placed to force the channel to maintain its desired shape to maximize the contact area of the channels against the skin of the wearer. In order to allow the fluid to flow in the channels, the channel walls must be expandable to allow the fluid to flow around the solid ribbon of closed cell foam. A pressure required to pump the fluid through such a system can cause problems. The pressure causes the garment to be more rigid than is desirable and puts a large stress in the channel walls. In such a system, only a liquid can be used effectively. Since the fluid must flow around the closed cell foam ribbon, at least part of the fluid will flow in the section of the channel above the ribbon of closed cell foam. This part of the fluid flow does not aid in the transfer of heat in relation to the wearer's body. By fulfilling the purpose of maintaining the desired shape of the channels, the closed cell foam ribbon can actually isolate that part of the fluid flow, rendering it useless. Further, the use of a solid ribbon of closed cell foam prevents the flow of the fluid if a crease occurs in the channel or the channel is compressed.

Microclimate regulating garment and composite structure


An item price notification system automatically interrogates product labels to determine product, pricing, and other unique data. The system uses a radio frequency (RF) radio frequency transceiver to generate an RF field to communicate with radio frequency identification (radio frequency transponders) transponders mountable to product display shelves. The radio frequency transponders contain information such as pricing information, nutritional information, and other unique data about the various products. As the RF radio frequency transceiver moves into proximity to various radio frequency transponders for a variety of products, the unique data are received by the RF radio frequency transceiver and are displayed for the user. The displayed data allows a user to make comparisons between products, and the system display and memory allow a user to store the unique data for those products and to make instant and cumulative product, price, and other comparisons.

The traditional method for informing consumers of item prices in a retail setting is to place price labels on the shelves under the items. These labels are normally made of paper or of another single-use material and must be manually updated when prices change or when an item goes on sale. There are many advantages to making this item information available electronically including greater accuracy, lower labor costs, greater flexibility, and more timely and responsive pricing practices. To achieve these advantages, electronic shelf labels may be placed on the shelves. Retailer merchandisers place electronic shelf labels on stock shelves to display item information such as the regular product price, any promotional pricing, and the unit price of the item, as well as any other advertising or consumer information. Electronic shelf labels may also be remotely updated from a central pricing database. Electronic shelf labels enable merchants to update price changes on the shelves and checkout stands of multiple stores at the same time.
These electronic shelf labels are programmed using radio frequency or infrared (IR) interfaces, or by wiring the shelves to accept periodic inputs from another device. But there are disadvantages to pricing methods using electronic shelf labels. Power and communication means must be provided to the individual labels. If batteries are used to provide power to each label, they must be changed on a regular basis. With 30,000 items in a supermarket, this could be prohibitive. Wired shelves do not require the routine change of batteries, but they limit a store's ability to reallocate shelf space and reconfigure the shopping aisles by moving display shelves since each shelf is now specifically wired for a particular product.
Additionally, electronic shelf labels do not provide the consumer with item information in a side-by-side comparison of similar products. The consumer must manually locate and inspect each individual electronic shelf label and use these individual labels to mentally track and compare quantities, pricing, and other unique item data. Similar products may be located further down the aisle or on a shelf higher or lower than the consumer is able to properly perceive or comfortably investigate. Comparisons are often made only between two adjacent items, and the consumer is not able to adequately evaluate his retail alternatives. In fact, suppliers pay thousands of dollars in slotting allowances to distributors for product placement on store shelves. Premiums are paid for eye-level shelves or special displays, and an entire science of shelf space allocation has evolved so suppliers may increase the likelihood that consumers will consider their products and ultimately select those products for purchase. However, neither electronic shelf labels nor paper labels adequately provide consumers with readily comparable item data from which to base their purchase decisions.
What is needed is a new type of item information system that provides consumers with unique item data and enables consumers to make immediate comparisons between similar items resulting in an informed purchase decision.
In another approach, price-checking stations have been provided in retail environments that are adapted to read a barcode and provide price information. More recently, radio frequency transponders have been proposed to replace barcodes in a wide variety of applications. Such radio frequency transponders are typically capable of receiving a radio frequency interrogation signal and automatically generating a responsive radio frequency signal. In many applications, the responsive signal contains some form of data that identifies the transponder or that identifies items associated with the transponder. Radio frequency transponders are often embedded in products or product containers and are used to track items for inventory control, for performing security operations and anti-theft measures, for collecting tolls and other payments, and for many other purposes.
Radio frequency transponders can be active devices that have internal power source and have their own radio frequency transmitters that can generate signals using the internal power source, or passive devices, that do not have an internal power source and that can provide responsive signals only when sufficient power is supplied by an interrogation signal. Radio frequency transponders may have a range from several millimeters to many meters depending upon the available transmission power and antenna size. Radio frequency transponders employing on-board power supplies have a life limited by the life of the power supply. Passive radio frequency transponders have a longer useful life and are typically less expensive than radio frequency transponders with on-board power supplies. However, since radio frequency transponders without their own power source use some of the energy of the radio frequency transceiver as their source of their power, these radio frequency transponders typically require a more powerful radio frequency interrogating signal than a system that employs active radio frequency transponders.
A radio frequency transceiver transmits an interrogation signal, for example, in the form of continuous electromagnetic wave or a series of waves to sense an object containing a radio frequency transponder. When the radio frequency transceiver and a radio frequency transponder are brought into proximity so that the radio frequency field generated by the radio frequency transceiver reaches the radio frequency transponder, the receiving radio frequency transponder transmits a modulated signal in response to the radio frequency transceiver's interrogation signal. The radio frequency transceiver receives this information and decodes it. Depending upon the configuration of the radio frequency transceiver, this decoded information may then be stored or re-transmitted to a host computer for further processing and action.
While the potential convenience of placing such radio frequency transponders on individual products to replace barcodes, for example in retail environments, is well appreciated, the cost of providing such transponders for each product is currently prohibitive.


By using a two-step RTP (rapid thermal processing) process, the wafer is provided which has an ideal semiconductor device region secured by controlling fine oxygen precipitates and OiSFs (Oxidation Induced Stacking Fault) located on the surface region of the wafer. By performing the disclosed two-step rapid thermal process, the distribution of defects can be accurately controlled and an ideal device active zone can be formed up to a certain distance from the surfaces of the wafer. In addition, it is possible to maximize the internal gettering (IG) efficiency by enabling the oxygen precipitates and the bulk stacking faults to have constant densities in the depth direction in an internal region of the wafer, that is, the bulk region. In order to obtain the constant concentration profile of the oxygen precipitates and the bulk stacking faults in the bulk region, the wafer is subjected to the aforementioned two-step rapid thermal process in a predetermined mixed gas atmosphere.

1. Technical Field
Improved silicon wafers and methods of fabricating silicon wafers are disclosed. More specifically, silicon wafers with an ideal device active zones formed up to a certain distance from the front and rear surfaces of the wafer and with an internal region that has a constant density of oxygen precipitates and bulk stacking faults in a depth direction and a method of fabricating the silicon wafer are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally known defects causing problems in a silicon wafer include COPs (Crystal Originated Particle), FPDs (Flow Pattern Defect), and LSTDs (Laser Scattering Tomography Defect).
The COPs formed in a surface layer of the wafer are detected by repeating a cleaning process with a mixed solution (Standard Cleaning 1 solution) of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. The COPs have sizes in a range of about 0.09 μm to about 0.12 μm and are observed in shapes of pits on the surface of the wafer. The COPs are known to be a type of defects which are induced at the time of pulling the crystal to form the wafer.
The FPDs which are related to the dielectric strength of an oxide film are known to be detected in a flow pattern by performing a selective etching process using an etchant such as hydrochloride solution or potassium dichromate solution.
The LSPDs which are observed as fine defects generated during the crystal growing process are known to be detected by a laser scattering tomography.
Typically, a method of fabricating a silicon wafer comprises a single crystal growing process for preparing a single crystal ingot, a slicing process for slicing the single crystal into wafers having a shape of a thin disk, a chamfering process for chamfering a circumferential edge portion of the wafer to prevent the wafer obtained in the slicing process from being broken and deformed, a lapping process for planarizing the wafer, a polishing process for polishing the surface of the wafer into a mirror, and a cleaning process for cleaning the polished wafer to remove polishing powders and contaminating particles attached on the wafer.
Silicon wafers fabricated by performing the aforementioned processes on the silicon single crystal which is grown by the so-called Czochralski (CZ) method contain large amounts of oxygen impurities. The oxygen impurities may be changed into oxygen precipitates which cause dislocations or defects. The presence of the oxygen precipitates on the surface where semiconductor devices are to be formed results in increasing leakage currents and weakening the dielectric strength of the oxide film, so that it can have a great effect on the properties of the semiconductor devices.
Silicon wafers fabricated in accordance with the aforementioned method need to secure the so-called "denuded zone" (DZ) up to a predetermined depth from the surface of the wafer. Herein, the denuded zone is a region in which no dislocations, stacking faults, oxygen precipitates, etc., exist from the front to the back of the wafer. However, in silicon wafers fabricated in accordance with the conventional method, the oxygen precipitates which are formed in surface regions function as sources of the leakage currents.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a concentration profile of defects of the silicon wafer which is obtained by growing an ingot and slicing the ingot in accordance to the general method. As shown in FIG. 1, the concentration of defects is highest at the central portion and is lower toward the surface of the wafer, so that the concentration profile has a shape of convex.
On the other hand, the aforementioned void defects and internal defects such as oxygen precipitates can be controlled by thermal treatment processes after the crystal growing process. One of the thermal treatment processes is a process using a diffusion furnace. In case of the process using the diffusion furnace, the thermal treatment process is performed in a H2 or Ar atmosphere at a high temperature of 1200° C. or more for one hour or more, and then, a device perfect zone is formed on some of the surface region of the wafer by means of the out-diffusion of the oxygen and the rearrangement of the silicon. In accordance with the conventional method using the diffusion furnace, a layer without any void defects and fine oxygen precipitates can be formed from the surface to the depth of 10 μm of the wafer. However, as the diameter of the wafer is getting larger and larger, the conventional method does not effectively control slip dislocations which are formed on the wafer due to a high-temperature thermal treatment process or contaminants which are formed due to the high-temperature thermal treatment process.

Silicon wafers and method of fabricating the same