A method and device are disclosed for synchronizing an inverter with an alternating voltage source. The method includes measuring a current generated by the alternating voltage source and flowing through diodes of the inverter, determining a phase angle and angular velocity relating to the alternating voltage source from the measured current for enabling synchronization between the inverter and the alternating voltage source, and starting modulation of the inverter according to the obtained phase angle and angular velocity.

A frequency converter is an electrical apparatus that can be used for controlling a rotating electrical machine. For the control, the frequency converter can be synchronized with the machine such that the frequency converter knows the electrical properties of the machine. These electrical properties include the rotational direction and rotational speed of the controlled machine.
In a frequency converter, the part controlling the load is an inverter. The inverter can include output switches with which a desired voltage is switched to the load. Free-wheeling diodes are connected antiparallel to each output switch to enable a flow of currents in the load phases.
A frequency converter also can include an input bridge which converts an AC input voltage to a DC voltage from which the output switches for an alternating voltage to the load. A diode bridge is a known structure of the input bridge. Some frequency converters are equipped with a possibility to transfer electrical energy back to the supplying network. These line converters are basically similar to the inverters having active switch components and diodes connected antiparallel with the active components. As with the inverters controlling the load, the line converters can be synchronized with the rotating voltage source (e.g., the supplying network).
In some cases, the inverter is not synchronized with a rotating voltage source. This may be the case when, for example, the line converter is connected to the supplying network or when the network returns after a failure in the supplying network. Similarly, when the inverter controlling a rotating machine loses the synchronization or is connected to a rotating machine, the inverter should obtain knowledge of the electrical properties of the rotating load before it may start the modulation of the switches. If the rotating load is a permanent magnet synchronous machine, the load acts as a generator and provides power to the intermediate circuit of the frequency converter via the diodes of the inverter bridge if the rotational speed of the machine is high enough to produce a voltage which is higher than the voltage of the supplying mains.
The synchronization to the rotating voltage source can be achieved by known methods, which include a zero-current control and a short circuit pulse method. In the zero-current control, a zero current is set to target for the current controller of the inverter. Once no current flows between the inverter and the rotating load, the voltage of the inverter corresponds to the voltage of the load and synchronization is obtained. With zero-current control, the current controller should be quite fast to avoid a large current pulse at the beginning of the method. The short circuit pulse method can be inaccurate when the method is based on few test pulses only.
When the rotational speed and thus the motion voltage are higher, currents can change faster. Especially a short circuit pulse test is disturbed once the machine is in a field weakening region when a motion voltage generated by the machine is at the same level as the voltage of a DC bus of the frequency converter. Due to a low level of the DC bus voltage, a current vector which occurs during the zero voltage does not fade away quickly when the inverter stops modulating.

Synchronizing an inverter with an alternating voltage source


A method is provided for generating a new instance of an N-bit cryptographic key for storage in a non-volatile memory (NVM) in which unprogrammed cells have a particular binary value. The method includes generating a random N-bit updating sequence, and generating the new instance of the N-bit cryptographic key by negating each bit in a current instance of the N-bit cryptographic key that has the particular binary value and differs from a correspondingly-positioned bit in the random N-bit updating sequence, without negating any bits in the current instance of the N-bit cryptographic key that do not have the particular binary value. Other embodiments are also described.

The entropy H(N,p)=H(N,1−p) of an N-bit cryptographic key, where p is the probability of any one of the bits in the key being 0 or 1, quantifies the randomness of the key. A key with a higher entropy is more secure than a key with a lower entropy. For keys having bits that are random, independent, and identically distributed (iid), H(N,p)=NH(p) bits, where H(p)=−(plog2p+(1−p)log2(1−p)). For example, for unbiased iid bits (for which p=0.5), H(p) attains its maximum value of one, such that H(N,p)=N.
A non-volatile memory (NVM) contains a plurality of single-bit memory cells, each of which may be in a programmed state or an unprogrammed state. Typically, by convention, an unprogrammed cell has the binary value 1, while a programmed cell has the binary value 0. In one-time programmable NVM (OTP NVM), a programming operation cannot be undone, i.e., a cell that is programmed cannot be subsequently deprogrammed (or "erased").

Updating cryptographic keys stored in non-volatile memory


The present invention provides methods and compositions for treating epithelioid cell tumors (such as a PEComa) by administering a composition comprising nanoparticles comprising an mTOR inhibitor and an albumin.

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) are a family of rare mesenchymal neoplasms composed of histologically and immunohistochemically distinctive epithelioid cells. The PEComa family of tumors include, for example, lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), angiomyolipoma (AML), pulmonary clear cell 'sugar' tumors, and PEComa not otherwise specified (PEComa-NOS; a term referring to less well-characterized PEComas of a variety of other anatomical origins). PEComas share a distinctive cell type, namely, the perivascular epithelioid cell, and are often structured as nests and sheets, or occasionally spindled cells, with a focal association with blood vessel walls. See, Hornick, J. L. et al., Histopathology, 48:75-82 (2006); Wildgruber, M. et al., World J Surg Oncol, 12:1-4 (2014).
While most PEComas are benign, a subset of aggressive PEComas exhibit malignant behavior and develop, for example, locally invasive or distant metastases. See, Gennatas, C. et al., World J Surg Oncol, 10:1-4 (2012); Wagner, A. J. et al, J Clin Oncol, 28:835-840 (2010); Koenig, A. M et al., J Med Case Reports, 3: 1-5 (2009).
First-line treatment of PEComas is surgical resection. See, Martignoni, G. et al., Virchows Arch, 452:119-132 (2008). Treatment regimen with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy remains controversial. The rarity of documented PEComas has prevented the use of designed therapeutic trials to investigate novel regimen for the treatment of PEComas. See, Selvaggi, F. et al., BMC Surg, 11 (2011); Waters, P. S. et al., Int J Surg Case Reports, 3:89-91 (2012). There is currently no second-line treatment for inoperable, aggressive, advanced, locally advanced, metastatic, or malignant PEComas. Accordingly, these subsets of PEComas remain very difficult to treat. The prognosis for patients within these patient subsets is poor, with a median survival estimated to be 12-17 months following diagnosis of advanced disease. Furthermore, for example, the 5-year survival rate of metastatic uterine PEComa is approximately 16%. See, Khaja, F. et al., Case Reports in Medicine, 2013:1-4 (2013).
The disclosures of all publications, patents, patent applications and published patent applications referred to herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Methods of treating epithelioid cell tumors comprising administering a composition comprising nanoparticles comprising an mTOR inhibitor and an albumin


A first trench having a first aspect ratio and a second trench having a second aspect ratio that is greater than the first trench are provided into a material stack of a semiconductor substrate and a dielectric material. An epitaxial semiconductor material having a different lattice constant than the substrate is then grown within each of the first and second trenches. The semiconductor material which is epitaxially formed in the first trench has an upper semiconductor material portion that is entirely defect free, while the semiconductor material which is epitaxially formed in the second trench has defects that randomly propagate to the topmost surface of the semiconductor material. At least one semiconductor device is then formed on each epitaxially grown semiconductor material. The at least one semiconductor device located on the epitaxially grown semiconductor material formed in the second trench is a physical unclonable function device.

The present application relates to a semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application provides a method and structure for forming semiconductor chips with a physically unclonable function (PUF).
Semiconductor chip authentication is becoming more and more critical for cloud and mobile applications. The ideal semiconductor chip authentication should be hard to attack, randomly generated, and low cost. One means for semiconductor chip authentication is to implement a physical unclonable function (PUF) within the semiconductor chip.
A PUF is a physical entity that is embodied in a physical structure and is easy to evaluate, but hard to predict. Further, an individual PUF device must be easy to make, but practically impossible to duplicate, even given the exact manufacturing process that produced it.
Conventional approaches for implementing PUFs within a semiconductor chip require additional processing steps and thus increase process cost and complexity. Therefore, there is a need for a cost-effective way to fabricate a semiconductor chip with PUFs.

Secure chip with physically unclonable function

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention relates to the use of a family of chiral .alpha.-substituted benzylamine reagents during chemical synthesis. Specifically, the reagents can be used in an auxiliary manner to deliver either a substituted or unsubstituted nitrogen atom while simultaneously bestowing an asymmetric bias toward the formation and separation of the diastereomeric intermediates that result from reaction of the reagents with racemic substrates also having one or more asymmetric atoms. The chiral auxiliary portion of the reagents can then be readily removed at some later and convenient stage of the overall synthetic scheme. The initial nitrogen-delivery reaction, asymmetric separation procedures, and removal of the chiral auxiliary can all be conducted under routine experimental conditions, including the final debenzylation, such that the overall method is adaptable to large-scale chemistry. Since the reagents are particularly useful whenever a nitrogen-containing system has alpha- , beta- or gamma-asymmetry, the latter being a common structural motif within many pharmaceutical agents, the methods are of primary utility for the laboratory preparation and large-scale manufacture of enantimerically pure drug molecules.

The rising flow of single-isomer, chiral drugs onto U.S. and world markets is an important trend in today's pharmaceutical industry. In part, this trend has been prompted by the FDA's continuing emphasis to have companies clarify the relationship between a new drug's stereochemical features and its biological effects. It has been estimated that the 1993 worldwide market for single-isomer, chiral drugs reached $35.6 billion, a growth of 22% over 1992. In 1997 the chiral drug market could be as high as $60 billion (S. Stinson, Chem. & Engin. News, Sep. 19, 38 (1994)). As a result, practical methods for the production of optically pure synthetic building blocks applicable to the pharmaceutical industry are being heavily researched (R. Noyori, Asymmetric Catalysis In Organic Synthesis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1994); D. Ager, Asymmetric Synthetic Methodology, CRC Press (1996)). A steady stream of monographs, reviews (Chem. & Engin. News, Apr. 24, 37 (1995); Organic Synthesis, 401 (1994)), special conferences (Chiral Synthesis Symposium and Workshop, Spring Innovation, Manchester, UK, Apr. 18 (1989); Smith Kline and French Research Symposium: Chirality in Drug Design and Synthesis. Cambridge, UK Mar. 27 (1990); The International Conference on Chirality, Cancun, Mexico, Jun. 6 (1990); Chiral 90, Spring Innovation, Manchester, UK Sep. 18 (1990); Second International Symposium on Chiral Discrimination, Rome, Italy, May 27 (1991)) and new journals (Chirality, Vol 1); Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, Vol. 1) dedicated to this topic have appeared.
Chiral benzylamine-related systems represent a class of compounds which have considerable potential to be useful as chiral auxiliary reagents. In addition to the common use of the benzyl group as a protecting moiety for oxygen and nitrogen (K. Harada et al. Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 46, 1865 (1973)), the N-benzyl system has been shown to be generally useful as a practical means to deliver nitrogen in a regiospecific manner by decreasing the propensity for over alkylation during various synthetic strategies (P. Erhardt, Synth. Comm., 13 (2), 103 (1983)). In these simple structural settings, the benzyl groups are not .alpha.-substituted and they quite generally possesss the desirable feature of being able to be readily O- or N-debenzylated at any convenient, subsequent step during an overall synthesis (P. Erhardt, ibid.). Now, when these reagents are additionally .alpha.-substituted so as to be made chiral, it follows that any racemic asymmetry present within the reagent's substrate, especially when present in the vicinity near the point of attack by nitrogen, will interact with the auxiliary in a diastereomeric fashion. Thus, this overall approach becomes potentially useful as a general asymmetric method to obtain nitrogen-containing systems which have defined neighboring asymmetry. The latter is a common structural motif within many pharmaceutical drug entities; .alpha.- and .beta.-adrenergic agonists and antagonists, HIV protease inhibitors, and numerous antimicrobial agents representing just a few of the many examples.
Although considerable prior art has demonstrated the general utility of using .alpha.-unsubstituted benzylamines during synthesis, an extensive literature search reveals that .alpha.-substituted, asymmetric benzylamines have been employed in only a very limited number of cases. These cases are now incorporated herein by the following references. In one of these cases, optically pure .alpha.-methylbenzylamine was found to react with a racemic epoxide to provide diastereomeric N-alkylated products which were readily separable by column chromatography (R. Kuhlmeyer, et al. Tetrahedron Lett., 25, 3429 (1984)). In another case, optically pure .alpha.-methylbenzylamine was reacted with a racemic, substituted cyclohexanone to directly afford an asymmetric synthesis of the corresponding cyclohexanamine in high diastereomeric excess (A. Frahm and G. Knupp, Tetrahedron Lett., 28, 2633 (1981)). These key literature reactions are depicted below in Schemes 1 and 2, respectively, and serve as precedent that the asymmetric elements when placed within the family of reagents that are encompassed by the present invention can, indeed, be expected to be deployed advantageously. ##STR1##
However, a major road-block pertaining to the practical and more general use of these types of chiral reagents, of concern especially during process and manufacturing chemistry, has been the purported inability to subsequently remove the benzyl portion of the reagent (i.e. CHR'Ph) in a convenient manner, such as by routine catalytic hydrogenolysis. This is because when the nitrogen becomes sterically hindered, a situation inherent to the asymmetric versions of such reagents, it is commonly accepted within the present state of the art that the general hydrogenolysis reaction can be expected to be significantly impeded by the presence of the additional steric bulk. The basis for this prevailing view has its origins in the very early chemical literature.
N-debenzylation (cleavage of a carbon-nitrogen bond) has been widely used in chemical synthesis, most often after employing the benzyl as a protecting group for a nitrogen atom within a molecule undergoing other synthetic manipulations. The ease of such debenzylations when undertaken at room temperature and atmospheric pressure increases in the series primary<secondary<tertiary<quaternary ammonium salts (H. Dahn, et al. Helv. Chim. Acta, 37, 565 (1954)). However, M. Freifelder was very careful to point out that within any family of amines having the same degree of N-substitution, the steric features of the substituents will also effect the reaction rate and that in particular, difficulty arises when the .alpha.-benzyl portion is substituted or hindered (M. Freifelder, Catalytic Hydrogenation in Organic Synthesis Procedures and Commentary, John Wiley & Sons (1978)). Likewise, R. Baltzly has previously demonstrated that even a methyl group in the .alpha.-position of what would otherwise be a very simple, unhindered system, significantly decreases the rate of hydrogenolysis (R. Baltzly and P. Russell, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 75, 5598 (1953)). Similarly, the effects of a variety of other substituents placed on the aromatic nucleus or in the benzylic position have been studied and, in general, the presence of additional substituents stabilizes these compounds toward hydrogenolysis except for when the groups form more extended aromatic systems (R. Baltzly and J. Buck, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 65, 1984 (1943); R. Baltzly and P. Russell, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 72, 3410 (1950)). For example, the debenzylation of dibenzyl tertiary amine with one of the benzyl rings bearing additional substituents invariably results in the preferential loss of the unsubstituted benzyl group (R. Baltzly and J. Buck, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 65, 1984 (1943)).
Nevertheless, when .alpha.-substituted asymmetric benzylamine hydrogenolyses have been forced to occur as part of small scale laboratory studies, the stereochemical course of these reactions are such that inversion of configuration has been observed with both palladium (C. Murchu, Tetrahedron Lett., 38, 3231 (1969); H. Dahn, et al., Helv. Chim. Acta., 53, 1370 (1970); Y. Sugi and S. Mitsui, Tetrahedron, 29, 2041 (1973); A. Kieboom and F. Van Rantwijk eds. Hydrogenation And Hydrogenolysis In Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Delft University Press, Netherlands, 132 (1977)) and nickel catalysts (Y. Sugi and S. Mitsui, Tetrahedron, 29, 2041 (1973); A. Kieboom and F. Van Rantwijk eds. Hydrogenation And Hydrogenolysis In Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Delft University Press, Netherlands, 132 (1977)). Two of the most relevant reactions from this body of literature are illustrated in the accompanying Scheme 3 which again provides precedent that the asymmetric nature of these kinds of reagents should be able to be advantageously manipulated, provided that the .alpha.-substituted benzyl portions can be conveniently removed in any given specific application. ##STR2##
Reemphasizing, it has been established that .alpha.-substitution lessens the ease of both N-debenzylation and O-debenzylation (R. Baltzly and P. Russell, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 75, 5598 (1953); A. Kieboom, et al., Journal of catalysis, 20, 58 (1971)) and that .alpha.-alkyl substitution, in particular, causes a far greater degree of difficulty than when similar substitutions are effected on the aryl moiety (M. Freifelder, Practical Catalytic Hydrogenation, John Wiley & Sons (1971)). This general assessment for the process of debenzylation is widely acknowledged and is routinely accepted as an overall limitation during consideration of possible synthetic strategies (A. Bellamy, Tetrahedron, 16, 4711 (1995)) which might have otherwise tried to employ the chiral reagent methods as proposed herein.
Therefore, as a prelude to attempting to deploy asymmetric, .alpha.-substituted benzylamine compounds as practical chiral auxiliary synthetic reagents in specific settings, it was decided to experimentally define the general scope and limits for subsequent removal of the .alpha.-substituted benzyl portion as impacted by the presence of the inherent, increase in steric bulk. Toward this end, the specific series of tertiary amine steric probes as shown within Table 1 was first synthesized. These compounds specifically model the steric environment for intermediates which will need to undergo debenzylation smoothly in order to successfully use the proposed reagents in any practical manner. By intention, the probes span a considerable range of the perceived steric impediment.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Structures of molecules synthesized to probe the steric impediment toward N-debenzylation that results from employing asymmetric versions of a simple benzyl-group. - 1 STR3## - Name R.sub.1 R.sub.2 R.sub.3 ______________________________________ N,N-dipropyl- benzylamine (1) 2 STR4## 2 H R5## - N-isopropyl-N-propyl- benzylamine (2) 2 STR6## 3 H R7## - N,N-diisopropyl- benzylamine (3) 3 STR8## 3 H R9## - N,N-dipropyl- .alpha.-methylbenzylamine (4) 2 STR10## 2 CH.sub.3 - N-iospropyl-N-propyl- .alpha.-methylbenzylamine (5) 2 STR12## 3 CH.sub.3 - N,N-diisopropyl- .alpha.-methylbenzylamine (6) 3 STR14## 3 CH.sub.3 ______________________________________
It was found upon careful examination of their N-debenzylation rate profiles, that this reaction is not impeded in any predictable manner that is proportional to increasing steric bulk. In fact, the most sterically hindered system, 6 was found to exhibit the fastest rate of N-debenzylation. These results are summarized in Table 2. A detailed description of these studies can be found in a recent M.S. degree thesis submitted to the University of Toledo (Y. Ni, Synthesis And N-Debenzylation Of Steric Probes To Define The Practical Limit For Employing Potential Benzylamine-Related Chiral Auxiliary Reagents) that is hereby incorporated in total by its reference herein.
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Comparison of the reaction rate data as measured by high pressure liquid chromotographic (HPLC) assay, to the steric features for 1to 6: (a) Reaction time is defined as the time needed for at least 95% completion of the hydrogenolysis reaction. (b) Reaction rate is defined as moles substrate reacted per minute from T = 0 to 80% conversion and is reported as mean .+-. sd. .COPYRGT. The steric energy values were obtained through CS Chem3D Pro. (d) Molar refractivity values were obtained using standard algebraic methods from literature tabulated data. Steric Steric Reaction energy Molar Probe time (min) Reaction rate (kcal/mole) refrac- molecule (a) (mole/min) (b) (c) tivity (d) ______________________________________ 1 80 (3.81 .+-. 0.16) .times. 10.sup.-4 9 0 2 120 (2.20 .+-. 0.13) .times. 10.sup.-4 12 5 3 360 (9.57 .+-. 0.34) .times. 10.sup.-5 15 9 4 180 (1.84 .+-. 0.06) .times. 10.sup.-4 13 5 5 100 (2.80 .+-. 0.11) .times. 10.sup.-4 16 9 6 20 (1.46 .+-. 0.01) .times. 10.sup.-3 25 14 ______________________________________
These completely unexpected results clearly show that the heretofore prevailing dogma about steric features limiting the potential use of such reagents in the proposed manner is actually not applicable. Interestingly, this appears to be the case even within the most extreme of such steric environments envissioned for the reagent's potential ussage, i.e. in compound 6 where all three positions .alpha.- to the nitrogen atom have been additionally substituted. Instead, these results indicate that when the net steric features are relatively small, subtle increments of steric bulk do impede the reaction rate. However, when the overall steric features are relatively large and a significant component is specifically located on the benzyl methylene carbon (i.e. the same .alpha.-position within the reagents which will be utilized to achieve the chirality for delivery by the methods proposed herein), further increments of steric bulk actually result in a faster reaction rate. Apparently, two opposing factors are manifest simultaneously at the level of the reaction mechanism. One is that the presence of steric bulk can interfere with the discrete process whereby hydrogen enters the reactive site of a given substrate such that this factor tends to slow the reaction. The other factor is that steric bulk can increase the net strain energy of the specific nitrogen-carbon bond to be broken and thus render it more susceptible to the reaction. Importantly, since all of the model reactions proceeded smoothly under reasonably mild reaction conditions, the studies clearly demonstrate that .alpha.-substituted benzylamines can indeed be deployed as chiral auxiliary reagents and that .alpha.-substituents even larger than a simple methyl group can be expected to be tolerated during N-debenzylation in any given instance. This completely unexpected finding, then, provides the confidence needed to deploy the method toward eventual use in a practical manner and constitutes the main factor of the inventive aspect of this disclosure.

Method of using .alpha.-substituted benzylamine chiral auxiliary synthetic reagents


An improved scanning method used in an ion trap mass spectrometer comprises controlling the amplitude of the excitation RF during the mass scan to produce a smooth, nonlinear, highly suitable function. A smooth function is a function with a steady derivative. According to one embodiment of the invention, the excitation amplitude is set proportionally to the square root of the storage amplitude, thus making the excitation amplitude proportional to the root of the mass number.

Quadrupole ion traps according to Paul and Steinwedel (German patent DE-PS 944 900) consist of ring and end cap electrodes between which an essentially quadrupolar storage field is generated by applying RF voltages to the ring and end caps. Ions with varying mass-to-charge ratios (m/q) can be stored at the same time in this field (for the sake of simplicity, only "masses" instead of "mass-to-charge ratios" are referred to in the following since, in ion traps, one is predominantly only concerned with singly charged ions).
Physically intrinsic resonance conditions of the storage field are preferably used for ion ejection. With a pure quadrupole field, resonance conditions of this kind are found at the edge of the stability zone in the a,q diagram. In addition, with certain nonlinear conditions, in particular, those which occur in the case of a superposition of multipole fields, resonance conditions occur inside the stability zone and can also be used for ion ejection.
FIG. 1 shows some known storage field resonance conditions for a pure quadrupole field and for superposed hexapole and octopole fields plotted on an a,q stability diagram. The storage field resonances, .beta..sub.z =1 (for pure quadrupole), .beta..sub.z =2/3 (for hexapole superposition), .beta..sub.z +.beta..sub.r =1 and .beta..sub.z =1/2 (both for octopole superposition), have been plotted. The following applies in the customary manner: EQU a=-8zU/(mr.sub.0.sup.2 .OMEGA..sup.2), q=4zV/(mr.sub.0.sup.2 .OMEGA..sup.2)
where:
z=Coordinate of the rotationally symmetric axis of the ion trap, PA1 U=Direct voltage with which the RF storage field is superposed, PA1 m=Mass of ions, PA1 r.sub.0 =Inside radius of the ring electrode, PA1 .OMEGA.=Angular frequency of the storage RF, and PA1 V=Amplitude (voltage) of the storage RF
The advantages of these superposed multipole fields are discussed in detail in the International Journal of Mass Spectroscopy Ion Processes, J. Franzen, v. 106, pp. 63-78 (1991) which article is hereby incorporated by reference.
For measurement of the spectra, the ions are brought to a resonance condition of this kind mass by mass by changing the amplitude of the quadrupole RF storage field. When ions of a particular mass reach the resonance condition, they absorb energy from the RF storage field, enlarge their oscillation amplitudes and leave the ion trap through small holes in one of the end caps. The ejected ions can then be measured outside the ion trap with an ion detector.
The secular oscillation frequency of the ions varies widely after their production or introduction into the trap. Consequently, in order to provide a well-resolved mass spectrum, it is necessary to first collect the oscillating ions confined in the ion trap near the center of the ion trap to enable the ions of successive masses to leave the ion trap in ejection cycles clearly separated from each other in terms of time. For this, the ion trap is preferably filled with a special damping gas having an optimal density enabling the ions to release energy by colliding with the remaining gas in the trap. When such a gas is introduced, the trapped ions "thermalize" after a few collisions and collect at the center of the quadrupole field due to the focusing effect of the quadrupole field, reducing their oscillation amplitudes at the same time. They form a small cloud, the diameter of which is only approximately 1/20 to 1/10 of the dimensions of the trap according to tests carried out with laser beams as described in Physical Review A, I. Siemers, R. Blatt, T. Sauter and W. Neuhauser, v. 38, p. 5121 (1988) and Journal of the Optical Society of America B, M. Schubert, I. Siemers and R. Blatt, v. 6, p. 2159 (1989). Thermalization takes place particularly quickly with medium-weight damping gas molecules such as air.
The absorption of energy under the resonance condition physically built into the storage field necessarily assumes, however, that the ions are not in a state of calm at the center of the quadrupole field since the field intensity as well as the condition of resonance disappear there. Absorption of energy due to the physically intrinsic resonance is only possible further away from the field center and increases as the ions move further from the center due to oscillations.
It is therefore beneficial to intentionally weakly excite the secular oscillation of the ions shortly before they are brought to the resonance condition. This excitation is produced by bringing the ions into resonance with a relatively weak RF excitation voltage connected via the two end caps to produce an effective field at the center of the ion trap. Only this initial coherent excitation of the ions of a particular mass enables them to absorb energy from the RF storage field in the further course of the scanning process when they reach the resonance condition. This energy absorption causes the ions to be exponentially accelerated and thus ejected from the ion trap.
Methods are already known of removing ions from the ion trap in resonance solely by the effect of the applied excitation RF voltage, for example as described in G. Rettinghaus, Z. f. Angew. Physik 22, 321, 1967. However, when the excitation voltage alone is used for ion ejection, the absorption of energy essentially leads to a linear rise in secular ion oscillation amplitude. This compares to an exponential increase, at least at the beginning, which results from use of built-in field resonance. Consequently, ion ejection is much sharper when the intrinsic field resonances are used and can be carried out in fewer oscillation cycles.
A simple scanning method with mass-sequential ejection of ions utilizing the limit of the stable storage range (.beta..sub.z =1) in the a,q diagram, without application of an additional excitation frequency for exciting the secular oscillation, has already been known for some time and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,884. However, a considerable improvement in the resolution of this latter method was obtained by the introduction of "axial modulation", which is a coherent excitation of the secular ion oscillation shortly before reaching the stability limit as described in EP-A1 0 350 159. The use of a nonlinear resonance .beta..sub.z +.beta..sub.r =1, produced by superposing a weak octopole field onto the quadrupole field, is similarly well-known with ejection of ions after initial pushing of the secular oscillation as described in European patent applications EP-A1 0 336 9901 and EP-A1 0 383 961.
With respect to ion ejection, the nonlinear multipole resonance conditions and the resonance on the stability margin differ only in so far as the multipole resonances each show sharply defined singularities (mathematical poles), while the stability margin, .beta..sub.z =1, of the quadrupole field sharply separates two large areas, one stable and the other unstable. In both cases, however, the ions experience conditions under which they are able to absorb oscillation energy from the storage field.
If even multipoles are involved (octopoles, dodecapoles etc.), the singularities in the stability zone by no means represent points of instability, but only points for limited absorption of energy, since the secular frequency of the resonating ions changes with increasing amplitude and thus no enduring resonance condition exists which is unlimited in terms of time.
Under optimal conditions, the coherent initial pushing of the secular oscillation for a particular ion type should be arranged to take place a very short time (approximately 10 to 100 microseconds) before the storage field resonance is reached so that the coherently oscillating ions of the ion cloud are not again disturbed by collisions with the remaining gas. In order to achieve this, it is necessary for the excitation voltage to have a frequency slightly lower than the storage field resonance.
The amplitude setting for this excitation RF voltage is critical. The mass-spectrometric resolution decreases both with regard to voltage amplitudes which are higher or lower than the optimum voltage amplitude. The optimum is usually set by observing the output with an oscillograph, though it is also possible to use a representation of the scan profiles by means of a computer system.
Alteration of the excitation RF amplitude causes not only a change in resolution, but also a change in the scanning function, i.e. the function m=f(A), m being the mass of the ions and A the amplitude of the storage RF, used for scanning. With increased excitation amplitude, the masses appear at the exit holes earlier since they have already received excitation energy from the end cap electrodes by the excitation RF and only have to absorb a small amount of energy from the storage field to produce ejection. Consequently, for optimal results, it must be possible to reproduce the excitation amplitude well. With fast mass scans, slight changes in the ion ejection time can amount to several units of mass on the mass scale.
Experiments have established that neither a constant amplitude of the excitation voltage nor a linear change in the amplitude during the scanning process produces an optimal resolution for all masses. Although it is possible to keep resolution at an optimum by means of a piece-wise linear control, this results in nonlinearities of the scanning function at the breakpoints between the linear parts.
There are some methods (such as ion isolation or the very fast subsequent data processing) which require as constant a mass control as possible with the amplitude of the storage RF. Methods for isolation of ions and for fragmentation need a linear and constant control of the masses with an accuracy better than 1/10 of a unit of mass.
Consequently, it is the task of the invention to create a method of scanning which combines as smooth (i.e. not only partially linear) a scanning function as possible with as good a mass resolution as possible for all masses. Here, the scanning function is defined as the dependence of the mass of the ions ejected on the voltage amplitude of the storage RF.

Method and device for control of the excitation voltage for ion ejection from ion trap mass spectrometers


A blank mask for photomasking patterns on an integrated circuit comprises a non-conductive substrate and a layer of conductive material deposited on the substrate covering substantially the entire surface of said substrate. Methods for preventing charge accumulation on a non-conductive region of a mask, which is not covered by a layer of conductive material, are provided. One method comprises controlling electron beams to prevent the beams from striking an outer region for an area more than 90 percent of the outer region when patterning a predetermined feature on the mask. The outer region comprises an area beginning from an edge of the mask and ending at 2 to 6 mm inward from the edge. Another method comprises using a blocker to prevent electron beams from hitting the outer region for an area more than 90 percent of the outer region when patterning a predetermined feature on the substrate.

In a photolithographic process used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits, masks are used to transfer patterns to semiconductor substrates. Masks can be illuminated with wide variety of radiation sources. For example, visible, ultraviolet, and deep ultraviolet illumination sources can be employed. Typical masks comprise a transparent mask substrate, and a means to form a pattern on the mask. Mask substrates made of such as glass or quartz have good dimensional stability and transmission properties for the wavelengths of various exposing radiations. Traditionally, a layer of chrome containing material that blocks radiation from transmitting to a semiconductor substrate is formed on the transparent mask substrate to generate a pattern which is transferred to a semiconductor substrate during the photolithographic process.
In an attenuated phase shifting mask, a layer of phase shifting material that can also reduce transmitting radiation such as molybdenum silicide is deposited on a mask substrate to form a pattern. In a chromeless phase shifting mask, a pattern is formed by etching the mask substrate or adding a transparent phase shifting material to create regions where transmitted radiations have a phase shift of 180 degrees from radiations transmitted through the mask substrate.
One ultimate goal of masks is to accurately transfer a predetermined pattern to semiconductor substrates. To achieve the goal, the predetermined pattern must be first formed on a mask. Regardless of different means employed to form a pattern on a mask substrate, mask manufacturing technology primarily typically comprises forming a photoresist layer on a mask substrate, patterning the photoresist layer by a radiation source, and transferring the pattern on the photoresist layer to a means of forming a pattern on the mask. For a traditional chrome mask, the pattern on the photoresist layer is transferred to the chrome layer that blocks incident radiation to form the pattern. For an attenuated phase shifting mask, the pattern on the photoresist layer is transferred to a layer of phase shifting material that shifts the phase of incident radiation 180 degrees and reduces its intensity. For a chromeless phase shifting material, the pattern on the photoresist layer is transferred to either a mask substrate by etching or to a layer of transparent phase shifting material that reverses the phase of incident radiation 180 degrees.
Various exposing resources such as a laser or an electronic beam can be used to manufacture a mask. When an electronic beam is employed to pattern a photoresist layer, a charging effect distorts the predetermined pattern to be formed on the mask substrate because a mask substrate comprises non-conductive materials such as glass and quartz. To solve the problem, a layer of conducting material is added under a photoresist layer and above the mask substrate to absorb electrons hitting and transmitting the photoresist layer. However, due to some manufacturing reasons, a conducting layer does not fully cover the surface of a mask substrate. Thus, a charging effect occurs around the outer region of the mask substrate. The outer region comprises the non-conductive region and an adjacent portion of the conductive layer which is also adversely affected by the charging effect. Patterns on the outer region are then distorted.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional mask 100 has a mask substrate 110 covered by a layer of chrome 120 and leaving a non-conductive region 130 uncovered. Turning to FIG. 2A, a cross-sectional view of the conventional mask 100, a photoresist layer 230 is formed on a chrome layer 220 and a mask substrate 210. The substrate 210 comprising glass or quartz is not conductive to electrons. Electron beams 240 are used to pattern the photoresist layer 230. Some electrons are absorbed by the photoresist layer 230 and change its soluability. Other electrons arrive and hit the surface of the chrome layer 220 and the substrate 210. Electrons 260 hitting the surface of the chrome layer 220 are conducted away to a ground. Electrons 250 hitting the non-conductive region of the substrate 210 accumulate on the surface and cause charging effect because the chrome layer 230 does not entirely cover the substrate 210. As shown in FIG. 2B, the accumulated electrons 250 cause an electron beam 270 incident to the surrounding area to drift and deviate away from its original path. Consequently, the predetermined pattern is distorted.

Modification of mask blank to avoid charging effect

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A strip-shaped emitter electrode including at least one emission edge extending along the length of such emitter electrode. When the strip-shaped emitter electrode is coupled to a voltage supply, current or an electrical charge at the emission edge ionizes the air and generates corona discharge, resulting in ion production. Erosion occurs at the emission edge such that the lifespan of the strip emitter electrode is dependent, at least in part, on the width of the strip emitter electrode.

Existing wire emitter electrodes (referred to as "Prior Art Wire Emitter(s)") ionize the air and generate corona discharge at levels proportionate to the current running through the electrode. Such electrodes are operatively coupled to a voltage supply which enables such current flow. The amount of ionized particles and corona discharge generated is a function of the emitter current. The higher the emitter current, the more air is ionized and the greater the corona discharge.
Ozone production can be a byproduct of corona discharge if certain conditions are present. This ionization process can cause oxygen molecules (O2) to split in the air. The split molecules seek stability and attach themselves to other oxygen molecules (O2), forming ozone (O3). Inhaling excess amounts of ozone can be undesirable and even harmful depending upon the conditions present in a given environment. Ozone generation for a given Prior Art Wire Emitter length at normal room humidity, temperature and pressure can be a function of the material of the wire, the emitter current and the diameter of the wire. For a given emitter current and material, the smaller the diameter of the wire, the less ozone is produced. One disadvantage to small diameter wires is that they tend to wear down at a relatively high rate.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome or otherwise reduce the disadvantages described above.


A cell site maintenance scheduling and monitoring system is accessible by a maintenance user and a control center user via a public telephone network and via a private computer network. A scheduling database stores event records, wherein each event record includes a switch name, a cell site number, and an event time. An activity processor is coupled to the scheduling database for managing the scheduling database and for generating a web page displaying the event records. An IVR unit is coupled to the activity processor and coupled to the public telephone network for communicating with the maintenance user, wherein the IVR unit is responsive to the maintenance user during respective telephone calls for directing the activity processor to create a new event record and for directing the activity processor to mark existing event records as closed. The IVR unit collects the switch name, the cell site number, and the event time from the maintenance user for creating the new event record. A web server is coupled to the activity processor and the private computer network for serving the web page to the control center user.

The present invention relates in general to cell site maintenance in a cellular telephone network, and, more specifically, to a computer-based tool for scheduling and monitoring of cell site maintenance to assist control center technicians in managing operation of the cellular network.
Communications equipment located at cell sites requires periodic maintenance as well as service visits to modify, upgrade, or repair equipment both on a planned and an emergency basis. Depending upon the specific maintenance activity, cell site operation may be disrupted (e.g., equipment power may be turned off or connections brought down).
Cellular network operation is continuously monitored by network managers at a control center. Full or partial outages and certain types of degraded performance conditions of a cell site are detected by the mobile switch connected to a particular cell site. The mobile switch then sends alarm messages to the control center via a private computer network provided for signaling and network control.
Some maintenance activities result in an alarm being sent by an associated switch to the control center. It is useful for the control center technicians to know whether an incoming alarm was precipitated by maintenance activity or whether it was triggered by a real equipment malfunction. Because of the potential disruption of cell site operation, network managers typically impose restrictions on the times and duration for which maintenance activities are allowed. For these and other reasons, the control center typically keeps a maintenance schedule that is required to be used by all field maintenance personnel.
By virtue of the maintenance schedule, the control center can ensure that time restrictions are followed and can distinguish an alarm caused by maintenance activity from one corresponding to an unattended malfunction. It is also useful for control center personnel to be able to determine recent and upcoming service calls to a cell site when an alarm occurs since that information may help identify a cause or help identify a field technician that can best assist in resolving the current issue.
After completion of a service call, a maintenance technician needs to update the schedule to reflect that the maintenance event is closed. In a large cellular network, there may often be several technicians wanting to interact with the control center simultaneously to create or update (i.e., close) maintenance events. Thus, the creation and maintenance of the schedule has been time consuming and inefficient for both the maintenance technicians and the control center. Furthermore, the schedule data has not been easily or widely accessible within the operations of the cellular network.


In one embodiment, an integrated extension cable/cord tie device includes male jack, a female jack, and a cable connected to the male jack and female jack. The cable comprises at least one electrical conductor forming an electrical connection between the male jack and the female jack, and a mechanical component that allows the cable to be bent to at least partially around an object upon the application of a first force, to substantially retain its shape after removal of the first force so as to remain at least partially around the object after removal of the first force, and to be unbent upon the application of a second force to be removed from the object. In another embodiment, the mechanical component is integrated directly into a non-detachable cord of a device or a detachable cord usable with one or more devices.

Wired audio headphones (as used herein, "headphones" includes any type of device capable of producing audible sounds in response to electrical signals conducted via one or more cords, and that is worn on the head or a part thereof, including but not limited to those of the type sometimes referred to as earbuds, headsets, earphones, and the like, and includes devices with one or two ear pieces) have become more widely used in recent years, particularly in connection with portable audio devices such as the APPLE IPOD™ and smartphones with audio storage capabilities and streaming audio services such as PANDORA™ and SPOTIFY™. The very mobility of these devices has exacerbated a problem—how to store the headphones when not in use in a way that the headphone cord does not become tangled or caught on other objects, particularly when the user is away from his or her home or office. Tangled headphone cords can be messy and inconvenient, and damage to the headphones can occur when a headphone cord becomes caught on another object.
One solution to this problem is a product known as GEAR TIES™, shown in FIG. 1. The GEAR TIES™ product of FIG. 1 is three inches long and is made of a material that retains its shape when deformed. As disclosed on the manufacturer's website (www.niteize.com/product/Gear-Tie-3.asp), the GEAR TIES™ product comprises "a fully bendable wire interior and colorful, durable, soft rubber exterior." The GEAR TIES™ product is used to wrap around the headphone cord so that the headphone cord is stored in a neat bundle as shown in FIG. 1. One problem with the GEAR TIES™ product is that there is no convenient way to store the product when the headphones are in use. It is possible to wrap the GEAR TIES™ product around the headphone cord when the headphone is in use, but doing so can be annoying to a user because the GEAR TIES™ product would slide along the cord during relative movement between the portable audio device and the headphones. If the GEAR TIES™ product is stored separately from the headphones while the headphones are in use, it can become lost. Other cord storage solutions also suffer from drawbacks. Cord storage bags and twist-tie types of cord ties (the type in which the cord tie ends are twisted around each other) can, like the GEAR TIES™ product, become lost when separated from the headphones. Velcro straps are cumbersome and can become engaged with other material when not being used to secure headphone cords.

Integrated cord tie and signal conducting device


Disclosed herein is a method for fabricating a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor having cobalt silicide. According to the method, there is first provided a semiconductor substrate having exposed silicon portions on the surface thereof. The exposed silicon is either single crystalline silicon or polycrystalline silicon, and may include junction regions in which N typed or P typed impurity such as arsenic, phosphorous, or boron is formed. Niobium and cobalt are sequentially deposited on the exposed silicon portions by electron-beam evaporation method. Afterwards, annealing step is performed to form a cobalt silicide film on the exposed silicon portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor device having metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor(MOSFET) structure, and more particularly to a method for fabricating a MOSFET having cobalt silicide metalization contact to the underlying silicon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, with development of semiconductor fabrication technologies, MOSFETs are highly integrated in a semiconductor substrate. They have been essentially used as one of important elements in most digital signal processing apparatus. A MOSFET includes three terminals of source, drain and gate, and there is also provided a channel between electrically separated source and drain for transfer of carriers from source to drain, and vise versa.
In the above-mentioned MOSFET structure, with increase in integrity, there are strongly required shallow junction of the source and drain and suppression of parasitic capacitance which are both very important factors in capability of the MOSFET. In order to satisfy the above requests, there is proposed a technology forming metal silicides of compound of metal and silicon on source, drain and gate. As an advanced technology for the formation of such silicide films, there is proposed a self-aligned silicide(salicide) formation method, which simplifies steps for forming silicide layer on source, drain and gate.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional MOSFET structure in accordance with the self-aligned silicide formation method.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is provided a silicon substrate 1 in which device isolation oxides 2 are formed. Here, an active region is defined by two device isolation oxides. Gate 4 of polycrystalline silicon(hereinafeter referred to as "polysilicon") overlying gate oxide 3 is formed on a selected portion of the active region of the substrate 1. Lightly doped impurity regions 5 are selectively formed in the substrate 1 at both sides of the gate 4 by ion implantation. Spacers 6 of silicon dioxide(SiO.sub.2) are formed on side walls of the gate 4 by a known method. Thereafter, heavily doped impurity regions of source 7a and drain 7b are formed by ion implantation of high concentration and subsequent annealing. Afterwards, metal film is deposited at a selected thickness on the whole surface of the substrate 1. Thereafter, the substrate 1 is then annealed at a selected temperature, so as to react the deposited metal film with the underlying silicon, whereby metal silicide film 8 is formed. Thereafter, metal or metal compound which does not react with the underlying silicon are removed by selective etch.
The above-described self-aligned silicide formation method are useful in deep sub-micron MOSFETs.
Titanium disilicide(TiSi.sub.2) has been widely used in such MOSFET structure because of its low resistivity. However, since titanium used for the formation of the titanium disilicide has high reactivity with silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), it comes to be frequently reacted with the silicon dioxide, thereby forming a titanium silicide film on the device isolation oxide where titanium silicide need not be formed. The unnecessary titanium silicide film formed on the spacers or the device isolation oxide electrically connects the source, drain, and gate with each other, so that the MOSFET does not serve as switching element. In addition, since high stress by titanium silicide film causes defects to be generated in the source, drain and gate, electrical characteristic and reliability of the MOSFET are deteriorated.
In order to solve the above problems, there is proposed use of cobalt silicide for titanium silicide. The cobalt silicide however needs a large amount of silicon for the formation thereof to a desired thickness, so that it is difficult to form stable and shallow junction of source and drain. Moreover, the heating of the cobalt silicide to a temperature above about 1,000.degree. C. increases surface energy of the cobalt silicide grains. The high surface energy leads to an agglomeration of large silicide grains during the annealing process. As a consequence, the cobalt silicide film formed in accordance with the conventional method has a low flatness, so that its contact resistance with the underlying silicon increases.

Method for fabricating MOSFET having cobalt silicide film

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A method and system is provided for resizing columns in a table when a table width is changed from a current table width to a new table width. The table may contain data and may be displayed to a user. The table may be resized responsively to the user's inputs or other conditions. A new column width is determined for each column in the table based on a column minimum width and a column maximum width associated with each column. Column minimum widths and column maximum widths may be selected to enhance user comprehension of data displayed in the table. Each column may be associated with a variable representing an order, and the columns may be resized in ascending sequence based on the order variable.

Tabular presentation of data in columns is a conventional technique for presenting data in computer applications. Each column may be associated with a column width, and the table may be associated with a table width. Table widths can vary when tabular data is displayed via a user interface that has no fixed width. For example, when displaying a table in a web page via a web browser, the width of an application window assigned to the browser can be controlled by a user. Similarly, table widths may be changed to accommodate different printing scenarios. If a table is printed to a page in portrait orientation, the table width is one size (e.g., 6.5 inches). If the same table is printed in landscape orientation, the table width may be a different size (e.g., 9 inches). The table width also may vary to accommodate changes in paper sizes (legal size, A4 size).
In many applications, such as spreadsheets, word processors and web pages, column widths are defined statically. The applications' user interfaces do not naturally scale the column widths to fit changes in on screen display widths or in rendered display widths (such as on paper). Some rendering systems for web pages may scale all column widths within a table equally in response to changes in the width of the application window. If an application window shrinks to 80% of its former width, all column widths in the table shrink by a corresponding percentage.
Various computing platforms also limit the amount of data that can be displayed intelligibly. A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) typically has much less screen area than a personal computer (PC). Therefore, different display controls govern from device to device.
Columns in a table may be resized to a width too small or too large to properly display data. Some types of data should be displayed in columns with specific widths for perceptual quality. For example, if a column displaying a telephone number had its width reduced to the point that trailing telephone digits were truncated, the displayed information would be useless. Alternatively, if the column width increased so that the column width for a telephone number could be increased beyond the size that is necessary to display all digits of the telephone number, providing such an increase in width would be wasteful because there is no other useful information to display. Similarly, it is almost useless to display half a check-box. Information in a check-box or a telephone number column is useful only if the data is displayed in its entirety.
For other types of data, it is possible to shrink the width of a tabular column in which it is displayed without an appreciable loss in perceptual quality. A user may be able to review a portion of the data that remains displayed in the smaller column and perceive useful information. For example, one might gleam useful information from a truncated display of a name or a description.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a control system for presentation of tabular data that is sensitive to different data types and ensures, where possible, that certain minimum or maximum column widths are maintained. There is a further need in the art for such a control system that is cognizant of different priorities in display width that are assigned to different types of data displayed in a table.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for ordered resizing columns in a table


A photodiode with an optimized floating P+ region for a CMOS image sensor. The photodiode is constructed with a P+/Nwell/Psub structure. The Nwell/Psub junction of the photodiode acts as a deep junction photodiode which offers high sensitivity. The P+ floating region passivates the silicon surface to reduce dark currents. Unlike a traditional pinned photodiode structure, the P+ region in the present invention is not connected to the Pwell or Psub regions, thus making the P+ region floating. This avoids the addition of extra capacitance to the cell. The photodiode may be included as part of an active pixel sensor cell, the layout of which is fully compatible with the standard CMOS fabrication process. This type of active pixel sensor cell includes the photodiode, and may be configured with a three transistor configuration for reading out the photodiode signals. Examples of other configurations that the photodiode can be used with include two transistors, four transistors, log scale, as well as its ability to be used in a passive pixel implementation. Also, an additional optional N type layer can be introduced in between the P+ region and Nwell to fine tune the junction profile for special applications. In addition, the field oxide region may be made to extend over the photodiode, so as to reduce the exposure of the diode area to the field oxide region edge, which can be a source of dark current due to the high electric fields and mechanical stresses.

The present invention relates to image sensing devices, and more particularly, to a pixel sensor cell.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Integrated circuit technology has revolutionized various fields, including computers, control systems, telecommunications, and imaging. In the field of imaging, the charge coupled device (CCD) has been made popular by its manufacturing and performance characteristics, including its relatively low cost and small size. Nevertheless, the solid state CCD integrated circuits needed for imaging are relatively difficult to manufacture, and therefore are expensive. In addition, because of the differing processes involved in the manufacture of the CCD integrated circuits relative to MOS integrated circuits, the signal processing portion of the imaging sensor has typically been located on a separate integrated chip. Thus, a CCD imaging device includes at least two integrated circuits: one for the CCD sensor and one for the signal processing logic.
Another class of image sensors are the active pixel sensors. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,210 to Lee et al. (xe2x80x9cthe ""210 patent), an active pixel sensor refers to an electronic image sensor with active devices, such as transistors, that are associated with each pixel. The active pixel sensor has the advantage of being able to incorporate both signal processing and sensing circuitry within the same integrated circuit. Conventional active pixel sensors typically employ polysilicon photocapacitors or photodiodes as the image sensing elements.
The most popular active pixel sensor structure consists of three transistors and a N+/Pwell photodiode, which is a structure that is compatible with the standard CMOS fabrication process. Examples of other structures are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,596 (showing a one transistor cell), U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,214 (showing an N-transistor cell), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,190 (showing a log scale sensor). In such sensors, desirable characteristics include the ability for the device to have high sensitivity, combined with a low dark current (i.e., the current that is output from the sensor in a dark environment). In the design of active pixel sensors, it is known that for the same sensor size, a deeper junction photodiode will have a higher sensitivity than that of a shallow junction (such as in a typical N+/Pwell). However, the production of such devices usually requires modifications to the standard CMOS fabrication process, and in addition may increase dark current due to larger effective junction areas (when considered from a three-dimensional perspective).
Thus, two of the presently available alternatives are to either use the standard three-transistor plus N+/Pwell photodiode structure that can be formed with the standard CMOS fabrication process, or else abandon the standard CMOS fabrication process in favor of designs that are intended to improve the sensitivity and dark current characteristics. One active pixel sensor design that is not fabricated using the standard CMOS fabrication process is the pinned photodiode, as taught in the ""210 patent.
The pinned photodiode has gained favor for its ability to have good color response for blue light, as well as advantages in dark current density and image lag. Reduction in dark current is accomplished by pinning the diode surface potential to the Pwell or Psubstrate (GND) through a P+ region. While the ""210 patent provides a method for using a pinned photodiode and an active pixel sensor, the design taught suffers from the drawback of manufacturing complexity. In particular, as seen in the diagrams of the ""210 patent, the manufacture of such an apparatus requires multiple masking and photolithography steps.
An improvement over the device taught in the ""210 patent is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,495 to Chen (the ""495 patent), which is hereby incorporated by reference. The ""495 patent teaches an active pixel pinned photodiode structure that can be made with one less mask than the structure taught in the ""210 patent. This is accomplished by removing the need for an N31 channel underneath the transfer gate as shown in the ""210 patent. Instead, a highly doped N+ well (a xe2x80x9ctransfer wellxe2x80x9d) adjacent to the transfer gate is formed that aids in the transfer of charge (the photo signal) from the pinned photodiode to the output circuitry. In addition, the masking steps shown in the ""210 patent to form the lightly doped Nxe2x88x92 channel must be precisely aligned to be underneath the transfer gate. In contrast, the alignment of the mask in the ""495 device is relatively robust to misalignment.
Even with the improved structure taught in the ""495 patent, the pinned photodiode configuration still has certain drawbacks. For example, in a pinned photodiode structure there are four transistors, so the fill factor is smaller for the same area, which results in less sensitivity. In addition, the fabrication process for such a configuration requires significant modification from the standard CMOS fabrication process, due to the buried channel TG transistor. As also noted with reference to the ""210 patent, the pinned photodiode configuration may cause image lag due to the incomplete transfer of charge from the diode to the floating node, if the junction profile is not perfectly optimized for the charge transfer.
Thus, what is needed, is a pixel photodiode structure that can be formed utilizing the standard CMOS process, while having a high sensitivity and low dark current.
A pixel sensor for use in an imaging array and formed in a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity-type is disclosed. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the pixel sensor includes a photodiode which is constructed with a P+/Nwell/Psub structure.
The Nwell/Psub junction acts as a deep junction photodiode which offers high sensitivity. The P+ region passivates the silicon surface to reduce dark current. Unlike a pinned photodiode structure, the P+ region in the present invention is not connected to the Pwell or Psub layers, thus making the P+ region floating. This avoids the addition of extra capacitance to the cell. When a contact is made to the diode, the performance may be improved by making sure that the P+ in the contact area is blocked to ensure that it is floating, while also making sure that the N+ is present to ensure good contact to the Nwell.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the photodiode is implemented as an active pixel sensor cell, then entire layout of which is compatible with the standard CMOS fabrication process. In addition, this active pixel sensor cell device can be formed utilizing the standard three transistor cell, as opposed to the four transistor cell required for the pinned photodiodes. Alternatively, other configurations may also be used with the photodiode, such as a passive pixel, a two transistor, a four transistor, or a log scale cell.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the three transistor active pixel sensor cell includes a reset transistor formed in a semiconductor substrate next to the photodiode, as well as a buffer transistor and a row select transistor. To form the reset transistor, a Pwell is formed in a semiconductor substrate next to the Nwell of the photodiode. Thereafter, a gate is formed over the Pwell, and the source and drain N+ regions are also formed. The drain N+ region is formed over the Pwell, whereas the source N+ region is formed over part of the junction between the Nwell and the Pwell. A field oxide isolation region (e.g., LOCOS isolation) is formed on either side of the Nwell and the Pwell.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an additional N type region can be introduced in between the P+ region and Nwell to fine-tune the junction profile for special applications.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, another variation to the structure is to have the P+/Nwell/Psub photodiode all under the field oxide isolation region. This reduces the exposure of the diode area to the field oxide isolation region edge, which can be a source of dark current due to the high electric fields and mechanical stresses.

Optimized floating P+ region photodiode for a CMOS image sensor


An apparatus providing low volume irrigation from a previously installed sprinkler irrigation system including one or more sprinkler heads connected to a water supply conduit. The apparatus includes a manifold (50) having a water distribution passage (34) therein. The water distribution passage (34) includes an inlet end (35) and an outlet end (36) with the outlet end adapted to receive a conveyance channel (38) for distributing water to an emission point (42, 43). A flow control device (39) is associated with the water distribution passage (34) to control the flow rate of water through the passage to a rate exceeding a local hydraulic loading rate of the soil in the area around the emission point (42, 43). The manifold (50) is connected to receive water which is supplied to the sprinkler head through the water supply conduit. The manifold (50) may be connected to the sprinkler head body (22) or to the conduit (28) below the sprinkler head body and may replace the sprinkler type irrigation completely or supply irrigation supplemental to the sprinkler type irrigation.

This invention relates to irrigation, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for a hybrid low volume and sprinkler irrigation system. The invention provides a site selectable arrangement for providing a new, low volume method of irrigation along with a conventional irrigation method, both from a convention sprinkler head installation.
Abroad and in the United States, a large percentage of potable, fresh water consumption is utilized for irrigating landscape and ornamental plantings. The state of the art irrigation systems utilized for delivering this water to landscape plantings are inefficient and contribute greatly to the exhaustion of water reserves in many areas. Sprinkler head systems are most commonly used for landscape purposes. The goal of a sprinkler head system is to evenly distribute the water through the air to a given area at a rate equivalent or less than the hydraulic loading rate or water infiltration rate of the surrounding soil. At this rate, the evenly distributed airborne water droplets fall to the ground and are absorbed into the soil.
However, the tiny spray droplets necessary to achieve uniform water distribution are vulnerable to wind and are more often than not blown out of the area intended to be irrigated, contributing to the over spray problems. Run-off occurs because the sprinkler heads tend to deliver water to an area too quickly for the water to be effectively absorbed into the ground. In addition, water droplets from the sprinkler head systems tend to impinge on surrounding structures such as houses, fences, and vehicles for example, causing discoloration, staining, and other damage. Despite these limitations, sprinkler irrigation systems easily make up the majority of landscape irrigation systems installed today.
Low volume surface drip irrigation devices and lines, typically emitting water in the range of 0.5 to 2 gallons per hour, use an extensive network of conduits. Emitters are attached to the conduits and are spaced apart on the surface of the area to be irrigated. The water drips from these emitters at slow rates and is mainly influenced by capillary action and gravity once the water enters the soil area directly around the emission point. Delivery of water in this manner does eliminate over spray and run-off, but is only practical for landscape plantings in areas not subject to traffic or heavy maintenance. Even in landscapes, surface drip irrigation is not practical for dense plantings with shallow root zones such as ornamental ground covers or turfs. If surface drip irrigation were used in traffic areas, such as lawns, the lines would have to be laid down 12 to 18 inches apart from each other and taken up in between irrigations to allow the lawn to be used and maintained. This impracticality, combined with the detracting visual appearance of the lines placed every 12 to 18 inches along the surface of the lawn, make surface drip irrigation totally unacceptable.
Subsurface drip irrigation systems consist of low volume drip emitter lines, with drip emission rates ranging from 0.5 to 2 gallons per hour. The lines and emitters are placed beneath the soil surface in order to provide watering in the root zone. The lines commonly consist of extruded polyethylene tubes with calibrated emission drip devices either inserted onto or into the tube. The water is emitted at regular intervals along the line buried below the soil surface and is distributed by the effects of capillary action in the soil and gravity. The lines are typically buried 6 to 8 inches below the soil surface and are spaced 12 to 18 inches apart in order to attempt to provide uniform watering to the top soil layers in between and above the drip lines.
However, due to the effects of gravity combined with the capillarity of the soil below the drip lines, more than 50% of the water percolates below the drip line level and is not available to the lawn and shallow rooted plantings. In addition to inefficiencies, these buried lines and emission devices are plagued with problems of plugging due to the ingrowth of plant roots. State of the art solutions to this root ingrowth problem have consisted of using toxic chemicals impregnated within the lines or emission devices or injected into the irrigation water to kill the roots around the emission devices. Even if roots are kept out through chemical treatments, soil may work into the emission devices due to the low velocity and mass flow rate of the water exiting the emission devices and this soil may also plug the devices. The subsurface emitters may also be plugged by insects, insect eggs, and various other natural blocking agents.

Hybrid low flow and spray irrigation apparatus and method


A two-stage class-AB operational amplifier, that can be implemented either with bipolar or MOS transistors, includes a differential input circuit adapted to receive a differential input signal to produce an amplified differential output signal for application to first and second nodes. The differential input stage has a common-mode control circuit that produces first and second common-mode control voltages on the first and second nodes. The common-mode control voltages are combined with the amplified differential output signal on the first and second nodes to produce a first stage differential output signal. A high-swing output stage is connected to receive the first stage differential output signal. First and second current mirrors each have a mirror transistor to mirror an output current produced in response to the differential input signals on respective lines including the first and second nodes. The common-mode control circuit is in series with mirror transistors of the first and second current mirrors. A circuit clamps the first and second nodes at a voltage of 2V.sub.BE below the supply voltage, and clamps the voltage at the second node at a voltage of 2V.sub.BE above the reference potential, enabling the circuit to operate with improved power-supply rejection ratios.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in operational amplifiers, and more particularly to improvements in operational amplifiers that have wide input/output voltage ranges approaching rail-to-rail swings, and still more particularly to common-mode current handling and power supply rejection ratio techniques in operational amplifiers of this type.
2. Background Information
Recently, increased interest has been directed towards realizing low distortion class-AB operational amplifiers that have a wide range of input and output voltages, approaching the upper and lower supply rail voltages. It is desirable, of course that the amplifier be capable of being realized in a monolithic integrated circuit structure of bipolar or MOS transistor devices.
An example of a typical operational amplifier circuit is shown by Johan H. Huijsing et al., in "Low-Voltage Operational Amplifier with Rail-to-Rail Input and Output Ranges" IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-20, No. 6, December, 1985, in which an operational amplifier is advanced that can operate with a supply voltage as low as 1.5 volts. The output voltage can reach the supply rail within 150 mV. The circuit has an input stage that provides rail-to-rail common-mode voltage range and an output stage with rail-to-rail output-voltage swing with accurate class-AB control. The circuit, however, requires an intermediate stage to enable the input and output stages to be connected together to produce sufficient voltage gain to enable the circuit to be used as a general purpose operational amplifier. The provision of the third stage not only increases the size and complexity of the circuit, it reduces the circuit bandwidth and speed.
Jeroen Fonderie et al., in "1-V Operational Amplifier with Rail-to-Rail Input and Output Ranges", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 24, No. 6, December, 1989, shows a bipolar operational amplifier with rail-to-rail input and output ranges for low supply voltages. This circuit again requires a large number of components and an intermediate stage between the input and output stages. Being a three-stage design, its composition is relatively complicated, and has a bandwidth limited to approximately 450 kHz in the technology used.

Two-stage rail-to-rail operational amplifier


An optical system is provided. The optical system includes a corrector lens that is configured to reduce aberrations in electromagnetic radiation (EMR) received from a window having a window axis of symmetry. A rotation mechanism is coupled to the corrector lens, and is configured to selectively rotate the corrector lens about an optical axis of the corrector lens to maintain a Y-axis of the corrector lens in a same plane as the window axis of symmetry of the window.

It is often desirable to detect and analyze electromagnetic radiation (EMR) originating from an environment in order to gain knowledge about the environment. In the context of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, EMR may be received through a window of the vehicle, analyzed or otherwise processed, and the results of such analysis used to provide operational personnel with useful information regarding the environment outside the vehicle. In a commercial aviation context, such information may include the identification of potential landing sites, topography information, nearby aircraft, geographic landmarks, and the like. In a military aviation context such information may include the above, as well as identification of potential targets, identification of potential adversaries, and the like. At least in a military context, such sensing mechanisms typically have an ability to scan a field of view across in azimuth, and/or vertically in elevation, within a field-of-regard of the system. The sensing mechanisms typically involve a receive lens arrangement that focuses the energy, in the form of EMR in a desired wavelength, or band of wavelengths, to a sensor. The sensor quantifies the EMR received, and facilitates the generation of imagery of the environment.
It is known that a window that has a non-spherical shape introduces aberrations in EMR as the EMR passes through the window. In order to reduce or adjust for the aberrations, it is often necessary to position relatively complex and expensive lens arrangements between the window and the sensor to reduce the aberrations. Alternatively, windows are often designed to have spherical shapes. Unfortunately, a spherical shape is not an efficient aerodynamic shape, and can negatively impact speed, range, and other characteristics of the vehicle. Accordingly, in many applications, it would be desirable if a conformal, non-spherical window could be utilized without the need for relatively expensive and complex lens arrangements that are designed to reduce or correct the aberrated EMR.

Optical system for correcting optical aberrations in electromagnetic radiation


Disclosed is a method for making an emergency call by using a mobile communication terminal. The method includes identifying a current position when a user makes an emergency call request; retrieving an emergency call number from emergency call numbers pre-stored for respective regions, the emergency call number being used in a region corresponding to the current position; and dialing the emergency call number.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication terminal, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for making an emergency call in an urgent situation by using a mobile communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, when a user of a mobile communication terminal incorporating an emergency calling function confronts an urgent situation, the user can make an emergency call by operating a predetermined key so that a predetermined telephone number (e.g., telephone number of the national rescue center or other rescue corps) is automatically dialed or a pre-stored text message is transmitted to that number.
When the telephone number of the national rescue center has been pre-stored in the mobile communication terminal, however, the emergency calling function fails outside of that nation, because each nation has its own emergency call number. This means that, when the user operates the emergency key while staying in another nation, an emergency call cannot be made to that nation's rescue center. Furthermore, the user may not be aware of that nation's emergency call number. In this case, the user cannot easily contact the rescue center even by dialing numbers, to say nothing of using the emergency call function.
Even when the user has contacted the rescue center somehow, the user would have difficulty in describing the urgent situation due to the language barrier.

Method and apparatus for making an emergency call using a mobile communication terminal


In a method for manufacturing a precursor ceramic by pyrolysis of elementorganic precursor polymers, carbon nanotubes are bonded to the precursor ceramic and the bonding is performed in such a way that the quantity of free carbon forming in the decomposition of the elementorganic precursor polymers is adjusted in such a way that there is a stoichiometric or moderately hypostoichiometric carbon concentration in the precursor ceramic.

In the manufacture of ceramic sheathed-element glow plugs from ceramic composite materials, amorphous SiOC ceramics (precursor ceramics) are obtained by the pyrolysis of elementorganic precursors. Advantages of this precursor-thermolysis method in comparison with conventional manufacturing methods for ceramics (e.g., sintering) are the considerably lower process temperatures and the easy workability and malleability of the elementorganic precursors such as polysiloxane resins for example.
To manufacture stable ceramic bodies from organic silicon polymers, temperatures of approximately 800° C. already suffice, while sintering powder for the most part only yields mechanically stable bodies at sintering temperatures above 1200° C. Thus the manufacture of ceramic solids from filled organic silicon polymers requires considerably lower temperatures than the sintering of ceramic powders. Such a method is known from published European patent document EP 0 412 428, for example. In this instance, a metallic filler, which reacts with the decomposition products resulting in the pyrolysis of the polymer compounds, is admixed to the starting polymers. Pyrolysis takes place at a temperature in the range of 600 to 1800° C. and frequently in an inert-gas atmosphere. Filler components used, among others, are, e.g., chromium, molybdenum, silicon and intermetallic compounds of representatives of the fourth to sixth subgroup of the periodic system with boron, silicon or aluminum. These fillers are required since otherwise shrinkage cracks and an excessive number of pores are formed during pyrolysis. With the aid of these fillers it is possible to set in a precise manner certain properties such as, e.g., the coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal conductivity or the specific electrical resistance of the composite.
In the manufacture of a ceramic composite material from a precursor ceramic, in which, for example, a polysiloxane, i.e., a polymer on the basis of Si, C, O and H, is used, it is therefore possible by selecting the appropriate fillers to precisely tailor the electrical or physical property profile of the ceramic composite material resulting from the pyrolysis to the respective requirement profile, e.g., of a ceramic sheathed-element glow plug. In particular, it is possible in this manner to set the electrical conductivity from very conductive to insulating.
The mechanical properties of precursor ceramics (e.g., bending strength<350 MPa, fracture toughness Klc<MPa√{square root over (m)}), however, can be improved only to a limited extent by fillers that have a low aspect ratio, i.e., a low aspect ratio between the length and the diameter of <5. Fillers having a high aspect ratio of >10, such as fibers for example, offer considerably better results.
Due to gaseous decomposition products formed during pyrolysis, the precursor ceramic is porous. The size of the pores lies in the range of approximately 300 to approximately 800 nm. The bonding of whiskers, typically having a diameter of approx. 1 μm and lengths of approx. 100 μm, and fibers to the precursor ceramic is deteriorated by these pores since the pores reduce the effective whisker-fiber surface adhering in the precursor ceramic. The reinforcing effect of whiskers and fibers in components made of precursor ceramic is thereby reduced. The use of carbon nanotubes/fibers for reinforcing precursor ceramics offers advantages due to the considerably smaller dimensions at the same aspect ratio. Typical dimensions of carbon nanotubes are diameters of approximately 20 to approximately 120 nm and a length of approximately 0.5 to approximately 200 μm. In addition, carbon nanotubes are very insensitive to mechanical stresses in manufacturing (e.g., mixing, kneading, grinding, sifting) the composite made of the elementorganic precursor, fillers and the carbon nanotubes, since in a breakup of the carbon nanotubes, e.g., a bisection, the aspect ratio is still large enough.
Due to their outstanding properties, carbon nanotubes as fiber reinforcement in composite materials are of great interest and are already used in plastic composites and sinter ceramics.
Published International patent document WO 01/92381, for example, describes a method for forming a composite material from embedded nanofibers in a polymer matrix. The method comprises the introduction of nanofibers into a plastic matrix with the formation of agglomerates and the uniform distribution of the nanofibers by exposing the agglomerates to hydrodynamic stresses. Likewise disclosed is a nanofiber-reinforced polymer composite system, which has a plurality of nanofibers embedded in polymer matrices. A method for manufacturing fibers reinforced by nanotubes comprises the admixture of a nanofiber into a polymer and inducing an orientation of the nanofiber, which allows the latter to be used to improve the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties.
Published International patent document WO 02/18296 discloses a ceramic matrix-nano-composite material having improved mechanical properties. This is made up of a filler made of carbon nanotubes and a ceramic matrix which is fabricated from a nano-crystalline ceramic oxide. By sintering the article formed from this, it is possible to obtain ceramic materials of improved fracture toughness.
The properties of carbon nanotubes of the type MWNT (multiwall carbon nanotubes) are as follows:
Thermal conductivity: >2000 W/mK
Tensile strength: >10 GPa
Young's modulus: up to 1200 GPa
Electric conductivity: Semiconductor or metallic
Aspect ratio: 100-1000
The number of manufacturers of carbon nanotubes is steadily increasing. Commercial production at over 100 t/year has been achieved in the meantime, which results in markedly falling prices for such carbon nanotubes.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a method to improve the properties of composite materials made from precursor ceramics.

Method for producing a precursor ceramic


A grommet is mounted on a wire harness and inserted and latched into a vehicle panel aperture having a circular arc section at each corner. The grommet has a small tubular portion and a large tubular portion fitting the aperture. The large tubular portion has an annular latch groove having a concave shape on an outer peripheral surface at a predetermined distance from an end. Of two side walls that sandwich a groove base of the latch groove, a first side wall has a height from the groove base greater in straight sections than in arc sections to allow the straight sections to catch a periphery of the aperture more deeply than the arc sections.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet that reduces the insertion force to attach the grommet to a panel having an aperture, such as a vehicle body panel, while maintaining holding force after attachment to the panel.
2. Description of Related Art
A grommet made of an elastic material, including rubber and elastomer, is mounted on a wire harness routed from an engine compartment to a passenger cabin or a wire harness passed between a body panel and a door panel of a vehicle. The grommet is then attached to the panel at an aperture. The grommet is designed to protect the wire harness passed through the aperture, to shield the cabin from water, dust and noise from the engine compartment or to keep water and dust from entering the body panel or the door panel.
For a grommet of the above described type, it is required both to provide a low insertion force necessary to attach the grommet to the panel at the aperture and to provide a high holding or gripping force after the grommet has been attached. When attached to a wire harness routed between a body panel and a door panel in particular, the grommet is pushed into the aperture from the exterior, not pulled from inside the panel. Therefore, it would be an improvement to lower the insertion force in the pushing operation.
The applicant has presented in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-132871 and others a grommet shown in FIGS. 7A–7C mounted on a wire harness routed between a body panel and a door panel and then pushed into an aperture in the body panel for attachment. Grommet 1 has elongated narrow tubular portion 2 and wide tubular portions 3 and 4 on ends thereof. One of the wide tubular portions fits into oval aperture 5a in body panel 5; the other wide tubular portion fits into an aperture in a door panel (not shown in the figure). Annular body latch groove 3a has a concave shape on an outer peripheral surface of wide tubular portion 3 (a body latch groove on wide tubular portion 4 is not shown in the figure). Groove bottom 3b of body latch groove 3a is sandwiched between two side walls. One of the side walls, side wall 3c on the insertion side of large tubular portion 3, has uniform height H from groove bottom 3b to upper end 3d along an entire periphery. When grommet 1 is pushed and latched into aperture 5a in body panel 5, upper end 3d of the side wall of wide tubular portion 3 passes through a periphery of aperture 5a and body latch groove 3a fits into the periphery of aperture 5a.
When an aperture in a body panel is elongated, not round, wide tubular portion 3 of grommet 1 is also formed elongated as shown in a cross sectional view, similar to the shape of the aperture. Likewise, an annular body latch groove on wide tubular portion 3 is provided having an elongated shape. Therefore, side wall 3c of the body latch groove that catches the aperture includes a straight section and a circular arc section. When a pulling force is exerted on a wire harness having a grommet inserted therein and side wall 3c of the body latch groove latched into oval aperture 5a in body panel 5, the straight section of side wall 3c catching straight section 5a-2 disengages more easily from aperture 5a than the circular arc section of side wall 3c catching circular arc section 5a-1. A conventional grommet, therefore, has height H from groove bottom 3b to upper end 3d of side wall 3c catching the periphery of aperture 5a and predetermined so as not to allow side wall 3c to get loose in straight section 5a-2 and so as to be uniform along its entire periphery.
As described above, however, the section of the grommet catching circular arc section 5a-1 of the aperture is less likely to come loose than straight section 5a-2. Thus, the circular arc section of side wall 3c of the grommet has a latching and holding force that is greater than required. Furthermore, when inserting and latching wide tubular portion 3 of grommet 1 into oval aperture 5a, an excessive insertion force is required as the grommet has the side wall height in the circular arc section beyond that which is necessary. Normally, latching operations include one circular arc section of the body latch groove of the oval grommet is first latched into circular arc section 5a-1 of aperture 5a; then straight sections on both sides are latched to straight sections 5a-2 of the aperture; and finally the other circular arc section is inserted and latched into the circular arc section of the aperture. The final step that latches the circular arc section requires the maximum insertion force. Lowering the height of the side wall to reduce the grommet insertion force, however, decreases the holding force in the straight sections, leading to easy separation of the grommet from the panel having the aperture. Thus, conflicting issues arise herein: reducing the grommet insertion force weakens the holding force; maintaining the holding force does not reduce the insertion force. The issues apply not only to an oval aperture, but also to an aperture in a polygonal shape having a circular arc at each corner, to which the grommet is attached.


An illustrative method manages configuration information of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) and maintains server configuration information at a server that supports EGMs in a server-client relationship. The server configuration information contains stored information about the configuration of each EGM. EGM configuration information transmitted from the EMGs is received at the server. The server and EGM configuration information each contains corresponding fields with values representing information about predetermined factors. The values in the fields of the server configuration information are compared with the values in corresponding fields of the EGM configuration information. A report is generated based on the comparison.

Gaming machines, such as slot machines and video poker machines, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. EGMs, especially microprocessor-based gaming machines that follow a client/server configuration, provide flexibility through software control and the ability to communicate data and download software from a supporting server. Although EGMs are clients of a server, the configuration of the EGM may also be updated locally such as by software and/or data stored on nonvolatile media, e.g. compact flash memory card, which is directly loaded by the EGM. This enhances configuration flexibility and the ability to change a gaming application, i.e. game software currently controlling the EGM, without requiring support of the server. This is advantageous in permitting the EGM to be updated where the server is inoperative or communications are not available with the server. However, an update of an EGM not implemented by the server leaves the server with configuration data about the EGM that may not be current. Because the server relies on stored configuration information for each EGM for maintenance, reporting, authentication, etc., having incorrect configuration information at the server about an EGM can result in operational difficulties. Therefore, there is a need to minimize inconsistencies between the actual configuration of EGMs and configuration data about each EGM maintained by the supporting server.

Configuration synchronization between electronic gaming machines and a supporting server