An encoding and decoding apparatus is provided. In a coding process, a relation between a matching length and a matching-length code is dynamically changed in order to independently switch the matching length that can be expressed by the matching-length code from one value to another. By using a slide window in a data buffer as a dictionary, a character-string searching section searches for a state of matching a character sub-string in input data. A matching-length extension table is used for storing relations between matching lengths and matching-length codes as relations dependent on an internal state stored in an internal-state holding section. A matching-length coding section refers to the matching-length extension table in order to dynamically determine a relation between a matching length and a matching-length code as a relation dependent on an internal state. A character-string coding section generates a code string based on a relative position of a matching character sub-string in the slide window and a matching-length code associated with the matching length of the matching sub-string of characters.

The present application relates to a coding apparatus and a decoding apparatus, which are based on LZSS (Lempel-Ziv-Storer-Szymanski) codes. More particularly, the present application relates to a coding apparatus and a decoding apparatus, which dynamically change a relation between a matching length in a coding process and its code, and relates to a coding method adopted by the coding apparatus, a decoding method adopted by the decoding apparatus and a program which make a computer execute the coding method and decoding method.
The LZSS code is one of codes for a coding process based on a dictionary. The coding process based on LZSS codes includes a reversible data compression process as disclosed in "Introduction to Algorithms for Compressing Text Data" authored by Tomohiko Uematsu and published by CQ Publishing on Oct. 15, 1994, pp. 131 to 138. In a coding process based on LZSS codes, input data to be coded is delimited into symbols each having a fixed length of M bits. An example of such a symbol is a character. As a matter of fact, such a symbol is explained uniformly as a character in the following description. Thus, a character is taken as the smallest unit. Data is perceived as a long string of characters. A portion included in the string of characters as a sequence of characters is handled as a sub-string of characters. The entire string of characters is disassembled into a plurality of character sub-strings and a CODE code is assigned to each of the character sub-strings. There are two types of CODE code assigned to each sub-string of characters. One of the types of code is a PTR code obtained as a result of a coding process carried out by referencing a matching sub-string of characters in already coded data Qenc. The other type of code is a RAW code, which is the original character itself. In addition, a FLG sub-code having a length of 1 bit is provided as a flag for indicating whether the code type is PTR or RAW. The FLG sub-code and the CODE code form a pair of codes. This pair of codes is the code obtained as a result of a process to code a sub-string of characters.
The lengths of character sub-strings are confirmed sequentially starting with the first character of the input data in order to gradually carry forward a disassembly process to separate the sub-strings of characters from each other. The character sub-strings obtained as a result of a disassembly process do not include overlapping portions. The disassembly process to separate the sub-strings of characters from each other is carried out in such a way that, when one sub-string of characters is separated from the remaining sub-strings of characters, a character following immediately the tail character of the separated sub-string of characters becomes the head character of the character sub-string following the separated sub-string of characters. The sub-strings of characters separated from each other in a disassembly process are then coded sequentially. Prior to the disassembly process, only the head character H of a character sub-string is confirmed but the length is indeterminate. After the input data is disassembled into sub-strings of characters in accordance with the following procedure, however, the length of each character sub-string is determined.
First of all, already coded data Qenc is searched for a character matching the head character H of a character sub-string s to be separated in a disassembly process. The already coded data Qenc is a string of characters equal to input data starting from the head character of the input data and ending at the tail character of an already coded sub-string of characters. A range Qewin determined in advance has been set in the already coded data Qenc at a position relative to the character sub-string s to be separated in the disassembly process. The already coded data Qenc can be compared with only characters of the range Qewin. The range Qewin is also referred to as a slide window, a slide dictionary or another name.
When the range Qewin of the already coded data Qenc is searched for characters each matching the head character H of a character sub-string s to be separated in the disassembly process and at least one character is found in the search process, all character sub-strings each having the found character as its head character are each taken as an object of comparison with the character sub-string s. The comparison is carried out by gradually increasing the length of the character sub-string s to search for matching ones with a maximum length. Then, the matching character sub-string with the maximum length in the range Qewin is referred to as the longest matching character sub-string mstr. The length of the longest matching character sub-string mstr is referred to as mlen. The head character of the matching character sub-string mstr in the range Qewin is identified by its position relative to the head character H. If this position is represented by NP bits, the range Qewin can be used for storing up to 2NP characters where notation 2NP denotes a value equal to the NPth power of 2. That is to say, N is the upper limit of the number of characters that can be stored in the range Qewin.
In a process to code LZSS codes, the maximum matching length mlen is compared with a predetermined threshold value PTH. First of all, let us consider a case in which the maximum matching length mlen is greater than the predetermined threshold value PTH. In this case, if the maximum matching length mlen is not greater than a maximum length lmax that can be expressed by a matching-length code, the maximum matching length mlen is set in the matching length len. If the maximum matching length mlen is greater than the maximum length lmax, on the other hand, the maximum length lmax is set in the matching length len. If the matching length len is set in this way, the character sub-string s having the matching length len and the head character H as its head character is separated in a disassembly process and coded to generate (NP+NC) bits as a PTR code, which is a combination of a code p and a code c. To put it in detail, the code p consisting of NP bits is a code representing a number showing the position mpos of the head character nH of the longest matching character sub-string mstr in the range Qewin. On the other hand, the code c consisting of NC bits is a code representing the matching length len. In this case, the value of the FLG sub-code for the PTR code is 0.
Let us assume that the threshold value PTH is 2 and a sub-string of three characters 'fgh' in a slide window 111 of a data buffer 110 is detected in a search process as a character sub-string matching a character sub-string immediately following the slide window 111 as shown in FIG. 43A. In this case, a matching length defined as the length of the character sub-string matching a character sub-string immediately following the slide window 111 is three characters. The head character of the sub-string of three characters 'fgh' in a slide window 111 is the character 'f' and the relative position of the head character in the slide window 111 is a position of four. Thus, the PTR code is (4, 3). The FLG sub-code is set at 0 indicating that the code obtained as a result of the coding process is a PTR code.
If the maximum matching length mlen is not greater than the threshold value PTH or there is no character sub-string matching already coded data, on the other hand, only the head character H of the character sub-string is subjected to a disassembly process and the head character H is used as a RAW code having a length of M bits as it is. In this case, the FLG sub-code is set at 1 indicating that the code obtained as a result of the coding process is a RAW code.
For example, there is no character sub-string included in the slide window 111 as a character sub-string matching a head character 'k' immediately following the slide window 111 as shown in FIG. 43B. In this case, the head character 'k' is output as a RAW code and the FLG sub-code is set at one indicating that the code obtained as a result of the coding process is a RAW code.
In an LZSS-code decoding process, on the other hand, all character sub-strings corresponding to input codes starting with the first one and ending with the last one in the same order as codes generated in a coding process are decoded. A character sub-string obtained as a result of the decoding process is concatenated to the tail of already decoded data Qdec as additional Qdec. In this way, the original data generated by the decoding process is obtained as a character string that becomes longer gradually. Much like the data Qenc obtained as a result of a coding process, the data Qdec obtained as a result of a decoding process is referenced by using a number indicating a position relative to a character sub-string s serving as a decoding object of the decoding process. A FLG sub-code of 0 in the input code indicates that the CODE code of the input code is a PTR code. On the other hand, a FLG sub-code of 1 in the input code indicates that the CODE code of the input code is a RAW code. In the case of a RAW code, a character string consisting of only one character is concatenated to the tail of already decoded data Qdec as the CODE code. In the case of a PTR code, on the other hand, a code p is decoded to generate the position of the head character of a matching sub-string of characters and a code c is decoded to generate the matching length of the sub-string of characters. The position and the matching length are used to determine the sub-string of characters from the already decoded data Qdec. Then, the determined sub-string of characters is copied character by character starting with the head character and a result of the copy process is concatenated to the already decoded data Qdec. In this way, a sub-string of characters is obtained as a result of a process to decode CODE codes. By copying the determined sub-string of characters one character after another one starting with the head character and concatenating a result of the copy process to the already decoded data Qdec as described above, the copy process can be carried out correctly even if the determined sub-string of characters partially or wholly overlaps the character string being decoded. The matching length of the matching sub-string of characters changes from the value of the expression (PTH+1) to the value of the expression (the NCth power of 2+PTH) where notation NC denotes the number of bits representing the matching-length code c.
As described above, a PTR code for an LZSS code is a code including a number representing the position mpos of the head character of a matching character sub-string in a data buffer and the length len of the matching character sub-string. Let us assume that we consider a case in which the length len is associated with a code having a fixed bit count NC on a 1-to-1 basis. In this case, if the bit count NC is small, only few limited lengths len can be associated with a code having the fixed bit count NC. If the bit count NC is large, on the other hand, a large number of lengths len can be associated with a code having the fixed bit count NC. However, the use of a code having a small possible bit count NC to represent information provides a higher compression efficiency than the use of a code having a large bit count NC to represent the same information.
As is generally known, it is nice to provide a search range Qewin with a size of about 8,000 characters as a search range of already coded data. For more information on the search range, the reader is suggested to refer to a document such as non-Patent Document 1 described earlier. The bit count NP of the aforementioned position mpos is determined from the size of the search range Qewin. If the size of the search range Qewin is 4,092 characters, for example, a bit count NP of 12 bits can be used for expressing the aforementioned position mpos. However, a sub-string of characters to be disassembled into large lengths such as 1,000 characters does not appear frequently. Rather, the frequency of disassembling a sub-string of characters into small lengths is high. Therefore, the bit count of the length len is set at a value smaller than the bit count NP of the position mpos in many cases. Thus, in the case of a search range Qewin with a size of 4,092 characters, let us assume that a character sub-string with a length of 1,000 characters is found. Even in this case, it is possible to disassemble character sub-strings up to a character sub-string having a length equal to a maximum value limited by the bit count of the length len as the maximum value of the matching length. Let us assume for example that the bit count NC of the matching-length code is 4 and the threshold value PTH is 2. In this case, 16 different lengths, i.e., the lengths of 3 to 18, can be expressed by the matching-length code. Thus, even if the maximum value of the matching length is 1,000 characters, in the end, a string of characters is coded by disassembling the string of characters into character sub-strings each having a length not exceeding 18 characters.
As a method to get rid of this waste, an escape code showing an extension of the length is assigned to one of the 16 matching-length codes and, after a process to decode this escape code, another fixed bit count is further fetched. In this way, it is possible to adopt a conceivable method of using a code having a variable bit count, which is increased in stages. Even with this method, in order to carry out extension operations to produce a long character string such as a string having a length or 1,000 characters, the codes must be subjected to extension operations at several stages using several escape codes. Thus, this method raises problems that a short code cannot be assigned either and the processing becomes complicated.

Coding apparatus, decoding apparatus, coding method, decoding method and program


An infrared energy cooking and heating apparatus comprises an infrared layer or reflective coating, particularly on inner panels of ovens or other cooking devices. The coating is preferably an enamel and reflects the infrared energy to the food being cooked and heated. In particular, the infrared cooking apparatus are substantially faster than such processes in conventional ovens, and offer improvements in foodstuff cooking times. The enamel comprises metal oxide particles that enhance the infrared energy reflectivity of the enamel. Further, the metal oxide particles in the enamel can be formed in several ways so as to enhance the reflectivity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to enhanced reflectance infrared energy reflecting compositions for cooking apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ovens for cooking food have been known and used for thousands of years. One of the simplest and probably the oldest cooking of food resulted when food products were left next to a fire, perhaps on a hot rock, and cooked essentially by a heat transfer method of conduction. With refinement, an enclosure surrounding the heating element entrapped the heated air, giving rise to cooking by convective heat transfer. This process was the prototype for the modern gas or electric oven.
In the past century, radiant energy from energy radiation sources has been used to heat and directly cook foodstuffs. Within the past few decades, microwave ovens have become common, in which microwave radiation cooks the food. This has proved useful in allowing very short cooking times for many types of food.
Ovens using infrared energy sources, for example such as quartz halogen lamps, are used for quick heating of food. These quartz halogen lamp ovens can also be used for cooking, and are common in restaurants. In these ovens most of the heat is infrared energy. This infrared energy is reflected and a majority of the infrared energy is lost into the walls of the oven. The walls of these ovens do not reflect a sufficient amount of infrared energy cooking energy onto the food to be cooked to be an efficient user of energy.
Attempts have been made to line the inside of the quartz halogen lamp ovens with metallized coatings, which are often highly polished coatings. However, the highly polished surfaces cannot withstand the scrubbing and cleaning processes and materials to which ovens are subjected. The cleaning leads to a degradation of the polished metallized coating, and a subsequent reduction in the reflective efficiency of the oven.
Further, the metal reflective surfaces provide only a specular reflectance, and do not efficiently disperse and direct the infrared energy to the food to be heated. The specular reflectance by metallic surfaces provides a direct, "angle in equals angle out" type of reflectance. Thus, the specular reflectance merely reflects around the oven, without a substantial portion of the energy impinging on the food.
Specular reflection of energy from metallic surfaces for use in ovens is known, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,406 to King; U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,1443 to Craig et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,297 to Benson; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,479 to Itoh et al. These ovens specularly reflect energy, which as discussed above, reflects around the oven, without necessarily all of the energy impinging on the food. The specular reflectance is not dispersed throughout the oven to impinge onto the food. Accordingly, specular reflectance of the infrared energy by polished metal surfaces of an oven is energy inefficient.
It was generally believed that radiation with wavelengths much shorter than 1 micron is not useful in cooking or baking processes, partly because of the weaker interaction of the shorter wavelengths with the foodstuff molecules in terms of general heat transfer, and partly due to the inferior penetrating properties of such radiation. In particular, it was believed that visible light, i.e., radiation with a wavelength in a range between about 0.4 to about 0.7 micron, was not very useful in the cooking process.
However, if a sufficiently intense source of visible light radiation is used with sufficient infrared energy radiation reflection onto the food, an effective cooking apparatus results. The combination of the deeply penetrating reflected infrared radiation and the intense visible radiation establishes a temperature gradient within the interior of the foodstuff that ensures that the surface temperature of the foodstuff is hotter than the interior, and the products of the cooking, i.e., the water vapor and gases like CO.sub.2, are quickly driven to the surface and out of the foodstuff. This process results in a very rapid and efficient cooking of the food.
Using infrared radiation to cook food has a number of significant advantages. The cooking process is very fast. Bakery products, for example, can be baked 5 to 10 times faster than ovens that rely on conventional convection and conduction processes. The quality of the cooking process is enhanced for many foodstuffs. Vegetables are cooked so fast that they are virtually steamed in their own water vapor, leaving them hot, but with very little loss of any of their nutritive values.
The reflectance efficiency of a material composition is dependent on several factors. These factors include the particle size of the reflecting particles and the volume fraction or coverage over the surface of the material composition. An optimum particle size and volume fraction will optimize the reflectance in the desired wavelength. Thus, it is desirable to increase the particle size and increase the volume fraction so as to increase the reflectance of the material composition.
The reflectance efficiency of a certain irradiation wavelength is dependent on three primary factors. These factors are: 1) a difference in the refractive index of the high index scattering particles and the low index surrounding medium, i.e., the higher the difference between the scattering particles and the medium the better; 2) an optimum particle size, typically about 1/3 to 1/2 the subject wavelength; 3) and a volume fraction of the scattering particles, high enough to provide a required number of scatterers optimally spaced within the surrounding medium, thus effecting the refraction, diffraction and reflection.
Enamels contain oxide particles, for example, white enamels Q0808A, XT1056-4, T1363 and XT 1032 of the Ferro Corporation all contain oxides. These enamels comprise a white enamel with at least one of recrystallized and mill added Anatase TiO.sub.2. However, these enamels are not acceptable infrared reflectors because the size and amount or volume fraction of the Anatase TiO.sub.2 particles do not provide a sufficient degree of reflectance. Accordingly, even though these enamels contain Anatase TiO.sub.2, they are not suitable for infrared heating, and there is a significant degree of energy loss.
Anatase TiO.sub.2 is normally precipitated out of the enamel at a firing condition, for example 1500-1550.degree. F. for 3-10 minutes. Anatase TiO.sub.2 has a size less than about 0.5 .mu.m, and normally about 0.2 .mu.m. The state of the art white enamel with Anatase TiO.sub.2 crystals has a reflectivity of about less than .ltoreq.70%. This is not sufficient for efficient heating by infrared energy, since the reflectivity is low and the food will not heat quickly, thus resulting in a waste of energy. At this size, Anatase TiO.sub.2 is optimum for the desirable white color in enamels, caused by the efficient diffuse reflection of the visible spectrum of radiation. However even though an enamel contains Anatase TiO.sub.2, which reflects some heat and has desirable cleansing withstanding characteristics, it will not efficient for reflecting infrared energy to heat food, due to particle size.

Infrared energy reflecting composition and method of manufacture


According to the present invention, a buyer may submit a listing containing a description of an item desired to be purchased, such as an airline ticket, to an operator of an automated selling system. The automated selling system may be a server or series of servers accessible via a computer network, such as the Internet. The listing may contain a maximum price at which the buyer is willing to purchase the item. In the case of an airline ticket, the description accompanying the listing may contain a point of departure, a destination, desired flight times, number of travelers, and/or a specification of acceptable airlines. A plurality of sellers designate listings for which they submit bids to the operator. In the case where the sellers are airlines, the sellers may designate originating and destination city-pairs, a listing of available flights, a floor price for a city-pair, and a range of acceptable prices for one or more bidding rounds. The floor price applicable to a given listing determined from the highest floor price submitted by the eligible sellers for that listing. If only one seller submits a bid, and the bid is less than or equal to the price submitted by the buyer, that seller is selected to make the sale and provide the item. If there are multiple eligible sellers, the sale is awarded to a seller after a predetermined number of rounds of bidding, applying predefined system rules.

Airlines and other sellers have developed sophisticated revenue management systems (RMSs) to optimize revenue. Generally, when a flight is first added to an airline's flight schedule, the airline's revenue management system attempts to maximize revenue for the flight by establishing a plurality of fare classes and then allocating the number of seats and price assigned to each fare class. The revenue management system will thereafter continue to monitor the actual demand within each fare class relative to forecasted demand, to dynamically reevaluate the inventory allocation and pricing of each fare class for a given flight. In this manner, the airlines attempt to fly each aircraft as full as possible without allowing earlier-booking discount-fare passengers to displace later-booking full-fare passengers.
While conventional revenue management systems employ sophisticated tools to anticipate future travel, forecasting errors invariably lead to unanticipated excess capacity. In addition, an airline can utilize its revenue management system to forecast its anticipated excess capacity on a given flight associated with seats that are predicted to be empty. Furthermore, unexpected external events, such as a price war or extreme weather conditions, can also affect an airline's excess capacity. Thus, in an attempt to reduce such excess capacity, airlines periodically reevaluate the inventory allocation and pricing of each fare class for a given flight. An airline cannot simply discount the published fares for such unsold seats, however, without either starting a fare war or compromising its own underlying fare structure (i.e., without also reducing its full-fare prices for business travelers).
Although many airlines fill empty seats with "standby" passengers, this practice is typically limited to instances where some oversight on the part of either the passenger or the airline has occurred. For example, the passenger's flight may have been overbooked, the passenger may have missed an original flight, or the passenger may have purchased a ticket at or near the time of the flight. Moreover, standby travel is costly for the airline and is inconvenient for the passenger because there is no guarantee that the passenger will get to fly on the same day.
In addition, airlines attempt to sell excess capacity utilizing consolidators, who traditionally sell airline tickets at a discount. Since the terms of the relationship between the airlines and the consolidators are generally not flight specific and are typically defined months in advance, the sale of tickets through a consolidator does not provide a sufficiently dynamic mechanism for airlines to sell such excess capacity when actual demand fails to meet forecasted demand.
Previous attempts have been made to address the sale of excess capacity for items such as airline tickets. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207 entitled "Method And Apparatus For A Cryptographically Assisted Commercial Network System Designed To Facilitate Buyer-Driven Conditional Purchase Offers" provides a system by which buyers may submit a price at which they agree to purchase an item, such as an airline ticket, and to be flexible with regard to the identity of the seller, the travel itinerary, etc. One or more sellers may be notified of the buyer's conditional purchase offer and a seller may accept the conditional purchase offer. A system of this type is available on the Internet at www.priceline.com. Priceline.com uses preferential pricing made available to it by sellers (who remain anonymous until the transaction is complete) to accept conditional purchase offers from buyers. A successful buyer at priceline.com is charged his or her offer price, while priceline.com purchases the ticket from the supplier at the preferential price. Priceline.com keeps the difference between the offer price and the preferred purchase price, and may also charge a fee from the buyer when a sale is completed. The priceline.com system allows sellers to anonymously make discounted sales below published price without disrupting normal sales channels.
Another system that has been available on the Internet at www.travelbids.com allows buyers to post a fare corresponding to a reservation for travel by the buyer, so that travel agents could find a more favorable fare and make the sale. In an alternative embodiment available on the TravelBids site from 1998 to 2000, a buyer could post a "Maximum Price Listing" of the maximum amount the traveler was willing to pay for travel without the need to make a prior reservation. Travel agents, consolidators, or the airlines themselves would then review the listings in a billboard fashion and try to respond with travel arrangements at or below the Maximum Price Listing to obtain the sale. Like priceline.com, the TravelBids site did not allow the buyer to review the details of the transaction, e.g., airline and itinerary, before being bound to make a purchase. However, the buyer could specify that the maximum price they were willing to pay was conditional upon certain factors. These factors might be the number of stops that are acceptable or the hours of acceptable travel, or even the particular airline carriers wanted by the buyer.

Automated ticket selling system having a maximum price setting


A memory device having a plurality of memory arrays. Each array has a plurality of memory cells, each memory cell including an electrode defining a respective contact area. Each memory array is formed by depositing a continuous chalcogenide layer. This chalcogenide layer, even when continuous, will have active areas formed above the electrodes, and a conductive layer electrically coupling at least a portion of the active areas. The memory array can also include a dielectric volume surrounding at least a portion of the plurality of electrodes. The electrodes can be contacts, plugs or pillars deposited in etched openings in the dielectric volume.

The present invention relates generally to the use of chalcogenide materials in semiconductor devices, and more particularly relates to a method for forming a chalcogenide memory layer for non-volatile memory integrated circuits and to memory arrays including multi-state materials therein.
Generally, chalcogenides are multi-state materials, that is, materials which may be electrically stimulated to change states, from an amorphous state to a crystalline state, for example, or to exhibit different resistivities while in the crystalline state. Thus, chalcogenide elements may be utilized, for example, as memory cells in a random access memory (RAM) integrated circuit (IC) to store binary data, or data represented in higher-based systems. Such memory cells will typically include a cell accessible, for example, by a potential applied to digit lines, in a manner conventionally utilized in memory devices. Typically, the cell will include the chalcogenide element as a resistive element, and will include an access or isolation device coupled to the chalcogenide element. In one exemplary implementation suitable for use in a RAM, the access device may be a diode.
Many chalcogenide alloys may be contemplated for use with the present invention. For example, alloys of tellurium, antimony and germanium may be particularly desirable, and alloys having from approximately to 55-85 percent tellurium and on the order of 15-25 percent germanium, are contemplated for use in accordance with the present invention. Preferably, the chalcogenide element will be generally homogeneous (although gradiented alloys may be utilized), and will be alloys formed from tellurium, selenium, germanium, antimony, bismuth, lead, strontium, arsenic, sulfur, silicon, phosphorus, oxygen and mixtures or alloys of such elements. The alloys will be selected so as to establish a material capable of assuming multiple, generally stable, states in response to a stimulus. It is contemplated that in most cases, the stimulus will represent an electrical signal, and that the multiple states will be states of differing electrical resistance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,219 is believed to be generally illustrative of the existing state of the art relative to chalcogenide materials, and is believed to provide explanations regarding the current theory of function and operation of chalcogenide elements and their use in memory cells. The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,219 to Ovshinski et al., issued Aug. 2, 1994, is incorporated herein by reference, for all purposes. An exemplary specific chalcogenide alloy suitable for use in the present invention is one consisting of Te.sub.56 Ge.sub.22 Sb.sub.22.
A cell as generally described above can include electrodes which contact the chalcogenide resistive element. At least one of these electrodes may be one of the identified digit lines, or may be an intermediate conductor. Such a cell will also have a chalcogenide "active area", that is, an area of the chalcogenide element which can be programmed to have different resistivity values. The larger the active area, the more current and the more time is necessary to program the memory cell.
In existing devices where chalcogenide materials are used in memory devices, the chalcogenide elements are small and discrete elements, each physically and electrically isolated from each other. Creating a plurality of separate chalcogenide islands has necessitated additional and precise etching and masking steps. Furthermore, it has required prolonged exposure of unprotected chalcogenide during manufacturing.
Chalcogenide materials are very susceptible to damage by most present silicon semiconductor processing techniques. Silicon processing can require temperatures that liquify chalcogenides, thus destroying them as process-worthy materials. However, chalcogenides are compatible with metalization and passivation processes. In part, this is due to the fact that these processes are performed at lower temperatures; typically below 350.degree. C. Additionally, chalcogenide materials are very easily contaminated. Direct contact between silicon and chalcogenide can "poison" both materials, rendering each inoperable. For this reason, isolation barriers, or diffusion barriers, must often be included to prevent undesirable contamination of the chalcogenide material.
Techniques for forming a chalcogenide memory cell have included the establishing of a chalcogenide electrode with an insulation layer thereon. A hole is then formed in the insulation layer, forming an access port. The chalcogenide layer has then been deposited, establishing electrical communication through the hole. Conventional techniques of forming the hole and the insulation layer have included the application of a high current pulse to open a hole having a diameter on the order of 0.1-0.2 microns. Additional attempts have been made to rely upon photolithography to establish an opening through the insulation layer.
Accordingly, the present invention provides new methods for forming a chalcogenide memory array having a continuous chalcogenide layer extending across a plurality of cells. The methods and apparatus of the present invention prevent damage to the chalcogenide layer and provide higher manufacturing efficiency by reducing the number of masking and etching steps. Additionally, chalcogenide cells manufactured in accordance with the present invention may provide a plurality of high-density memory cells with small and discrete active areas.

Memory array having a multi-state element and method for forming such array or cells thereof


A printer having a plurality of data input ports for printing out information input through each data input port on paper fed by a paper feeding device. The printer includes a main body; paper cassettes for storing the paper therein, each paper cassette made detachable from the main body; a plurality of setting portions to be set so as to direct whether or not each paper cassette is to be used for printing out information input through a predetermined data input port, the plurality of setting portions being provided for each paper cassette; a plurality of sensors for detecting the content of the setting portions when each paper cassette is installed in the main body; and a control section for, when printing out information input through each of the plurality of data input ports, controlling the paper feeding device to feed the paper within each paper cassette which is assigned for each data input port, based on results of the detection by the plurality of sensors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer having a plurality of data input ports (hereinafter, referred to as DIPs) and being capable of printing out information input through each DIP.
2. Description of the Related Art
A high-speed type printer is usually equipped with a plurality of DIPs, and is capable of printing out information input through each DIP. Accordingly, such a printer can be shared by different administrative departments, so as to curtail costs and save space for installation thereof, etc.
Such a printer as described above is usually equipped with a plurality of paper cassettes; information is printed out on paper fed from each paper cassette. More specifically, information input through each DIP is printed out on paper fed from a paper cassette which is selected either arbitrarily or according to the size of the paper stored therein. In other words, in printing out information, the paper within a paper cassette is used without specifying which DIP the information derives from.
As a result, it is impossible to separately determine the amount of paper used for printing out information input through each DIP. This results in a problem that, in the case where several administrative departments share a printer, the amount of paper used by each department cannot be determined, making it impossible to accurately split costs among the administrative departments in proportion to the amount of paper used by each administrative department.

Paper cassette having a plurality of switches for selecting an input data port


A method of modifying a polyethylene is disclosed. In the method ethylene or a mixture of ethylene and a C3-C10 α-olefin is polymerized in an organic solvent with a Ziegler or single-site catalyst to form an initial polyethylene solution. The initial polyethylene solution is then reacted with a free radical initiator to produce a modified polyethylene. The modified polymer has an enhanced melt elasticity and increased long chain branching index, and is essentially free of gel.

Free radical polymerization of ethylene, with or without the presence of comonomers, produces low density polyethylene (LDPE). LDPE has excellent thermal processability but low mechanical strength due to its high concentration of long chain branches. Ziegler and single-site catalysts generally produce linear polyethylene which has little or no long chain branching. Linear polyethylene can be high density, medium density, or low density depending on the amount of longer chain α-olefins incorporated. Linear polyethylenes usually have superior strength at equivalent densities compared with LDPE. However, linear polyethylenes usually have unsatisfied thermal processability.
Methods to improve the processability of polyethylenes have been developed to allow for the easier processing of polyethylene products. One approach is to combine the polyethylene with a free radical initiator in a single or double-screw extruder. This process is generally performed at a temperature sufficient to melt the polyethylene and to allow the polyethylene to react with the peroxide, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,603,173 and 5,639,818. While thermal peroxidation in an extruder can result in long chain branching, which improves the melt strength, the process can also lead to unwanted crosslinking and gel formation.
It would be commercially useful to have a method of modifying polyethylenes that improves their processability without the undesirable side effects.

Modifying polyethylene made by Ziegler or single-site catalyst with free radical initiator


The variability of an etchant concentration in an immersion processes for treatment of semiconductor devices can be significantly lowered by continuously measuring the conductivity of an etchant solution and comparing against predetermined thresholds. The etchant concentration can be maintained by a feed and bleed process based on conductivity measurements of the etchant solution and the conductivity measurements being correlated with premeasured pH values of an etchant solution.

Etching is a process that can texturize the surface of a silicon wafer. Silicon wafers having texturized surfaces are useful as solar cells as less incident light is reflected off the wafer surface. As a result more light energy is absorbed by the silicon, making the silicon wafer more efficient in energy capture. The pattern of the texture directly affects the reflectance of the solar cell.
Although the chemical reaction is well known, the anisotropic etching of silicon is a complex process. This is particularly true in the solar industry where a large mass of silicon is typically introduced into an etch bath. The etch by-products (silicates) affect the balance of the etching species. If adequate compensation is not made for these by-products, a significant drop in etch rate and an increase in contamination levels is typically noticed. Because of this contamination, production lines suffer from unpredictable wafer characteristics and lower cell performance. Previous attempts to control the etch rate included using refractory sensors for measuring the content of particulates in the etchant solution, which was used to calculate the progress of an etching reaction. Such methods are limited by the type of refractory sensor that may be effectively used to measure particulate amounts.
Thus, a need exists for a system and/or method that can effectively maintain consistent etch rate at a desired level over an entire bath life using measurement techniques other than refractory sensors. Furthermore, a need exists for a system and/or method that, produces consistent textorization patterns on the silicon wafers over the entire bath life.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Correlation between conductivity and pH measurements for KOH texturing solutions and additives


A method is provided for the isolation of high purity crystalline citalopram (1-[3-dimethylamino)propyl}-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-1, 3-dihydro-5-isobenzofurancarbonitrile) base directly from the alkylation reaction mixture of 5-cyanophthalane with N,N-dimethylaminoprpylchloride in a polar aprotic solvent using a strong base. The method comprises: (a) diluting the reaction mixture with ice cold water and extracting the resulting mixture with a water-immiscible organic solvent; (b) re-extracting the water-immiscible organic solvent extract with an aqueous acid; (c) diluting the aqueous acid extract with a substantially equal volume of a water miscible organic solvent, based on the volume of water in the aqueous acid extract; (d) adjusting the pH to basic with an inorganic base to precipitate free crystalline base and (e) further isolating the precipitated free crystalline base by filration.

Citalopram and its pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts, such as its hydrogen bromide salt (Formula (I)) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,193, are anti-depressant drugs with few side effects.

Various processes for the preparation of citalopram have been described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,193 describes the alkylation of cyanophthalane with 3-dimethylaminopropylchloride, using sodium hydride as a base in a dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) medium (Scheme-1). The reaction mixture is poured into ice water and extracted with ether. Then, after standard acid-base work-up, crude citalopram base is isolated as an oil. The isolated oil is purified by high vacuum distillation, (0.03 mm at 175-180° C.) and then converted to the hydrobromide salt.

Another process, as described in WO-A-98/19511, is the alkylation of cyanophthalane with 3-dimethylaminopropylchloride in the presence of a strong base (such as n-butyl lithium) and diisopropylamine in a dimethoxyethane medium at −50° C. (Scheme-2). After completion of the reaction, the reaction mixture is poured into ice water and extracted with toluene. After standard acid-base work-up using toluene as solvent, citalopram base is isolated as an oil. The oily base is then converted to acid addition salts such as citalopram hydrobromide and hydrochloride by conventional methods.

A drawback of the above two processes is that the citalopram base is isolated as an oil. Purification of citalopram oily base is carried out by high vacuum distillation (0.03 mm) at 175-181° C. Achieving such a very high vacuum at plant level is difficult and hence the process described is not easily transferable to the commercial scale. Apart from these constraints, citalopram base having a cyano group at the 5th position of the bicyclic ring system may decompose during high vacuum distillation at high temperature to form citalopram carboxamide as an impurity, resulting in poor quality and yield.
In yet another process, citalopram is made as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,884. The process involves the successive Grignard reaction of 5-cyanophthalane with 4-fluorophenylmagnesiumbromide and N,N-dimethylaminopropylmagnesiumchloride and the cyclization of the resulting diol to obtain citalopram base as an oil (Scheme-3). The oily base is converted to the hydrobromide salt using anhydrous hydrogen bromide gas in acetone medium. Due to the poor quality of the oily base, repeated crystallization of the hydrobromide was necessary to obtain a pharmaceutically acceptable quality of citalopram hydrobromide.

Using the same strategy, citalopram base may be made as described in CA-A-1,339,452 [equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,590, EP-A-347066 & GB-A-8,814,057 Scheme-3]. The racemic diol base, as described in the patent, is dissolved in dichloromethane. Triethylamine and methane sulphonyl chloride are added over a period of 1 hour. The reaction mixture is then washed twice with 0.1M sodium hydroxide solution, the organic phase is separated and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulphate followed by solvent concentration under reduced pressure, and the citalopram base is isolated as a crystalline solid. For the first time, citalopram base has been reported as a crystalline solid. However, no physical data are described here [EP-A-347066]. The solid base is converted to the hydrobromide salt using anhydrous hydrogen bromide gas in acetone medium.
DE-A-20 007 303 discloses yet another process for the isolation of citalopram base, as a solid, from citalopram hydrobromide. However, the process for making citalopram hydrobromide is not described. The isolated crystalline base is then converted into the desired salt. According to the process described here, pure citalopram hydrobromide is dissolved in 5 volumes of water and the pH is adjusted to about 10 with 6N sodium hydroxide. Citalopram base is then extracted into a non-polar organic solvent, such as toluene. The toluene is distilled off under reduced pressure and the resulting residue is triturated with n-heptane to precipitate citalopram base as a solid. The solid is then filtered to produce crystalline citalopram base.
The main disadvantage of this process is that citalopram hydrobromide has to be made first from the crude oily base isolated from the prior art process and then converted back to solid citalopram base. Then, the solid base is again converted to its corresponding hydrobromide salt. Thus, the process involves multiple operations which are tedious and time consuming. In addition, prolonged heating of citalopram base may increase the carboxamide impurity, resulting in poor quality citalopram.

Process for the isolation of high purity crystalline citalopram base


A pneumatic tire includes: a bead core; a bead filler; a carcass ply; a side wall rubber that is arranged on the tire-outer-surface-side of the carcass ply and constitutes a tire outer surface; a chafer layer that is turned from the tire-inner-surface-side to the tire-outer-surface-side around the bead core and the bead filler and rolled up on an outer surface of the carcass ply; a pair of a tape rubber and a rear pad rubber that are located between the side wall rubber and the carcass ply and arranged so as to hold a rolled-up end of the chafer layer from both sides in a tire width direction; and a tread rubber, in which modulus values of the pair of the tape rubber and the rear pad rubber are higher than a modulus value of the side wall rubber, and the tread rubber contains silica.

There is known a pneumatic tire with a pad rubber in a bead part. For example, Japanese Patent No. 5442762 and Japanese Patent No. 5944826 disclose a pneumatic tire in which a pad rubber is arranged on the tire-outer-surface-side of a carcass ply so as to correspond to the outside of a bead filler in a tire width direction. The pad rubber suppresses the concentration of distortion near an outer-diameter-side end of the bead filler caused by a load input from a rim flange and/or deformation of a side wall part, etc., when rolling under a load and therefore, separation of the carcass ply rolled up thereon is suppressed.
The pad rubber according to Japanese Patent No. 5442762 is arranged over the tire-inner-surface-side of a rim strip rubber and a side wall rubber adjacent to the outer-diameter-side of the rim strip rubber in a tire radial direction. The pad rubber according to Japanese Patent No. 5944826 is arranged on the tire-inner-surface-side of the rim strip rubber.


A toilet includes a tank, a pedestal, and a mounting assembly. The tank includes a bottom wall. The bottom wall includes an opening and a bottom surface. The pedestal includes an opening and a top surface. The opening of the pedestal is aligned with the opening of the bottom wall. The mounting assembly includes a mounting plate, a nut, and a gasket. The mounting plate is configured to be coupled to the pedestal and includes an opening aligned with the opening of the pedestal. The nut holds the mounting plate against the bottom surface of the bottom wall and includes a rounded portion. The gasket is disposed about the opening of the pedestal and along the top surface of the pedestal and includes a concave surface that is configured for receiving the rounded portion of the nut.

The present application relates generally to systems and methods for coupling a tank of a toilet to a pedestal of the toilet. In particular, this application relates to a mounting assembly that facilitates adjustment of the tank relative to the pedestal prior to coupling the tank to the pedestal.
Generally speaking, a two-piece toilet may include a tank that is separate from and coupled to a pedestal (e.g., using a two-bolt connection, etc.) that includes the toilet bowl. In such toilets, the tank is typically mounted on top of the pedestal. This mounting is typically facilitated by coupling a flush canister, positioned within the tank and extending from the tank, to a mounting plate using a nut, and then subsequently aligning a gasket with the nut, pressing the gasket onto the nut, aligning the gasket with a pedestal inlet on the pedestal, and coupling the mounting plate to the pedestal. Using this arrangement, vertical alignment of the tank relative to the pedestal is accomplished by tightening or loosening the nut and horizontal alignment of the tank relative to the pedestal is accomplished by horizontally moving the mounting plate relative to the pedestal. As such, alignment of the tank relative to the pedestal is tedious and often difficult to perform. This alignment can be made even more difficult if the mounting plate were inadvertently bent by a user. Furthermore, the multitude of connection points between the tank and the pedestal increase the likelihood that a leak of the toilet will occur.

Systems and methods for coupling a tank of a toilet to a pedestal of the toilet


A security system device including a single housing including at least a primary alarm sensor, an alarm verification unit, and processing circuitry. The primary alarm sensor is adapted to monitor a primary protected area and to generate a primary alarm signal when the primary alarm sensor is triggered. The alarm verification unit selectively provides verification information (e.g. video and/or audio signals) from at least part of the primary protected area to a central station monitor. The processing circuitry is adapted to generate an alarm enable signal when the primary alarm signal is generated. On the occurrence of an alarm enable signal, the processing circuitry generates an alarm detected signal and causes the alarm detected signal to be transmitted to a central station monitor, enables operation of the alarm verification unit, and enables transmission of the verification information from the protected area to the central station monitor. A secondary alarm sensor may also be included within the housing, in which case the alarm enable signal is generated only on the triggering of both the primary and secondary alarm sensors. The primary alarm sensor may be adapted to cause the sensitivity of the secondary alarm sensor to be modified on the triggering of the primary alarm sensor.

Alarm security systems utilize various types of alarm sensor devices mounted in a premises such as a house or business establishment in order to determine if an intruder has breached the premises. As well known in the art, an alarm sensor device will send a signal to a control panel once an intrusion is detected, and the control panel will perform one or more actions, such as sounding a siren and/or transmitting a signal to a central station monitoring service. The central station monitoring service may dispatch security personnel upon receipt of the alarm message from the control panel, for example police or private security personnel may be requested to visit the premises and investigate.
False alarms are sometimes generated by the alarm sensors under certain conditions. These conditions may include environmental occurrences (e.g. a PIR sensor detects a change in temperature in a protected area that is not due to a person entering it) or they may be due to human error (e.g. a homeowner inadvertently setting off the alarm while in the premises). In order to avoid the central station dispatching security personnel unnecessarily as a result of a false alarm, it is desired to be able to utilize an alarm verification process that enables a person at the central station to verify the identity of a person in the protected area of the premises (e.g. to make visual and/or audio contact with the area under surveillance) and make a decision as to whether or not to dispatch security personnel.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a security system peripheral device that enables a person at the central station to make visual and/or audio contact with the area under surveillance with an alarm verification unit at the premises and make a judgment as to whether or not to dispatch security personnel.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device that triggers operation of the alarm verification unit only on the occurrence of an alarm condition as detected by an alarm sensor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a single housing that integrates the alarm verification technology with the alarm sensor(s) that it is triggered by in order to provide ease of installation.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a multi-technology alarm sensing device that substantially reduces the occurrences of false alarms.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide sensing devices that interact with each other with interactive processing.
It is still further object of the present invention to provide an alarm verification unit that may be alternatively triggered by a person at the premises in the event of a panic situation so that central station personnel may provide aid to the person if required.

Integrated alarm detection and verification device


A system and method for lot priority adjustment. The system includes a database, a calculation unit and an adjustment unit. The database stores at least a committed date for a lot, a throughput rate and a cycle time for respective route operations in a production line, and Work-In-Process (WIP) information of the production line. The calculation unit calculates an x-ratio for the lot on a target route operation according to a current time, the committed date and a remaining cycle time for the lot, calculates a lot weight for the lot according to current loading of a predetermined number of route operations subsequent to the target route operation, and calculates a weighted x-ratio according to the x-ratio and the lot weight. The adjustment unit adjusts a priority for the lot according to the weighted x-ratio.

The present invention relates to production management, and more particularly to a system and method capable of dynamically adjusting lot priority.
Supply chain performs the functions of purchase of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and distribution of these finished products to customers. The supply of services is in many ways similar to the supply of products. To strengthen competitiveness, supply chain management has become an important issue to meet the goals of reduced inventory and increased productivity, and particularly to enhance service quality.
On-time delivery is critical to successful supply chain management, that is, it is necessary to closely and carefully monitor the lot processing progress in order to achieve the goal. Currently, a manufacturing department sets different targets for respective lots everyday, and these daily targets must be accomplished to ensure on-time delivery. According to the daily targets, supervisors are concerned with the lot processing progress, and collect related information from different sources, such as product databases, planning systems, manufacturing execution systems, and others to determine whether those targets have been fulfilled. If the rate of progress of a lot falls behind its target, supervisors must manually survey all related lots and properly adjust the lot priority in order to meet the desired target. Since there is no mechanism to automatically and dynamically adjust lot processing priority, however, manual surveying is inefficient in gathering related information.
Additionally, conventional adjustment ignores production variance between the relative operation completion times between lots. Thus, the inevitable production variance between lots adds to the difficulty of achieving an optimized distribution of Work-In-Process (i.e., the lots) over the entire production schedule, resulting in short supply of some specific lots, particularly lots with low priority, and resulting failure of on-time delivery.

System and method for lot priority adjustment

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A semiconductor storage device includes a bridge chip and memory chips connected to the bridge chip by a plurality of channels. The bridge chip includes a first delay circuit for setting the start of a first timing signal for a first memory chip output via a first channel and a second delay circuit for setting the start of for second timing signal for a second memory chip output via a second channel. A controller on the bridge chip controls at least one of the first and second delay circuits to adjust the start time of at least one of the first and second timing signals such that data sequences from the first and second memory chips will be aligned in time. The controller combines the data sequence from the first memory chip with the data sequence from the second memory chip to generate an interleaved serial sequence.

There is a semiconductor storage device in which a bridge chip is disposed between an external terminal group and a plurality of memory chips. In the semiconductor storage device, the external terminal group is connected to a host, and the host accesses the plurality of memory chips via the bridge chip.

Semiconductor storage device, memory system, and method


An automated system for tool mark analysis includes an acquisition mechanism for acquiring 3D data of tool marks left on the surfaces of specimens by tools, a signature generation module for generating tool mark signatures from the acquired data, an analysis unit for comparing pairs of the tool mark signatures to obtain a numerical similarity value reflective of their similarity, and a database in which the similarity values are stored. An automated method for tool mark analysis involves the steps of acquiring the 3D data of tool marks, generating the tool mark signature, statistically evaluating pairs of the tool mark signatures, and providing a numerical similarity value for each pair of tool mark signatures reflecting the degree of similarity between the tool mark signatures of each pair. The method is carried out with automated assistance of a computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automated tool mark analysis and, more particularly, to the automated acquisition and comparison of tool mark data using three-dimensional information.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
Objects that are acted or operated on by tools are normally left with tool marks as a result of being acted or operated on by the tools. Many types of commonly used mechanical tools, such as screw drivers, pliers, bolt cutters, crimping tools, hammers and other mechanical tools, impart tool marks to the objects they are used on. Tool marks generally comprise regions where the surfaces of the objects have been deformed or altered because microscopic imperfections on the working surface or surfaces of a particular tool are transferred to the surface of the object on which the tool is used, creating depth or elevational variances in the surfaces of the objects. An individual tool mark may present many depth or elevational variances, and these variances are often microscopic so as to be indetectable with the naked eye. Different types of tools will ordinarily create different types of tool marks in accordance with the structure of the tool and the manner in which the tool operates to apply force or pressure to the object. Tool marks that predominantly present striations may be considered striated tool marks, and tools that impart striated tool marks may be referred to as striation-creating tools. Tool marks that predominantly present impressions may be considered impressed tool marks, and tools that impart impressed tool marks may be referred to as impression-creating tools. Some tools may be both striation-creating and impression-creating tools. Slotted screw drivers and tongue and groove pliers are examples of tools that create striated tool marks on objects on which the tools are operatively utilized. Crimping tools, bolt cutters and hammers are examples of tools that create impressed tool marks on objects on which the tools are operatively utilized. Tongue and groove pliers are representative of tools that can create impressed tool marks and striated tool marks (along two possible axes, parallel and perpendicular to the plier jaws) on objects on which the tools are operatively utilized.
Forensic examination of tool marks is normally performed by a tool marks examiner, who is responsible for determining whether a suspect tool created an evidence tool mark. In practice, the tool marks examiner typically creates test tool marks using the suspect tool, and then compares microscopic surface features of the test tool marks with microscopic surface features of the evidence tool mark. Currently these tool mark-to-tool mark comparisons are made manually by the tool marks examiner visually inspecting pairs of tool marks under a comparison microscope, making forensic tool mark examination a very time consuming process. In reaching a conclusion, the tool marks examiner relies on his or her training and judgement, thusly requiring for credibility a high level of training and skill on the part of the tool marks examiner. Even if certain of a particular conclusion, however, the tool marks examiner is generally unable to quantify his or her level of certainty or the probability of making an erroneous conclusion. The foregoing limitations of current tool mark evaluation are particularly disadvantageous in view of the raised expectations for quantitative precision in forensic analysis resulting from the development of DNA identification techniques and the high level of accuracy achievable in the establishment of error rates associated with DNA identification. In addition, recent Supreme Court decisions have established a trend toward requiring objective validity for forensic and scientific testimony and evidence.
Automated comparison and analysis systems have been proposed for forensic identification, and the majority of these rely on two dimensional (2D) representations of the three dimensional (3D) surface features of objects or specimens. The 2D representations are derived from 2D data acquisition which is fundamentally an indirect measurement of the 3D surface features. In 2D data acquisition, a source of light is directed at the specimen's surface, and a camera records the light as it is reflected by the specimen's surface. The 2D data acquisition process is based on the fact that the light reflected by the specimen's surface is a function of its surface features. For this 2D acquisition methodology to be effective, the incident light angle and the camera view angle cannot be the same with respect to the specimen's surface and, in actuality, must be significantly different in order to obtain a pattern of dark-and-bright reflections of the specimen's surface.
One problem of 2D data acquisition is that the transformation relating light incident on the specimen's surface and light reflected by the specimen's surface depends not only on the surface features but also on numerous independent parameters including the incident light angle, the camera angle, variations in the reflectivity of the specimen's surface, light intensity and accurate specimen orientation. Consequently, the acquired 2D data is also dependent on these parameters. Existing 2D-based analysis and comparison systems ordinarily do not compensate for the effects of these parameters on the acquired 2D data. Another problem of 2D data acquisition relates to the phenomenon of "shadowing" resulting from smaller surface features being "shadowed" by larger surface features for a given incident light angle. Arbitrarily small changes in the incident light angle may determine whether certain surface features are detected or not, and a similar problem applies to the angle of view of the camera. In mathematical terms, the transformation between the incident light and the reflected light is discontinuous with respect to the incident light angle (and the angle of view of the camera), such that there may be regions of the specimen's surface where the acquired data does not accurately reflect the surface features. Some of the benefits of 2D data relate to the relatively faster speeds with which 2D data can be acquired, as opposed to 3D data, and to the familiarity of tool marks examiners with 2D representations of a specimen's surface.
In contrast to 2D data acquisition, 3D data acquisition is for all practical purposes a direct measurement. Data acquired using a 3D-based data acquisition methodology is in general more robust than that attainable with existing 2D-based automated microscopic examination systems. The richness of a 3D characterization of the surface of an object surpasses that of a 2D characterization. Furthermore, 3D-based data acquisition methodologies generally avoid arbitrary large errors in the measurement of surface features in response to small variations in the incident light angle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,634 to Bachrach et al and No. 6,505,140 to Bachrach are representative of 3D-based automated systems and methods in the area of ballistics analysis.

Automated system and method for tool mark analysis


Channel impulse response estimation employs a training sequence to enable correction for multipath and other disturbances affecting a signal during transmission via a digital wireless communication channel. High-speed packet transmission rates, with a training sequence for each packet, are made possible by training sequence construction enabling fast algorithm processing of received signals for impulse response estimation. Upon reception, a Toeplitz-type mathematical representation is constructed based on transmitted and received versions of a training sequence. The Toeplitz-type representation may then be processed by application of fast algorithms, such as Levinson-type algorithms, to determine coefficients representative of the communication channel impulse response. These coefficients, applied to an adaptive equalizer type of filter, enable correction for signal disturbances incurred in transmission. Channel impulse response estimation methods and systems are described.

This invention relates to digital wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to transmission channels subject to disturbances such as frequency-selective fading and multipath effects.
In high data throughput wireless digital communication systems, the maximum data transmission rate may be limited by disturbances in the wireless propagation path (i.e., the communication channel). These effects include disturbances such as frequency-selective fading and multipath (copies of the transmitted signal delayed in time to the receiver due to reflections from objects and atmospheric phenomena between the transmitter and the receiver). These disturbances may result in interference between the digitally-modulated symbols representing the information bits to be transmitted, thus impairing the receiver's demodulator from correctly decoding the received symbols to arrive at accurate bit decisions. This "intersymbol interference" may cause the received symbols to overlap the decision boundaries in the complex signal space to adjacent symbols and result in either bit decision errors or lowered bit decision confidence. Systems subject to these effects may thus be required to operate at lower data throughput rates or higher error rates than would otherwise be attainable.
A traditional solution to such channel disturbance problems is to provide an adaptive equalizer consisting of a digital filter whose coefficients can be adjusted to model the inverse of the actual channel impulse response. The resulting digital filter thus enables compensation for the effects of channel nonlinearity by providing this reciprocal of the actual channel impulse response (e.g., a polarity-inverted representation of the channel transmission characteristics as degraded by whatever such disturbances are actually present at a particular time). The determination of the channel impulse response is typically performed by transmitting a test pattern (i.e., a training sequence) to excite the channel at all frequencies, or all frequencies of significant interest, within the data bandwidth of interest and measuring the resulting effect on the training sequence waveform upon transmission through the channel. The calculation of filter coefficients to model the channel impulse response based upon this measurement may typically be done using an estimation process such as a Mean Square Error algorithm.
In digital transmission systems operating at high data rates (such as military communications systems or for commercial wireless Internet access), the channel impulse response estimation time (i.e., the time required to provide such filter coefficients) becomes a critical factor. Since the disturbance effects may be constantly changing, the impulse response estimate must be updated frequently to accommodate high data rates. As a result, the time required to calculate the channel impulse response may become an important factor limiting the maximum data rate of the system. Established techniques and methods for calculating the channel impulse response have typically been subject to constraints on speed, accuracy or other relevant factors.
Objects of the present invention are, therefore, to provide channel impulse response estimation methods and systems which are new or improved and which may provide one or more of the following capabilities or characteristics:                improved capability to estimate channel impulse response;        rapid estimation of channel impulse response;        channel impulse response estimation repetition on per packet basis;        provision of an improved form of training sequence;        provision of a training sequence enabling formulation of a Toeplitz-type mathematical system or matrix at a receiver;        construction of a Toeplitz-type matrix representation usable to determine coefficients representative of a channel impulse response; and        use of fast algorithms, such as Levinson algorithms, to determine coefficients representative of a channel impulse response.

Transmission channel impulse response estimation using fast algorithms

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


Methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media for determining weights for selecting requests from a plurality of tenant queues in a multi-tenant system receiving measured response time and measured throughput for each tenant in a set of tenants being considered in a current period, for each tenant in the set of tenants, determining a weight based on respective measured response times and respective measured throughput, the weight being determined based on one of a previous weight, an initialized weight, a modified proportional and integral (PI) control, and a volunteer weight increase, providing a set of weights that includes weight for each tenant in the set of tenants, and transmitting the set of weights to an access mechanism, the access mechanism selecting tenant requests for processing by a shared resource.

Infrastructures such as cloud computing infrastructures are based on sharing resources. The sharing principle can be beneficial on the software as a service (SaaS) level where, for example, a single application instance is shared among multiple groups of users. Such sharing enables significant cost reduction and maintenance efforts. This approach of sharing a single application instance is called multi-tenancy. Multi-tenancy can be described as a principle of delivering SaaS where a group of users, defined as one tenant, share a single application instance with other tenants, and each tenant has its own view onto the application, e.g., in both functional and non-functional aspects.

Multi-stage feedback controller for prioritizing tenants for multi-tenant applications


The present invention relates to curable, permeable resin compositions and methods of using such compositions. One embodiment of provides a method of creating a resin mass comprising the steps of combining a resin, a hardening agent, a hydrocarbon diluent, a silane coupling agent, a foaming agent, a compressible gas, and a degradable material to form a resin composition; placing the resin composition in a subterranean formation; and, allowing the resin to substantially cure and the degradable material to substantially degrade so as to form a permeable, hardened resin mass. Another embodiment of the present invention provides a resin composition useful in subterranean applications comprising a resin, a hardening agent, a hydrocarbon diluent, a silane coupling agent, a foaming agent, a compressible gas, and a degradable material.

The present invention relates to resin compositions and methods of using such compositions in subterranean formations. More particularly, the present invention relates to curable, permeable resin compositions and methods of using such compositions, for example, to control particulate migration.
Hydrocarbon wells are often located in subterranean zones that contain unconsolidated particulates that may migrate out of the subterranean formation with the oil, gas, water, and/or other fluids produced by the wells. The presence of particulates, such as formation sand, in produced fluids is undesirable in that the particulates may abrade pumping and other producing equipment and reduce the fluid production capabilities of the producing zones. Unconsolidated subterranean zones include those that contain loose particulates, those wherein the bonded particulates have insufficient bond strength to withstand the forces produced by the production of fluids through the zones.
One method of controlling particulates in unconsolidated formations involves placing a filtration bed containing gravel near the well bore in order to present a physical barrier to the transport of unconsolidated formation fines with the production of hydrocarbons. Typically, such so-called "gravel packing operations" involve the pumping and placement of a quantity of a desired particulate into the unconsolidated formation in an area adjacent to a well bore. Such packs may be time consuming and expensive to install.
Another method used to control particulates in unconsolidated formations involves consolidating unconsolidated subterranean producing zones by applying a resin followed by a spacer fluid and then a catalyst. Such techniques, however, may be problematic when, for example, an insufficient amount of spacer fluid is used between the application of the resin and the application of the external catalyst. The resin may come into contact with the external catalyst in the well bore itself rather than in the unconsolidated subterranean producing zone, which may result in rapid polymerization, potentially damaging the formation by plugging the pore channels, halting pumping when the well bore is plugged with solid material, or resulting in a down hole explosion as a result of the exothermic heat generated by the polymerization. Also, using these conventional processes to treat long intervals of unconsolidated regions is not practical due to the difficulty in determining if the entire interval has been successfully treated with both the resin and the external catalyst.

Resin compositions and methods of using such resin compositions in subterranean applications


A multiple sample mass spectrometer having multiple atmospheric pressure ionization probes, each forming an ion spray with passages associated with each of said ion sprays for introducing sample ions into the mass spectrometer for analysis. The flow of ions through selected passages is selectively blocked whereby to permit analysis of ions from selected ionization probes.

This invention relates generally to mass spectrometers, and more particularly to a mass spectrometer having a plurality of ionization probes.
Atmospheric pressure ionization (API) sources including electrospray (ES) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) sources which are interfaced with a mass spectrometer have typically operated with a single sample probe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,370 describes a mass spectrometer with a plurality of API sources. There is described an API source which includes an ES and an APCI probe which can be selectively brought opposite the input aperture of a mass spectrometer. A relatively complex mechanical arrangement is required to bring the probes opposite the input aperture.
International Publication No. WO 99/13492 describes an API source which includes a plurality of probes directed at a capillary tube which conveys samples into a mass spectrometer. The individual probes are selectively operated to sequentially introduce sample ions into the capillary or they can be simultaneously operated to provide sample ion mixtures to the capillary tube. The fact that the sample applied to the probes is selectively turned on and off may result in clogging of the sample probe.
There is a need for a sample multiprobe API source in which the sources are continuously operated and the ionized sample reaching the coupling orifice is controlled or switched to arrive from selected sources.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a multiprobe API source in which the sources are selectively coupled to the mass spectrometer inlet aperture or capillary.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multiprobe API source in which the individual probes are coupled to the inlet aperture or capillary via gas passages in which the passage of ions can be selectively blocked to thereby selectively connect the probes to the inlet aperture or capillary.
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are achieved by a mass spectrometer in which a plurality of API source probes are coupled through an inlet aperture or capillary to the low pressure region of the mass spectrometer by individual conduits which include means for selectively blocking the flow of ions from the associated probe whereby ions from selected probes enter the aperture or capillary.

Mass spectrometer with a plurality of ionization probes


The present method generates a greater number of hot holes than those generated by normal write/erase operations, thereby making it possible to evaluate an operation of a non-volatile memory with respect to hot holes. The present method performs a write operation to the non-volatile memory at lower temperatures than normal temperatures at normal use or/and at a lower operation voltage than a normal operation voltage at normal use, so as to generate a greater number of hot holes than those generated by normal write/erase operations between floating gates and drains of the memory, and then evaluates the operation of the memory while exposing it to the normal operation temperatures. This method is applicable to reliability tests of non-volatile memories such as FLASH memories.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for evaluating (reliability testing) non-volatile memories such as FLASH memories. The invention particularly relates to a method for evaluating operation of such a non-volatile memory with respect to hot holes, and also to non-volatile memories with functions required to realize the present evaluation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a construction of a typical non-volatile memory (for example, a flash memory). The non-volatile memory 100 includes: a cell array 101 composed of a large number of memory cells 110 arranged in a matrix-like form; a word line selector 120, a write controller 130, a sense amplifier 140, a data selector 150, and a controller 160.
Here, each memory cell 110 includes a floating gate 111, a control gate (corresponding to gate terminal G), a source diffusion area (corresponding to source terminal S), and a drain diffusion area (corresponding to drain terminal D), all of these being formed on a semiconductor substrate. Further, between the floating gate 111 and the semiconductor substrate (not illustrated) is formed an oxide film thin enough to allow electrons to move into the floating gate 111 due to the tunnel phenomenon.
The word line selector 120 has an address decoder (not shown in FIG. 8; item 122 of FIG. 6) and is connected via word line 121 to gate terminal G of each memory cell 110 aligned in every row. In response to an address input, the word line selector 120 performs a decoding operation and selects/specifies a word line 121 that is connected to a target memory cell 110 to and from which data is to be written and read. The write controller 130, which is connected via a bit line 131 to drain terminal D of each memory cell 110 aligned in every column, controls data writing to a target memory cell 110. The sense amplifier 140 amplifies data signals read out from the memory cells 110; the data selector 150 selectively outputs the data signals amplified by the sense amplifier 140; the controller 160 controls operation of the write controller 130, the sense amplifier 140, and the data selector 150, in response to control signals received from an external apparatus.
A description will be made hereinbelow of the operation principle of each memory cell 110 of the non-volatile memory 100, referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. FIG. 9 is a view for describing the operation principle of data writing to a memory cell 110; FIG. 10 is a view describing the operation principle of data erasing from a memory cell 110.
As shown in FIG. 9, for example, upon data writing to a memory cell 110, voltages of 10V, 5V, and 0V are applied to gate terminal G, drain terminal D, and source terminal S of the memory cell 110 via word line 121, bit line 131, and a source line, respectively, the floating gate 111 of the memory cell 110 being thereby charged with electrons (e−; hot electrons). In this manner, electrons (e−) stored in the floating gate 111 set the memory cell 110 to an OFF state, whereby data "0", for example, is held therein. In contrast to this, without such electrons (e−) stored in the floating gate 111, the memory cell 110 is set to an ON state, whereby data "1", for example, is held therein.
As shown in FIG. 10, when erasing data stored in the memory cell 110 (when removing electrons stored in the floating gate 111), voltages of 0V and 10V are applied to the gate terminal G and the drain terminal D of the memory cell 110 via the word line 121 and the bit line 131, respectively, the electrons (e−) being thereby removed from the floating gate 111.
When such an evaluation (reliability test) of a non-volatile memory 100, or more precisely, evaluation of its data retention property, is performed, it is necessary to consider that loss of electron charge in the floating gate 111 increases with time. Therefore, when such a non-volatile memory 100 is tested at shipment by manufacturers or at installation by users, the loss (electric charge leak resulting from defects in floating gate films, particles, and so on) is accelerated in some way to evaluate or screen the data retention property in a short time. Generally speaking, the electric charge leak is accelerated with higher atmospheric temperatures. Hence, on the basis of this principle, the acceleration is performed by exposing the non-volatile memory 100 to high temperatures or performing an operation test of the non-volatile memory 100 at high temperatures (for example, Japanese Patent Number 2865456 and Japanese Patent Application Publication Number 2000-13 1398).
In the field of non-volatile memories, the following new fault mode (phenomenon) has been recently discovered. When a non-volatile memory 100 is subjected to write/erase operations with a high voltage applied thereto, holes (e+), so-called hot holes, are trapped in an oxide film under the floating gate 111 as shown in FIG. 11, and such hot holes serve as media that neutralizes the floating gate 111 by removing the electrons stored therein. More precisely, at the time of programming (or data erasing), hot holes (e+) concentrating between the floating gate 111 and the drain capture electric charge (e−) stored in the floating gate 111, whereby the electric charge is removed, so that the logic held in the memory cell 110 is resultantly inversed.
The following are three possible causes of such a phenomenon. Firstly, programming potentials higher than design specifications caused by manufacture variations or any other reasons enhance generation of hot holes (e+). Secondly, a high voltage applied by the word line 121 to the source or the drain enhances neutralization of electric charge (e−) stored in the floating gate 111, which neutralization is caused by hot holes (e+). Thirdly, the floating gate 111 downsized with recent downsizing of the non-volatile memory 100 (memory cell 110) can only store a reduced amount of electric charge (e−), so that the floating gate 111 is even more susceptible to the effects of hot holes (e+).
This newly discovered fault mode necessitates evaluation of operation of a non-volatile memory 100 with respect to hot holes (e+). However, in an attempt to accelerate the phenomenon with heat to evaluate the operation using the foregoing common evaluation method for data retention property, hot holes (e+) are diffused and withdrawn, so it is impossible to evaluate the operation of the non-volatile memory 100 with respect to hot holes. Generally speaking, after exposing a non-volatile memory to a 125° C. atmosphere for 168 hours, hot holes vanish completely, and thus the phenomena due to hot holes cannot be detected at all. Japanese Patent Number 2865456, Japanese Patent Application Publication Number 2000-131398, and Japanese Patent Application Publication Number HEI5-205491 disclose techniques relating to non-volatile memory tests, but none of them disclose anything about a method for evaluating operation of a non-volatile memory with respect to hot holes.
Accordingly, current techniques, if used in the operation evaluation with respect to hot holes, will necessitate real time evaluation. For example, it takes three whole years to evaluate a 3-year-span phenomenon in which an electric charge leaks gradually for three years before gargled data (logic inversion) is eventually caused. In such a situation, a technique of generating an increased number of hot holes is desired so as to speed up the evaluation of operation of a non-volatile memory with respect to hot holes.

Non-volatile memory evaluating method and non-volatile memory


A method is disclosed in for presenting an endoscopic image in an upright orientation. An electronic rotation pick-up means is fixed to the housing of an endoscope. The electronic rotation pick-up means produces signals indicating rotations of the endoscope. A microprocessor uses these signals to calculate a necessary amount of rotational correction for the endoscopic view orientation. The calculation includes factors to account for endoscope roll, endoscope pitch, and endoscope viewing direction. An image rotator rotates the endoscopic image by the calculated correction amount. The rotated image is displayed on a video display device.

An endoscope is an elongated tubular structure which is inserted into body cavities to examine them. The endoscope includes a telescope with an objective lens at its distal end. The telescope usually includes an image-forwarding system. In rigid endoscopes it is a series of spaced-apart lenses. In flexible endoscopes it is a bundle of tiny optical fibers assembled coherently to forward the image. Some endoscopes include a camera means, such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor, in the distal portion and forward the image electronically. This invention is applicable to all types of image forwarding systems.
Many endoscopes view only directly forward. Others feature fixed or movable reflectors in the distal portion to allow off-axis viewing. Some, most commonly flexible types, feature actuated bending portions at the distal end. This invention is applicable to all types of axial, non-axial, and variable direction of view endoscopes.
At the proximal end of the image-forwarding system, some endoscopes include an ocular lens which creates a virtual image for direct human visualization. Often a camera means, such as a CCD or CMOS chip, is connected to the endoscope. It receives the image and produces a signal for a video display. Some endoscopes have a camera means built directly into the endoscope.
While surgeons can, and often do, look directly into the endoscope through an ocular lens, it has become more common for them to use an attached video camera and observe an image on a video screen. In a surgical or diagnostic procedure, the surgeon manipulates the endoscope. He may cause it to pitch about a lateral axis or roll about a longitudinal axis. As these manipulations occur to an endoscope with an attached camera, the camera faithfully relates what it sees, with its own upright axis displayed as the upright axis of the image on the display. This often results in rotation of the viewed image.
That is the very problem. When the image is displayed on the screen and the endoscope is manipulated, it is as though the surgeon must tilt his head to follow the rotating image. However, the surgeon is standing up, and the rotating image is distracting to him. What he really wants to see on the screen is an image that is oriented the same as he would see it if he were inside, standing up, with the same upright orientation.
A solution to this problem is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,804 to Bonnet (1994), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An object of this invention was to maintain the orientation of an endoscopic image without the use of electronic sensing and positioning devices. A pendulum fixed to a camera is rotatably attached to an endoscope. The pendulum maintains an orientation with respect to gravity around the endoscope longitudinal axis. As the endoscope rotates, the pendulum causes the camera to rotate in the opposite direction relative to the endoscope. This is intended to maintain the image in a proper orientation.
An endoscope with rotational orientation correction is also suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,851 to Koninckx (1999), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An electronic rotation pick-up means responsive to gravity senses rotation of a camera around the endoscope longitudinal axis. An image rotator rotates the camera image according to the rotation signal from the rotation pick-up means.
Another endoscope and camera system with rotational orientation correction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,423 to Mattsson-Boze, et al. (2000), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Electronic sensing and positioning devices combine to sense and correct the rotation of a camera rotatably attached to an endoscope. An accelerometer fixed to the camera serves as an electronic rotation pick-up means responsive to gravity. A motor rotates the camera according to signals from the accelerometer. This accelerometer and motor system is functionally equivalent to the pendulum described by Bonnet. While the pendulum relies on the force of gravity to rotate, the small accelerometer sensitively measures gravity and the motor rotates the assembly accordingly. The system can therefore be thought of as an electro mechanical pendulum. Mattsson-Boze also recognizes rotation of the image by electronic manipulation to correct the image orientation, but actively discourages this practice for several reasons.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,637 to Green, et al. (2002), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses the same apparatus as disclosed in Mattsson-Boze, and suggests two alternative methods for image rotation. In the first method, an optical image rotator is used instead of a rotating camera. In the second method, electronic manipulation is used to correct the image orientation. Also, one or more gyroscopes are suggested as alternative electronic rotation pick-up means.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/093,650 by Chatenever, et al. (2002), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses the same apparatus as disclosed in Mattsson-Boze and in Green, and suggests two alternative methods for electronic rotation pick-up. In the first method, image analysis is used to compute a rotational signal. In the second method, a machine vision system is used to compute a rotation signal.
All of the above solutions compensate only for roll about the longitudinal axis, and provide a rotationally corrected image for axial viewing endoscopes. They also provide an approximation of the correct orientation for slightly oblique viewing endoscopes held near horizontal. None of the above disclosures suggest a solution that works for significantly oblique, side, or retro viewing endoscopes.
Oblique, side, or retro viewing endoscopes require a solution that takes into account the off-axis viewing direction and the endoscope pitch. Variable direction-of-view endoscopes further complicate the situation.
It is an object of this invention to maintain the proper upright orientation (with respect to the viewer) of a viewed image from an endoscope. It is an additional object of this invention to be applicable to any axial, oblique, side, or retro viewing endoscope as well as any endoscope with a variable direction of view.

Gravity referenced endoscopic image orientation