This invention relates to a pattern synchronous circuit for sorting a parallel signal so that a signal evaluation can be made to a signal after making a serial-parallel conversion of an inputted evaluation pattern in a pattern evaluation apparatus for evaluating a frame signal.
A frame signal having a frame identification pattern is used in a transmission device test.
In this kind of test, a pattern based on actual transmission standards is outputted from a pulse pattern generator and is inputted to an evaluation device unit and the output is observed by a pattern evaluation apparatus or an oscilloscope.
The pattern evaluation apparatus normally makes a serial-parallel conversion to a received signal and reduces the signal to a signal speed easy to process and conducts the evaluation. However, timing of inputting the received signal is not determined, so that a leading position of a frame is not determined in a signal after the serial-parallel conversion. As a result of that, it must be constructed so that subsequent evaluations can be made by detecting the frame identification pattern and sorting a parallel signal.
FIG. 11 shows a configuration of a pattern n apparatus after the serial-parallel conversion. In FIG. 11, numeral 1 is a parallel signal input terminal to which a signal changing a received signal into n parallel signals is inputted, and numeral 2 is a clock input terminal, and numeral 31 is a branch circuit, and numeral 32 is a frame detection circuit, and numeral 33 is a shift circuit, and numeral 34 is a measurement circuit, and numeral 35 is a frame position signal, and numeral 300 is a pattern synchronous circuit.
The signal changing the received signal into the n parallel signals is inputted to the frame detection circuit 32 and the shift circuit 33 through the branch circuit 31.
A clock signal for processing a parallel signal is inputted to the clock input terminal 2. In the frame detection circuit 32, a parallel input signal is monitored and a frame identification pattern is detected and a signal indicating its place is outputted to the frame position signal 35. The shift circuit 33 is a sort circuit for sorting the parallel input signal and in the shift circuit 33, the parallel input signal is sorted by the frame position signal 35 and in the measurement circuit 34, an output is produced so that it becomes a measurable state, namely the lead of a frame becomes a leading position of the parallel signal.
In this case, the shift circuit 33 can implement a pattern synchronous operation by performing processing as described in a truth table shown in FIG. 12, for example, when the number n of parallel signals is 16. The truth table shown in FIG. 12 indicates that SEL corresponds to a frame position signal and a signal is selected from the parallel signals of 16 bits as shown in output by SEL input and is outputted. Also, the places described as A(+1), B(+1), C(+1), . . . indicate signals after one clock of inputs A, B, C, . . . ,
Here, when the shift circuit 33 of FIG. 11 produces an increase in circuit scale, particularly an increase in the number n of signals, integration into one integrated circuit becomes difficult. Thus, the shift circuit 33 is implemented by a plurality of integrated circuits.
Next, a pattern synchronous circuit according to a conventional art will be described using FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, numeral 1 is a parallel signal input terminal, and numeral 2 is a clock input terminal, and numeral 3 is a parallel signal output terminal, and numeral 21 is a branch circuit, and numeral 22 is a frame detection circuit, and numeral 23 is a shift part, and numerals 24a to 24d are shift circuits A to D constructing the shift part 23, and numeral 25 is a frame position signal. The shift part 23 comprises a plurality of the shift circuits 24a to 24d. As a result of that, the shift circuit per circuit performs sorting of the number n of parallel signals and data processing of the number divided by the number m of integrated circuits.
A signal inputted to the parallel signal input terminal 1 is branched to the frame detection circuit 22 and all the shift circuits 24a to 24d through the branch circuit 21. The frame detection circuit 22 detects a frame identification pattern in the parallel signals and outputs a signal to the frame position signal 25. The frame position signal 25 is connected to all the shift circuits 24a to 24d, and the shift circuits 24a to 24d sort the parallel signals by the frame position signal 25.
As examples, FIGS. 8 and 9 indicate truth tables showing operations of the shift circuit A and the shift circuit B where the number n of parallel signals is 16 bits and four shift circuits are used.
When the frame position signal is 0, the shift circuit A outputs signals A, B, C, D inputted to D0 to D3. At that time, the shift circuit B outputs signals E, F, G, H inputted to D4 to D7 since the shift circuit B outputs signals subsequent to the signals outputted by the shift circuit 24a. Also, when the frame position signal is 1, the shift circuit 24a outputs signals B, C, D, E inputted to D1 to D4, and the shift circuit 24b outputs signals F, G, H, I which are signals subsequent to the signals outputted by the shift circuit 24a. Truth tables of operations of the shift circuit 24c and the shift circuit 24d are omitted, but the truth tables can be derived in a manner similar to truth values of FIGS. 8 and 9.
Operations of a pattern synchronous circuit 200 of FIG. 7 will be described concretely using FIGS. 10A and 10B.
It is assumed that the number of parallel signal inputs is 16 bits and for the purpose of illustration, parallel signals of 16 bits are described as a, b, c, . . . , o, p and the leading of a frame begins with a. Expressions such as p(−1) indicate a bit earlier than p by one clock.
FIGS. 10A and 10B show an example in which a frame of an input signal begins with BIT 7 of the parallel signal input terminal. The frame detection circuit 22 outputs a value 7 to the frame position signal 25 when detecting the frame in beginning with BIT 7. Then, the shift circuit 24a selects BITs 7 to 10 from the parallel signals of 16 bits, and also the shift circuit 24b selects BITs 11 to 13 and outputs them. Similarly, the shift circuits 24c and 24d select respectively corresponding 4 bits from input signals and thereby, an output signal in which the leading of the frame begins with BIT 0 of the parallel signals as a whole can be obtained.
Here, all the information of the inputted parallel signals needs to be inputted to all the shift circuits 24a to 24d in order to cope with a start position of the frame in all the states. For that purpose, all the bits of the input signals are branched to all the shift circuits 24a to 24d by the branch circuit. Then, all the shift circuits 24a to 24d require the number of input I/Os corresponding to the number n of parallel bits of the input signals.
As described above, in the pattern synchronous circuit according to the conventional art, all the bits of the parallel signals inputted to the parallel signal input terminal 1 are branched by the branch circuit 21 and are inputted to all the shift circuits 24a to 24d constructing the shift part 23. Then, the respective shift circuits 24a to 24d select only the number of signals obtained by dividing the number n of parallel signals of the output signals by the number of sort integrated circuits from the input signals and output it on the basis of the frame position signal 25 outputted by the frame detection circuit 22. An output signal in which the frame begins with BIT 0 of the parallel signals can be obtained by merging outputs of all the shift circuits 24a to 24d.
However, in the conventional pattern synchronous circuit described above, an input signal is branched to all the shift circuits, so that the number of wirings increases in proportion to the number n of parallel signals and the number m of shift circuits. Also, since all the bits of a parallel signal input are inputted to the shift circuits, the number of I/Os of the shift circuits becomes large with an increase in the number n of parallel signals and thus a large package is required. As a result of that, miniaturization of the pattern synchronous circuit is difficult.


Various types of such roll-off pistons are known in the prior art. Firstly, relatively heavy roll-off pistons exist which are made of steel sheet metal and which have a fully utilizable interior volume and an end stop, that is, a so-called buffer support, specifically a support for a stop buffer that acts substantially in the axial direction of the air spring. The roll-off piston made of steel sheet metal is produced as a deep-drawn part with a conical sealing seat for receiving the bellows, and has a welded-in base part with welded-on support tube. The entire component is accordingly heavy and is expensive to manufacture.
Secondly, there exist relatively lightweight, single-piece plastics pistons which have an unutilized or only partially utilized interior volume and an end stop (buffer support). A disadvantage of such constructions is a loss of comfort resulting from a small utilizable piston air volume. The suspension characteristic is then relatively hard.
Furthermore, the prior art also discloses two-part plastics pistons with a utilizable interior volume without buffer support.
EP 1 862 335 B1 discloses for this purpose an air spring piston which is made of a cup-shaped part and of a cover part, the parts being butt-welded in the region of the walls thereof. Here, the cup-shaped part has a base wall which has an insert for connecting to the vehicle axle. A disadvantage here is the lack of an end stop (buffer support).
United States patent application publication 2010/0127438 A1 discloses a plunger, in the form of a hollow body, for an air spring, the plunger being composed of two parts connected to one another in an air-tight manner, specifically of a cup-shaped lower part with a base and a shell and of an upper part. In this publication, too, no end stop is provided.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-208597, filed Sep. 21, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, as a method of diagnosing cancer, a method using a fluorescent pigment which is typified by indocyanine green (ICG) has been actively studied. A technique is known which forms a filter using Fabry-Perot interference on an image sensor using a general CMOS process to manufacture an optical element for detecting light with a specific wavelength, such as fluorescence (for example, see Non-patent Document: “Nicolaas Tack, three others, A Compact, High-speed and Low-cost Hyperspectral Imager, SPIE, 2012”). Hereinafter, a pixel in which a Fabry-Perot filter is formed on a photodiode is referred to as a Fabry-Perot filter pixel (FPF pixel).
In addition, a technique is known which applies the Fabry-Perot filter to an endoscope to capture a fluorescent image, thereby separately capturing the image of a cancer tissue part using a fluorescent pigment (for example, see PCT International Publication No. WO2009/072177). Furthermore, a technique is known which generates an RGB image that is generally captured by an imaging device, such as a digital camera, from a fluorescent image to capture a visible image sensed by the human eye (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 3781927).
The technique disclosed in Non-patent Document: “Nicolaas Tack, three others, A Compact, High-speed and Low-cost Hyperspectral Imager, SPIE, 2012” will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an FPF pixel according to the related art in which a Fabry-Perot filter is formed on a pixel of a CMOS image sensor. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of pixels F1 to F8 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 5-5. A photodiode (PD) 5-4 is formed in each of the pixels F1 to F8. In addition, dielectric layers 5-1 and 5-3 and an interlayer film 5-2 are formed, as the Fabry-Perot filter, on a light-receiving surface of each of the pixels F1 to F8. The interlayer film 5-2 which is formed above each of the pixels F1 to F8 is interposed between the dielectric layers 5-1 and 5-3. The thicknesses of the interlayer films 5-2 formed above the pixels F1 to F8 are different from each other such that light components in different wavelength bands are incident on the photodiodes 5-4 provided in the pixels F1 to F8. According to this structure, the pixels F1 to F8 can detect, for example, light in a narrow transmission band, as shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the wavelength of light passing through the Fabry-Perot filter according to the related art. In the graph shown in FIG. 7, the horizontal axis is a wavelength and the vertical axis is transmittance. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the Fabry-Perot filter (the dielectric layers 5-1 and 5-3 and the interlayer film 5-2) formed on the pixel F1 transmits light with a narrow band wavelength of about 420. Therefore, the pixel F1 can detect light with a narrow band wavelength of about 420 nm. Similarly to the pixel F1, the pixels F2 to F8 can detect light with a narrow band wavelength, depending on light with wavelengths transmitted through the farmed dielectric layers 5-1 and 5-3 and the farmed interlayer film 5-2. The band of light transmitted through the dielectric layers 5-1 and 5-3 and the interlayer film 5-2 formed on each of the pixels F2 to F8 is as shown in FIG. 7.
A fluorescent image can be captured by the pixels F1 to F8 shown in FIG. 6 and an RGB image can be generated based on the fluorescent image, as described in the related art. For example, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3781927, the spectral characteristics of blue light are generated based on the values detected by the pixels F1 to F3, the spectral characteristics of green light are generated based on the values detected by the pixels F4 and F5, and the spectral characteristics of red light are generated based on the values detected by the pixels F6 to F8. In this way, it is possible to acquire an RGB image.
For example, in the actual surgical operation, it is necessary to capture images of a part separated by a fluorescent pigment and the other parts at the same time and present the images to a doctor. Therefore, it is necessary to attach a device capable of capturing both an RGB image and a fluorescent image to the leading end of the endoscope. In addition, it is necessary to reduce the size of the leading end of the endoscope. The use of the above-mentioned technique makes it possible to generate both a fluorescent image with narrow-band sensitivity characteristics and an RGB image while reducing the size of the leading end of the endoscope.


1. Field
The invention relates to the technical field of vehicle tires and, in particular, to that of the manufacture of tires comprising fibres injected in a given direction into one of the rubber components of which said tire is made.
2. Description of Related Art
Publication EP 1 213 130 provides a specific idea of this type of tire, in which short reinforcing fibres, or inserts, are embedded in the tread in an oriented fashion so as to improve the mechanical properties of this part of the tire in a given direction.
Publication EP 1 213 383 proposes a means for embedding said inserts into a rubber component intended to be assembled to form a tire tread structure.
This device comprises a hollow needle capable of penetrating the rubber component, and inside which the reinforcing fibre runs, a moving support capable of performing a reciprocating movement and supporting said needle, a cutting blade for cutting off the fibre to be embedded, and at least two clamping means for maintaining and adjusting the position of the fibre. However, these clamping means have the effect of placing the reinforcing fibre under compression.
Application PCT/EP2010/062907, not published, describes an apparatus and a method for overcoming this compression problem.
This device for embedding an insert into a rubber profiled element in a given direction comprises:                a means for feeding the thread continuously,        a moving support capable of moving on a structure in a rectilinear reciprocating movement between a raised position and a lowered position,        a hollow needle comprising a channel inside which said thread is able to run, which needle is fixed by one of its ends to the base of the moving support and comprising at its other end a tip capable of penetrating said rubber profiled element,        a cutting means arranged on the structure, comprising a blade capable of cutting off the thread on each cycle of the reciprocating movement of the needle, when said tip is in a raised position so as to release a given length of thread constituting a tail at the outlet of the needle.
Still according to this publication, there is described a method of operating the device which comprises the following steps:                A—when the needle is in a raised position above the surface of the profiled element, a given length of thread is released on the tip side of said needle so as to constitute a tail,        B—the needle is lowered so as to cause the tip of said needle to penetrate the profiled element to a given depth,        C—the needle is extracted from the profiled element while allowing the thread to run inside the needle,        D—the tip of the needle is raised by a given height above the surface of the profiled element so as to release a length of thread between the tip of the needle and the surface of the profiled element,        E—the thread is cut off at the surface of the profiled element so as to release a new tail of given length.
On each cycle, the tail situated outside the needle on the tip side is driven into the profiled element. As the needle is raised again, the tail is held in position in the bottom of the perforation produced in the rubbery material which grips it, and which prevents the thread contained in the needle from rising back up, such that the raising movement allows the thread to be made to run along inside the needle.
During this movement, the portion of thread contained between the inlet of the needle and the tail is kept under tension. The thread is pulled through the needle rather than pushed as was proposed in the apparatus forming the subject matter of publication EP 1 213 383.
However, it is observed that, to make the needle penetrate the rubber profiled element, it is necessary to develop considerable forces which are not without consequence on the dimensioning of the needle and for the mechanisms to be employed to bring about its reciprocating movement. The effect of these forces is to deform the surface of the profiled element at the point of penetration of the needle, and they can moreover cause the needle to break, in particular when the angle of penetration of the needle into the profiled element is less than 90°.


Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is a mechanism by which an application residing on one machine requests the services of an application residing on another machine. A machine (as the term is used here and in the appended claims) may be a physical CPU or computer, a virtual CPU or virtual computer (otherwise known as a virtual machine or VM), or it may be a space of addressable memory in a system that isolates applications or processes so that they may not directly invoke one another. RPC requires one application to send one or more messages to another application in order to invoke a procedure of the other application. The recipient application may reply by sending one or more messages back to the requesting application. The term “RPC” identifies both the mechanism by which this occurs and the instance of such an exchange between applications.
Applications engaged in RPC conventionally do not message each other directly. Instead they rely on intervening software called “middleware” to translate between the wire protocol and the programming-language-specific functions or class methods of the application. This application uses the term “service” to generically refer to a function (including a procedure or a class method) or any action to be taken or performed, including access to web sites and databases. The term “wire protocol” refers to the transfer-protocol/message-encoding combination that the programs use as their common language for communication. The transfer-protocol is the mechanism by which the message transfers between the applications, and the message-encoding is the format in which the message is represented. The Object Management Group's IIOP (OMG Internet Inter-ORB Protocol) and the Open Software Foundation's DCE (OSF Distributed Computing Environment) are examples of wire protocols, and each defines both a transfer-protocol and a message-encoding. RPC has in the past been implemented using IIOP, DCE, or proprietary protocols. HTTP is an example of a transfer-protocol that is independent of message-encoding. The IIOP and DCE protocols have themselves been encoded into messages that tunnel through HTTP. ( )
Each message-encoding is a particular format for representing a message. Any set of data may be represented in a particular format, not just RPC messages. This application uses the term ‘data-package’ to refer to each such set of data, and it uses the term ‘encoding’ to refer to the format in which a data-package is represented. An RPC message is a kind of data-package, and a message-encoding is the encoding of an RPC message. A tab-delimited file is an example of a simple encoding. The binary representation of a C programming language data structure is an example of a more complex encoding. A data-package may be thought of as a collection of individual data items. In a tab-delimited file, each row is a data item, as is each field in each row. In a C data structure, each field is a data item, as is each nested data structure and each field in each nested data structure. Notice that a data item may contain one or more other data items.
An ‘argument’ is a particular kind of data item. The term argument is used in the software industry to refer to a data item that is passed to a function or that is returned from a function. When the signature of a function is represented in the Java programming language, the arguments of the function consist of the comma-delimited terms that appear in parentheses and the term that represents the return value of the function. Consider the following function signature:
EmployeeID addEmployee(Name n, Address a, JobType t)This function has four arguments whose classes are EmployeeID, Name, Address, and JobType. The Address class might be defined as follows:
class Address {  String street;  String city;  String state;  String zip;}In other contexts one might interpret the street, city, state, and zip data items to each be an argument of the function, but this application defines ‘argument’ such that these data items are not arguments. The arguments of a function are those data items that the signature of the function identifies, where for purposes of this definition the definitions of the argument types are not considered to be part of the signature.
A function is only one kind of service, and XML RPC messages can exist in the absence of functions. Hence, it is necessary to define the term ‘argument’ in terms of the message encoding. Therefore, given a data item X contained in message M1 expressed in encoding E, X is an argument when it satisfies both of the following requirements: (1) there exists a message M2 also expressed in E such that M2 is constructed by adding a data item Y to M1 where neither X contains Y nor Y contains X; and (2) X is not contained in any data item having property (1). It is possible to define an encoding that hard-codes arguments relative to another encoding so that the defined encoding expresses a subset of the messages of the other encoding. Consequently, a message cannot be examined for arguments without interpreting the message with respect to a particular encoding.
Each argument is an input argument, an output argument, or both an input and an output argument. The return value is always an output argument, but function signatures usually do not indicate which if the remaining arguments are input arguments or output arguments. The input arguments and output arguments must be established by convention. The input arguments are those arguments that the software that invokes the function uses to pass data items to the function. The output arguments are those arguments that the function uses to pass data items to the software that invoked the function. It is possible for one argument to be used for both purposes. In this case, the argument appears in both the RPC request message and the RPC reply message, although the values of the occurrences may differ. The OMG CORBA specification provides further treatment of the distinction between input and output arguments in the context of RPC.
In addition to containing data items, a data-package may contain labels. A label is an identifier that provides information about one or more data items. A label that provides information about a data item is said to be a label for the data item. No data item is a label, since the encoding assumes responsibility for providing the association between the data item and the label.
This application defines two kinds of labels: type labels and semantic labels. A type label identifies the data type of each associated data item. Data types include the primitive data types that programming languages define. The primitive data types include integers, floats, longs, strings, and booleans. According to this definition, data types also include primitive data structures, such as arrays, records, and vectors (e.g. the Java Vector class). Data types provide the information that is necessary to represent the data item in memory so that a programming language may use the data item. However, there is no requirement that any two programming languages or any two implementations of RPC represent the same data types in the same way.
A semantic label is an identifier that names an associated data item according to the data item's role within the message. The purpose is to allow software that consumes the message to locate data items by role. The semantic label of an argument is analogous to the name that a method signature gives to the argument. Again consider the following signature:
EmployeeID addEmployee(Name n, Address a, JobType t)This function has arguments named ‘n’, ‘a’, and ‘t’. It also has an unnamed argument whose type is EmployeeID. The names may be used as semantic labels for their associated arguments. The semantic label of a field found in a class, record, or structure is analogous to the name given to that field. Consider the previously given definition of the Address class. It has four data items. Each has a data type of string, and their names are ‘street’, ‘city’, ‘state’, and ‘zip’. These names may be used as the semantic labels for the associated data items. However, unlike the names of a programming language structure, multiple data items may have the same semantic labels. For example, two data items may each have the ‘street’ label to indicate that they each represent one line of the street address. On the other hand, an array or a vector may contain multiple data items such that a semantic label is associated with the entire array or vector but not with each data item.
This application classifies encodings as either self-describing or non-self-describing. A self-describing encoding associates a semantic label with each argument and includes both the label and the association within each data-package. A completely self-describing encoding associates a semantic label with every data item except possibly for the data item constituents of arrays and vectors. A semantic label allows a program to identify a data item without requiring the program to know in advance the location of the data item within the data-package and without requiring the program to know the exact structure of the data-package. One example of a data-package that uses a self-describing encoding is a tab-delimited file that begins with a row consisting of the names of each field in a row. Another self-describing encoding is the binary representation of a hash table, which assigns a name (or key) to each data item in the table. Non-self-describing encodings do not contain semantic labels for their arguments. A program that reads a data-package expressed in a non-self-describing encoding must assign semantics to each argument by applying information found in the application and not in the data-package. For example, a program that reads a tab-delimited file to load records into a database must know in advance how to correlate the fields in the file to the columns of the database table.
This application also classifies encodings as either specific or generic. A specific encoding is an encoding that is designed to represent an application-specific or industry-specific data structure. A generic encoding is an encoding that is designed to represent any or nearly any data structure, regardless of application or industry. For example, the ASCII form of a database report is a specific encoding since it can express the data found in a particular database but not the data found in any database. Packet headers in communications protocols also use specific encodings. An implementation of the C programming language uses a generic encoding to represent in-memory data structures; this is a generic encoding because one encoding scheme is capable of representing any C data structure.
Finally, this application distinguishes between binary encodings and text-based encodings. A text-based encoding is a human-readable and human-writable encoding. Data-packages expressed in a text-based encoding can be loaded into a text editor and can be read and modified by humans using the text editor. A human can also create a data-package expressed in a text-based encoding by writing the message completely from scratch using the text editor. Text editors include vi, emacs, MS-DOS EDIT.EXE and Microsoft Notepad. Binary encodings are those encodings that do not satisfy these human-accessibility criteria. Tab-delimited files are examples of data expressed in a text-based encoding, while the in-memory representation of C data structures is an example of a binary encoding.
The IIOP and DCE wire protocols use non-self-describing generic binary encodings. Of all the example encodings discussed in this application, the IIOP and DCE encodings are most closely analogous to the in-memory binary representations of C or C++ data structures. However, the analogy is not perfect because the encodings have been designed to support the data structures found in a variety of languages, and because they have been designed to support the translation of data between a variety of platforms.
Although IIOP and DCE are non-self-describing, it is possible to define services in IIOP and DCE that accept self-describing parameters and that invoke other services using the identified parameters. Microsoft's COM (Component Object Model) accomplishes this on top of DCE through the set of services found in its IDispatch interface. By invoking the services of IDispatch, an application can emulate the functionality that would be available through a wire protocol that is natively self-describing. However, DCE remains non-self-describing, since the services of IDispatch are expressed in the same non-self-describing encoding in which all other service invocations of the protocol are expressed. IDispatch effectively defines a high level protocol that is layered on top of DCE. More work is required to develop software that invokes self-describing services through IDispatch than is required to develop software that invokes the native non-self-describing services of DCE. Additional effort is required because to invoke a single self-describing service the developer must write software that conforms to the IDispatch protocol. Invoking a single non-self-describing service only requires the developer to invoke a single function in the code that DCE IDL compilers automatically generate for the developer.
IIOP defines a data-type called ‘ANY’. A data item expressed in this type is a container for other data items. The ANY data type associates a type label with each data item that it contains, but it does not associate a semantic label with any of these data items. It also does not associate a type label with the instance of the ANY data item itself, unless the instance happens to be contained within another ANY data item. Consequently, an implementation of IIOP that receives a message containing an instance of the ANY data type cannot determine that the instance is of type ANY simply by examining the message. The recipient of the IIOP message must know in advance that the argument is of type ANY. In fact, the recipient must know the types of all the arguments in order to extract the arguments from the message. This aspect of IIOP makes programs that use IIOP strongly sensitive to changes in the messages. Adding, removing, or changing argument types in the programs that generate the IIOP messages necessitates making analogous changes in all the programs that receive the messages. This would not be necessary in programs that relied on data type labels that the message itself provides.
IIOP and DCE are also stateful, bi-directional, and complex. These protocols are stateful because the client and server must maintain state information to successfully transfer messages between them. The protocols are bidirectional because the server must sometimes asynchronously send messages to the client. Finally, IIOP and DCE are complex because they are designed to provide the union of the features found in a wide variety of programming languages. This latter property of IIOP and DCE allows any two programs to communicate with service invocations that support the rich variety of invocation mechanisms that are common to the programming languages in which the two programs are written.
Traditional middleware implementations are based on the IIOP and DCE protocols and consequently suffer from the following drawbacks:                Because the encodings are generic, translation software is required to allow RPC messaging between a program that uses a specific encoding and a program that uses a generic encoding. Translation software is also required between programs that use different specific encodings. If IIOP or DCE is to be the wire protocol, the translation software must be installed between each program that uses a specific encoding and the communications channel that connects the programs. Furthermore, generic encodings are necessarily more removed from the data structures that are common to a given industry, which prevents most industry experts from examining messages, since expertise with the generic encoding would be required in addition to expertise with the industry data structures.        Because the encodings are binary, special software is required to read, modify, or write the RPC messages. If the message is expressed in a non-self-describing encoding, the special software must be application-specific or industry-specific software. These factors limit the accessibility of messages expressed in the IIOP and DCE encodings, since the translation software must exist, and since one must have translation software on hand to access the messages.        Because these encodings are non-self-describing, programs can't extract and selectively process the data items of an arbitrary message without first being specifically configured to recognize the particular kind of message. Programs that do support configured access to non-self-describing messages generally require separate configuration information for each kind of non-self-describing message. As the message-generating programs evolve the messages and add new message types, the configuration information of the other programs must be updated. To further complicate matters, each program may require different configuration details or separate configuration entry procedures. Finally, if a message-generating program changes the format of a non-self-describing message, the message-consuming programs must also change their knowledge of that message, since otherwise the these programs would not be able to extract and identify the data items found in the message.        Because the IIOP and DCE protocols are stateful, the protocols are not well-suited for messaging using HTTP, since HTTP is a stateless protocol. HTTP provides only a limited mechanism for maintaining client state. Under this mechanism, the client maintains the state information, which means that client-provided state information cannot be trusted to belong to the same client over time, unless the client connects through an authenticated connection. One must therefore inventively design a stateful protocol on top of HTTP in order to tunnel IIOP or DCE through HTTP. It is desirable to use HTTP as the transfer protocol because of the ubiquity with which it is installed on operating systems, and because it is typically the only protocol that network firewalls allow to pass.        Because these protocols are bi-directional, the protocols are not well-suited for messaging using HTTP, since HTTP is unidirectional. For example, an IIOP client may register a callback function with an IIOP server. When it comes time for the server to invoke the callback function, the server cannot issue an HTTP request to the client unless the client is also configured to be an HTTP server. Administrative and security requirements normally make it undesirable to configure a client as an HTTP server. Therefore, one must inventively design a bi-directional protocol on top of HTTP in order to support IIOP and DCE bi-directional behavior.        Because the encodings are intended to bridge applications written in almost any two programming languages on almost any two platforms, the encodings are proportionately complex. IIOP and DCE take the superset approach to bridging applications by ensuring that the encoding can represent nearly every kind of service invocation that programming languages are capable of expressing. To create software that uses IIOP or DCE, a software developer must define the signatures of these services. The superset approach complicates the definitions and minimizes the pool of skilled experts that can develop for IIOP and DCE. This approach also complicates the tools that manipulate messages expressed in these encodings.        Because of the complexity of the IIOP and DCE protocols, implementations from two different vendors are generally incompatible. To get two programs to communicate over a network, the computers running the programs must conventionally run middleware software from the same vendor. Vendors have implemented gateway software to bridge between different implementations of these protocols. The CORBA 2.0 specification has mitigated this problem to a large degree, but it has not eliminated it completely. Thus, integrating programs residing in different organizations often requires either both organizations to agree on the installation or one company to buy additional software to provide a gateway between the existing middleware installations.
Therefore, there is a need for improved RPC techniques that do not suffer from the above drawbacks. The techniques would provide the following benefits:                It would be beneficial to have an RPC mechanism that allows messages to be expressed in application-specific or industry-specific encodings. This would allow programs to communicate without requiring messages expressed in specific encodings to be translated into messages expressed in generic encodings. Provided that the messages were also text-based, this would also allow industry experts to create and examine messages without requiring that they have expertise in a generic encoding. Text-based messages in specific encodings would also be easier to read than text-based messages in generic encodings, since the generality of generic encodings makes generically-encoded messages more verbose.        It would be beneficial to have an RPC mechanism that uses text-based messages, since special software would not be needed to read, write, or modify the messages. Text editors would suffice. People who have expertise in industry data structures would have less reliance on the expertise of others to translate messages into a form that they can understand.        It would be beneficial to have an RPC mechanism that is based on a self-describing encoding such that all messages are at some level expressed in the self-describing encoding. This approach would simplify the programs that access the data items of the messages, since the programs would no longer require configuration information. Furthermore, because the programs that generate and consume the messages could access data items by label, the programs would be less sensitive to changes in the message types.        It would be beneficial to have an RPC mechanism that operated statelessly over HTTP so that less complex software is required to implement RPC over HTTP.        It would be beneficial to have an RPC mechanism that did not support bi-directional communications so that less complex client software is required to implement RPC over HTTP. A unidirectional RPC would not support asynchronous callbacks, and an application that is based on the RPC would have to either select a synchronous solution or install an HTTP server at both ends of the communication channel.        It would be beneficial to have a generic encoding that precludes some of the less widely used features of IIOP and DCE so that the encoding is simpler than IIOP and DCE. It would be beneficial for this generic encoding to contain only those features that are necessary for most business-to-business electronic commerce over the Internet, thus idealizing the encoding for this domain of applications. The approach maximizes the number of software developers that are qualified to produce solutions with the encoding and minimizes the time required to produce each solution.        It would be beneficial to have an RPC framework whose simplicity allows two programs to engage in RPC communications over a network without requiring software from a single vendor to be installed on both of the computers that are running the programs. Software from different vendors should be compatible by virtue of using the nearly ubiquitous HTTP protocol stack to transmit messages whose encodings use a well-defined and well-accepted text-based syntax.


The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resist pattern forming method by immersion exposure of a lithography step in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Immersion exposure is a technology in which a space between the surface of a resist film and a lens of an exposure device is filled with a liquid to perform exposure on the resist film formed on a substrate to be treated. A device for use in such an exposure process is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-303114. In Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-303114, there is disclosed a device in which a substrate to be treated is all immerged into water in a stage to which water can be supplied, and the exposure is performed while this stage is relatively moved with respect to the exposure device. In the device having such configuration, the liquid is supplied to the whole stage. Therefore, there is a problem that the liquid overflows from the stage, when the stage is moved at a high speed. The stage cannot be driven at a high speed.
In Immersion Lithography; its Potential Performance and Issues, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 5040, pp. 724 to 733 by Soichi Owa and Hiroyuki Nagasaka, as a measure against disturbance of the liquid due to the movement of the stage, there is disclosed a technology to drive the stage while locally supplying the liquid to a portion to be exposed. According to this technology, it is possible to move the stage at a high speed. When such technology to supply the liquid locally is used, water is left in an exposed region and the like of a portion from which the lens is detached. In consequence, when the resist film is exposed and thereafter heated in this state, there is a problem that a watermark is generated, or an abnormality is generated in a resist pattern owing to a temperature drop in the portion where water exists.
On the other hand, in New Cover Material Development Status for Immersion Lithography, Web Publication of International Symposium on Immersion and 157 nm Lithography by Keita Ishizuka et al., it is disclosed that components of a resist are eluted from the resist film into the liquid in the immersion exposure. According to this document, such elution can be avoided by disposing a cover film on the surface of the resist film. As to a state of the surface of the cover film, it is preferable that a contact angle of the surface to water is 90° or more. However, in a case where the cover film having such a large contact angle is used, there might occur a problem that the watermark is easily generated on the cover film, and a defect due to the watermark is generated in the resist pattern. In this document, there is also disclosed an example in which a film having a contact angle of 68° or 78° to an immersion liquid (pure water) is used as a hydrophilic cover film.


Audience response systems are employed to retrieve (or receive) responses from a group of individuals at a central location. Such systems may be used in classroom settings, corporate meetings, or in other gatherings of individuals. Wireless audience response systems may include at least one base unit and a plurality of handheld units. Each handheld unit typically includes a keypad for inputting user responses.
In one known embodiment, the base unit controls communication by, for example, polling each handheld unit. If a user has entered a response into the keypad, the response is transmitted to the base unit when the handheld unit is polled. After receipt of the response, the base unit may send an acknowledgment signal.


As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system may include a voltage regulator to provide a constant voltage level and a current to power the system. For example, a voltage regulator may receive an input voltage and produce an output current at a predetermined output voltage required by a load, i.e., the circuit element(s) for which it is providing power. Moreover, modern information handling systems may include components that maintain current requirements across a broad range from relatively high peak currents to very low stable currents. More particularly, voltage regulators may be required to maintain a high efficiency, or low power loss, over such ranges. In particular, a direct current to direct current (DC-DC) voltage regulator may include a controller, one or more drivers, and one or more power stages. Furthermore, a power stage may include one or more metal oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs), which may be driven by the drivers.
Additionally, some voltage regulators may be capable of operating in multiple phases. To this end, the concept of a phase for a voltage regulator may typically refer to combining an inductor and a power stage to form one phase. A power stage (which may also be known as a Pstage) may comprise a high-side MOSFET and a low-side MOSFET each driven by a driver. In some embodiments, a power stage may be fully integrated into a single integrated circuit, known as an integrated power stage.
A multi-phase voltage regulator may include multiple instances of such phases. Alternatively, a multi-phase voltage regulator may be thought of as a combination of single phase voltage regulators. For example, a multi-phase voltage regulator may include a plurality of single phase voltage regulators coupled in parallel to provide varying ranges of output current. During periods of high loads, the multi-phase voltage regulator may function with all phases in operation. In contrast, for lower loads, it may employ phase-shedding and operate with a reduced number of phases.
To manage power delivery and consumption by voltage regulators, power control systems in information handling systems often execute power management algorithms. For such power management algorithms to effectively manage power, accurate power, current, voltage, and/or other measurements must be obtained. An inherent conflict in obtaining power measurements is that measurement circuitry itself may add power losses to a system.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component feeding apparatus for conveying electronic components by intermittent movement of a belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei6-232596 has disclosed an apparatus for conveying chip components using a belt.
This apparatus has an endless belt wound around a pair of pulleys, a ratchet mechanism for intermittently moving a belt through a predetermined distance by driving one of the pulleys, and a lever mechanism for transmitting the power to the ratchet mechanism. When the power is transmitted to the ratchet mechanism by moving an operating portion of the lever mechanism in a predetermined direction, one pulley is turned through a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction by the ratchet mechanism, and the belt is moved through a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction by the turning of the pulley. Chip components, arranged in an orderly way on the belt, are conveyed in the same direction by the movement of the belt, and the foremost chip component is fed to a predetermined takeout position. The foremost chip component fed to the takeout position is taken out by using a suction nozzle. When the operating portion of the lever mechanism is moved again, the succeeding chip component is fed to the takeout position in the same way as described above.
The apparatus of this type has widely been used for a component mounter, component mounting line, and the like. In recent years, there has been demanded a mechanism which can respond to high-speed component takeout cycle, specifically a mechanism which can take out components in a very short cycle as short as 0.1 sec.
However, on the aforesaid apparatus, since the operating portion of the lever mechanism is directly connected to an driving portion of the ratchet mechanism, the speed at which the belt moves is substantially proportional to the speed at which the operating portion of the lever mechanism is moved. That is to say, if the operation speed of the operating portion of the lever mechanism is increased to respond to the high-speed component takeout cycle, the belt movement speed increases substantially proportionally, so that the chip components on the belt cannot follow the belt initial speed. Thereby, a slip occurs between the belt and the chip components on the belt, so that only the belt moves while the chip component is left, with the result that components cannot be conveyed satisfactorily by means of the belt.


Conventional fluted twist drills have the problem of excessive wear at the diametrical corners formed between the land clearance surface or margins on the flutes and the drill point cutting edges. Once wear begins at these corners it propagates rapidly and results in a drill that is rendered unusuable. Furthermore, conventional fluted twist drills produce the cutting action only at the drill point cutting edges and at the chisel edge. It is known that conventional twist drills are end-cutting tools in which the flutes are employed for the admission of cutting fluid and coolant and for the ejection of the chips. Normally, conventional twist drills divide into heavy duty and high helix or fast spiral drills. Heavy duty drills have great strength in the web and possess great rigidity which is suitable for severe drilling conditions in tough alloy steel, steel forgings and hard cast ferrous materials. The high-helix drills have a higher helix angle and are intended for deep holes where clearing chips from the hole is important.
Heat is the primary cause of drill failure. The major place for heat to be generated is at the intersection of the cutting edges and the margins. When a drill gets hot it softens the material and a plating action occurs between the material being drilled and the drill. As the plating progresses, friction increases since the margins have the highest peripheral speed and absorb heat rapidly. Heat introduces the further problem of thermal expansion of the drill diameter across the margins. Drilling a material like titanium results in the drill expanding faster than titanium which causes high side forces at the margins, and galling or plating occurs rapidly. If the drill has a heavy or thick core, chip clearance is restricted and the result is additional heat generation, higher torque and early drill failure. A drill sharpened off-center can encounter some or all of the problems noted above. After heat starts to rise in the drill point, a chain reaction occurs through expansion, increased friction, cutting edge softening, and plating, and each reaction fortifies the others.


This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Different types of antennas are used in the automotive industry, including AM/FM radio antennas, satellite digital audio radio service antenna (SDARS), cellular phone antennas, satellite navigation antennas, etc.
Automotive antennas may be mounted inside or outside of a vehicle. For example, a satellite navigation antenna may be mounted on an exterior vehicle surface, such as the roof, trunk, or hood of the vehicle to help ensure that the antenna has unobstructed views overhead or toward the zenith. As another example, a satellite navigation antenna may be mounted inside an instrument panel of the vehicle. The satellite navigation antenna may be connected to one or more electronic devices (e.g., an in-dash touchscreen display, etc.) inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional antenna assembly 100 including a patch antenna 104, a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) 108, and an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield 112. As shown, the conventional patch antenna 104 includes a radiating element, antenna structure, or radiator 116 on a top surface of a first dielectric substrate 120. The first dielectric ceramic substrate 120 is positioned to be mounted on top of a second dielectric substrate or board of the PCBA 108.
The antenna assembly 100 also includes a connector 124 for electrically connecting the PCBA 108 to a communication link, which, in turn, may be connected to an electronic device (e.g., an in-dash touchscreen display, etc.) inside the passenger compartment of a vehicle. The antenna assembly 100 includes a cover or housing 128 that may be coupled to (e.g., snapped together with, latched to, etc.) a base 132. Bumpers 136 are positioned between the PCB 108 and the cover 128.
The patch antenna 104 may be electrically connected or coupled to the PCBA 108 via a connector 118. The connector 118 may comprise an uninsulated pin or an insulated pin (e.g., a metal conductor with an EMI shield around it, etc.). The pin may be a semi-rigid pin and extend from the top of the patch antenna 104 through the patch's radiating element 116 and first dielectric substrate 120 to the PCBA 108.
A label 190 may be adhesively attached to an outer surface of the cover 128. The label 190 may include information for identifying the particular antenna assembly.
FIG. 2 illustrates another conventional antenna assembly 200 including a patch antenna 204 and a PCBA 208. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional patch antenna 204 includes a radiating element 216 on a top surface of a first dielectric ceramic substrate 220. The first dielectric ceramic substrate 220 is mounted on top of a second dielectric substrate or board of the PCBA 208. The antenna assembly 200 also includes a connector 224 for electrically connecting the PCBA 208 to a communication link, which, in turn, may be connected to an electronic device (e.g., an in-dash touchscreen display, etc.) inside the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
The patch antenna 204 may be electrically connected or coupled to the PCBA 208 via a connector 218. The connector 218 may comprise an uninsulated pin or an insulated pin (e.g., a metal conductor with an EMI shield around it, etc.). The pin may be a semi-rigid pin and extend from the top of the patch antenna 204 through the patch's radiating element 216 and first dielectric substrate 220 to the PCBA 208.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hydraulic fluid compositions, particularly brake fluid compositions for use in hydraulic brake systems of automobiles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, automobiles have tended to become faster and larger, at the same time that greater safety is required. For this purpose, hydraulic fluids of higher performance are strongly demanded.
The first requirement for hydraulic fluids is to be free from the so called "vapor lock phenomenon". This phenomenon is caused by the vaporization of hydraulic fluids and makes brake control impossible. Consequently, brake fluids having a higher boiling point are demanded. Efforts have been made to develop hydraulic fluids having a high boiling point even in the moist state and which can maintain the higher boiling point for a long period of time. The conventional hydraulic fluids which contain a high molecular weight polyether as base polymer and a low molecular weight glycol ether as diluent, are hygroscopic and tend to suffer a severe drop in their boiling points attendant upon moisture absorption. Such hydraulic fluids are therefore unlikely to pass the standard of DOT 4 (higher than 155.degree. C.) with respect to the wet equilibrium reflux boiling point (boiling point in a moist state), according to the hydraulic fluid specification of U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT].
Hitherto, there have been proposed several hydraulic fluids which contain borate esters of glycol ethers. Such hydraulic fluids may be adequate regarding their wet equilibrium reflux boiling points, and some of them have high enough wet equilibrium reflux boiling points to pass the standard of DOT 4. But these fluids have the drawback that they cause corrosion of metals.
It has been proposed heretofore to add to such fluids corrosion inhibitors such as alkanolamines (mono-, di- and triethanolamine and the like). By using such corrosion inhibitors prevention of corrosion for a short time may be attained; but such known corrosion inhibitors are not effective in inhibiting the metal corrosion for a long period of time. A need exists therefore, for hydraulic fluids having improved non-corrosive properties to metals for a long period of time (test such as 2000 hours at 100.degree. C.).


The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in its International Radio Regulations, divides the world into three ITU regions for the purposes of managing the global radio spectrum. Each region has its own set of frequency allocations (i.e., frequency bands). Thus, operation in a frequency band that is allowed in one region may be prohibited in another region. For example, operation in the 915 MHz (Megahertz) band (902 MHz to 928 MHz) that is permitted in ITU region 2 (Americas) under FCC (Federal Communications Commission) part 15 rules, is prohibited in ITU Region 1 (Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)). The 915 MHz frequency band may be utilized for mesh networks and relatively low-cost sensor deployments, for example.
In addition to the frequency bands, allowable transceiver operating parameters may also vary by region. For example, a transceiver located inside a building may be allowed a higher transmitter power than a transceiver located outside the building. The rules are complex, vary by region, country and/or subregion, and may change over time. Thus, it is difficult for a designer to ensure that a device, e.g., transceiver, will comply with the regulatory rules at its deployment location(s). This problem is compounded for the Internet of Things (IoT) and/or mesh networks that include a relatively high number of devices.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.


With rapid growth of mobile subscribers and incessant development of communication techniques, the unit capacity of single HLR in mobile communication system has reached tens of thousands or even more. Since HLRs have stored subscription information of mobile subscribers, mobile services for all the subscribers will cease when the HLRs fail for a long period of time due to unforeseeable causes such as power failure, fire, earthquake or lightning strike, etc. Therefore, it is urgent to provide remote redundancy for the HLRs.
The redundancy for HLRs includes two aspects, one aspect is data redundancy simply for backup subscribers' data, the other is service redundancy which is based on the former aspect, i.e., when a master HLR breaks down, a redundant HLR is able to take over the services by means of signaling switchover according to the backup subscribers' data, so as to prevent the calling services from being interrupted at a maximum level.
The topology structures of data redundancy for HLRs are classified into two types. One is 1+1 redundancy solution, and the other is N+1 redundancy solution.
The so-called 1+1 redundancy solution is to provide a redundant HLR for each master HLR in the existing network so as to achieve real-time backup for external services. Though the 1+1 redundancy solution is able to take over the services seamlessly by adopting the redundant HLR when the master HLR fails, apart from some extremely important places, the application field of this solution is relatively limited in consequence of its high investment and low rate of utilization.
The N+1 redundancy solution is to set up a special redundant center HLR for providing redundancy for N master HLRs. In the N+1 redundancy solution, the redundancy can be further divided into compatible redundancy and non-compatible redundancy according to the result whether the master HLRs and the redundant center HLR belong to the same manufacturer. Because there are many HLR equipment providers, and different HLRs have different data saving formats and data processing methods, the compatible solution is more widely used. Since the N+1 compatible redundancy solution is unable to back up subscribers' dynamic data in real time, it will lead to the situation that the subscribers cannot act as the called party in a period of time after a failure has appeared and the services have been taken over. However, as one redundant center is able to back up data for a plurality of master HLRs made by different manufacturers, the return rate on investment of the N+1 compatible redundancy solution is relatively better, thus this solution is broadly adapted in the network.
At present, the N+1 compatible redundancy solution mainly has two types, one is a baseline synchronization solution, and the other is a BOSS (Business Operation Support System) increased command synchronization solution.
What is called the baseline synchronization solution is to output the data files containing all subscribers' subscription information, i.e., the service data baseline of subscriber, by the master HLRs periodically, then convert the format of these files automatically by the redundant center into the format recognizable by the redundant center HLR, and load the files into the redundant center HLR. Thereby, it will realize the synchronization of subscribers' data between the master HLRs and the redundant center HLR. As the baseline synchronization solution requires the master HLRs to output the service data baseline of all subscribers periodically, performance of the host machine of the redundant center HLR is affected greatly, and it takes quite a long time to perform conversion and synchronization for the subscribers' data, it is seldom used in practical engineering.
The BOSS increased command synchronization solution is to convert the successfully executed business operation commands which were formerly sent to the master HLRs for modifying the subscribers' subscription data according to the interface format of the redundant center HLR, and load the commands into the host machine in real time via the business operation interface of the host machine of the redundant center HLR. Thus, as long as the master HLRs and the redundant center HLR implement baseline synchronization for one time in initial state, the conformity of the subscribers' data between the master HLRs and the redundant center HLR will be guaranteed by means of this way to achieve the synchronization of the subsequent increased command or data.
Since the BOSS solution does not have any special requirements on the performance and function of the host machine of the redundant center HLR, and only needs to add converting function for operation commands of different manufacturers' formats in the BOSS, this solution is simple and is low cost because of low engineering work required. Therefore, the solution is widely used in the network and has gradually turned into a mainstream of N+1 redundancy solution.
However, only operation commands processed by the business hall can be synchronized automatically by the BOSS solution, a large number of other operation commands processed out of the business hall, such as the operation commands for setting a batch of subscriber services in a Local Maintenance Terminal (LMT) of HLR, and setting parameters of HLR in the system level, can merely be synchronized manually by the administrator in terms of the procedure. Therefore, the maintenance workload of this solution is heavy.


Copper has higher conductivity and better electromigration resistance property than aluminum. Copper is thus widely used as interconnecting wires in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) devices. However, copper tends to diffuse in a dielectric layer and causes leakage current and a breakdown of the dielectric layer. Therefore, a barrier layer is disposed between copper interconnecting wires and the dielectric layer to prevent the diffusion of copper. With the development of VLSI devices, especially with the scaling down of high-performance logic devices, the diffusion of copper into the dielectric layer that is disposed between adjacent interconnecting wires can cause a breakdown of the dielectric layer.
According to the breakdown characteristics of the dielectric layer, the breakdown can be divided into two types: an intrinsic breakdown and a Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB). When a voltage is applied to two adjacent copper interconnecting wires that are separated by a dielectric layer, an electric field is generated in the dielectric layer disposed between the two adjacent wires. If the generated electric field has a strength equal to or greater than a critical field strength of the dielectric layer in a copper interconnecting structure, a current will flow in the dielectric layer, and an intrinsic breakdown may occur. However, when the electric field strength is less than an intrinsic breakdown field strength, the intrinsic breakdown does not immediately occur, but the time dependent dielectric breakdown will be induced over a certain period of time due to a weakness in the isolation in the dielectric layer over time under the bias condition.
Furthermore, the many causes for the time dependent dielectric breakdown are described as follows. As the integration degree of chips increases, interconnecting wires become so thin that current density in the interconnecting wires increases exponentially. Under the influence of the high current density, metal ions in the interconnecting wires migrate in a direction opposite to a direction of the electron motion. This phenomenon is called electromigration. In the electromigration phenomenon, migration of the metal ions may induce pileup in a local area so that hillocks are formed in a metal layer of the interconnecting wires. The electromigration may also induce voids in the interconnect wires because of mass loss, thereby degrading the interconnect performance and causing opens to the interconnecting wires.
Therefore, preventing the loss of copper ions in the metal layer in copper interconnecting wires can improve the time dependent dielectric breakdown. In a process for forming the copper interconnecting wires, the copper interconnecting wires are exposed in an environment including an etching gas having an oxidizing ability so that copper atoms on the surface of the copper interconnecting wires are oxidized to CuO. To solve the problem mentioned above, a method for deoxygenizing copper atoms using N2 or H2 is disclosed in a paper entitled “Avoiding Cu Hillocks during the Plasma Process” published in Journal of The Electrochemical Society co-authored by Tsung-Kuei and Kang. The method for deoxygenizing copper atoms by using N2 or H2 is based on the principle: plasma is ionized to be ions or atoms in high voltage environment, then the ions and atoms can deoxygenize Cu from CuO in a deoxidization reaction on the surface of the copper interconnecting wires. However, the copper atoms deoxygenized are still in an unstable state so that the efficacy of improving the time dependent dielectric breakdown by inhibiting the loss of copper ions is not evident. Furthermore, in a plasma etching process in which a trench is formed in an upper interconnecting layer, the plasma may react with a second dielectric layer on the upper interconnecting layer, in which defect appears on a surface of the second dielectric layer. Although the second dielectric layer generally includes low dielectric constant materials, the defect will make a dielectric constant of the second dielectric layer become greater in a subsequent process of forming the copper interconnecting wires.
In view of analysis above, there is a need to provide a post-etching treatment process for the copper interconnecting wire, which can prevent the loss of the copper ions in the metal layer in the copper interconnecting wires, thereby avoiding the time dependent dielectric breakdown and reducing the defect on the surface of the second dielectric layer.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tension arm driving apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder, and particularly to an improved tension arm driving apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder capable of achieving a stable running state of a tape by preventing a tape jog in a high speed tape rewinding mode.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional tension arm driving apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder includes a tension arm 2 rotatably engaged to a shaft pin 1 fixed to a predetermined portion of a main base 20, a tension post 3 fixed to an end of the tension arm 2, a tension spring 4 engaged to a predetermined portion of the tension arm 2 for elastically supporting the tension arm 2 in a certain direction, a cam gear 7 rotatably engaged to the shaft pin 6 and spaced apart from the tension arm 2 in cooperation with a cam groove 5, and an operation plate 10 linearly reciprocating above the main base 20 in cooperation with the cam pin engaged to an engaging pin 8 contacting with one end 2a of the tension arm 2 and the cam groove 5.
The operation of the conventional tension arm driving apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder will now be explained.
To begin with, when the cam gear 7 rotates, since the cam pin 9 of the operation plate 10 is inserted into the cam groove 5 formed on a predetermined portion of the cam gear 7, the operation plate 10, as shown in FIG. 1, moves either in the rightward or leftward direction and drives the tension arm 2.
For example, when the operation plate 10 moves in the leftward direction, as indicated by the arrow as shown in FIG. 1, since the end 2a of the tension and 2 engages with the engaging pin 8 of the operation plate 10, the tension arm 2 is moved by the elastic force of the tension spring 4 and rotates in the clockwise direction about the shaft pin 1.
However, on the contrary, when the operation plate 10 moves in the rightward direction, the tension arm 2 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft pin 1 by the recovering force of the tension spring 4 about the shaft pin 1.
The tension post 3 fixed to the tension arm 2 guides the running operation of a tape T in accordance with the rotation operation of the tension arm 2. In case of using a 8 mm cameorder tape damage occurs due to shape of the cassette while the tape T is conveyed therein without a certain loading therein, due to the shape of the cassette. So, as shown in FIG. 1, the tape T is conveyed in a state where the tape T is presented therein.
However, the conventional tension arm driving apparatus for a video cassette tape recorder has disadvantages in that since the tension arm moves in only one direction by the engaging pin of the operation plate, the tension arm becomes jogged in the tape rewinding mode by the tension force of a running tape, so that the running state of the tape becomes unstable. In particular, in case of using a 8 mm tape, malfunction may occur in the system because the tape comes off from its running path.


The dissemination of information to multiple users can be classified into two general categories. In one category, the information is managed at a central facility that is accessed by the users when they require the information. The information may be resident on multiple information servers that are geographically remote from one another, but are accessed through a central point by the users. In this type of system, the information is not replicated, except when a user manually saves a document in local storage, or the data is temporarily stored in cache memory as part of the information retrieval mechanism. In this type of system, only one master copy of the information exists, and therefore control over its content is easily maintained. An example of this type of information dissemination system is an Internet website.
An inherent requirement of this category of system is that the user must be connected to the central facility in order to access the information. As a result, a disconnected user, e.g. an employee traveling on an airplane, is limited in terms of the ability to obtain the information when needed. Even when a user is connected, excessive load on a server or network performance issues, such as low bandwidth or high latency, can result in inefficient access. Accordingly, the second general type of information dissemination system employs data replication. In this type of system, copies of the information are disseminated to, and stored at, multiple nodes. Once the copy has been stored at a node, the user is no longer required to be connected to the information source in order to access the information. Although advantageous from this standpoint, replication systems present a number of other issues that must be addressed. Foremost among these is the need to maintain consistency among the replicated copies of the information at the nodes. If changes are made to the information, these changes need to be disseminated to all of the nodes. Accordingly, replication systems employ different approaches for synchronizing the information among the multiple nodes.
One approach employs a single master version of the information, which is disseminated from a central source to replicas on remote devices that form the local nodes. The data flow is in one direction only, from the central master to the remote devices. In this type of system, all write operations occur at the master, and the users at the remote devices have read-only privileges. The set of information that is stored on each remote device is regarded as being no larger and no older than the central master.
When the number of content recipients is large, the central source can become overloaded. Furthermore, there is the possibility that a large number of nodes might be connected to the central source by a common network that can experience bandwidth bottlenecks. To address these types of performance issues, hyperdistribution systems might be desirable. In this type of arrangement, the information content is disseminated from the central source to a plurality of intermediate distribution points, and from there to the ultimate recipients at the remote locations.
Alternatively, a multiple master approach may be desirable, where users at the remote devices have the ability to modify the data. In this approach the potential exists for conflicting versions of the data at different nodes. Some multi-master systems address this issue by utilizing conflict avoidance, whereas others employ conflict resolution. To achieve conflict avoidance, a single user or application must be able to lock access to a data object before a write operation takes place, so that plural simultaneous edits cannot occur. To obtain a lock, however, connection to a resource which manages the locks is necessary. Hence, conflict avoidance is most practical in systems where the modifications are relatively infrequent.
In contrast, conflict resolution systems permit multiple simultaneous edits to occur, and conflicts are reconciled afterward. One type of dissemination system that is capable of resolving conflicts employs hub-and-spoke synchronization. This type of synchronization is commonly found, for example, in personal information management systems, in which mobile users are able to reconcile calendar and contact information with a single point of control. In this arrangement, each user device, e.g. personal digital assistant, carries a subset of the data in a central reference repository. When a device is connected to the central repository, its data set is synchronized with the reference data set. An example of this type of system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,541. In these types of systems, the central repository functions as a clearinghouse for conflict resolution. Typically, immediate resolution is provided during synchronization, for example on the basis of time stamps. The business logic associated with this approach assumes that the individual who is performing the synchronization is the best person to resolve conflicts that arise during the synchronization. The conflict resolution process involves replacement of the older version of the information with the newer version, i.e., the prior version ceases to exist after conflict resolution.
An alternative to the hub-and-spoke arrangement is a peer-to-peer network, in which no single device functions as a central master. In this system, any device can synchronize with any other device at any time. This type of arrangement may be more suited to operations such as team collaboration. However, conflicting data entries can appear and be resolved many times, as disparate versions of the information propagate independently through the network and collide at various locations. Unlike hub-and-spoke mechanisms, there is no single valid version of the information, with respect to which the data set on a given device can be considered to be merely out of date.
Various combinations of these systems might also exist. For example, a project that employs hub-and-spoke synchronization for collaboration might also require hyperdistribution from a publisher. As a further extension of this arrangement, an object from a publisher might need to be identified with a corresponding object on the user's devices, and a workflow mechanism might allow each user to accept or postpone acceptance of any revisions to that object. As another example, a handheld device might be slaved via hub-and-spoke synchronization to a laptop, that also participates in peer-to-peer synchronization with other laptops.
Many data replication systems are based on a model that assumes that there is only one correct version of a data object at any given time. To assure a high degree of consistency among the copies of that data object, there is an implicit requirement that the nodes connect to one another on a frequent basis, so that the amount of revision to a data object between updates is relatively small. Thus, in a hub-and-spoke system, for example, since all information is expected to flow through the hub, frequent connections along the links that constitute the spokes are formed.
When there is no central hub for conflict resolution, an order-dependent approach can be employed to resolve the conflicts, but this can lead to unpredictable results. For instance, if node A is synchronized with node B, and then node B is synchronized with node C, one version of the data may be generated, whereas if node A is synchronized with node C and then node B is synchronized with node C, a different version may result.
It may be preferable to utilize an order-independent approach that allows business logic rules to be enforced in a way that provides more consistent results. If resolution is to be accomplished immediately, however, the business logic rules may have to be somewhat limited and/or restrictive.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a framework for data replication that employs a different model to support relatively long periods of disconnection, and yet is compatible with each of the various dataflow techniques for replication described previously.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to control systems, and more particularly, the present invention relates to adjustment and calibration of electromagnetic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Electromagnetic devices are well known. One example is an E-I core actuator, which is a type of electromagnetic linear motor so named because of its two main components. The first component is the E-core, which is a three-barrel structure having a shape that resembles the letter “E” with an insulated electric coil wire wound around the center bar and a source of current supplying current to the coil. Current running through the coil creates an electromagnetic field which attracts an associated I shaped core. Thus, an electromagnetic force is exerted across the width of a gap between the E-core and the I-core. When a constant current is supplied to the coil, the force of the electromagnetic field may change as the gap distance changes. This change in force is often referred to as the output force gain of the E-I core system.
E-I core electromagnetic devices may be used to precisely adjust the position of an object. Unlike, for instance, a bi-directional voice coil motor which also provides precision positioning, E-I core electromagnetic devices use substantially less electric current and therefore less energy in the form of waste heat. Another benefit of E-I core electromagnetic devices is the reduction of vibration during precision motion. For instance, precision motion is frequently needed in machining, lithography, and other strict tolerance manufacturing applications e.g., in stepper and scanner machines used in the semiconductor industry. Typically, the goal is to provide precise adjustment of, for instance, a sampler or work piece stage in three dimensions.
In the prior art, calibration and adjustment is often done through a mechanical adjustment, which has been found to be time consuming and imprecise, especially due to problems of drift attributable to thermal or other effects. This both degrades performance and reduces system throughput, since time is required for the actual calibration. An improved calibration method would be very desirable for such systems.
When using an E-I core electromagnetic device, the output force gain may be used to calibrate the device for precision adjustments, such as for positioning components of a precision machine. Precisely positioning machine components is difficult because the output force gain varies due to effects such as part-to-part variance, geometric mounting inaccuracy, and a dynamically changing gap distance during operation of E-I core electromagnetic device. Using a gap distance measurement, E-I core commutation equations may be used to model the output force gain. These models require burdensome hand tuning for each E-I core electromagnetic device. Further, even with a model, it is difficult to obtain precise measurements when dealing with large ranges of gap distance. Moreover, equations used in models, such as force gain model equations, become ineffective when gap distance information is unavailable or the force gain changes due to unmodeled factors.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method of modeling output force gain in electromagnetic devices to create precise measurements and adjustments. Further, there is a need for an improved method of calibrating the output force gain for E-I core electromagnetic devices.


Packaging and displaying a product can be an important way for the producer/manufacturer to feature the product and to distinguish it from the competition. For example, a packaging arrangement which permits extensive display and graphics capabilities sometimes plays a significant role from a marketing perspective. It is therefore desirable to provide a package which allows the package to be easily displayed and to have a large enough surface area to allow for graphics.
One way of providing such display capabilities is to include a hanghole in the top of the package to permit the arrangement to be hung from a hook for vertical display.
It is also advantageous to provide features in the packaging which consumers will appreciate for convenience and safety. For example, it is often desirable for many consumers to be able to easily and effectively reseal a package after it has been opened. One way of accomplishing that is through reclosable zipper seals. Reclosable seals alone, however, do not provide a way to indicate that the package may have been tampered with before the purchase. For this reason, packages with reclosable zippers have been permanently sealed above or below the reclosable zipper in such a manner that the opening of the package becomes apparent.
In the manufacture and use of sealed packages, there are a number of drawbacks. One drawback is that while the seal inhibits tampering, it also makes it difficult for the consumer to open the package or break the seal. Another drawback is the competition between the large surface area to display graphics and the need for adequate material for the hanghole. Further, there should be sufficient area above the hanghole to prevent the weight of the package from tearing through the hanghole. Yet another drawback in the design of such packages is the need to contain costs by minimizing the amount of film used to manufacture the package.
Accordingly, there is a need for a packaging arrangement which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and yet realizes production-related cost objectives.


The invention relates to a temperature measuring circuit comprising a plurality of temperature sensors, each of which is formed by a temperature-dependent measuring resistance having two current terminals and two voltage tapping terminals each arranged between an associated current terminal and the temperature-dependent measuring resistance, and an evaluating circuit which via the current terminals sends a constant current through each temperature sensor and measures the voltage drop caused by the constant current between two voltage conductors connected to the voltage tapping terminals.
In temperature measuring circuits of this type the temperature measurement is based on the measurement of the resistance value of the temperature-dependent measuring resistance, the resistance measurement taking place by current-voltage measurement in a four-wire circuit. The use of the four-wire technique gives a higher measuring accuracy because voltage drops caused by the current flowing through the measuring resistance at lead and contact resistances do not enter the measurement result. A disadvantage is that each temperature sensor is connected by four conductors to the evaluating circuit and consequently with a relatively large number of temperature sensors, as are often required for detecting different temperatures at different points in technical plants or processes, the number of connection conductors required rises in proportion with the number of temperature sensors and often becomes undesirably large.
The problem underlying the invention is to provide a temperature measurement circuit of the type set forth at the beginning which whilst completely retaining the advantages of the four-wire technique requires a substantially smaller number of connecting conductors between the temperature sensors and the evaluating circuit.
According to the invention this problem is solved in that the temperature sensors are connected via the current terminals in series, that the two voltage tapping terminals of two temperature sensors which follow each other in the series circuit and are associated with two current terminals connected together are connected to a common voltage conductor, and that a resistance is inserted into the connection between at least one of the two voltage tapping terminals and the common voltage conductor.
In the temperature measuring circuit according to the invention due to the series connection of the temperature sensors only two current conductors are required for the connection to the current source, irrespective of the number of said sensors, and the number of the voltage conductors required is reduced in that in each case two voltage tapping terminals belonging to two consecutive temperature sensors in the series circuit are connected to a common voltage conductor instead of to two separate voltage conductors. The total number of connecting conductors required is therefore only three greater than the number of the temperature sensors compared with four times the number of temperature sensors in conventional temperature measuring circuits. Accordingly, the saving of connecting conductors is the greater the greater the number of temperature sensors present. Due to the fact that each common voltage conductor is connected to the two associated voltage tapping terminals not directly but via resistances, it is ensured that the voltage measurement takes place practically with the same accuracy as with the conventional four-wire technique with separate voltage conductors.
Advantageous further developments and embodiments of the invention are characterized in the subsidiary claims.


Many plasma diagnostic techniques use a swept-wavelength laser to obtain atomic absorption spectra from a plasma stream. Most of these measurements are dependent upon the scan width of the laser, typically measured in GHz. Since there are no instruments that measure scan width directly, the laser operator must attempt to manually adjust the scan width to specifications (within a few percent), and keep it there at all times. Results of many spectroscopic measurements, such as plasma density, are directly proportional to scan width. Two instruments are presently available to assist the operator in this scan width adjustment effort: wavemeters and Fabry-Perot confocal interferometers (F-Ps).
Wavemeters directly measure absolute wavelength by comparison with a reference light source or with a precision grating. However, only the most expensive and exotic wavemeters have sufficient resolution to measure the difference between the endpoints of a narrow scan, and even the best cannot track the wavelength as it rapidly changes.
Another way to directly measure scan width employs Fabry-Perot confocal interferometers (F-Ps). The F-P samples the laser beam at some point in the optical system. As the laser is scanned, the F-P interferometer produces a voltage pulse each time the wavelength crosses through a free-spectral resonant mode of the interferometer's cavity. The laser operator can observe the F-P pulses on an oscilloscope and attempt to visually count them, then adjust the laser until the proper number appears. A simple digital counter, synchronized with the scan, could also help to automate the counting process. With a Coherent, Inc., model 216 Fabry-Perot interferometer, a pulse occurs every 300 MHz. For example, with a scan of 3 GHz, 10 F-P intervals appear during each scan. The laser operator could then trim the scan width by manually adjusting the scan width knob on the laser's control chassis. However, the precision of this measurement is only .+-.10% (one in 10). Thus, a 10% peak error in any wavelength-dependent measurements may be expected. Also, the operator must periodically adjust the laser to compensate for drift. For this reason, an improved, automated measurement and control system for scan width using a real-time control computer and some specialized CAMAC (Computer Automated Measurement and Control, IEEE 595) modules designed specifically for this application would be desirable. The present invention presents such a system.